The Astronaut (Unique Entity)

Alternative Names: The Emissary, The Magician

The Astronaut, as its name suggests, appears to be a human wearing a bulky spacesuit. An intense blue-white light pours out of the broken visor, obscuring the features of the person inside. The laws that govern space and time seem to break down in the entity’s presence. Witnesses report déjà vu, along with glimpses of other places and times when encountering the being. The Astronaut has been blamed for several disappearances. Each missing person reported seeing the Astronaut in the days leading up to them vanishing. 

An early viral video of a sighting in the 2000s first brought the entity into the popular consciousness, though it had been the subject of stories on internet forums and books for decades before. However, a review of the literature suggests that encounters with the Astronaut stretch through history. 

Though the Astronaut, or something similar, has been seen for centuries, scholarship suggests a much more recent origin. Leaked documents from the US government’s psychic warfare experiments at Ft. Meade, MD in the early 1980s reveal a gateway to another world was opened at the base (Wiseman, “Notes on the Sunstreak Files, 2003). Descriptions of this other world resemble the realm of Daoloth or the Tindalos (Graham, “Alien Geographies in Occult Texts,” 2005). In the files, Wiseman found several mentions of a person referred to as “the astronaut” that vanished after being sent through the gateway.  

Habitat

Global. 

Distribution

An entity similar to the Astronaut makes unusual but not uncommon appearances in artwork throughout human history and across multiple cultures (“Messengers of the Gods in Art,” Vincente, 1983). The earliest known depiction, dated at 35,000 BCE, may be cave art found at Hohle Fels, Germany. The images show a being that resembles the Astronaut standing before a prostrate ritualist. A carving resembling the Astronaut can be seen on a megalith at Nabta Playa in Egypt. Renaissance painter Nencio Zorzi’s “The Ascension of Mary” seems to depict a man wearing a spacesuit guiding the Holy Mother to the Heavens. 

The Astronaut bears a striking resemblance in description to a being Coyne refers to as “The Magician Motif” (“Dawn of the Magicians: Promethean Myths in World Culture”, 2002). In stories of the Magician, he is invariable referred to as not a god or a man, but a man changed by “witnessing the face of the gods.” It appeared to sorcerers, mathematicians, and scientists to impart “the truths of the gods”. These gifts led to innovation as often as they did madness, death, and disfigurement. 

One such story is of Urradu the Eyeless, a court astrologer in the Old Hittite Empire during the reign of Hattusili I. The Magician taught Urradu a more accurate method to predict the movement of the planets and stars, as well as new meanings to their movements. However, the knowledge also led to Urradu’s epithet. 

Life and Habits

The basic life functions of the Astronaut are unknown. Its motivations are a matter of pure speculation.

The Astronaut, unstuck and displaced in time.

Hit Points: 15

Damage Bonus: N/A

Build: 2

Magic Points: 20

Move: 6

Special Abilities

Decay: The laws that govern time and space erode in the Astronaut’s presence, causing localized disturbances. When encountering the Astronaut, investigators must make a Luck roll every round. These rolls must also be made every 1D4 rounds before the entity’s arrival and every 1D4 rounds after its departure. 

If the roll fails, the investigator suffers an effect. These can include strong feelings of déjà vu, inconsequential moments of an effect preceding cause (such as an investigator’s reflection moving before they move), a momentary glimpse of the past or future, blinking in or out of existence for a round, rapid aging or de-aging, minor changes in gravity, inconsequential moments of effects preceding cause (water flowing backward, reflections moving independent of the investigator), or observing objects moving in reverse (water running in reverse, birds flying backward). Minor effects cost 0/1D10 sanity. 

All effects last a single round.

Flicker: The Astronaut is difficult for the human eye to comprehend. It appears to blink in and out of existence every few seconds. When it moves, it seems to blink out of existence, then reappear in another spot. Walls and other obstacles do not impede its movement. All attacks against it are made at Extreme difficulty. It cannot be grappled or otherwise physically held in place.

The Gift: Looking directly into the light shining from the Astronaut’s visor may impart knowledge to the viewer. If willing, the viewer must make a successful Hard POW roll. The exact nature of the knowledge gained is left to the discretion of the Keeper but should be significant. However, gaining this knowledge costs 1D10/1D10 x 10 sanity. 

The Astronaut can also impart its gift to unwilling targets. A Hard POW roll is required to resist. The effects are otherwise the same. 

Radioactive: An investigator must make a CON roll each round they are within 10 feet of the Astronaut. On a failure, they suffer 1D4 CON damage from minor radiation sickness. 

Teleport: By touching a victim and spending 10 magic points, the Astronaut can send a victim to another moment in time, far in the future or past. The effect is permanent. The victim will be unreachable, except by certain spells.  

Combat

Attacks per round: 1

The Astronaut does use physical attacks against its opponents. It will instead use its Blast special attack or its Teleport and Gift special abilities.

Blast: The light from the Astronaut’s helmet grows to blinding intensity, bathing a single target. The victim must make a successful CON roll or suffer 1D10+10 hit point damage as their skin, hair, and clothing burn away. On a successful CON roll, the victim takes half the damage. 

Anyone who loses all their remaining hit points in a Blast attack is reduced to nothing but scant ashes, their shadow permanently etched on whatever was behind them during the attack. 

Armor: None, but all non-magical attacks do minimum damage. If the Astronaut is reduced to zero hit points, it blinks out of existence and reforms sometime later. 

Spells: Any spell relating to Daoloth, Tindolas, Gates, time, and space. It may teach these spells.

Sanity Loss: 1/1D10 to encounter the Astronaut. 

Bruce Priddy

Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast