Aeons, Things, & Horrors (SPORE)

Beyond the confines of Physical and Psychical Spaces of the SPORE TriCosm, there exist a host of ancient beings called aeons.  These are the eldest of a class of beings known for "meddling" in the affairs of psychical space.  Their Psychical and Psychical descendants include both the Elder and Younger Things.  While aeons and elder things are more clearly inspired by the Lovecraft Mythos, younger things are too.  Their ilk can be seen in the "Star-Spawn of Cthulhu."

These three classes of alien being are decribed below, with a handful of examples.

Aeons

Aeons are the most ancient beings, pre-dating the known universe—which, to them, is little more than the corpse of their beloved brother (see "The Beautiful Dead One," below). The Aeons are native to the proto-space of Ooloni, which predates the space-time of our Universe (and the SPORE TriCosm). Though there are hundreds of Aeons, though only a handful take part in the affairs of the SPORE setting.

The aeons are godlike in power and influence—but like the gods of Earth’s classical era are both fallible and vulnerable. They demonstrate very “human” emotions, motivations, and insecurities. They are often divided by their motivations into two classes: Sephiroth (or Empyreal/Heavenly Delights) and Qlippoth (or Infernal/Hellish Horrors).  The line between these two classes is quite blurry, howevever--and one aeon could be seen as both sephiroth and qlippoth, depending on the context used when discussing it.

Aeons and Elder Things (see below) use the pronoun It/Its, always capitalized. Younger Things may identify with a gender or not, and use whichever pronouns they choose.

The Beautiful Dead One (Sephiroth)

Known to the other Aeons as The Beautiful Dead One (Its true name is not spoken out of reverence and mourning), It was the first thing to exist in the universe—it was everything that would ever be condensed into a single point of space-time (also known as the Singularity in this context).  As the youngest of the Aeons, it was the most fragile—and its death was spectacular. For life in the Universe, the Big Bang was the beginning of everything; for the Aeons, it was the End of the World. In the wake of the Big Bang, and the loss of The Beautiful Dead One, the remaining Aeons have gone mad with grief.

The corpse of the Beautiful Dead one has become Physical Space and the coiled time stream.

Azscathar – The Destroyer (Qlippoth[?])

Azscathar is a towering giant, as great in size as the living planet Nathgarron. Humanoid in shape, It has two pairs of arms (originating from a single pair of shoulders), and three pairs of wings: one pair on its head, one pair behind Its shoulders, and one pair divided between his ankles. It has no body hair, no appearance of a face (or ears), nor any nipples, navel, or genitals. As Nathgarron seems to embody psi-gamma as a thinker, Azscathar embodies psi-kappa as a doer.

Nathgarron – The Harbinger (Qlippoth[?])

aka. Gnathg’ron

Among his ramblings, the so-called Mad Martian spoke of messages delivered by and conversations with a being called Nathgarron. This being was described as “a creature of the mind, without physical presence, but with a [thought]form like unto a planet of flesh and bone having four faces.” The bulk of the Mad Martian's channelings with Nathgarron were prophecies regarding the destruction of Mars, most of which were true—even if greatly metaphorical. Another recurring theme in these messages was that of “the spores of blue" which would "bring life again to desolation.”

Nathgarron vs. Azscathar

The conflict between Nathgarron and Azscathar predates the destruction of Mars—an event which, to the Aeons, is still an event in recent memory. It was Azscathar who had inspired the Aqadah and Hortji to rise up against the Marhadh—and also inspired the Marhadh to respond swiftly and decisively against them. Nathgarron had attempted to warn the Martians of Azscathar’s duplicity, but only a handful of the Mad Martian’s disciples listened. Most Kanadhi think of Nathgarron and Azcathar as allegorical figures limited to the Kanadi-Oolorom.

Azscathar and Nathgarron, particularly the religions they inspire and their influences on psychical space, are major plot points in the GaiaSPORE storyline.

Elder Things

Elder Things are the creations, children, and servants of the aeons. They were created within the Beautiful Dead One in order to cleanse it of the “life” that has arisen in it. The direct descendants of the aeons are the Greater Elder Things, and the offspring of these are the Lesser Elder Things. As with the aeons, the elder things are also divided into two camps:  Elder Delights and Elder Horrors; the latter of which being far better known to mortals than the former.

These beings are unique, named creatures that trace their lineage through others of their kind back to the aeons (typically the Beautiful Dead One).  While the Lesser Elder Horrors of Earth were hunted to near extinction by the ascended daemons, the Greater Elder Horrors there were merely imprisoned.  No Greater Elder Things remains un-imprisoned on Earth at the onset of each of the SPORE settings--though their awakening and release are a key components to the OtherSPORE setting.

Rhtaret (Greater Elder Horror)

aka. Rtaret, Rhtaret, Rtharet, Rhtareth, Rthareth, Tharet, Tareth, Taret, Rathara, Erthira, Rhthart, Rhthrth

Rhtaret (which has been pronounced pronounced er-TAR-et, or re-TAR-et) is an earthen counterpart to Lovecraft’s Cthulhu. It has the body of a morbidly obese woman whose forearms and lower legs are each composed of multiple, earthworm-like tendrils; while Its head and neck are a rearing asp. It is an ancient being, defeated before the dawn of the Golden Age. The Barrow which imprisons It is one of few landmarks which exists in all three worlds simultaneously. Though understood to be a Dark One, even the princes of the Underworld strive to keep It locked away.

Rhtaret and her barrow are major plot points in the OtherSPORE storyline.

Younger Things

Younger Things are relatively new additions to Physical Space. Like elder things, they have been created within the Beautiful Dead One—but are a better suited to infiltrating the natural lifeforms there. They are beings of Physical Space, and exists as alien races under the confines of that existence.  They are not unique beings, but collectives of similar beings with independent thoughts.  Each race of younger things claims an aeon as its patrons--and often several races claim the same patron.

Not all alien races are considered younger things, however.  The kanadhi of Mars and xenosaurs of Vhiit, for instance, are "natural" alien life forms.

Like the aeons and elder things, younger things could also be distinguished as Younger Delights and Younger Horrors--though that distinction is even less specific among these beings.  A race of "delights" may include heinous beings, while a race of "horrors" may include saints and martyrs.  Sometimes, younger horrors are mis-identified alongside cacodaemons as "demons" or "devils."

There is no distinction between "greater" or "lesser" younger things.  

Younger Things are a class of alien being (and playable character) in the LegacySPORE storyline; while Younger Horrors specifically are a clade of playable characters in the OtherSPORE storyline.