The Faceless God (Cthulhu Mythos)

The Faceless God

The sun had not yet risen when I was awakened by the commotion. Still drowsy, I got myself dressed and went outside. It seemed the whole town had gone crazy. Everyone was excitedly conversing as they came from their homes, pouring onto the road and marching towards the city. Several of them yelled to me and motioned for me to join.

"They're coming!" one was shouting. Curious, I made my way towards the gathering and followed. They were speaking of the enemy, the people who came from the west. Those who had taken possession of the next city over. They were said to worship strange gods with unspeakable rites and rituals.

Our army had met them outside the city's border. The word of the people was that our city would not fall, for our army was strong and they would obliterate the enemy. Everyone was going to watch, to cheer our soldiers on, and to witness the victory to come. They marched along the road as it led into the city,

It seemed to me that everyone was acting strangely. Men, women, and children all going headlong towards a battlefield. But there was such a fervent atmosphere, such a raucous excitement. Everyone seemed caught up in the spirit. Everyone except me. I allowed most of the crowd to pass me and gradually fell to near the rear of the formation.

The sea of people flooded into the city and down the grand avenue which went through its heart, effectively splitting it in two. In addition to the street lamps, it appeared as though every light in was on in the towering buildings that loomed over the wide avenue. I saw there were people at many of the windows, leaning out to get a better look.

The crowd widened out to cover the street. Tens of thousands, it must have been. Ahead to the west, just outside the city, the sounds of battle began erupting. Cracks and booms reverberated for miles. Far ahead rose a cheer from the spectators near the front, which spread back as everyone joined in.

Thundering sounds of war echoed for several minutes. And then, abruptly stopped. Was it over already? Had our army gained victory so quickly? The cheers died down as everyone listened, all the while clamoring to get a view ahead. All was quiet for a while.

Then, far ahead came a different noise. There was a long, low noise like the sound of a giant trumpet. I could feel it in my very bones as it sounded. Bwaaaaaahhh! For some reason, my stomach dropped and I felt slightly ill. The people glanced all around with murmurs of confusion.

To the west, the next sound came. This one was more familiar, for it was a great screaming and shrieking of many voices, coming from those near the frontline. Again, it spread back, but slowly this time, as the crowd further back was in confusion as to why there were such screams.

It was as if the sea of people began to turn inside out, as those near the front were turning and running, pushing through their confused compatriots. It was as though as one portion turned and ran in shrieking terror, that the next section saw what had caused the uproar and likewise turned to flee. Thus, the panic advanced like a ripple from front to back, west to east. Soon, everyone was in utter confusion amidst the chaos that ensued.

Suddenly, that long, trumpeting blast sounded again. Bwaaaaahhh! As it echoed, all the people stopped where they were as if rooted in place. They turned as one towards the west with looks of quiet terror.

I caught sight of something coming our way, growing larger as it entered my sight. My god, it was huge! A titanic form that slowly and steadily broke through the sea of dumbfounded onlookers. It was a statue, no, an idol, towering and overbearing all. It was carven of a strange greasy-looking greenish-black stone. A titan crouched as if ready to pounce. It was roughly humanoid from the waist up but misshapen and tumorous. Its lower half was a mass of tentacles, curling, and stretching in every direction. It seemed to me as though those tentacles moved and writhed, but surely that must have been an optical illusion, as the thing was made of stone. Its head had many horns framing the face and protruding all around the back of the head. I say face, but in truth, the idol had no face, just a smooth surface of that slimy stone that seemed to ooze malevolence in spite of having no features.

The whole thing was carried on great timbers, by creatures that flanked both sides. They were not human, but reptilian, with long snouts full of sharp teeth and milky, vacant eyes. To me, they looked like what would be the result of crocodiles evolving into humanoid forms. There were dozens, perhaps hundreds of them, but still, I wondered at how they could bear the weight of the titanic idol.

As they moved, the crowds parted to let them through. Those who could not get out of the way in the limited space were trampled underfoot by the marching creatures. No one tried to flee. They just stared at the spectacle in silence. At last, the idol came to a halt, surrounded on all sides by the thousands of dumbfounded citizens.

Suddenly, the voice came. From all around it sounded. It came from all directions at once and even from inside my mind. "He is the faceless god, the unknowable terror, chaos incarnate."

The deafening trumpet blast sounded once more. Bwaaaaaahhh! As it did so, I felt a wave of intense nausea, and my head began to ache. As the sound died out, there began drumming from somewhere, offbeat and yet somehow still rhythmic. And joining in was the sound of shrill flutes piping. And underneath it all, another sound which I struggle to describe. It was all at once like static and the buzzing of a thousand insects.

At once, the people in the crowds began moving in jerky motions, slowly and then increasingly so. At first, it gave me the impression as though they were dancing, as ludicrous as that may be. They jerked and spasmed, twisted, and contorted. The whole scene was an orgy of twitching convulsions. To my horror, many were foaming at the mouth while others were vomiting violently.

I saw a woman who had been holding a baby drop it on the ground where it lay convulsing as well. The flutes became shriller as the sounded monotonously and the drums faster and faster. And below it all, the buzzing static grew louder.

When I thought it could not possibly be more hellish, I heard the first crack of a breaking bone, followed by more. All around, people moving so unnaturally that they were breaking their own bones. Necks and backs snapped like twigs and broken arms dangled and flopped grotesquely. And their eyes bulged sickeningly as though about to pop from the sockets.

Then, as the cacophony of drums and flutes reached a horrifying crescendo, the bodies began dropping to the ground in twisted piles of flesh and broken bones. One by one, they fell, until only I was standing amidst an ocean of death. And all fell silent. I wondered why I had not been affected by the same force that drove those poor souls into such a hideous frenzy.

I did not wonder long before I felt abruptly compelled to move. With a will that was not wholly my own, I stepped around the remains of my fellow citizens. To my horror, I saw that multitudes of white worms were already beginning to crawl on the dead flesh. Where they came from, I do not know. But I moved on until I was standing before the abhorrent idol. I stared up at it in fearful expectancy.

The voice spoke again and the blood chilled in my veins. "You will go to the next city and tell them the faceless god comes. I of a thousand forms. I am chaos crawling across this world and all others. Soon they will know my name and despair. If they repent and bow before me, then I may let them live and serve. But be assured that any resistance will result only in a slow agonizing death. Go forth and speak my words, for the time is short."

With that, I felt the control of my body return. Yet still, I stood there, unmoving overwhelmed with the appalling site I had witnessed. One of the crocodile men stepped forward brandishing a long whip. With a crack, my arm exploded in pain as tore the sleeve and lacerated the skin. I understood the meaning immediately and turned to flee to the east. I could not run for all the carcasses littering the avenue. I noticed the smell for the first time and was astonished to see that the corpses had already begun to decay and were crawling with the plump, pale worms.

I felt a whip crack across my back and cried out in pain. I moved as fast as I could, stumbling over rotting bodies and trying to shield my nose from the stench. Again and again, the whip tore into the flesh of my back. After an eternity, I reached the border of the city and to my relief, the creature followed no longer.

With my back burning with pain, I set forth on my macabre mission as the herald of the nightmare that was to follow. And a name sounded in my head, a name which I dare not speak aloud. He comes, the crawling chaos, Nyarlathotep.