Sandy petersens cthulhu mythos (1) 30

II Mythos Races
groups. Due to a lack of self-awareness and introspection,

gods die or move on, yet when the ghouls move in,

ghouls never really grasp the enormity and tragic

they pick up those pieces and make them their own.

truth of existence. Despite this or perhaps because of

In this way, many otherwise-dead faiths live on in

it, they carry in their hearts at least a subconscious

ghoul warrens, yet these gods are no more the preferred

understanding of the sadness of their situation. Ghouls

patrons of ghouls than any other.

may titter and caper atop a grave in delight at finding

Not all ghoul clans worship gods. Some ghouls are

a delicious new meal, yet in the aftermath of gorging

intellectual atheists, while others instead look to their

on time-seasoned meat, their dreams are often haunted

predecessors for advice. This form of ancestor worship

by lonely thoughts. Stories are told of ghouls who, in

can manifest in two ways. A band of ghouls may

their old age, grew lonely, abandoned and forgotten in

well look back upon their parents and their parents’

distant sepulchers.

parents for advice, mining their accomplishments for

Ghouls rarely integrate well into greater societies,

inspiration. Yet they might also look back at their own

either. Despite centuries of education via texts and

lives, particularly in the case of a changeling ghoul

tomes, inevitably when ghouls finally make contact

who has finally undergone full transformation. To

with the society they have for so long admired from

these ghouls, lost family members are as good as dead,

afar, their appearance and hungers end only in tragedy.

even if in truth they yet live, and become as ancestors

Faith
Matters of faith and worship are not unknown to
ghouls, but ghouls have no true gods of their own.
Many ghouls worship gods from their life prior to
becoming a nascent ghoul. These gods often do not
answer the prayers of ghouls because of the ghouls’
required lifestyle. Some particularly devout ghouls
may shift their worship to a god in their original life’s
pantheon that would be willing to hear the prayers
of the ghoul. Typically, these gods are neutral or evil
in nature and do not have concerns regarding laws
and taboos against feasting on the dead. Others may
worship entities of the Mythos (particularly those
who might offer the opportunity to learn secrets of a

to venerate. Worship of these childhood memories is
all some ghouls have to keep their minds from fully
toppling into madness and they may even continue
to wear familiar clothing (often robbed from graves)
and carry gear and weapons in an attempt to cling to
their previous lives. These ghouls are often objects of
pity among their brethren, who typically leave them
to wallow in their own memories as long as they do no
harm. Such ghouls may try to reestablish contact with
lost family, and in cases in which this doesn’t result in
a tragic end, they can reveal the presence of a ghoul

colony to humanity, which can cause problems (see
Relations on page 24).

Culture

powerful nature, such as Nyarlathotep or Tsathoggua).

Without a true culture to call their own, ghouls seem

In some lands, only ghouls worship the gods of old

perfectly content to immerse themselves in the cultures

that are considered dead or forgotten by societies today.

of those they dine upon. As a result, most ghoul

In fact, this is merely the result of ghouls picking up

societies are somewhat behind the times, with their

pieces, fragments, and memories left behind. When a

aesthetics often seeming old-fashioned when compared

humanoid culture passes on, they leave behind their

to modern-day groups under whose graveyards they

statues and temples. Abandoned and forgotten, their

hide. By scavenging what these societies throw away,

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