Elder Evils

Illus. by E. Widermann
32
adness dwells on the mountaintop, where
feral tribesfolk feast on human flesh and
dance in worship of the darkness. Their song
can be heard even now, calling out to their
father to bring the eternal cold, the endless
darkness of death.”
—From the bloodstained journal
of an unnamed traveler
A mote of alien thought given form and flesh,
Father Llymic is not of this world. He dwells in an
icy prison, awaiting a time when the world will be
right for his coming. As his age of freezing darkness
draws near, his brood begins to appear, stalking the
wastes in preparation for his reign. If he is released
from his prison, the entire world will be covered
in a deadly glacier, removed from light and hope
for all time.
BACKGROUND
The ancient elves spent much of their time in
near-endless research and study. When the world’s
mysteries were unraveled, they turned their minds
to what lies beyond. The vast and varied planes of
existence fascinated them, yet they still sought
farther. The most powerful among them wanted
to know what lay beyond the planes. As part of
their work, the elves constructed a great many gates
and portals to other worlds and planes of existence. In
attempting to peer beyond the veils of infinity, they finally
built their greatest creation: the Vast Gate, designed to
pierce the boundaries of the planes. What they found
destroyed them.
Legend holds that the Vast Gate opened a rift in reality,
allowing a glimpse into a place known only as the Far
Realm. This place of alien geometry, maddening thoughts,
and toxic natural law was antithetical to mortal life. Even
as the elves tried to close the gate, strange things slipped
through, forever tying the world to the Far Realm. Although
many of these entities have surfaced over the years only to
be banished or destroyed, some remain to spread their foul
taint. The records are far from clear, but the name of Father
Llymic appears more than once. (Knowledge [the planes]
DC 28)
Creatures of the Far Realm do not obey natural laws; their
alien nature is deadly to those who come in contact with
them. However, the world can affect them in strange ways
as well. Ancient records made by the Vast Gate survivors
note that some of the Far Realm entities could not live
in the world. Some died unnatural deaths, while others
merely ceased to function, going into a sort of dormancy
until conditions would be right for them to thrive. One
such entity seemed to have an aversion to light. Although
it was paralyzed, some aspect of this creature remained able
to send illusory projections, beckoning the unwary to visit