The Fall of Aber and the Summoning of Hastur
The Kingdom of Aber was once a proud and thriving realm, a beacon of culture and unity in a world beset by strife. Spanning diverse landscapes, its cities and towns were spread across verdant plains, rolling hills, and the imposing Morovian Mountains to the east. These mountains not only formed the natural barrier between Aber and the neighboring Queendom of Lysar but also became the site of the kingdom’s last, desperate battle. What had once been a realm of prosperity and diversity—a land where humans, dwarves, and elves coexisted in harmony—was reduced to ash and ruin, not by the hand of any mortal foe, but by the summoning of an unspeakable horror: Hastur, the Great Old One.
The Zombie Apocalypse and the Brotherhood of the Black Lotus
The apocalypse that led to Aber’s demise was not one of war between nations, but an insidious, unrelenting plague of undeath. As the dead began to rise, what started as isolated incidents soon spiraled into a full-blown catastrophe. The once-thriving cities of Aber turned into graveyards, their streets filled with shambling corpses, animated by dark magic that no one could explain. At first, the living fought back with desperate bravery. But the zombie apocalypse was not like other wars—there was no reasoning with the enemy, no diplomacy to stop the relentless tide of undeath.
As the kingdom's forces faltered, hope began to slip away. That was when the Brotherhood of the Black Lotus, a secretive cult of arcane scholars and sorcerers, emerged with a plan. They sought to summon aid from beyond the stars, to call forth powerful beings from the far reaches of the cosmos who could help Aber turn the tide against the undead scourge. The Brotherhood’s methods, however, were fraught with danger. Their knowledge of the eldritch was incomplete, and their arrogance led them to invoke forces far beyond their control.
It was in the heart of the Morovian Mountains, as the undead hordes bore down on Aber's last remaining strongholds, that the Brotherhood enacted their final, desperate ritual. They sought the intervention of the Elder Gods, hoping to draw upon their ancient might. But something went terribly wrong. Instead of summoning the benevolent deities they had hoped for, their ritual pierced the veil of reality, and from the dark beyond came a being of unimaginable power: Hastur, the Unspeakable.
The Summoning of Hastur
Hastur, one of the Great Old Ones, a spawn of the cosmic entity Yog-Sothoth and half-brother to the dreaded Cthulhu, is a creature of pure malevolence and madness. His true form is amorphous, a shifting mass of eldritch flesh and tentacles, vaguely octopoid in appearance but constantly shifting and changing as if reality itself could not fully contain his essence. Hastur's presence is a corruption of the very fabric of existence, and his summoning marked the final death knell of Aber.
As the cultists chanted their final incantations, a rift opened in the sky above the Morovian Mountains. From this tear in the fabric of reality, Hastur descended, his vast form blotting out the sun. The cultists were the first to fall, their minds shattered as they beheld the terror they had unwittingly unleashed. Hastur's eldritch power rippled across the mountains, warping the landscape itself. His appearance signaled not salvation but destruction—an obliteration of everything Aber had once been.
The undead were obliterated in an instant, consumed by Hastur’s presence. But so too were Aber's defenders. The few who survived the initial onslaught were driven mad, their minds unraveling as they gazed upon the Unspeakable One. Entire cities were reduced to rubble as Hastur’s dark influence spread like a stain across the land. Aber’s once-mighty leadership crumbled beneath the weight of the cosmic horror that now walked its lands.
Hastur's War on the Mi-Go and the Elder Gods
In this incarnation, Hastur appeared as a direct enemy of the Elder Gods—beings of great power who had long stood against the darker forces of the cosmos. The Mi-Go, alien beings who serve the Elder Gods, were among those who opposed Hastur. These strange, insectoid creatures were known to traverse the stars, and though they are themselves terrifying to mortals, they paled in comparison to the Great Old One. When Hastur was summoned to Aber, any Mi-Go who sought to intervene were ruthlessly attacked and destroyed on sight, their alien technologies and sorceries no match for Hastur's eldritch might.
Though the Mi-Go attempted to warn the cultists of the dangers of their actions, it was too late. Hastur had arrived, and his war against the Elder Gods played out in small part on the dying remnants of Aber. The skies above the kingdom turned black as Hastur's form blotted out the heavens. His very presence warped reality, and those who survived long enough to witness the Mi-Go's destruction spoke of flashes of incomprehensible power as Hastur tore through the alien ranks, scattering their ships like leaves in a storm.
The Aftermath: Aber in Ruin
By the time Hastur’s wrath subsided, there was nothing left of the Kingdom of Aber. Its cities lay in ruins, its leadership dead or driven mad, and its once-verdant landscape twisted and scorched. Those who had not succumbed to madness wandered the countryside as broken shells of their former selves. The Brotherhood of the Black Lotus, the cult that had summoned Hastur, was utterly annihilated, and their name became synonymous with ruin.
Aber was no more, and the surviving lands spoke in hushed tones of the terror that had descended upon the Morovian Mountains. Even the Queendom of Lysar, Aber’s neighbor to the east, dared not venture into the cursed lands where Hastur had walked. The kingdom’s fall became a cautionary tale of hubris and the dangers of meddling with powers beyond mortal comprehension.
In the centuries that followed, the ruins of Aber became a desolate, haunted place. The few explorers brave—or foolish—enough to venture into the Morovian Mountains report seeing strange, shifting shadows on the horizon and hearing whispers carried on the wind. Some claim that Hastur’s influence still lingers there, a dark stain on the land that can never be cleansed.
Legacy of Aber and Hastur’s Influence
Hastur’s summoning marked not just the end of Aber, but the beginning of his pervasive influence in the region. Cults devoted to the Unspeakable One began to sprout in the shadows, worshiping the eldritch power that had been unleashed. Though Hastur himself had withdrawn back into the cosmic ether, his touch remained, subtly warping the minds of those who delved too deep into Aber’s ruins or attempted to study the arcane sigils left in his wake.
The tale of Aber’s fall serves as a grim warning—a reminder of what can happen when mortals reach too far into the void, seeking answers from the darkness. The Great Old One slumbers once more, but his influence persists, and those who remember the terror of Hastur know that he is never truly gone.