Elder Mythos Scholar (Wizard Archetype)
(art by Raijin Art on Artstation)
Yesterday we talked about an archetype that occurs when a person is consumed by the knowledge of eldritch horrors. Now, we see somewon who may or may not be equally consumed, but uses that knowledge against said beings.
Indeed, Elder Mythos Scholars are mages that have deep understanding of the occult and otherworldly. They might seek this dark knowledge to better fight off cosmic horrors, risking their own minds and bodies to do so, or they may seek the unknowable for it’s own sake, learning to fight against such beings out of a need to survive these forays rather than any direct hostility towards such beings.
Such scholars have multitudes of tricks to use against such eldritch beings, but in many ways these magical secrets are much like using a drill bit as a chisel. Yes, it works, but you probably aren’t using it quite right, and are not equipped to truly make use of it in it’s true form. Such as drawing the Elder Sign and banking on the fear of otherworldly beings rather than actually being able to invoke it’s power.
Still, there are few better to ask for aid when it comes to eldritch horrors than these scholars, though their company can be eccentric and their disposition haggard.
The path of a scholar into the unknown is a lonely one, so these mages bond with an object, rather than a living creature, inscribing it with eldritch runes.
Though less adept at their schools basic power, they learn how to use that energy to make use of a variety of minor rituals to ward their minds and rationalize the unexplainable, helping them resist madness and fear. However, this is something of stopgap measure, as they typically suffer nightmares associated with the source later.
In addition to the spells themselves, these mystics fill their spellbooks with notes and words of power on how best to tailor their spells against the eldritch. Said spellbooks have less room for individual spells, but their magic is much more effective against Elder Mythos beings than more contemporary creatures as a result.
Additionally, they can use their arcane focus to spontaneously cast spells to detect and reveal eldritch beings, starting with a basic detection spell, followed by seeing through invisibility or removing it entirely, or removing other disguises and seeing through illusions and shapeshifting.
With a special concoction, these mages can also expand their mind, granting them greater power and resistance to the eldritch, but also weakening their mind. They can more easily see the otherworldly in this state, and when using magic that only targets such beings, they prove effective, though more natural targets seem to elude them.
Interested in a wizard in a cosmic horror campaign? This archetype can prove quite useful when dealing with such beings, whether you are fighting them, bargaining with them, or both. I’d recommend at least some focus on social skills to interact with these beings as well as gather information, as well as a varied spell selection with a minor focus on wards to protect the mind.
One might imagine that dealing with eldritch beings regularly might make one… estranged from normal people. If the alien mindsets of these entities don’t rub off on you, the isolation from the sane world might. Still, such characters are still capable of emotion and bonds. Again, like yesterday, try not to lean into stereotypes.
Buried deep beneath the earth, the Dark Eye remains isolated, guarded by the Leguan family, whose manor rests directly above it, where they study the eldritch to better combat it, whether it be cultists or horror attracted to the baleful gaze of the eldritch eye and its prison.
There are many necromancers among the cults of the Elder Gods, given their association with secrets that nobody was meant to know. As such, plenty of duskwalkers study the eldritch knowing that occasionally, their undead quarry will intersect with such beings. For their part, the duskwalkers don’t seem to mind so much, already feeling apart from others and attuned to they mysteries beyond mortality.
Though they are barely more than unstable brutes themselves, derghodaemons have an interest in eldritch entities, or more accurately, the effects such otherworldly entities have when they encounter mortals from terrestrial worlds. As such, occasionally such fiends will “ally” themselves with such a group, protecting them from discovery and inciting acts of senseless, traumatizing brutality from their wards. Of course, such peace, if it can be maintained at all, is tenuous, the daemon just as likely to go on a rampage through the ranks of otherworldly visitors, or their ward rightfully banishing the fiend. But for some of the most evil eldritch beings, sometimes a dark accord can be struck.
