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The Other Gods - H. Lovecraft

The Other Gods

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Barzai the Wise, a renowned high priest and prophetic scholar, dedicated his life to unraveling the mystical knowledge of the celestial deities known as the "gods of earth". Not satisfied with merely studying their enigmatic existence from afar, Barzai embarked on a daring journey alongside his young and devoted disciple, Atal.

Their arduous quest led them to the formidable mountain of Hatheg-Kla, where legend had it that the secrets of the gods' true nature could be unveiled. With unwavering determination, Barzai and Atal advanced, braving treacherous terrain and fierce elements, in pursuit of uncovering the sacred truths that lay beyond.

Upon finally reaching the summit, Barzai's heart swelled with anticipation, expecting to bask in the divine presence of the "gods of the earth". However, his euphoria soon turned to dread as he discovered that the celestial entities were not alone. There, overlooking the sacred domain, stood the "other gods" – the formidable deities of the outer hells, serving as guardians to the feeble gods of earth.

Overwhelmed by the chilling realization that the gods he had revered were under the watchful eye of these sinister beings, Atal's instinct for self-preservation took hold, and he fled the scene. Barzai, on the other hand, chose to confront the undying darkness that lay before him.

The fate of Barzai remains shrouded in mystery, as he ventured further into the depths of the enigmatic abyss, never to be seen again. Legends and whispers echo through the ages, recounting the tale of a learned sage who sacrificed everything in his pursuit of unfathomable knowledge and the encounter with the ethereal forces that govern the very fabric of our existence.

Let this tale serve as a reminder that the path of enlightenment is fraught with peril, for true wisdom often demands confronting the unknown and embracing the shadows that lurk in the corners of our universe, where the feeble gods of earth are bound by the ever-watchful gaze of the otherworldly guardians.

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The Other Gods

Atop the tallest of earth’s peaks dwell the gods of earth, and suffer no man to tell that he hath looked upon them. Lesser peaks they once inhabited; but ever the men from the plains would scale the slopes of rock and snow, driving the gods to higher and higher mountains till now only the last remains. When they left their older peaks they took with them all signs of themselves; save once, it is said, when they left a carven image on the face of the mountain which they called Ngranek.

But now they have betaken themselves to unknown Kadath in the cold waste where no man treads, and are grown stern, having no higher peak whereto to flee at the coming of men. They are grown stern, and where once they suffered men to displace them, they now forbid men to come; or coming, to depart. It is well for men that they know not of Kadath in the cold waste; else they would seek injudiciously to scale it.

Sometimes when earth’s gods are homesick they visit in the still of the night the peaks where once they dwelt, and weep softly as they try to play in the olden way on remembered slopes. Men have felt the tears of the gods on white-capped Thurai, though they have thought it rain; and have heard the sighs of the gods in the plaintive dawn-winds of Lerion. In cloud-ships the gods are wont to travel, and wise cotters have legends that keep them from certain high peaks at night when it is cloudy, for the gods are not lenient as of old.

In Ulthar, which lies beyond the river Skai, once dwelt an old man avid to behold the gods of earth; a man deeply learned in the seven cryptical books of earth, and familiar with the Pnakotic Manuscripts of distant and frozen Lomar. His name was Barzai the Wise, and the villagers tell of how he went up a mountain on the night of the strange eclipse.

Barzai knew so much of the gods that he could tell of their comings and goings, and guessed so many of their secrets that he was deemed half a god himself. It was he who wisely advised the burgesses of Ulthar when they passed their remarkable law against the slaying of cats, and who first told the young priest Atal where it is that black cats go at midnight on St. John’s Eve. Barzai was learned in the lore of the earth’s gods, and had gained a desire to look upon their faces. He believed that his great secret knowledge of gods could shield him from their wrath, so resolved to go up to the summit of high and rocky Hatheg-Kla on a night when he knew the gods would be there.

Hatheg-Kla is far in the stony desert beyond Hatheg, for which it is named, and rises like a rock statue in a silent temple. Around its peak the mists play always mournfully, for mists are the memories of the gods, and the gods loved Hatheg-Kla when they dwelt upon it in the old days. Often the gods of earth visit Hatheg-Kla in their ships of clouds, casting pale vapors over the slopes as they dance reminiscently on the summit under a clear moon. The villagers of Hatheg say it is ill to climb the Hatheg-Kla at any time, and deadly to climb it by night when pale vapors hide the summit and the moon; but Barzai heeded them not when he came from neighboring Ulthar with the young priest Atal, who was his disciple. Atal was only the son of an innkeeper, and was sometimes afraid; but Barzai’s father had been a landgrave who dwelt in an ancient castle, so he had no common superstition in his blood, and only laughed at the fearful cotters.

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