The Nameless One
by Geoff Gander"In the deepest vault of Pandius there is a chamber, which only the reigning Hierarchs may enter. No one in that Immortal city knows who carved it out of the living rock, or when, or for what purpose. Rumours abound, of course, as would be the case in mortal realms: The chamber contains relics of the Old Ones; it contains an artefact that shows what the future will ultimately bring, despite Immortal manipulations; it is a private meeting room where the Hierarchs discuss their true plans."
None of these rumours are true.
The chamber is empty save for a chair, upon which sits a hunched figure, almost lost in a shapeless grey hooded robe. The figure is always in shadow, its form indistinct and its face never visible. At times the figure seems as insignificant as a mortal, and other times one receives the impression that it somehow occupies the entire chamber - and more. For the most part the figure sits silently, but sometimes it mutters quietly to itself, and on rare occasions it will converse with visitors. Although it does not appear to be restrained in any way, it never leaves its chair.
Were the hunched figure known to all the inhabitants of Pandius, there would be an uproar, for it is an Outer Being - or at least an aspect of one. Its name is unknown to those who visit It, and there is no record of It anywhere in the city. No existing Immortal who is aware of It knows when It was brought to Pandius, or by whom; although the Hierarchs privately suspect that It was brought there by the Old Ones in ages past, perhaps during the titanic battle against the Outer Beings at the dawn of creation.
Their suspicion is correct. In ages past, during the cosmic battle between the Old Ones and the Outer Beings for supremacy over the multiverse, there was a period where the Old Ones were in retreat. They had underestimated Their foes, and as a result Their decimated legions had been thrown back from over a thousand worlds, and Their very control over the key nexus points of magical energy was threatened. In this perilous time, when all seemed lost, a lone Outer Being contacted the Old Ones, and offered Them many of the secrets of Its unspeakable kin, and the assistance of Its own legions, in exchange for mercy. The Old Ones were shocked, for They had all but given up hope of victory, but soon realised that It possessed a level of prescience unknown even to Them. They asked It why It would do such a thing, and Its response was remembered by all present, and passed down through the ages: "I do this thing because even I may not stand against the march of Time."
The deal was made, and with the knowledge imparted by the Outer Being, who would not give Its name, the tide of battle turned. The Outer Beings were ultimately defeated and imprisoned in other dimensions; and Their followers were for the most part destroyed, or banished. Due to the nature of the magics used by the Old Ones to banish Their foes, which even They could not fully control, the Nameless One would have been imprisoned as well; but the deal was honoured, and the greater part of Its essence was allowed to stay on the Prime Plane, but in doing so It was reduced in power. Since that time, It has rested in the secret chamber, above which the great city of Pandius was eventually built.
It is said by those who know of It that the Nameless One is unmatched in prescience - that It in fact created the talent in ages past. They say that It sees time as it truly is, as it will ultimately be, and that only It truly knows what the end of time will bring. Those who know of It visit the Nameless One in the hopes of receiving some cryptic message that will reveal some hidden truth, or some insight that will show them what will really come to pass. Sometimes they find what they seek, other times they are confronted with unearthly silence, or by strange mutterings that are beyond comprehension.