Chalidryte

A Chalidryte emerging from a space-time portal.

A writhing mass of tentacles crushed our guy...? I'm gonna need a drink for this one.

Vespid Heterodonyx, in slight disbelief of Rhopalix's murderers.

The Chalidrytes (nicknamed the Old Gods and called Gatekeepers by the Agnaren and other inhabitants of T'rthrium) were sapient swarming masses of tentacles that once inhabited Universe:526F6F74 before its destruction.

Avaene Herral and Rhopalix briefly encountered the Chalidrytes after being thrown through space and time by a jury-rigged warp gate. Rhopalix did not survive the encounter, but Avaene was returned to the Root Universe relatively unscathed.

History

The Chalidrytes, despite being known as "Old Gods," were little better than tools to be used by the Agnaren in their attempted invasion of the Root Universe. The first Chalidryte emergence into BR-45327/B was before recorded history, when the Agnaren reached into the universe to tear open the CM/XI Boundary to serve as a bridge for the Chalidrytes to cross so they could begin the work of preparing the universe for their masters' arrival. The Kraniir Singularities, who found the prospect of directly confronting the Agnaren too much of a gamble, retrofitted the Abiogenesis with weapons capable of combating the Chalidrytes and technology capable of manipulating the fabric of space and time as a means of closing the Boundary. For a time, this worked in halting Chalidryte incursions, but the Agnaren proved persistent as they continually re-opened the Boundary in numerous attempts to resume their invasion. The Agnaren were ultimately stifled for aeons to come when the Kraniir implemented the Veil of Webs, a tangle of contradictory timelines that confused the Agnaren into an inert state, preventing them from utilizing the Boundary to send Chalidryte invaders.

The Chalidrytes would not emerge into the Root Universe again until 986 PRE, when the lost Imperial warship, Eternal Solace, reappeared in orbit around the CM/XI Boundary. The Chalidrytes were able to send extra-universal messages to the subconscious of the ship's Bio-AI, Symphoda, who was driven mad by their whispers. She was driven to lure Imperial forces to the Boundary as part of the Agnaren's declaration of invasion upon the Root Universe. Imperial interceptors were sent to investigate, triggering the emergence of a Chalidryte's tentacles through the portal's event horizon, marking the beginning of the Boundary Cataclysm. This would later spur Zaarthren into explaining the prehistoric conflict between the Kraniir and the Agnaren to Syndicate officials, revealing that the Agnaren had finally comprehended the Veil of Webs and were able to use a Chalidryte to pierce through via once again utilizing the CM/XI Boundary.

The Syndicate committed to fending off the Chalidryte incursions, but their weapons proved ineffectual against the near-supernatural healing factor of Chalidryte flesh. As such, Syndicate operatives both worked with Zaarthren to retrieve the Abiogenesis from Lower Singularium as well as develop new technology capable of harming the Chalidrytes. The former proved more immediately successful for the Battle of the Boundary, while the latter eventually resulted in an Imperial-led clandestine raid on the former Qualdron Alignment world of Symonah, which had large stores of the compound needed to create an effective weapon to be used against the Chalidrytes. A functional prototype was created after the Battle of the Boundary and tested on one of the Chalidryte tentacles protruding from the CM/XI Boundary's event horizon. While successful in disintegrating a tentacle, this spurred the Chalidryte into a full emergence, accelerating the Boundary Cataclysm to its conclusion. Ultimately, the Chalidrytes were recalled to their home universe by the Agnaren when Sovereign Commander Nikanicreon Dara'croix of the Ashderian Regime ultimately talked down from their desire to live eternally. The Agnaren ceased their invasion attempts, effectively perishing alongside the Chalidrytes as their past universe collapsed into the first Singularity, Zaarthren.

Physiology

The Chalidrytes are highly regenerative creatures; a culture of seemingly-dead Chalidryte tissue collected by the Empire of Namine for analysis came back to life and fused to the large metal Petri dish in which it was being studied. Their flesh secreted a compound of unknown structure that allowed them to pass through the event horizon of the CM/XI Boundary unharmed.

Trivia

• The appearance and nickname of the Chalidrytes are a reference to H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos.
• The Chalidrytes were named for Chalidryn, a dead language that was etched onto tablets found discarded from the CM/XI Boundary.
• Thegalet coined the name "Chalidryte," saying:

That aside, "tentacle monster" is such an ugly name. Rhopalix called them the "Old Gods." Well, I'm not fuckin' worshiping their slimy asses, so I'm gonna name them after their language: "Chalidryte." Callin' 'em "Chalidrytes."

Thegalet v1.09 Rendition 2