Family: Divine/????
Location: Unknown
Disposition: Dramatic, Possibly Mad
Diet: Food of the Gods
Hastur is perhaps one of the most mysterious of the Dea Monstrum. No established temples are known, although worship is perhaps widespread. The most open about worshipping her though are the Jabberwocks of Wonderland. When the denizens of Wonderland have enough sense to think about their gods, often they claim Hastur as their own, but the Jabberwocks are the only ones who actually do any organized duties, if one can call Wonderland densizens organized.
Why Jabberwocks organized the Hastur Faith is unknown. Perhaps due to Hastur’s own twisted paths, the twisted form of the Jabberwocks resonated with her and the Hastur Faith was born. Hastur’s Faith doesn’t make sense and the only real solid information connecting to it is the domain of the arts, primarily the stage and acting. That’s where the most solid information about Hastur comes from, primarily from a play supposedly written by her or a chosen avatar called The King in Yellow.
What Hastur actually looks like is a mystery since any and all accounts vary. Even the Jabberwocks who revere her can’t seem to pin down a look. Some say she appears a flying black Jabberwock-like being with multiple tendrils as opposed to the Jabberwocks’ two. This may explain Jabberwocks being the most devout of all races that worship Hastur. Others say she is a humanoid beauty covered in yellow silk who wanders among the masses. Others even claim she shares a strong resemblance to her half-sister Cthulhu, while some say she has no form at all, but merely shifts between them to suit her mad fancy for the day. Considering the nature of the Jabberwocks and Wonderland in general, just having this much information is an achievement.
Although The Order would claim that Hastur’s domain is madness, the truth is her domain more rests in the arts, as previously stated with a minor domain in the air. Many practitioners of Hastur Faith are prominent artists, the most well-known being actors, directors, or other people who take part in stage plays. Most of Hastur’s will seems to be seen through plays, especially those written by her followers. Many times she has appeared in one of her guises at showings of plays written by her followers and has rewarded them for a job well done, either through love or recruitment into her priestesses.
Finding a follower of Hastur Faith is easy. All of her dedicated followers, somewhere, in some form, have the symbol of their faith either stitched into their clothing, as a tattoo, or wearing it in a medallion. The symbol is yellow, appearing like tentacles or tails coming from a central eye. All followers are able to recognize each other and in religious greetings, often ask ‘Have you seen the Yellow Sign?’ followed by an affirmative. Another aspect to the faith is that no one can say Hastur’s name. Not for a malicious reason, but the followers consider it a game since saying Hastur’s name gets her attention. So her followers caller her ‘King in Yellow’ or the ‘Unnamed One’ until they have a need for her attention, usually in the form of a premier of a play written in her honor or unveiling a painting made after her. To do so otherwise would invite disappointment as when her followers summon her, it usually has a pleasant surprise.
Probably her most prolific act is creating the play The King in Yellow. They play itself seems innocent in the first act, looking rather mundane and mildly entertaining. In the second act, no one knows what it’s about since anyone who watches, acts, or even reads the play that far outside of learning their lines is driven mad with lust. Women madly jump their husbands or whatever men strike their fancy and fornicate right there in the theatre. Actors, crew, and audience, none were immune. As everyone dropped into further debauchery, all the women transformed into mamono and their men into incubi. Orgies broke out in the streets and afterwards the town was converted into a mamono village, once everyone came out of their hazes.
No one was sure exactly what they saw in the second act. All they could say was that it showed some magnificent truth in the nature of love, lust, and beauty that they couldn’t hold themselves back and had to give into their true instincts as men and women of nature. The Order quickly tried to purge the play, destroying every copy of the script they could find, but the only ones known to exist have vanished, only to reappear in other towns or in the possession of prominent mamono figures. It is said that the Demon Lord herself has the play presented to her court every month and it takes a week for everyone to calm down. The play itself is also extremely popular in Wonderland. Although, all of the mamono who view it say that the second act cannot be explained with any justice and must be experienced to understand.
It is believed that Hastur has her daughters travel with copies of the play to hand to playwriters who seek something new to elevate their names. These Queens in Yellow are ruthlessly hunted by The Order to keep the play from transforming another town, but so far any leads keep drying up, no doubt due to Hastur’s manipulations. Still, every Order territory diligently searches any artist or actor who crosses their borders, intent on keeping The King in Yellow out of their towns.
More of the Dea Monstrum: http://monstergirlencyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Thread:715347