Yugg

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The Yuggs (or Yuggya) are fictional creatures in the Cthulhu Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. The beings were created by Lin Carter and first appeared in his short story "Out of the Ages".

Contents

Description

In particular it be those of the minions that inhabit the noisome depths beneath the Earth's crust that lure men to their dreadful service through promise of wealth; for all the ore and riches of the world be theirs to dispense, aye, mines of gold and great heaps of inestimable gems. Of these, the Yuggs, whose name the Scribe rendereth as the Worms of the Earth, are by far the most to be feared, for it is said there be many a rich and wealthy man bestriding the proud ways of the world today, the secret of whose wealth lies in acursed treasure brought to his feet by the immense and loathsome, the white and slimy Yuggs, whereby to purchase his service to their Cause, to the utter and most damnable betrayal of humankind, and the imperilment of the very Earth.
—excerpt from John Dee's translation of the Necronomicon

Yuggs resemble enormous white flatworms, but may be extraterrestrial in origin. They have unusual characteristics, such as the ability to shoot organic darts into humans to transmit genetic information. Though Yuggs can exist anywhere, they prefer to spend most of their time burrowing beneath the earth's crust. Yuggs sometimes bestow great wealth to humans in exchange for their cooperation and for regular sacrifices.

Ubb

Like a great, glistening mass of putrid whitish jelly was Father Ubb, and his squat and quivering trunk supported naught but a swollen and rounded head wherein drooled and quivered ever a pink-rimmed, obscene orifice lined with triple rows of adamantine fangs.
—Lin Carter, "The Thing in the Pit"

Ubb (or Ub-Bg'zth), known as The Father of Worms, is the leader of the Yuggs and resembles an exceptionally large member of the race. Ubb and the Yuggs seek to free their masters, Ythogtha and Zoth-Ommog, both imprisoned by the Elder Gods, according to the version Carter put forth. According to other views, Zoth-Ommog is a title (Sat Om Aga) referring to a "High Priest of the Sat and the Om" and Ythogtha is the Yuggya word for a punishing type of angel or seraphim.

Yuggya

Yuggya is the name given to the progeny of a mating between a Yugg and Deep One of the fish-like variety. The resulting being has the outward appearance of a human, however it's not remotely human but has the characteristics of cnidarians, squids, and insects. Although its mind is alien to normal human thoughts or emotions, a yuggya is nonetheless empathic and can use this ability to exploit the emotional weaknesses of its adversaries.

The Yuggya race is detailed and appears in the novel Other Nations by T.P. Marsh. The term Ub-Bg-zth also appears in his novel. Both the Yuggs and Yuggya (Carter and Marsh) are direct offspring of Ubb.

(Note: The term "Yuggya" can also be used as the plural for "Yugg").

Notes

  1. ^ Carter, "The Winfield Heritance" (1981). For the record, this quote is from a fictitious translation by John Dee.

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References

—"The Thing in the Pit" (1980). Ibid.
—"The Winfield Heritance" (1981). Ibid.
—"Yuggs", pp. 350–51. Ibid.
—"Yuggya", p. 351. Ibid.
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