Of all the mighty powers called the Great Old Ones,
only one seems to take consistent and attentive
interest in humanity: Nyarlathotep, the so-called
soul and messenger of the Outer Gods. Nyarlathotep
wears uncounted guises to offer corrosive wisdom and
power. One particularly bloodthirsty avatar appeared
to prehistoric tribes in the Caucasus Mountains in
today’s southwest Armenia, where it taught them to
create lethally sharp knives and arrowheads from
chips of obsidian and to use them in slaughter and
sacrifice. The earliest known records of this cruel god
came in ancient Assyria, where it was worshipped as
Shagash, god of slaughter. Its cultists called it Abim
Anuntum, the Father of War.

Each chip and flake struck away in creating lethal
obsidian weapons held a grain of the consciousness
of the Father of War. Once enough chips accumulated,
they moved of their own volition, imbued with its
spirit. The Father of War appears by night as a whirlwind
of razor-sharp obsidian shards. It never stirs
by day. It flays the skin off human beings who have
the hubris to encounter it, all except those it accepts
as worshippers.