Chittaks and Zoogs

The world of the Cthulhu Mythos can be a bleak place. Monsters from beyond space and time that leave their victims paralyzed with fear or worse are the hallmark of Lovecraft's stories. There aren't many happy endings in Lovecraft's tales of terror. That the cybercriminal Azathoth identifies with Lovecraft is not an encouraging sign for the White Collar team. But Diana and her fellow plotters of the Arkham Round Table are not about to let Azathoth and his monsters have their way. Is it possible to write optimistic stories within the realm of the Cthulhu Mythos? They're determined to give it their best shot.

Warning for spoilers for the Arkham Files series

It boils down to a matter of chittaks and zoogs. Zoogs are a Lovecraft creation. Not very lovable in his description, they like to prey on kittens and because of this lamentable trait have become the mortal enemies of cats. Lovecraft describes them as being small brown furtive creatures. He divulges that they produce moon-tree wine from the sap of the moon tree. The Round Table elaborated on these elements. In Arkham Files, zoogs act as spies for Azathoth.

Chittaks are original to the Arkham Round Table. Small animals resembling bush babies, chittaks have large golden eyes and silver fur with emerald green spots. Lavinia can communicate with them. Like her, they belong not to the world of horror but to science fiction. In Chapter 3 of The Crypt, it is clear that Lavinia, a mysterious man named Phineas, and her friends, the chittaks, are all native to the planet Merope. An additional planet, Celaeno, is also referenced. Neal has been dreaming of both worlds and transferred his dream-visions to paintings. In Chapter 3 of The Crypt, Lavinia mentions that Neal has Celaenian DNA, but doesn't reveal how he obtained it. In addition, she discloses that an alien species named the Elnath colonized Earth. Presumably this was in the distant past since no record of their occupation has yet been discovered.

Most importantly, she refers to Azathoth as a member of another alien race, the Ymar. In Lovecraft's stories, Azathoth and his fellow deities, Cthulhu and Nyarlathotep, are called Outer Gods. But the Arkham Round Table has demoted them. No longer supernatural monsters, they are representatives of another alien species. Not much more is known about the Ymar at this point except that the Meropians are their enemy.

In The Crypt, Sara wishes that not all the alien creatures they encountered were hostile. If she only knew, her wish has already come true.

The Crypt on Archive of Our Own
The Crypt on FanFiction