What is the Hidden War?

By Georgie R.
Byline art by Adrián Sánchez

Cohors Cthulhu is the latest expansion to the Cthulhu universe, Modiphius is developing which started with Achtung! Cthulhu. Set in 2nd century Rome, players of Cohors Cthulhu will find themselves immersed in the Hidden Wars taking place during this time. But you might be wondering, “what exactly are the Hidden Wars?” 

The Hidden War is a series of conflicts fought in the shadows, ones in which history has seldom kept records of only hinting at them in legends passed down to each generation. These almighty conflicts have seen various factions fighting for or against the Mythos forces, often putting the very fate of humanity on the line! Whether as a pawn unknowing of the forces at work around them, or a hero destined to join the fray, humanity cannot avoid involvement in these Hidden Wars and in this blog post, we’ll discover more about them.

The Hidden Wars first started as two groups of gods who are alien in nature conflicting over their methods and goals. One known as the Outer Gods who have little regard for life and want it and all known worlds to be destroyed, and the other known as the Elder Gods who value life but only as a means to an end. Through their never-ending conflict across the cosmos, they involved Earth in their war when the empire of Hyperborea lost in their final battles against the Outer Gods and their surviving citizens took refuge on primitive Earth, taking on human forms to integrate into society. One such survivor of this was an immortal priestess called Maeren: she vowed to take revenge on her enemies that destroyed her home by using humanity as a weapon against them, actions which would leave lasting impacts in her wake. Her actions led to both the rise and fall of Atlantis and the rise of Rome in the time of Cohors Cthulhu, but they were not free of consequences as the last scions of Atlantis suffered in her wake. 

It wasn’t just the Hyperboreans who came to Earth in the aftermath of their destruction, minions and other aspects of both groups of Gods also traversed their way to Earth as the impressionable nature and beliefs of humans was too good of an opportunity to miss. Endless numbers of cults and groups have risen to do the bidding of these gods, often under the disguise of territorial gods more known to humanity than those of the Mythos. Many of these creatures have travelled across the stars, arose from the depths or emerged from the Dreamlands to come to this time and space, including the Mi-Go and Deep Ones, many who have fallen under the sway of the Mythos gods.  

The main factions seen in Cohors Cthulhu consist of Humanity, The Temperari, Fingers of Dawn and many more which we will discuss in the next blog!

You can join the Cohors Cthulhu Kickstarter now to support the release of the game!