few hundred fire vampires to form, but is oddly less maintain control over the individual fire vampire commonly encountered than Cthugha Perhaps this minds that make up it whole, but they tug on mortal is due to Cthugha’s substantially greater power and minds as well All observers risk mental effects from its efficacy, making its summoning worth the extra effort presence, which happen in three stages A World in Flames When Cthugha forms or is awakened, it constantly spits forth and reabsorbs individual fire vampires The temperature of the area increases drastically and steadily until mortal life is no longer possible This may take several minutes or hours, depending on the ambient weather and temperature Typically, Cthugha remains in place until a targeted site is completely destroyed Cthugha in Combat First, whether or not the viewer is directly looking at Cthugha, its shapes are visible within the minds and eyes of all those who are present Cthugha is impossible to ignore entirely Second, a victim becomes enthralled and cannot take its eyes off Cthugha, even to attack The victim's speech is interspersed with alien comments and ideas straight from the gestalt’s collective mind These can sometimes be useful in guessing what Cthugha is planning or doing, but also indicate the victim is slipping into Cthugha's mental snare Cthugha lashes out with fiery darts A touch from one Third, if the victim falls further under Cthugha's not only causes damage but also sets the victim ablaze influence, the victim’s mind is absorbed into Cthugha’s Mental Capture The constantly shifting forms that Cthugha takes are necessary for maintaining its gestalt It is possible for a trained viewer to interpret Cthugha’s current thinking and state of mind by observing the undulating shapes it spirals into second by second An unfortunate side effect is that the changing forms of Cthugha not only gestalt permanently The victim now acts only as part of Cthugha, carrying out the wishes of the fire vampires When Cthugha departs, the victim’s body falls limp and mindless to the ground The mind will not be freed until Cthugha’s current form is dissolved by the vampires or destroyed, which could take hours, days, years, or even centuries to accomplish “Presently through the thin gloomy red vapour I saw something that killed the hope in me and gave me a horrible despair; for the indigo circle, the final barrier of the defense, was being slowly lifted into the air I could see its dreadful snout rising upwards out of the cloud.” —William Hope Hodgson, The Hog 230