The Great Old Ones and the independent races of the Cthulhu Mythos are incredibly ancient. Cthulhu came to earth one and a half billion years ago, and it was already ancient and powerful then. The reason that the powerful entities of the Mythos have not eradicated humanity is simply that in the meager 20 thousand years Homo sapiens has been in existence, the Great Old Ones have not yet really had time to notice us. Humanity likes to fancy itself the lord of creation, able, given sufficient time and effort, to conquer any problem through the application of logic and creativity. This, however, is a lie - a comforting delusion of a fundamentally inadequate race.

We are intrinsically inferior to the older races of the galaxy, we are incapable of even acknowledging our own inferiority. When a human mind is brought forcibly into contact with the realities of the Mythos, the usual response is either death or madness. We are simply unequipped to deal with the reality of the universe.

The Great Old Ones do not care whether our insignificant race lives or dies, they have no reason to exterminate, enslave or even notice us as more than a momentary curiosity. Our little race will be allowed to continue for a few thousand, or a few million years before it finally succumbs to extinction in the natural order of things. And that, perhaps, is the ultimate cosmic insult.

There is a definite taxonomy to Lovecraft's immortal beings.

The first order of Great Old Ones includes beings like Cthulhu, Hastur and Tsathoggua. These are entities of great power, but they are physical creatures with solid bodies - they are bound, at least to an extent, by time and space.

Nonetheless, they are immortal. They are completely immune to the ravages of time, and incredibly difficult to destroy through violence or mystical forces. They also represent a repository of supematural power which can be tapped by anyone who's willing to pay the price. In both these senses, therefore, they can be accurately characterized as "gods." Because they are, like humanity, physical creatures, the Great Old Ones can sometimes be persuaded to aid potentially useful humans, or destroy potentially annoying ones.

The next order is often called the "Outer Gods." These entities have their origin outside of our space-time continuum, and are generally not bound to a single physical form. Many of the Outer Gods are quite mindless, though some of the most powerful ones have at least the potential for sentience. Only one, however - Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos - displays anything remotely like a human personality. These entities display a vast range of power, from Azathoth the Demon Sultan, and Yog-Sothoth whose existence permeates all time and space, to the uncounted hordes of unnamed lesser gods who gibber mindlessly and eternally in Azathoth's orbit. With the sole exception of Nyarlathotep, who seems to derive perverse pleasure from tormenting humanity, the Outer Gods seem to be unconcerned with the affairs of our race - many seem to be completely unaware that we even exist. Nonetheless, the power of these creatures permeates all reality, and can be harnessed by those who know how to do so . . . again, not without cost.

Finally, there is a mysterious order of beings called the "Elder Gods." These enigmatic creatures are closest to the usual human definition of a "god as a spiritual entity corresponding to a specific primal archetype. They include Nodens, Lord of the Great Abyss, Hypos, God of Sleep, and perhaps many other beings as well that are known to human mythology. Bast, the Egyptian goddess of cats, and Neptune, the sea god, have both been reported to be among the Elder Gods. Elder Gods often appear in human form, but probably this is simply how human minds perceive them, rather than their true appearance. Some believe that the Elder Gods are at war with the Outer Gods, that they are "good" entities opposed to the "evil" of the Outer Gods. Others, however, say that the Elder Gods are largely indifferent both to humanity and to the other Great Old Ones, and if any of them ever decides to take action for the good or ill of a human being, they do so for reasons of their own which we cannot comprehend. It is generally held that the power of the Elder Gods cannot be tapped, though they can sometimes be called. They may be capable of giving certain favored individuals potent supernatural powers, hut they seldom if ever do so, and when they do, it's for reasons of their own. They seem to be a great deal more active in the Dreamlands than in the physical world.