King in Gold

The King in Gold, the Master of the Graveyard or simply Bob is the mysterious and unfathomably ancient ruler of Carcosa. Though nominally a Sin-Eater, and one of the Kerberoi, the King in Gold has accumulated enough power to be considered a veritable underworld god, a position evidenced by the many Sin-Eaters and necromancers throughout the ages who have come into his service, seduced by his unsurpassed knowledge on immortality and death-lore. Though he himself can no longer enter the mortal world without first being invoked and provided with a suitable vessel, he has done much to spread the knowledge of his existence and the means to call out to him.

The King in Gold's motivation seems to be collecting and occasionally devouring the souls and shades of promising or interesting individuals. Yet, this simple objective belies the sheer extremes he is willing to go or have his followers perpetuate to fulfil it.

Noted interactions with the mortal world:

The earliest known interaction between the King in Gold and the mortal world occurred in ancient times. An unknown tyrant of old Hellas, exiled alongside his loyal followers, founded a lost colony in what is modern-day Norway, called Corcyrna, a small underground city to serve as his haven and refugee. Yet, over time, the tyrant grew corrupted by the whispers of his Sin-Eater advisors and desiring immortality, he had a great portal built into the Underworld, a rare miracle that led directly to the realm of Carcosa. It was then the Sin-Eaters summoned the King in Gold to bargain with. The King in Gold laughed at their arrogance, devouring the Sin-Eaters and adding them to his collection of masks, while he granted the tyrant's wish, turning him into an undead husk forever bound to his tomb.

More than a milennia later, the King in Gold's existence and Corcyrna was discovered by Herkja, a Moros Mage of significant power. The witch not only convinced her werewolf associates and their kinfolk to settle close to the lost city, she set up her own lair inside the underground structure. Herkja eventually summoned the King in Gold and accomplished what the ancient Sin-Eaters could not, successfully bargaining with the entity for forbidden knowledge. This took the physical shape of a three-headed Oracle. And as per the bargain, Herkja would give herself up to the Kerberoi's collection when her time was up.

This time would have arrived in 959, but Herkja was cunning, hiding the location of the nearby village from the Oracle (who would be naturally reclaimed by the King in Gold when the appointed hour arrived), and sealing her essence into a raven that would become Mista's familiar before expiring.

Yet, her machinations were upset by the pubescent Leviathans Aloys and Drífa, who not only revealed the village's existence to the Oracle, but also journeyed to Carcosa itself. There, Aloys perished, joining the ranks of Carcosa, while Drífa was empowered, making a bargain with the ancient being, for the King in Gold desired the True Book of Revelations, a fabled artifact of the Abbot of Forlorn Tears and Thorns. Drífa acquiesced to these demands but ultimately chose to breach the agreement, destroying the book and sending only scraps to Carcosa. She also destroyed Corcyrna and the portal with it.

The King in Gold's activites in the following centuries were shrouded in mystery, but it is known that a group known as the Order of Yellow Keys apparently served him in 17th Century Ireland.

In 1873-1874, the King in Gold's existence was uncovered by William Astley while he was doing research in Southampton. The Sin-Eater successfully summoned the creature, even providing him with a succession of corpse-vessels to reside in. The King in Gold took great interest in the Invictus of Southampton, first slaying them in a single night and forcing them into a spectral performance, then sending his new apprentice to collect them when he tired of theater. It was also during this time that he met Alexander Green, sparing the vampire on the condition of him revealing everything he knew about the Invictus of Portsmouth. Later on, he encountered the rest of the Krewe, and made a pact with them: bring him the essence of certain vampires he found intriguing (Stheno, Claudius and Silvana Fiorella) and he would reveal the secrets of immortality to them.

The Krewe did as he bid, and he in turn provided William Astley with the rituals necessary to obtain everlasting life. but feeling unappreciated, the Sin-Eater decided to leave his Krewe to dry and took the notes with him into the Underworld, prompting a long chase by the rest of the group.

The Krewe later on went to Carcosa, where they found a blinded and mutilated William Astley. Due to breaking the Old Laws of the realm, they were captured by the Servants of Yellow, their faces taken. Eli Ward and Irina Saramova were consumed by the King in Gold, adding their personalities to the many the entity possessed. Hagen Richter and Abigail N. O'Malley chose to escape the realm with William and their recaptured faces, but Olivia Smith chose to make a new pact with the entity, becoming his guest and apprentice.

Twenty years later, a cult serving the King in Gold was active in Ireland, called the Children of Carcosa.