The world is as it always was... sure, what you see is not necessarily what you get, as anyone ascribing to some God or another will tell you. But, most of us have never given enough care to the subtle layering of the world around us. Sure, we are vaguely aware that the industries are controlling our every choice in order to gain our money and political support, and sure, we are aware enough of it to talk about it. But we never know exactly what it is we are talking about. The level of control, a way to stop it, the nuances involved... It's all beyond us. And those are the motives of men. Once you start applying it to a higher power or higher powers you hit an even bigger wall of indefinable ignorance. Just knowing about something doesn't give you power over it.
Sometimes those higher powers in our life decide to bestow upon us interesting little dreams and wisps of temporary happiness. Food, Sex, Diesel powered carriages, Factory Jobs, Floating cities, Underground nocturnal supercultures, an undersea bubble or two. The gift of Life. Little things like that. And because of these gifts we have the illusion of opulence and longevity. Along with the assurance that our lives are lived to our own benefit, and less so for others. Happy ignorance that allows us to live without seeing the monsters hovering over our heads deciding how our fate benefits them most. Of course some groups do try to comprehend things like this. Such as the good ol' Institution.
This is a world entirely run by The Great Ones, but with unsuspecting subjects. Every once in awhile one Great One wanders into another's territory and a war starts, allowing for rips in the suspension of their subjects plausible deniability. When entire groups become aware, a Great One's go-to is to assimilate everyone in that area, turning them into horrors beyond human imagining. While no man could face a Great One and even remotely have the chance of success, the hunters job is to find and commit genocide within the assimilated areas before they are discovered by surrounding populaces and disbelief breaks again, causing more poor souls to fall victim to the awful assimilation. That is the way assimilation spreads, which is why hunters clean it up before it does. It is a thankless and unacknowledged task, but as heroic as it is deadly and mind-bending. Part of the danger to the hunter is that their task must be done without being noticed by the Great One ruling that area of the world, lest their Eldritch knowledge be seen, and they too, become monstrous.
A group of idealist researchers who believe humanities path forward is to study the Eldritch, "The Institution" while not the only secret group aware of Eldritch influence, is unique in that it does not take a religious stance in any way from the knowledge of otherworldly Gods, and instead view it from a scientific perspective. As such, their hunters' job is twofold. Contain and slay the assimilated, and collect samples for study. The better the sample, the better they are paid. But as to how the samples are used, they are ignorant, and the knowledge gleaned from their efforts only benefit them in the creation of more effective weapons given for the purpose of slaying the beasts they come in contact with.
In any group hunters are rather bound by a few constant similarities. most are, to some extent, completely mad. Most also have a burning hatred of all things Eldritch in a way that almost borders on racism. While some of the newer ones value the lives of the assimilated as what were once human beings, most have lost empathy for even normal human beings, seeing them as mere puppets and toys of the creatures above. This attitude toward the Great Ones is none more blatantly shown in some of the divisions among the hunters of The Institution alone. For instance, some openly apply assimilated source material to their own bodies to become more effective at hunting, calling themselves "High-Bloods", and these few are generally shunned by other hunters for various reasons. Some also refuse to use weapons that are not completely palpable, feeling that weapons delving into the arcane or the ethereal is just a gateway towards less savory things. Some even view it as being just as bad as the high-blood hunters.
The creatures a hunter comes across in this world are variable and uncertain. While most are not unique, the type of creature one runs into is very much determined by the sphere of influence their ward Great One happens to be biomed within. A coastal community might be more Cthulan, whereas a mountain community may show more of the faceless lizard-like characteristics of Mormo. The elimination of these communities is very difficult in small groups, nonetheless hunters, because of the strong levels of division among them, as well as their being few in number, tend to work alone. Usually the Institution in particular only sends one or two hunters per location. This is in part because of the hunters' attitudes toward eachother and also because large groups are more likely to be discovered and assimilated while in action. Sometimes hunters from other groups (usually called church-hunters because of their oft religious association) can be found within an assimilated area. Some church hunters are there to prevent the discovery of the assimilated in order to keep the Gods in silent rule over man-kind, whilst others are there to protect the assimilated and encourage them to spread by hunting down assimilation killing hunters. Especially those of the Institution, who are viewed as heretics who defile the bodies of the divinely blessed for their own selfish personal gain.
In a thankless, dark time with long nights and quiet days, the world of a hunter is lonely and self-destructive. And that is our life, simultaneously wretched and mortifying, but the only thing a hunter can know. For when man is aware of God, and knows he cannot possibly turn against his creator, the only way to find any kind of self worth is through the destruction of that God's creation. A cycle never-ending, and inescapable.
Sometimes those higher powers in our life decide to bestow upon us interesting little dreams and wisps of temporary happiness. Food, Sex, Diesel powered carriages, Factory Jobs, Floating cities, Underground nocturnal supercultures, an undersea bubble or two. The gift of Life. Little things like that. And because of these gifts we have the illusion of opulence and longevity. Along with the assurance that our lives are lived to our own benefit, and less so for others. Happy ignorance that allows us to live without seeing the monsters hovering over our heads deciding how our fate benefits them most. Of course some groups do try to comprehend things like this. Such as the good ol' Institution.
This is a world entirely run by The Great Ones, but with unsuspecting subjects. Every once in awhile one Great One wanders into another's territory and a war starts, allowing for rips in the suspension of their subjects plausible deniability. When entire groups become aware, a Great One's go-to is to assimilate everyone in that area, turning them into horrors beyond human imagining. While no man could face a Great One and even remotely have the chance of success, the hunters job is to find and commit genocide within the assimilated areas before they are discovered by surrounding populaces and disbelief breaks again, causing more poor souls to fall victim to the awful assimilation. That is the way assimilation spreads, which is why hunters clean it up before it does. It is a thankless and unacknowledged task, but as heroic as it is deadly and mind-bending. Part of the danger to the hunter is that their task must be done without being noticed by the Great One ruling that area of the world, lest their Eldritch knowledge be seen, and they too, become monstrous.
A group of idealist researchers who believe humanities path forward is to study the Eldritch, "The Institution" while not the only secret group aware of Eldritch influence, is unique in that it does not take a religious stance in any way from the knowledge of otherworldly Gods, and instead view it from a scientific perspective. As such, their hunters' job is twofold. Contain and slay the assimilated, and collect samples for study. The better the sample, the better they are paid. But as to how the samples are used, they are ignorant, and the knowledge gleaned from their efforts only benefit them in the creation of more effective weapons given for the purpose of slaying the beasts they come in contact with.
In any group hunters are rather bound by a few constant similarities. most are, to some extent, completely mad. Most also have a burning hatred of all things Eldritch in a way that almost borders on racism. While some of the newer ones value the lives of the assimilated as what were once human beings, most have lost empathy for even normal human beings, seeing them as mere puppets and toys of the creatures above. This attitude toward the Great Ones is none more blatantly shown in some of the divisions among the hunters of The Institution alone. For instance, some openly apply assimilated source material to their own bodies to become more effective at hunting, calling themselves "High-Bloods", and these few are generally shunned by other hunters for various reasons. Some also refuse to use weapons that are not completely palpable, feeling that weapons delving into the arcane or the ethereal is just a gateway towards less savory things. Some even view it as being just as bad as the high-blood hunters.
The creatures a hunter comes across in this world are variable and uncertain. While most are not unique, the type of creature one runs into is very much determined by the sphere of influence their ward Great One happens to be biomed within. A coastal community might be more Cthulan, whereas a mountain community may show more of the faceless lizard-like characteristics of Mormo. The elimination of these communities is very difficult in small groups, nonetheless hunters, because of the strong levels of division among them, as well as their being few in number, tend to work alone. Usually the Institution in particular only sends one or two hunters per location. This is in part because of the hunters' attitudes toward eachother and also because large groups are more likely to be discovered and assimilated while in action. Sometimes hunters from other groups (usually called church-hunters because of their oft religious association) can be found within an assimilated area. Some church hunters are there to prevent the discovery of the assimilated in order to keep the Gods in silent rule over man-kind, whilst others are there to protect the assimilated and encourage them to spread by hunting down assimilation killing hunters. Especially those of the Institution, who are viewed as heretics who defile the bodies of the divinely blessed for their own selfish personal gain.
In a thankless, dark time with long nights and quiet days, the world of a hunter is lonely and self-destructive. And that is our life, simultaneously wretched and mortifying, but the only thing a hunter can know. For when man is aware of God, and knows he cannot possibly turn against his creator, the only way to find any kind of self worth is through the destruction of that God's creation. A cycle never-ending, and inescapable.