Night-Gaunt

""Out of what crypt they crawl, I cannot tell, but every night I see the rubbery things, black, horned, and slender, with membranous wings, they come in legions on the north wind’s swell with obscene clutch that titillates and stings, snatching me off on monstrous voyagings to grey worlds hidden deep in nightmare’s well.Over the jagged peaks of Thok they sweep, heedless of all the cries I try to make, and down the nether pits to that foul lake Where the puffed shoggoths splash in doubtful sleep. But ho! If only they would make some sound, or wear a face where faces should be found!""

- H. P. Lovecraft "Fungi From Yuggoth" (1929)

Night Gaunts are a race of black devil-like entities with no face and reside in the extradimensional realm of the Dreamlands.

While a lot of the Night Gaunts' history in terms of their origin and intentions remains mysterious, what is known about them is that the Night Gaunts thrive in various areas in the universe including the extinct volcano Ngranek in the Dreamlands. Some Night Gaunts serve under the command of the Elder God Nodens (a.k.a. the Lord of the Great Abyss), while others obey the bidding of the Outer God Yibb-Tstll.

One distinguishing feature of the Night Gaunts are their lack of a face. Since they are capable of surviving without a mouth or nostrils, they are unable to breath, speak, or even eat, which adds to how the Night Gaunts remain unstintingly silent, even when in motion. The Night Gaunts are often found with various other Night Gaunts whether on the ground or in the sky where they fly in flocks and prefer not to fly over water for reasons unknown.

Appearances

 * "The Horror in the Museum", by (1933)
 * The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath, by H. P. Lovecraft (1943)
 * "The Descent into the Abyss", by Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith (1980)