The Flying Polyps are members of an an extraterrestrial race which were sealed inside the Earth in ancient times, long before humanity even began to evolve. One of their (numerous) prisons is situated under atlantic sea-bed, next to the city of Innsmouth.
One of the Flying Polyps encountered by Jack
History[]
"There was a terrible war between us and a race of half-polypous creatures that had been dormant until our arrival. This volume tells of this bloody period.
- Why are you showing me this now ?
They are still down there, Jack. Thriving in the darkness. They are plotting... plotting to break free of their bonds and wreak a terrible revenge."
The Polyps were one of the first races to colonize the Earth, even before the Great Race of Yith. They came form space about seven hundred and fifty million years ago to conquer the Earth. What origin they had is unknown, but they built great cities of basalt with windowless towers. They established themselves on three other planets in the Sol system, including Yaksh and Tond. They also attempted to colonize the seas, but were driven back by the Elder Things, and so were restricted to inhabit the surface world.
The arrival of the Great Race, lead to the growth of tensions and eventually war. Using their naturally given powers, the Polyps quickly defeated many armies of the Great Race. This was until the Great Race had created very advanced technologies - amongst them an energy weapon. The Polyps were forced to retreat and were eventually imprisoned behind great trapdoors. Their cities were left abandoned, perhaps as a reminder of their presence.
Eventually, the Flying Polyps would free themselves and exterminate most of the Yithians, before returning to their vaults under the seas.
It is highly plausible that many Flying Polyps still dwell in their ancient prisons right bellow the Earth surface.
Description[]
"...the basis of the fear was a horrible elder race of half-polypous, utterly alien entities which had come through space from immeasurably distant universes and had dominated the earth and three other solar planets about 600 million years ago."
- H.P. Lovecraft, "The Shadow Out Of Time"
The Polyps are horrific and utterly alien creatures. They are able to fly (even though they have no wings) and levitate. It seems that they never walk on the ground, but they always leave five-toed radial footprints. Their power derives from their manipulation of the wind, which they use mostly in battle. They are also blind, but their sense can penetrate all material obstructions.
Their body has high plasticity, and they seems to be capable to turn invisible - although this ability seems to be negated by whistling noises. They are only partially composed of matter, yet they are solid enough to be stopped by normal means. The Polyps can be harmed only by certain forms of electrical energies, such as the Yithian weapon Jack finds in the Air-filled Tunnels. They are still resistant - if not invulnerable - to all other forms of weaponry.
Role in the game :[]
A pair of Flying Polyps is found in the last level, when Jack travels through the prison for the Flying Polyps, in order to reach Mother Hydra.
Trivia :[]
- It is noteworthy that even the Deep Ones fear the polyps.
- It is unknown how exactly the trapdoors keeping the Polyps imprisoned were broken. It could be the Deep Ones (who built Y'ha-ntlei above their prison) breached them, but it could also be that they were damaged by time and other hazards.
- Their minds were so strange that the Great Race could not transfer their minds into them