The Innsmouth Tarot, Part 4 - The Suit of Flames

The chapbooks from which we derive these images are remnants of a past tradition that still survives to this day. In the Folklore field study faculty at Miskatonic University now reside several important documents which have allowed us to piece together the body of lore which comprises the Innsmouth Tarot. That knowledge lives on in the many commonplace books which the Folklore unit has compiled, as well as the various chapbooks which have been published from them.

Commonplace books are journals which their authors have kept, usually with a particular focus. A tradition which has been largely abandoned in recent years, these journals were once a widespread practice which saw various and quite personal pieces of knowledge “scrapbooked” together for a specific purpose. Often this lore was of a medical or herbal knowledge, focussed upon the study of treatments of animal or human health. In former times many of these personal journals became the focus of witch-hunts which saw their authors burnt at the stake

Occasionally, these journals were published, so as to spread their knowledge to a wider audience. These publications were in the form of chapbooks – low-cost publications, targeted at a particular audience. The best known of these kinds of publications are “Le Dragon Rouge” and “La Poule Noire”, magical grimoires which contained the essence of various previous compilers’ observations about many magical procedures. However, chapbooks are not solely repositories for arcane lore, and the tradition of chapbook production – and its modern iteration of “zines” – continues today.

Many of these kinds of documents are extant in the New England folk nexus and can still be purchased for a handful of change from various local sources - often an element of teenage “coming of age” rituals. It is these holdovers from ancient days which have enabled us to compile the tarot deck which we are now able to present. Of particular interest is the folklore unit’s copy of the 1865 “Admiral Southwick” chapbook, a lunar almanac which has the complete listing of the Shadow suit on its back cover: without this vital document, we would have had to resort to creating that entire suit almost from nothing, without any kind of direction. This is a great discovery indeed.

This instalment covers the second suit in the tarot deck, that of Flames. Unlike the Shadows suit, extant cards and associated information have survived and references to these sources are included where appropriate.

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The suit of Flames oversees the spiritual aspects of life. It is the equivalent of the batons, or club suit, of other card decks. The court cards comprise various identities from the Cthulhu Cult legends as does the Shadows suit, and the number cards all have their own individual meanings.

Unlike the Shadows suit, there remain extant cards in the sets that have been recovered. Because of this, known cards can be reproduced in new forms and not merely speculated upon. The grimoires which have been recovered speak of the various cards and so they can be regenerated with a fair degree of accuracy; where no cards exist and no reference can be found, we have had to extrapolate upon the rest of the information that we have to hand.

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The Ace of Flames

The suit of Flames represents the powers of the spirit and the Ace indicates those powers at their highest aspect. This card stands for creation, birth and beginnings of all kinds. It represents new determination or enterprise, invention, fortune, or an inheritance. When inverted it indicates a false start, a cloudy outlook, or an unrealised goal; it can stand for decadence, an empty existence or vexation.

The Ace of Flames is extant in the Kester Library card set and shows the method whereby this new set of cards indicates the suit of each Lesser Arcana image. Shadows are indicated by a single dot under the card’s number; Flames are shown by two dots; three dots signifies a Storms card, while four dots stands for a Stones suit card. It’s pleasing to be able to continue this system as indicated by this rare survivor.

The Two of Flames

The Two of Flames symbolises the fire of anointment, the assuming of a holy mantle or sacred fire. The card depicts two warriors, both exemplars of their tribes, but whether joined in purpose, or opposed, none can say. The source of this card is the Newburyport set which, as is typical, contains only a short text.

When upright, this card indicates the appearance of a leader, or the assumption of new – possibly spiritual – duties. In some instances it can stand for the champions of opposing factions meeting over a dispute. Inverted, the card can be read as a sign of sadness or trouble, restraint forced upon one by others, or a loss of faith.

The Three of Flames

Signal fires communicate across the divide. This card stands for negotiations, practical knowledge and enterprise. It is a card which symbolises business acumen. When inverted, it indicates assistance with an ulterior motive; treachery; rejection and loss.

The Four of Flames

A candle in the window is a traditional signal for a beloved to find their way home. This card signifies romance, new prosperity, the comfort and tranquillity afforded by community. When upside-down in a reading, it signals the loss of these things and insecurity.

The Five of Flames

Corpse lights, or “Will-o-the-Wisps”, drift through marshy wilderness, signalling danger, death and decay. Like the unfinished business such haunting is supposed to imply, this card suggests unsatisfied desires, struggle and onerous endeavour. When inverted it speaks of trickery, complex contradictions and possible legal issues.

The Six of Flames

The flames of war herald the approach of conquest. This card indicates a triumph, or the receipt of good news. It speaks of advancement and gain. When upside-down, it foretells delays of an indefinite duration; fear and apprehension; disloyalty.

The Seven of Flames

The flash of lightning indicates success, gain, and the overcoming of obstacles. It speaks of a sudden advantage and the surmounting of overwhelming odds. Reversed, it stands for strategies confounded: anxiety, losses through hesitation and uncertainty; embarrassment and indecision.

The Eight of Flames

Phosphorescence is a bioluminescent glow that appears when water is vigorously stirred. This notion of action is the hallmark of this card’s divinatory meaning.

The card stands for speed, hastily made plans and decisions, sudden progress in an undertaking. Inverted, it speaks of jealousy and dispute; harassment and quarrels; discord. Unconsidered action and the negative consequences that arise.

The Nine of Flames

Another nautical motif stemming from the Marsh influence in Innsmouth, the Dark Lantern is a device which seeks to prevent open flame from getting out of control while at sea. It also allows the sighting of stars to be undertaken at night without ambient light impinging upon night-adapted eyes. Of course, such a device also has many uses when it comes to criminal activities such as smuggling...

This card signifies hidden enemies and the expectation of difficult times ahead. In that the lantern shields the flame and keeps it secure, the card also speaks of preparation for adversity and a sense of discipline. When upside-down, the Dark Lantern indicates obstacles, adversity, problems and delays; it symbolises displeasure, calamity and disaster.

The Ten of Flames

Like many early societies, the people of Innsmouth have taken notice of certain heavenly phenomena and have read into them indications of the future or of divine intent. Like many other cultures, the Comet has been recorded by them as an omen of ill-fortune. The Newburyport Set shows one interpretation of this card and it unequivocally states the idea of an ominous portent.

The meaning of this image is to be burdened, to have cares pressing down upon one. It speaks of the struggle to maintain one’s ground in the face of imminent difficulties. When inverted, the card symbolises troubles and intrigues; subterfuge. It indicates the presence of a traitor; duplicity, treachery and deceit.

Bugg-Shash – The Jack of Flames

The Jack of Flames is represented by another one of the Drowners, that entity known as Bugg-Shash. This horrid being is supposed to derive a form of nutrition, or protection, from its association with the Great Old Ones, but whether this exchange is beneficial to all parties, or parasitic, is unclear. Worshipped at one time by sub-Saharan tribes, the only known literature on this being consists wholly of a range of incantations to summon it in order to destroy one’s enemies. Given the interpretation which the card has, it must be assumed that the designers of the card sets felt themselves to be simpatico with the actions of this creature.

The meaning of this card is the notion of a trusted friend. It stands for an envoy or emissary. Of course, a hideous monster sent to attack one’s enemies can certainly be regarded as such! When placed upside-down, the card stands for malicious gossip, instability, a bearer of bad tidings. It can mean an inability to make decisions, or displeasure.

Zoth-Ommog – The Knight of Flames

Zoth-Ommog, according to the legendry to be gleaned from the Ponape Scriptures and the Teachings of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, is the eldest son of Cthulhu and its mate Idh-Yaa, born upon a distant world and now trapped beneath the waters of the Pacific, supposedly to the north of Ponape in the Carolinas. This being is said to be the most energetic and feisty of the three sons of Cthulhu and its spirited reputation makes it a natural match as the Knight of Flames.

This card stands for a departure – a journey, or flight, into the unknown. According to its position within a card spread, it could stand for an alteration, or absence. When inverted, the card stands for discord: the break-up of a relationship, unexpected change, or quarrelling.

Kassogtha – The Queen of Flames

“[I shall ride along] an unknown [road]

Until the day when, having travelled far and wide,

I finally reach the Pine Forest,

Until I slay ferocious Humbaba,

And exterminate from the land Something Evil…”

This quote is part of the Epic of Gilgamesh, from Tablet III of the Standard Babylonian Version. It refers to the ancient horror Humbaba, a terrifying giant entity composed entirely of intestines. In this depiction, we have perhaps the very earliest reference to the entity known as Kassogtha.

Kassogtha is said to be the third mate of Cthulhu, by whom the twin horrors Nctosa and Nctolhu were spawned. Some sources refer to Kassogtha as Cthulhu’s sister, but there is little consistency in the various readings and the assertion may derive from a mistranslation. Kassogtha is said to appear as writhing mass of gelid coils held within a fluid matrix – such coils may well be interpreted as the lashing intestinal appendages of the Babylonian demon Humbaba.

The extant cards give us little else to go on: the Kester Library set merely depicts a pleasing knotwork design reminiscent of Celtic decoration and the Newburyport set presents only a name and suit designation.

In a card reading, the intention of this image is for chastity, friendliness and honour. In some circumstances, it may refer to a sympathetic and understanding person full of feminine charm and grace. When reversed, it stands for fickleness, deceit, and jealousy; unstable emotions and a possible infidelity.

B’Moth – The King of Flames

The King of Flames is represented by B’Moth, another avatar of Great Cthulhu. The cult associated with B’Moth holds that its desire is to return the world to a primitive state such as that before recorded history. To this end, the cult devotees attempt to destroy manifestations of modernity, such as construction and sites of industrialisation. Cult activity of this being is most often encountered in developing nations across the planet.

B’Moth appears as a damp and clinging fog of luminescent blue, green and yellow. It is said to be able to contact its devotees telepathically and drive them into orgiastic states of intense fervour. The Kester Library version of the card faithfully depicts this notion.

Symbolically, the card stands for a mature and all-knowing father-figure. It speaks of wisdom, sympathy and erudition. When turned upside-down, it implies grandiose and extravagant ideals, severity and austerity in execution and pronounced dogmatism.

To Be Continued...

The Innsmouth Tarot, Part 3 - The Major Arcana 2

Fortune-telling by means of cards – known as “cartomancy” – has a long tradition in Europe especially in France. At one time, cartomancy - and other services peculiar to witches of the 18^th Century - almost toppled the French throne (specifically during the Affair of the Poisons and later in the Affair of the Necklace). Many decks of cards are familiar to tarot aficionados but oftentimes individuals would invent their own card decks to suit their specific purposes. The best known tarot deck is undoubtedly the Ancien Tarot de Marseille with its primary-coloured woodcut images.

Given the proximity of the New England area to the French-controlled Canadian territories, it’s hardly surprising that a tarot-based cartomantic tradition would have emerged in the region. Although Puritan fever was running high and vigilant community leaders would have enacted harsh penalties against those seen to be carrying cards of any type, traders and trappers interacting with the New England settlements might very well have added reading fortunes to their range of saleable wares and thus have transmitted the system to eager recipients.

A pre-eminent theory concerning the tarot card deck is that it was a means of carrying forbidden lore without seeming to do so. The cards were symbolic touchstones, boiling down the essence of mystical lore into a handful of powerful images. Cards, at first glance, seem less threatening than a book of knowledge, and so magical practitioners were able to carry their knowledge camouflaged in open view of disapproving eyes. In a community such as that prevalent along Massachusetts’s coastline, such camouflage must have been undeniably useful.

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Card 6 – The Change

 

In the strange generation of the Deep Ones, there comes a point in the life of the growing individual when it becomes apparent that they are undergoing a transformation. At this point, the entity either accepts the Change, or fights against it, usually to their own detriment. It represents the first trial a Deep One encounters on the road to their new life beneath the waves.

A Deep One fortunate enough to live within a larger community, such as that located in Innsmouth, has the benefit of a social network to support them in this trial; Deep One progeny who grow up outside of such communities have no guidance to fall back upon and usually either go mad or commit suicide. The Change is an ordeal indeed.

The Kester Library Set of cards depicts a fish-tailed Deep One looking into a mirror. This underscores the meaning of the card which speaks of self-knowledge and awareness. Interestingly, in English heraldry, the charge of a mermaid is often depicted in the arms of individuals or companies whose efforts are of the nautical kind; when shown holding a mirror, the creature is termed “a mermaid in her vanity”. The similarity between this image and the Kester Library Set card implies that their creator must have had some commercial or other links to the sea of their own.

This card stands for a moment of decision; a time of trial and self-examination. Just as the transformer understands the transition ahead, they must make the choice to either embrace the Change or to deny it. When this card appears in a reading it can indicate the start of a new intense relationship or the cessation of such a tie. It can mean a marriage is imminent. It can symbolise physical attraction and corporeal beauty, or the loss of these things.

Inverted: When it appears upside-down, this card symbolises separation, denial and divorce. It can speak of temptation and moral corruption surfacing as lustful motivations. It can also reveal projects embarked upon without careful consideration.

Card 7 – Crabskin

The transformations experienced by the spawn of Y’hanathlei are wide-ranging and multifarious. Inter-species variations occur constantly and result in many differing physical forms. The half-shark Deep One is well-known, as is the half-dolphin variety. A little-seen iteration is the half-crab Deep One. The reason for their scarcity is that they are generally kept in sub-aqueous Deep One settlements in order to act as guards or, if necessary, shock troops. Within communities such as Innsmouth, the presence of an emerging carapace during the Change is cause for great celebration.

The image for this card derives from the Newburyport Set which – unusually – bears an picture rather than a short text. The card itself has been made from a piece of thick paper with an engraved depiction of a crab, possibly cut from a Bible, almanac, or some other widely available volume.

When revealed in a spread of cards, this image symbolises great strife, possibly already overcome. It heralds trouble and adversity in the life of the Questioner; however the meaning is coupled with the notion of victory and great ascendancy. It can mean negotiations and diplomacy. Less dramatically, the card can be interpreted as the Questioner having the ability to combine periods of great activity and productiveness, with times of beneficial quietude.

Inverted: Upside-down, this card represents calamity and destruction, a check imposed upon one’s goals. It speaks of great violence, either physical or emotional. It can indicate control of a situation taken out of one’s hands, cruelty or fatigue.

Card 8 – Temple Elders

Wherever land-based communities of Deep Ones exist, they eschew the usual arrangement of lawkeepers and dispensers of justice for their own community leaders, as embodied by the Elders of the Esoteric Order of Dagon. In these communities, law and governance lies entirely within the hands of these ruling elect, and all bow down before their decisions.

Like the Witch, no extant cards remain to show how this card was traditionally depicted; however, it is mentioned in many of the grimoires and herbals that have survived.

The Elders of the Temple stand for equitability, the rule of law and due process. Their ambit is fairness, justice and virtue. Depending upon where the card appears in a divinatory spread, it can represent an error rectified, and things set back upon the correct path. On a personal level, this card can be interpreted as a sense of self-satisfaction in one’s accomplishments.

Inverted: When inverted, this card represents a lack of perspective and a narrow worldview. It speaks of bigotry, prejudice and an inability to think without being dogmatic. It can be interpreted as a severe judgement, or a false accusation. At its worst it can speak of terrible abuse, either physical or in the use of power and position.

Card 9 – The Dreamer

According to the beliefs of the Deep Ones and their religious dogma, the supreme being Great Cthulhu contacts its followers through the medium of dreams. It is said that, periodically, the sunken tomb in which Cthulhu is imprisoned, rises above the waves and at this time, its will is transmitted in dreams to those susceptible to its call. Those who undergo the Change also receive dreams as they slowly transform, preparing them for the life eternal beneath the waves. This notion of preparation is key to the understanding of this card – by searching within, knowledge and wisdom of an external nature can be found.

The prototype for this card is the one found in the Kester Library Set which shows a sleeping person with another figure either standing guard over them or emerging in some mysterious manner from their recumbent form. Many have seen in this ambiguous symbol the notion of astral travel, or of thought transference, as discussed by the Theosophists.

The Dreamer stands for received wisdom, good counsel from a wise source. It can represent a time of withdrawal wherein healing and understanding can take place. It speaks of vigilance, consideration and careful progress - deliberation in one’s proceedings. In some instances it can represent recession or regression, or the undoing of a current circumstance.

Inverted: When upside-down, the Dreamer stands for rashness, imprudence and poorly-considered actions. It can speak of misogynistic tendencies, even celibacy. In some instances it symbolises the inability to speak out, even when one knows one should. This is withdrawal from reality with no good purpose – an inability to face up to responsibilities and to conduct oneself accordingly.

Card 10 – The Tide

As pelagic beings, the Deep Ones are ruled by the actions of the waters. The tidal effect of the moon upon the ocean is the constant heartbeat of the seven seas. Tidal forces govern the activities of the undersea beings, dictating times for activity and for rest. When the tide drops, the Deep Ones pull back to their underwater dwellings; when the tide is high, their range increases and the opportunities for seeking food and other sport are increased.

This card represents an ongoing cycle of fortune – times of plenty followed by times of dearth. As the tide never rises without falling subsequently, the Deep Ones recognise that destiny is in a constant state of flux, a sentiment which has given rise to their fatalistic saying, “wait until the next tide”.

The card from the Newburyport Set, although merely a scrawl of words, depicts quite accurately this notion of the tide as ongoing, constantly reversing and unceasing. That of the Kester Library Set is perfunctory, but adequately expresses the notion.

When upright in a card spread, the Tide represents fortune and positivity. The Questioner benefits from good fortune and a brimming sense of self. Everything stands at its apogee. Because the Tide is ongoing and incontestable, the Questioner is urged to take advantage of the situation before it changes, as it inevitably must.

Inverted: As the upright reading of this card is positive, so this inverted reading is entirely negative. The Questioner’s fortunes have reached a nadir, a low ebb; their sense of self and personal energies are weak and lacklustre; fortune seems to have abandoned them. The single positive aspect of this card is that, at some point, the Tide must come back in and this period of infelicity must pass.

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To Be Continued...

Rip It & Run! Super-Powered Characters...

If you look at pulp fiction and its various tropes, you’ll see that, every now and again, there’s a character who has supernormal powers, abilities beyond the strictly normal, which help push forward the stories in which they’re involved. Characters like this aren’t a bad thing: they’re usually gateways into the extra-natural and often, value-added members of a campaign. In my career as a Call of Cthulhu Keeper, I’ve run supernaturally augmented characters and they’ve been a boon every time. Here’s how it’s done...

Each of these character types has been brought to me by my players. They’ve asked for characters who have some unquantifiable talent that would give them an edge in the story to come. In each case, we discussed what benefits the character would have and all of the possible side-effects such ‘powers’ would entail. In every instance, the players were willing to take the rough with the smooth. For every ‘power’, we defined the extent of the character’s abilities together – this is crucial: each side of the equation has to know the rules in order for this to work. In each case, the extra rules and their special effects meant that the overall story was enriched and made that much better.

Character Number One – The Psychometric Character

This character is one who can “read” objects to work out the motivations and objectives of those who own - or owned - them. Fundamentally, this is a gift to the Keeper: the information doesn’t have to be literal; it can come as random images which the player has to interpret, or it can appear as symbols. The object should be defined as being emblematic of the person being targeted, something that they carry with them constantly, or which is significant to their worldview – a scrap of paper that they just happened to have touched is insufficient.

When I had this character to work with, I made the information appear as images which the player then had to interpret, often with the help of their fellow party members. It worked a treat. It was especially cool when, having gotten a flash of some strange vista that meant nothing to them at the time, they encountered the same scene at a later moment and information fell suddenly into place, often giving them a warning about imminent danger. This is the sort of thing that makes your gaming great!

Mechanics: Give the player ‘Psychometry’ as a skill. A successful roll will let them know what object will give the best results when evaluating a target; touching the object will give them a vision (as the Keeper decides, depending on the success of the attempt) and re-rolling the skill will prompt them, or give them results in much the same fashion as a successful Library Use roll. As the Keeper chooses, use of this power may require bed-rest - or some other kind of recovery - on the part of the character afterwards.

Each attempt to ‘read’ an object should take at least 10 minutes, with time to rest and clear the mind in between. If the Keeper allows, the Investigator can halve or even quarter their skill value, in order to make a hurried evaluation, where time is of the essence.

Character Number Two – The Lucid Dreamer

A character may wish to be a practitioner of the Dreaming skill and actively bring this power to bear on the party’s Waking World investigation. This, of course, requires the character to have a significant Dreaming and/or Dream Lore skill. The character is able to use their Dreaming skill to gain insight into their Waking World investigation. This may require them to sleep in the place where the cause of their investigation occurred, or to hold a significant piece of evidence in their hands as they sleep (something that the legal powers may frown upon). Roaming in the resulting dreamscape may be cryptic, or blatant, as the Keeper sees fit, but shouldn’t detract from gameplay: the Keeper may embroil the other players as Dreamlands-based characters to give them something to do as the Dreamer wanders aimlessly. Making these alter-egos relevant to their Waking World counterparts has extra value in such a game.

As an extra feature, the Keeper may allow the Dreamer to be aware of what’s going on in the vicinity of their sleeping body, possibly through omens appearing in the dreamscape around them. This ups the ante, especially if their somnolent corpus is being threatened by Waking World enemies. Again, as the Keeper decides, the character may be able to communicate what they’re seeing to the rest of the party, possibly while Dreaming under hypnosis.

The trick here of course is to make whatever goes on in the dreamscape pertinent to what’s going on in the Waking World. It’s especially nifty if the party are pursuing an enemy who has the ability to pass over into the Dreamlands, like a ghoul for instance. It also allows the party to gain access to libraries and similar lore even while they’re far out in the Back of Beyond without a bookstore in sight – after all, it’s only a short hop to the libraries of Ulthar when you’re sleeping out in the Congo jungles!

Character Number Three – The Fated Adventurer

This permutation is easiest of all: have the player pick a doomed bloodline from which their character is derived. The player then knows that anything to do with their fated family is going to be problematic – even if, in actual fact, it isn’t. In one of my games, one character was related to Elisabeth Bathory – “Countess Dracula” – and his immediate forebears had done their darnedest to distance themselves from all connexions. Any reference to vampires sent this character into a wheezing fit. I didn’t even need to build vampires into the campaign – each vague reference to blood-suckers or Romania made the player hyperventilate. Cool.

Ways to make this ‘power’ work are as follows: the character’s family might have been the source of a terrible scandal which automatically puts them at odds with another family, or families; being called out in a duel, snubbed in public, or targeted in a vendetta, are occurrences which could definitely liven-up a player’s day job! Some blemish on the family escutcheon – being related to Lord Byron for example, or being Aleister Crowley’s cousin - might dramatically affect a character’s Credit Rating at the most inconvenient time. Finally, the evil fate might be an inherited curse, such as the male heirs to the family estate never outliving their 30s, being destined to die in a horse-riding accident, or being fated to die should they ever set foot in Lisbon – watch them blanch with fear when the ship they’re on has to make an emergency stopover in Portugal!

Character Number Four – The Ghost Magnet

This works best when facilitated with a character who has a grand estate. The deceased forebears of this character have a vested interest in their descendant maintaining their reputation. To this end they show up – usually unannounced – and offer advice about the situation at hand. This may be useful, or anything but, depending upon the malicious nature of the Keeper. Ghosts tend not to think about the effect their appearance has upon the living, and so those SAN rolls will soon start to have an impact. Even if the advice that the ghost offers is useful!

Such familiarity with the undead might have other side-benefits as well. The character might only have to make a Spot Hidden roll in order to determine if a building is haunted, and a similar roll might well be all it takes for this character to see through a fake. The character might become the focus of a poltergeist, or get randomly taken over by ghostly entities on a successful POW vs. POW contest: not especially positive powers it must be said, but “seeing dead people” will certainly take your story to interesting places!

Character Number Five – The Snake Charmer

This character works best as an Oriental, or one born in India, or some other part of the Sub-continent. Due to their upbringing, the character has uncanny powers over elapid reptiles – that is, snakes with aggressive, poisonous tendencies, such as cobras, kraits and mambas. Using their training they can bend certain snakes to their will, force these snakes to assume rigid postures for indefinite periods, or cause them to flee in fear.

Mechanics: in every instance, the power requires an expenditure of 5 Magic Points per snake and the character’s POW is compared to the POW of the particular snake on the Resistance Table. Snakes can be made to attack specific individuals, search areas for specific items, assume the form of a walking-stick, or bangle, for up to six months, or flee in fear of the character, as they see fit. POW must be divided evenly (round down) between the reptiles if more than one is present – try controlling more snakes than you can handle and things might get tricky!

Snakes don’t need to eat often, so causing them to become rigid is not too problematic an option. When the character uses this power on a snake to make it appear as an ornate walking, or swagger, stick, bangle, armband, or necklace, the Keeper should roll 1d4+2 to see how long the the reptile will maintain this rigor. Obviously, this information should not be made available to the character casting the effect! If the snake is attacked while holding its form, the creature is killed instantly.

As a nifty side-effect to these various options, the Keeper might allow the character to be immune to (normal) snake venom, although this would make them a definite target for Yig and its worshipers!

Character Number Six – The Berserker

A weird fiction stand-by: this character can call upon mystical powers to increase their combat skills – at great cost to their usual ability. This is best done with characters who have had some kind of mystical martial arts training in Shambhala or similar. It’s also a useful power for NPCs to have – especially such pulp-fiction stand-bys as Sikh bodyguards or Chinese batmen – and can be a Keeper’s secret weapon if the party gets into any serious biffo.

Mechanics: By spending one point of CON, the player gains the temporary skill of Martial Arts and gains two attacks a round, one at the beginning and again at the end of each round, for the rest of the combat in which it is initiated. They also gain an extra 10 hit points below zero, which means they survive even after they should be dead – and, unless healed up to 0, or higher, before the end of the fight, they definitely will be – no exceptions. This power is very useful if extra damage rules for Martial Artists are also used. The expenditure of CON happens at the end of the fight, to reflect the permanent physical impairment that ‘going into overdrive’ incurs.

If the Keeper desires, the character might also gain access to other Martial Arts manoeuvres or even spookier combat powers, such as invulnerability to fire, or an inability to be damaged by edged or Impaling weapons. The rationale behind the power is everything and should inform specifics.

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A little thought can come up with many other variants on these basic models. Just remember that both the Keeper and the Investigator need to be completely au fait with the limits and advantages of the ability and be willing to wear the results – it’s always possible to overlook a glaring loophole that gives one side of the equation an unreasonable benefit. If this happens, take the concept back to the drawing-board, talk it out with your team and bash it into some other shape until it works properly.

Remember too, that a little goes a long way. If every Investigator in your team has a ‘superpower’, that might well be the rationale that keeps them together – kind of like The League of Extraordinary Investigators. However, it’s best to keep such characters few and far between and make them a true rarity.

Oh, and don’t let it stop you arming your party’s enemies with similar abilities either...!

The Innsmouth Tarot, Part 2 - The Suit of Shadows

The first suit of the Lesser Arcana of the Innsmouth Tarot Deck establishes a pattern which is continued through all three other suits. The suit contains an Ace and four court cards, including a King and Queen, a Knight and a Jack. The remaining nine cards are numbered 2 to 10.

 

In each suit, the King is portrayed by an avatar or incarnation of the Great Old One Cthulhu; the Queen is represented by one of Cthulhu’s consorts or female relatives; the Knights are generally symbolised by one of Cthulhu’s offspring, with one exception; and the Jacks are all symbiotic beings known to co-habit with the Great Old Ones – particularly Cthulhu – for uncertain benefits. Amongst those represented in this latter category are those beings sometimes referred to as “The Drowners”. 

The suit of Shadows outlines intellectual effort and the realm of the mind. It refers to personal interactions, social relationships and the political aspects of life. In other tarot card decks this suit would be represented by the swords or spades symbol and would be attributed to the Greek element Air.

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The Ace of Shadows

While the suit of Shadows represents the powers of the intellect, the Ace indicates those powers honed to their highest level. This card stands for great determination, power, success and prosperity. When inverted it indicates a debacle, a disaster, or a great embarrassment; self-destruction, tyranny or a violent temper.

The Two of Shadows

Two hands haul at either end of the same rope: do they struggle against each other, or in the same cause? The meaning of this card is balance, or a stalemate – equal forces in a counteracting engagement. The card indicates harmony, resolution, or the imminent arrival of a letter. When upside-down, the Two of Shadows stands for treachery, duplicity, falsehoods, misrepresentation and disloyalty.

The Three of Shadows

“The shark with one fin swims only ‘round and 'round”, so goes the local Innsmouth saying.

The meaning of this card is loss, power applied for no clear benefit; an absence, removal or dispersion. When inverted it can mean a distraction; confusion or disorder; an error, incompatibility, or separation.

The Four of Shadows

The Four of Shadows speaks of breaking away from community – an enforced or self-imposed exile. This can range from a quarantine for the purpose of health, to a withdrawal in which one may have time to reflect or gather one’s forces. Inverted, it implies activity, circumspection; a sense of economy or guarded advancement; or a desire to regain something that has been lost.

The Five of Shadows

As the waves oppose the tyranny of the land, so this card indicates conquest, destruction of one’s enemies, or the arraying of new enemies against one. When upside-down, it talks of personal weakness, an uncertain outlook with the possibility of defeat. Sometimes it signifies a misfortune befalling a friend or acquaintance.

The Six of Shadows

This card heralds the beginning of a journey, either physical or spiritual. Just as in the days of the old whalers or traders to the South Seas, this is no idle travel, but one which will incur suffering and discomfort; the benefits, however, will be commensurate. When inverted, the Six of Shadows stands for an unwelcome proposal; a stalemate; no immediate resolution to an ongoing problem.

The Seven of Shadows

The shell represents a conveyance or housing; a means of moving forward or of weathering difficulties. This card signifies hope, new plans: a confident attempt at gaining one’s desires or outcomes. Upside-down it speaks of arguments and quarrels and uncertain advice.

The Eight of Shadows

The net is a barrier to one’s goals. It tells of domination and imprisonment; crisis, calamity and conflict. It can also mean bad news or criticism. When inverted, it stands for release and new beginnings: treachery in the past; regeneration; the overcoming of a depressed state of mind.

The Nine of Shadows

“Blood in the water will bring forth a fight”.

This card represents animosity and the sorrow it brings. It stands for misery and concern: quarrels and unhappiness, a miscarriage of justice, or concern for a loved one. When upside-down, the meaning is no better: it stands for doubt, suspicion or slanderous gossip.

The Ten of Shadows

This card stands for ruin, desolation, things fallen into decay. It can mean pain, affliction, sadness, mental anguish trouble or disappointment. In some instances, it can reveal an inimical cabal of secret watchers, working against the questioner. Upside-down, it indicates a measure of improvement in one’s woes – a temporary gain or benefit – or, if one is sitting on a successful outcome, the passing of such fortune.

Nyogtha - The Jack of Shadows

“The Drowners” are a collection of beings whose existence is dependent upon the presence of the Great Old Ones. Some have theorised that they have a parasitic attachment to those entities and derive some kind of essential nourishment from them. Chief amongst them is Nyogtha – “The Thing That Should Not Be” – although, since Nyogtha is said to have been spawned by Ubbo-Sathla, maybe that entity is also to be numbered among these creatures. Nyogtha’s association with witches makes it part of the witchcraft tradition of the New England area and is the reason for the presence of this card in the Innsmouth Tarot.

This card signifies a person spying upon the questioner – a hidden enemy playing a false hand. Alternatively, it can indicate the presence of a person gifted with perspicacity. It speaks of vigilance and agility. When inverted, it signifies that the questioner may be revealed as an impostor, or liar; it speaks of unpreparedness, and powerlessness against those ranged against one. In some instances, it can indicate a forthcoming illness.

Ythogtha – The Knight of Shadows

Ythogtha is one of the three sons of Cthulhu, springing from its mating with Idh-yaa, the Bride of Xoth. Ythogtha is pictured in the Ponape Scriptures mythology as a monstrous bipedal being with savage claws whose head is a struggling mass of tentacles surrounding a gigantic single eye. According to the lore, Ythogtha waits imprisoned in the Abyss of Yhe, served by the Yuggs and waiting for the time when Cthulhu awakes in order to be released.

The divinatory meaning of this card is of capability, heroism and skill; the ability to rush headlong into danger without fear. It speaks of opposition and war, but on an equal footing. When upside-down, it represents rashness and incapacity; impulsive mistakes made by a conceited fool, or dispute and ruin over a lover.

Nctolhu – The Queen of Shadows

Nctolhu, and its twin “sister” Nctosa, are the daughters of Cthulhu, spawned upon its sister, Kassogtha, or so the lore of the Ponape Scriptures reveals. According to the mythology, both of these gigantic multi-limbed, limpet-like creatures are imprisoned within a mighty storm upon a distant planet (Jupiter?).

This card stands for mourning, privation or loneliness. It can signify a quick-witted and sharp-tongued woman, possibly the bearer of bad news or slander. When inverted, it represents narrow-mindedness and bigotry; deceitfulness coupled with maliciousness; possibly a treacherous enemy.

The Chorazin – The King of Shadows

Dreamers, or the extremely psychically-sensitive are occasionally prone to the visitation of an astral version of Great Cthulhu, vaguely described as that entity’s id, or “will”, operating independently of the creature itself. The name “Chorazin” is the same as that of a benighted town in the Middle East which, at one time, was the destination of the so-called “Black Pilgrimage” made by such potent wizards as Abdul Alhazred and Ludwig Prinn. It is also the name of a – now abandoned – upstate New York village which was investigated by a researcher named Alonzo Typer before his disappearance. How this avatar of Great Cthulhu came to acquire this name is unknown, but the associations are certainly unsettling.

This card generally represents an efficient and authoritative professional person, someone with a highly analytical outlook. It speaks of justice, controlled force and superiority. When upside-down, it indicates a dangerous and wicked person: cruelty, selfishness and sadism. A person who tends to embark upon “scorched earth” policies.

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To Be Continued...