The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan

“There was also a wall of shelves, each one crammed to bursting with books ... To a one, they were massive and weighty, bound with leather but ancient and splitting. Most bore lettering on their spines, though in the odd case where this hadn’t faded to illegibility, it was unreadable...inscribed in some obscure alphabet he’d never seen before. Three of them, however, had modern labels attached. These read: HSAN III, HSAN V, HSAN VII.”

Paul Finch, “Long Meg & Her Daughters”

The Books are a set of scrolls of possible Chinese origin, although a school of thought suggests that they originated on the blasted Plateau of Leng and date from the pre-Dynastic time of the mythical Yellow Emperor. The work is otherwise attributed to the philosopher ‘Hsan the Greater’ about whom little is known and who may have simply translated the original work from its original forgotten language during the 3^rd Century BC. During the Burning of the Books, instigated by the First Emperor Ch’in Shih Huang Ti in 213 BC, this work was particularly targeted, although enough fragments remained such that it was later resurrected. Four later dynasties attempted purges also, meaning that the work became more disjointed and error-riddled as time wore on and remembered passages became more mistakenly compiled. Several copies were smuggled to the West: it is rumoured that at least two copies were smuggled from Tibet in the 1600s by Dominican priests and these copies are believed to be held in the Vatican libraries. An English translation was released in 1729 entitled The Seven Cryptical Books of the Earth; however, this work is considered a poor effort at best. Boston’s Silver Key Press released a new translation by Etienne-Laurent de Marigny in 1940 which is considered a better, although problematic, version and the Lama Dordji Ram, possibly assisted by the explorer Alexandra David-Neel, compiled a French version which was released in Marseilles in 1943.

The Books range widely in subject matter from the forms of Nyarlathotep; discussions of the Dreamlands; and a history of the Plateau of Leng. Book One contains information regarding the correct disposal of the bodies of wizards while the Second Book, sometimes called ‘The Sign of Signs’ is said to bestow limited power over the forces of Life and Death. Book Four contains information about the summoning and dismissal of demons. The Seventh book talks at length about the cults of Nyarlathotep which exist in China. The more complete editions of this work contain the Fifth Book, which details the creation of the Eye of Light & Darkness. There is a ‘lost’ Book (despite de Marigny’s claim to have translated all seven books) which outlines how information may be extracted from the dead. There is also a belief that a steganographic code exists within the scrolls which reveals the time at which the Old Ones will return; this information would of course only be found in an untranslated, ancient version of the work.

(Source: The Other Gods, H. P. Lovecraft)

Chinese; ‘Hsan the Greater’(?); 3^rd Century BC; Sanity loss: 1d8/2d8; +8 percentiles to Cthulhu Mythos; average 40 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: “Call Down Spirits of the Air” (Summon/Bind Byakhee); “Call Forth Fire Spirits” (Summon/Bind Fire Vampires); “Call the Black Lotus Hunters” (Contact Hound of Tindalos); “Call the Dragon of Death” (Summon/Bind Hunting Horror); “Call the Earth Spirit” (Contact Cthonian); “Voices of the Earth Demons” (Contact Ghoul); “Speak with Dragons” (Contact Lloigor); “Wisdom of the Pearl Empress” (Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep in his avatar of the Bloated Woman); “Speak with the God of Leng” (Contact Zhar); “Door to Leng” (Gate); “Doorway to Kadath” (Gate of Oneirology); “Restore Life” (Resurrection); “The Death of Wasting” (Shrivelling); Create Eye of Light & Darkness.

Fragmentary, Chinese; ‘Hsan the Greater’; 3^rd Century BC; Sanity loss: 1d3/1d6; +4 percentiles to Cthulhu Mythos; average 20 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Choose two of the following: “Call Down Spirits of the Air” (Summon/Bind Byakhee); “Call Forth Fire Spirits” (Summon/Bind Fire Vampires); “Call the Black Lotus Hunters” (Contact Hound of Tindalos); “Call the Dragon of Death” (Summon/Bind Hunting Horror); Choose one of the following: “Call the Earth Spirit” (Contact Cthonian); “Voices of the Earth Demons” (Contact Ghoul); “Speak with Dragons” (Contact Lloigor); Choose one of the following: “Wisdom of the Pearl Empress” (Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep in his avatar of the Bloated Woman); “Speak with the God of Leng” (Contact Zhar); Choose one of these: “Door to Leng” (Gate); “Doorway to Kadath” (Gate of Oneirology); “The Death of Wasting” (Shrivelling)

English; Etienne-Laurent de Marigny; Silver Key Press, 1940; Sanity loss: 1d4/1d8; +7 percentiles to Cthulhu Mythos; average 20 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: “Call Down Spirits of the Air” (Summon/Bind Byakhee); “Call Forth Fire Spirits” (Summon/Bind Fire Vampires); “Call the Black Lotus Hunters” (Contact Hound of Tindalos); “Call the Dragon of Death” (Summon/Bind Hunting Horror); “Call the Earth Spirit” (Contact Cthonian); “Voices of the Earth Demons” (Contact Ghoul); “Speak with Dragons” (Contact Lloigor); “Wisdom of the Pearl Empress” (Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep in his avatar of the Bloated Woman); “Speak with the God of Leng” (Contact Zhar); “Door to Leng” (Gate); “Doorway to Kadath” (Gate of Oneirology); “The Death of Wasting” (Shrivelling)

French; Lama Dordji Ram (possibly with Alexandra David-Neel); Marseilles, 1943; Sanity loss: 1d4/1d8; +7 percentiles to Cthulhu Mythos; average 22 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: “D'appel Spiritueux vers le bas d'Air” (Summon/Bind Byakhee); “Appelez en avant les Spiritueux du Feu” (Summon/Bind Fire Vampires); “Appelez les Chasseurs de la Lotus Noir” (Contact Hound of Tindalos); “Appelez le Dragon de la Mort” (Summon/Bind Hunting Horror); “Appelez l'Esprit de la Terre” (Contact Cthonian); “Voix des Démons de la Terre” (Contact Ghoul); “Parlez avec des Dragons” (Contact Lloigor); “Sagesse de l'Impératrice de Perle” (Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep in his avatar of the Bloated Woman); “Parlez avec Dieu de Leng” (Contact Deity: Zhar); “Porte à Leng” (Gate); “Porte à Kadath” (Gate of Oneirology); “La Mort du Gaspillage” (Shrivelling)

English: The Seven Cryptical Books of the Earth; Anonymous; England, 1729; Sanity loss: 1/1d3; +2 percentiles to Cthulhu Mythos; average 12 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: “Call the Black Lotus Hunters” (Contact Hound of Tindalos); “Voices of the Earth Demons” (Contact Ghoul); “Doorway to Kadath” (Gate of Oneirology)

Note: In any later versions of the Seven Cryptical Books than the original, it is possible to find – at the Keeper’s discretion – any or all of the T’ai-p’ing-tao.

New Spell

Contact Lloigor

This is a dangerous spell to attempt even at the best of times. It costs 4 magic Points to cast and 1d3 Sanity Points. The spell should be cast in a location where the Lloigor are known to be present or where they have been known to have dwelt. Such places include locations in York, Wales, Rhode Island, parts of Iraq, various locations in the Indian Ocean, Haiti, some islands of Polynesia and also Massachusetts; however, this list is not exhaustive. It should also be cast at night, when Andromeda is visible above the horizon.

The contact will be of a telepathic nature; rarely will these creatures assume physical form without a proper inducement. During the exchange, the caster must pit their POW against that of the creature on the Resistance Table: if the attempt fails, the caster is plunged into a suicidal depression with an onset time of 2d10+7 days.

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