The Lore of Imaginary Lands...

The Dreamlands is a difficult place to pin down. Reality shifts and ebbs there and it is only by repetition and reinforcement that things begin to solidify and become ‘real’. That so much of Earth’s Dreamlands has been codified and recorded, is a tribute to eons of Dreamers and their collective experiences far from the Waking World.

Part of this process, importantly, is the recording of knowledge in books or other formats. The scribbling and garbled half-memories of tortured Dreamers – poets, authors, visionaries – are often disregarded as the rantings of troubled minds in the Real World; writings penned within the Dreamlands are a much more serious affair. In some ways, when a Dreamer writes within a Dream, that act makes the substance of the Dreamlands that much more real and thus, the writings and texts of the Dreamlands are rare and treasured things indeed.

These books have the usual benefits of works of this nature – spells, increases to Cthulhu Mythos skills and knowledge of things arcane. As well, they grant bonuses to specific skills used within the Dreamlands viz. Dreaming and Dream Lore:

Dreaming is a skill which every Investigator gains upon first entering the Dreamlands. It is equal to the Dreamer’s POW score. It is used to shape and navigate the realms of Dream.

Dream Lore starts at a level equal to half the Investigator’s Cthulhu Mythos score rounded down. It increases at a rate of 1 point for every 2 Cthulhu Mythos points gained from then on. Dreamers use this skill to ascertain the nature of elements within the dreamscape, to identify creatures, entities and places much as the Cthulhu Mythos skill is used to identify and understand Mythos activity.

Whilst information to be gained from Dreamlands sources is always credible and well-founded, spells are a different matter entirely. Consensual recollections occasionally recall certain specific spells contained within Dreamlands books; other potential spells are more nebulous. Sometimes quite different spells are contained within a text, depending upon the reader. For this reason, the spell lists hereafter are not cut and dried, and the Keeper is urged to fill in the gaps as they see fit and to suit their campaign. Another point to consider is that, for the most part, the spells to be found within a Dreamlands work are those which will only function within the dreamscape and these will often not be available to the Investigator in the Waking World.

Technologically, the Dreamlands are far behind the Waking World and often, texts are quite primitive in terms of how they are bound, preserved and maintained. Exotic materials and casings are almost de rigueur as far as the presentation of these texts is concerned. Many of these works are written in strange languages with bizarre alphabets which shift and change depending upon the reader; others are written in a format known as ‘Dreamlands Glyphs’ a writing style that is yet to be understood by those in the Waking World.

Finally, this list is not exhaustive, nor even fixed: in time, some of these works may fade from the consensus reality and become lost; meanwhile other tomes will appear and gain more solidity as Dreamers seek them out. As well, there are many sentient races within the Lands of Dream which each have their own knowledge and lore: these too, may have books wherein their own mysteries are hidden...

*****

Dreamlands Glyphs

These hieroglyphs are incredibly problematic and difficult to quantify. To begin with, descriptions of them vary so wildly that it is hard to reconcile a definitive style or form: some texts read left to right, others right to left, or from the top to the bottom of the page; some characters are described as ‘block-like’; others are ‘flowing’. Colour seems to be associated with meaning in some cases and in others the letters seem not to be ‘fixed’ to the page at all. Most frustrating, such a diverse range of descriptions can sometimes be related by several different readers of the very same book!

The simpliest rationalisation is this: just as in normal nighttime dreams, words cannot be read, since the dreamstate comes not from the part of the brain which organises such higher intellectual activity, the Dreamlands reality presents information to the Dreamer in a form which meets their expectations. If the information is of a mystical, difficult or secretive nature, the letters on the page or wall or stone may seem incredibly abstruse, even moving across the surface; if the text is trivial, then the Dreamer will read it easily, even if it is not a language or alphabet with which they are familiar. The difficulty seems to equal the reward and attempting to read a Dreamlands text may even include a sense of having studied for an extended period when in fact, no time has passed at all.

In time, like most Dreamlands concepts, repetition and reiteration produces a consensus in the Dreamers’ minds and features of that reality become ‘fixed’, gaining a sense of solidity: such things as cities and certain personalities thus become real in the context of the Dreamlands and the same things and qualities are experienced by all who encounter them. So too, in time, certain alphabets and languages extant in the Dreamlands may become grounded and might one day be studied in the Waking World.

Difficulty: Extreme: Quartered Idea Roll, or Dream Lore Roll

Works in this Language: Dreamlands Necronomicon (+0%); Book of Barzai; Fourth Book of D’Harsis; The Scriptures of Klek; The Testament of Lothron; The Tome of the Masked One (each 25%)

‘Rosetta Stones’: Not Applicable

*****

Dreamlands Texts:

The Annals of Leng

Not a text as such, the Annals are a massive series of frescoes attached to the walls of an ancient ruined building atop the eponymous, cacodaemonic Plateau; the exact location cannot be pinned down more exactly than this. Finding the Annals is one thing; staying with them long enough to obtain any benefit is another: Leng is not a place to which one travels lightly. It’s possible that the narrative power and potency of the works was once more powerful than at present; the ruinous state of habitation atop the Plateau has effaced much that was once meaningful here.

None; unknown Lengite artist; Leng; 1/1d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +0 percentiles; Dream Lore +5 percentiles; 1 week to study and comprehend

Spells: None

Book of Barzai

Guarded by the venerable Atal of Ulthar, this work is the grimoire and assembled wisdom of his teacher, Barzai the Wise, high priest of Ulthar, who vanished after daring to gaze upon the faces of the gods themselves by climbing to the rarefied heights of Mount Hatheg-Kla. In this, his last act, he might possibly be deemed not so wise.

The Book, when encountered, always impresses the finder with its aura of sanctity and the purity of the materials from which it is made. Its contents concern themselves mainly with the nature and rituals of the gods, both of the Earth and its Dreamlands.

Dreamlands Glyphs; Barzai The Wise; Ulthar; 1/1d3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +1 percentiles; Dream Lore +2 percentiles;  6 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Contact or Call Deity spells only

The Book of Black Stones

An ugly book constructed from slices of metallic ore-bearing rock, hasped by metal bands. This is a textbook for the sadistic expressions of Moonbeast artistry; the words and images contained within its black depths are unwholesome and not good to look upon. It is also huge and very heavy, built for the perusal of its makers and their kin, so human readers should bear this in mind before seeking it out.

The Moonbeast tongue; unknown Moonbeast scribes; Dreamlands Moon; 1d4/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6 percentiles; Dream Lore +10 percentiles; 1 week to study and comprehend

Spells: Contact Nyarlathotep; Curse of Darkness; plus four other Dreamlands spells of the Keeper’s choice

The Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron

“It is written on the Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron that the beings of Ib were in hue as green as the lake and the mists that rose above it; that they had bulging eyes, pouting, flabby lips and curious ears and were without voice...they worshipped a sea-green stone idol chiselled in the likeness of Bokrug, the great water-lizard; before which they danced horribly when the moon was gibbous.”

H. P. Lovecraft, “The Doom that came to Sarnath”

These are seven artefacts brought out of the Middle East by a Mr Angstrom. The text inscribed upon them details – amongst other things - the doom that came to Sarnath and the fate of the City of Ib and its occupants. It is only through the efforts of Gordon Walmsley and his “Notes on Deciphering Codes, Cryptograms and Ancient Inscriptions” that the translation of the text was at all possible; but even then the language is so archaic that few academics can read the contents of the work. There are two copies of these cylinders and it is a constant argument as to which one is the original and which one is the edited (and therefore, better) example. One copy is in the British Museum; the other is in the Dreamlands city of Kadatheron: it is easily determined that the cross-dimensional academic debate is restricted to only a very few individuals.

Each Cylinder is 15 feet tall, three feet in diameter and made from interlocking disks of fired terracotta clay; each one is also centrally-pierced, suggesting that they were formed around wooden poles which burnt away in the firing process. The hieroglyphs upon each Cylinder’s surface were impressed into the damp clay before firing, possibly using a series of carved wooden stamps. The writing moves in a continuous line spiralling counter-clockwise around each Cylinder, from the bottom to the top. The text states that the Cylinders were made in the city-state of Kadatheron which straddles the River Ai in the land of Mnar; the location of this kingdom is currently unknown, although it is posited that it exists in Earth’s Dreamlands and that it can be accessed via interstitial gates located in Saudi Arabia.

The text deals with the fates of the cities of Ib and Sarnath, at the will of the Great Old One Bokrug, the history of Mnar, the nature of the Sarnath-sigil and the history of the expedition of the wizard Ilathos to see the “High Priest Who Is Not To Be Named” on the Plateau of Leng: in both versions of the Cylinders, the climax of this meeting has been effaced.

Both the Waking World and Dreamlands versions of this work contain the spell for contacting the Great Old One, Bokrug; however, in the Waking World, this spell does not function.

(Source: H. P. Lovecraft, “The Doom that came to Sarnath”)

‘The Language of Mnar’; Authorship unknown; Date unknown; 1/1d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentiles; Dream Lore +5 percentiles; 24 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: “Sarnath-sigil” (Elder Sign); “Speak with the Doombringer” (Contact Bokrug); other Dreamlands spells as the Keeper desires, taking note that such spells do not function in the Waking World.

The Dreamlands Necronomicon

“...from the space which is not space, into any time when the Words are spoken, can the holder of the Knowledge summon The Black, blood of YibbTstll, that which liveth apart from him and eateth souls, that which smothers and is called Drowner. Only in water can one escape the drowning; that which is in water drowneth not...”

-Brian Lumley, “The Caller of The Black”

The origin of this version of the Blasted Tome of the Mad Arab is uncertain. It may be that consensual Dreaming has caused it to manifest beyond the Veil of Sleep; alternatively, Abdul Alhazred himself may have been potent enough a Dreamer that he compiled a Dreamlands version of his dread grimoire whilst travelling there.

Whatever the answer to this mystery, the book remains a deadly work indeed and, as always, must be approached carefully.

Dreamlands Glyphs; Abdul Alhazred; unknown; 1D10/2D10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +18 percentiles; Dream Lore +15 percentiles; 68 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Any Waking World or Dreamlands spells, as the Keeper desires.

Fourth Book of D’Harsis

Consensual Dreaming means that books of Mythos lore which have their origins in the Waking World, are sometimes to be encountered in the Dreamlands. This is true of the Necronomicon, the Pnakotic Manuscripts and The Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, among others. In the case of the Brick Cylinders of Kadatheron (see above), this is an example of the reverse, a Dreamlands book travelling across the veil into the Waking World, although no-one is sure exactly how this was accomplished. The Books of D’Harsis are possibly another case in point.

The assumption is that there are three early tomes in sequence before the Fourth Book of D’Harsis; however, this fact remains to be verified. There are rumours that the Dreamlands’ “Man in the Moon”, a terrible entity of great power, has a complete set, but this will remain a rumour until a non-threatening contact and leave-taking with this person can be effected.

The hallmark of a Dreamlands text trespassing into the Waking World is often the presence of Dreamlands spells which, of course, do not work. Such tomes are usually accompanied by disappointed reports and assessments of their being of little value to the practising mage. In this instance, the reverse is true: the Waking World version of the Fourth Book of D’Harsis is much sought-after for its black capabilities, while the Dreamlands iteration is relatively benign in its scope. The only real point of reference between them is that they are both exceedingly rare.

Dreamlands Glyphs; D’Harsis; unknown; 0/0 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +0 percentiles; Dream Lore +5 percentiles; 60 week to study and comprehend

Spells: Create Barrier of Naach-Tith; plus any other Dreamlands spells of the Keeper’s choice

The Ghoul’s Manuscript

The Ghoul’s Manuscript is a handwritten text usually found bound in human or ghoul skin. Its contents are concerned primarily with the entity known as Mordiggian, ‘the Charnel God’, its cult and ritual practises. The text is found wherever ghouls abound or wherever human worship of that Great Old One occurs, although this is generally limited at this time: Mordiggian is prophesied to become the patron deity of the city Zul-Bha-Sair, on the lost continent of Zothique, in the far future. The text is frequently encountered in Earth’s Dreamlands.

A horrible side-effect of reading this work is that the reader slowly begins to transform into a ghoul. Every week that the reader spends examining the text, they must roll their POW or less on d100: if they fail, they begin the relentless and unstoppable transformation. Each week thereafter, the victim permanently loses 1 point of APP and 1d10 points of SAN until, at 0 APP, they become a ghoul. If they lose all their SAN or otherwise go insane, they run off into the night and join other ghouls in their despicable dwellings. If somehow, the victim retains their sanity, they may continue to dwell amongst other humans, although their horrid appearance will immediately identify them as anything but. As well, they must begin to feed as other ghouls do, or else die of starvation. Without an effective means of hiding the transformation and its effects, the victim will become a manifest danger to their friends and associates.

Merely skimming the text has no chance of starting the transformation; a subsequent skim through the work however, has a 10% chance of starting the metamorphosis in the one so doing, with a failed POW roll; this chance increases by 10% for each subsequent skimming by that reader.

Sub-literate English; unknown; the Vaults of Zin; Sanity Loss: 1d2/1d8; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles; average 6 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Call/Dismiss Mordiggian; Contact Ghouls; also, 0-3 of the following (roll 1d4): Cloud Memory; Consume Likeness; Enthrall Victim

The Scriptures of Klek

“And in these forbidden delvings he found again the spell that was lost with primal Ib, whereby men are transformed into spiders with maimed and broken legs; and how to invoke the dead, which is perilous, and how to clothe in flesh the spirits of them that never lived, which is infinitely worse...”

-Gary Myers, The House of the Worm: “Yohk the Necromancer”

Last seen in the town of Vornai, the current whereabouts of this tome are unknown. Penned upon the blasted slopes of the Plateau of Leng, this book is clad in the skin of some unknown monstrous beast and is stitched together with the silk of spiders.

Dreamlands Glyphs; Klek; Leng; 1d3/1d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +7 percentiles; 10 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: At least 6 Dreamlands spells

The Synarchobiblaron

The jury is still out on whether or not this is actually a book at all.

Many Dreamers have tried to find this work and many claim to have done so; that being said, no two versions of this quest have been the same in content, although every single journey has taken six weeks to accomplish! Each time the Dreamer finds the book, remarkably it is written in a language which is simplicity itself for them to read and comprehend. At the end of each story, the book vanishes, or is lost mysteriously, its purpose fulfilled.

In all likelihood, this text is a journey in and of itself. Once a Dreamer sets out to find the wondrous “Synarchobiblaron”, they set in motion a learning voyage filled with symbolic meaning and instructive encounters, which – six weeks later – brings them to the object of their quest. This is, in fact, a spirit quest, made real: the result of a puissant magical spell from some unknown ancient sorcerer.

(The Keeper should tailor the journey as a mini-adventure for the Dreamer, with encounters and obstacles commensurate with the rewards gained from the “book”. Note that, while on the journey, any SAN points lost due specifically to Mythos activity, automatically add +1 to the Dreamer’s Cthulhu Mythos skill up to a limit of 8 points, reflecting the Cthulhu Mythos benefit of reading the “text”.)

All languages; an unknown sorcerer; unknown; 1d3/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +8 percentiles; 6 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None

The Testament of Lothron

Compiled by Atal of Ulthar, the high priest of the Elder Gods of that city, this is the record of the exploits of an ancient and remarkable Dreamer named Lothron. It is held by the temple servitors of Ulthar and may be examined upon request in exchange for a period of service to the temple

Dreamlands Glyphs; Atal of Ulthar; Ulthar; 1d4/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +5 percentiles; Dream Lore +2 percentiles; 60 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None

The Tome of the Masked One

The evil work was rumoured to have been penned by the blasphemous priest hidden behind the yellow silk mask which dwells in a ruined monastery atop the Plateau of Leng above the Tcho-tcho enclave of Lelag-Leng. It is bound in the skin of an unknown creature and written in a disturbing ink, derived from the ichor of, possibly, the same beast. The book contains the history of the monastery, a detailed outline of the rituals practised therein and many useful pieces of information regarding Chaughnar Faugn, Nyogtha, the Men of Leng, Moonbeasts, the Pharos of Leng, Shantaks and the race of Tcho-tcho. It is unknown if there is more than one copy of the Tome; however, since the masked priest is rumoured to be an avatar of Nyarlathotep, this book may simply be a lure to attract intrepid searchers after strange truths...

Dreamlands Glyphs; ‘The High Priest Not To Be Described’; Ruined Monastery of Leng; 1d8/2d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10 percentiles; Dream Lore +8 percentiles; 60 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: All Dreamlands spells including, especially: Contact Moonbeast; Contact Man of Leng; Contact Tcho-tcho; Summon/Bind Shantak

In the 1830s, a small cult of Dreamers based in Leshay County, Kentucky, pierced the veil to the Worlds of Dream and managed to return with a copy of this book. Unfortunately, their activities unleashed a horrific series of events in that location and they were forced to flee into the Dreamlands, leaving their copy of the Tome behind them. This copy suffered terribly during the cleaning-up of the cult’s mess and it is a shadow of its former, pernicious self.

The original text is still present but marred and illegible: the process of having travelled into the Waking World has had a strange effect upon the Glyphs and those who study them must make a CON x 3 roll or suffer blinding headaches for 2d12-CON hours. Most of the useful material can be gained from the marginal notations of the former owners who have turned the text into rough English: here too, there are problems, however. Much of this translation is in ink which has run badly and even the legible bits comprise a type of shorthand reference which is hard to penetrate. Still there are some benefits for persistent Investigators.

(Source: Jeff Moeller, Mortal Coils: “Nightcap”)

Dreamlands Glyphs with English marginal notations; ‘The High Priest Not To Be Described’ and an unknown translator; Heighton, Kentucky, 1830s; 1d3/2d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +8 percentiles; Dream Lore +4 percentiles; 8-24 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Roll INT x 3 to discern the following: Contact Moon Beast; Seraph’s Glory; Spiral of Suth (these last two spells only work in the Dreamlands)

The ‘Ygiroth Inscription

The peoples of ‘Ygiroth were reckoned to be primitive and decadent in the extreme; that being said, their language and what remains of their art is subtle and complex: even now, only very few of the most erudite wizards are able to read the scraps of text remaining in their tongue.

Strange then that one of the most famous works of this benighted race is written in the complex and insidious Aklo language; and yet this is probably a clue as to the material’s origin: Aklo is known to be the tongue which demonic beings often choose to impart their wisdom to mortal summoners.

The ‘Ygiroth mind was traditionally an unclean one; Aklo operates to open the reader’s, or listener’s, mind to the transmitted information: thus the work is a mental gateway to the unbridled excesses of ‘Ygirothian thought.

It is rumoured that the inscription contains only one spell; a spell so incredible and so awful that, despite the fact that many powerful Dreamers have encountered it, none have chosen to cast it...let alone divulge its secrets.

Aklo; primitive scribes of ‘Ygiroth; ‘Ygiroth; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10 percentiles; 12 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: One spell of great power...

*****