Written in Stone...

Carved Insane...

Many sources of Mythos knowledge are culled from the demented scribbling of madmen, or from the obsessive notes of scholars who have pushed the envelope of their understanding far beyond where they should have. Much of this information comes from encounters with unholy, blasphemous beings or through the agencies of dreams or visions; to paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton, if some individuals have seen beyond the limits of what Mankind was meant to know, it’s because they have stood upon the shoulders of giants – titanic, squamous and, possibly, rugose giants.

However, while there has certainly always been cosmic pus dripping down from the stars to imperil worlds, there have not always been books. In the earliest of times, crazies and cultists had to use what they had to hand in order to pass on their ghastly insights to those who would come after them; most often they etched their ramblings onto rocks. Mythos lore is littered with tablets, fragments and shards and these represent the most difficult to access sources of Mythos knowledge in the whole canon. These texts are often located in places which are hard to get to or are locked away in high security vaults; they are most often singular objects with a commensurately high price (if on the market) and which, if destroyed, are irreplaceable. There are books written about them, interpreting them and translating them: as is usual, these transcriptions are not as powerful as the originals but will serve in a pinch.

Along with these horrible stelae, are examples of similar texts from our pitiful ‘real’ dimension, giving insight as to how these pieces have been dealt with historically and which will serve as inspiration for Keepers who wish to devise their own hideous carvings.

For now, read on: the stones are about to speak!

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Aklo Tablets

What little is known about this text comes from two sources – E. A. Hitchcock’s Remarks upon Alchemy and Alonzo Typer’s Diary. Hitchcock refers to the “secrets” contained on the tablets as “now unattainable” but provides no further elaboration as to why. Typer mentions seeing several “Aklo formulae” in his 1908 notes on the examination of the van der Heyl Mansion in New York State and describes the third of these as a means whereby invisible enemies may be revealed; this begs the question that the whereabouts of the Aklo Tablets, or at least their text, may be recorded in the Book of Hidden Things. Until these questions have been resolved however, the ‘Tablets must be considered lost ... if they existed at all.

(Source: The White People, Arthur Machen)

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The Book of Mormon

The Book of Mormon: An Account Written by the Hand of Mormon upon Plates Taken from the Plates of Nephi, to give it its full title, is the holy text of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, otherwise known as the Mormon faith. The text was given to the religion’s founder – Joseph Smith, Jr. – after four years of tutelage by the Angel Moroni, in the form of a set of golden plates bound together by gold wire. According to Smith, the Book was originally written in “reformed Egyptian” and he was blessed with the ability to translate this language by his angel guide.

Getting the Book to print was not without its issues: Smith enlisted his neighbour, Martin Harris, as a scribe in the process and Harris’ wife connived to steal, and lose, the first draft of the initial 116 pages. As punishment for this indiscretion, the Angel Moroni took back the golden plates and withdrew Smith’s gift of translation until after he had observed a fitting penance. When this had been performed, the ‘plates were returned and the work began once more, although without the help of Harris, who nevertheless, mortgaged his farm to help pay for the publishing. When the ms. was ready to go to the printers, the golden plates went back to Moroni to be hidden away once more and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was good to go.

The golden plates consist of several sections: the Small Plates of Nephi; Mormon’s Contribution, comprising his Words, his Abridgement of the Large Plates of Nephi and the Book of Mormon; and additional material provided by the Angel Moroni. There are also copies of signed affidavits by those who saw and handled the plates during the translation process called the Testimony of the Three Witnesses and (post Harris) the Testimony of the Eight Witnesses. Certain sections of the engraved text according to Smith were ‘sealed’ and could not be translated; these along with the stolen 116 pages are the only sections of the plates unrecorded.

The plates tell of the lost tribes of the Children of Israel who wandered to the North American mainland around 600 BC and established communities there along lines similar to those of the Middle East at the same time. These communities grew and alternately fought and lived in peaceful harmony, especially during a phase when Jesus Christ miraculously appeared among them for an extended period. The tribes converted and integrated with existing Native Americans, even with indigenous Christians who had arisen some 2,500 years before the arrival of the Israelites. One of these, Mormon, was chosen to be the keeper of records of the lost tribes and it was he who hid the gold plates in a stone box buried beneath a hill in Manchester, New York. His son Moroni was chosen to guard this cache after his father’s death.

The debate as to whether a Levantine society once existed on the North American mainland has been long and heated and, as can be expected, boils down to a matter of faith. Of interest to Mythos aficionados is the notion of a “subterranean” (or at least, sub rosa) society, able to hide its presence (K’n Yan, anyone?), and the presence of powerful artefacts hidden in the US. According to the Book, the Ark of the Covenant is supposed to be buried in Sanpete County in Utah, and guarded by the Three Nephi, descendants of the Nephite tribe, indigenous American Christians blessed with this immortal duty by Christ himself. The construction of the Book itself – the gold plates – also has interesting implications for another Mythos work: the Turner Codex.

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The Broken Columns of Geph

“Let him who calls The Black,

Be aware of the danger.

His victim may be protected

By the spell of running water,

And turn the called-up darkness

Against the very caller...”

-Brian Lumley, “The Calling of the Black”

The Broken Columns of Geph are immensely ancient pillars located deep in the coastal jungles of Liberia. Attempts to destroy them have been made at various times throughout history and now the Columns are protected by local tribes who revere them as objects of worship. The carvings on the Columns depict many of the Great Old Ones along with warnings about the use of black magic against one’s enemies. Adherents of several Great Old One cults have defaced the Columns and references to their particular deities but much of the original text still remains.

(Source: Brian Lumley, “The Calling of the Black”)

Hyperborean; Elders of the Ptetholites; 1d6/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10 percentiles; 40 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Brew Dream Drug; The Calling of the Black (requires the Nyhargo Dirge – not present in this version – to be effective); Contact Yibb Tstll; Contact Cthonian; Curse of Darkness; Power of Nyambe

Geph Transcriptions

In the 1950s, Titus Crow engaged the services of Gordon Walmsley of Goole to translate the Column scripts, working from rubbings which Crow had obtained. Walmsley managed to accomplish this task and published the results in an extremely limited vanity release, in an octavo format, simply called The Geph Transcriptions. Exact numbers of the print run are unclear: Crow definitely had a copy in his library before it was destroyed, but certainly others exist elsewhere. Interestingly, no copy was found in Walmsley’s office or house after his murder.

(Source: Brian Lumley, “Name and Number”)

English; Professor Gordon Walmsley; London 1955; 1d4/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +7 percentiles; 20 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None

*****

Celaeno Fragments

The Great Library of Celaeno is found on the fourth planet orbiting the star Celaeno in the Pleiades. It is said that the Library is the repository of all the knowledge which the Great Old Ones stole from the Elder Gods before they were cast down. The method of storage of this knowledge is not entirely clear – some researchers claim that the information is stored inside living alien beings grown just for this purpose. We know from the studies of Laban Shrewsbury however, that at least some of the lore is inscribed upon stone tablets.

The Celaeno Fragments is a transcription by Shrewsbury of several broken stone carvings which he recorded whilst visiting the Great Library. The work comprises about 50 pages of disjointed text which deals mainly with the “King in Yellow” and the city of Carcosa, as well as some minor information regarding the Deep Ones. The original manuscript for this work was deposited at Miskatonic University Library after Shrewsbury’s disappearance and presumed death and has not yet been published, although photocopies have been circulated.

In recent times, stone shards have been excavated on Earth which correspond closely with the images of the tablets depicted in the Fragments and with matching information. These carvings date from Earth’s Triassic Period and are the subject of heated archaeological debate.

(Source: August Derleth, “The House on Curwen Street”)

English; Dr Laban Shrewsbury; 1915 (1938); 1d4/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +9 percentiles; 15 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Brew Space Mead; Call Cthugha; Elder Sign; Enchant Whistle; Summon/Bind Byakhee

*****

Elder Keys

The Elder Keys (also known as the Elder Key, Elder Records or The Tablets of Destiny) are a series of carven stone blocks around which is draped the protoplasmic menace which is Ubbo-Sathla, “The Unbegotten Source”, a cosmic entity said to be the mindless twin of Azathoth. So powerful are said to be the incantations writ upon these tablets that the most minor of them – a one line inscription –brought our earth into this dimension and caused life to appear upon it. Many wizards and other hard-metaphysical investigators have attempted to locate and transcribe these carvings however none have ever returned – victorious or otherwise. The Mi-go, it is said, have the Keys as their ultimate reason for being on Earth and it is this which keeps them travelling to our planet from Yuggoth. Alternate theories suggest that Ubbo-Sathla excretes some arcane substance which is vital to Mi-go technology and it is this, rather than the tablets, which attracts their interest. Still another theory is that the presence of Azathoth’s twin on this planet is the cause of the Great White Space’s terminus on our home world, thus providing a rationale for our planet’s infestation of dire divinities and their associated misbegotten agents. There have long been rumours that another copy of the ‘Keys exists on this planet – bringing the total number of copies to two – but this has not been verified: it is more likely that the other copy is something completely different, with the same name.

While the rewards of obtaining the Elder Keys would seem to be obvious, the greatest danger to accessing them is Ubbo-Sathla itself, whose 100 attacks per round inflict instant death upon any living substance with which it comes into contact. Robotic or automated platforms for gathering information from the Keys may achieve greater benefits in future but this begs the question as to why the Mi-go, or the Great Race of Yith, or even the Elder Things – beings with more highly advanced technology than our own – haven’t explored these possibilities already. The shoggoths have long been said to have been created from the essence of this being. Ubbo-Sathla is sometimes equated with the being known as Abhoth who has similar qualities; it is likely that ‘Abhoth’ is a derogatory name applied to the creature by a subsequent civilisation who derided the worship of their precursors. And just maybe, Ubbo-Sathla isn’t as mindless as has been reported...

(Source: Clark Ashton Smith, Ubbo-Sathla)

Unknown language; Primordial Extra-Dimensional Hard-Metaphysicians; a time prior to the Big Bang; 1d100/100d100 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +100 percentiles; 208 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None, any, or all as the Keeper rules

*****

The Kensington Runestone

“8 Geats (or Goths, or Gutnish, or Gotlanders) and 22 Norwegians (Norsemen) on a [?] journey of exploration, from Vinland west of. We had a camp with 2 shelters, one day's journey north from this stone. We were at fishing one day, after we came home found 10 men red of blood and dead. AVM (Ave Virgo Maria) rescue from evils.

[Side of stone] “Have 10 men [by/at] sea to look after our ships, 14 day journey from this island. Year 1362”

-Inscription on the ‘Stone

The Kensington Runestone was discovered wrapped in the roots of a poplar tree whilst being cleared from a field. It was named after the nearest large town to its discovery in Douglas County, Minnesota. The year was 1898 and the discoverer, Olof Öhman, was drawn to the markings on the rock by his 10-year old son: they thought at the time that they had discovered some kind of ‘Indian almanac’.

The rock was moved to the local bank in Kensington and rubbings and photographs were sent to many institutions with tenured experts in Scandinavian languages: every one of them declared the slab to be a forgery. Nevertheless, the stone (30 x 16 x 6 inches or 76 x 41 x 15 centimetres, in size and weighing about 200 pounds, or 90kg) was taken to England for further investigation. Based upon stylistic usage, anachronistic statements about the composition of the adventuring party and inconsistent rune combinations, the stone was again declared a hoax (incidentally the invocation “AVM” is in perfect accord for a Swedish inscription, the Swedes being mostly Catholic at that time).

Öhman received the ‘Stone back from its travels and used it as a step to improve access to a barn on his property; he also used it as an anvil to straighten nails. It is noteworthy, that at no time did he try to make money from his discovery. Since his death, the ‘Stone has been moved to a place of greater prominence within the Kensington community, who continue to believe in its accuracy.

Despite the research already done on the rock, every so often another academic tries to explain the discrepancies and reveal it to be an authentic artefact; if later research proves the ‘Stone to be a genuine inscription by lost Scandinavian adventurers on the American mainland, it will cause the Viking history of North America to be extensively revisited.

*****

R’lyeh Text (aka the “Urilia Text”)

“Mglw’ nafh fhthagn-ngah cf ‘ayak ‘vulgtmm vugtlag’n...”

-Chant to Locate the Dead from the R’lyeh Text,

Robert M. Price, “Beneath the Tombstone”

This book was originally carved onto stone tablets by the spawn of Cthulhu itself and outlines the correct form of worship of the Great Old One: it is considered by adherents of this cult as their holiest of books. The book existed in Hyperborean times and copies at least fifteen-thousand years old are hidden somewhere in China, probably in the keeping of the ‘Hidden Ones’: the writing on these scrolls looks like Chinese script but is of no known human tongue. Chinese copies of the scrolls have been periodically smuggled out of China.

Chinese; Author unknown; c.300 BC; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentiles; 54 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Call Cyaegha; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Spawn of Cthulhu; Contact Deep Ones; Contact Father Dagon; Contact Mother Hydra; Breath of Dagon; Curse of the Stone; Grasp of Cthulhu; Wave of Oblivion

Copies made their way along the Silk Road to the Mediterranean and, in time, a version in Latin was issued around 200 BC:

Latin; Author unknown; 200 BC; 1d6+1/2d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +12 percentiles; 45 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Call Cyaegha; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Spawn of Cthulhu; Contact Deep Ones; Contact Father Dagon; Contact Mother Hydra; Breath of Dagon; Curse of the Stone; Grasp of Cthulhu; Wave of Oblivion

In 1647, Lord Rochester translated the ‘Text from its Latin version into English; he probably did this as a favour for a libertine associate, or as a means to pay back a debt, since the manuscript was never published. The translation moved through many occult circles and was widely copied and covertly distributed. The translation is severely truncated from the Latin version and contains only one spell. These copies are extremely rare to unearth nowadays and are usually in poor condition.

(Source: August Derleth, “The Return of Hastur”)

English; John Wilmot, Lord Rochester; unpublished, 1647; 1d3/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6 percentiles; 6 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Contact Deity: Cthulhu

In the 1700s, a German translation was produced in a limited run of only 400 copies, which used the Chinese translation as its source. This version is notable for containing an analysis of the content along with author commentaries. The title of the work was changed to Liyuhh, a strange word which has defied translation but which may be an attempt to transliterate the sound made by some of the creatures mentioned within the text.

(Source: Eddy Bertin, “Darkness My Name Is”)

German; Author unknown: Liyuhh; 1700s; 1d6/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10 percentiles; 40 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Call Cyaegha; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Spawn of Cthulhu; Contact Deep Ones; Contact Father Dagon; Contact Mother Hydra; Breath of Dagon; Curse of the Stone; Grasp of Cthulhu; Wave of Oblivion

R’lyeh Text Commentary

This work, in Chinese, is an extended commentary on the R’lyeh Text dissecting and explaining several of the most convoluted and difficult passages. Interestingly the Commentary does not contain the Breath of Dagon spell from the original text; it does however, contain a rough sketch map of the corpse city R’lyeh.

(Source: Larry DiTillio, Lynn Willis, et. al., Masks of Nyarlathotep: “Shanghai”)

Chinese; Author unknown; Liao Dynasty; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentiles; 40 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Spawn of Cthulhu; Grasp of Cthulhu; Wave of Oblivion

*****

Rongorongo Objects

Easter Island is the source of this strange style of writing which remains indecipherable after many years of investigation. First discovered in the Nineteenth Century by visitors to the island, there are now only about two dozen objects currently extant which provide examples of the writing style. Most of these objects – which include a ‘chieftain’s staff’ and a wooden statue of a bird-headed man – are carved from pieces of driftwood picked up from beaches. Many of the items have been partially burnt, having been rescued from fires lit by uncomprehending sailors. On the island itself there a several examples of the text carved into stone, and these have been thought to be abbreviations of the more extensive writings on the wooden articles. It is believed that rongorongo is one of only three or four writing systems in human history arising independently of any outside influences.

Most of the texts are thought to be of genealogical interest or may simply be calendrical in nature. The writing style is unique in that it follows a pattern called ‘reverse boustrophedon’, that is, it alternates line to line from left to right to right to left, turning 180° at the end of each line. The glyphs are abstracted outlines of human, animal, plant, artifact and geometric forms. Many of the human and animal figures have strange protuberances on each side of their heads, which may represent ears or eyes. The few remaining examples of these texts have led to a complex identifying system: each object is tagged with a capital letter and a short title, such as “Tablet C: the Mamari Tablet”, while others are simply known as – for example – “The Oar”, “The Snuffbox”, “The Small Santiago Tablet” and “The Santiago Staff”. All of the known items are in museums or in private collections; with the exception of some limited petroglyphs, there are no longer any examples of this writing left on Easter Island.

*****

The Rosetta Stone

The Rosetta Stone was discovered by the French in Egypt in 1799, was captured by English forces and returned to London in 1802, where it has been on display in the British Museum ever since. It is a stele, or proclamation etched on stone for public viewing, which is written in three distinct languages – Egyptian hieroglyphs, a form of the hieroglyphic style called Demotic and Ancient Greek (at the time that the ‘Stone was created, Egypt was ruled by a Greek line of kings, known as the Ptolemaic rulers). The stone discusses the repealing of certain taxes by Ptolemy V and is, of itself, not completely edifying reading; but it is the fact that all three writing styles were used that makes the ‘Stone so incredibly important.

Research was conducted by the French linguist Jean-François Champollion and British Scientist Thomas Young. Champollion’s input was of the greatest value since he was able to read Coptic – a later derivation of the Demotic style – and could ‘reverse engineer’ Coptic back into the Hieroglyphs and compare these to the Greek. In time, the riddle of Hieroglyphic writing was solved.

*****

Tablets of Nhing

These stone slabs are located upon the planet of Yaddith, a world which circles five suns and which occupies the same region of space viewable from Earth which contains the constellation Deneb. Yaddith was once inhabited by the nug-soth, tapir-snouted beings who shared more similarities with reptiles than with humans, which they vaguely resembled. The nug-soth were ruled by a leader known as the Arch-Ancient who led them in the worship of Shub-Niggurath. The nug-soth were great researchers whose thirst for knowledge crossed many boundaries of research including sorcery and science. They mastered a form of inter-stellar travel known as the “light envelope” and were highly capable Dreamers.

Ultimately, the nug-soth were destroyed when Yaddith was invaded by dholes which proceeded to devour their homeworld. Monumental efforts to rid the planet of this infestation availed them naught and only a handful of the nug-soth managed to escape the dying planet, taking with them their most potent text, the Ghorl Nigral, the only known work which references the Tablets.

It has been more than a million years since human eyes have seen the Tablets of Nhing and, given that Yaddith is the home of a puissant avatar of Shub-Niggurath and its servitor dholes (who, ironically, also worship this being), the likelihood of seeing them again – if they still exist – is exceedingly remote.

(Source: H. P. Lovecraft & E. Hoffman Price, “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”)

Yaddithian; The Arch Ancient, Buo; more than 1,000,000 years ago; 1d12/2d20 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +18 percentiles; 75 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Unknown, but likely to contain the following - Contact Deity: Shub Niggurath; Call/Dismiss Shub Niggurath; Summon/Bind Dark Young of Shub Niggurath; Summon/Bind Dhole;

*****

Voormish Tablets

The Voormis were subhuman beings created – some say – by Tsathoggua and who colonised the land of Hyperborea, modern Greenland, defeating the unspeakable Gnoph-kehs in order to do so. Over time their culture declined and they welcomed human settlers to their lands by whom they were largely wiped out. Voormi magic was considered most powerful and the bulk of it was recorded on several tablets in an attempt to prevent it being lost forever. Wizards such as Eibon and Haon-Dor were known to have consulted them and incorporated their mysteries into their own studies. The texts are known to have discussed the offspring of Cthugha, Aphoom Zhar, as well as the creatures known as the ‘Fishers From Outside’. Apart from these snippets the remainder of the lore must be considered lost.

(Source: Lin Carter, “The Acolyte of the Flame”)

Hieratic Naacal; Author(s) unknown; Pre-historic timeline; 1d10/3d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +20 percentiles; 70 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Contact Aphoom Zhar; Contact Cthugha; Contact Gol-goroth; Elder Sign; Summon/Bind Shantak; Gate

*****

Yellow Codex (aka Xanthic Folio)

Rumour suggests that the Yellow Codex was unearthed at Niya in Sinkiang, north of Tibet; since the exact location, or the fact of this city, is still in question, the validity of these rumours cannot be verified. Either way, the original documents have passed from view and the text, in low circulation as it is, is all that remains. Even here, with different translations claiming ‘authenticity’, the accuracy of the work must be held as speculative at best.

The matter of the text deals with the city of Hastur and the nature of its treaty with the nearby inhabitants of Carcosa; the original text is said to be written in the difficult language of ‘Pnakotic A’ and etched upon several stone tablets. It is said that the text of this work pre-dates its own discovery and forms the background for the cursed play The King in Yellow; however, this could simply be a fiction generated by poor scholarship.

(Source: Paul Bastienne, “The King in Yellow”)

‘Pnakotic A’; various authors; various dates; Sanity Loss: 1d2/1d4; +4 percentiles to Cthulhu Mythos; average 10 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None

*****

Zanthu Tablets

These tablets were apparently given to Harold Hadley Copeland during the Copeland-Ellington Expedition by a wizard called ‘Zanthu’, although it is unclear whether they were handed to him by that entity or if he took them from Zanthu’s tomb. Copeland was rescued in Mongolia after the expedition disappeared in 1923; he was the sole survivor. When located, the ten tablets were in his backpack; they are made of black jade and written all over in what Copeland described as hieratic Naacal, the written language of Mu. The tablets now reside in the Sanbourne Institute of Pacific Studies.

Hieratic Naacal; ‘Zanthu, Wizard of Mu’; prehuman timeline; 1d6/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6 percentiles; 60 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deity: Ghatanathoa; Contact Deity: Lloigornos; Contact Deity: Ubb; Contact Deity: Zoth-Ommog; Enchant Bell

“The Zanthu Tablets: A Conjectural Translation”

The text of the ‘Tablets is most readily encountered in this monograph written by Copeland just prior to his commitment to an asylum and suicide. There are no spells in this translation; however their presence and function are alluded to. There are claims that, in later years, more copies of the ‘Tablets have been found by fisherman around the Pacific Rim.

(Source: Lin Carter, “The Dweller in the Tomb”)

English; Harold Hadley Copeland: The Zanthu Tablets: A Conjectural Translation; 1926; 1d3/1d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentiles; 8 weeks to study and comprehend

Spells: None