On to the next
letter of this alphabet. There are a range of things on offer here, with many
Yidhran texts and the four books which comprise the publishing history of the Cthaat
Aquadingen, along with spells and other delectable items.
These nightmares
are brought to you by the letter “C”…
*****
The
Cabala of Saboth
“It
was he who initiated me into the mysteries and arcana to be found amid the
shuddery speculations of such blasphemies as the Necronomicon,
the Book of Eibon, the Cabala of Saboth,
and that pinnacle of literary madness, Ludvig Prinn's Mysteries of the
Worm. There were grim treatises on anthropomancy, necrology,
lycanthropical and vampiristic spells and charms, witchcraft, and long,
rambling screeds in Arabic, Sanskrit and prehistoric ideography, on which lay
the dust of centuries.”
A book about
which there is little known and much speculated upon. It seems to have
manifested around 100 BC and appears to have been a work of divine inspiration,
one that was transmitted directly to the author(s) by mystical means in order
to be set down, much like the Book of Mormon or the works of
Joachim Feery. It seems to parallel works of Jewish mysticism and discusses
many angelological themes, however, whether the material is actually divine or
diabolical, is mostly unknown. A translation into Greek was made around 1686 and
another version in Yiddish has been anecdotally cited – whether this version
actually exists or not is yet to be determined.
(Source: "The Secret in the Tomb"
by Robert Bloch)
Greek; Unknown; 1686; 1d3/1d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu
Mythos +3 percentiles; 16 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: 1d4 of the
following - Augur; Baneful Dust of Hermes Trismegistus; Bind
Enemy; Cast Out Devil; Create Bad-Corpse Dust; Curse of
Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of Suleiman; Find Gate;
Identify Spirit; Imprison Mind; Powder of ibn-Ghazi; Unmask
Demon; View Gate; Voorish Sign; Warding; Warding
the Eye
*****
The Chhaya Ritual
“...He
had read the Chhaya Ritual,
and in his letters ... had hinted at the real meanings behind the veiled hints
and warnings in that half-legendary manuscript.”
A deeply esoteric
and confronting work which proves challenging for even the most knowledgeable
occultists. The ‘chhaya’ refers, apparently, to the astral, or psychic
‘shadow’ which must be overcome before the adept comes into the fullness of his
power; an alternative reading of the term suggests that the chhaya is a
malevolent, vaguely-formed nemesis which can seek out a sloppy metaphysical
practitioner. As such, the work is deemed hugely disturbing on a personal level
and must not be approached lightly by the investigator.
Thankfully,
copies of this book are extremely rare: one copy is known to exist in the
Buddhist libraries of Lhasa in Tibet, while a partial copy exists in a yogic
lamasery in Rangoon, Burma. To date all Western commentators on this work have
been killed under strange circumstances, lending credence to a legend that the
work is ‘haunted’.
(Source: Hydra by Henry Kuttner)
Tibetan (Lhasa/Ü-Tsang dialect), written in the
Devanagari script; author unknown; date unknown; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu
Mythos +12 percentiles; 60 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: “Call forth the Chhaya!” (Summon Dimensional
Shambler); “The Rite of Preparation” (Voorish Sign); “A Ward Against
Evil” (Pnakotic Pentagram); “Shed the Soul’s Impurities” (Undo
Reversion); “The Lock of Nine Hells” (Elder Sign)
NB: Every week that a reader peruses this work,
there is a percentage chance equal to their POW that a Dimensional Shambler
will appear and attack them.
Partial copy: Tibetan (Lhasa/Ü-Tsang dialect),
written in the Devanagari script; author unknown; date unknown; 1d4/1d6 Sanity
loss; Cthulhu Mythos +9 percentiles; 40 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: as above, but roll under the reader’s Luck
to see if the spells are complete
NB: Every month that a reader peruses the work,
there is a percentage chance equal to their POW that a Dimensional Shambler
will appear and attack them.
English translation; various authors; various
dates; 1d2/1d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +5 percentiles; 30 weeks to
study and comprehend
Spells: 20% chance per spell of any of the above spells
being included in the translation
NB: Every time an individual reads this work, there
is a 2% percent cumulative chance that a Dimensional Shambler will
appear and attack them.
*****
Pnakotic Pentagram
A warding sigil
said to be efficacious in avoiding detection by outside entities during the use
of the Liao Drug. The spell derives from Ludwig Prinn via his De
Vermis Mysteriis, however the original source is most likely the Pnakotic
Manuscripts. Prinn’s experiences with Liao took place along the Silk Road and
his meetings with Saracens there; they most likely imparted knowledge of this
spell to him at the same time.
Like the Elder
Sign, this device is not effective until it is enchanted, a process which
imbues it with Magic Points. Up to 5 Magic Points can be instilled into the
image each day: every day that the spell is worked, the conjuror must make a Luck
Roll to ensure that their concentration is not upset. If it is, the
conjuror must immediately make another Luck Roll: if successful,
the ‘Pentagram loses only half its current Magic Points (round
down) - rather than all of them – and cannot be further enhanced.
When used in
conjunction with the Liao Drug, use the standard rules to see if
the attention of some temporal entity is attracted; if so, compare the POW of
the attracted entity against the Magic Points in the Pnakotic
Pentagram on the Resistance Table: if the ‘Pentagram is successful,
the creature is unable to gain a ‘lock’ on the Liao user and will
halt its pursuit. As a guide, the average Hound of Tindalos has a POW of 25. As
an unfortunate side effect of this, the enchanter will know that they have
narrowly avoided contact and will lose 1/1d6 points of Sanity.
*****
The Chronicles of Thrang
“Yidhra
devoured the octopus and learned to put forth a tentacle; She devoured the bear
and learned to clothe herself in fur against the creeping ice of the north;
indeed can Yidhra take any shape known to living things.
Yet
no shape can She take which is truly fair, for She partakes of all foul
creatures as well as fair. To her followers She appears in many fair and comely
forms, but this is because they see not her true form, but only such visions as
She wills them to see.
For
as the adepts can send their thoughts and visions to one another over great
distances ... so can Yidhra send her thoughts to men and cause them to see only
what She wills.
Indeed
it is by sending her thoughts that Yidhra remains in one soul, for in body She
is many, hidden in the jungles of the south, the icy wastes of the north, and
the deserts beyond the western sea.
Thus
it is that though her temples are many, She waits by all, combining bodily with
her diverse followers, yet her consciousness is a vast unity.”
The Chronicles have not been seen in recorded history; however,
they are mentioned in several ancient – and not so ancient – texts so, on this
basis, their existence must be assumed to be real. No actual authentic copies
have been verified and certainly no recorded copy is known to be held by any
reputable library. It is said that the Chronicles were written before
the accepted start of human history and that they were later amended in the
land of Ngarathoë before being transcribed into the Sumerian idiom.
Several authenticated
copies of the Yidhrani have quoted extensively from this work and that
is mainly how the work is known to have existed: one copy dating from Cairo in
the 1860s filled nineteen pages with the Sumerian cuneiform script, photographs
of which are held in the British Museum; the original was destroyed in a fire
later on. Another instance of the Yidhrani, known from associated
correspondence to have incorporated quotes from the Chronicle, went down
with the Titanic in 1912. All of these speculative copies have been said
to discuss the nature of Mlandoth and especially Yidhra, but exactly in what
fashion is currently unknown. The existence of the Chronicles is said to
be discussed in Chthonic Revelations (q.v.) and is mentioned in the
German work, Uralte Schrecken.
(Source:
Where Yidhra Walks by Walter C.
DeBill)
Sumerian, written in cuneiform; ‘Thrang’; late 6th
millennium BC; 1d4/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10 percentiles; 40
weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: Contact Yidhra; Summon Avatar of Yidhra;
Reversion
Sumerian, 19 pages of photographed cuneiform text;
Author unknown; Cairo, 1860s; 1d2/1d3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +4
percentiles; 10 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Contact Yidhra
*****
Yidhran Spells:
Unlike many other Mythos spells, those
associated with the Outer God Yidhra operate in a highly idiosyncratic fashion.
For the most part, casting a Yidhran spell is an instinctive impulse, usually guided
by evocative writings and deriving from the desire of the caster to enact the
will of their deity. Casting one of these spells can be merely a subconscious
effort: the crucial factor in the casting is that the caster is aware of
Yidhra, has a level of understanding concerning its nature and motivations, and
that there be a significant manifestation of the Outer God in the immediate
vicinity of the caster. This may be a gathering of her followers, the presence
of an image of the God, one or more of its artefacts, or a sacred space dedicated
to its worship. The spells have a cost in terms of Magic Points, POW and SAN;
however, generally speaking, if the caster has insufficient points to spend,
the spell does not take place.
Contact Yidhra
In an appropriate location (one that
exhibits a manifestation of Yidhra in some form), the caster calls upon the
Outer God with a sense of determination and desire. Eight of the caster’s Magic
Points are expended in this process. Thereafter, the caster receives telepathic
communication with the Outer God and begins to know its will. During the Contact
the caster must remain still and concentrating; if they are attacked, roughly
shaken, or otherwise forcefully distracted, the Contact will be severed,
and no further attempt can take place until the caster has enjoyed a period of
sleep of at least four hours.
At the end of the Contact, the
caster loses 1/1D6 points of SAN.
Summon Avatar of Yidhra
This is deadly
and dangerous spell.
There are no
exact ritual components to this magic; rather it is enough simply call upon the
Outer God intentionally with an appropriate degree of devotion and enthusiasm.
For this reason, such ritual objects as the Yidhrani and the Mask
of the Avatar contain the Summoning forces within their very
substance, and casting this spell may be the unknowing action of an oblivious user.
A basic
requirement of this spell is that there be a quantity of raw material present
which the Avatar can use to manifest itself. This material must be living.
Needless to say, the Avatar will destroy and re-combine the caster if there is
insufficient raw stuff nearby for it to create an alternative vessel.
Nominally, the
spell costs 15 MPs and causes a 1D8/1D12 Sanity loss.
Reversion
“...Damn
him, whispering even as it is that I’m a sort of monster bound down the
toboggan of reverse evolution...”
-H. P.
Lovecraft, Pickman’s Model
This spell
causes an entity to degenerate, from mammal, to reptile, to amphibian, to
icthyoid, to arthropod, depending on the spell’s effect. The spell requires the
sacrifice of 1 POW and a piece of Yidhra’s genetic material, from whatever
avatar it is currently possessing. This substance must be smeared upon a knife
or similar weapon and then used to attack the target. Once infected, the target
must resist the effect of the spell with their CON on the Resistance Table. The
spell has a base 18% chance of working plus 1% for every Magic Point used to
power the spell. The spell exhausts all of the caster’s available Magic Points
If the target
fails, determine the degree of failure and calculate the extent of Reversion according to
the following list (NB: the effects are non-cumulative):
Degree
of Failure: 01-05%
Effect: The mind of the
victim regresses to that of an infant: language, INT, EDU and social skills are
all reduced to 1d10% and Physical skills are reduced by 50% to a minimum of 1%
Degree
of Failure: 06-10%
Effect: The
victim regresses to a ‘Cave Man’-like state: all physical Combat skills – Head
Butt, Kick, Punch, Grapple – are at +20%;
all EDU or INT based skills are reduced to 1d10%; STR, CON and DEX are all
increased by 5; INT, EDU and APP are reduced to minimum: 8, 6 and 3; SIZ is
increased by 1d6; POW and SAN remain the same
Degree
of Failure: 11-20%
Effect: The
victim has regressed to a vaguely humanoid mammalian state: STR increases by
3d6; CON and DEX by 6 points; SIZ increases by 1d4+1; INT, EDU and APP are
reduced to minimum: 8, 6 and 3 respectively; POW and SAN remain the same. The
victim becomes furry and displays a variety of mammalian features alien to
human physiology: fangs, claws, hoofs, etc. The following attack modes come
into play: Bite 30% (1d8+db); Claw 50% (1d4+db); Horn Gore 30% (1d8+db); Kick 05% (1d8+db).
The victim also enjoys 2 points of Armour from a combination of altered
musculature and hide. All human skills are lost.
Degree
of Failure: 21-30%
Effect: The
victim regresses even further, beginning to express reptilian features: STR increases
by 3d6; CON by 6 points; DEX increases by 2d6; SIZ increases by 1d4+1; INT, EDU
and APP are reduced to minimum: 8, 6 and 3 respectively; POW and SAN remain the
same. The following attack modes come into play: Bite 35% (1d8+Poison
– POT equals CON); Claw 50% (1d6+db); Extreme forms are
also able to Crush 40% (1d6+db/round). The victim
also enjoys 2 points of Armour from scaly hide. All human skills
are lost.
Degree
of Failure: 31-40%
Effect: The
victim has now regressed to an amphibian state: STR increases by 2d6; CON by 4
points; DEX increases by 3d6; SIZ decreases by 1d4+1; INT, EDU and APP are
reduced to minimum: 8, 6 and 3 respectively; POW and SAN remain the same. The
following attack modes come into play: Bite 35% (1d8+db); Claw 50% (1d6+db);
Extreme forms are also able to Swallow (40%; 1d6/round) any human-sized or
smaller object they successfully Grapple. They are also able to Hide 60%, Dodge at DEXx5% and Jump at 60% The
victim also enjoys 1 point of Armour from leathery hide. All human
skills are lost.
Degree
of Failure: 41-50%
Effect: The
victim becomes grotesquely fish-like: STR increases by 3d6; CON by 6 points;
DEX increases by 2d6; SIZ increases by 1d4+1; INT, EDU and APP are reduced to
minimum: 8, 6 and 3 respectively; POW and SAN remain the same. The following
attack modes come into play: Bite 35% (1d8+db); Claw 50% (1d6+db);
Extreme forms are also able to Swallow (40%; 1d6/round) any human-sized or
smaller object they successfully Grapple. They are also able to Dodge at DEXx4%, Swim at 75% and Jump at 55%. The
victim also enjoys 2 points of Armour from scaly hide. All human skills
are lost.
Degree
of Failure: 51-60%
Effect: The
victim is now more arthropod than human, sprouting extra limbs, wings and an
exoskeleton: STR increases by 2d6; CON by 6 points; DEX increases by 3d6; SIZ
decreases by 1d4+1; INT, EDU and APP are reduced to minimum: 8, 6 and 3
respectively; POW and SAN remain the same. The following attack modes come into
play: Nippers 30% (1d8+Grapple); Bite 35% (1d6);
Extreme forms are also able to Sting 50% (1d4+Poison – POT=CON); They
are also able to Dodge at DEXx5%, Fly with a Move of
9 and Jump at 75%. The victim also enjoys 3 points of Armour from chitin.
All human skills are lost.
Degree
of Failure: 61%+
Effect: The
victim deliquesces into a twitching protoplasmic puddle which emits a reactive
phosphorescent glow if disturbed. Contact with this substance has a mildly
corrosive effect on unprotected skin causing 1 point of damage per round of
contact. For all intents and purposes, the victim is dead.
The actual
appearance of the victim is largely up to the Keeper, keeping in mind of course
that the more dramatic the failure the more extreme the expression. The full
transformation takes about 10 minutes. A victim struck by two or more instances
of this magic may blend several regressive states in one transformation.
The Yidhran
substance required by the spell breaks down quickly after casting, so the
attacker has only 1d2 attempts at successfully striking their intended target.
Once the effect (if any) has been determined, the victim must make a Luck
Roll: If successful, the effect is not permanent and will reverse itself in
CON-1d6 days; if unsuccessful, the Investigator is stuck in their new form
forever.
Anyone
witnessing the transformation loses 1d2/1d6 SAN points; the victim, meanwhile,
loses 1d6/1d10 points of Sanity.
*****
Chronike von Nath
The Chronike von Nath (“Chronicles
of Nath”) is a work written by a German mystic named Rudolf Yergler and
published in 1653. Soon after publishing, Yergler went blind, and those who
came to his assistance soon discovered the Chronike; he was
institutionalised by the German authorities soon afterwards. They began a
rigorous campaign to suppress the book during which, Yergler died mysteriously
in his Berlin asylum.
The book describes a world or other
dimension named Nath which is illuminated by the light of three suns. Yergler
talks about a black entity, or force, which appeared and threatened Nath but
which was driven back by a priest named Ka-Nefer during the “year of the Black
Goat”. It discusses various star-spawned entitles and the means whereby they
can be summoned and dismissed, using various musical passages contained within
the book. There is also an extensive interpretation of Hermetic alchemical theory,
which is rather at variance with the standard canon, and a short idiosyncratic
biography of Hermes Trismegistus.
(Source: “The Tree on the Hill” by H.
P. Lovecraft & Duane W. Rimel)
German; Rudolf Yergler; 1653; Sanity Loss: 1d4/1d8 ; Cthulhu Mythos
+6 percentiles; average 22 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: Summon
Star Vampire; Call Hunting Horror; Summon Byakhee
The Chronicles of Nath
“So in the year of the Black Goat there
came onto Nath a shadow that should not be on the Earth, and that had no form
known to the eyes of the Earth. And it fed on the souls of men; they that it
gnawed being lured and blinded with dreams till the horror and the endless
night lay upon them. Nor did they see that which gnawed them, for the shadow
took false shapes that men know or dream of, and only freedom seemed waiting in
the Land of Three Suns.”
-James Sheffield,
Chronicles of Nath
In 1781,
Englishman James Sheffield published a translation of Yergler’s work from a
copy which had been smuggled to the British Isles. Sheffield was a student of
Hermetic lore and had issued translations of other works from the Corpus
Hermetica during his studies. In the course of translating the book, Sheffield
attempted to bring the material back in line with accepted Hermetical and alchemical
theory; as a result the work’s efficacy as a Mythos tome must be considered
largely suspect.
English; James Sheffield, trans.; 1781; Sanity Loss: 1d2/1d4 ; Cthulhu Mythos
+3 percentiles; average 4 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: Several; but none that
work…
*****
Chthonic
Revelations
The original
text for this work is unnamed. The translation from the original fragments is
the work of a Jesuit priest who used the title ‘Révélations hors de l'Abîme’
for his work. Despite the original print run of the text having been
proscribed, hunted down and burnt where possible by agents of the Catholic
Church, the original fragments are said to be housed within the Vatican.
The few
remaining copies which survived the ban by the Catholics are heavily guarded;
nevertheless, the British Library copy was stolen in the 1930s; the Bibliotheque
Nationale copy in Paris was burnt (along with a wing of religious texts) in
1890; a copy purchased at auction in 1918 in New York by Miskatonic University
was stolen from the body of the bidding agent en route to its new
habitation. The only other copies – three known in total – are in private
collections. While it is possible that the Revelations are simply
another incarnation of the Yidhrani, this cannot be fully determined
until the original fragments have been brought into the light. The text is also
rumoured to reference the Chronicles of Thrang (q.v.) in its discussion.
(Source: “Where Yidhra Walks” by Walter C. DeBill,)
Laotian; Original fragments on mulberry paper;
Thanang Phram; 700 AD; 1d4/1d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +7
percentiles; 18 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: Contact Yidhra; Summon Avatar of Yidhra; Reversion
English; Chthonic Revelations; translator
and date unknown; 1d3/1d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentiles; 6 weeks
to study and comprehend
Spells: Contact Yidhra; Summon Avatar of Yidhra; Reversion
*****
Codex Dagonensis
“Dagon his name, sea-monster,
upward man
And downward fish; yet had
his temple high
Reared in Azotus, dreaded
through the coast
Of Palestine, in Gath and
Ascalon,
And Accaron and Gaza's frontier bounds...”
-John Milton, Paradise Lost: Book I
This work is one of four volumes which
appeared in northern Germany around the year 400 AD. The four books are the Codex Dagonensis, the Codex Maleficium, the Codex Spitalski (also known as The Leprous Book) and the Cthaat Aquadingen. Each of these titles
shows distinct congruencies in the nature and layout of the material that they
present and it is thought that all of them were prepared and written by the
same author, or by a group of authors working from a single source. Each, however,
has had its own unique ride through history.
As with many books of this nature, the
titles are arbitrary and are usually derived from their content or the nature
of their discovery: the Codex Dagonensis
is known as such due its extended discourse upon Deep Ones and their religious
practices, especially relating to the entity Dagon. It may be that each of the
four books represents an attempt to produce a single volume of lore prepared at
four different locations and occasions; given the strangeness of the name Cthaat Aquadingen, it’s possible that
this title was meant to cover all of this material. Subsequent events –
including editing, additions, and re-workings of the material - have meant that
the reintegration of all this matter under that heading is no longer possible.
The Codex
Dagonensis concerns itself mainly with the nature, society and worship of
the Deep Ones. Obed Marsh of Innsmouth, Massachusetts, possessed a copy of this
work and used it to help create the form of worship of his Esoteric Order of Dagon: copies of the book were made and the
material amended to adhere more closely to the rituals of that Order, which
themselves derived mainly from the Ponape
Scriptures and other related sources. After the forced disbanding of the
sect in Innsmouth in 1928, Marsh’s original copy of the Codex and several of the translated versions were presented to the
Library at Miskatonic University, where members of the Order still consult them
from time to time.
Apart from the Deep One information, the Codex Dagonensis also contains the Nyhargo Dirge (for destroying zombies
and other corporeal undead creatures); several magical protections to thwart
summonings; information about the Elder Sign; a series of rituals concerned
with the Great Old One, Tsathoggua; as well as the Third and Eighth Sathlattae:
the Third Sathlatta protects against
Bugg Shash - the Devourer - when chanted at midnight; however, such protection
only lasts until such time as the subject’s death. It is not known what the Eighth Sathlatta does.
(Source: “The Cyprus Shell” by Brian Lumley,)
Latin; Author(s) unknown; circa. 400 AD; 1D8/1d12
Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10 percentiles; 22 weeks to study and
comprehend
Spells: Alter
Weather; Breath of the Deep; Call/Dismiss Dagon; Call/Dismiss Mother Hydra;
Consume Likeness; Contact Deep One; Contact Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua;
Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deity: Tsathoggua; Create Gate; Elder Sign;
Grasp of Cthulhu; Nyhargo Dirge; Raise Night Fog; Summon/Bind
Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua; The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash)
The Teachings of the Esoteric Order of
Dagon
This is a work which seeks to ease the
transition of those affected with the so-called ‘Innsmouth Look’. It is a clear
manual outlining the nature of the Deep Ones, their connexions to humanity and
to the denizens of the deep. It outlines the whereabouts of Deep One colonies
and helps in the identification of others who are undergoing the change. As
well, it contains many prayers to Cthulhu, Father Dagon, and Mother Hydra and
discusses with some perspicacity the nature of these entities.
An early edition of this work dating from
Elizabethan times is kept in the British Library; another version published in
the early 1800s resides in the Miskatonic University Library collection. Yet
another version in Spanish has been identified in the Library of the University
of Toledo.
(Source: “Unseen Masters” by Bruce Ballon, et.al.,)
Elizabethan English; Author unknown; 16th
Century; 1/1d3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles; 1 week to
study and comprehend
Spells: Contact
Deep One; plus a 40% chance of one of the following: Alter Weather; Attract Fish; Bless/Blight
Crops
English; Author unknown; early 19th
Century; 1/1d3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles; 1 week to
study and comprehend
Spells: Contact
Deep One
Spanish; Author unknown; 1902; 1/1d3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu
Mythos +2 percentiles; 1 week to study and comprehend
Spells: Alter
Weather; Contact Deep One
Invocations to Dagon
A passing reference in a news journal dated
1851 is the earliest sighting of this work, although the likelihood is that it
is much older. The Invocations were
never published; they were written by Asaph Waite and circulated amongst the
adherents of the Esoteric Order of Dagon
in the town of Innsmouth. After the destruction of that town in 1928 (during
which Asaph Waite was killed), the manuscript disappeared and its current
whereabouts are unknown.
That being said, the Restricted Section of
the Miskatonic University Library has several pages from the Invocations. From these meagre gleanings
it is clear that the work is a collection of prayers and ritual devotions
seeking the intercession of Father Dagon in the worship of Great Cthulhu.
English; Asaph Waite; prior to 1851; 1d4/1d8 Sanity
loss; Cthulhu Mythos +9 percentiles; 16 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells: Unknown
*****
Codex Maleficium
NB: This work is not to be confused with
the Malleus Maleficarum, which is a witch-hunters’ manual by Heinrich
Kramer and Jacob Sprenger, published in Germany in 1400 AD.
As with the Codex Dagonensis, the Codex
Spitalski, and the Cthaat Aquadingen,
the Codex Maleficium first appeared
in northern Germany around the year 400 AD and was possibly meant to be
identical with them. Scholarship has posited the notion that the book was
originally written in German, or Gothic, or derived from sources in those
languages: it could be that all four of these works are in fact the same book,
compiled and written in four different locations and intended to be called the Cthaat Aquadingen, given that text’s
mangled German (or Gothic)/Latin title. However, later amendments and additions
have rendered the book unable to be reintegrated as a single volume and it now
stands alone as a discrete text.
The Codex
Maleficium was captured and named early after its discovery by the
Inquisition and removed to the holdings of the Holy Roman Empire; it now
resides within the Vatican and access to it is severely restricted.
Transcriptions of the work were prepared, heavily edited and annotated, coded
in the Inquisitorial Alphabet, to be used as a reference work for Vatican
agents. These copies mostly refrain from outlining the ritual procedures of the
text, preferring to gloss over material deemed too blasphemous for the tastes
of holy warriors. Excerpts from other captured books were also included in this
printing as a means of comparing, codifying and contrasting the practices of
disparate heretical groups.
Like the Codex Dagonensis, the Codex
Maleficium contains information on the Elder Sign, incantations designed to
thwart magical summoning, the Nyhargo
Dirge for dealing with the corporeal undead and several Tsathogguan
rituals. Unlike any of the other related books, this is the only source for the
First Sathlatta; what this
incantation may do is unknown, a situation which will likely not change until
the Vatican removes their restrictions of access.
(Source: “The Cyprus Shell” by Brian Lumley,)
Latin;
Author(s) unknown; circa. 400 AD; 1D8/1d12 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +10
percentiles; 22 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Alter
Weather; Augur; Baneful Dust of Hermes Trismegistus; Barrier of Naach-Tith;
Bind Enemy; Blight/Bless Crop; Call/Dismiss Dagon; Call/Dismiss Mother Hydra;
Cast Out Devil; Consume Likeness; Contact Deep One; Contact Formless Spawn of
Tsathoggua; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deity: Tsathoggua; Create Gate;
Curse of Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of Suleiman; Elder Sign; Evil Eye;
Find Gate; Identify Spirit; Imprison Mind; Nyhargo Dirge; Powder of ibn-Ghazi;
Summon/Bind Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua; The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash); Unmask Demon; View Gate; Voorish Sign; Warding; Warding the Eye
Latin,
in the Inquisitorial Alphabet; Vatican translator(s) unknown; the Vatican,
circa. 1250 AD; 1D2/1d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentiles; 4 weeks to
study and comprehend
Spells:
None; although 20% of
copies will have 1D3 of the following: Augur;
Baneful Dust of Hermes Trismegistus; Bind Enemy; Cast Out Devil; Curse of
Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of Suleiman; Find Gate; Identify Spirit;
Imprison Mind; Powder of ibn-Ghazi; Unmask Demon; View Gate; Voorish Sign;
Warding; Warding the Eye
*****
Codex Spitalski
(aka “The Leprous Book”)
Like the Codices Dagonensis and Maleficium,
the Codex Spitalski is one of several
texts each of which may have been an abortive attempt to compile and publish the
Cthaat Aquadingen. It is theorised that
the Codex Spitalski is the earliest
of these attempts.
The early movements of this manuscript are
unknown; however, the work was published in an extremely abridged form by one Sören Rosenlund (under the pseudonym “Junior
Philopatreias”), with additional material elaborating the evil-doings of
witches, at the height of the witch hunting frenzy in Northern Europe. This edition
was produced by a Copenhagen publishing house and was entitled De Spedalske Bog (“The Leprous Book”) - a warning as to the toxic virulence of its
subject matter, which only served to increase interest and therefore, its
distribution. The original manuscript became known thereafter as the Codex Spitalski: the word ‘spitalski’ is
a mistransliteration from the Danish ‘spedalske’ which means ‘leprous’; poor
scholarship assumed that the word was a family name, possibly of a previous
owner, and the title stuck. The manuscript languished in the holdings of the
publishing house until it passed into the hands of successive later buyers; it
now resides in the Restricted Section of the Library of the University of
Uppsala in Sweden.
Like the other volumes with which it is
associated, the Codex Spitalski
contains a series of Tsathogguan rituals, information regarding the Elder Sign,
the Nyhargo Dirge which deals with
the corporeal undead and some chants to prevent the effects of summoning
spells. Unlike the other works, it is the only version to contain the Second Sathlatta, the effects of which
are unknown.
(Source: “The Cyprus Shell” by Brian Lumley,)
Latin;
Author(s) unknown; circa. 400 AD; 1D6/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +9
percentiles; 22 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Alter
Weather; Augur; Barrier of Naach-Tith; Bind Enemy; Blight/Bless Crop; Cast Out
Devil; Clutch of Nyogtha; Consume Likeness; Contact Deep One; Contact Formless
Spawn of Tsathoggua; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deity: Nyogtha; Contact
Deity: Tsathoggua; Create Bad-Corpse Dust; Create Gate; Curse of Darkness;
Detect Enchantment; Elder Sign; Evil Eye; Find Gate; Identify Spirit; Imprison
Mind; Nyhargo Dirge; Raise Night Fog;
Summon/Bind Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua;
The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash); Unmask Demon; View Gate; Warding; Warding the Eye
De Spedalske Bog
Danish;
“Junior Philopatreias” (Sören Rosenlund)
translator; Copenhagen, 1773; 1/1D3 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +2 percentiles;
3 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Alter
Weather; Augur; Blight/Bless Crop; Elder Sign; Evil Eye; Raise Night Fog;
Warding; Warding the Eye
*****
Cthaat Aquadingen
“Ye Science as practiced by a Majority of
ye Prime Ones was & is & always will be that of ye Path of Light,
infinitely recognized throughout Time, Space & all ye Angles as beneficent
to ye Great All’s Continuation. Certain of ye Gods, however, of a rebellious
Nature, chose to disregard ye Dictums of ye Majority, & in ye constant
Gloom of ye Dark Path renounced their immortal Freedom in Infinity & were
banished to suitable Places in Space & Time. But even in Banishment ye Dark
Gods railed against ye Prime Ones, so that those Followers of ye Light Path
must needs shut them Outside of all Knowledge, imposing upon their Minds
certain Strictures & ye fear of ye Light Path’s Ways, & impressing into
their Bodies a Stigma defying Generation; that ye Sins of ye Fathers might be
carried down through Eternity & visited upon ye Children & ye
Children’s Children forever; or until a Time should come as was once, when all
Barriers crumble, & ye Stars & Dwellers therein, & ye Spaces
between ye Stars & Dwellers therein, & all Time & Angles &
Dwellers therein be falsely guided into ye ultimate Night of ye Dark Path –
until ye Great All close in & become One, & Azathoth come in His golden
Glory, & Infinity begin again...”
-from ‘Contacting Cthulhu in Dreams’, Cthaat Aquadingen
(Brian
Lumley, The Burrowers Beneath III: Cursed
the Ground)
Although inextricably linked with the three
other texts mentioned above, the Cthaat
Aquadingen is a far more potent beast
than any of them. Scholars have theorised that the original sources for this
work were composed in German, or the Gothic tongue, or by a speaker of one of
those languages with a less-than-perfect facility in Latin; whichever is the
true state of affairs, the Cthaat
Aquadingen contains much the same information as those other texts and is
the most complete of any of them in this regard.
The origin of the title is unknown:
‘aquadingen’ is a corrupt admixture of German, or the Gothic tongue, with
Latin, translating roughly as “things of the water”; the word ‘cthaat’ remains
undeciphered, although some scholars have tentatively suggested that it may be
a word in the language of R’lyeh.
While the original manuscript of the book
has been lost forever, the first printing of the work took place around the
11th or 12th Centuries AD, and, of these, it is believed that only five copies
remain. One of these was rumoured to have been bound in human skin and was in
the possession of Titus Crow; if this is the case then it was probably
destroyed along with his house and the rest of his library. A partial
transcription and a translation reside in Oakdene Sanatorium, while another
copy is held at the Great Library of the Dreamlands. The British Museum has
consistently denied having a copy, despite persistently re-surfacing rumours.
The Cthaat
Aquadingen, as does the Codex
Dagonensis, concerns itself mainly with the Deep Ones and other Mythos
phenomena and spells connected to the seas and oceans. In addition, it dwells
at length upon those supernatural entities known as ‘the Drowners’ - Yibb-Tstll
and Bugg-Shash - including the Third
Sathlatta which offers protection from the latter. The text also covers
Nyarlathotep in its avatar as the ‘Small Crawler’, the Nyhargo Dirge, certain rituals to do with the Great Old One
Tsathoggua, invocations to foil summoning spells, and the Elder Sign.
Of the Sathlattae,
created by the Ptetholites in eons passed, the Cthaat Aquadingen contains almost all of them including - along
with the Third - the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Sathlattae.
The effects of these incantations are mostly unknown although it is reported
that the Ninth “no longer works” for
some reason; perhaps the majority of the others are also similarly temporally
or dimensionally restricted in some fashion. The Sixth Sathlatta has a variety of uses: if chanted before sleeping
it allows the chanter to contact Yibb-Tstll in dreams; if chanted by a circle
of thirteen ‘adepts’ at the beginning of any calendar year it will summon that
entity to our reality; if inscribed upon a wafer and eaten by an intended
victim, it will summon a phenomenon known as ‘The Black’ to destroy the target.
This process also requires the Hoy-Dhin
Chant, which is only found in the Necronomicon,
in order to be successful.
(Source: “The Cyprus Shell” by Brian Lumley,)
Latin;
Unknown author(s); c.11th-12th Centuries AD; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu
Mythos +13 percentiles; 46 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Alter
Weather; Augur; Baneful Dust of Hermes Trismegistus; Barrier of Naach-Tith;
Bind Enemy; Breath of the Deep; Call/Dismiss Dagon; Call/Dismiss Mother Hydra;
Cast Out Devil; Consume Likeness; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deep One;
Contact Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua; Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep (as the Small Crawler); Contact Deity: Tsathoggua; Create Bad-Corpse Dust; Create Gate; Curse
of Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of Suleiman; Elder Sign; Find Gate; Grasp
of Cthulhu; Identify Spirit; Imprison Mind; Nyhargo Dirge; Raise Night Fog;
Summon/Bind Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua;
The Sixth Sathlatta (Contact Deity: Yibb-Tstll; Summon/Bind Yibb-Tstll; Call
The Black); The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash); View Gate; Voorish Sign; Warding; Warding the Eye
*****
“Ghe’phnglui, mglw’ngh ghee-yh, Yibb-Tstll,
Fhtagn mglw y’tlette ngh’wgah, Yibb-Tstll, Ghe’phnglui mglw’ngh ahkobhg’sh,
Yibb-Tstll; THABAITE! – YIBB-TSTLL, YIBB-TSTLL, YIBB-TSTLL!”
-The Sixth Sathlatta
(Brian
Lumley, “The Horror at Oakdene”)
A copy of the Cthaat Aquadingen crossed the Channel from the Low Countries during
the medieval period – possibly in the hands of refugees fleeing the Black Death
- and found its way into England. There, it was translated into the English
idiom of the times and stored within the holdings of Durham Cathedral.
The Black Death took a higher toll amongst
ecclesiastics than any other sector of the community in England and the Durham
Cathedral monasteries were wiped out almost to a man. It seems that the Middle
English version of the Cthaat Aquadingen
disappeared during this time and its whereabouts remain unknown.
Middle
English; Unknown translator; c.14th Century AD; 1d6/2d6 Sanity loss; Cthulhu
Mythos +8 percentiles; 36 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Alter
Weather; Augur; Baneful Dust of Hermes Trismegistus; Barrier of Naach-Tith;
Bind Enemy; Breath of the Deep; Call/Dismiss Dagon; Call/Dismiss Mother Hydra;
Cast Out Devil; Consume Likeness; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deep One;
Contact Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua; Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep (as the Small Crawler); Contact Deity: Tsathoggua; Create Bad-Corpse Dust; Create Gate; Curse
of Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of Suleiman; Elder Sign; Find Gate; Grasp
of Cthulhu; Identify Spirit; Imprison Mind; Nyhargo Dirge; Raise Night Fog;
Summon/Bind Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua;
The Sixth Sathlatta (Contact Deity: Yibb-Tstll; Summon/Bind Yibb-Tstll; Call
The Black); The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash); View Gate; Voorish Sign; Warding; Warding the Eye
Although the location of the Middle English
Cthaat is a mystery, partial copies
in manuscript form have turned up throughout England over the years. These
usually have only the Sixth Sathlatta
as the entirety of their spell complement although some have shown a bit more
variety.
The best known of these copies is housed in
Oakdene Sanatorium and several unfortunate episodes are on record surrounding
it.
English;
Unknown translator; various dates; 1d4/2d4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6
percentiles; 29 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
The
Sixth Sathlatta (Contact Deity: Yibb-Tstll; Summon/Bind Yibb-Tstll; Call The
Black); there is a 10%
chance that 1D6 of the following spells will also be present: Alter Weather; Augur; Baneful Dust of
Hermes Trismegistus; Barrier of Naach-Tith; Bind Enemy; Breath of the Deep;
Call/Dismiss Dagon; Call/Dismiss Mother Hydra; Cast Out Devil; Consume
Likeness; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deep One; Contact Formless Spawn of
Tsathoggua; Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep (as the Small Crawler); Contact Deity: Tsathoggua; Create
Bad-Corpse Dust; Create Gate; Curse of Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of
Suleiman; Elder Sign; Find Gate; Grasp of Cthulhu; Identify Spirit; Imprison
Mind; Nyhargo Dirge; Raise Night Fog; Summon/Bind
Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua; The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash); View Gate; Voorish Sign; Warding; Warding
the Eye
*****
“...And then shall the gate be opened, as
the Sun is blotted out. Thus the Small Crawler will awaken those who dwell
beyond and bring them. The sea shall swallow them and spit them up and the
leopard shall eat of the flesh of Rudraprayag in the Spring.”
A version of the Cthaat Aquadingen was translated into Hindi around the time of the
Indian Mutiny. This version was enhanced with a plethora of mystical predictions
and some new spells, interspersing the other material. This additional material
is distributed randomly amongst the other text, rendering any attempt at
chronological arrangement (without hindsight) impossible. Many of the
predictions involve Nyarlathotep in its various forms but this, as well, is of
no use in trying to organise the material. In most other particulars, the book
is the same as the English version of the Cthaat
Aquadingen.
(Source: “Masks of Nyarlathotep - Kenya” by Larry DiTillio
& Lynn Willis)
Hindi,
in the Devanagari Script; Unknown translator; c.14th Century AD; 1d4/2d4 Sanity
loss; Cthulhu Mythos +6 percentiles; 29 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Affect
Weather; Barrier of Naach-Tith; Bind Enemy; Call/Dismiss Dagon; Call/Dismiss
Mother Hydra; Cast Out Devil; Contact Deep One; Contact Formless Spawn of
Tsathoggua; Contact Deity: Cthulhu; Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep (as the Small Crawler); Contact Deity: Tsathoggua; Create Bad-Corpse Dust; Create Gate; Curse
of Darkness; Detect Enchantment; Dust of Suleiman; Find Gate; Hands of Kali; Identify
Spirit; Imprison Mind; Powder of ibn-Ghazi; Elder Sign; Nyhargo Dirge; Strike
Blind The Sixth Sathlatta (Contact Yibb-Tstll; Summon/Bind Yibb-Tstll; Call The
Black); The Third Sathlatta (Banish Bugg-Shash); Unmask Demon; View Gate;
Voorish Sign; Warding
*****
Notes
on the Cthaat Aquadingen
“Many & multiform are ye dim horrors of
Earth, infesting her ways from ye very prime. They sleep beneath ye unturned
stone; they rise with ye tree from its root; they move beneath ye sea, & in
subterranean places they dwell in ye inmost adyta. Some there are long known to man, & others as yet unknown,
abiding ye terrible latter days of their revealing. Those which are ye most
dreadful & ye loathliest of all are haply still to be declared.”
-Joachim Feery, 1901
Joachim Feery (died 1934) was the son of
the German Baron, Ernst Kant, and, like his father, a dedicated researcher of
the supernatural. Feery had a more theoretical approach to his studies however,
unlike his father who died in a Westphalian asylum, claiming that a demonic
entity named Yibb-Tstll had taken control of his mind.
Feery is mainly known for the series of
limited edition books which he printed, each an extended commentary on a
particularly notorious book of forbidden lore, with annotations and quotations.
These works include The Book of Dzyan,
the Cthaat Aquadingen, De Vermis Mysteriis and, most
infamously, the Necronomicon. These
publications have expanded the range of these hard-to-access tomes and are
often utilised by hard metaphysicians where the original texts are unavailable.
A word of caution, however: while generally
well-received, Feery’s books were examined by other authorities on these works
and his quotations and supplementary material were found to be somewhat at odds
with the original matter, if not entirely unsupported by the text. His response
was that his research had been supplemented by material which had come to him
in dreams. As a result, the reception of his publishing efforts has been
universally cool.
(Source: “An Item of Supporting Evidence” by Brian Lumley)
German;
Joachim Feery; 1901; 1D2/1D4 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +4 percentiles; 12
weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
None
*****
Nyhargo Dirge
The Nyhargo
Dirge is a potent ritual against undead zombies, restless skeletons and
other corporeal entities forced into activity after their demise. It affects
Mummies, Skeletons, Vampires, and Zombies; it has no effect upon Ghosts,
Golems, Scarecrows, Werewolves, Wraiths, or the minions of Glaaki. It is
equally ineffective against humans under the effects of the spells Compel Flesh, the Voodoo spell Create Zombi, Enthrall Victim, the Mi-Gos’ Hypnosis,
the image created by a Remortification
spell, or the target of a Soul Trap.
It will destroy a corpse driven by the spell Seek Heart, and it will reverse the effects of the spells Transfer Body Part and Transfer Organ (causing the affected
organs and members to cease functioning and mortify). Additionally, it will
neutralise and reverse the Voodoo spell Sending
of the Dead.
The Dirge
requires the chanting of a very long and complex series of verses. Given this,
translations or transliterations are sometimes incomplete or incorrect. If the
copy of this spell that the players are about to use does not derive from either, the Codex
Dagonensis, the Codex Maleficium,
the Codex Spitalski or the Cthaat Aquadingen, there is a 20% chance
that the verses are wrong and that the spell will not work.
The spell requires a moonless night upon
which to be cast. The caster removes himself to a secluded outdoors locale and
takes with them a staff, or stone (or some other similar object) and begins to
chant the Dirge over this item while
painting upon it the spell’s accompanying symbols in their own fresh blood (at
least 1 HP’s worth). Whilst doing so, they sacrifice 2 POW.
The spell takes at least 2 hours to chant.
In order to correctly chant the ritual words, the caster must roll under their
INT score on 1d20. Chanting the ritual requires all of the words to be uttered
in the proper order except for the last one: when the spellcaster wishes for
the spell to take effect, they strike the ground with their chosen object and
say this final word; the spell then comes into play:
The area of effect of the Dirge is spherical, 100 metres across,
and centred at the point where the staff or stone (or other item) strikes the
ground. This means that subterranean or flying undead creatures within the area
are affected also. Eligible creatures within the zone are shredded into minute
fragments as if caught in a bomb blast – utterly destroyed.
Caveats: only the caster of the Dirge can set it off – no-one else; if
the object upon which the spell has been cast is destroyed or thrown into
running water, the spell is neutralised; if the caster fails to make their INT
roll, they still lose their POW and
the HP’s worth of blood, and the spell doesn’t work; seeing the effects of the Nyhargo Dirge forces those so doing to
lose 1D8 points of Sanity.
*****
The
Sathlattae of the Ptetholites
The Ptetholites were a proto-human race
which existed before the Hyperborean Age (between 900,000 and 1,000,000 years
ago), the coming of which spelt their doom. Little is known of them, other than
that the Hyperboreans were keen to eliminate them and that they went to great
pains to do so. In the end, the Hyperborean wizard Edril Ghambiz used the
Ptetholite’s own magic against them – specifically, the Sixth Sathlatta –
summoning the Black to terrorise Yibb Tstll’s own worshippers.
Along with worship of this particular
menace, the Ptetholites were known to offer sacrifice to Arwassa and Ithaqua,
although, as in the case of Yibb Tstll, whether this was true worship or simple
propitiation and manipulation is unknown. It’s likely that the Ptetholites were
roughly organised into clan alliances and fought constantly among themselves.
Remarkably, for such a primitive race, they developed their own form of
writing, although few traces of this remain:
Early copies of the Cthaat Aquadingen contain the Sixth Sathlatta written in Ptetholite
glyphs, with a Latin translation; The Kishite Recension of the Book of Eibon contains some fragments
purporting to be from “the Nyahites of Ptathlia”, which may be a reference to
these people. The most comprehensive collection of Ptetholite writing however,
is to be found on the Broken Columns of
Geph.
In the Seventies, an object known as the Phitmar Stone was unearthed. The
inscriptions on this tablet are in several different forms of Ancient Egyptian
writing, in a dialect dating from the Old Kingdom. Within these texts are
transcriptions taken from the Broken
Columns: this has some interesting implications when taken in the light of
the existence of an ancient document dating from the Roman Republic: several
sub-Saharan tribes known to the Romans worshipped Yibb-Tstll under the guise of
“Chuma”; their worship and rituals were outlined in a – now lost – series of
scrolls, written in the Egyptian Hieratic script, and known as the Chuma Scrolls.
The Chuma Scrolls
This sheaf of five scrolls contains
information about the cult of Chuma amongst the sub-Saharan tribes. They are
written using the Hieratic script, the ‘shorthand’ version of the Egyptian
Hieroglyphs; what language they have
been written in is unknown and may well be some form of sub-Saharan dialect.
They contain information about contacting and summoning the god (Yibb-Tstll in
his avatar as Chuma), his blood (“the Black”), and also minions, the Nightgaunts.
Copies of the Chuma Scrolls were said to have been housed within the Serapeum
of Alexandria and in the libraries of Carthage; if so, they have almost
certainly been lost forever.
In
Hieratic, in an unknown language; translated by unknown scribes from a sub-Saharan
original, c.1800BC; 1D6/2D6 Sanity Loss; Cthulhu Mythos +8 percentiles; 8 weeks
to study and comprehend.
Spells: “Awaken
Chuma”, “Call the Black” (The Sixth Sathlatta); Summon/Bind Nightgaunt; any others the Keeper desires.
*****
The Sathlattae of the Ptetholites are a series of complex, multifarious
rituals, each of which has several applications. Many of the Sathlattae do not
seem to work – according to those who have the opportunity to attempt them –
which raises some interesting speculations.
Of the Ninth
Sathlatta, it is said that this ritual “no longer works”. This may mean
that this particular spell, and likely some of the others, are constructed to
function only in particular time periods, “when the stars are right” for
instance. It may also be that the spells are dimensionally predicated: some of
the Sathlattae may only work in the appropriate dimension, the Dreamlands for
example, or on some other planet. Further research is obviously required.
The following list shows the various
Sathlattae, the volumes in which they are found and their current status.
First Sathlatta – Codex
Maleficium
Capabilities unknown
Second Sathlatta – Codex
Spitalski
Capabilities unknown
Third Sathlatta – Codex
Dagonensis; Codex Maleficium; Codex Spitalski; Cthaat Aquadingen
Banish
Bugg-Shash
Fourth Sathlatta – Cthaat
Aquadingen
Capabilities unknown
Fifth Sathlatta - Cthaat
Aquadingen
Capabilities unknown
Sixth Sathlatta - Cthaat
Aquadingen; The Chuma Scrolls
Contact Yibb-Tstll
Summon/Bind Yibb-Tstll
Summon
“The Black” (requires the Hoy-Dhin
Chant from the Necronomicon)
Seventh Sathlatta - Cthaat
Aquadingen
Capabilities unknown
Eighth Sathlatta - Cthaat
Aquadingen
Capabilities unknown
Ninth Sathlatta - Cthaat
Aquadingen
No longer works
*****
Confessions
of the Mad Monk, Clithanus
Most likely a forced confession extracted
as part of a Church investigation, this book details the doings of Clithanus,
an English monk of the 5th Century. It mostly concerns an act of
self-destructive curiosity on the part of Clithanus which led him to release an
evil entity from imprisonment through the removal of a strange star-shaped
stone from the door of its imprisoning vault. Coincidentally, St, Augustine of
Hippo was in the region during these events, visiting Hydestall Cathedral, and
he was able to return the creature to captivity and replace the stone, adding a
Latin inscription to its surface. He then banished Clithanus to spend the rest
of his days in Rome, during which time the monk penned the Confessions.
The book contains some fairly specific
information regarding these events including spells to summon the entity – “the
offspring of a drowned god” – another to dismiss it, and one which purports to
be able to send the creature against the original summoner. However, while the
metaphysical processes seem reliable, the entity itself is not definitively
mentioned and may refer to several known creatures of the Mythos. Researchers
are cautioned to proceed with care.
(Source: “Something from Out There”
by August Derleth)
Spells: Elder Sign; Summon/Dismiss Star Spawn of Cthulhu; Call Hunting Horror;
Enchant Star-Stone of Mnar (does not work outside of the Dreamlands)
*****
The word “Ahriman” in the Book Palahvi script of
ancient Persia; traditionally the name is always written upside-down.
Cthaati
Kardath
This weighty tome was written by priests of
a Zoroastrian cult following the teachings of the god of darkness, Ahriman. It
was carried into India by the cult over several centuries of military incursion.
While dedicated to the cult of Ahriman, the cult itself seems to have been a
revival of an even earlier form of worship following an avatar of Nyarlathotep
known as the Small Crawler. The cult was eventually ousted from the Persian homeland
and put down roots in India where it became known as the Cult of the Dark
Crawlers. A Roman author, Quintus Phaedrus, records the fact of the cult and
claims that it was destroyed in his work Sectae Romanorum, which details the
worship of gods by military forces throughout the Roman Empire.
In fact, it seems far more likely that the
Cult of the Dark Crawlers was swallowed up and incorporated by various sects
devoted to the worship of the goddess Kali. A copy of the book was liberated
from self-proclaimed Kali worshippers at Tanjore (modern-day Thanjavur) in 1749;
while that copy was written in Hindi, internal references reveal that the
original book from which it was translated was first penned in Sanskrit. There are
no known copies in existence written in that language and the Hindi copies all
suffer somewhat from the accuracy of their translation.
The book contains a long and rambling
commentary upon the aspect of Nyarlathotep known as the Small Crawler and
offers spells allowing the caster to contact and summon it. It also discusses
magical means to effect bodily rejuvenation; to veil the caster in shadows; to weaken
opponents; and to summon demons. Many of these spells require a blood sacrifice
using a cult weapon known as a Bagh Nakh in order to be effective.
It is rumoured that the British Library is
now the repository for a copy of this work in Hindi which was taken out of
Exeter in the 1920s; the Bodleian Library at Oxford is also similarly coy about
confirming whether or not they have a copy in their holdings. Other copies have
been identified over the years on the Indian Sub-continent.
(Source: “The Horror on Haldon Hill”
by Rick Lippiett)
Sanskrit,
in the Devanagari script; unknown author; date unknown; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss;
Cthulhu Mythos +14 percentiles; 35 weeks to study and comprehend
Spells:
Bind Enemy; Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep (as the Small Crawler); Darkness
of Kali; Healing; Summon/Dismiss Nyarlathotep (as the Small
Crawler); Wither Limb
Hindi,
in the Devanagari script; unknown scribe; various dates; 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss;
Cthulhu Mythos +9 to +13 percentiles, depending upon the translation; 28 weeks
to study and comprehend
Spells:
Bind Enemy; Contact Deity: Nyarlathotep (as the Small Crawler); Darkness
of Kali; Healing; Summon/Dismiss Nyarlathotep (as the Small
Crawler); Wither Limb
*****
“Darkness
of Kali”
This spell takes three combat rounds to
intone, costs 1d4 points of Sanity and from 2 Magic Points to a maximum of 10.
When created the caster is enveloped by a dark cloud out from which they alone can
see. In return for the expense of 2 Magic Points, they are then afforded the
protection of a -10% reduction to any attacker’s rolls to hit them. Each
further Magic Point invested protects them a further -5% up to a maximum of -50%.
The Darkness only affects aimed and hand-to-hand weapons; area effect weapons
are not hindered (except shotguns, which suffer no penalty to hit but only do
half damage; the Darkness shields the caster from all blasts in this
fashion). The caster suffers no penalties on their own attempts to attack from
out of the Darkness.
*****
Cultes
des Goules
This is a ghastly and secretive work
surrounded by mystery. Its creation has been linked to a particular noble house
of France; however, the exact author cannot be determined with complete
accuracy. The writer published under his title, the Comte d’Erlette, ruler of titular lands near Vyonne in France.
Apart from this, time, myth, censorship and a degree of mendacity have served
only to muddy the waters surrounding ownership of the work. Three main
contenders have been identified, but any, none, or all of them may be
responsible. A look at what the book contains is warranted, before sifting the
pros and cons of authorship:
Like many French novels of this era, the
book begins as a comedy of manners, with a sextet of high-born individuals
retiring from an outbreak of the plague to a chateau just outside Paris. The scene is set for an extended
duration filled with capricious wit, sly innuendo and erotic liaisons; in this regard, the work does
not disappoint. However, the book goes further: the main facilitator of the
trysts in the story is an older footman, who, as the tale progresses, proves to
be of ghoul extraction and leads the three couples into the nightmare world of
his kind, taking them beneath Paris to a realm of depravity, murder and
cannibalism. Step by step, he leads them into his debauched worship of Nyogtha
and Shub-Niggurath until finally, two of them are transformed into werewolves
and let loose upon the streets to be slain by a mob; two more are consumed by
darkness; and the remaining pair are devoured alive by the footman and his
brethren. In a final dramatic twist, the footman reveals himself to be the
author of the work which the reader is perusing, the Comte d’Erlette himself! Within the storytelling are recipes for
poisons and other potions; detailed descriptions of arcane rituals; recipes for
cooking human flesh; and many sub-plots containing information about a
multitude of other Mythos concepts. The book has been likened to the works of
the Marquis de Sade - only worse - and it may well have served him as
inspiration for his own material.
As to the author of the Cultes des Goules, there are three
possibilities. The first is an individual known as Paul Henri d’Erlette. Little
is known to corroborate his claim, apart from the fact that he lived during a
plausible period of time and held the title. Family legend has it that he was a
prodigious writer who never published and that he was refused Last Rites by the
priest after his death-bed confession. His main claims to authorship then, are
notoriety and timeliness. Amongst those who are convinced that the book was
never published before being circulated amongst the nobility in manuscript
form, his claim is seen as more than plausible.
The second contender is Antoine-Marie
Augustin de Montmorency-les-Roches (1635 – c.1693). This titleholder was a
great student and explorer in his youth, studying the history and traditions of
his country, especially the regions around the Pyrenees. Putting aside his
studies for life as a courtier, he became notorious for his peculiar views of
religion, loosely classified as ‘anti-Catholic’. He was finally censured by
Royal edict and banished from Paris for leading several court members into
‘devil worship’; according to the records of a gaol in Lyons, he – or someone
using his name – died of ‘prison-sickness’ around 1693. If the Cultes des Goules is his work, then it
was most likely written, but not published, around 1665 and circulated amongst
the Comte’s acquaintance, to his
ultimate detriment.
The final
(or is he?) possibility is François-Honoré Balfour (died 1724). This highly eccentric holder of the title led a
very peculiar life within the bounds of Paris; again not much is known, but he
was excommunicated for “heresy” according to records in the parish of Notre
Dame and attended a duel as a result of a pamphlet published about him accusing
him – amongst a wide variety of other charges, including “adultery”, “simony”
and the “raising of pigs on an upper storey within the City limits” – of
“cannibalism”. The Comte won the duel by virtue of the fact that his
accuser trod on an adder while crossing a field to begin the engagement.
Balfour’s journals note that he had paid a large sum of money to publish a book
in 1703; no such book has been located, but since the event fell shortly before
his excommunication, whatever was printed (the Cultes des Goules,
perhaps?) may have been destroyed by the Church before circulation. After this,
the Comte retired from the world, going into seclusion in the Ardennes,
where he lived as a virtual hermit until his death in 1724.
However the book came to be – whether
printed or not – an expurgated edition was released shortly afterwards and it
is this which is most often encountered, sometimes in manuscript form,
translated into Italian or Spanish. Only fourteen copies of this work are
currently known to exist; no-one in recent history has ever seen the original
version, although there have been claims. Even here there is some doubt, as the
year and publisher of this expurgated edition have been deliberately left off the
publication. A later auction catalogue claimed that the edited version was
produced in Rouen in 1737; however, this catalogue itself has fallen into
disrepute, given that it was printed by a known forger.
Whatever the true state of affairs may be,
the book is a baleful work indeed and taints all who peruse its contents.
Records of the period reveal that it was known and reviled amongst the nobility
and literati of the time and its
connexion to the d’Erlette household caused them to flee France at the beginning
of the French Revolution, changing their name to ‘Derleth’ and settling in
Bavaria.
(Source: “The Suicide in the Study”
by Robert Bloch)
French; “the Comte d’Erlette”; date unknown
(Paris, 1703?); 1d8/2d8 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentiles; 32
weeks to study and comprehend
French; “the Comte d’Erlette”; expurgated
version (Rouen, 1737?); 1d4/1d10 Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +12
percentiles; 22 weeks to study and comprehend
Italian; unknown translator; date unknown; 1d2/1d8
Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +9 percentiles; 18 weeks to study and
comprehend
Spanish; unknown translator; date unknown; 1d2/1d8
Sanity loss; Cthulhu Mythos +9 percentiles; 18 weeks to study and
comprehend
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Abstracta Bestialis 91:41-43
LOCHERT, Robb (1983), “Capturing the So-Called ‘London
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MARSH, S. Robert (1980), “Chthonian Embryology and Larval
Development”, Annals of the Innsmouth Society 113:7-89
MEEB, Ronno (1988), “Caged Magahs Lead to a Despicable
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SHREWSBURY, Laban (1929), “Cthulhu among the Victorians”,
Miskatonic University Press, Arkham MA, USA
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Miskatonic University Press, Arkham MA, USA
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