Review: "The X-Files", 2016

CARTER, Chris (Creator); “The X-Files – The Event Series”, 2016, Twentieth Century Fox

Well, they’re back.

(Wait. I guess I probably should have said “They’re ba-A-ack!” because like some kind of noisy, undead horror they just will not stay down...)

There’s been a lot of talk about getting the band back together as far as this vehicle is concerned and I’m guessing they reached a tipping-point between not doing it and doing it and the ayes took the day. To my mind the original series simply petered out in such a godawful fashion that I would have preferred them to just let it be and to not get back into the ring for one more try. As Yoda said, “do or do not: there is no try” so I guess the ‘let’s do it!’ thinking came out on top.

This “Event Series” was played on free-to-air TV here and I caught the first episode with a sense of trepidation. It’s not that I wasn’t a fan of the show – I own the whole thing on DVD so that should give you an indication - it’s just that, for me, it all broke down into two sections: episodes that were creepy, thought-provoking and very cool (a la “Night Stalker”), and the Mythology episodes (so-called). Watching Scully and Mulder go mano-a-mano with the “there’s a conspiracy!/there is no conspiracy!” two-step was like watching paint dry. Every time they got close to the wizard behind the curtain, the bad guys (the next lot of bad guys) came in and moved the goal posts. By Season Nine, credibility was stretched so thin that there was nothing left to do but just pull the plug and call it a day.

Of course it didn’t help that the two stars were carping on about being typecast and wanting a larger share of the profits, opportunities for movies, bigger trailers, blah, blah, blah. Obviously, any job can get dull after awhile. So Duchovny went off to make a movie about chasing aliens and Anderson spent time with her family before moving into theatre and on to some fantastic BBC dramas. I don’t blame them; and I don’t blame them for wanting to take the old vehicle for another spin around the block.

So I watched the first episode and guess what? It was a by-the-numbers Mythology episode and my eyes started to glaze over. The first episode is a busy talk-fest, with Duchovny rattling through all the old conspiracy stand-bys, disposing of things that don’t work anymore (post 9/11) and ramping-up or adding things that could be hammered into a workable X-Files backstory leading into 2020. All new characters, or any action, introduced in this instalment was secondary to Mulder’s manifesto and I had – as they say – a very bad feeling about all this.

In fact, so put off was I by all this that I chose to ignore the rest of the series. It wasn’t until the other day when I saw the show available on DVD in my local supermarket that I thought I’d give it another try. This time I ignored episode one and jumped straight to episode two. Having chatted up a storm in the previous ep., here Scully and Mulder put theory into practise and go after the new bad guys. They find a covert medical establishment filled with horribly-deformed kids who have been experimented upon using alien DNA. Most of the children are just horribly mutated, but some have super-powers, including a boy who can stimulate auditory nerves using infra-sound and who rescues his telepathic sister from the centre. The evil founder of the institute is killed – getting his just deserts – and the kids escape to start a new life elsewhere. Scully and Mulder go back to the newly-reopened X-Files office to write up their bemusement.

On the whole this was a pretty – meh - episode. It felt like it was just there to carry some stuff over from the pilot and to give the show a reason to re-open the X-Files bureau (also to drag out gallons of latex to make some truly disgusting deformity make-ups). If this show can be considered a body of work, then this is the connective tissue.

Episode three. I had a coffee and sat down squarely before the TV, killed all distractions and got ready to grit my teeth. To my great surprise, this turned out be a pure Monster-Of-The-Week episode and, even better, one written by Darin Morgan! Shades of Jose Chung, this was what the doctor ordered! Right from the start I was captivated – Scully and Mulder track down a were-creature that’s been killing hikers in nearby forests. Fortunately for their investigation, witnesses have provided a sketch of the were-creature; unfortunately, the witnesses are the two stoners who provided equally dubious evidence during the “War of the Coprophages” and at Heuvelman's Lake where poor Queequeg got taken by the Lake Monster.

In this romp, full of Morgan’s trademark unreliable narrations and bait-and-switch finger-pointing, the were-creature is a Tuatara-like lizard-man, played eloquently-enough by Kiwi, Rhys Darby, dressed as Karl Kolchak – when he is dressed – and flattening his vowels like there’s no tomorrow. This was pure magic: Duchovny and Anderson obviously enjoy these stories as their hilarity clearly gets full rein. For once, Anderson doesn’t have to get all teary-eyed about her missing son William while Duchovny tries desperately to keep up with her.

After this, we have a story about a bunch of gentrification do-gooders trying to re-develop a part of Philadelphia by bulldozing and power-hosing all the homeless people out of one district and into another, where they’re equally unwanted. Rocketing to their defense, is the “Nose Band-Aid Trash Man”, a superhumanly strong terrifying figure that shows up in a garbage truck, tears heads and limbs off those who would gain from the homeless tribe’s woes, and then packs himself back into the trash truck while it self-propels into the night. And yes, he has a band-aid on his nose.

Scully gets side-lined by her mother’s death by heart-attack while Mulder takes the running. He tracks down a street artist with the tag “Trash Man” and discovers that this guy believes the monster is a “tulpa”, or thought form, from Buddhist doctrine, raising havoc in the street peoples’ defense. Interestingly, Mulder debunks this straight away, despite it being the rationale for several of his own earlier cases. Either way, the street artist it seems is the one who dreamed up the creature and our dynamic duo eventually convince him to put paid to it. Or does he? This is one of those eerie X-Files episodes that has a very scary core and which only, very shakily, gets resolved...

Next we tackle suicide bombers and, after witnessing a mindless attack of this sort upon a Texan art gallery, we learn one of the bombers – what’s left of him anyway – is still “alive” in a nearby hospital. In Washington, Scully and Mulder are visited by two young FBI agents – Miller and Einstein – keen to know if they have any freaky insights into communicating with the mostly dead. Well, Miller is keen to know, anyway.

Co-ordinating their attack, Scully ensnares Miller while Mulder sidelines Einstein, each with their own takes on somehow finding a means of communicating with the dying bomber. Scully jury-rigs some normal scientific procedures and makes an ECG Monitor do the job of an MRI scanner, and determines that, despite appearances, the bomber is hearing things and responding to them on some level. Mulder convinces Einstein to give him an extract of psilocybin mushrooms to augment his consciousness so as to be able to penetrate the veils between life and quasi-death. The mushroom trip is very amusing, showcasing Duchovny’s boot-scootin’ skills and offering the Lone Gunmen a photo opportunity.

Of course, the “mushroom extract” is a placebo (niacin) and the day is won by all four members of the team pooling their information – however bizarrely obtained – and saving the day. The episode ends with some heavy preaching by Mulder and Scully concerning radicalism and love versus hate, some of which is very prettily written but most of which sounds like axes grinding.

The last episode resolves most of the issues from episode one and is also entitled “My Struggle”. One of the (other) things that bugged me about the original series, was the producers’ fondness for all things Nazi. Any excuse to get the cast into jack-boots and they took it. Shows with creepy German titles, hark-backs to Nazi mysticism – there was always just a tad too much relish being thrown at these features for my liking. The title to these two episodes is a case in point: “My Struggle” in German is “Mein Kampf”. How about that? Got to hand it to Chris ‘Captain Obvious’ Carter, he knows how to wield a blunt instrument.

So, feeling all covered with neo-Nazi ick once more, I clenched my teeth for another Mythology quagmire, and I wasn’t disappointed. In this instalment Cancer Man cries ‘havoc!’ and unleashes the dogs of calculated global decimation, causing outbreaks of anthrax to begin de-populating the Earth. Barely in time, Scully and Einstein work out that alien DNA, added to some people’s smallpox inoculations, will save a minority of humans, so they culture up the DNA that Scully identified in her own genome in episode one and create a vaccine. Just like that. Meanwhile, Agent Miller drives to Cancer Man’s abode and saves Mulder’s butt. Just as they arrive back in Washington and the vaccine, an alien craft appears overhead and ...the credits roll.

I assume that means “X-Files: Season 10” is on its way (although IMDb is already calling this Season 10…).

Is this a good thing? I’m not sure. This little run down memory lane has underscored all the things I both liked and hated about the show. If a new season does eventuate, does this mean that I’m going to be enjoying two out of every six episodes, for a – roughly – 30% approval rate? The inclusion of Miller and Einstein in the last two eps didn’t convince me that they’d make good replacements for Duchovny and Anderson if those two decided to fade into the background once more. Miller is a walking haircut with no personality and Einstein is a badly-named caricature of Scully without the acting chops to really pull it off. As a foursome they did okay; but Miller and Einstein ain’t Scully and Mulder.

I think this “event” has done little more than urge me to re-visit “The Night Stalker” and watch “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” once more. Apart from that – meh.

Three tentacled horrors.

Review: "Grimm - Season 2"

CARPENTER, Stephen, David Gereenwalt & Jim Kouf, Creators, “Grimm – Season Two”, 2012-13, Universal Studios.

I’ve recently realised the reason why I have such strong initial antipathy to watching this show: the main character on the front cover of the DVD packaging looks an awful lot like the kid who plays Merlin in the eponymous TV show, and the gung-ho brandishing of bipennis weaponry adds to the overall medieval effect. Whenever I contemplate taking a dip in this quagmire my brain goes “hold on – we don’t watch kids’ shows”. And then I opt for something else instead. Like “Arrow”. Or “Flash”. (Don’t judge...)

(Actually, when you get into this show, the main character of Nick Burkhardt looks nothing like the Merlin kiddie, but rather the hunky-dory tough-guy cop that the script calls for. I guess all the Photoshop action on the packaging is just working against him...)

In this season of “Grimm”, David Giuntoli is called upon to do a lot more than what he accomplished in Season One. In the first season (where everyone was saddled with bad haircuts) Dave acted like a robot with emotions that were clicked on and off like a switch was being worked somewhere; in this run around the block, he manages to segue more smoothly through the drama, matching the action with much more believable responses. It struck me that there is a weird tension in this character: on the one hand, he’s supposed to be a no-nonsense cop; on the other, he’s supposed to be every woman’s dream partner. It’s a hard act to pull off and I get the impression that Giuntoli likes the one and does his best to endure the other.

His partner Hank Griffin (Russell Hornsby) is back and duly whips his shirt off whenever required. Nothing has changed here. I started to get irritated whenever he and Nick kick in doors and stride into houses ready to pop caps: they both go into a half crouch with their guns held out in front of them and tip their heads sideways. Is this normal? I mean, surely if you hold your head up straight you’ll see better and be able to comprehend what you’re seeing to a greater degree. Try walking through your own house like this; you’ll see what I mean.

I had hoped that the CGI puppet heads of the Wesen characters, that show up whenever they “woge”, would have taken a quantum leap forward in expertise and look somewhat passable – nope. Nothing to see here. Or rather, all the wrong kinds of things to see. Try to ignore it.

Once more the ‘gun’ characters form a core network of entertainment quite apart from the police action: Monroe and Rosalee (Silas Weir Mitchell and Bree Turner), Sergeant Wu (Reggie Lee), Bud the Eisbiber (Danny Bruno), and Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) - Nick’s amnesiac one-time vet girlfriend - are all back and having a ball with things. My only criticism is that Juliette is saddled with her memory-loss and misdirected romantic feelings for “Prince (not so) Charming” Captain Renard for most of the season, and her usual dry wit and sly humour gets canned for most of the show in favour of a hesitant school-marm persona that just isn’t a good look on her. Thankfully, by the season’s end, she’s back, firing on all cylinders, and – as a bonus – completely au fait with the Wesen world and Nick’s place within it.

I was pleasantly surprised by the developments that took place with Captain Renard (Sasha Roiz) in this season. Like Hank, he seems to get his shirt off quite a lot, but I can forgive him since he does actual stuff as well, unlike Mr. Griffin. Having been set up as the local villain last season, the expanding intrigue of the Royal Houses in Europe sees him make some unexpected and very interesting decisions which align him quite strongly with Nick and his buddies, rather than trying to oppose them. Of all the main characters, Renard is definitely the brooder and, having ditched his hat of black, the grey replacement is a far better fit for him.

(On the down side, every time we cross to Vienna to see Renard’s brother Eric’s latest villainy, the scene is subtitled with the disclaimer “Vienna, Austria”. I’m guessing this is so we don’t think we’re looking at “Vienna, Rhode Island”, or “Vienna, Wyoming”, but seriously – is there anywhere outside mainland USA where this kind of mistake would reasonably take place? “Vienna” will do, people; believe it or not, we know where that is and we know what you mean.)

Once more I’m left wondering what kind of abilities a Grimm has, apart from being able to see a Wesen for what they are when they freak out. In one episode, a Tsetse fly Wesen creature comes to town invading grief counselling groups in search of the tears which act upon him like opiates. Unfortunately, while licking the eyeballs of his victims, he passes on hideous barbed worms which permanently blind them – I kid you not. In the course of the episode, Nick becomes temporarily blind and discovers that his hearing is preternaturally sharp, finally taking out the bad guy without needing to see him at all. Sadly, having made this point about Nick’s ears, the fact is dumped and forgotten about entirely for the remaining episodes. There’s a lack of focus about Nick that’s becoming painfully obvious as time rolls on...

Good things about this show are that the police procedural bits – unlike “Sleepy Hollow” – form a basis for the action, and justice – real, non-supernatural, non-head-lopping, non-spell-casting justice – needs to be seen to be done by the end of each instalment. This attention to detail is a plus for the show, even though I suspect there’s a lot of grumbling in the background about just ‘magicking the boring stuff away’. The fact that the magical stuff sits firmly in a mundane world is what helps ground this particular drama.

There is a point that I’d like to raise about this show which I found deeply disturbing. In the new credits for Season Two, it’s strongly implied that Adolf Hitler was a cranky Wesen who pushed all the wrong buttons. A cut scene of a Blutbad morphing into A.H. happens during the credits for the first three or so episodes, before being ditched for the rest of the run. I assume that some other people – like me – found the absolving of Europe’s genocidal dark times by saying “oh, it wasn’t really a person behind it all; it was just a monster” deeply disturbing and had them yank it. That doesn’t stop them strongly implying that Jeffrey Dahmer was some kind of undercover beastie also at another point. Listen: people do bad stuff; people who live in what we take for granted as enlightened, reasonable and accountable societies like that in which we believe we live. You can’t rewrite, debunk or trivialise history – even on a fantasy platform – just to make people feel better about themselves. That way lies Snoop Dogg and his ongoing belief that Game of Thrones is real medieval history...

To lighten up a bit by way of a conclusion, again, there’s too much bad German and creaky rationalising, backed up by dodgy-looking books of lore (which, although penned by Grimms across the centuries, are all illustrated by the same person), but the 100% effort thrown at the vehicle by the majority of the people involved helps enormously in bringing the concept home. This is a show which is having a lot of fun with itself and which is starting to spread – like some kind of mystical rhizome – into some very intriguing areas. You definitely need to shut your higher brain functions off and just watch the pretty people (while ignoring the bad CGI), but it’s turning into a very amusing ride...

Two-and-a-half tentacled horrors.

The Innsmouth Tarot, Part 4 - The Suit of Flames

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

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

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

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

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

*****

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

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

*****

The Ace of Flames

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

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

The Two of Flames

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

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

The Three of Flames

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

The Four of Flames

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

The Five of Flames

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

The Six of Flames

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

The Seven of Flames

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

The Eight of Flames

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

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

The Nine of Flames

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

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

The Ten of Flames

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

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

Bugg-Shash – The Jack of Flames

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

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

Zoth-Ommog – The Knight of Flames

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

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

Kassogtha – The Queen of Flames

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

Until the day when, having travelled far and wide,

I finally reach the Pine Forest,

Until I slay ferocious Humbaba,

And exterminate from the land Something Evil…”

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

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

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

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

B’Moth – The King of Flames

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

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

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

To Be Continued...

The Innsmouth Tarot, Part 3 - The Major Arcana 2

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

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

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

*****

Card 6 – The Change

 

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

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

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

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

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

Card 7 – Crabskin

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

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

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

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

Card 8 – Temple Elders

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

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

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

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

Card 9 – The Dreamer

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

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

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

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

Card 10 – The Tide

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

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

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

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

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

*****

To Be Continued...

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

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

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

Character Number One – The Psychometric Character

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

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

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

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

Character Number Two – The Lucid Dreamer

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

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

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

Character Number Three – The Fated Adventurer

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

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

Character Number Four – The Ghost Magnet

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

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

Character Number Five – The Snake Charmer

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

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

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

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

Character Number Six – The Berserker

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

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

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

*****

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

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

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