TUO 3: Mysterious Manuscripts

©1994 Thomas Stratman, Scott David Aniolowski and Brian Bevel

[This was the kickoff to our column on Mythos tomes, and it was a doozy, encapsulating new creatures & items as well as books. I think this piece, assembled from several different sources and authors, worked quite well and I was very pleased with it at the time. We did, however, make one big huge ugly mistake. The description of “Azathoth and Others” that appears in this article completely missed the fact that the book’s author was described in HPL’s story “The Thing on the Doorstep” and bears no resemblence to the way he is described herein. Argh! The Editor’s Note that follows appeared in the original article, and is not new to this document. —John Scott Tynes, 1994]

(Editor’s Note: Musty old tomes of sinister lore figure prominently in the works of H.P. Lovecraft and those who make efforts in the area of the Cthulhu Mythos. Likewise, Call of Cthulhu puts a heavy emphasis on these books. Yet the books listed in the basic rules are left largely undescribed. “Mysterious Manuscripts” will serve as an umbrella column, containing the work of different writers, all of whom contribute information about the strange books of the Mythos as well as new ones altogether. The first section of the column will be by Thomas Stratman, and his introductory remarks follow. Other writers’ contributions appear afterwards. We are actively seeking items for “Mysterious Manuscripts,” in the same general format as you’ll find here. The line-up of writers will likely change from issue to issue.)

During my time as a Keeper I have found that the different tomes of the Cthulhu Mythos lack their own individuality. For any spell can be discovered in any book, and all books have a chance to contain any information.

Each book should have their own cohesion and subject matter. A book about the library of Celeano would have no need to contain spells of attack against mindless undead. But such a book would be amiss to neglect at least a reference to a spell which would assist in transportation to Celeano.

In keeping with this idea, all books listed in this column will contain a suggested spell list. When an INT save vs. a book’s spell multiplier indicates that a spell has been discovered, the Keeper should choose which spell among those listed appears first.

Study Time

Anyone who has had to study a large, poorly written textbook or scientific lexicon can tell you that it takes time to truly glean most of the information. Yet not all books are equal. Therefore, I have developed a study time for each book that takes into account the book’s length, age, amount of data, clarity of communication, and number of times translated. Lack of familiarity with the language of the book will adversely adjust this study time, at the Keeper’s discretion.

New Books

New books are designed to fill in areas of Mythos knowledge and worship that would not be covered by the existing tomes. They also serve as models for Keepers to create their own campaign-specific works.

In order for the material in this section to be as accurate as possible, all readers are welcomed and encouraged to send to me copies of any references regarding mythos tomes as presented in the various Mythos stories, novels, films, etc. Please include the complete reference so that I can find the material you refer to.

Azathoth and Others, poems by Edward Derby
(English, +4 Cthulhu Mythos, -1D4 Sanity, no spells, study time: 8 hours)
Publishing History: self-published, circa 1910.
Providence House edition (reprint), 1952.
Next Age Publishers (reprint), 1985.

Excerpt:

I knew that earth should be for death a throne,
And evermore within their burials deep
The banded nations of the earth shall sleep,
Sunken in sepulchres of sculptur’d stone.

This is the only known collection of the poems of Edward Derby. Most are mundane poems of country landscapes and vague musings of a young idealistic Englishman. His last few poems are disturbing pieces about cosmic demons, an Earth without dreams, and astral travel to alternate realities. The last poem “Out of the Old Land,” has been blamed for the manic-depressive state that led to Derby’s apparent leap from a seventh-floor window in the middle of the night, which left his body crushed “as if trampled by an elephant” (quote from police report).

Anacrideity Tcho-Tcho, brief anthropological study by Prof. Nicholas Dandel, PhD
(Dutch, +6 Cthulhu Mythos, -1D6 sanity, x2 spell multiplier, study time: 26 hours)
Spells: (presented as authentic rituals) Contact Atlach-Nacha, Summon/Bind Child of Atlach-Nacha, Spider Movement, Enchant Item (needle to inscribe a spider tattoo over the left breast).

Publishing History: University of Utrecht, 1665

Excerpt:

The odd, mis-shapen natives call themselves the `Tcho-Tcho’ which, I am given to understand, means `the dark ones of the dark ones.’Each sub-tribe or family clan has their own patron deity which they worship with a fervor that would rival a zealot or an Anabaptist. The particular group of slaves that work my father’s farmlands in the Oost-Indies was partial to their deity of spiders called Atlach-Natchi. This massive spider-creature is believed by these natives to inhabit an underground cavern and weaves a web with her thread of lives. They believe that the world will end when Atlach-Natchi bridges an unmeasurable chasm. This myth is strikingly reminescent of the Fates from Greek mythology, with their threads of life binding together all things.

This book was published only once, because most of the young professor’s theories were officially debunked by Catholic missionaries within ten years. Professor Dandel left the East Indies in 1666 to teach at the University of Utrecht. In 1675 he resigned under pressure and was given the title of Captain on a Dutch war frigate. He died when he sacrificed his ship at a key point during the Battle of Oland, giving the Dutch fleet victory over the Swedes.

Massa di Requiem per Shuggay

In 1768, the enigmatic Italian composer Benevento Chieti Bordighera wrote Massa di Requiem per Shuggay, or Requiem for Shaggai, a lengthy and bizarre opera about the alien Insects from Shaggai, their plight, and subsequent exodus into the black gulfs of space. This haunting funeral mass recounts the history of Shaggai and its inhabitants, the Shans, including the great cosmic cataclysm which ultimately destroyed Shaggai, and the journeys of its exiled inhabitants from world to world.

Act I tells the story of the Shans’ empire on Shaggai with their great cities of dull grey cones, and of their decadent worship of mighty Azathoth. The final scene of the first act recounts the approach of a mysterious crimson globe and the panic of the inhabitants of the emerald-lit planet.

Act II begins soon after the obliteration of Shaggai, with the few surviving colonies of Shans searching the universe for a suitable new home base. The Insects stop at Xiclotl, Thuggon, and L’gy’hx, but none of these worlds suit their purposes. They flee each in turn, capturing and taking along certain races for use as slaves.

Act III, the final act of the morose opera, tells of the Shans’ arrival on Earth sometime in the seventeenth century. This final act of the ominous and morbid opera details the journey to Earth of another inhabitant of now-dead Shaggai: Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg (see below).

Upon its completion, Bordighera’s requiem immediately garnered the attention of Pope Clement XIII, who banned the opera in 1769 (but died shortly thereafter). The new Pope, Clement XIV, ordered a formal inquest, and in 1770 Benevento Bordighera was jailed as a heretic. In 1771, Bordighera was convicted of heresy and put to death; all existing copies of the dark Massa di Requiem per Shuggay were ordered destroyed. Pope Clement XIV died just three years later in 1774.

Little but the following is known of the life of Benevento Chieti Bordighera: he was born about 1746 in Rome, a musical prodigy. He traveled around Europe in the mid-1760’s, and is known to have been in the south of England in or around 1766. He died in 1771 at the age of 25; no one knows the whereabouts of his grave, and his work and his name have all but vanished from history.

In 1891 two copies of Massa di Requiem per Shuggay turned up in London, supposedly having been smuggled out of library vaults in France and Italy. Poet and Golden Dawn member W.B. Yeats claimed to have seen the musical score briefly in the fall of 1891, and then both alleged copies disappeared. Nothing more is known of the opera until 1927 when a single crumbling copy is believed to have come into the possession of famed British parapsychologist Dr. Douglas A. Windthrope; Windthrope claimed to have obtained the text from an unnamed Italian gentleman in New York City in the spring of 1927. Two other copies of Bordighera’s blasphemous score were said to have been seen in 1928 in Spain, but these rumors were never verified.

In 1940 Dr. Windthrope vanished from his estate and was not heard from again. Interestingly enough, several old and rare books Windthrope was known to have had were also found to be missing, including among them the evil opera.

In 1958 a copy of the mass was found to be in the possession of an unnamed man in India, and in 1967 another copy was said to be in a private collection in Japan.

In 1985, a wealthy bidder known in auction circles as “The Man in Gray” purchased a copy of the requiem at an auction in London for a rumored #25,000. Photographs of this mysterious collector showed a remarkable likeness to the long-missing Dr. Douglas Windthrope, and so it has been suggested that the buyer was, in fact, Lawrence Windthrope, of the Windthrope Institute for Dream Research and the grandson of the famed parapsychologist.

At least two other copies are thought to exist, although their whereabouts are unknown at the present time.

Massa di Requiem per Shuggay is a powerful composition, clearly showing the depths of knowledge Benevento Bordighera had concerning the Insects from Shaggai and other darkling things of the Mythos. It is assumed that the composer had actually been infected by one of the Shans, whereby he learned the history of the race. Anyone familiar with musical composition will instantly realize the incredible complexities of this work – certain portions appear to have been written for unknown notes and instruments.

This Mythos work contains no spells; however, Mythos knowledge may be gained by successfully reading the libretto: Massa di Requiem per Shuggay, Italian, +6% Cthulhu Mythos, -1D8 SAN.

Those who read the score or see the production performed often suffer from nightmares in which they hear far-off, haunting music and insane laughter (1/1D2 SAN loss the first time, 0/1 thereafter); anyone familiar with the Shans, their slave races, or their deities tend to have more horrific, vivid dreams (such as of Azathoth, etc.) and suffer an initial 1/1D4 SAN loss and 0/1D2 thereafter.

Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg, the Bringer of Pestilence (Great Old One)

Description: Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg is a scorpion-like monstrosity covered by a segmented, greasy green-black chitinous shell that is weirdly iridescent. The Bringer of Pestilence’s head is nothing more than a warty, bulbous extension of the body. This head is covered by a mass of stiff, segmented feelers which constantly twitch and buzz weirdly. Numerous pulpy yellow eyes of various sizes and shapes peer out from between the feelers and several pairs of puss-dripping mandibles snap and hiss loudly. The Great Old One has a pair of massive scorpion-like claws and a viciously barbed stinger tail; countless spider-like legs click unnervingly as the insectile monster moves. Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg has three pairs of stiff, sharply-thorned wings folded tightly against its back. Oozing sores and blistering ulcers continually burst open all over the surface of the Great Old One and a swarm of scampering, squirming, and buzzing contagion-laden vermin, worms, and insects ceaselessly burrow, crawl, and dart into, around, and over the bulk of Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg.

Cult: The Bringer of Pestilence has no known human worshippers, although it is served by the degenerate rat folk and the diseased swarm that accompanies it, in addition to certain bands of ghouls. Historically devastating plagues in Europe and Asia may be attributed to the non-human worship of this entity in those time periods and areas.

Notes: Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg is generally encountered or summoned in places of filth and decay, such as sewers, swamps, graveyards, dumps, or areas of plague. When summoned, the Great Old One bursts from the ground, showering all present with filth, dirt, and virulent ichor.

The Great Old One may nip at victims with its noxious claws or snapping mandibles, or attempt to sting them with its poison-dripping tail. Those stung by Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg must be immediately treated for disease (Treat Disease at -50%), or begin suffering a loss of 1D4 CON per day as their bodies are ravaged by pestilence. Untreated victims will quickly die a horrible and leprous death. Any CON lost to Baoht Z`uqqa-Mogg will regenerate at a rate of 1 point per week of hospital care.

Characteristics

STR 35

CON 75

SIZ 45

INT 20

POW 28

DEX 12

HP 60

Move 8/16 flying/5 burrowing

Weapon      Attk%       Damage

Claw        90%         1D6+4D6

Mandibles   55%         1D4+4D6

Sting       85%         1D6+poison

Swarm       75%         1D2+infection

Armor: Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg has 15 points of armor with its chitinous shell. The Great Old One can not be harmed by any non-impaling weapons. If reduced to 0 hit points, the god burrows away into the ground, leaving behind a foul, steaming pool of bubbling vomit and wriggling carrion worms.

Spells: Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg knows most Summon, Bind, Contact, and Call spells, except those dealing with the Outer Gods and their minions.

SAN: 1D3/1D20

A Selection Of Period Occult Texts

Often when investigators recover books, those without immediate, impressive names and descriptions are more or less ignored. Players should not know if a book contains Mythos information until they have read it. Mythos books should only be distinguishable if they are bound in human skin, are growing hair, or scream when opened (although this often occurred with “normal” occult texts in my research for this article).

In this first of at least two articles, I shall attempt to remedy this oversight and supply your games with much-needed detail and confusion. It is suggested that merely reading an occult text should only provide the reader with a 1 point increase in Occult skill, following normal procedure for skill boosting. If the reader actually studies the text for a month, then the potential benefit is 1D6. Only one such study can be undertaken at a time.

Also, occult books can contain Mythos information at your discretion, either hidden in the text itself, scrawled in the margin, in notes paperclipped to the pages, or by important passages or word sequences marked with a cipher. Try setting up a tome as a false lead sometime, and watch the joyful chaos!

The following table shows real occult texts that investigators could expect to find in any bloodthirsty, power-mad, possessed, insane cultist wizard-priest; or, more likely, in their own bookshelves or on the nightstand, next to the Mauser. They are listed in order of the date published/written, to facilitate your campaigns. The books here all date from before 1700. Books dated after 1700 will appear in TUO4. All dates herein are A.D.

It should be noted that with some of the text listed below, the author and/or date of publication is not given, or is followed by a question mark. This denotes that the information could not be found, and rough guesses had to be made according to other works and/or birth and death dates. Some of this information is extremely difficult to get, and any help, corrections, or further information would be greatly appreciated. Write to Brian Bevel, c/o Pagan Publishing.

Year	Title	Author	Language	Notes
2nd Cent?	Adversus Hereses	Irenaeus, Bishop Of Lyons	Latin	A
300?, 1911	Theguria Of The Egyptian Mysteries	Iamblichus	Greek, English	D
300?, 1607	De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum…	Iamblichus	Greek, Latin	E, A
800?	Book Of Ostanes	Jabir-Ibn-Hayyan	Arabic, Latin	A, I
1300?	Secrets Of Nature	Arnold Of Villanova	Latin	A
15th Cent	The Book Of The Sacred Magic Of Abra-Melin	Abra-Melin	Arabic	B
15th Cent	The Golden Tractate Of Hermes Trimegistus	Hermes Trimegistus	Latin, Eng, Others
15th Cent	Veterum Sophorum…	Johannis Trithemius	Latin	C
1510	Three Books Of Occult Philosophy	Henry Cornelius Agrippa	Latin
1530, 1620	Opera. In Duos Tomos Concinne…	Henry Cornelius Agrippa	Latin	A
1537	De Incertitudine & Vanitate…	Henry Cornelius Agrippa	Latin	A, F
1558	Propaedeumata Aphoristica	Dr. John Dee	Latin	J
1564	Monas Hieroglyphica	Dr. John Dee	Latin, English	J
1570	The Mathematicall Praeface To The Elements Of Geometrie Of Euclid Of Megara	Dr. John Dee	English	H
1577	General and Rare Memorials Pertayning ToThe Perfect Arte Of Navigation	Dr. John Dee	English	H
17th Cent	Twelve Keys	unknown	Latin, English, Others
17th Cent	Phenomenae Invisible	Aeneas Of Gaza	Latin	A
1604	Novem Lumen Chemicum	unknown	Latin	A
1630	Divinus Pymander Hermetis…	Hermes Mercury Trismegisti	Latin	A, G
1651	Three Books Of Occult Philosophy	Henry Cornelius Agrippa	English
1652	Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum	Elias Ashmole	Latin, English, Others
1659	De Mirabili Potestate Artis Et Naturae	Roger Bacon	English, Latin, Others	K
1690?, 1857	Miscellanies Upon Various Subjects Microform	John Aubrey	English

Notes

A	Very rare; few, if any, translations into other languages.
B	The origins of this work are extremely suspect. The book was only rumored to exist until MacGregor Mathers produced a “translation” in 1948. Rumors mostly spread by Mathers himself.
C	Full title: Veterum Sophorum Sigilla Et Imagines Magicae/ E Johannis Trithemii Abbatis Peapolitani Quondam Spannheimensis: Manuscripto – Ervtae. Cui Accessit Catalogus Rariorum Magico-Cabbalistico-Chymicorum/ Studio Opera Frederici Roth-Scholtzii, Herrentadio-Silesii. Also available in a 1732 reprint.
D	Translated to English from Greek by Alexander Wilder.
E	Full title: Iamblichus De Mysteriis Aegyptiorum, Chaldaeorum, Assyriorum. Proclus In Platonicum Alcibiadem De Anima, Atque Daemone: Idem De Sacrificio & Magia. Porphyrius De Divinis Atq; Daemonib/ Psellus De Daemonibus. Mercurii Tismegisti Pimander: Ejusdem Asclepius. Translated to Latin by Jean De Tournes in 1607.
F	Full title: Henrici Cornelii Agrippae Ab Nettesheym, De Incertitudine & Vanitate Sciertiarum Declamatio Inuectiua: Denuo Ab Autore Recognita & Marginalibus Annotationibus Aucta / Capita Tractandorum Totius Operis, Sequetes Indicant Pagella. Printed two years after his death.
G	Full title: Divinus Pymander Hermetis Mercurii Trismegisti: Com Commentariis R.P.F. Hannabalis Roselli…Opus Vere Aureum Reconditaque Sapientia Refertissium, Ac Proinde Cuius Arcana Dei Scire Cupienti Utilissimum Accessit Eiusdem Textus Graecolatinus Industria D. Francisci Flussatis Candalae: Indice Rerum & Verborum Generali Accuratissmo.
H	These books, while by the famous Dr. Dee of Necronomicon fame, are not occult titles. The investigators may not realize this at first, though. Another possibility would be to have a significant occult or Mythos reference in the text, as Dee certainly considered the occult part of the real world.
I	As an aside, the author of this work was infamous for being obscure and incomprehensible. In fact, his name is the source of the word “gibberish.”
J	Dr. Dee is such a fantastically famous man that all of his works can be found translated into any Eruopean language, and possibly some others.
K	Full title: De mirabili potestate artis et naturae, or Friar Bacon, his discovery of the Miracles of Art, Nature, and Magick.