The Unspeakable Oath owes its existence to Jeff Carey, a Cthulhu keeper
\nof renown and stature (he even appears as a villain in the first scenario
\nin Chaosium’s ADVENTURES IN ARKHAM COUNTRY book!). At GenCon 1990 I played
\nin Jeff’s “Journey Into Darkness” adventure and afterwards received
\na broadcast letter from him sent to everyone he’d met at conventions talking
\nabout various things of interest to gamers. In this letter he suggested
\nthat the folks he was writing to ought to get together a Call of Cthulhu
\nfanzine of some sort. Well, that didn’t go anywhere, at least as far as
\nthe original suggestion. But I was so taken with the idea that I started
\nworking on such a beast right away. A couple months later, with the assistance
\nof Scott Aniolowski, Jeff Barber, John H. Crowe III, Keith Herber, Blair
\n“Shea” Reynolds, Kevin Ross, and the University of Missouri Simulations
\nand Gaming Club, the 56-page debut issue of THE UNSPEAKABLE OATH became
\na reality.<\/p>\n
For those who may be wondering, the title is drawn from a spell created
\nby Keith Herber in a scenario from CTHULHU NOW (“The Evil Stars”)
\nabout a Hastur-inspired rock group. The spell was “The Unspeakable
\nPromise,” but I kept calling it “The Unspeakable Oath” by
\nmistake in our games. The name just fit somehow, and off we went.<\/p>\n
With the help and advice of a local game shop employee, THE UNSPEAKABLE
\nOATH found wholesale distribution and was carried by numerous game shops.
\nPagan Publishing was launched.<\/p>\n
This series contains the complete contents of TUO 1, lacking artwork and two
\narticles. The first, “Firearms in Call of Cthulhu” by John H.
\nCrowe, III, has been superceded by John’s massive reference work THE WEAPONS
\nCOMPENDIUM, available through Pagan Publishing’s mail order catalog. The
\nsecond, “Within You Without You,” is a scenario by myself (John
\nTynes) that re-appeared, in revised form, in THE RESURRECTED * VOLUME
\nTWO in early 1994.<\/p>\n
All annotations by me are enclosed in brackets, and are \u00a91993 John Tynes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a91993 John Tynes The Unspeakable Oath owes its existence to Jeff Carey, a Cthulhu keeper of renown and stature (he even appears as a villain in the first scenario in Chaosium’s ADVENTURES IN ARKHAM COUNTRY book!). At GenCon 1990 I…<\/p>\n