Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Daniel Harms

  R’LYEH DISK

  Circular artifact made of solid gold and decorated with small gems and runes. The information given on the Disk will allow the Cthulhu cult to raise R’lyeh above the waves before the appointed time, and that organization searches the world for it. The Disk was last seen in Scotland, where a Roman centurion cut it into three pieces and hid them where the Old Ones’ minions could not find them.

  (“The Coven at Cannich”, Clegg (O); Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes.)

  R’LYEH TEXT (also URILIA TEXT?)

  Book originally transcribed on great tablets by the spawn of Cthulhu. These “Black Tablets of R’lyeh” still existed in Hyperborean times, but today the oldest copies are those preserved in scroll form somewhere in the depths of China. These copies, which are at least fifteen thousand years old but probably more ancient, contain characters that look Chinese, but are actually of no human tongue. More recent copies in Chinese have also been found and smuggled out of the country.

  The information on the texts may have traveled through Babylon and Persia to the west, as a Latin translation that appeared circa 200 BC seems to have been taken from such sources. An incomplete undated translation in Greek is also known via one copy. A German translation entitled Liyuhh, which was made from both the Chinese and Latin sources, was privately published in the eighteenth century. Lord Rochester’s English translation of the Latin book was never published, but nonetheless has been copied many times and was used by Shrewsbury and Copeland in their own work. Someone named Phillips has written a Study of the R’lyeh Text kept at Miskatonic University.

  This slim book reportedly deals with the proper worship of Cthulhu and his kindred, and many of the Cthulhu cults believe it to be their holiest text. It also contains a spell called the “Breath of Dagon”, which allows a person to breathe underwater.

  [Two of the recent paperback Necronomicons have included the R’lyeh Text as part of the Necronomicon, though the fiction is clear that it is a separate book.]

  See Investigation into the Myth-Patterns; Liyuhh; R’lyeh; R’lyeh Text Commentary; R’lyehian; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. (“The Shadow of the Sleeping God”, Ambuehl; “Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); “Der Blutsauger von Schwarzbrunn”, Franck; “Black Devil Mountain”, Hargrave; “The Spawn of the Y’lagh”, Larson; Necronomicon, Levenda; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  R’LYEH TEXT COMMENTARY

  Book in classical Chinese which explains several of the passages within the R’lyeh Text. Along with these, this volume contains a sketchy map of R’lyeh.

  See R’lyeh Text. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

  R’LYEHIAN

  Language used by Cthulhu and his spawn. Written, it consists of horizontal bars from which individual letters hang down. This may be the language in which the oldest surviving copies of the R’lyeh Text are written. Churchward performed some preliminary work on this language.

  See Book of Dagon. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O); R’lyehian as a Toy Language, Marsh; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  RUE D’AUSEIL (“Street of the Threshold”)

  Street in Paris on which Erich Zann once lived. Its location is unknown, and it cannot be found on any maps. Near a foul-smelling river, it rises steeply up sets of stairs between ancient buildings, until it arrives at a high wall covered in ivy.

  (“The Music of Erich Zann”, Lovecraft (O).)

  S

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  SAAAMAAA RITUAL

  Incantation used by the “Ab-Human priests” in their worship. It is a last resort for protection from outside forces that not even the Elder Sign can stop. There are eight signs used with the ritual, each of which may be used as part of a protective barrier.

  The last line of the Saaamaaa Ritual is said to provide absolute protection, though no human knows it and this assertion cannot be tested. Whether this is true or not, the second line of the Saaamaaa Ritual is mentioned in the Revelations of Glaaki as an ideal way to create the Pentacle of Planes, which guards against the uncontrolled manifestation of Daoloth during the summoning of that Outer God.

  See Daoloth. (“The Stone on the Island”, Campbell; “The Gateway of the Monster”, Hodgson (O); “The House in the Laurels”, Hodgson; “The Whistling Room”, Hodgson; “The Gates of Delirium”, Sumpter.)

  SADOGUI

  See Tsathoggua.

  SADOQUA

  See Tsathoggua.

  SADOWSKY, (DOKTOR) PHILEUS P.

  Professor of Arabic Literature and Philo-pseudology at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria. In 1979 Sadowsky’s contribution to Mythos scholarship began when he glimpsed a page from the Al Azif in a shop in Egypt. Undeterred by his loss of the parchment, Sadowsky continued his studies using the only complete copy of Al Azif in Europe. Both he and the manuscript were destroyed in a house fire in 1980.

  See Necronomicon (appendices). (“Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon”, Hamblin (O); “Further Notes on the Necronomicon”, Hamblin.)

  SANBOURNE INSTITUTE OF PACIFIC ANTIQUITIES

  Anthropological society based in Santiago, California which studies the cultures of the Pacific. It was named for Carlton Sanbourne II, a man whose father had made a fortune in the tuna-packing industry. Upon his death, Carlton left all of his money, his house and grounds, and a great number of Polynesian artifacts which formed the Institute’s core collection. His son Philip was the founder of the Institute itself.

  Despite the amount of scholarly research credited to its staff, the public remembers the Sanbourne Institute for the circumstances surrounding the donation of the Copeland Bequest, which may have been responsible for the death of Copeland himself and the madness of two of its caretakers. In 1931 (or 1933) the Institute closed and the Copeland Bequest was sent to Miskatonic University for safekeeping. Since then, however, the Institute has returned and re-opened its museum and projects.

  See Blaine, Henry; Copeland, Harold; Hodgkins, Arthur; Ponape Figurine; Unaussprechlichen Kulten; Zanthu Tablets. (“The Dweller in the Tomb”, Carter (O); “Out of the Ages”, Carter; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; A Resection of Time, Johnson.)

  SAND-DWELLERS

  Creatures that resemble emaciated, grit-encrusted humans with koala-like heads. Sand-dwellers come from another dimension, first appearing in North America. They dwell in the American Southwest, especially beneath Arizona’s Superstitition Mountains, Egypt, and in other desert areas elsewhere in the world.

  The sand-dwellers live in bands governed by the strongest individual underneath a shaman. They are usually nocturnal, remaining in their caverns until they leave to hunt at nightfall to seek food. One group of sand dwellers has limited telepathic abilities that they use to transform bats into their spies, contact susceptible humans, and control mysterious weapons that create ball lightning. These abilities have not been manifest in many encounters with them, so it is unknown how widespread they might be among the species as a whole.

  The sand-dwellers might serve creatures that thrive deeper within their grottoes and ultimately Cthulhu. They might also serve in the cults of Yig and Nyarlathotep. A few have been known to affiliate with secretive cults in their regions.

  (The Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; Aniolowski, Malleus Monstruorum; “The Gable Window”, Derleth and Lovecraft (O); The Sand Dwellers, Niswander.)

  SANSU

  Inhabitant of the Dreamlands. Sansu was a great tyrant known as the Godstalker, whose legion of soldiers once even laid siege to Thalarion. Sansu was one of only three people in history to scale Mount Hatheg-Kla, though he found nothing at the top. In the end, the things he saw on a journey to K’n-yan drove him insane.

  See Hatheg-Kla; Pnakotic Manuscripts. (“Thalarion: City of a Thousand Wonders”, Bock; “K’n-yan”, DeBill; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O).)

  SAPIENTIA MAGORUM (“Wisdom of the Magi”)

  Volum
e written in Greek and Latin by the great Persian fire-mage Ostanes. Even in Roman times, the volume was quite rare; aside from at least one copy held at Ephesus, editions could also be found in Italy and Samaria, though these were almost impossible to locate or to consult.

  Within this volume, Ostanes recorded the rituals necessary to raise Kaiwan (Hastur) and Shupnikkurat (Shub-Niggurath), an incantation to free a soul the latter goddess has taken, a formula to propitiate Fortuna (the Roman god of luck), a possible immortality spell, and the true reason that Herostratos burned down the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. Ostanes may have had access to the Book of Eibon, so it is possible that the contents of those two books may overlap at times.

  (The Gardens of Lucullus, Rahman and Tierney; “The Seed of the Star-God”, Tierney; “The Soul of Kephri”, Tierney; “The Sword of Spartacus”, Tierney (O); “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

  SARACENIC RITUALS

  Famous chapter of Ludwig Prinn’s De Vermis Mysteriis. It contains the secrets learned by the author during his captivity under the wizards of Syria – or so Prinn asserted. Not only is this chapter contained in De Vermis Mysteriis, but it has also appeared separately. A German translation has been spoken of, and a “Clergyman X” published a translation of this chapter during the nineteenth century. This holy man, however, omitted several passages from his version out of pious horror. A copy of this pamphlet is kept at the British Museum Library.

  This chapter deals with the efreets and djinni of the Arabian deserts, as well as with the pharaoh Nephren-Ka, the priesthoods of the Egyptian gods Sebek and Bast, and the worm-wizards of many-columned Irem.

  See De Vermis Mysteriis. (“The Brood of Bubastis”, Bloch; “Fane of the Black Pharaoh”, Bloch; “Hell on Earth”, Bloch; “The Secret of Sebek”, Bloch; “The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O); “Lord of the Worms”, Lumley.)

  SARKOMAND

  Dreamlands city in a valley below Leng, lying between the basalt cliffs of the plateau and the sea. The men from Leng used Sarkomand as their capital until they met the moon-beasts a million years before humanity appeared. The moon-beasts still use Sarkomand as a place for docking and unloading captives.

  Sarkomand was a mighty city in its time, with many avenues with columns and gardens. Roads from the six gates guarded by sphinx statues ran into a plaza where two winged lions made of diorite still guard an entrance to the Great Abyss. Nearby lay the low circular temple of the Great Old One Oorn, who dwells beneath the city.

  See Gnorri; Great Abyss; Leng; Mnomquah; Oorn; Tcho-tchos. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Mad Moon of Dreams, Lumley.)

  SARNATH

  City built near a great lake in the land of Mnar by a group of nomads. Sarnath lay quite near to another city, Ib, in which a species of amphibian creatures dwelt. The people of Sarnath hated the creatures who dwelt in Ib; the warriors of Sarnath killed all of its inhabitants, bearing back to Sarnath the statue of Bokrug which the people of Ib worshiped.

  After this victory, Sarnath conquered many of the nearby nations and became rich and powerful. A thousand years later, however, a great calamity befell, and the city of Sarnath disappeared in one night.

  According to one variant, the Great Old Ones were actually the builders of Sarnath. The priests of Sumer traveled in time back to this city through their ziggurats, and bore the Old Ones’ worship back with them. Most consider Sarnath to have been a human city, however.

  [A ruined city named Sarnath does exist in India; Lovecraft never mentions it, so he seems not to have been aware of the coincidence.]

  See Bokrug; Book of Eibon; Ib; Ilarnek; Ilarnek Papyri; Kadatheron; Kish; Kish, Sign of; Lobon; Mnar; Shub-Niggurath; Tamash; Thuum’ha; Zo-Kalar. (“The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); Prey, Masterton.)

  SARNATH-SIGIL

  See Elder Sign.

  SATAMPRA ZEIROS

  Thief of Uzuldaroum in Hyperborea who is best known for the loss of his right hand in the temple of Tsathoggua in the lost city of Commoriom. He nonetheless continued his chosen career, making off with the thirty-nine girdles of the virgins of Leniqua. He participated in another heist at that god’s behest which inadvertently led to the death of its high priest before settling down in his old age with his wealth.

  (“The Shadow of the Sleeping God”, Ambuehl; “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”, Smith (O); “The Theft of the Thirty-Nine Girdles”, Smith.)

  SATHLATTAE

  Set of magical formulae, at least one of which may be found in the Cthaat Aquadingen. Some are summonings, while others are protective spells, and many of them must be performed at midnight. We have more complete data on three of them:

  The Third Sathlatta, which provides protection from Bugg-Shash the Devourer, though such protection only lasts until death

  The Sixth Sathlatta (which see)

  The Ninth Sathlatta, which served as a potent protection from baneful magics in Theem’hdra.

  See Codex Dagonensis; Codex Maleficium, Codex Spitalski; Sixth Sathlattae. (“Billy’s Oak”, Lumley (O); “Cryptically Yours”, Lumley; “The Kiss of Bugg-Shash”, Lumley.)

  SCARLET CIRCLES

  Ritual (?) possessed by the “satyrs” who serve Shub-Niggurath. It provides rapid travel between distant places, and may even breach the dimensional barrier so that the hounds of Tindalos may enter our dimension. The blood of one of Shub-Niggurath’s transformed worshipers is needed to complete the rite.

  (“The Book of the Gates”, Carter; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O); Cthulhu Live: Lost Souls, Salmon et. al.)

  SCHRACH, GERHARD

  Viennese interpreter of dreams who did much of his work in the 1930s. Titus Crow considered Schrach’s work to be on a par with that of Freud and Jung.

  (The Burrowers Beneath, Lumley; Clock of Dreams, Lumley; Hero of Dreams, Lumley; “The Man in the Dream”, Lumley (O).)

  SCIMITAR OF BARZAI

  See Barzai.

  SCROLL OF THOTH-AMMON

  See Book of Thoth.

  SEAL OF R’LYEH

  Insignia bearing a picture of Cthulhu standing over the city of R’lyeh and encircled by the motto, “Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn.”

  See R’lyeh. (“The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth (O).)

  THE SECRET MYSTERIES OF ASIA, WITH A COMMENTARY ON THE “GHORL NIGRAL”

  Volume by Gottfried Mülder, an associate of von Junzt, who accompanied the eccentric scholar on many of his journeys. During a trip to a Chinese monastery in 1818–9, von Junzt consulted a copy of the Ghorl Nigral. He later spoke much of that volume’s contents to Mülder.

  In the years following von Junzt’s death, Mülder began to realize how crucial the revelations given to him had been. Making use of self-hypnosis, he reconstructed many of the hints von Junzt had given and incorporated them into his Secret Mysteries of Asia. Following the book’s Leipzig printing in 1847, most copies were seized and destroyed by the government.

  The locations and contents of this volume are not common knowledge, though one is probably held at Miskatonic University Library.

  See Ghorl Nigral; Mülder, Gottfried; Von Junzt, Friedrich. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Lovecraft at Last, Conover and Lovecraft (O); “The History of Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten”, Harris.)

  THE SECRET WATCHER

  Book by Halpin Chalmers, a noted occultist and one-time Curator of Archaeology at the Manhattan Museum of Fine Arts, who was found murdered in his apartment following a bout of insanity. This volume, published by London’s Charnel House Publishers, deals with the author’s psychic experiments in the area of “transcendental time travel”. Chalmers anticipated the work of Huxley and Leary through his use of psychotropic substances to access what he claimed were other realities.

  See Chalmers, Halpin. (“The Wild Hunt”, Ballon; “The Winfield Heritance”, Carter; “The Horror from the Hills”, Long; “The Hounds of Tindalos”, Long (O).)

  SEED OF AZATHOTH

  Gre
enish, glowing material, the source of which is the spawn of Azathoth that the Outer God occasionally throws off while dancing at his court. It is also possible for a spawn of Azathoth to carry some of this material with them as they travel into the universe. Often a seed will become part of a comet, being indistinguishable from a normal body of this type.

  When one of these seeds lands on a planet, it burrows into the ground until it reaches the planet’s core. There it hatches and forms another of Azathoth’s spawn, cracking the planet open as it escapes. A seed landing upon the world of Thyoph destroyed that world, creating our asteroid’s belt. Another Seed may have caused the Tunguska explosion, but if this is true, its effects were halted before much damage was done. Physical proximity to such a fragment is quite dangerous, and results in a slow disintegration of any organic tissue that its rays strike.