Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Daniel Harms

  The Seed is believed to have beneficial effects as well. It is said to have a catabolic effect on certain servitors of the Other Gods. The fungi from Yuggoth and insects from Shaggai often make tools out of this material.

  See Azathoth; Thyoph. (“Pickman’s Student”, Herber (O); Spawn of Azathoth, Herber; “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley.)

  SENTINEL HILL

  Prominence near Dunwich, Massachusetts. Its summit is capped with a large stone resembling a table or altar. Archaeologists have debated the origin of this feature, as well as the ancestry of the bones found buried nearby. The Whateley family once held rites on Sentinel Hill on Walpurgis and Halloween. It was also the site where the Dunwich Horror came to a close.

  Another hill of the same name, with a circle of monoliths at the top, lies just outside Brichester.

  (“The Recurring Doom”, Joshi; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O).)

  SELECTIONS DE LIVRE D’IVON

  Gaspard du Nord’s French commentary on the Latin Book of Eibon (though some suggest it is an eighteenth-century hoax). It contains several protective charms to keep the user safe from the forces of evil, especially Nyarlathotep.

  See Book of Eibon. (The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)

  SEMPRONIUS BLAESUS, TITUS

  Quaestor of the Roman Empire at the time of Sulla.

  SERANNIAN

  City in the clouds that lies off the coast of Ooth-Nargai. It is not difficult to reach, as ships may fly off the ocean and into the clouds from the ocean surrounding it. King Kuranes of Celephaïs lives there for half the year.

  See Cerenerian Sea; Kuranes. (“Celephaïs”, Lovecraft (O); “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft.)

  SERPENT PEOPLE

  Species of bipedal reptiles that appeared during the Permian period. Some say they came from Venus, but most hold that they evolved naturally upon earth. With their great magic (and the aid of the fabled Cobra Crown), the serpent people conquered the empire of Valusia, an area which today forms part of both Europe and Africa. During this time, the serpent people reared great stone cities containing both laboratories and temples to Yig, Byatis, Han, Shub-Niggurath, and Tsathoggua. When the Triassic Age came, new conditions caused the race to go into decline for eons until they resurged during the Pleistocene Era.

  The coming of humanity proved to be the downfall of the serpent people’s dominion over the world. Although some of the serpent people provided humanity with helpful knowledge, the new race later swept aside the old cities of the reptiles in order to build their towns and fortresses. To escape this destruction, some of the reptiles crept into hidden burrows in the hills of Wales, or to the caverns of Yoth. Others put themselves into deep hibernation, while some used their magical abilities to disguise themselves and concealed themselves among the invaders. Apart from one abortive attempt to recapture the throne of Valusia, the serpents were never a serious threat to humanity thereafter.

  Today, the serpent people are small in numbers, and must do even more to keep their identities hidden. Despite this, many of this species are convinced that another resurgence of their race is imminent. For the most part, the serpent people are so few and individualistic that any concerted efforts seem unlikely. Their dislike of direct confrontation and mastery of both scientific and magical techniques (as well as their advanced knowledge of poison manufacture) makes them formidable foes nonetheless.

  See Aklo; Book of Skelos; Brothers of the Yellow Sign; Byatis; Cobra Crown; Gnoph-keh; Han; Lemuria; Mu; Nameless City; Shining Trapezohedron; Sss’haa; Tsathoggua; Valusia; Voormis; Worms of the Earth; Zylac. (“Where a God Shall Tread”, Aniolowski; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Conan the Buccaneer, Carter and de Camp; Outer Gateways, Grant; “The Shadow Kingdom”, Howard (O); The Illuminatus! Trilogy, Shea and Wilson; “The Seven Geases”, Smith; “The Starshine”, Szymanski; “The Dragons of Mons Fractus”, Tierney.)

  SERPENT RING OF SET (also RING OF THOTH-AMMON)

  Artifact that was the creation of a prehuman species (most likely the serpent people). The ring was a copper-colored piece of jewelry forged in the shape of a serpent wrapped in a circle three times, its tail caught in its mouth.

  The Stygian wizard Thoth-Amon found the ring in a forgotten tomb, possibly from the time of Acheron, and used it to fuel his rise to the high priesthood of Set. After his death, the priests of Egypt hid the ring beneath one of their altars. It remained there for thousands of years, until a Roman nobleman stole it and it made its way to Emperor Tiberius just before his death. The ring was handed down among various cults of sorcerers until present times, when it appeared in the effects of the occultist and dilettante Gustaf Vrolok after a trip to Hungary. Its present whereabouts are unknown.

  A powerful enough sorcerer could use the ring to summon up demons to attack his enemies, or even cause them to possess a person’s body for a short time. The ring, however, came with a powerful curse that was especially dangerous to those of royal lines and those too weak to control its power.

  (Conan: Book of Thoth, Busiek and Wein; “The Haunter of the Ring”, Howard; “The Phoenix on the Sword”, Howard (O); “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney.)

  SERVITOR OF THE OUTER GODS

  Creature resembling a toad or lizard with a number of tentacles carrying a flute. The Servitors provide the music at the court of Azathoth, but may come to earth if a special flute is blown on Walpurgis, Midsummer’s Eve, or Halloween. A servitor’s music has the power to summon other beings of the Mythos, making them even more dangerous.

  (“The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)

  SESQUA VALLEY

  Location somewhere in the state of Washington. The Valley’s major landmark is the white, twin-peaked Mount Selta, which is rumored to be the home of all manner of curious beings, to the northeast of the Valley.

  The Native Americans warned the first settlers to avoid this area, but subsequent centuries saw the valley populated. Many of these newcomers were former inhabitants of Dunwich who moved west after the horrific events of 1928. Despite this, all Sesquans feel a deep sense of connection to the land about them. It is common for the Valley’s young people to venture out into the world, only to return to their homes when they grow older.

  The town is a haven for artists, many of whom leave curious sculptures across the countryside before they vanish or meet darker fates. A tower of stone in the valley holds the books and manuscripts collected from their libraries where others might consult them.

  Most outsiders do not stop in the Sesqua Valley, as the Valley appears on no maps and seems to make itself inconspicuous to unwanted visitors.

  Many strange events and disappearances happen in the Valley, presaged by howling on the mountains or the arrival of thick fog.

  See Black Stone. (“Apotheosis”, Pugmire; “Never Steal from a Whateley”, Pugmire (O); “A Piece of Stone”, Pugmire; “Some Darker Star”, Pugmire; “The Totem Pole”, Pugmire; “Your Metamorphic Moan”, Pugmire; “The Tree-House”, Pugmire and Price.)

  SET (also SETH or SUTEKH)

  God which sometimes appears as a huge black serpent with yellow eyes. He has been described as the ruler of the sunken cities and the spaces between the stars.

  Set is believed to have dwelt in the Stygian Caverns, through which flowed the river Styx (later known as the Nile). His worship was first recorded in Acheron, an empire of the early Hyborian Age that included the area around the Styx. When Lemurian refugees from the east conquered this area and established Stygia, they continued Set’s worship. Soon the cult of Set controlled all of Stygia, with many secret outposts in other lands. Their battles against the cult of Mitra (a solar deity) and Conan the Cimmerian kept them from attaining world domination, but the cult of Set was nonetheless a force to be reckoned with during that time.

  After the Hyborian Age, the Egyptians took up the worship of Set. One cult dedicated to him, the
Brethren of Set, taught that Set was the son of the first pharaoh, and that he had killed his father and drunk his blood, thereby becoming an immortal blood-drinker. Set was especially popular with the Hyksos, who conquered Lower Egypt around 1674 B. C. The Hyksos identified him with their own most powerful god, and worshiped him as Ha-Set-Ur, the god of shepherds. The Egyptians eventually saw him as a demonic force and forbade his worship. It is unknown whether Set’s worship has continued anywhere on this world, though there is a temple dedicated to him in Ulthar and rumors of a “Majestic Order of the Great Dark One” have emerged from Egypt.

  Giant snakes kept in Set’s temples, vampires, and other beings that would destroy the sanity of any who looked upon them served the god. The highest level of his priesthood was the Black Ring, a group of sorcerers who could kill a person by burning their flesh with their hands, leaving a black handprint on their corpse. Set’s cult especially favors red-haired people, seeing this color as a sign of the god’s favor. They also prized an artifact called the Black Mirror of Nekhen, and believed that anyone who performed the proper rituals before it would call Set into the world again. Hopefully this information will allow future researchers to identify any possible survivals of this ancient faith.

  [Set was originally a god of Upper Egypt who was depicted as having the head of an unknown beast which has been identified as a donkey, an okapi, or a jackal, but resembles none of these. He was considered to be the god of the night sky, storms, warriors, and confusion. According to legend, Set was the son of the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb. Every night when the sun passed through the underworld, Set would help fight the snake Apep or Apophis so that it would not eat the sun. Later, Set became known as the god who killed his brother Osiris and fought numerous battles with Osiris’ son Horus.

  [After the fall of the New Kingdom, Set was symbolically linked with both the invading outsiders and Apep, and becoming more of a serpentine demon. When the Greeks learned of him, they linked him with Typhon, a monster which threatened the gods’ rule. Set’s worship has seen a slight resurgence in modern times, through such groups as Michael Aquino’s Temple of Set.

  [In different Mythos works, Set has been linked with Yig, Nyarlathotep, and Hastur. Those who would use Set in their tales and scenarios may want to consider which of these, if any, lies behind the mask of Set.]

  See Nyarlathotep; Nyarlathotep (Set); Serpent Ring of Set; Stygia; Thoth-Amon; World of the Seven Suns. (The Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “The Sundial of Amen-Tet”, Aniolowski; “The Black Mirror” (alternate), Glasby; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Scarlet Citadel”, Howard; Ghor Kin-Slayer, Howard et. al.; “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; “The Adventure of the Laughing Moonbeast”, Vaughan.)

  SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF HSAN (also SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF EARTH)

  Set of scrolls of possible Chinese origin. According to some scholars, Hsan the Greater wrote them in the second century. Others, however, maintain that they originally came from Leng and date back to the time of China’s mythical Yellow Emperor, being translated into Chinese from a forgotten tongue. It may be that these are the same as the legendary “Seven Books of Tan” said to date back to 4000 B.C. and which contain many puzzles for those keen of mind. When Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, China’s first emperor, commanded the Burning of the Books in 213 B.C., most of the Chinese copies were destroyed, and subsequent Chinese authors were forced to compile a corrupted version based on what fragments they could find and their own memories. Four later dynasties also banned Hsan’s books, making them even rarer.

  The books were smuggled out of China and translated numerous times. The first to appear was probably the English of 1729, though this one is so poor that most scholars consider it hardly worth mentioning. In 1940 Boston’s Silver Key Press published a better English translation made by the occultist Etienne-Laurent de Marigny. Lama Dordji Ram, possibly with the assistance of the renowned explorer Alexandra David-Neel, made a French translation which appeared in Marseilles in 1943.

  Copies of the Books in various languages may be found at the Temple of the Elder Ones in Ulthar, Miskatonic University, the Library of the State University at St. Petersburg, the Bibliotheque de l’Arsenal, the Library of Congress (a complete copy, though closely guarded) and in the hands of private collectors in Scotland and France. Although the library of the Dalai Lama holds the Books, the large number of copies in Tibet is almost impossible to find, as the Tibetan monks hid most of their copies from the invading Chinese armies.

  The Seven Cryptical Books range widely in topics, including the proper treatment of a dead wizard’s body, the forms of Nyarlathotep, the Dreamlands, and a history of the plateau of Leng. The books also include quotations from the R’lyeh Text and spells which bear resemblance to those in the Dhol Chants. The most important ceremonies in the Books are the “Seven Cryptical Spells of Hsan”, though the significance of these is unknown. The second book, sometimes called the “The Sign of Signs”, is said to bestow limited power over life and death, and the fourth gives the spells for the summoning and dismissing of demons. The few complete editions of the fifth book contain the formula for creating the Eye of Light and Darkness. One of the books, which is referred to as “lost” (despite the fact that the de Marigny translation claims to hold all seven volumes), contains information on how wisdom may be obtained from the dead. Some even say that a code hidden within the books gives the time when the Old Ones shall return.

  See Barzai; Eye of Light and Darkness; Lin Tang-Yu; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent de; Zin, Vaults of. (“Eyes of a Stranger”, Aniolowski; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “Headsman”, Fantina; “Books of the Cthulhu Mythos”, Herber and Ross; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; “The Return of Zhosph”, Myers; “The Summons of Nuguth-Yug”, Myers and Laidlaw; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; “Those Who Wait”, Wade; “Typo”, Winkle.)

  SEVEN HUNDRED STEPS OF DEEPER SLUMBER

  Stairs that lead down from the Cavern of Flame and end at the Gate of Deeper Slumber in the Dreamlands’ Enchanted Wood. Some have suggested that these, as well as the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber, are only symbolic, and that only initiates know their true meaning.

  See Dreamlands; Seventy Steps of Light Slumber. (“The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)

  SEVEN LOST SIGNS OF TERROR

  Symbols said to compel obedience from all beings in our universe or elsewhere.

  (“The Offering”, Carter; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)

  SEVENTY STEPS OF LIGHT SLUMBER

  Stairs that appear in dreams and, if descended, lead the dreamer to the Cavern of Flame where Nasht and Kaman-Tha reside. It has been suggested that one may walk down these steps and then enter the Dreamlands, bypassing the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber entirely. This method does not allow the dreamer much control of their wanderings, but many consider it to be safer.

  See Dreamlands; Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Hero of Dreams, Lumley.)

  SEVERNFORD

  Town northwest of Brichester, on the banks of the Severn River. Like many towns in the region, Severnford is past its prime, with many of its buildings standing empty and dilapidated. Near this town is the ruined castle in which the wizard Sir Gilbert Morley resided, and an isle in the river nearby was the site of witches’ sabbats in the seventeenth century.

  See Camside. (“The Faces at Pine Dunes”, Campbell; “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “The Room in the Castle” (O), Campbell; “The Stone on the Island”, Campbell.)

  SFATLICLLP

  Shapeless offspring of Ossadogwah who is said to have mated with the Voormi
s. She is said to have dwelled in the Eiglophian Mountains in Hyperborea, where she nurtured the Voormis.

  (“Voormi Hymn of Deliverance”, Schwader; “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O).)

  S’GLHUO, GULF OF

  Alternate dimension mentioned in the Necronomicon. In this place, sounds created in our dimension form the matter, and matter as we know it manifests itself as an odor. The blue-skinned people of this region can only be harmed by certain sounds made in our own dimension, and are quite anxious to establish telepathic contact with our own reality. Their motives are unknown, so any dealing with them should beware.

  See Alala; Mao; Reflections; Revelations of Glaaki. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell (O).)