Cthulhu Mythos Encyclopedia

by Daniel Harms

  (“The Shambler from the Stars”, Bloch (O), Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis; S. Petersen’s Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)

  STARKWEATHER-MOORE EXPEDITION

  Expedition to Antarctica undertaken as a follow-up to Miskatonic’s Pabodie Expedition. Professor William Dyer of Miskatonic University strongly protested against it, but his tales of a stone city built by an alien race only served to encourage these new explorers.

  The Starkweather-Moore Expedition, led by adventurer James Starkweather and Professor William Moore of Miskatonic University, departed New York on September 6, 1933. Their expedition was plagued by sabotage and malfunctions, but they eventually returned to the site of the Pabodie expedition. When the team arrived, they reported that any alien ruins that might have existed had collapsed into an underground network of caverns. The expedition had to return with no evidence of prehuman intelligences.

  [An earlier Call of Cthulhu supplement states that the Starkweather-Moore Expedition, led by Professor Eustace Blake, left Bremen on December 20, 1931. I have no solution to this conundrum.]

  See Elder Things; Pabodie expedition. (Alone Against the Dark, Costello; Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Charles and Janyce Engan; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft (O); “In the Vaults Beneath”, Lumley.)

  STARRY WISDOM CULT

  Group of devotees of Nyarlathotep who met in Providence, Rhode Island between 1844 and 1877. Professor Enoch Bowen, a well-known expert on the occult and archaeology, founded the cult after his return from an expedition in Egypt. The congregation, which met in the old Free-Will church, swelled as time went on. In 1863, the Starry Wisdom Church had over two hundred members. A branch church opened for a brief while in Townshend, Vermont, and missionary efforts to Arkham began. Even after the death of Bowen in the 1860s, the church continued under the leadership of a Dr. Raymond Flagg.

  The nature of the cult’s worship was kept a secret, but several rumors began to be circulated. According to some sources, the cult owned a sacred artifact known only as the Shining Trapezohedron, which Professor Bowen had brought with him from Egypt. By gazing upon this sacred object, the members could call up a being known as the Haunter of the Dark, who shared dread secrets with the faithful. This being could only be summoned in absolute darkness; if it were exposed to light for any period of time, it would be banished. The cult’s rituals consisted of obeisances to this object, sprinkled with pseudo-Egyptian mysticism.

  In 1877, the town leaders finally took action against the cult, due to evidence of its involvement in the kidnappings of several individuals. After a campaign of harassment and threats, 181 of the former cultists left the city before the end of the year. The Starry Wisdom cult had been disbanded, and its sacred books and relics remained within their crumbling old church until the town demolished the structure in the mid-1930s. It is rumored that the sect continued its meetings in Providence in secret, under the leadership of Asenath Bowen, a relative of Enoch.

  Various cults giving themselves the Starry Wisdom name have come and gone over the years. One church in Yorkshire, England, which flourished between 1880 and 1890, may have been under the leadership of Raymond Flagg. Some have also linked this religion to the Celestial Providence sect in Chicago that was destroyed in the fire of 1871. One branch set up in Arkham during the Twenties, but it was disbanded in 1927 after its leader’s death. A more recent Starry Wisdom Church appeared in San Francisco, but was destroyed by arson. A Chicago area congregation known as the Church of Seven Stars is believed to have connections to the Starry Wisdom dating back over a century.

  More recently, rumors have linked certain disappearances, mostly in Canada, to cells of the Starry Wisdom cult. The group is very secretive, however, so is impossible to be sure if these organizations are connected with each other through affiliation or doctrine.

  [I have heard rumors of real-life contemporary “Starry Wisdom” churches in both Florida and California.]

  See Akeley, Henry Wentworth; Book of Dzyan; Book of Eibon; Bowen, Enoch; Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Cultes des Goules; De Vermis Mysteriis; Dexter, Ambrose; Lillibridge, Edwin; Necronomicon (appendices); Nyarlathotep (Haunter of the Dark); Shining Trapezohedron; Unaussprechlichen Kulten. (“The Yorkshire Horror”, Barton; “Mysterious Dan’s Legacy”, Baugh; “The Shadow from the Steeple”, Bloch; Strange Eons, Bloch; “The Horror from the Middle Span”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom Church”, Harms; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber; “Strange Aeons”, Flansburg; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “Documents in the Case of Elizabeth Akeley”, Lupoff; Balak, Rainey; “King of Chicago”, Sumpter; Sherlock Holmes in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods, Vaughan.)

  STARS ARE RIGHT, THE

  Time at which the Old Ones will return and the reign of humanity over Earth will end. Though cultists often believe that this time will come soon, the exact time and stellar positions that will bring this about are uncertain and possibly unknowable to humans.

  See Angles of Tagh Clatur; Cthulhu; Elder Gods; Ghroth; M’nagalah; Nug and Yeb. (“The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O).)

  STILLWATER

  Town in Manitoba. All of Stillwater’s inhabitants disappeared on February 25, 1930, and only one body from the town was ever found. There have been unsubstantiated rumors of cult activity among the town’s former inhabitants.

  (“The Thing that Walked on the Wind”, Derleth (O).)

  STREGOICAVAR (also CREGOIVACAR?)

  Village located in Hungary, west of the city of Budapest. Stregiocavar may be translated as “Witch-town” due to a cult whose members once lived on the site when the town was still known as Xuthltan. Although Muslim forces slew its members in 1526, the town’s name has remained as a reminder of its past. Stregoicavar’s most famous landmark is the Black Stone, a monument where the disbanded cult worshiped hundreds of years ago. Its most famous visitor was Justin Geoffrey.

  See Black Stone. (“The Gorge beyond Salanpunco”, Derleth; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O).)

  STRONTI

  See Shonhi.

  A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF DZYAN

  Book published around 1930 by Joachim Feery that deals with Madame Blavatsky’s famous text. His use of Deeley’s “translation” makes his conclusions even more dubious than usual.

  See Book of Dzyan; Feery, Joachim. (The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey; Keeper’s Compendium, Herber (O).)

  STYGIA

  Land of the Hyborian Age in the area of present-day Egypt and Libya. The founders of Stygia were refugees from the destruction of Lemuria who came to this land and destroyed a pre-human civilization (of which nothing is known) that thrived there. The Stygians took their own customs, along with some aspects of the former inhabitants’ culture and religion, and created a new country.

  During the life of the adventurer Conan, Stygia was one of the world’s most powerful countries, though its influence was already waning. Its capital was the inland city of Luxur, but outsiders were more familiar with the port of Khemi, on the banks of the river Styx, which is known today as the Nile. The people worshiped such beings as Nyarlat (Nyarlathotep), Shuddam-El (Shudde-M’ell), Gol-Goroth, and Azathoth, though they reserved their highest respect for the god Set and his priests.

  Near the end of the Hyborian Age, the Vanir from the north conquered Stygia, setting themselves up as rulers and mingling their lines with those of the previous inhabitants. These people gave rise to those of Egypt, though some state that the Hyksos were closer in blood and tradition.

  See Acheron; black lotus; Cthugha; Gol-Goroth; Nyarlathotep; Serpent Ring of Set; Set; Shudde-M’ell; Thoth-Amon. (“Black Colossus”, Howard (O); “The Hyborian Age”, Howard; “Black Eons”, Howard and Price; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price.)

  SUMMANUS

  Great Old One that manifests itself as a mouthless man with pale tentacles beneath his gar
b.

  The cult of Summanus was most popular in Roman times; he was the lord of the night sky and thieves. Hardly any details of the god’s rites were revealed to outsiders, but the learned men of the time believed Summanus to be the lord of Hell. Summanus may still be worshiped today, but if this is true, his cult is even more secretive than before.

  The proper ceremonies used in the propitiation of Summanus are found in the Tuscan Rituals.

  [Summanus was the Roman deity of the night sky and the lightning that appeared at night. Jupiter, the Roman sky-god better known to students of myth, controlled only the daytime sky, and Summanus was considered to be equal or even superior in rank to him. Summanus had a temple in Rome near the Circus Maximus where sacrifices were made to him on June 20, his feast day. Lumley’s depiction of him as an underworld god is not without precedent, though most scholars reject this interpretation.]

  See Tuscan Rituals. (“The Fairground Horror”, Lumley; “What Dark God?”, Lumley (O).)

  SUNG, PLATEAU OF

  Land in Burma often considered an extension of Leng. Within Sung lies the city of Alaozar, beneath which Lloigor and Zhar are imprisoned.

  See Alaozar; black lotus; E-poh; Lloigor; Tcho-Tchos; Twin Obscenities; Zhar. (“The Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O).)

  SURTHAGGITH VTHAEGGAISH EAERTH

  See Black Book of the Skull.

  SUSSEX FRAGMENTS

  Tablets found in northern Europe and England that date to the Pleistocene era. They bear a striking resemblance in content to the G’harne Fragments. Most of them are kept at the Wharby Museum in Yorkshire.

  [Derleth probably meant to write “Sussex Manuscript”, but changed it to “Fragments” (perhaps thinking of the Pnakotic Manuscript/fragments). Stanley might not have been aware of this when she described the Fragments’ history.]

  See Book of Dzyan; G’harne Fragments. (“The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)

  SUSSEX MANUSCRIPT.

  See Cultus Maleficarum; Necronomicon (appendices).

  SWAMI CHANDRAPUTRA

  See Chandraputra, Swami.

  T

  * * *

  TABLETS OF NHING

  Set of inscriptions kept on the planet Yaddith. It is unknown just what is contained within them, for no human has seen a copy.

  See Yaddith. (“Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O).)

  TAMASH

  Great One once revered in Sarnath and Hyperborea. He appears as a small man with silver skin and black hair and beard. He is the patron of wizards, and often casts bizarre illusions. Tamash is dedicated to alleviating pain, and enjoys unbelievable tales, especially those that are true. Tamash is often attended by six daemons.

  (“Wizards of Hyperborea”, Fultz and Burns; “The Doom that Came to Sarnath”, Lovecraft (O); “The Maker of Gods”, Myers; H. P. Lovecraft’s Dreamlands, Petersen et. al.)

  TANARIAN HILLS

  Purple rises of the Dreamlands that hold many gateways to the waking world and other realms of dream. Beyond these hills lie the valley of Ooth-Nargai and the city of Celephaïs.

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

  TARRA KHASH

  Warrior of Theem’hdra. Tarra Khash was born among the steppes of Hrossa, but was cast out from his people due to a tribal feud and forced to wander the world. Through his adventures with the lamia Orbiquita and the wizard Black Yoppaloth of Yhemnis, he became the Primal Land’s most famous hero.

  See Theem’hdra. (“Kiss of the Lamia”, Lumley; Sorcery in Shad, Lumley; “Told in the Desert”, Lumley; “Treasure of the Scarlet Scorpion”, Lumley (O).)

  TAWIL AT-’UMR

  See ‘Umr at-Tawil.

  TCHO-TCHO LAMA OF LENG

  See High Priest Not to be Described.

  TCHO-TCHOS

  Group of people encountered in such far-flung places as the Andaman Islands, Malaysia, and Tibet. They are usually thought of as dwelling near the Plateau of Leng in central Asia, though others have suggested that the center of their influence is the Plateau of Sung in Burma.

  At the beginning of time, the Tcho-Tcho’s god Chaugnar Faugn created a race of dwarfs known as the Miri Nigri from the flesh of prehistoric reptiles. The mating of the Miri with Chaugnar’s human worshipers gave rise to the Tcho-Tchos. This strange race of dwarves then migrated to the east from their former home in the Pyrenees, carrying Chaugnar to his new dwelling place. By the second century, they had become the Tochoans, a people living in what is today Afghanistan and the surrounding regions. An alternate history tells of how the Tcho-Tchos came to this world out of the Great Abyss to the Dreamlands city of Sarkomand, and then to the Plateau of Sung. According to this legend, the Tcho-tchos may have been servants of the Elder Gods sent to guard Zhar and Lloigor who degenerated with the passage of time and the influence of the black lotus. It is uncertain whether these stories are compatible.

  At any rate, even orthodox anthropologists suggest that the Tcho-Tchos are genetically disparate enough from most humans that they may have diverged from our genetic line as long ago as Homo erectus. Some even say that the Tcho-Tcho are so genetically diverse that they require special rituals in order to mate, though little evidence of this exists.

  Though the Tcho-Tchos were once widespread throughout eastern Asia, more recently they have dwindled to only a few isolated groups, most prominently in Malaysia and Cambodia. All nearby tribes despise their Tcho-Tcho neighbors. Most anthropologists believed until recently that the Japanese had exterminated all of them in 1932, as Edward Roberts stated in his Tcho-Tcho: Fact or Fiction? Tcho-Tcho tribes lived in Indochina and were armed by the CIA during the Vietnam War, but in 1970–71 the U. S. secretly bombed every known or suspected Tcho-Tcho village in the area. A few years ago, however, certain congressmen passed measures allowing the immigration of forty thousand Tcho-Tchos to the United States. These immigrants seem determined to keep their native traditions alive in this new land, creating criminal triads and holding their ceremonies in secret.

  Besides Chaugnar, Tcho-Tchos also worship Zhar, Lloigor, Shub-Niggurath, Hastur, and Atlach-Nacha. They also engage in cannibalism, as well as other unpleasant rites that allow their agricultural methods to yield abundant crops.

  See Alaozar; black lotus; Chaugnar Faugn; E-poh; Leng; Miri Nigri; Nyarlathotep (Shugoran); Shub-Niggurath; Tsang; Unaussprechlichen Kulten. (Malleus Monstrorum, Aniolowski; “The Curse of Chaugnar Faugn”, Barton; “Behind the Mask”, Carter; “The Strange Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter; “The Doom of Enos Harker”, Carter and Cornford; “Goat-Mother”, Comtois; “Made of Meat”, Conyers; Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes; “Lair of the Star-Spawn”, Derleth and Schorer (O); Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Curse of the Toad”, Hall and Dale; “The Andaman Islands”, Herber; “Dawn Biozyme”, Isinwyll with Hike; “Black Man With a Horn”, Klein.)

  TCH’TKA

  See Gray Weavers.

  TEH ATHT OF KLUHN

  Second-greatest wizard of the primal land of Theem’hdra, said to have been descended from the mighty Mylakhrion. The manuscript entitled Legends of the Olden Runes, discovered in a curious golden box after the creation of Surtsey, is attributed to him.

  See Broken Columns of Geph; Exior K’mool; Legends of the Olden Runes; Theem’hdra. (Elysia, Lumley; “Introduction” to The House of Cthulhu and Other Tales of the Primal Land, Lumley (O); “Mylakhrion the Immortal”, Lumley.)

  TEKELI-LI

  Word that is often spoken by the shoggoths, though on occasion such beings as Hastur have voiced it as well. It is mentioned in Arthur Gordon Pym’s bottled manuscript as a word spoken by the people of an uncharted Antarctic isle and a cry of the huge white birds that inhabit the pole.

  [In Poe’s story, the word “Tekeli-li” was a cry the natives of the Antarctic gave when anything white was seen. It
may have been taken from the title of a play called “Tekeli” in which Poe’s mother acted. What this has to do with shoggoths is uncertain.]

  (“The Return of Hastur”, Derleth; “At the Mountains of Madness”, Lovecraft; “The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym of Nantucket”, Poe (O).)

  TEMPHILL

  Town in the Cotswolds, east of Brichester. The town’s original name was “Temple Hill”, due to the rites conducted on a hill near the town’s center in ancient times.

  The founders of Temphill were a group of ex-Templars who, after King Edward II dissolved their order in 1307, travelled to this area, bearing documents that their Order had discovered in Palestine. Although these former knights attempted to assimilate themselves into the local religious community, they were not entirely successful. Accusations of heresy and witch-burning were commonplace for hundreds of years thereafter.