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Chaosium Digest Volume 11 Number 10
Chaosium Digest Volume 11, Number 10
Date: Sunday, October 8, 1995
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
An Occult Guide to Legendary London (Dave Salisbury) NEPHILIM
Editor's Notes:
This week, some Nephilim background on London, originally presented
over on the Nephilim Mailing List a few weeks ago.
With that, a few short notes from Chaosium Digest subscribers:
Karl Rodriguez (rodriguez@thorin.uthscsa.edu) recently sent a note
mentioning that, due to the Adventure of Rydychan in _The Boy King_,
one of his players is the Earl of Rydychan. Karl was wondering what
type of income an Earl would have and how many knights he could
support. If anyone has any good rules or ideas for how to treat such
situations, where one of the players is Upper Nobility, drop Karl a
line. Any interesting sets of rules would be welcome here in the
Digest as well.
On a closely related note, Liam Routt (repulse@zikzak.net) mentioned
that he is currently working on a revision of the old Noble's Book.
He said it would contain "a reworked and clarified Lands system,
expanded rules for hunting and falconry, the siege and defensive
rules, and a more complete description of Heraldry, amongst other
things." Likely, some of Karl's questions will be answered here; the
book is scheduled to be completed near the end of the year, which
implies a release sometime in 1996.
Finally, David Hipple (D.R.S.Hipple@open.ac.uk) says that "it is
becoming a slightly urgent problem for me that I somehow manage to
track down the Chaosium CoC publication _The Fungi From Yuggoth_." If
anyone can sell, lend or point David in the direction of a copy of
TFFY, he would be extremely grateful. If you can help him out, drop
him a line.
Shannon
NEW RELEASES:
* Call of Cthulhu - _The Compact Arkham Unveiled_ (Chaosium, $18.95,
96pg) is a partial reprint of the original _Arkham Unveiled_ book,
which has been out of print for a few years. It contains all of the
original Arkham background material, though not the adventures that
were present in the original book.
The Cthulhu in '96 T-Shirt (Wizard's Attic, $15.00) is another cool
t-shirt available from Wizard's Attic. Help support your favorite
presidential candidate by asking "Why vote for the Lesser Evil?".
You can order products from Wizard's Attic by calling
1-800-213-1493.
NEW (FRENCH) RELEASES:
* Credo! - The French edition of Credo! has been announced for release
in mid-October.
(FRENCH) MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS:
* Call of Cthulhu - "Le ciel n'etair pas a l'heure", a four page
adventure, Casus Belli #89 [Oct/Nov, 1995]
RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE:
* Elric! - _A Nomad of the Time Streams_ (White Wolf, $19.99) is not
exactly a tale of the Young Kingdom, but it is White Wolf's fourth
collection of the stories of the Eternal Champion. It contains the
three Oswald Bastable tales, _The Warlord of the Air_, _The Land
Leviathian_ and _The Steel Tsar_.
--------------------
From: Dave Salisbury [via M.G.Atherton@bradford.ac.uk]
Subject: An Occult Guide to Legendary London
System: Nephilim
AN OCCULT GUIDE TO LEGENDARY LONDON
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (a
rather dubious 12th c. account), the city that came to be known as
London was founded over a century after the great Trojan War, by
Brutus, a renegade prince of fallen Troy.
Brutus' great grandfather, Aeneas, had fled the sack of Troy and
journeyed to Rome where he married the daughter of King Latinus and
fathered a line of kings whose descendents would become the great
Roman emperors. Unfortunately, Brutus was not destined to be one of
them; after a freak hunting accident in which he slew his own father,
the young prince was banished to Greece where he fell in with a band
of fellow disposessed Trojans. When they learned of his noble lineage,
more Trojan refugees flocked to his cause until Brutus commanded a
huge army with which he defeated the Greeks. After marrying the Greek
King's daughter, Ignoge and commandeering a huge fleet, Brutus set
sail in search of his destiny.
When the ships anchored at a deserted island, the Goddess Diana
appeared to Brutus and told him to sail ever westwards until he
reached a new land where his people could live in peace. After several
battles with fierce Gauls and pirates, many adventures and a journey
which took him beyond the Pillars of Hercules, Brutus eventually came
ashore at Totness on the isle of Albion (England) where he had to
defeat the giants who lived there and their champion, Gog-Magog. Once
victory was his, he founded a great city and dedicated it to the moon
goddess Diana, building a great temple in her honour on the site now
occupied by St Paul's Cathedral. That city was called Trinovantum (New
Troy) and if Geoffrey of Monmouth is telling the truth, it would date
from sometime around 1000 B.C. It later became known as London due to
its association with the celtic Solar King Llud.
Today's London, almost totally destroyed by the Great Fire of 1666 and
then again during the Blitz still contains many vestiges of its pagan
past. It contains something else, too.
The Templars
The Templars are the reason why London is one of the most dangerous
places a Nephilim can re-incarnate. For centuries, they have used
Protestant Freemasonry as a cover as they ruled from behind the
scenes; it may not be quite so true today as it once was, but most of
Britain's politicians, police force and business leaders used to be in
the Temple's pocket.
London was one of the Order's most important commanderies outside of
the Holy Land, and during the supression of the Order in 130,9 the
treatment they recieved in England was most lenient compared to that
in the rest of Europe. Their lands were 'confiscated' and given to the
Hospitallers, but English law prohibited the torture of prisoners and
only the Grand Preceptor of England, William de la More died
imprisoned in the Tower of London. Today, they are the real power
behind the Conservative Party and the Bank of England, and often use
Special Branch (England's answer to the FBI) as muscle.
On to the guided tour.
Tower Of London
What tour of London couldn't take in the famous Tower? Built by
William the Conqueror (some time after 1066 A.D.) on a site of both
military and religious significance, the White Hill. It is said the
head of Bran the Blessed was buried on the White Hill after his death
fighting against the Irish (as told in The Mabinogion). The head was
said to still be alive, a thing of great magical power which could
defend Britain from all threats, but King Arthur dug it up during his
reign, claiming that England needed no other defenders save him.
Bran's sacred animal, the Raven, can still be found in the Tower
grounds today. It is said that if they ever leave, England will fall
soon after (Moon arcanum Nephilim?).
Of course, the Tower is also home to a large number of ghosts and the
famous Crown Jewels (stasis objects for a re-incarnating Royal
Family?). Being England's most magically protected site and strongest
castle, it may also be the repository of a number of magical artefacts
taken from the wreckage of Nazi Germany; after all Rudolf Hess was
held prisoner here for some time during WWII...
The Temple
Further down the mighty Thames lies Temple Bar, one of the ancient
gates to the city, currently defended by a pair of griffon statues (a
symbolic ward says the guidebook...). Nearby is the area known as the
Temple, a series of buildings, including a church, which are currently
home to London's legal profession; they've occupied this part of
London since the previous owners were turned out in the fourteenth
century.
The Temple used to be the headquarters for the Knights Templar. The
church is built on a circular plan to mimic the Holy Sepulchre in
Jerusalem, the so called 'Compas' or centre of the world. Here the
knights recieved their secret initiations and exercised their power;
physical, spritual and financial. Until Edward I (see 'Braveheart' for
details) broke into their vaults and stole them back, the Templars had
kept the Crown Jewels here for 'safe keeping'.
The church is in remarkably good condition following extensive bombing
damage, but the public are no longer allowed in. Could the Templars
still be using it? Surely they couldn't be that self confident, even
in Conservative controlled London...
Christchurch, Spitalfields
During the restoration work following the Great Fire of London, one of
Sir Christopher Wren's contempories built a string of strange churches
across the city. Nicholas Hawksmoor claimed to be following the
ancient building traditions of the early Christian basilicas, but his
obelisk-like spires and trompe d'oeuil effects have drawn admiration
and conspiracy theorists in equal measures.
Christchurch, Spitalfields is Hawksmoor's best example. Haunted does
not describe the feeling of a church built atop a plague pit, over the
road from what used to be the biggest abbatoir in the world. A recent
excavation of the crypt (now a drop-in centre for homeless alcoholics)
unearthed a series of lead lined coffins full of liquified corpses
which archaeologists had to shovel out into bags for analysis. Does
lead stop a Nephilim from returning to its stasis? Hmm. If anywhere in
London is the site of a Black Moon Ka nexus, it's here.
Coincidentaly, Spitalfields is also on a ley line which runs through
two other Hawksmoor churches, St Georges-In-The-East and St Lukes. All
have obelisk-like steeples. One end of the alignment continues on to
the Isle of Dogs and a huge (by British standards) skyscraper topped
with a pyramid, Canary Wharf!
Cleopatra's Needle
One of a pair (the other stands in New York's Central Park), taken
from the ruins of Heliopolis during the last century and carried by
barge back to London. Several sailors died when the barge broke free
of its tug near the Straits of Gibraltar (otherwise known as the
Pillars of Hercules), but eventually the needle was recovered and set
upon London's Embankment by a group of philanthropic local
Freemasons(!). It is flanked by a pair of sphinxes. What was in the
time capsule the Masons so diligently buried beneath it?
Clerkenwell
The Clerk's Well is one of only a few remaining Holy Springs of
London. Access to this healing well and water nexus can be obtained
from Finsbury Public Library. Other wells used to be found near Earl's
Court (Billings Well) and St Bride's (Bridewell - as in the Taxi's),
but they are no longer accessible. St Bride is a local spelling of St
Bridget; St Bridget a Christianisation of Brigid, Celtic goddess of
fire (among other things); could the well here actually be a fire
nexus?
Limehouse
Once the haunt of Dr Fu Manchu (!), the region around Limehouse has
been tidied up a bit since the days of Opium dens and crazed Lascars.
Now, the only residents are the docklands yuppies, who live nearby,
and the meths drinkers. In Mayhew's excellent work on the street life
of Dickensian London, he records the popular belief that the sewers
under Limehouse were inhabited by giant black pigs. More Moon Arcanum
Nephilim, perhaps?
Battlebridge and Kings Cross Station
Under platform ten is buried one of the greatest heroines of British
nhistory, Queen Boudicca of the Icenii, whose rebellion against the
Romans came to a bloody end nearby in AD 61. The Romans (Mithraic
initiates) had forbidden the custom of matrilinear descent of title
and property (including stases? Did the Icenii practice hereditary
Nephilim incarnation?), stolen the Icenii lands on the death of
Boudicca's husband and raped both the Queen and her two daughters.
After razing the town of Colchester to the ground and burning the city
of London, the Queen, her two daughters and her army were trapped in
an area unsuitable for their scythe-wheeled chariots and massacred by
two Roman Legions. The Queen and her daughters took poison rather than
be re-captured by the victorious Romans. A tumulus on Hampstead Heath
also bears her name.
St Paul's Cathedral
Built by Sir Christopher Wren on the site of the ancient temple to
Diana, the dome contains a special whispering gallery with seemingly
magical accoustic properties. The dome itself is bound without by a
tremendous iron chain as a form of strengthening, aparently a common
practice at the time. Diana is connected to the Moon, as are all
illusions and deceptions. A Moon nexus bound with an Orichalka ward?
By an astonishing coincidence (!?), St Paul spent most of his time on
Earth attempting to suppress the worship of Diana (re: his letters to
the Ephesians). Vestiges of Diana worship remained until fairly
recently, however. During the eighteenth century, the 'Blowing of the
Stag' ceremony was performed on Christianity's high altars. It
involved the sacrifice of a stag, the processing around the church
with its head on a stick and the ritual feasting upon roast venison in
the evening! So much for the suppression of paganism.
Highgate Cemetary
Not only is this the burial place of Karl Marx, and thus a meeting
ground for pro-revolutionary Illuminati sponsored anarcho-communist
sympathisers, but the old cemetary is also one of London's oldest and
eeriest. Until recently, it was a magnificent ruin, overgrown and
tumbled down, its crypts gaping open. As a source for vampire myths,
it attracted groups of satanists and vampire hunters; during 1970, two
men were arrested for breaking in, armed with crucifixes, stakes and
holy water. Perhaps they had watched Amicus' 'Tales From The Crypt', a
classic British '70's horror film, once too often: Highgate Cemetary
features on the opening credits!
But then again, if anywhere in London deserves to have a Selenim in
residence...
That's enough for now. I haven't even begun to talk about the plague
pits on the underground, the Hospitaller museum or the true meaning of
'Oranges and Lemons'. Not to mention the real-life secret society that
meet in St Martins-Within-Ludgate. If anybody wants more of this sort
of thing, I suggest the following updates to the ever-expanding
Nephilim bibliography.
'From Hell' - Mad Love Graphics. Comic about Jack the Ripper by Alan
Moore and Eddie Campbell, particularly the geomancy in issue 2 and the
Freemasonry in general.
'The Aquarian Guide to Legendary London' - Aquarian Press
'A Guide to Occult Britain' by John Wilcock (publ. Sphere)
'Hawksmoor' by Peter Ackroyd. Heck, anything by Peter Ackroyd.
'Roofworld' and 'Rune' by Christopher Fowler (publ. Grafton, I
think...)
'The Invisibles' - DC comics Vertigo imprint. THE Nephilim source
comic by Grant Morrison.
'Dr Who and the Talons of Weng Chiang' - BBC video. For Limehouse and
things in sewers.
'Vengeance of Fu Manchu' - Hammer. Limehouse and Fu Manchu in a tunnel
under the Thames.
'Deathline' - another cult British '70's horror flick - cannibals on
the tube ("Mind the doors!")
'Neverwhere' - a TV series written by Neil Gaiman that's going to be
cult viewing everywhere that should debut on BBC2 next year.
Until next time,
Dave Salisbury
"England swing like a pendulum do,
"Bobbies on bicycles, two by two;
"Westminster Abbey, the Tower of Big Ben,
"The rosy red cheeks of the little children."
--------------------
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