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Chaosium Digest Volume 16 Number 03
Chaosium Digest Volume 16, Number 3
Date: Sunday, September 15, 1996
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
The Bibliophile: A Tale of Terror (Brent Heustess) CALL OF CTHULHU
The Face of God: A Tale of Terror (Shannon Appel) CALL OF CTHULHU
Upcoming Mythos Fiction (Chris Jarocha-Ernst) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
This week's Digest starts off with two Tales of Terror, by Brent
Heustess and myself. You've no doubt seen Tales of Terror before, in
_The Unspeakable Oath_, and also in a previous Chaosium Digest (V7.2).
Be sure to check out Steve Hatherly's Electronic Tales of Terror site
(http://www.flar.demon.co.uk/terror/tales.htm) for more great ideas.
Afterwards, Chris Jarocha-Ernst gives some comments on upcoming Mythos
Fiction books, offering some hints about what they will probably
contain.
Special thanks to Frederic Moll, Charlie Seljos and Janice Sellers for
providing some of the resource information included below. If you know
of any recent publications of items related to Chaosium games that
haven't been noted here, drop me a line.
Shannon
RECENT RELEASES:
* Call of Cthulhu - _Horror's Heart_ (Chaosium, 80 pg., $12.95) is a
brand new Call of Cthulhu campaign set in 1920s Montreal. It tells
the story of a strange cult, investigates the mysteries of a
Churchly Saint and explores the secrets of an important Canadian
family. This book started shipping a few days ago, and should begin
appearing in stores next week.
RECENT (FRENCH) RELEASES:
Two upcoming releases have been announced for October in France: The
second edition of Oriflam's _Hawkmoon_ will have totally revised
rules, and new illustrations by Hubert de Lartigue. The second edition
of Multisim's _Nephilim_ will include new, clarified rules.
(FRENCH) MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS:
* Call of Cthulhu - "Quelques mots d'amour", a four page scenario,
Casus Belli #97 [September, 1996]
* Credo - "Viva el Credo", a one page article featuring four rules
variants for Credo, Casus Belli #97 [September, 1996]
RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE:
* Ringworld - _A Darker Geometry_ (Baen Books, $5.99), by Mark O.
Martin and Gregory Benford, is a novel of the Man-Kzin wars. It
concerns itself partly with the Outsiders, and also addresses
several previously unanswered questions about the inhabitants of
Known Space. Charlie Seljos says "Some of Martin's and Benford's
statements directly conflict with those of Niven in some important
areas, but Known Space is very large, and has room for differing
opinions. Some of the author's explanations complement Niven's work
very well, and expand upon it."
_Three Books of Known Space_ (Del Rey, $12.95) reprints _World of
Ptavvs_, _A Gift from Earth_ and _Tales of Known Space_, three of
the Known Space books. It's all arranged in chronological order and
some of the contents of _Tales_ have been updated a bit (namely the
Timeline and the bibliography).
NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES:
Updated Chaosium Digest Archive
http://www.tierzucht.uni-kiel.de/~sma/chaosium/
Stefan Matthias Aust (sma@kiel.netsurf.de) has recently revised his
Chaosium Digest Archive. It now incorporates the FAQ, has an updated
index going to V16.2, and the overall look of the page has been
changed. Stefan is also looking for some good references to other
related pages that he can include in his indices. If you know of any
good web addresses, send them his way.
Authors of Supernatural Horror
http://www.creative.net/~alang/lit/horror/horror.sht
Biographical and Bibliograpical information on selected authors of
supernatural horor, including HP Lovecraft, Lord Dunsany and Clark
Ashton Smith.
--------------------
From: Brent Heustess <heustess@mail.utexas.edu>
Subject: The Bibliophile: A Tale of Terror
System: Call of Cthulhu
THE BIBLIOPHILE: A TALE OF TERROR
by Brent Heustess
He just loved books. He always had. They were his passion, his life.
He could remember the first book his parents had given him, a huge
collection of fairy tales by Menchen. It was bound in a dark burgundy
leather, with gold-embossed ridges of the spine, and the insides were
full of wondrous illustrations, fairies and goblins and fell monsters
galore.
He still had that book of Menchen. He had all the books he had ever
been given or had bought, lovingly organized and shelved upon tall,
dark wood bookcases scattered all over his house. He would never give
up a book, never, not on his life.
His love for books grew and grew. It was natural that at university he
study history and languages. All those tomes full of words & pictures,
those gorgeous books, bound in leather and cloth. He got to the point
where he did not care what the books actually said; he just loved the
look and feel of books, and the smell... But, best of all was the
satisfaction of ownership when he added a book to his collection.
Some friends of his at university had become investigators of sorts.
They had learned of a certain dark cult which prayed to dark gods
inimical to mankind. In the course of their investigations, they
stumbled across an ancient grimoire. They brought it to him to
translate. When he saw that book, his soul became inflamed.
The book was bound in a leather he could not identify at first. It was
human skin. He was seized with a lust for that book beyond any lust he
had ever felt before. He had to wholly possess that book, but he knew
his friends would demand its return.
However, his friends never returned to claim the book. Misfortune took
them in the night and left only pieces of them behind. He took this as
a sign that his passion was condoned by higher powers. He began to
seek out more books like the grimoire.
He did not want the books for the secret lore or spells they
contained. He never really read the books. He would carefully handle
the books, but reading might damage them, so he did not. He wanted the
books, because he could then own them, possess them, caress them, and
shelve them away.
He sought out other investigators of the unknown. He befriended them
and wooed them with his knowledge and vast mundane library. They
brought him these forbidden books, to translate and comment on. He
then engineered their demise, often by carefully sent messages to the
very dark cults from which they had liberated the books.
His collection grew. His secret collection. His lovely books. Tomes
not only bound in leather, but in skins: human, exotic animals and
unknown species. Tomes with jewels encrusted upon them, or covered in
barnacles, or blackened from fires. Books printed upon paper, painted
upon vellum, or etched in iridescent metals. Scrolls and papyrus
leaves and wax tablets. He collected them all and lovingly placed them
on shelves hidden from sight. His, all his.
But he is always looking to increase his collection...
Possibilities:
1) You have heard of a reclusive scholar who has a collection of books
with just the exact tome you need. You go and talk to him, but he will
not even let you touch the book. To stop the evil cultists, you must
have that book. So, you sneak back and steal the book. You remove a
book from his collection. He pursues with a vengeance, possibly
alerting the cultists about your plans.
2) In a small, hidden bookstore you purchase the first edition of a
rare volume. The owner sells it to you, but mentions that another
gentleman had called about the book. He did not have the funds, but
mentioned he would be back. The owner just wants to sell the book and
you have cash in hand. You don't give it any more thought until you
hear about the bookseller's murder. The bibliophile punished the book
dealer and he is after you now. You took "his" book and he is coming
to reclaim it.
3) During a raid on a cultists' stronghold, you run across some
disturbing letters. An anonymous source is revealing to the cult the
activities, names and addresses of investigators. These are
Investigators whom you knew and who have just been murdered. Someone
is informing on your friends and getting them killed. There is an
informant somewhere, you just need to identify who it is. You start
questioning the murdered investigators' associates for the culprit.
Eventually you will come across the innocent-seeming bibliophile.
--------------------
From: Shannon Appel <appel@erzo.org>
Subject: The Face of God: A Tale of Terror
System: Call of Cthulhu
THE FACE OF GOD: A TALE OF TERROR
by Shannon Appel
A religious revival has struck a small town that lies far away from
the rest of human civilization. Many people there claim to have seen
the true face of God. Unfortunately, seeing the true face of God
seems to be a traumatic experience; everyone who has undergone this
ecstatic experience has emerged blind, some with their faces terribly
scarred.
The investigators may be led to the town by any of a number of forces.
Perhaps strange omens point them in that direction. Townspeople may
beg for their assistance, or an investigator's relative may be one of
the blinded victims of this harsh god. For proactive investigators, a
simple newspaper clipping may be sufficient. By whatever means, the
investigators will arrive, and soon see that something is
distinctively wrong.
That old time religion has caught on in a big way in the town, but
some of the rites that the people practice seem distinctly odd. After
they have been in the town for a night, investigators will very
quickly realize that this revival is supernatural in nature. They
begin to have strange dreams of the past, imparting ancient knowledge
upon them that Man should not know.
Unless they are very careful, investigators will find themselves
mindless minions of the town's new god, themselves seeking new
followers to bring into the fold.
Possibilities:
1) The Great Old One, Nyogtha, has come to be trapped beneath this
town. It was accidently contacted by innocent townsfolk, who soon
found themselves practicing its dark rituals in order to preserve
their lives. The reluctant cultists are blinded by Nyogtha so that
they may better understand The Thing That Should Not Be. At least once
a month, they also bring Nyogtha a sacrifice, to sate its dark hunger.
Although most of Nyogtha's worshipers are reluctant, they are too
fearful to make any move against the Great Old One. Some townsfolk,
however, have grown to love the power that Nyogtha offers, and have
thus joined into the Cult whole-heartedly. They know secret spells to
control the living darkness, and will gleefully use them.
Investigators who enter Nyogtha's town are likely to be inducted into
the Cult by force, or offered up as a sacrifice.
2) A small band of Cultists reside in the small town. They practice
secret rites that allow them to look deep into the past, and have been
using them for months to rediscover ancient sorcerous powers.
Sometimes, their dreams of the past cross into the consciousness of
others. The cultists know when this happens, and they kidnap the
unfortunate innocent, and force them to participate in a magical
ritual. This ritual causes the victim to forget what they saw, leaving
only vague impressions of a brush with divinity. The eyes of the
victim must be put out during this ritual. When the investigators
arrive in town, and begin dreaming of the past, they have accidently
crossed paths with the cultist's rituals, and are thus marked as the
next victims.
These Cultists have learned many spells from the past, and should be
fearsome adverseries. They can manipulate time and space in many
exotic fashions.
3) The people of the town have indeed seen the True Face of a God. It
is Hypnos, an Elder God. Although certain legends say that the Elder
Gods are benevolent, in truth, they do not care; men are less than
fleas to them. Through cosmic accident, Hypnos' true presence lies
across this place on the earth. Those who see it have their eyes
seared out, and are sometimes reduced to madness.
Still, due to the basic perversity of the human race, a great cult has
sprung up around this god. If an investigator shows the least vestige
of interest in the face of god, he will be preached to extensively.
Many of Hypnos' followers are great orators. Some have been changed by
their nearness to their god, and have gained supernatural means to
convince people of their rightness.
If the investigators do not fall prey to the beckoning of Hypnos, they
must decide what to do with this situation. If they do not evacuate
the town, and mark it forever uninhabitable, it is likely that a trip
to the Dreamlands will be required, to somehow cause Hypnos to be
moved from his current resting place.
--------------------
From: Chris Jarocha-Ernst <cje@rci.rutgers.edu>
Subject: Upcoming Mythos Fiction
System: Call of Cthulhu
Upcoming Mythos Fiction titles from Chaosium, according to the 9/96
LOCUS, followed by my comments.
[These book's release dates have dropped back a little bit from the
original release of info to Locus. The Necronomicon is scheduled for
10/96, and the others for 1997. The Necronomicon is in house at
Chaosium, and Chris' comments accurately reflect its contents; we
haven't seen the manuscripts for the next few Price books yet, but I
suspect Chris' guesses on their contents are accurate -sda]
8/96: THE CTHULHU CYCLE -- Price's latest collection of tales about a
particular Great Old One. This is out now, though I don't have it yet.
9/96: THE NECRONOMICON -- A collection of tales with the Necronomicon;
Lin Carter's Necronomicon; and a collection of Necronomicon excerpts.
11/96: XOTHIC LEGEND CYCLE, by Lin Carter -- Price has been talking
about putting this together for a while. The "Xothic Cycle" stories I
can recognize are "The Thing in the Pit", "The Dweller in the Tomb",
"Out of the Ages", "Zoth-Ommog", and "The Winfield Inheritance".
Beyond that, could include any of Carter's Mythos fiction, much of
which makes reference to earlier stories of his.
1/97: NYARLATHOTEP CYCLE -- No idea of contents.
3/97: THE SCROLL OF THOTH, by Richard Tierney -- Yes! This is probably
a collection of Tierney's "Simon of Gitta" stories, sword-and-sorcery
tales involving a magician/gladiator (the prototype of the Biblical
"Simon Magus") who wanders the Middle East in New Testament times. If
so, I've been waiting for this for a long time. The Simon stories I
know of are "The Scroll of Thoth", "The Ring of Set", "The Sword of
Spartacus", "The Soul of Kephri", "The Dragons of Mons Fractus", "The
Fire of Mazda", "The Seed of the Star-God" (already in THE
SHUB-NIGGURATH CYCLE), "The Treasure of Horemkhu", "Curse of the
Crocodile", "The Worm of Urakhu", and "The Pillars of Melkarth".
[Note that neither of the next two will be "Cthulhu Cycle" books. They
represent a new line of fiction from Chaosium, but are definitely
important as influences upon the Mythos -sda]
4/97: THE PLACE NAMED DAGON, by Herbert Gorman -- A novel of
inbreeding and mysterious cults, probably an influence for "The Shadow
over Innsmouth".
6/97: THE COMPLETE PEGANA, by Lord Dunsany -- A collection of the
stories that inspired HPL to create what we now call the Cthulhu
Mythos.
Thought the readership would like to know what to expect.
Yog-Sothoth Neblod Zin,
Chris Jarocha-Ernst Rutgers University Computing Services
Internet: cje@nbcs.rutgers.edu Piscataway, NJ 08855-0879
--------------------
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