The Shoggoth Formulae

Using the cryptic formulae found in Von Juntz's "De Vermis Mysteriis" and seemingly inert tissue samples from Miskatonic's ill fated 1937 antarctic expedition; I have at last achieved success in the creation of shoggoth protoplasm. However, the protoplasm grew far more quickly than was expected and within seconds had multiplied into a pulsing mass several yards across, filling the laboratory with blindly flailing tentacles.

Shoggoth Formulae

Fortunately I was able to leap into a protective circle I had prepared beforehand according to Von Junt's specifications and was protected from the ravenous thing. My trusted assistant Conrad was not so lucky, several pseudopods wrapped about his legs and dragged him directly into the central mass where he was quite noisily digested.
While the creature was occupied I tossed some high voltage cables in the central mass and threw the switch simultaneously reciting Alhazred's "Voorish Chants". The combination of electrical and eldritch energies proved sufficient to boil the horror down to a greasy liquid. The resultant citywide blackout was not wholly unexpected but I am fairly certain the blundering authorities will never trace the source of the disturbance to my estate.
"Excerpt from the notebooks of Dr. Eugene Kantorius"

Shoggoth Tissue Samples gathered during Miskatonic University Antarctic Expedition of 1937

Spawn of Cthulhu

Cthulhu Talisman on display at Miskatonic University

   I asked the old shaman if he could call forth the god he claimed dwelt beneath the sea, his reply was that his god, Cthulhu was dead, but still dreamed and spoke to men in dreams. Great Cthulhu could not live again until the stars were right, but the shaman could call to the sons of Cthulhu as proof of the reality of his religion.
  I scoffed as any educated man would, daring him to follow through on his boast. The old shaman hobbled down to the water's edge, he traced a few cryptic symbols into the sand then began to chant a formula written on a tattered scroll. The chant grew into wild shrieking, "IA IA CTHULHU, N'YOG UN CTHULHU", as the old man waved about with a curiously carven little amulet.
  My mockery turned to stark terror as the water began to boil and a thing stright out of nightmare broke the surface. The head that rose was like an octopus but larger than an elephant's, the eyes shone with ancient inhuman intelligence and fixed me with their gaze. I stood paralyzed as the thing dragged itself onto the beach with wiry arms ending in taloned hands large enough to crush an ox. The thing had stubby leathern wings folded to its back and a long sinuous tale that began to transform into legs as soon as it cleared the water.
  I would have died there but for my trusted servant Giles. He rushed forward with a machete, hacking at the creature's newly formed legs. The beast snatched him up with blinding speed, Giles screamed briefly before the monster tore him in half. In that instant the thing's hypnotic gaze was turned from me and I fled into the jungle.
  I ran until I thought my heart would burst from the strain, not stopping until I made the ship. I held my sanity long enough to order the captain to sail and then collapsed into a gibbering heap, crying out for mercy from the Spawn of Cthulhu.
(Excerpt from the diary of Bob Rothwell, dated march 9, 1908)

Cthulhu Cult Artifacts

In the spring of 1871 an English fishing vessel found an ornate wooden sarcophagus floating in the Atlantic. Inside was a well preserved body of disturbingly inhuman proportions. The hideous corpse held a small statue depicting a strange tentacled monster clutched in one hand. The other hand was locked around an ornate knife. Scrolls with grotesque drawings of monsters and glyphs in an unknown tongue were found stuffed in the hollowed chest of the body.
The Captain of the fishing boat claimed the artifacts and scrolls for himself, then ordered his men to store the coffin below deck. The next morning two men were found dead next to the sarcophagus, the necks of each crushed and covered with a clinging greenish mold. Over the protests of their captain the crew of the vessel seized the open coffin and tossed it over the side, where it sank immediately from view. The captain managed to retain the artifacts only by brandishing a revolver and threatening charges of mutiny. Another crewman disappeared during a night watch and upon making port the entire crew of the vessel absconded.
Seeking funds to hire another crew the captain sold the artifacts to a British museum for a tidy sum, but did not live longer than a month after his financial gain. The mariner's body was found floating under the docks, pulped and mushy as though some gigantic squid had crushed the life from him.

Cthulhu Statue on display at Miskatonic University

Necronomicon Prophecies

"In those last days of the age of man the blood of Ng'Vroth shall pour forth from his frozen tomb to spoil the waters, and the water shall be changed to foulness, and the life therein given the taint of Ng'Vroth and rise from the deeps to drag down and devour the things of the land. In fear man will rain the fire that kindles the sun down upon the frozen tomb of Ng'Vroth to seal his seeping wounds, and fully a third of the waters be spoiled forevermore."
The Prophecies of Pnom

 "Great Cthulhu waits in Rlyeh, dead but dreaming. Yet a day will come when the stars are right and the ocean vomits Rlyeh again to the surface. Cthulhu will call his faithful unto him, his priests will restore his might with the spells they have guarded for untold generations and they must be the first to sate his endless hunger. All the works of men will be cast down, men will tear out their eyes, but even the blind will see the face of Cthulhu, so they may know madness before death. Pity most those who endure the great purge, for they will live on as provender for the Great Old Ones and slaves for Dagon's Children."

(Rlyeh Text, page 946, translated from the Primal Aklo by Dr. Ben Crawford)

Necronomicon Tales

Abdul Alhazrad had made his camp away from the rest of the caravan. Such was normal for the wizard but this night his behavior was different, he had carefully unrolled a cloth embroidered with circles and mystic symbols, placing it precisely on the ground so that the glyphs aligned with certain stars. Sitting in the midst of the cloth he burnt noxious powders and began to mutter incantations in barbarous tongues.
  The other travelers assumed the heat had driven him mad, there was nothing else unusual about this night except perhaps the overly noisy bugs that droned constantly. Suddenly Alhazrad covered his eyes as though he had seen something he could not bear. Almost at that instant one of the caravan drivers dropped to the ground, his mouth opened impossibly wide and the droning bug sound issued forth combined with a bloody gurgle. Then others began to fall in the same fashion.
  Alhazrad was curled in a fetal position, praying to dark gods to hold off the nightmare he dared not look upon. The wizard clasped his hands to his ears but he could not shut out the sound of screams, ripping flesh, and above all the the insect droning.

  Morning came, the sun's light shown upon the caravan revealing the aftermath of Alhazrad's conjurations. Of the caravan not one shred of flesh remained, only the bones of men and camels scattered across bloody sand. Abdul Alhazrad gathered his belongs and set out afoot. He had made a bargain with dark powers and kept it, the Swarm of Nebros had been fed and if he had any regrets for this deed his face did not show it.

Homunculus

Many homunculi were created by the hyperboreans using the formulae of life left by the Old Ones. But those sorcerers could not fully grasp the runes of the Old Ones and their creations were as imperfect as their understanding, thus were a great many abominations abroad in the land and some abide even unto this day, undying and hideous to the eyes of man.

  (From The Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazrad)

Homunculus created with Hyperborean Formulae

Homunculus tainted with the essence of Yog Sothoth

The Forgotten Goddess of Kadath

From the "Demonography of Ysra" as translated from the Hyperborean Aklo by Ludvig Prynn:

 In the chaotic realms beyond Kadath there are ten Lords, less than gods but greater than flesh, they are the Demons of the greater order. They are to be invoked with the utmost caution for they delight in atrocity.
   The fourth Greater Demon is known as K'Hurru'ss, though this is not his true name. Before the Gods of Man came forth to dwell in Kadath the Greater Demons crawled from the abyss to claim the chaos realms. But they were not the first to dwell in these places, for in the fourth realm they discovered a great stone seal covering a chasm. Gathering their strength they shattered the stone and K'Hurru'ss emerged. The demons claimed him as one of their own, but it is theorised by the Prophets of Pnom that K'Hurru'ss is one of the Great Old Ones, though the aeons long imprisonment robbed him of much his memory and intellect.

   When the Gods of Kadath were young and uncertain the Greater Demons unleashed K'Hurru'ss and a host of demonspawn. War raged across Kadath,  Mighty Nodens led the young gods to slay countless hordes of demonspawn until they came to face K'Hurru'ss. The lesser gods were swept aside and only Nodens could stand before that monster from primal times.
   Their battle raged for days and finally K'Hurru'ss struck down Nodens and ripped the god's heart from his breast. Great Noden's body fell lifeless but his heart continued to beat in the jaws of the monster. Finding wonder in this,  K'Hurru'ss left the battle and returned to the chasm he had sprang from, taking the beating heart of Nodens into his lair.   
  The Gods of Kadath despaired, they were no match for the monster and feared what power the beast would gain if it devoured the heart of the mightiest of gods. Only one goddess, Io-Ilaysha, dared go into the pit where  K'Hurru'ss made his home. She was not a goddess of war or the hunt, but favored song and kindness.

  Io-Ilaysha went into the pit and offered herself to the monster in exchange for the heart of Nodens. The beast  K'Hurru'ss accepted the bargain, casting aside the heart of Nodens and dragging his new bride to the very depths of his chasm. The Gods of Kadath fled with the heart, back to the battlefield where Nodens body lay torn asunder. The heart was restored and Nodens lived again, but changed with the knowledge that the gods of men were but small things in the hands of those from the outside.
   The Greater Demons restored the seal guarding K'Hurru'ss pit. But their knowledge and power is less than those who first built it and The Prophets of Pnom have spoken that the seal will be broken again when the stars come right, then shall  K'Hurru'ss and all the numberless spawn he has begotten on Io-Ilaysha be released to the ruin of Kadath and the worlds of men.

Mi Go Cult Fetish

The Tcho-Tcho witch doctor howled his incantations into the night sky and held aloft the disgusting little fetish he had handled with such care we ascended the rugged mountain. He finished the ritual and smiled at me with his filed teeth, "Now you see them, the little mi-go have spirit in it to bring the big mi-go, that is the way of magic. They hear me on the world of black mountains and soon they come. He wrapped the fetish up in a soft leather that reminded me of human skin and said, "Now we wait" then he stood staring at the sky.
Several minutes passed and nothing happened. I felt like laughing, I had been foolish enough to pay this old cannibal $20 for a ridiculous ritual he claimed could summon beings from beyond the stars. I had seen far more convincing magic shows in india and china at half the price. I let my hand rest on my holstered Colt, I planned on getting a refund if something didn't happen soon.
I started to feel dizzy, at first I thought it was the heat and the noxious weeds he was burning but it was not like any drug, it was like something was disconnecting my brain a section at a time. My legs went numb and I fell face first to the ground, completely paralyzed. I heard the sound of giant beating wings and a vibrating drone like a million cicadas. The old cannibal rolled me over on my back and I saw them; three of the things, like bat winged crabs almost as big as a man and covered with a fungus skin, the Mi-go were here just as the witch doctor had said they would be . I tried to scream but no sound came.
 The old cannibal whispered into my ear, "They like you, they gone take you with them, you gone live with them forever inside of a can". They were crawling over me by then and I saw the blades, blood ran into my eyes and suddenly I couldn't see, hear, or feel anything.
I've been here in the dark ever since, I don't know how long. Sometimes I hear voices, sometimes the droning insect voice of those things and sometimes other people. The people say crazy things and some of them just scream, some say we had out brains took out and put in cans and we are in a place called Yuggoth. I wonder where Yuggoth is, I think it may be hell.
(anomalous radio transmission received by Voyager 2 on December 9, 1989 as it passed beyond Neptune)

Tcho-tcho fetish representing the Mi-Go entities.

Worms of the Earth

In 1939 a group of laborers were excavating a new shaft for a coal mine near Arkham Massachusetts when they suddenly fled the job site and made fantastical claims to explain their refusal to continue work on the project. According to the miners they broke into a large cavern and found a "bloodstained stone altar, with carvings of monsters all over it" and a large pile of human bones. As they inspected the cavern they were attacked by dozens of "slimy little snake people" armed with "caveman weapons". The workers fled the shaft and collapsed the entrance. As proof of their tale they presented a primitive looking pick type of weapon that had been stabbed into the thigh of one of the men. The story was reported by national papers as a "labor dispute" and the workers claims derided as a drunken fabrication. The mine was closed and the incident forgotten. The pick weapon ended up at the folklore department at Miskatonic University.

In 1943 Prof. Miles Chambers of Miskatonic began a serious study of the incident, comparing the weapon to similar artifacts found worldwide. He found a possible connection from references in the Necronomicon and Von Juntz's Nameless Cults to subterranean creatures known as "Worms of the Earth" and methods of contacting them. Chambers purchased the abandoned mine in late February 1947 and by the afternoon of March 3 his workers had reopened the shaft where the original incident had occurred. At 5:03 pm he entered the shaft with a photographer. In a stunning coincidence a minor earthquake occurred at 5:41 pm and the entire mine collapsed, the bodies of Prof. Chambers and the photographer were never recovered.

Chronicles of the Sorcerer

A morning came when Ysra the Sorcerer walked away from his tower in the crimson city of Ilek-Vad. He spoke no word to either servant or apprentice as he strode from his gardens to the city gates and towards the blue hills in the distance. The nobles, slaves, and watchmen all wondered at his purpose but none dared to ask, for it was known that Ysra's wizardry could kill with but a word.

  High in the hills Ysra built himself a fire to push the chill from his ancient bones. He sat watching the sun die in the twilight and drew a dagger from his robes. He tested the edge with his thumb and mumbled, "sharp enough". A whisper of wind disturbed his fire and Ysra looked up to see a tall figure obscured in the gloom and a ragged grey cloak.
 The stranger spoke, "Is this the last night of the world?"
"For some", Ysra replied and carefully rolled the sleeves back from his wrists.
 The stranger seated himself across the fire from the sorcerer. His face shown oddly changeable in the glow of the fire, at times it was sharp featured and mask like but at other times the flickering light cast demonic shadows across it.
 "Do you know me, Ysra?"
 "I know not your name, but your eyes I have seen many times before. They are the eyes of rabid hyena as it devours still twitching prey, the eyes of a serpent as it waits for the venom to take hold, the eyes of a shark as it glides among the unwary. You are death, so greedy it lays claim to all in time."
The stranger spoke softly, "When a man takes his first breath he owes a debt...I am merely the collector."
  The sorcerer replied, "Who do you collect for, what god or devil has claim to my soul?"
  The stranger laughed softly, "No god will welcome you to their heaven, your sins and many betrayals have seen to that. And no devil may lay claim to you, your knowledge of their secrets has given you power over them. No Ysra, you alone are an outcast in the afterlife and your shade is mine, it shall dwell with me in the outermost dark where there is nothing but endless waiting."
  They were silent for a while and then the sorcerer spoke, "I could live forever by means of my thaumaturgy, elixirs and potions make me any age I desire."
  The cloaked stranger replied, "It is not lack of the means to live that drives you to your end, it lack of the will to live. I see all this; you have grown bored with sorcery, wars, and women. No enemy yet lives worthy of your attention, and so your race is run. Come now Ysra, have done and finish the game, let me drown your soul in the depths of oblivion."
"You are eager to claim me?" the sorcerer replied, a note of interest in his tone.
"Perhaps I am, you are the first soul vile enough to be rejected by both heaven and hell. It will be a new experience, to share the emptiness with a being so unique."
   Ysra seemed to ponder the notion for a while, then stood and tossed his dagger away, "I think I shall live a bit longer, and perhaps I will seek to redeem the standing of my soul with the gods or devils who preside over such matters." The sorcerer smiled wickedly at death and whispered ,"I would deny you my soul, simply because it is all you might acquire."  Then began the trek back to his tower in Ilek-Vad.
   Death sat staring into the fire for a long time and Ysra swore he saw a single tear roll down the reaper's face when he glanced back. But no one knows if this true, for Ysra the Sorcerer is well known to delight in lies.

The Yellow Robed Fiend

(from the Phillipine war diary of Lt. Guy Linley, United States Army)
August 7, 1899. Cotabato Valley, Phillipines:
They came over the eastern wall last night, led by a wild eyed devil in ragged yellow robes. The bastard was ferocious as a mad dog and some of the boys gave way and ran from him. I came within pistol range as he was dismembering a private from ohio with his great curved knife, I fired 2 rounds into his upper back and as he turned from his grisly work to face me I fired 2 more; one of which tore apart his lower jaw and another into the neck which ruptured the large artery. He stared at me for a moment, his face horribly disfigured and the lifeblood gushing from the neck wound, then he fled back to the jungle, scrambling over the 7 foot foot wall in a blur of yellow robes and splattering blood. That broke the attack but the crazed chanting continued throughout the night.
August 11:
 Another attack last night, they did not make the walls this time but I spotted the yellow robed man again near the tree line. He had wrapped his lower face in a yellow scarf but by his bearing I know it was the same man, he did not take his eyes from me during the entire episode. I ordered corporal Williams to sniper him but yellow robe faded into the jungle before Williams could get a bead on him.
Something is not right here, how he survived the 4 rounds I put into him is beyond imagining. The 38 long colt is a much maligned cartridge but it will surely kill, and this man should be dead considering the amount of his blood still staining the eastern wall.
August 17:
 Severed head of Williams found near main gate this morning, eye sockets and mouth stuffed with yellow rags. How Williams was killed outside the walls of the camp is impossible to guess. He must have left willingly, there is no way he could have been taken by force unless we have traitors among the phillipine scouts.
 August 18:
Talked with some of the boys who were close to Williams, they told me he had been sleepwalking and was found standing at the wall the last 2 nights before his murder. He proved very hard to wake and mumbled that the yellow robed man was whispering to him from from the jungle.
August 19:
 Some bastard left a yellow rag in my coffee cup this morning, I almost swallowed it. When I find the fellow behind this prank a few days locked in the tool shed should convince him this is no joking matter.
August 21:
 Dreamed of Yellow Robe whispering to me last night, couldn't understand the words but I know he wanted me to come into the jungle.
August 22:
 Sleepwalking last night, dreamed Yellow Robe was calling to me and I attempted to leave the camp. Vaguely remember fighting with Morris and 2 others when they tried to restrain me, finally came to myself when someone gave me a crack with a rifle butt. I will not end up like Williams, tonight I will handcuff myself to my cot and give the key to Morris.

(Note: Lt. Guy Linley disappeared the night of August 22, 1899. A trail of blood led from his quarters to the eastern wall of the encampment, he had apparently severed his thumb with a pen knife to free himself from handcuffs. Missing and presumed killed in action, Linley's thumb was shipped to his family and given a proper burial.)

The Cult of Yog Sothoth

 Venaa's husband was king of their people. She was not his only wife, but she was the youngest and most favored. Their people were nomads and had crossed the frozen land bridge into a place where game was plentiful. While her husband led the other men in hunting the great woolly mammoth Vanaa wandered the hilltops, studying the circles of standing stones left there by forgotten races.
 

One day the stones began to speak to her. Their strange carvings would swirl and dance telling her stories of things beyond the world she knew and when the leaves turned brown she began to feel the presence of the outer god, Yog-Sothoth. Venaa slipped away from her husband's tent at night to sleep among the stones and she became with child.
 

 At first the King and the whole tribe were delighted, "it will be another mighty son for our King" they said. The celebration was cut short when an old woman spoke, she had followed Venaa to the standing stones and there had seen the true father of Venaa's child. The old woman writhed in the dirt and howled like a mad dog when she tried to describe the thing Venaa had called Yog-Sothoth.
  

The tribe wanted to burn Venaa, but the King refused because he still favored her. Instead Venaa was cast out, banished from the tribe. She wandered back to the stones to call upon Yog-Sothoth, "What will become of me, shall the child of a god starve within me?" The ground rumbled and the sky opened up with a thick black rain. The girl praised Yog-Sothoth, for the black rain nourished her as no earthly food could. She stayed there among the stones and no harm came to her. At night the black rains fed her, she grew heavy and soon she could move only a few steps.  

  In the fullness of time Venaa gave birth, not to one son but two. Both were like unto Yog-Sothoth, but one was moreso. Venaa's days ended with their birth. As she lay among the great stones, watching the carven glyphs dance in rhythm with the thunder and lightning Yog-Sothoth devoured her spirit, and his children consumed what was left.

Fungi from Yuggoth

For thousands of years the Fungi from Yuggoth have visited Earth, mining rare minerals and performing ghastly experiments on mankind. Early in man's history a group of deranged individuals began to assist the Mi-Go in their projects, serving them in hopes of gaining immortality as disembodied brains. The aliens left their servants tools and instructions to carry on their gruesome work. This harvesting of human tissue continues even now, often labeled as the work of serial killers or under the veil of war crimes. But a few learned men understand the true nature of such atrocities and the Mi-Go move ever closer to their ultimate goal.

Intercepted transmission; MAG-12 LEVEL CLEARANCE ONLY:
 Subject: Adam Sexton age 26
 Suspected Mi-Go operative involved in harvesting operations.
 09/17/04 Sexton was shot 11 times and terminated by local law enforcement agents during an attempt to serve a search warrant at his Kentucky residence. Deep cover MAG-12 agents involved recovered Sexton's surgical instruments and various ancient texts from the scene, artifacts considered to be of yuggothian origin. Sexton's body was autopsied on site, abnormal fibrous tissue was discovered connecting the brain, spinal cord, and disfigured vital organs. Samples were collected and are in route to "51", critical details of incident successfully repressed from media.
 09/18/04 UPDATE:
 Sexton corpse missing,  Agent "David" killed, along with several locals. We are conducting a sweep of the area and expect....
 Transmission terminated abruptly.
 11/23/04 UPDATE:
 Subject Sexton spotted in Seattle, several incidents of "brain surgery murders" reported in that area. Sexton is considered a red level threat and is to be liquidated on sight. Recommend immediate cremation of subject.

Migo Artifact recovered, likely to be some sort of "scalpel" device used in the harvesting of brain tissue by Mi-Go operative. Artifact displays no obvious function and appears to be inert, in keeping with other yuggothian technology it may require a biological power source supplied by the user, this process allows the Mi-go to be fully integrated to their tools and explains the variety in their appearance. The alien devices can integrate with human tissue and function with varying degrees of success but the process is both physically and mentally detrimental to humans.

 

The Cult of Nyarlathotep

In a hidden chamber beneath the pyramid a great mystery was revealed to me. The priests of Nyarlathotep brought forth the body of a dead man wrapped in a red shroud, they set to work on this corpse with their copper knives, performing certain mutilations to make the vessel suitable for their god.

Then with words older than mankind they called down the soul of Nyarlathotep into this body. The corpse lifted itself from the floor and the priests bowed before it. The blasphemous thing spoke to me, whispering of dark powers and terrible prophecies. The words of Nyarlathotep haunt me even to this day, but they shall not be revealed, for they are not meant to be read, only spoken from the mouth of the dead.
(from the Necronomicon of Abdul Alhazrad)

Keziah Mason's Key

This artifact is called the "Key to Hell" in the Dee version of the Necronomicon although a more proper translation from the Al-Azif is the "Key of Sorrow", it is also mentioned in the Hyperborean Scrolls of Ysra as being a gift from Nyarlathotep to his favored servants. It was one of many artifacts in the possesion of Keziah Mason and is thought to be a magical focus to aid hyperdimensional travel.

The Rites of Yig

Abdul Alhazrad was exhausted, all day he had searched these crumbling ruins in the heat of the egyptian sun. He had found nothing except snakes and broken pottery. Was this this truly once a great city of lost Stygia or had he been sent on a fool's errand.
The sun was setting, disgusted with his luck Alhazrad curled against a weathered statue of a giant snake. He closed his eyes and shivered, knowing his tiny fire would do little against the chill that settled on the desert after the sun fades.

A coarse hissing whisper came from the tumble of stones,

I am the Father of Serpents

I am the deceiver

I am Lord of the Nile

I am the Feathered Dragon

I am Yig

Alhazrad cracked open one eye, beyond the circle of light cast by his fire something moved. For a second it passed closer to the light...an unholy combination of serpent and man, gigantic, with a face that spoke of ancient wisdom and inhuman cruelty.

Alhazrad spoke quiveringly, "Mercy Great father Yig, I have done no harm to thy children. Spare me and ever will I serve thee."

The scaled thing moved closer and Alhazrad squeezed shut his eyes, wincing in anticipation of a death blow. The Old One's hand touched his forehead and Alhazrad's last bit of courage failed... he sank into blackness.

Alhazrad awoke the next morning, in the warming rays of dawn he dimissed the whole event as a dream. Then something caught his eye...scrolls portruding from niche carved in the snake statue. He must have missed them the day before, truly fatigue must have dulled his senses. He unrolled the scrolls, by some miracle he could read the runes as though they were in his own hand. The scrolls spoke of rites sacred to Yig, Father of Serpents and they detailed formulae that would give a man powers of regeneration and shapeshifting. Such knowledge was worth any price.....Alhazrad would keep his bargain with Yig.

Leaving the ruins Alhazrad noticed a great cobra glaring at him, he stopped and fed to it a rat he had captured earlier that morning. Alhazrad would go hungry that night, his own provisions were gone, but he knew Father Yig would smile upon the deed.