Project: Eldritch

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

Given the wide range of knowledge in the weird and arcane we have on this site I had the idea that we might try to create our own "tome of eldritch lore" in the spirit of the Necronomicon. Perhaps combining elements of Kabbalah, Alchemy, Satanism, Real Science etc of course written cryptically to seem as ancient as possible.

This is a (semi) serious project, so while there might be a mention of a "strange type of twisted being that dwells within the Void Which Binds, yet appearing to the eyes of man as a weird bat-like form that posses powers great and awesome, yea so terrible that the very plane of existence is its toy, and reality itself their bauble". There will be no descriptions of the "Alien Space Bat named Bob."

So to get it started, suggestions for structure? Formal chapters (1,2,3 etc)? Maybe just use chapters for planning but not have them in the finished version? Should we do everything in ryhme?

Thoughts?

EDIT: Did I mention it doesn't all have to be original? If you want to quote some text from middle ages on the nature of Aether go ahead so long as you can rephrase it to fit the style.

 

[Domoviye]

Well since the Eldritch lore is usually made up by insane people and very vague we should pick a theme and area, and just post different ideas and bits about it. Then we can mix it all together in a non-Euclidean way after we have enough info that we like.
No need for chapters at first that can wait.

 

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

Well since the Eldritch lore is usually made up by insane people and very vague we should pick a theme and area, and just post different ideas and bits about it. Then we can mix it all together in a non-Euclidean way after we have enough info that we like.
No need for chapters at first that can wait.

Good idea. So for a possible starting theme, anyone?

 

[Domoviye]

Well most of the eldritch books deal with things from Eurasia and parts of Africa, lets have one that deals with North or South America, with a bit of Mesoamerica thrown in. It could deal with the various "That which must not be known" and the not quite Gods/Elder things from Pre and early Columbus early America.

 

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

Well most of the eldritch books deal with things from Eurasia and parts of Africa, lets have one that deals with North or South America, with a bit of Mesoamerica thrown in. It could deal with the various "That which must not be known" and the not quite Gods/Elder things from Pre and early Columbus early America.

I hoping to be more general, things from everywhere. I mean Abdul Alhazred didn't just write about things of significance to Arabia. But we could start in the Americas, maybe the author is a mad Aztec priest writing down knowledge gained from the entrails of human sacrifice?

I know Colour-Copycat is good at drawing perhaps he would be wiling to do some Dresden Codex style illustrations.

 

[modernoni]

Yeah, I'm not really interested in getting involved with the project proper, not a big fan of Lovecraft's personally. Just thought I'd pop in and say, remember, guys, keep it tongue-in-cheek. Last thing we need is another cult forming around something a bunch of people decided to write up one rainy day while they were bored.

Well most of the eldritch books deal with things from Eurasia and parts of Africa, lets have one that deals with North or South America, with a bit of Mesoamerica thrown in. It could deal with the various "That which must not be known" and the not quite Gods/Elder things from Pre and early Columbus early America.

What like the horrible abominations with impossible geometry that the Aztecs sacrificed each other to? And the bird-like lightning creature that various Native American tribes hailed as their protector who's mere landing could wipe out entire forests? Like those? Yeah, that's pretty ripe for abominations. You might also link it to Jewish mythology involving Ziz, Behemoth, and Leviathan. Fantastic creatures, all three.

...Okay, beyond that, I'm not gonna get directly involved.

EDIT: Oh, also, as for style, why not have it be a compilation or a commentary composed of things from several different and varied "ancient" sources? That might be useful in covering the mythology you're building from a global view. Have one central narrator, one guy who's writing it all, and then everything else is being translated or compiled or whatever by him. It might work.

Okay, NOW I'm done.

 

[Domoviye]

I hoping to be more general, things from everywhere. I mean Abdul Alhazred didn't just write about things of significance to Arabia. But we could start in the Americas, maybe the author is a mad Aztec priest writing down knowledge gained from the entrails of human sacrifice?

Fair enough.
We could have it made as a teaching manual for the Inquisition. Have priests getting stories, translated works and various info on "Demons" and having Inquisition members in Rome piece it all together to better combat the Devil and witches in the 16th century.
That would let us write things from all over the world in different styles, and include everything from Aztec priests prophecies of blood, sailor stories and secret Chinese teachings.

What like the horrible abominations with impossible geometry that the Aztecs sacrificed each other to? And the bird-like lightning creature that various Native American tribes hailed as their protector who's mere landing could wipe out entire forests? Like those? Yeah, that's pretty ripe for abominations. You might also link it to Jewish mythology involving Ziz, Behemoth, and Leviathan. Fantastic creatures, all three.

Yep, pretty much.

 

[The Stormlord]

Fair enough.
We could have it made as a teaching manual for the Inquisition. Have priests getting stories, translated works and various info on "Demons" and having Inquisition members in Rome piece it all together to better combat the Devil and witches in the 16th century.
That would let us write things from all over the world in different styles, and include everything from Aztec priests prophecies of blood, sailor stories and secret Chinese teachings.

That's a cool idea, I support it.

 

[Lord Hastur of Carcosa]

I beg your pardon, but living in Antartica, wouldn't the Tsalal have first hand knowledge of the Elder Things? could this be a sort of Polar Tablet or Southern Cross Fragments? The Malevolent Religion in particular would be expecially appropriate: "God is evil, here,s the magic to fight him". A reverse bible and everything the European fear. In 19th Victorian England it Might even unleash a new Inquisition.

 

[The Stormlord]

Here's some stuff you may or may not use:

...And I beheld the Gates of Tartarus, and they opened for me, and I saw the madness of the Morningstar's realm. Rivers and lakes of burning blood, sinners cast into it, tormented by horrific demons whose descriptions I will not utter here, on these earthly pages. As I went deeper, I saw the Red Star, Anti-Helios, the opposite-sun whose appearance is written in the Revelation of Vasilios to mark the world's end. As I went in, I saw unspeakable, indescribable abominations, until I found myself on a lake of ice, walking toward the palace of the Morningstar.

I knew, as I walked toward it, no God would hear my cries of mercy, my begging for forgiveness. I saw a Horseman, and he bore a white cloak and golden armour, and he said, 'I am the Rider of Conquest'. I saw a Horsemen of red cloak and bronze armour, and he said 'I am the Rider of War'.

And as I walked through the palace's brazen doors, I beheld the Morningstar, the Fallen Angel that is called Lucifer, the Star of the Morning, the Fallen Seraph, himself, and I felt fear, for this was a being of light, and the force of the light of his eyes forced me to kneel before him. I saw that on his head he had a crown, a circlet of gold, encrusted with seven black diamonds that shone like negative stars, emanating blackness and cold instead of light and warmth.

And, he spoke, in a voice harsh and cruel.

'Begone mortal,' he said, and I found myself here...

 

[The Stormlord]

I beg your pardon, but living in Antartica, wouldn't the Tsalal have first hand knowledge of the Elder Things? could this be a sort of Polar Tablet or Southern Cross Fragments? The Malevolent Religion in particular would be expecially appropriate: "God is evil, here,s the magic to fight him". A reverse bible and everything the European fear. In 19th Victorian England it Might even unleash a new Inquisition.

I'm not sure if we want to throw in the Tsalal...

 

[Domoviye]

I beg your pardon, but living in Antartica, wouldn't the Tsalal have first hand knowledge of the Elder Things? could this be a sort of Polar Tablet or Southern Cross Fragments? The Malevolent Religion in particular would be expecially appropriate: "God is evil, here,s the magic to fight him". A reverse bible and everything the European fear. In 19th Victorian England it Might even unleash a new Inquisition.

I love Green Antarctica, and even helped with a very small and minor part of it, but lets keep that out of this project. Anything we do would be a pale imitation of that great TL.

Kairos, me like.

 

[The Stormlord]

Some more eldritch stuff:

...And I saw with my eyes that this was not my green and splendid world, for the skies were black and showed an uncounted number of stars of every colour, and the land was barren and desolate, and, most damning of all, the sun was black, shining with yellow light that did not reach the planet, but nevertheless black as the Original Sin. My mind's eye sped under the black sun across the barren landscape, and in my head I heard the words from the Apocalypse of Carolus - "He Bathes in the Black Sun".

Then, I found myself before a massive black-stone edifice of impossible geometries, and it...was indescribable, the sheer horror I felt as I beheld it, horror that would drive lesser men mad, but I was hardened, I was curious, and so I went closer. Upon the gates of the edifice was inscribed the couplet that Carolus had written so long ago -

"That does not Sleep,
Which dreams in the Deep"

- but I continued, and the gates opened for me. and I beheld it. The immense form of some primordial God - somewhat resembling a Dragon, but humanoid somewhat, with a metallic sheen to its skin, bound by chains of burning lightning, its eyes open, hell-green, venom-green, acid-green - looming before me. Compared to that...thing, I was but an insect.

I looked into its eyes, and stared into the abyss. Images filled me, of a great war, a War in Heaven if the analogy is good. Draining lives, devouring souls, destroying worlds. Unstoppable, invincible. Until a mortal, something it had considered weak, bound it with great power, imprisoned it, locked it on this barren world. Then its dreams of vengeance, images so horrifying I cannot bring myself to speak of or write them down.

Then, I remembered my purpose, and brought myself to wakefulness, to write these words down. I do not wish to do this already unpleasant task ever again. God save all our souls.

- Exarch Ioannis Cosmatos, Scrivener of the Order of the Angelic Word. In Service to the Patriarch of Constantinople

ANNO DOMINI 1105

Translated from the Original Byzantine Greek

OOC NOTES:

'He bathes in the black sun' was taken from a Doctor Who episode.

'That does not sleep, which dreams in the deep' was taken from Newton's Wake by Ken Macleod. The full thing goes:

Do you ever feel, in your caves of steel,
The chill of an ancient fear?
Do you shudder and say, when you pass this way,
A human once walked here?

They've cut off our heads, but we're not dead,
And we're bound by an ancient vow.
That does not sleep which dreams in the deep,
We're the Great Old Ones now!

 

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

Some more eldritch stuff:

We're the Great Old Ones now!

That is all really quite good. So are we going to do this as an Inquisition book to combat evil? Or the writings of a crazed Aztec priest?

We need to decide before we really get down to work.

 

[The Stormlord]

That is all really quite good. So are we going to do this as an Inquisition book to combat evil? Or the writings of a crazed Aztec priest?

We need to decide before we really get down to work.

I'm going for Inquisition book.

 

[TheDifferenceEngine]

I'd be interested in taking part in this, I'm a well-versed Lovecraft fanboy and I've got more than my share of knowledge of myths and folklore.

I'm not so keen on the Inquisition manual idea, it's somewhat overused.

How about something more modern but still in the same vein? The organisation producing the text could thinks of itself as a holy army, but in reality be more of a loose collection of zealots, conspiracy theorists and survivalists, and largely considered terrorists by the rest of the world and most governments, who in this continuity would be in collusion with assorted Eldritch Abominations and Ancient Conspiracies.

The actual "book" so to speak could be more of.... a PDF file distribuited to new initiates?

 

[Domoviye]

I'd be interested in taking part in this, I'm a well-versed Lovecraft fanboy and I've got more than my share of knowledge of myths and folklore.

I'm not so keen on the Inquisition manual idea, it's somewhat overused.

How about something more modern but still in the same vein? The organisation producing the text could thinks of itself as a holy army, but in reality be more of a loose collection of zealots, conspiracy theorists and survivalists, and largely considered terrorists by the rest of the world and most governments, who in this continuity would be in collusion with assorted Eldritch Abominations and Ancient Conspiracies.

The actual "book" so to speak could be more of.... a PDF file distribuited to new initiates?

I like this idea more than the Inquisition. Less cliched, and we get a lot more ideas from it.

 

[Robo Jesus]

Like distilled madness, the ghastly white fluid was of a viscous quality quite unlike anything that could truly be called 'liquid' by contemporary man.

This pseudo-fluid was contained, yet not contained, within a transparent barrier like the purest ice, yet its temperature was not cool. This container was not a square, but a thing of unnaturally precise curves.

Pooka, describing a glass of milk with Lovecraftian Prose.

 

[Color-Copycat]

Sure, I'll be willing to do some art for this. Unfortunately my knowledge of occult stuff is limited to Lovecraft and other fictional stuff, which I presume we're not using for this project, right? I'll wait for you guys to get a good idea of how this is going to play out, and then I'll help with art stuff.

Also, is Nostradamus too cliche for us to be using in this tome of eldritch lore? I was just wondering, perhaps we could do some alt-history versions of his quatrains?

Something like this: Behold, a lion crosses the vast waters, bringing the inferno and pestilence to a once prosperous kingdom. End of one empire, birth of another.

Except of course, more serious subject matter.

 

[Ephraim Ben Raphael]

Sure, I'll be willing to do some art for this. Unfortunately my knowledge of occult stuff is limited to Lovecraft and other fictional stuff, which I presume we're not using for this project, right? I'll wait for you guys to get a good idea of how this is going to play out, and then I'll help with art stuff.

Also, is Nostradamus too cliche for us to be using in this tome of eldritch lore? I was just wondering, perhaps we could do some alt-history versions of his quatrains?

Something like this: Behold, a lion crosses the vast waters, bringing the inferno and pestilence to a once prosperous kingdom. End of one empire, birth of another.

Except of course, more serious subject matter.

If you can make Nostradamas weird and terrifying, then go for it.

The drawings don't have to be Lovecraftian, my suggestion was some Dresden Coded style images and pictrograms for flair. Of course if we're aren't going to go with my "Insane Aztec Priest" idea then perhaps something else.