Cthulhu's Dark Cults
Encyclopedia
Cthulhu’s Dark Cults edited by David Conyers
is an anthology of ten Cthulhu Mythos
short stories set in Chaosium’s
Call of Cthulhu
role-playing game
setting. All the stories take place during the 1920s and 1930s, the era in which the game is set.
and characters that first appeared in Call of Cthulhu gaming supplements such as Masks of Nyarlathotep, Horror on the Orient Express, Shadows of Yog-sothoth, The Fungi from Yuggoth, Secrets of Kenya, Secrets of New York and others. The ten stories are:
. The plot summaries of the ten stories with references to the gaming supplements that influenced each tale are:
The Eternal Chinaman: In San Francisco 1920 a stage magician hires his brother to protect him from a Tong
-style cult. The story features Lang Fu who first appeared in the gaming supplement The Fungi from Yuggoth. The name of the story is derived from a description in H.P. Lovecraft’s tale The Call of Cthulhu
in reference to a cult of sorcerers who live in the mountains of China planning the downfall of humanity.
Captains of Industry: In Boston
1921 union members of a washing machine manufacturing company break into the lodge of a secretive order called the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight, hoping to gather incriminating evidence on their boss who is a member with the Lodge so they have a bargaining point to improve their working conditions. The story features Carl Stanford and John Scott who first appeared in the gaming supplement Shadows of Yog-sothoth and Ambrose Mogens who first appeared in Secrets of New York.
Perfect Skin: In Istanbul
1922 a British couple are enjoying their honeymoon until the husband goes missing, presumably kidnapped by the Brotherhood of the Skin, a cult that first appeared in the gaming supplement Horror on the Orient Express.
Covenant of Darkness: In New York City 1923 Columbia University
professor Rudolph Pearson crosses paths with a cult of ghoul
s that have been in existence in caverns beneath the city for as long as there have been human settlements on the surface. The story features a cult that appeared in Secrets of New York. The protagonist of this tale also appears in the collection The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson (Chaosium, 2007).
The Whisper of Ancient Secrets: In Victoria
, Australia 1925 an insane inventor hopes to travel to the centre of the universe and the Outer God Azathoth before the machinations of the Cult of the Sand Bat ruin his plans. The story features Robert Huston who first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Old Ghost: In Shanghai 1926 a priest befriends a group of expatriates who are secretly warring against the Order of the Bloated Woman. The story features Ho Fong who first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep.
The Nature of Faith: In Dunwich
1927 a professor of ancient history befriends a young local girl who leads him on an expedition into the wild hills of Massachusetts
searching for ancient Celtic coins that are not supposed to exist in the region. The story features the Believers cult appearing in the gaming supplement H.P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich.
The Devil’s Diamonds: In Kenya
1930 a British run diamond mine is held hostage by the Cult of the Bloody Tongue who plan to use the site to summon an aspect of their god Nyarlathotep
. The story features M’Weru who first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Requiem for the Burning God: In Peru
1932 a group of mercenaries are hired to protect an Andean
mine from rebel forces, only to discover that their employers are unearthing an alien god trapped in the mountains. The story features the cult-like organisation New World Industries (NWI) which first appeared in the gaming supplement The Fungi from Yuggoth and later in At Your Door and Unseen Masters.
Sister of the Sands: In Egypt
1933 a spy discovers thousands of dead cultists in the sand dunes of the Sahara
and a strange woman who has walked unscathed from the carnage. The story features Omar Shakti and the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh which first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep and Jamal Alhazred who first appeared in Secrets of Kenya.
David Conyers
David Conyers writes predominantly science fiction and Lovecraftian horror.Most of his childhood was spent in the Adelaide Hills, before moving to Melbourne. There he achieved a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1993...
is an anthology of ten Cthulhu Mythos
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft.The term was first coined by August Derleth, a contemporary correspondent of Lovecraft, who used the name of the creature Cthulhu - a central figure in Lovecraft literature and the focus...
short stories set in Chaosium’s
Chaosium
Chaosium is one of the longer lived publishers of role-playing games still in existence. Founded by Greg Stafford, its first game was actually a wargame, White Bear and Red Moon, which later mutated into Dragon Pass and its sequel, Nomad Gods...
Call of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game)
Call of Cthulhu is a horror fiction role-playing game based on H. P. Lovecraft's story of the same name and the associated Cthulhu Mythos.The game, often abbreviated as CoC, is published by Chaosium.-Setting:...
role-playing game
Role-playing game
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting, or through a process of structured decision-making or character development...
setting. All the stories take place during the 1920s and 1930s, the era in which the game is set.
Introduction
All ten stories in Cthulhu’s Dark Cults are linked by Cthulhu Mythos cultsCthulhu Mythos cults
A number of fictional cults appear in the Cthulhu Mythos. Many of these cults serve the Outer God Nyarlathotep, the Crawling Chaos, a protean deity that appears in a myriad of guises...
and characters that first appeared in Call of Cthulhu gaming supplements such as Masks of Nyarlathotep, Horror on the Orient Express, Shadows of Yog-sothoth, The Fungi from Yuggoth, Secrets of Kenya, Secrets of New York and others. The ten stories are:
- The Eternal Chinaman by John SunseriJohn SunseriJohn Sunseri is a horror writer from Portland, Oregon in the United States. As well as writing traditional horror fiction he also writes Lovecraftian horror. John spent two years at Yale University studying a major in English. Today he manages a restaurant.Writing since 2001, John has published...
- Captains of Industry by John Goodrich
- Perfect Skin by David Witteveen
- Covenant of Darkness by William Jones
- The Whisper of Ancient Secrets by Penelope Love
- Old Ghost by Peter A. Worthy
- The Nature of Faith by Oscar Rios
- The Devil’s Diamonds by Cody Goodfellow
- Requiem for the Burning God by Shane Jiraiya CummingsShane Jiraiya CummingsShane Jiraiya Cummings is an Australian horror short story writer and editor. He lives in Perth, Western Australia with his partner Angela Challis...
- Sister of the Sands by David ConyersDavid ConyersDavid Conyers writes predominantly science fiction and Lovecraftian horror.Most of his childhood was spent in the Adelaide Hills, before moving to Melbourne. There he achieved a bachelor's degree in civil engineering at the University of Melbourne in 1993...
Story summaries
The book is introduced by David Conyers and dedicated to the memory of Keith HerberKeith Herber
Keith "Doc" Herber was an American author, editor, and musician.Herber was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. He was known for his work on Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. He was employed by Chaosium from 1989 through 1994...
. The plot summaries of the ten stories with references to the gaming supplements that influenced each tale are:
The Eternal Chinaman: In San Francisco 1920 a stage magician hires his brother to protect him from a Tong
Tong
-Chinese:*Tang Dynasty, a dynasty in Chinese history when transliterated from Cantonese*Tong , a type of social organization found in Chinese immigrant communities*tong, pronunciation of several Chinese characters*See:...
-style cult. The story features Lang Fu who first appeared in the gaming supplement The Fungi from Yuggoth. The name of the story is derived from a description in H.P. Lovecraft’s tale The Call of Cthulhu
The Call of Cthulhu
The Call of Cthulhu is a short story by American writer H. P. Lovecraft. Written in the summer of 1926, it was first published in the pulp magazine Weird Tales, in February 1928.-Inspiration:...
in reference to a cult of sorcerers who live in the mountains of China planning the downfall of humanity.
Captains of Industry: In Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
1921 union members of a washing machine manufacturing company break into the lodge of a secretive order called the Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight, hoping to gather incriminating evidence on their boss who is a member with the Lodge so they have a bargaining point to improve their working conditions. The story features Carl Stanford and John Scott who first appeared in the gaming supplement Shadows of Yog-sothoth and Ambrose Mogens who first appeared in Secrets of New York.
Perfect Skin: In Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
1922 a British couple are enjoying their honeymoon until the husband goes missing, presumably kidnapped by the Brotherhood of the Skin, a cult that first appeared in the gaming supplement Horror on the Orient Express.
Covenant of Darkness: In New York City 1923 Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
professor Rudolph Pearson crosses paths with a cult of ghoul
Ghoul
A ghoul is a folkloric monster associated with graveyards and consuming human flesh, often classified as undead. The oldest surviving literature that mention ghouls is likely One Thousand and One Nights...
s that have been in existence in caverns beneath the city for as long as there have been human settlements on the surface. The story features a cult that appeared in Secrets of New York. The protagonist of this tale also appears in the collection The Strange Cases of Rudolph Pearson (Chaosium, 2007).
The Whisper of Ancient Secrets: In Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
, Australia 1925 an insane inventor hopes to travel to the centre of the universe and the Outer God Azathoth before the machinations of the Cult of the Sand Bat ruin his plans. The story features Robert Huston who first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Old Ghost: In Shanghai 1926 a priest befriends a group of expatriates who are secretly warring against the Order of the Bloated Woman. The story features Ho Fong who first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep.
The Nature of Faith: In Dunwich
Dunwich (Lovecraft)
Dunwich is a fictional town that appeared in the H. P. Lovecraft short story "The Dunwich Horror" . Dunwich is found in the fictional Miskatonic River Valley of Massachusetts, part of the imaginary region sometimes called Lovecraft Country...
1927 a professor of ancient history befriends a young local girl who leads him on an expedition into the wild hills of Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
searching for ancient Celtic coins that are not supposed to exist in the region. The story features the Believers cult appearing in the gaming supplement H.P. Lovecraft’s Dunwich.
The Devil’s Diamonds: In Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
1930 a British run diamond mine is held hostage by the Cult of the Bloody Tongue who plan to use the site to summon an aspect of their god Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep
Nyarlathotep, also known as the Crawling Chaos, is a malign deity in the Cthulhu Mythos fictional universe created by H. P. Lovecraft. First appearing in Lovecraft's 1920 prose poem of the same name, he was later mentioned in other works by Lovecraft and by other writers and in the tabletop...
. The story features M’Weru who first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Requiem for the Burning God: In Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
1932 a group of mercenaries are hired to protect an Andean
Andes
The Andes is the world's longest continental mountain range. It is a continual range of highlands along the western coast of South America. This range is about long, about to wide , and of an average height of about .Along its length, the Andes is split into several ranges, which are separated...
mine from rebel forces, only to discover that their employers are unearthing an alien god trapped in the mountains. The story features the cult-like organisation New World Industries (NWI) which first appeared in the gaming supplement The Fungi from Yuggoth and later in At Your Door and Unseen Masters.
Sister of the Sands: In Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
1933 a spy discovers thousands of dead cultists in the sand dunes of the Sahara
Sahara
The Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
and a strange woman who has walked unscathed from the carnage. The story features Omar Shakti and the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh which first appeared in the gaming supplement Masks of Nyarlathotep and Jamal Alhazred who first appeared in Secrets of Kenya.