Le livre de la méchanceté

Le livre de la méchanceté

French, by Perotine Cauchés, 1666
Written by Kingsport matriarch Perotine Cauchés, this grimoire has been compiled from numerous medieval sources and glossed with Cauchés’ own arcane embellishments.

Sanity Loss: 1D4
Cthulhu Mythos: +3%/+6%
Mythos Rating: 5%
Study: Five weeks per spell

History
Upon her 166^th birthday, Perotine Cauchés informed her coven that she no longer wished to live. She ordered herself to be confined, then instructed her followers to pluck apart her ancient “body” one worm at a time. She referred to this process as “unpuzzling her carcass.” Each wriggling piece was to be individually buried in the surrounding countryside, no less that “six perches” apart from any other cockroach, worm, or silverfish. Her sisters obeyed, and in this manner Madame Perotine is said to have died. However, upon breaking earth to bury the final worm—actually a centipede—the coven were astonished to find a grimoire, wrapped in oilcloth and bundled with Cauchés’ famous plague mask. It was the grande dame’s last work, wryly entitled Le livre de la méchanceté: une collection de sorcerots viridiennes et de rituels ésotériques, or “The Book of Wickedness: A Collection of Viridian Spells and Esoteric Rituals.”

Description
Written in Cauchés’ nearly-indecipherable script, this grimoire contains 166 pages of spells, incantations, diagrams, charts, recipes, and even a few poems. The text is a heady mixture of French, English, Latin, Guernésiais, and gibberish, and the binding is adapted from a wood-and-leather Bible. The Covenant does not permit Le livre de la méchanceté to be set to type, but has commissioned several private copies. In 1812, Rowena Tuttle produced an English translation entitled “Book of Green Shadows.” This version translates all the French, Latin, and Guernésiais passages, but necessarily leaves the “gibberish” and incantations intact. The original book is in the possession of Abner Ezekiel Hoag.

Contents
Cauchés’ grimoire contains several powerful sorcerots, some dating back to the Covenant’s days at Montségur and Saint-Iscariote. Each is prefaced by a history of its origins, followed by a ritual that must be enacted before the actual spell may be learned. Intended to “purify” the apprentice, these rituals require the memorization of lengthy, arcane passages that must be chanted nightly over the course of a lunar cycle. Some involve the preparation of special incense, while one demands the supplicant sleep in a different graveyard every night for thirteen days. Once a ritual has been completed, the corresponding sorcerot may be learned. While some believe Cauchés devised these exasperating rituals as practical jokes, the Covenant insists “apprentices” follow her instructions to the letter.

Spells
Bend Quarry to Thy Power (Mental Suggestion), Binding Oath, Call Into Service Thy Starry Steed (Summon/Bind Byakhee), Chant de Possession (Dominate), Convocandi Viridi Flamma (Summon Green Flame), Doigt de Malheur (Implant Fear), Enchant the Locust Whistle (Enchant Whistle), Eucharistia Viridi (Control Green Flame), Main de Gloire (Hand of Glory), Music of the Court In Yellow (Song of Hastur), Obscurcir la Mémoire (Cloud Memory), Parler Suif, Pouldre Noire du Diable (Shrivelling), Ritual of Ub (Apportion Ka), The Yellow Petition (Call Hastur). See “Cult Sorcery” under  “New Spells” for details.

White Leviathan > Books & Grimoires
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Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 10 August 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
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