Books & Grimoires—Introduction

The nethermost caverns,” wrote the mad Arab, “are not for the fathoming of eyes that see; for their marvels are strange and terrific. Cursed the ground where dead thoughts live new and oddly bodied, and evil the mind that is held by no head. Wisely did Ibn Schacabao say, that happy is the tomb where no wizard hath lain, and happy the town at night whose wizards are all ashes. For it is of old rumour that the soul of the devil-bought hastes not from his charnel clay, but fats and instructs the very worm that gnaws; till out of corruption horrid life springs, and the dull scavengers of earth wax crafty to vex it and swell monstrous to plague it. Great holes secretly are digged where earth’s pores ought to suffice, and things have learnt to walk that ought to crawl.”
—H.P. Lovecraft, “The Festival”

Introduction

The occult manuscripts featured in White Leviathan relate to Cthulhu and Dagon, with a little Hastur thrown in to cover the Byakhees. The following notes offer additional background on the principal texts, and are provided for “color.”

Mythos Books & Grimoires

There have been many attempts to provide fictional backgrounds for the myriad tomes and grimoires of the Mythos. Whenever appropriate, I have used Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu Seventh Edition rules to provide these books with “gaming statistics” such as spells and Sanity effects. However, their unique provenances and histories were adopted from Joan C. Stanley’s unparalleled Ex Libris Miskatonici, published by Necronomicon Press. Although I’ve added my own Borgesian elaborations, additional inspirations came from Chaosium’s Keeper’s Compendium and Nate Pedersen’s The Starry Wisdom Library. The version of the Ponape Scripture appearing in White Leviathan is very different from the one first created by Lin Carter in “Out of the Ages.” It should go without saying the campaign presents an “alternate” Abner Ezekiel Hoag as well.

Books & Grimoires:
R’lyeh Text
Black Book Codices (Cthaat Aquadingen)
Codex Maleficium
Ponape Scripture
Une histoire de la flamme viridienne
Le livre de la méchanceté
The “Volcán Wolf Testimony”
The Coffin Papers

White Leviathan > Books & Grimoires
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Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 19 August 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
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