by Daniel Harms
(“Wrath of the Wind-Walker”, Ambuehl and Price; “Dead of Night”, Carter; “The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “The Black Stone”, Howard (O); “Dope War of the Black Tong”, Price.)
REVELATIONS OF GLAAKI
Set of books detailing the practices of the cult of Glaaki. These eleven volumes were originally handwritten by various worshipers of that deity who dwelt in England’s Severn River Valley near Brichester. An escaped member of the cult secretly leaked the manuscript to Supremus Press, which printed the Revelations in 1865. This worshiper who transcribed the books chose to leave out some portions, and the Revelations were released in a nine-volume set. Members of Glaaki’s cult bought up the edition, so very few non-initiates were able to obtain copies.
In the 1920s, a Brichester bookseller discovered a twelfth volume of the Revelations. All copies of this book are believed to be destroyed – a fortunate occurrence, because this is the only volume which mentions the abhorrent deity Y’golonac. Some say that a later edition put out by Ultimate Press contained fifteen or more volumes.
Copies of the Revelations are relatively rare. The handwritten original may still be kept at the former base of the English Glaaki cult, but all of this organization’s members vanished in the 1860s. Brichester University held a mostly complete nine-volume edition from the estate of Professor Arnold Hird for a time, but the volumes later disappeared or were burned. Rumor has placed a copy of the twelfth volume at the New York Public Library.
Though each volume of the Revelations may cover several different items, each has a main topic:
Volume 1: Glaaki
Volume 2: His undead servants
Volume 3: Byatis
Volume 4: Eihort
Volume 5: Ghroth
Volume 6; Shub-Niggurath
Volume 7: The shan
Volume 8: The creatures from Xiclotl
Volume 9: Daoloth
Volume 10: M’nagalah
Volume 11: Crystallizers of Dreams
Volume 12: Y’golonac
The books also mention Hydra and the inhabitants of S’glhuo. The topics and handwriting vary widely, as different writers replaced those who had kept the records before them.
See Brichester; Crystallizer of Dreams; Daoloth; Glaaki; Mercy Hill; M’nagalah; Pott, Johannes; Saaamaaa Ritual; Tond; Vulthoom; Y’golonac. (“Cold Print”, Campbell; The Darkest Part of the Woods, Campbell; “The Inhabitant of the Lake”, Campbell (O); “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; Keeper’s Companion, Herber et. al.; “Two Minutes on High”, Nagel; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; “Behold, I Stand at the Door and Knock”, Price.)
REVELATIONS OF HALI
Book by the famous prophet translated by the medium E. S. Bayrolles. Golden Goblin Press of New York published the Revelations in 1913. The hymns in the book are the supposed work of a being from Carcosa named Hoseib Alar Robardin. A copy is kept at Miskatonic University.
[Bayrolles originally appeared in Bierce’s “An Inhabitant of Carcosa.”]
(Miskatonic University, Johnson et. al.; “Typo”, Winkle (O).)
RHAN-TEGOTH
Great Old One who came to earth from Yuggoth three millions years ago, taking up residence in the Arctic. The sacrifices its primitive followers made maintained the Old One’s strength and vigor. Later on, the people of the region forgot Rhan-Tegoth, and their former “god” lapsed into hibernation.
During the early 20th century, the curator of a London waxworks museum launched an expedition up the Noatak River from Fort Morton to the great ruined city where Rhan-Tegoth once lived. Finding the dormant god on a tremendous ivory throne, he took it back with him to London. This explorer disappeared shortly thereafter, and the “statue” was sold to the Royal Ontario Museum. The people at the museum first believed to be an Aleut carving, but after an ambitious Ph.D. candidate asserted it was a fake, the god was put into storage. It has since vanished.
According to some, this Great Old One may be awakened by the following chant:
Wza-y’ei! Wza-y’ei!
Y’kaa haa bho-ii,
Rhan-Tegoth — Cthulhu fhtagn —
Rhan-Tegoth,
Rhan-Tegoth,
Rhan-Tegoth!
The mythical beast Gnoph-Keh is sometimes said to be an avatar of Rhan-Tegoth. No evidence has been found to verify this, and it is more likely that the Gnoph-Keh are a species of Arctic monster. Also, the Gnoph-Keh were active when Rhan-Tegoth still sat dreaming on his throne.
Some say that if Rhan-Tegoth can be destroyed the Old Ones can never return to life. The destruction of a being such as Rhan-Tegoth, however, is likely beyond the abilities of humanity.
See Aphoom Zhah; Gnoph-Keh; Pnakotic Manuscripts; Voormish Tablets; Yuggoth. (“Where a God Shall Tread”, Aniolowski; “H. P. Lovecraft: The Gods”, Carter; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “The Horror in the Museum”, Lovecraft and Heald (O).)
RHYDAGAND OF THE BRUSH
Painter mentioned in the Book of Eibon. Rhydagand could paint a picture and then travel to the place depicted in his sleep. Unfortunately, his last painting included a ghoul that was pleasantly surprised when he arrived.
(“The Offspring of the Tomb”, Cornford; “Pickman’s Student”, Herber (O).)
RICE, (PROFESSOR) WARREN
Professor of Classical Languages at Miskatonic University who accompanied Armitage and Morgan in their assault against the Dunwich Horror. During World War II, he was recruited into the OSS.
See Armitage, Henry; Dunwich; Morgan, Francis. (Arkham Unveiled, Herber et. al.; “The Dunwich Horror”, Lovecraft (O); “Stacked Actors”, Worthy.)
RICK’S LAKE
Body of water in north central Wisconsin. Many strange tales of disappearances and lake monsters have been associated with it. Some say that the legendary “Wood of N’gai” lies nearby.
(“The Dweller in Darkness”, Derleth (O).)
RING OF EIBON
Artifact owned by the mighty Hyperborean wizard Eibon. Eibon found the ring in the temple of a forgotten god, and bested the demon that dwelt within in a battle of wits. The Ring became the possession of the le Chaudronnier family of Averoigne in medieval times, but its current owner is unknown. The ring was forged of a reddish gold, and set with a large purple stone. When held over burning amber, a demon from within the gem would come forth to answer whatever questions its summoner might have. The ring was destroyed to rid the Abbey of Perigon from a horror brought by a comet.
(“The Demon of the Ring”, Cornford; “The Beast of Averoigne”, Smith (O).)
RING OF THOTH-AMMON
See Serpent Ring of Set.
RITUALS OF YHE (also YHE RITUALS)
Book by Niggoum-Zhog, a pre-human prophet. A copy of the Rituals is first mentioned as being part of Eibon’s library. The cult of Ythogtha preserved these writings, which they passed down from each high priest to his successor. Ythogtha’s last high priest, Zanthu, was said to have destroyed them as Mu sank beneath the waves.
Many centuries later in Poseidonis, scribes found a copy of the Yhe Rituals in the library of Malygris following that powerful wizard’s death. Yakthoob, the sorcerer to whom Alhazred was apprenticed in his youth, also owned a copy. Another turned up in an Egyptian tomb in 1903.
The book includes thirty-one secret rituals used in the worship of Ythogtha. The thirty-first, “The Key That Openeth The Door To Yhe”, will summon forth Ythogtha if performed, and Niggoum-Zhog warns that this should only be used if a worshiper is in direst peril.
See Yhe. (“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter (O).)
RLIM SHAIKORTH
Creature mentioned in the Book of Eibon. Rlim Shaikorth is said to have appeared as an immense white worm. At one end, it had a wide mouth and two empty eye-sockets from which blood constantly dripped. Rlim Shaikorth was practically omniscient and mighty in the ways of magic.
Rlim Shaikorth came to Earth from beyond the solar system when Hyperborea was still a mighty world po
wer. In its ice-citadel of Yikilth, the White Worm traveled south from the Pole, blasting all of the lands it sailed past with a great cold that killed all that it touched instantly. Only a few survivors, the Ylidheem, remained; these were great wizards whom Rlim Shaikorth had transformed so that they might live comfortably in the cold to worship it. According to Eibon, the cold from Yikilth destroyed many of Hyperborea’s finest cities, and the end of the world seemed certain. One day, though, the unnatural cold ended as Yikilth melted away. What happened to Rlim Shaikorth still remains a mystery, though Eibon’s book provides one possible answer.
Rlim Shaikorth may seem to be independent, but in fact it serves the fire-being Aphoom Zhah, who dwells in the ice-mountain of Yarak at the northern pole.
See Aphoom Zhah; Book of Eibon; Ylidheem. (“Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; “The Light from the Pole”, Carter and Smith; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft; “The Coming of the White Worm”, Smith (O).)
R’LYEH (also ARLYEH or URILIA (?))
Sunken city located near 47° 9’ S, 126° 43’ W in the southern Pacific (though others place it near Ponape, or even off the coast of Massachusetts). Cthulhu and his minions built R’lyeh millions of years before the earliest recorded human history, sallying forth from the city to battle the Elder Things and other alien entities. Then a catastrophe occurred. It could be a particular astronomical configuration, a great cosmic war with the Elder Gods occurred, a secret weapon of the Elder Things, or the creation of the moon. Whatever the reason, R’lyeh sank beneath the waves of the Pacific Ocean, becoming the tomb of Great Cthulhu.
Though R’lyeh has sunk deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, there have been times when the city (or at least its highest mountain) breaches the surface of the sea, only to sink down again after a short period of time. At these times, the dreams of Cthulhu have been telepathically broadcast, leading to outbreaks of religious fervor, insanity, and natural disturbances around the world. The interested reader should read the works of Professor George Gammell Angell of Brown University, as well as the Johansen Narrative, for more information on these events.
From the descriptions of the corpse-city of R’lyeh which have come down to us, we learn that its buildings are made of colossal green stones which fit together in a non-Euclidean manner. In a mausoleum at the peak of the tallest mountain, Great Cthulhu sleeps, an Elder Sign holding him within his tomb. Only the ignorant or foolhardy would open the door of this tomb; in all of history, this has only occurred a few times, and the results were disastrous.
See Black Gods of R’lyeh; Cthulhu; Great Old Ones; Johansen Narrative; Masters of the Silver Twilight; Mu; Ph’nglui mglw’nafh; Quy; R’lyeh Text; Seal of R’lyeh; star-spawn of Cthulhu; Yhe; Ythogtha; Zoth-Ommog. (“The Black Island”, Derleth; “The Seal of R’lyeh”, Derleth; “The Lurker at the Threshold”, Derleth and Lovecraft; “An Item of Mutual Interest”, Glancy; “The Call of Cthulhu”, Lovecraft (O); “The House of Cthulhu”, Lumley.)
R’LYEH DISK
Circular artifact made of solid gold and decorated with small gems and runes. The information given on the Disk will allow the Cthulhu cult to raise R’lyeh above the waves before the appointed time, and that organization searches the world for it. The Disk was last seen in Scotland, where a Roman centurion cut it into three pieces and hid them where the Old Ones’ minions could not find them.
(“The Coven at Cannich”, Clegg (O); Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook and Tynes.)
R’LYEH TEXT (also URILIA TEXT?)
Book originally transcribed on great tablets by the spawn of Cthulhu. These “Black Tablets of R’lyeh” still existed in Hyperborean times, but today the oldest copies are those preserved in scroll form somewhere in the depths of China. These copies, which are at least fifteen thousand years old but probably more ancient, contain characters that look Chinese, but are actually of no human tongue. More recent copies in Chinese have also been found and smuggled out of the country.
The information on the texts may have traveled through Babylon and Persia to the west, as a Latin translation that appeared circa 200 BC seems to have been taken from such sources. An incomplete undated translation in Greek is also known via one copy. A German translation entitled Liyuhh, which was made from both the Chinese and Latin sources, was privately published in the eighteenth century. Lord Rochester’s English translation of the Latin book was never published, but nonetheless has been copied many times and was used by Shrewsbury and Copeland in their own work. Someone named Phillips has written a Study of the R’lyeh Text kept at Miskatonic University.
This slim book reportedly deals with the proper worship of Cthulhu and his kindred, and many of the Cthulhu cults believe it to be their holiest text. It also contains a spell called the “Breath of Dagon”, which allows a person to breathe underwater.
[Two of the recent paperback Necronomicons have included the R’lyeh Text as part of the Necronomicon, though the fiction is clear that it is a separate book.]
See Investigation into the Myth-Patterns; Liyuhh; R’lyeh; R’lyeh Text Commentary; R’lyehian; Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. (“The Shadow of the Sleeping God”, Ambuehl; “Darkness, My Name Is”, Bertin; “The Return of Hastur”, Derleth (O); “Der Blutsauger von Schwarzbrunn”, Franck; “Black Devil Mountain”, Hargrave; “The Spawn of the Y’lagh”, Larson; Necronomicon, Levenda; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
R’LYEH TEXT COMMENTARY
Book in classical Chinese which explains several of the passages within the R’lyeh Text. Along with these, this volume contains a sketchy map of R’lyeh.
See R’lyeh Text. (Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis (O).)
R’LYEHIAN
Language used by Cthulhu and his spawn. Written, it consists of horizontal bars from which individual letters hang down. This may be the language in which the oldest surviving copies of the R’lyeh Text are written. Churchward performed some preliminary work on this language.
See Book of Dagon. (“The Fishers from Outside”, Carter; “Through the Gates of the Silver Key”, Lovecraft and Price (O); R’lyehian as a Toy Language, Marsh; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
RUE D’AUSEIL (“Street of the Threshold”)
Street in Paris on which Erich Zann once lived. Its location is unknown, and it cannot be found on any maps. Near a foul-smelling river, it rises steeply up sets of stairs between ancient buildings, until it arrives at a high wall covered in ivy.
(“The Music of Erich Zann”, Lovecraft (O).)
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SAAAMAAA RITUAL
Incantation used by the “Ab-Human priests” in their worship. It is a last resort for protection from outside forces that not even the Elder Sign can stop. There are eight signs used with the ritual, each of which may be used as part of a protective barrier.
The last line of the Saaamaaa Ritual is said to provide absolute protection, though no human knows it and this assertion cannot be tested. Whether this is true or not, the second line of the Saaamaaa Ritual is mentioned in the Revelations of Glaaki as an ideal way to create the Pentacle of Planes, which guards against the uncontrolled manifestation of Daoloth during the summoning of that Outer God.
See Daoloth. (“The Stone on the Island”, Campbell; “The Gateway of the Monster”, Hodgson (O); “The House in the Laurels”, Hodgson; “The Whistling Room”, Hodgson; “The Gates of Delirium”, Sumpter.)
SADOGUI
See Tsathoggua.
SADOQUA
See Tsathoggua.
SADOWSKY, (DOKTOR) PHILEUS P.
Professor of Arabic Literature and Philo-pseudology at the University of Sofia in Bulgaria. In 1979 Sadowsky’s contribution to Mythos scholarship began when he glimpsed a page from the Al Azif in a shop in Egypt. Undeterred by his loss of the parchment, Sadowsky continued his studies using the only complete copy of Al Azif in Europe. Both he and the manuscript were destroyed in a house fire in 1980.
See Necronomicon (appendices). (“Notes on a Fragment of the Necronomicon”
, Hamblin (O); “Further Notes on the Necronomicon”, Hamblin.)
SANBOURNE INSTITUTE OF PACIFIC ANTIQUITIES
Anthropological society based in Santiago, California which studies the cultures of the Pacific. It was named for Carlton Sanbourne II, a man whose father had made a fortune in the tuna-packing industry. Upon his death, Carlton left all of his money, his house and grounds, and a great number of Polynesian artifacts which formed the Institute’s core collection. His son Philip was the founder of the Institute itself.
Despite the amount of scholarly research credited to its staff, the public remembers the Sanbourne Institute for the circumstances surrounding the donation of the Copeland Bequest, which may have been responsible for the death of Copeland himself and the madness of two of its caretakers. In 1931 (or 1933) the Institute closed and the Copeland Bequest was sent to Miskatonic University for safekeeping. Since then, however, the Institute has returned and re-opened its museum and projects.
