by Mark Latham
– The Horror in the Museum
The Lineage of the Gods
The most ancient families of Egypt claimed descent from the Pharaohs themselves, and thus saw themselves as divine. In Egyptian belief the Pharaohs stood between gods and mortals, at once both and neither. Some among the priesthood held the ancient Egyptian beliefs to be little more than fanciful myths, used to keep the poor populace in its place – a ruse that they themselves used from time to time to strengthen popular loyalty toward the Caesars. Others, however, granted the Egyptians more credit, pointing to the strange carvings of animal-headed gods walking amongst men, and to the tales set down in the Sibylline texts regarding blasphemous congress between the first men and the spawn of the gods. One need only look to the Deep Ones, they said, to understand how divine blood flows still in the veins of men, and how such men could be marked even after a hundred generations.
Roman soldiers battle guardians of an ancient tomb in the Valley of Kings, called Ta-sekhet-ma’at by the Egyptians.
Cults of Nyarlathotep
‘And it was then that Nyarlathotep came out of Egypt. Who he was, none could tell, but he was of the old native blood and looked like a Pharaoh. The fellahin knelt when they saw him, yet could not say why. He said he had risen up out of the blackness of twenty-seven centuries, and that he had heard messages from places not on this planet.’
– Nyarlathotep
Of all the alien gods that would vie with Cthulhu for power, the priesthood of Rome feared Nyarlathotep the most. He was the spawn of Azathoth, the Dweller in Darkness, the Crawling Chaos. Where Cthulhu represented strength, Nyarlathotep represented guile. Where Cthulhu was a force of destruction, Nyarlathotep was a force of cruelty and calculated death. He was an Outer God of unfathomable power, who would bind all men to his service and preside over an eternity of darkness.
In the pursuit of his goals, Nyarlathotep has appeared to men many times throughout history, even serving the cults who worship him, often unbeknownst to them. He wears a thousand forms in order to trick humans into his service, and sloughs them away as easily as discarding garments.
The first known record of Nyarlathotep comes from ancient Egyptian texts, describing how, in the earliest times, a tall man with skin of purest black, wearing a death-mask of a pharaoh carved from ebony, came from the desert bearing ‘instruments of great magical power.‘ He taught the early Egyptians much of their great knowledge, from construction to religious rites. For a time, he became their Pharaoh, establishing the rights of the line of kings to ascend to the heavens, whence he himself had come, and commune as equals with his father Azathoth, a deity long known to the Magi of Parthia.
When the Black Pharaoh stepped down from the throne after an unnaturally long time, Egypt was much changed. Nyarlathotep returned to the desert, leaving his magic in the hands of his priests, and telling them that he would now sit in judgment of the dead in the afterlife, so that only those loyal to his memory would live forever. Those who watched him leave swore that he was transformed into a flock of ibis, and flew away. Thus, for his gifts of wisdom, the ibis-headed Thoth was worshipped in Egypt ever after.
To many worshippers Nyarlathotep was a myth, and the more palatable story of Thoth was all they knew. However, there were darker cults in Egypt, who kept alive Nyarlathotep’s true legacy. They knew that the hour would come when Egypt would be tested, and that she would need to be ready. They understood that the gifts given to their ancestors by the Black Pharaoh were not mere treasures with which to perform conjuring tricks, but vessels of infinite power, which would one day open the ways to the great plane beyond, and bring the Outer Gods to earth. Much as the Roman priesthood jealously hoarded ancient artefacts of power, so too did the cults of Nyarlathotep search for his instruments, so that they could complete the great ritual that had passed down amongst their brethren since the beginning.
It was said that, on a still night in the Valley of Kings, one could hear the distant sounds of discordant, cacophonous piping. If one followed those sounds to the depths from which they emanated, one might have glimpsed holy men and women in black masks, cavorting with maddening entities while their servants embalm living sacrifices with the bodies of men and the heads of animals. To see such a thing was to glimpse only a fragment of what Nyarlathotep plans for the world.
Roman legionaries sack a temple dedicated to the forbidden god Nyarlathotep.
A priest of Nyarlathotep, wearing the mask of the Black Pharaoh.
Bast Worship
Egypt had not truly belonged to the Egyptians for many centuries. At the time of their last queen, Cleopatra, its rulers had long been Ptolemaic Greeks. For centuries before that, Egypt had been subject to Persian rule. Though the time of the Pharaohs was long over, however, Egypt’s religious practices survived, changing the beliefs of Egypt’s conquerors rather than adopting the faiths they brought. The Romans proved no exception. Indeed, such was the fascination with the gods of the Nile that many cults to these strange deities existed even in Rome, and were so popular that their existence was tolerated by the priesthood, if not openly condoned. Some Egyptian gods, like Bast, could almost lay claim to being part of the Roman pantheon, so popular was her cult.
Worshipped long before the foundation of Rome, Bast was an Elder God, tied irrevocably to the lands of Egypt. As protector of that land, she sent her cats as blessings upon the people, and it was widely believed that to honour the black cats of Bast was to ensure protection from harm. Cleopatra herself was a follower of Bast, and her faith in the goddess’ protection was so strong that Mark Antony had vowed to fight for her.
Bast had no organized cult in the Roman Empire, but her worship was pervasive. Offerings to cats were made everywhere in Rome as they were in Egypt, each one weakening Rome’s power just a little. The chosen of Bast, it was said, could transform themselves into black cats, and even exert control over vast packs of stray felines. It is these legends that caused the priesthood to fear Bast worshippers, for how many thousands of cats roamed freely about the capital? How many thousands of pairs of eyes and ears might they lend to potential enemies?
The Cult of Set
Of all the cults that survived in Egypt, the Cult of Set was perhaps the most dangerous to Roman aspirations. As god of the desert, of storms and of violence, Set was often seen to embody the spirit of Egypt’s rebellion. The priesthood of Rome believed Set to be another aspect of Nyarlathotep, although their texts on the subject was frustratingly incomplete. Simon Magus was known to be especially interested in the teachings of Set, studying for a time with a small but devoted cult operating out of Capua.
Followers of Set lurked in subterranean temples, conducting rituals to bring the wrath of their deity upon the Romans who dared to plunder Egypt’s tombs and torture its priests for insight into old magic. They saw the Romans’ reckless pursuit of esoteric lore as an indication that Apep, Serpent of Chaos, had returned to the world, hiding in the guise of the golden eagles of Rome. And it was the duty of Set to set forth once more and slay the serpent, before the great curses of Egypt were unleashed.
THE RING OF SET
Created by the powerful sorcerer Tchatcha-em-ankhin in a time long forgotten, the Ring of Set is a cursed artefact which offers its wearer the ability to summon demons to do their bidding, but at great cost. Every owner of the ring has died in mysterious circumstances, often being found strangled, clawed to death, or a bruised and broken wreck, even when no possibility of a physical attacker presented itself.
Simon of Gitta learned of the existence of the ring and consulted with the Cult of Set, who desired its return to keep it from falling into the wrong hands. Studying its string of cursed owners, Simon followed the trail to Rome, where finally it was put up as a lot in an exclusive auction. There, it was bought by none other than the Emperor himself, Tiberius.
Certain that Tiberius had no idea what he had acquired, Simon used his magic to steal into the palace and warn Tiberius of the folly of dabbling with th
e Ring of Set. Unfortunately, it was too late – Tiberius had known full well of the ring’s power, and had already tried to use it to do away with his rivals. As Simon looked on a terrible, inexplicable fate befell Tiberius, for which Simon himself would later be blamed.
Under the Pyramids
‘Then it did emerge … and at the sight I turned and fled into the darkness up the higher staircase that rose behind me; fled unknowingly up incredible steps and ladders and inclined planes to which no human sight or logic guided me, and which I must ever relegate to the world of dreams for want of any confirmation. It must have been a dream, or the dawn would never have found me breathing on the sands of Gizeh before the sardonic dawn-flushed face of the Great Sphinx.’
– Imprisoned with the Pharaohs
Beyond the more well-documented cults of Egypt, myriad other mysteries existed in the ancient land of the Pharaohs. Only a few reached the ears of the priesthood, and fewer still were known to the people of Rome.
Rumours abounded of large, jackal-headed men who dragged human sacrifices to caverns beneath the Great Sphinx of Memphis where some mummified god was said to reside, even though no ingress to, or evidence of, any such tunnels had ever been found. The fearful slave-population of Memphis would speak in hushed tones of the huge, leathery-winged creatures that flapped from niches in the Great Pyramid on nights when the moon was dark, carrying off victims for some unknown, yet surely ghastly purpose. Legionaries whispered in dockside taverns of the strange things they had seen – and fought – beneath the pyramids; of dead things wrapped in bandages, shuffling inexorably towards their shield-walls in cramped tunnels, and of scurrying, rat-like creatures the size of dogs that feasted on fallen soldiers.
Beneath the Precinct of Montu, the frumentarii discovered a sealed chamber. Defying the warding sigils, they ordered slaves to break into the chamber. Less than half of them returned to the surface, but the frumentarii had found a collection of strange creatures, resembling scarabs, which had lain dormant for centuries. Impossibly ancient, these insects were imprisoned within a small stone sarcophagus, carved with warning sigils in hieroglyphics that were unintelligible to all but the elder priest of the quindecimviri sacris. The casket, and the ominous creatures within, appeared to be one half of a terrible ritual, granting the means of eternal life, but at great cost. The beetles, it seemed, were not dead, and if the correct ritual could be performed, the insects would awaken, and burrow themselves into the heads of any creature, living or dead, animating them in the name of some archaic Egyptian god. Needless to say, the ritual tablets that accompanied the chest have yet to be unearthed.
The manifold tombs of the Valley of Kings are protected by such dreadful curses that even the priesthood feared to disturb them. Though many incredible relics were uncovered in their depths, adding to the priesthood’s already formidable repository of knowledge, their gain inevitably came at the price of a grisly and untimely death for the ones who claimed them. Only through painstaking study and the employment of those Egyptians steeped in religious lore were any tombs opened. Sometimes, tomb-robbers beat the Romans to the task, heedless of the dangers. Such wanton plunder almost always presaged a great tragedy amongst the civilian populace – a terrible murder of unprecedented violence, the destruction of property, or some unnatural catastrophe or outbreak of disease. As a result of the tomb-robbers’ sporadic raids, however, no one could guess how many fearsome spells, kingly remains and mythic talismans of Egypt were set loose in the world.
An Egyptian priestess summons a desert storm to cover an ancient burial site for all eternity. Her power is drawn from a vast swarm of large, sentient insects, calling themselves the Great Race, who have long been depicted in Egyptian hieroglyphs, and who are said to hold power over life and death.
MYTHOS TIMELINE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
BC
c.2613 The Egyptian Pharaoh Nephren-Ka rises to power in Third Dynasty Egypt. He revives the worship of dark gods, finds the Shining Trapezohedron, and builds a temple around it. The Pharaoh Snefru overthrows Nephren-Ka, whose name is utterly erased from Egyptian history.
c.2150 The Black Pharaoh marches from the desert and gives his edicts to the Egyptians.
1184 Troy falls to the Greeks. The demigod Aeneas escapes to pursue his destiny to found a great city on the Tiber.
753 Founding of Rome by Romulus.
666 A coven of witches in the Carpathian Mountains called the ‘Strigoi’ are cursed by the Dreamlands goddess Lilith.
650 The era of the Etruscan kings begins.
600 Zoroastrianism takes root in Persia as the Magi realize the error of their ways. The old gods are imprisoned in magically warded temples.
578–535 Reign of King Servius Tullius. He oversees the formation of the first Roman assembly, the comitia centuriata.
c.530 The largest collection of Sibylline books is acquired by King Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, and entrusted to the protection of his two most senior priests. Among the books are the first fragments of what later becomes known as the Liber Ivonis.
c.510 Tarquinius Superbus, last of the Roman kings, is overthrown.
264–241 First Punic War. Carthage is defeated.
c.220218 Hannibal is inducted into the mysteries of Chaugnar Faugn, and receives the gift of the great elephant, Suru.
218–201 Second Punic War. Hannibal comes close to invading Rome.
205 The black stone of Magna Mater is brought to Rome from Phrygia.
c.200 Theodotides, a Greco-Bactrian official, exchanges minds with one of the Great Race of Yith.
157 The use of ‘malevolent magic’ is outlawed in Rome, as a crime equivalent to poisoning.
149–146 Third Punic War. Rome sacks Carthage, recovering 30 pages of the Sybilline texts previously thought lost. Rome takes control of large parts of North Africa, becoming the dominant force in the Mediterranean.
139 Chaldean astrologers are expelled from Rome.
c.100 The earliest Greek translation of the Liber Ivonis, the Peri ton Eibon, is made. The priesthood tries to suppress it, but is opposed by the Argonauts.
88–79 Civil War. Gaius Marius is defeated by Lucius Cornelius Sulla.
86 Sack of Athens. A great many sacred texts are recovered for the priesthood of Rome.
80 Chaugnar Faugn is discovered by a Roman legion on an exploratory mission to Africa Proconsularis. It destroys half the legion before retreating to the Plateau of Tsang.
73–71 The Spartacus slave revolt.
65 Pompey conquers Phoenicia.
60 First Triumvirate of Pompey, Marcus Crassus, and Julius Caesar.
58–55 Caesar conquers Gaul.
54 Caesar leads the invasion of Britannia.
53 Battle of Carrhae. Roman legions are defeated by the Parthians.
52 The immortal Dragon Sorcerers of China learn of the Roman worship of Cthulhu, and lock themselves away to begin the great ritual of balance that will last 500 years.
49 Caesar reveals his intention to rule without the interference of the priesthood. He defies the Senate and crosses the Rubicon, starting a civil war.
c.48–44 Caesar defeats Pompey at the Battle of Pharsalus.
48 The Great Library of Alexandria is destroyed.
44 Caesar is assassinated. Octavian, his heir, takes control, and civil war erupts once more. Octavian swears fealty to the quindecimviri sacris, and promises to unite Rome on the condition that they grant him revenge against Caesar’s assassins. The priesthood betrays its faithful servant for the greater good of Rome, and elevates Mark Antony as its champion.
Rome’s history is filled with tales of bloody conspiracies and treachery. Infamously, when Julius Caesar attempted to break away from the priesthood’s influence, those closest to him slew him in the name of Cthulhu. The conspirators themselves were soon after sacrificed in a swift political manoeuvre by the very priests they had served.
43 Second Triumvirate is formed (Octavian, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus).
42 Battle of Philippi. Brutus and Cassius, the last of Caesar’s assassins, are killed.
33 Octavian escalates the campaign to wake Cthulhu, ordering the sacking of temples and holy sites across the Empire. Astrologers and magicians are driven from Rome. Even the priesthood quails at Octavian’s zeal, fearing he may inadvertently reveal its secret plans and destroy the status quo it has striven to maintain. Mark Antony, dismayed by Octavian’s actions, begins to question his loyalty to the secret order of Cthulhu.
31 Mark Antony declares for the ancient gods Bast, Nyarlathotep, and Mithras. Later that year he is defeated at the Battle of Actium. Egypt becomes a Roman province.
27 Octavian assumes the title of Augustus and becomes Rome’s first Emperor. For the first time, the ruler of Rome puts himself on an equal footing with the priesthood. The quindecimviri sacris plot to redress the balance of power.
25–22 Military expeditions are conducted to Arabia. A dead Elder Thing is secretly brought to Rome by Arabian slavers and installed in a temple in long-forgotten catacombs. The so-called ‘Priests of Iram’ found their strange religion in Rome.
c.24–20 Temples of Isis and Bastet are founded in Rome, and subsequently flourish.
19 Virgil finishes his epic poem, the Aeneid. Swathes of the tale referencing the Great Old Ones and the true nature of Romulus and Remus are stolen, and Virgil is so distraught that he orders the rest destroyed. Thankfully, much of the manuscript survives.
17 The ‘Black Rites of Bast’, contained in the Scroll of Bubastis, are discovered in an Egyptian tomb and brought back to Rome.
