A powerful enough sorcerer could use the ring to summon up demons to attack his enemies, or even cause them to possess a person’s body for a short time. The ring, however, came with a powerful curse that was especially dangerous to those of royal lines and those too weak to control its power.
(Conan: Book of Thoth, Busiek and Wein; “The Haunter of the Ring”, Howard; “The Phoenix on the Sword”, Howard (O); “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney.)
SERVITOR OF THE OUTER GODS. Creature resembling a toad or lizard with a number of tentacles carrying a flute. The Servitors provide the music at the court of Azathoth, but may come to earth if a special flute is blown on Walpurgis, Midsummer’s Eve, or Halloween. A servitor’s music has the power to summon other beings of the Mythos, making them even more dangerous.
(“The Festival”, Lovecraft (O); Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)
SESQUA VALLEY. Location somewhere in the state of Washington. The Valley’s major landmark is the white, twin-peaked Mount Selta, which is rumored to be the home of all manner of curious beings, to the northeast of the Valley.
The Native Americans warned the first settlers to avoid this area, but subsequent centuries saw the valley populated. Many of these newcomers were former inhabitants of Dunwich who moved west after the horrific events of 1928. Despite this, all Sesquans feel a deep sense of connection to the land about them. It is common for the Valley’s young people to venture out into the world, only to return to their homes when they grow older.
The town is a haven for artists, many of whom leave curious sculptures across the countryside before they vanish or meet darker fates. A tower of stone in the valley holds the books and manuscripts collected from their libraries where others might consult them.
Most outsiders do not stop in the Sesqua Valley, as the Valley appears on no maps and seems to make itself inconspicuous to unwanted visitors.
Many strange events and disappearances happen in the Valley, presaged by howling on the mountains or the arrival of thick fog.
See Black Stone. (“Apotheosis”, Pugmire; “Never Steal from a Whateley”, Pugmire (O); “A Piece of Stone”, Pugmire; “Some Darker Star”, Pugmire; “The Totem Pole”, Pugmire; “Your Metamorphic Moan”, Pugmire; “The Tree-House”, Pugmire and Price.)
SET (also SETH or SUTEKH). God which sometimes appears as a huge black serpent with yellow eyes. He has been described as the ruler of the sunken cities and the spaces between the stars.
Set is believed to have dwelt in the Stygian Caverns, through which flowed the river Styx (later known as the Nile). His worship was first recorded in Acheron, an empire of the early Hyborian Age that included the area around the Styx. When Lemurian refugees from the east conquered this area and established Stygia, they continued Set’s worship. Soon the cult of Set controlled all of Stygia, with many secret outposts in other lands. Their battles against the cult of Mitra (a solar deity) and Conan the Cimmerian kept them from attaining world domination, but the cult of Set was nonetheless a force to be reckoned with during that time.
After the Hyborian Age, the Egyptians took up the worship of Set. One cult dedicated to him, the Brethren of Set, taught that Set was the son of the first pharaoh, and that he had killed his father and drunk his blood, thereby becoming an immortal blood-drinker. Set was especially popular with the Hyksos, who conquered Lower Egypt around 1674 B. C. The Hyksos identified him with their own most powerful god, and worshiped him as Ha-Set-Ur, the god of shepherds. The Egyptians eventually saw him as a demonic force and forbade his worship. It is unknown whether Set’s worship has continued anywhere on this world, though there is a temple dedicated to him in Ulthar and rumors of a “Majestic Order of the Great Dark One” have emerged from Egypt.
Giant snakes kept in Set’s temples, vampires, and other beings that would destroy the sanity of any who looked upon them served the god. The highest level of his priesthood was the Black Ring, a group of sorcerers who could kill a person by burning their flesh with their hands, leaving a black handprint on their corpse. Set’s cult especially favors red-haired people, seeing this color as a sign of the god’s favor. They also prized an artifact called the Black Mirror of Nekhen, and believed that anyone who performed the proper rituals before it would call Set into the world again. Hopefully this information will allow future researchers to identify any possible survivals of this ancient faith.
[Set was originally a god of Upper Egypt who was depicted as having the head of an unknown beast which has been identified as a donkey, an okapi, or a jackal, but resembles none of these. He was considered to be the god of the night sky, storms, warriors, and confusion. According to legend, Set was the son of every night when the sun passed through the underworld, Set would help fight the snake Apep or Apophis so that it would not eat the sun. Later, Set became known as the god who killed his brother Osiris and fought numerous battles with Osiris’ son Horus.
[After the fall of the New Kingdom, Set was symbolically linked with both the invading outsiders and Apep, and becoming more of a serpentine demon. When the Greeks learned of him, they linked him with Typhon, a monster which theatened the gods’ rule. Set’s worship has seen a slight resurgence in modern times, through such groups as Michael Aquino’s Temple of Set.
[In different Mythos works, Set has been linked with Yig, Nyarlathotep, and Hastur. Those who would use Set in their tales and scenarios may want to consider which of these, if any, lies behind the mask of Set.]
See Nyarlathotep; Nyarlathotep (Set); Serpent Ring of Set; Stygia; Thoth-Amon; World of the Seven Suns. (The Cairo Guidebook, Anderson; “The Sundial of Amen-Tet”, Aniolowski; “The Black Mirror” (alternate), Glasby; “The Hour of the Dragon”, Howard; “The Scarlet Citadel”, Howard; Ghor Kin-Slayer, Howard et. al.; “The Ring of Set”, Tierney; “The Worm of Urakhu”, Tierney; “The Adventure of the Laughing Moonbeast”, Vaughan.)
SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF HSAN (also SEVEN CRYPTICAL BOOKS OF EARTH). Set of scrolls of possible Chinese origin. According to some scholars, Hsan the Greater wrote them in the second century. Others, however, maintain that they originally came from Leng and date back to the time of China’s mythical Yellow Emperor, being translated into Chinese from a forgotten tongue. It may be that these are the same as the legendary “Seven Books of Tan” said to date back to 4000 B.C. and which contain many puzzles for those keen of mind. When Ch’in Shih Huang Ti, China’s first emperor, commanded the Burning of the Books in 213 B.C., most of the Chinese copies were destroyed, and subsequent Chinese authors were forced to compile a corrupted version based on what fragments they could find and their own memories. Four later dynasties also banned Hsan’s books, making them even more rare.
The books were smuggled out of China and translated numerous times. The first to appear was probably the English of 1729, though this one is so poor that most scholars consider it hardly worth mentioning. In 1940 Boston’s Silver Key Press published a better English translation made by the occultist Etienne-Laurent de Marigny. Lama Dordji Ram, possibly with the assistance of the renowned explorer Alexandra David-Neel, made a French translation which appeared in Marseilles in 1943.
Copies of the Books in various languages may be found at the Temple of the Elder Ones in Ulthar, Miskatonic University, the Library of the State University at St. Petersburg, the Bibliotheque de l’Arsenal, the Library of Congress (a complete copy, though closely guarded) and in the hands of private collectors in Scotland and France. Although the library of the Dalai Lama holds the Books, the large number of copies in Tibet is almost impossible to find, as the Tibetan monks hid most of their copies from the invading Chinese armies.
The Seven Cryptical Books range widely in topics, including the proper treatment of a dead wizard’s body, the forms of Nyarlathotep, the Dreamlands, and a history of the plateau of Leng. The books also include quotations from the R’lyeh Text and spells which bear resemblance to those in the Dhol Chants. The most important ceremonies in the Books are
the “Seven Cryptical Spells of Hsan”, though the significance of these is unknown. The second book, sometimes called the “The Sign of Signs”, is said to bestow limited power over life and death, and the fourth gives the spells for the summoning and dismissing of demons. The few complete editions of the fifth book contain the formula for creating the Eye of Light and Darkness. One of the books, which is referred to as “lost” (despite the fact that the de Marigny translation claims to hold all seven volumes), contains information on how wisdom may be obtained from the dead. Some even say that a code hidden within the books gives the time when the Old Ones shall return.
See Barzai; Eye of Light and Darkness; Lin Tang-Yu; Marigny, Etienne-Laurent de; Zin, Vaults of. (“Eyes of a Stranger”, Aniolowski; “Zoth-Ommog”, Carter; Delta Green, Detwiller, Glancy, and Tynes; Masks of Nyarlathotep, DiTillio and Willis; “Headsman”, Fantina; “Books of the Cthulhu Mythos”, Herber and Ross; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft; “The Other Gods”, Lovecraft (O); “A Private Inquiry into the Possible Whereabouts of Clara Boyd”, Marsh et. al.; “The Return of Zhosph”, Myers; “The Summons of Nuguth-Yug”, Myers and Laidlaw; Miskatonic University Graduate Kit, Petersen et. al.; Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley; “Those Who Wait”, Wade; “Typo”, Winkle.)
SEVEN HUNDRED STEPS OF DEEPER SLUMBER. Stairs that lead down from the Cavern of Flame and end at the Gate of Deeper Slumber in the Dreamlands’ Enchanted Wood. Some have suggested that these, as well as the Seventy Steps of Light Slumber, are only symbolic, and that only initiates know their true meaning.
See Dreamlands; Seventy Steps of Light Slumber. (“The Book of Preparations”, Carter; “The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O).)
SEVEN LOST SIGNS OF TERROR. Symbols said to compel obedience from all beings in our universe or elsewhere.
(“The Offering”, Carter; “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley (O).)
SEVENTY STEPS OF LIGHT SLUMBER. Stairs that appear in dreams and, if descended, lead the dreamer to the Cavern of Flame where Nasht and Kaman-Tha reside. It has been suggested that one may walk down these steps and then enter the Dreamlands, bypassing the Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber entirely. This method does not allow the dreamer much control of their wanderings, but many consider it to be safer.
See Dreamlands; Seven Hundred Steps of Deeper Slumber. (“The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath”, Lovecraft (O); Hero of Dreams, Lumley.)
SEVERNFORD. Town northwest of Brichester, on the banks of the Severn River. Like many towns in the region, Severnford is past its prime, and many of its buildings standing empty and dilapidated. Near this town is the ruined castle in which the wizard Sir Gilbert Morley resided, and an isle in the river nearby was the site of witches’ sabbats in the seventeenth century.
See Camside. (“The Faces at Pine Dunes”, Campbell; “The Plain of Sound”, Campbell; “The Room in the Castle” (O), Campbell; “The Stone on the Island”, Campbell.)
SFATLICLLP. Shapeless offspring of Ossadogwah who is said to have mated with the Voormis. She is said to have dwelled in the Eiglophian Mountains in Hyperborea, where she nurtured the Voormis.
(“Voormi Hymn of Deliverance”, Schwader; “The Family Tree of the Gods”, Smith (O).)
S’GLHUO, GULF OF. Alternate dimension mentioned in the Necronomicon. In this place, sounds created in our dimension form the matter, and matter as we know it manifests itself as an odor. The blue-skinned people of this region can only be harmed by certain sounds made in our own dimension, and are quite anxious to establish telepathic contact with our own reality. Their motives are unknown, so any dealing with them should beware.
See Alala; Mao; Reflections; Revelations of Glaaki. (“The Plain of Sound”, Campbell (O).)
SHAGGAI (also CHAG-HAI?). World of two emerald suns from which the shan, or insects from Shaggai, first came. Some say that it is the same as Planet X or Pluto’s moon Charon, but it seems more likely that it irregularly orbits a binary star system in the Andromeda galaxy.
A rocky inhospitable world with little light, life sensitive to radiation eventually evolved on Shaggai, covering the world with black seas of protoplasm and tremendous jungles filled with carnivorous molds. Large green pyramids attest to the presence of a spacefaring race that worshiped Azathoth before the rise of a native species, the shan or insects from Shaggai. The shan reared huge cities of globular dwellings and conical or pyramidal temples to Azathoth. From their home world, the insects colonized many of the nearby planets, but the majority of the shan remained on Shaggai up until its destruction.
A strange celestial object (perhaps Ghroth the Harbinger) destroyed this world more than eight hundred years ago. The insects discovered a glowing red body in their sky, moving slowly nearer. Three days later, the object reached Shaggai and annihilated that world in a holocaust of light and flame. Only the shan who were in the teleporting temples of Azathoth or on the otherworldly colonies escaped the ruin of their home planet.
See Book of Eibon; Glaaki; Massa di Requiem per Shuggay; shan; Xiclotl. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell; “Shaggai”, Carter; Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Haunter of the Dark”, Lovecraft (O); “The Throne of Achamoth”, Tierney and Price; “Planetfall on Yuggoth”, Wade.)
SHAGGOTHS. See shoggoths.
SHAMBALLAH (or SHAMBHALA). City built fifty million years ago by Lemurians in the Great Eastern Desert (probably meaning the Gobi). It still remains there, protected behind a screen of psychic power. The wizard-priest Zanthu of Mu fled to the lands near this city when his home continent sank beneath the waves, and a copy of the Book of Dzyan may be found in the archives here.
[Buddhist thought places Shamballah in many different places. Some hold that when the entire world is engulfed in warfare, humanity’s savior shall come forth from Shamballah. Lovecraft’s usage derived from Theosophical literature.]
(“The Thing in the Pit”, Carter; Selected Letters IV, Lovecraft (O); “The Diary of Alonzo Typer”, Lovecraft and Lumley; “The Return of the Lloigor”, Wilson.)
SHAN (also INSECTS FROM SHAGGAI). Species of insects about the size of a bird. They differ from earthly insects in that they have ten legs, a set of feelers below their three mouths, and tentacles sprouting from their legs. The shan are entirely photosynthetic, deriving their nourishment from their sun’s rays, and possess the ability to physically enter and inhabit organic matter.
The shan originally came from the world of Shaggai, where they evolved the ability to imbibe electromagnetic radiation and thereby exploit their inhospitable environment through an unusual life cycle. Hermaphroditic, shan would mate to fertilize an egg sac. Once hatched, the larvae devoured both the parent and the other larvae, with the survivors dwelling in the oceans until they developed the ability to nourish themselves directly from radiation. Having reached adulthood, a shan could anticipate several centuries of life.
Possessing three brains and the ability to make tools, the shan rapidly acquired civilization. They lived in grey, globular buildings and worshiped Azathoth in conical metal temples. They conquered the surrounding worlds, with any prisoners taken being used either as slaves or for the insects’ entertainment. The shan were also known as mighty wizards, who were mentioned in the ancient writings only with the greatest abhorrence. It is said that one of the greatest secrets of the Pnakotic Manuscript dealt with something these insects summoned and were forced to imprison within their world.
When Shaggai was destroyed, the shan were not all killed. They had already colonized several nearby worlds, and the temples of Azathoth were able to teleport away from Shaggai. In this way, many insects escaped destruction.
The shan have spent many years in exile. The activities of only one group are known, but if this hive’s journeys are any indication, the insects have travelled extensively through space. The group previously mentioned travelled between many worlds, hopping from Shaggai to Xiclotl, then to Thuggon, next to L’ghyx, and finally to Earth. (It is rumored
that some had come earlier and been responsible for the building of the pyramids of Egypt before leaving again.) On their final stop, in the woods near the Severn River Valley in 1643, the shan became trapped, as the atmosphere contains an element preventing their temples from teleporting.
It was then that these earth-bound shan became involved with humanity. They found it possible to physically merge with the brains of humans, thereby infiltrating a group of fugitive Protestants hiding from the authorities. By doing so, they built up a cult dedicated to Azathoth, using their mind control to induce feelings of elation upon their hosts, as well as producing visions which revealed the history and discoveries of the insects to the worshipers. The famous witch-hunter Matthew Hopkins destroyed this cult, and now the shan have no known agents on Earth. Their encounter with the writer Ronald Shea in 1964 revealed to them that humanity was close to space flight, so their interest in our species might be rekindled.
Even before they left Shaggai, the shan were extremely decadent. Their primary form of entertainment is the torture of their many slave races, making use of curious devices powered by psychic waves.
See Azathoth; Colour out of Space; L’gy’hx; Revelations of Glaaki; seed of Azathoth; Shaggai; Thuggon; Xada-Hgla; Xiclotl. (“The Insects from Shaggai”, Campbell (O); Delta Green: Countdown, Detwiller et. al.; “The Queen”, Sammarco.)
SHANTAKS. Creatures of the Dreamlands that resemble tremendous scaled birds with the heads of horses. Shantaks live in the mountains near to the Plateau of Leng, and have been known to aid the people of that place at times. Some say that these creatures also dwell on other planets in our own dimension, constructing the huge stone towers found in Zimbabwe.
The shantaks serve Nyarlathotep, Groth-Golka, or the Wendigo. They may act as mounts, though the monster might ignore its rider’s commands and attempt to bear its rider to Azathoth’s court. They are known to fear nightgaunts, a fact that those wishing to avoid them should consider.
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