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This is the Latin original of Ludvig Prynn's De Vermiis Mysteriis -- a contrast to the English translation by Charles Leggett in 1821 which the investigators had previously read. Reading the original costs 2D6/4D6 points of Sanity and adds +20% Cthulhu Mythos; or for those who have already read the Leggett translaation, 1D6/2D6 points of Sanity and +10% Cthulhu Mythos skill. The spell multiplier is x2. Spells included are Create Zombie, Command Ghost, Summon/Bind Byakhee, Contact Yig, Voorish Sign, Prinn's Crux Ansata, Create Scrying Window, Create Liao Drug, Summon/Bind Star Vampire, Summon/Bind Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, and Spirit Transfer. The tale is from the point of view of an unnamed narrator, perhaps actually autobiographical, describing his experiences with the supernatural in the company of an Emendib Kejir. The Leggett translation suggests that Kejir was "by turns had been my captor, tutor, and host" -- but in the original it is clear that the two had a homosexual relationship. The Leggett translation edited out the homosexual, cross-racial relationship as well as the extensive symbolism regarding it in the magical operations. The author identified himself as becoming both male and female, . Selected Passages (literal translation) "...so he bound me to the post, but I could see in his fiery eyes a desire for something else..." "...Later the Crux Ansata was adopted by the Romans with a more abstract circular loop to symbolize Venus, their pale imitation of vitality they dared not dream. To them, Venus and her symbol were only the female sex. This bastardized form represents not the true creative power. The true cross is both male and female, the fertility of the Earth and the bounty of the rain, the loop and the staff. Their puny idols sitting in corners were nothing to the glories of Imhotep's masters. The creatures who drew back from the true cross, however, recognized the fertile power in the symbol, in Emendib its wielder, and in the greater power behind it..." "...as I held the cross I had forged weeks ago, I felt a fluid motion of the flesh of my loins. I was changing, taking on the power that I had felt first in my dear Emendib so many months ago. The cross which was a part of my soul, also became a symbol of me, or I it -- I know not which. I did not know when my transformation would be complete, but I knew it would be for a purpose..." "...With Emendib gone, I did not know whom to seek. I did not know what would flow forth from me, but I knew it would bear no relation to the hideous Chinese or his acolytes. He would never capture me and know those passages. From me would issue beings of power and truth, not the cold deceivers..." |