In Lumley's Titus Crow books, Nyarlathotep was a reflection of the joined telepathic sendings of the Old Gods. He was not a separate entity; existing only in so far as the Old Gods needed a vehicle through which they could interact and corrupt humanity. He looked real enough, but was actually a psychic construct with no physical counterpart.

Lumley also made Azathoth not a god, but instead the power of the atom which humanity was just beginning to explore, and Shub-niggurath also not a real being but represented the Old Ones' hyper-fertility (ie their ability to breed with just about anything).

The Road To Hali
Carcosa harbors secrets. Within the city's shifting insanity a figure stands, a
whisperer in mottled rags. From behind a pallid mask a voice shuffles forth with
an exhalation through yellowed teeth. The soft words are intended for you. This
being will tell you of Carcosa's secrets, it will share its knowledge with any
who will turn an appreciative ear.
It will never tell the same tale twice.
From the beginning, H.P. Lovecraft's Mythos encompassed the works of many
writers. The creations of Arthur Machen and Lord Dunsany, for instance, figure
into several of his works. Another writer who was posthumously inaugurated was
Robert W. Chambers, a turn-of-the-century writer of continental romances and
social ponderings. In a book of short stories collectively entitled The King in
Yellow, Chambers connected several stories together by means of a curious and
forbidden book, a technique Lovecraft adopted later with his Necronomicon. This
curious book, not surprisingly also entitled The King in Yellow, was said to be
a particularly brilliant and twisted play which wreaked havoc in the lives of
those who read it. In these short stories, Chambers introduced the doomed city
of Carcosa, on the shores of the lake of Hali. This city existed/exists not on
Earth, but rather on a planet circling the far star Aldebaran. Chambers made
oblique references to the events of the play, in which a stranger in a pallid
mask disrupts a costumed ball and informs the royal partygoers of their land's
doom. In Chambers' stories, people reading this play would grow depressed and
melancholy, eventually committing suicide or worse. Artists and creative types
seemed drawn to the book and the peculiar, twisting Yellow Sign on its cover.
In the Call of Cthulhu game, Hastur in some way holds dominion over Carcosa, and
is the source of its misery. Hastur -- whatever or whomever it is -- also
spreads ill on Earth. Several Chaosium adventures, including "Tell Me, Have You
Seen The Yellow Sign?" by Kevin A. Ross, "Tatterdemalion" by Richard Watts and
Penelope Love, and "The Evil Stars" by Keith Herber, are excellent
representations of Hastur's malevolent intentions towards humanity. In the first
two of these adventures, investigators can actually travel to Carcosa and see
the dominance of Hastur firsthand.
However, exploration of Carcosa in these scenarios is somewhat limited and
directed. Keepers who really want to put their players through some changes may
be intrigued by the prospect of a longer stay in the strange city. What
mysteries might it reveal?
How To Get There
"During my convalescence I had bought and read for the first time The King in
Yellow. I remembered after finishing the first act that it occurred to me that I
had better stop..."
-Robert W. Chambers, "The Repairer of Reputations"
In various Chaosium publications, several methods of travel to Carcosa have been
postulated. The first can be found in the CoC rulebook itself. This method
involves brewing a drink known as "space mead". When consumed, the imbiber is
immune to the detrimental effects of space travel -- that is, one may breathe
freely in the vacuum, etc. Having done this, the traveler summons and binds a
Byakhee, and is flown millions of miles to far Aldebaran. This form of travel is
time-consuming and dangerous, but is often used by cultists to neatly dispose of
victims.
Another method from the rulebook is Gate travel. Creating a Gate and investing
it with 14 points of POW will enable one to travel to Carcosa at will, though an
expense of 14 magic points each way is costly and will bar some from the
journey. A similar method -- described in detail in "Tatterdemalion" -- is
through a Window prepared by a god or very powerful cultist with a POW of 25.
Travel through the window is easy -- only one magic point is needed. But this
method is rarely available, and using it may draw the attention of the window's
creator.
Two other, riskier ways are possible. One may make a deal of some sort with
Hastur, which involves contacting or calling that being. Again, this is unlikely
to be used by player investigators. Another method, found in "Tell Me, Have You
Seen The Yellow Sign?", is rarest of all. In this adventure, a portion of
Carcosa itself briefly manifests on Earth. Investigators may enter the city
through this manifestation, but will be trapped there if they do not leave
before the phenomenon ends.
Beyond these methods, a number of options can be created. Hastur has a special
attraction for wizards and artists; doubtless, many of these have come up with
their own unusual ways of travel. Some sample ones are given below; in
themselves, they may suggest scenarios to any Keeper.
Swirl of the Pallid Dancers: This spell will enchant several dancers, all of
whom must be willing participants. The dancers require special tattered robes
and scarves, all of a mottled yellow. When cast, the dancers begin an elaborate
and hurried dance, circling the target who is to be transported. The dancers
whirl around him, moving faster and faster, as their unraveling costumes form a
solid blur. When completed, the dancers will collapse and the target will be
gone.
The dance lasts a number of minutes equal to the target's SIZ. It requires an
equal investment of magic points, which are drawn from among the dancers. The
caster may be one of the dancers, or may simply be nearby; should the caster be
one of the dancers, he may add additional magic points above the minimum needed.
When the dance is completed, the target attempts a resistance roll of POW vs.
magic points spent (including extra ones added by a dancing caster). If the
target fails to resist, he is lost in the blur of the dancers and is instantly
transported to Carcosa. If the caster has been there before, he may choose where
the target is sent; otherwise, the target may arrive anywhere within the strange
city. The dancers each lose 1/1D3 SAN; the caster 2/1D6, and the target, 3/1D8.
Anyone viewing the process loses 0/1 SAN points.
Gahan's Canvas: This is a painting, showing a battered throne in the shadows of
a columned hall. A painter who owns the canvas may paint a subject into the
picture, usually seated in the throne. The subject must be present during the
painting. The entire process takes 4+1D4 hours to complete, and the painter must
make a successful Painting skill roll or the attempt fails. During this time,
which must be continuous, the subject may make an hourly resistance roll of his
POW vs. the painter's. If the subject succeeds, the attempt is spoiled, though
the subject will not be aware of what the artist was attempting to do. In such a
case, the painting may be begun again, if the subject is willing. Should each
hourly resistance roll be failed, the subject sits there placidly and awaits the
results.
When finished, the subject grows insubstantial and fades away, as does his image
on the canvas. Upon finally vanishing, the subject is transported to Carcosa,
appearing in a hall identical to the one on the canvas and in the same position
as he was painted. When it is over, the canvas once again shows only the hall,
awaiting its next visitor. Using the Canvas costs 1/1D4 SAN; being subjected to
the process costs 3/1D8 SAN.
Camilla's Shears: An ornately decorated pair of scissors, with curious twisting
designs that seem to shift before the eyes (including an occasionally-glimpsed
Yellow Sign). To be used, they must be operated in the air, as if cutting all
around a sleeping or immobile victim. When the scissors have "cut" all around
the victim, a POW vs. POW resistance roll may be attempted against the user of
the scissors. Should the roll succeed, the victim will instantly awaken.
Otherwise, their mind will be gone, transported to Carcosa, where it will join
the other invisible wailing spirits who haunt the streets. The victim's body
will remain unharmed, but will be nothing more than a mindless vegetable. Using
the scissors costs 1/1D4 SAN. The victim takes D100 SAN, and will in any case
quickly become permanently insane, now privy to the incorporeal terrors that
lurk in dim Carcosa. Use of this item as a method of willing player investigator
travel is not recommended.
Mottled Clay: This substance must be created from a number of things, which
should be chosen by the Keeper for their unusualness and inaccessibility. Some
typical components might include ancient papyrus, dandelions, mummy wrappings,
baby fat, and other odd things. Some of these items must be obtained in
quantity, for half a pound of the Clay is needed for each point of SIZ to be
transported. When the ingredients are assembled and a noxious ritual performed
(at a cost of one magic point per half pound) the result is a mottled yellow
clay, thick and slimy.
The user of the Clay covers the target completely with it. If a person is the
target, they must be immobile or a volunteer for all of the clay to be applied.
Of course, the target may also be a book or item, which will take no damage from
the Clay's application. As it is smoothed on, the Clay hardens quickly into a
tough shell. When the target is completely covered, this shell may be shattered
with a quick blow, and will be found to now be hollow. The target has been
transported to a particular location on Carcosa, turned to stone. There, in a
strange gallery of petrified people and objects, the target waits for the user
of the Clay to come.
In order to free the target from the invulnerable stone stasis, the user must
gather the now-hardened Clay fragments and grind them into a fine powder.
Journeying to Carcosa, the caster sprinkles this powder over the target it was
used on, restoring them to flesh (or whatever) and freeing them from the stasis.
Of course, many who are sent to the gallery are never retrieved, and so it is a
repository for many lost and vanished souls. Without the powder of the Clay that
sent them there, they will remain petrified forever. Using the Clay costs 1/1D4
SAN.
These methods are examples; similar items and spells doubtless exist,
corresponding to their own cultures and times. Investigators will no doubt be
hesitant about using some of these to transport themselves to Carcosa... their
caution is well-founded.
Your First Steps
"Night fell and hours dragged on, but still we murmured to each other of the
King and the Pallid Mask, and midnight sounded from the misty spires in the
fog-wrapped city. We spoke of Hastur and Cassilda, while outside the fog rolled
against the blank window-panes as the cloud waves roll and break on the shores
of Hali..."
-Robert W. Chambers, "The Yellow Sign"
To truly know Carcosa we must begin with a look at the nature of reality. In our
human experience, reality is fairly consistent and reliable. Atoms have an
internal stability that allows them to remain what they are. Lead does not
become gold; a chair does not turn into a butterfly; if you turn right, walk
three steps, turn around, walk three steps, and turn left you will be back where
you started.
But the coming of the King in Yellow brought to an end the rule of such reality
in Carcosa. The malignant turmoil of Hastur entered and re-assembled reality in
its own image.
Now, existence in Carcosa is not predicated on internal stability. Rather, it is
a sort of relational reality. If there is a door on Earth, it is still the same
door whether you stand by it, walk through it, or just look at it. But bring
that door under Hastur's influence and its definition is constantly changing.
When you stand by that door, it is defined by how you stand -- how close you
are, what color shirt you are wearing, what dust is on your shoes. Should you
cross your legs, you have changed the door's definition -- as well as your own.
The key element in this mutually-defining reality is perception. While your
presence near a door alters its reality, your looking at it actually
materializes the change. If you watch the door while a friend walks back and
forth through it, you may see the door shift and shudder. Your friend might see
the same thing, or something more appropriate to him.
The difficulty with Carcosa's reality lies in what happens to the things near
you that you cannot see. Your perception of a thing strengthens the bonds, so
little will change as long as you can watch it. But beyond the edges of your
vision -- beyond your immediate perception -- reality is free to change as it
pleases, simply because you cannot perceive it. It will stay in a more stable
form only when you turn to look at it.
Thus, a person who walks from one end of a street to the other and then back
again will find that the street has changed greatly; should they turn around and
traverse the street once more it will bear even less resemblance to the way it
looked the first time.
Hastur's mutational reality is also self-propelling. As one area of reality is
modified, everything around it changes in response. This causes the original
area to shift in response to that, and so on. The net effect of this is that
Carcosa is completely remade every few hours, never the same thing twice.
Needless to say, this makes navigation incredibly difficult for the doomed fools
-- that is, the investigators -- who have traveled there.
Maps are useless. Buildings, streets, entire areas disappear and reform anew
after you pass them. Leaving behind markers is similarly futile; they are
quickly absorbed into the city, and likely as not your carefully-made
trailblazes will appear all over the city, pointing in different directions.
Even movement inside a building is difficult, though the changes tend to be less
drastic than those of the city as a whole (the entire building, for instance,
will not disappear while you are in it).
Sanity Travel
Once all of this has been made clear to the newly-arrived investigators, call
for Idea rolls. Successful rolls cost them each 1D6 SAN; failure only costs 1D3.
Request that the players begin keeping a running total of how much SAN they lose
due to the city's influence (though SAN is still recorded normally as well, and
the usual detrimental effects apply).
From this point on, call for both Sanity and Idea rolls as you feel they are
appropriate. Sanity checks should be made as the result of some shock --
realizing that the way home is blocked, or seeing a monster. Idea rolls are used
whenever you feel that the investigators might have an opportunity to grasp
something about the reality of the city. If they experiment with the reality
shifts or try to "test" how things work here, Idea rolls would be appropriate.
There is another important difference in the two rolls. A successful Idea roll
will cost more SAN than a failed one (as seen in the 1D6/1D3 roll made above).
This is just the opposite of the normal Sanity check, which costs more if you
fail than if you succeed. In Carcosa it is not sudden crude shocks that
illuminate the mind. Rather, it is the slow but constant eating away at your
rationality and sense of place that is truly damaging.^
As well as enlightening. Whenever the investigators attempt some moderately
difficult feat of navigation, one of the group must make a roll. This roll needs
to be under the total Carcosa-related SAN that investigator has lost to date.
Note that "difficult" means that the investigators are trying to get somewhere
that they can't see; as noted earlier, as long as you keep your eyes on
something it will remain fairly stable.
For example: Archie McPhee, crack investigator, is wandering through dim
Carcosa. Turning a corner, he sees a strangely attractive statue a couple of
streets ahead. Should he walk directly to it, he will reach it with no problem.
If, instead, he makes a side trip into a building along the way, the statue will
probably not be visible (or will have turned into a lamppost or whatever) when
he comes back out. If he wants to make the statue reachable, he will have to
roll under the amount of SAN points he has lost so far.
Obviously, the more SAN you lose the easier you will find it to get around.
Explorers must budget their stability: they will need to understand enough of
this strange reality to get where they need to go, but still retain enough SAN
to survive the trip back.
It should be noted that only one investigator in a group needs to succeed in
their navigation roll, provided that unrestricted communication is possible
among the group's members. But they must convince a majority of the group that
they know the way. This can be accomplished however the Keeper desires; the
investigator may need to make an Oratory or Debate roll, success indicating that
those listening may make another sanity travel roll with a bonus.
What You'll See
There are three principal areas that the investigators might wish to explore:
Carcosa, the lake of Hali, and the Palace. All three share a common mood: it is
always night, always gloomy, always alien. The rising moons never complete their
journeys, frozen in their tracks since the coming of the Yellow King. Whether
they have actually stopped, or whether time here simply does not pass, is a
matter for private contemplation. Game time should still be kept track of
normally as some things happen at regular intervals, but investigators
attempting to make use of time (by meeting at a certain hour, for instance) will
find that it does not pass at a rate they are accustomed to. Despite the
everpresent gloom it is not too dark to see the nightflyers, the strange
everchanging winged things that swoop and arc above the city; prudent
investigators may remark that this clarity of vision works both ways, and keep a
lookout for nearby cover.
Upon arrival -- however they get there -- the investigators will immediately
feel alone, unwelcome. This place was once built by humans, perhaps another seed
colony planted by the Elder Things. But with the coming of the Yellow King and
the malignant influence of Hastur it shifted, slowly becoming a physical
extension of that being's inner self. It is inimical to normal life, normal
perceptions; the only way to truly know Carcosa is to lose your sanity, drop by
drop, gaining precious but shattering knowledge of this strange realm.
Carcosa
The city itself is a ferocious marvel; investigators with a sense of the
romantic will be drawn to it, sensing its strange beauty, its ethereal grandeur.
Those who pride themselves on rationality and logic will not fathom it, finding
that, taken as a whole, it disturbs and sickens them. But any who stay long
enough will not want to leave...
The most unusual feature of the city is that it is constantly changing; as you
look around, the structure of the city -- or at least, your perception of it --
breaks down and disassembles at the corners of your vision. If you move your
gaze slowly from left to right and then back again, the entire expanse will have
changed somehow: new bricks become old, flagstones become granite, fences become
walls, doorways vanish or become cupboards. The only way to keep an area stable
is to never take your eyes from it; of course, the longer you aren't looking at
the rest of what's around you, the more that will change. Staring intently at a
particular door will allow it to remain constant, but the floor just behind you
may be turning into a crumbling cliff. More information on this is given in the
travel section.
In preparing for your players to explore the city, you should create eight or
ten special locations for them to wander into. These places may be keyed to
whatever the characters' objectives are, or may be resources useful in a variety
of circumstances. Such places tend to have more stability than most of the city
due to the power that has gone into their creation; their physical details will
remain fairly constant, though never reliable. Examples follow:
The Whisper Labyrinth: Somewhere below the city there is a crumbling archway
from which a pale draft issues. An investigator might be led here by the distant
calling of their name from within, or perhaps by the smell of the draft.
Entering the archway, one sees a smallish, circular room with three damp and
narrow hallways leading off into darkness; a light source is needed to progress
beyond here.
As soon as anyone progresses far enough down any hallway to lose sight of their
companions or the archway, they are lost. Physical aids such as ropes and marks
will not help exploration: the rope will soon be found to have looped around
somehow and become tied to itself; markings on the wall will be altered beyond
usefulness, repeated on every surface, or simply deleted. Investigators who
explore as a group will become separated if any of them go too far ahead or drag
behind; remaining in immediate contact is essential.
The labyrinth consists of hallways and small rooms. In every wall there will be
several little alcoves or shelves. Each of these holds a bottle; there are tens
of thousands of these bottles throughout the labyrinth, and no two are alike.
They are short or tall, fat or skinny, ornate or plain, and may be constructed
of any number of materials. Each bottle, however, has a name on it, the name of
the owner of the bottle. All bottles are closed in some fashion -- cork, lid,
whatever -- but none may be opened except by the person whose name appears on
the bottle.
In wandering around, there is a 3% chance per hour (not cumulative) that an
investigator comes across their own bottle, though a successful Spot Hidden is
still needed to spot it. Should the bottle be opened, a whisper will be
released, audible only to the investigator. The message and its effects are up
to the Keeper, who must come up with something suitable. It may be a revelation
about a past mystery; it may be the voice of a dead friend or a forgotten lover;
it may be a cryptic statement that will offer aid or lead them into a trap.
Whatever the message is, it will not be inconsequential or insignificant.
When an investigator (or a group) enters the labyrinth, roll 3D6. This gives you
the number of perceived hours they will wander around before finding the way
out. Should an investigator's bottle be found, however, that investigator (and
any who are with him) will find the exit from the labyrinth in a matter of
minutes. If a bottle is taken that does not belong to the taker, they will find
that no matter which direction they turn they keep coming back to the empty
alcove until the bottle is returned. Investigators may keep their own bottle, if
they like, though it will not do anything after first being opened.
Needless to say, it should be quite rare for anyone to just happen upon their
bottle. An adventure that used this location would probably include a spell,
magic item, or perhaps a guide of some kind that would enable the desired bottle
to be found in a reasonable period of time. As the investigators wander around
the labyrinth, feel free to allow them glimpses of other travelers, or hear
voices cry out; unless you wish it, none of these phenomena can be caught up
with. Take note of what light sources the investigators bring with them, and
determine if they will last long enough. Anyone unlucky enough to be lost in the
dark will eventually reach the surface, but will quite probably be insane.
The Whisper Labyrinth is a strange and frightening place; at your discretion, a
hallway may suddenly open up into a large room or other oddity, perhaps where
nefarious goings-on are going on. There may be truth to the legend that
somewhere, deep in the labyrinth, one may find the Voice that gives breath to
all the bottles. This may not be a desirable objective...
The Gallery of Shades: One of Carcosa's larger structures, this elaborate museum
houses the works of dozens of artists, all influenced in some way by the madness
that is Hastur. The building, like most in the city, changes constantly. Rooms
and balconies contract and expand or disappear completely when you're not
looking; carpeting becomes oak becomes tile becomes marble. The disorienting
nature of the structure has a purpose: to draw the visitor's interest to the
works shown, rather than to the gallery itself.
The artworks displayed are of all types: paintings, sketches, statuary, kinetic
sculptures, folk art, etc. The quality varies widely, but all share a common
heritage of unbalanced creativity. Works here are rarely designed to shock or
disgust; the grotesqueries of Richard Upton Pickman would have a hard time
finding a place in Hastur's aesthetic. The subject matter varies widely in both
depiction and effect; a painting of a strange alien landscape may not be as
disturbing as the sketch of a Paris cafe where a woman's eyes hunger for
something that she will never find in Paris. The influence of Hastur is
pervasive and ever-changing, and its madness finds new interpretation in each
creator.
The effect of these works upon touring investigators is slow but insidious. As
they travel through the gallery's many floors and wings (perhaps chasing a mad
friend or seeking a certain work, depending on your scenario), call for Luck
rolls from each. The person who rolls the highest (whether they fail or not)
will begin to fall under the gallery's sway. Optionally, you may simply target
any investigator who is appropriate (a painter, a writer, has the lowest SAN,
read The King in Yellow, etc.).
The affected investigator will now lose 1D3 SAN every ten minutes. In some way
the others can not grasp, he has had a terrible insight into the nature of
Hastur, and now all the artworks in the gallery make a curious kind of sense.
While the others in the party simply feel uneasy when they view these pieces, he
begins to understand them. Each bit of sanity lost makes it easier to lose the
next bit, and soon the rational structure of the unfortunate investigator's mind
falls like a line of dominoes. Do not roll for temporary insanity, etc., but
instead just keep track of how much SAN has been lost without telling the
player. The investigator is not consciously aware of what is going on, as he
slowly retreats into the madness growing inside him.
Should the investigators decide to leave the Gallery (entrances abound, so this
is not a problem), the affected investigator will not want to leave. He will
resist any physical attempts at taking him out, even fighting if he has to.
Should a friend attempt to talk him into leaving, however, he may make a POW
resistance roll against the speaking friend. Should the roll fail, the insight
he gained will suddenly elude him, and, shaken and pale, he may be led out of
the Gallery, though the lost SAN still applies. Once the investigator has
escaped, he will remain pale and melancholy for as long as the party is in
Carcosa, unwilling to take any action. Divide the character's new SAN by 5 and
use that as his effective POW for as long as he remains in the city. Upon
returning home, he may recover normally in an institution or through therapy.
Should the investigators remain in the Gallery for too long, the afftected
victim will go with the party, acting perhaps quiet but otherwise normal until
he reaches 0 SAN and is permanently, incurably insane. At this point, a dozen
masked figures in dark robes will suddenly step into the room where the party
is, blocking all entrances. The investigators will find themselves frozen,
unable to act, as the insane investigator steps forward and walks off with the
strange figures, never to be seen again.
The remaining investigators will find that the strange paralysis wears off
quickly, but no trace of their friend will be found. However, if they spend any
significant amount of time looking for him, another investigator will begin to
suffer the same fate. Should the party refuse to leave until their friend is
found, it is likely that they will all become Shades of the Gallery.
Somewhere in the Gallery is the hall referred to in the section on Mottled Clay.
This area will contain somewhere between thirty and sixty stone objects at any
given time. These will include petrified people, animals, books, items, any
number of things, all awaiting (many in vain) for the day when the dust of their
creation will be sprinkled on them, releasing them from the invulnerable stone
prison they find themselves in. Some sculptors, it is said, prefer to construct
their works entirely from life, using Mottled Clay to transform real objects or
people into eternal statues, to be displayed here.
The Whisper Labyrinth and the Gallery of Shades are typical of the sort of
strange madness that Hastur generates. Keepers may use them as models for
scenarios; remember that most places in Carcosa do have some purpose, though it
may be lost on normal people.
The Lake Of Hali
The lake of Hali is the passive essence of Hastur. It shares with its
surroundings a certain insubstantiality -- the size of the lake is not constant,
though this will not be obvious to an onlooker. The lake is sometimes made up of
water, sometimes not. When it is not water, the lake takes the form of roiling
clouds, like a huge swirling fog that nevertheless has crests, waves, and
eddies. When it is in this fog-state, it may well be a sign that Hastur is
dreaming.
The lake covers an uncertain area, and indeed may never truly end. Just what
Hali is is difficult to say; Chambers speaks of the cloud-waves rolling onto the
shores of Hali, which suggests that it is a general name for the area. Perhaps
Hali was the name of this land before the coming of the Yellow King?
Though few ever learn much about it, the lake is fully as strange as the rest of
this place. Dim lights occasionally emit a glow from somewhere deep underwater.
This glow may be constant, or may even flash like a beacon or a message of some
kind; whatever it is, the investigators aren't likely to want to find out.
Of course, the lake is occupied. Anyone contemplating a journey onto the lake
while it is in water form (and while Hastur is awake) had best think twice.
Boats of strange and baroque design may well be found on the shore from time to
time, and spirited investigators can certainly set sail. They will quickly learn
that anything may be living in this odd body of water. It is assured that there
are all sorts of monstrous Hastur-spawn and who knows what else -- if you wish
to stage an attack on an investigator vessel, feel free to use the game
statistics for a shoggoth or other such entity. Creatures of this magnitude are
common in the watery depths. See "Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?" for a
more thorough description of the lake's inhabitants.
One of the most fearsome and curious aspects of the lake is its changing
substance. Unknown to many, when the lake is in its foggy dream-cloud form a
voyager may actually travel down into the lake itself, simply by tipping the
boat downwards and paddling a course into the deeps of the fog. Such a voyage
will be a strange and wondrous experience, and not wholly unpleasant.
Visibility under the fogwater is about fifteen feet. Deep-ocean sounds resonate
from time to time, perhaps the low rumbles of some Aldeberan whale. Occasionally
one of the lake's inhabitants will drift by through the dim clouds, just out of
sight. In such cases the investigators will nevertheless be aware of something
truly huge passing them by -- worth a 0/1 SAN check.
About eighty feet down the explorers will begin to descend past tower spires,
only dimly glimpsed in the fog. Soon it will become apparent that the
investigators are surrounded by buildings, in a vast city that lies unguessed at
beneath the lake. Nervous investigators will wonder just what they have gotten
themselves into. Remind them that they are far below the surface of the lake --
should Hastur awaken, and the dreamclouds become water once more, they would
surely be doomed.
If they are brave enough to continue, several hundred feet down the boat will
come to rest on the bottom, actually one of the many streets in the strange
secret city beneath the lake. As the investigators disembark and get their
bearings, the fog will slowly drift away until they can see with perfect
clarity, revealing stars above. The investigators have gone as far as they can
and have arrived at last at the lake of Hali's deepest secret -- Carcosa itself.
For as you descend into the dream-lake and pass through Hastur's slumber you
eventually emerge above Carcosa, and when you reach bottom you are once again in
the city where you came from. Investigators will quickly deduce this (Idea rolls
are appropriate here, at a cost of 1D8/1D4 SAN) when they see the shores of the
lake of Hali still beckoning them from not far away, the lake once again
consisting of water, its strange cloud-substance only a memory. If you would
like to drive the point home, allow the investigators to see themselves in the
distance, climbing into the boat and descending into the lake once more...
Other secrets of the lake are not for discussion here. As the essence of Hastur,
the lake of Hali is a strange and wondrous place, not quite in sync with
Carcosa. After traversing the dream-lake, one may sense that Carcosa itself is
still in transition. In time, perhaps it will share the essence of the lake more
fully. Meanwhile, a journey on or into the lake is a brave undertaking, one that
should reward the players with a very curious experience.
The Palace
Standing on the shore of the lake of Hali, where it meets the edge of Carcosa,
one may occasionally glimpse a far-off structure across the lake, impossibly far
to still be visible. This is the Palace, where the King in Yellow made his
appearance and brought the infestation of Hastur. It is the setting for the
banned play that bears the King's name, and under normal circumstances should
not be reachable by the investigators.
But, hope springs eternal in the heart of every player. Should you wish to form
an adventure utilizing the Palace, here are some guidelines.
Before attempting to use this section, the Keeper is strongly urged to read the
boxed summary of The King in Yellow play by Kevin A. Ross that appears in both
"Tell Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?" and "Tatterdemalion". A short story by
James Blish -- "More Light", in the anthology Alchemy & Academe (Anne McCaffrey,
editor) -- gives Blish's version of a good chunk of the play's text. While not
wholly successful, the story should greatly assist the Keeper in getting an
accurate feel for the Palace, its inhabitants, and its immediate history.
Reaching the Palace is the first and most difficult step. Achieving a means of
transportation to the Palace would be worthy of a scenario in itself. It may be
that when the lake of Hali is in its dream-state, there is a boat sailing within
it that will carry the investigators to the Palace. Perhaps a bottle in the
Whisper Labyrinth contains a clue. A woman frozen in stone within the Gallery of
Shades might have a piece of vital information.
However you choose for the investigators to get there, achieving the Palace is
likely to be the climax of an extended Carcosa-oriented campaign. If the lake of
Hali is the strangely beautiful soul of Hastur, the Palace is its secret,
palpitating heart. The Palace may lie within the lake; perhaps the vision
occasionally glimpsed by the investigators is simply a reflection of the real
Palace underwater. Such concerns are left for you to decide. The Palace,
however, is almost certainly not on the lake's far shore, if such a location
even exists. When the Yellow King arrived, the Palace was somehow absorbed by
Carcosa, and it was displaced from the shore where it once stood. Or so they
say.
The Palace is of great size and great beauty. Standing before it, the viewer is
bitterly tempted to weep for lost Yhtill. Indeed, the entire structure radiates
a kind of alien sadness. Within, the recent remnants of a great party are
evident. When the investigators enter, in fact, it is only a few hours after the
initial arrival of the King in Yellow. Time here has in some way slowed almost
to a standstill. The investigators may wander the strange, ornate rooms of the
Palace unchallenged, but the sound of voices will eventually draw them to the
great ballroom.
There they will find the inhabitants of the Palace, standing and sitting in
small groups, speaking in low, stunned tones. Everyone here is gaily dressed for
a masquerade, though they have all unmasked. Only a few hours previous, it
should be explained, the King in Yellow arrived, informing the party-goers of
his identity. In that moment the city of Yhtill -- wherein the Palace lay --
became Carcosa, and the royal family of the palace learned that they were
somehow doomed. They stand around now, morose and uncertain. Any of them will
speak with the investigators, seeing them only as familiar party-goers. Little
information may be passed on, however -- the people of the Palace are truly lost
in both mind and soul.
The outcome of all this is up to the Keeper. Terrible dangers may well exist in
the dungeons and cellars of the palace, but such amusements are rightly your
province. The Palace should be a deeply unsettling but finally incomprehensible
place to visitors. Hastur's madness is not a crude, violent spasm but a
subterranean impenetrable solitude, indefinable and unyielding. Exploring its
heart would not be a wholly pleasant experience.
Packing Your Bags
You can think of this text as a toolkit. Creating a scenario with these tools is
still an involved process -- otherworldly travel is something that usually crops
up only in long-running campaigns, and is then exceedingly risky. Hali is no
different in that respect.
The first step, of course, is to come up with a good enough reason for a group
of investigators to do such a foolish thing as to travel there. In
"Tatterdemalion", they make the journey to find the Yellow King and stop one of
his plans. The adventure does sort of lead the players by the nose, though; the
more comprehensive rules in this article on sanity travel may be of assistance
if you plan to run "Tatterdemalion". But the reasons for travelling to Carcosa
are as varied as the reality of Hastur itself. Some of the items given under
"how to get there" could easily kick off a rescue scenario -- say a diplomat
disappeared at a state function while surrounded by swirling dancers, or a
friend of the investigators vanished after an old acquaintance from art school
came by to do a portrait. Any novel manner of transport will suggest a scenario
in itself.
Other possibilities could include recovering some item vital to stopping a
fiendish plot. Perhaps an NPC needs the investigators to help him find his
bottle in the Whisper Labyrinth, so that he may at last learn the words to a
forgotten ritual that needs to be performed.
Once you have a plot in mind, you will need to construct locations, NPC's, and
encounters in Carcosa that relate to your plan. No detailed maps should be
created -- just a general description of a building and what sort of things it
contains will suffice. NPC's may be human or not, and will likely be insane.
These individuals or creatures may have special advice for the investigators, or
may take the form of pursuers dogging their trail.
Locations are perhaps the most important part of your scenario. There will
probably be several places for the investigators to go, not all of which will
relate to the matter at hand. Decide what each location is used for, what
inhabitants might be there, and what sort of SAN/Idea rolls and costs might be
needed. You will also need to work up some sort of rough diagram showing
connections between the locations to facilitate sanity travel. Physical
landmarks do change appearance, but they will retain some sort of spatial
relationship with each other. An observatory may move underground, but it will
still be in the same general area -- for a while.
Time is also important. It does not truly pass in Carcosa, which will thwart any
attempts at making some sort of scheduled rendezvous, but you will need to keep
rough track of elapsed game time. SAN costs will often come at somewhat regular
intervals (as in the Gallery of Shades) so keeping track of this will be
essential.
Special notice should be paid to the times when the lake of Hali becomes filled
with cloudy fog instead of water. This article interprets the phenomenon as the
dream-state of Hastur. Conditions beyond the lake may change as well, at your
discretion. The mists could extend all through the city; a shimmering Yellow
Sign may materialize in the night skies (as it does in the illustration on page
27 of this issue); those already under Hastur's sway may suffer a loss of
willpower and drive during such times. The lake itself exhibits strange
properties while in the dream-state: boats could be encountered drifting along
under the surface, perhaps phantom derelicts of sinister portent. Adventures
that make use of the dream-state may have things in common with the Dreamlands..
perhaps the lake allows movement into and out of that place. If the idea appeals
to you, refer to H.P. Lovecraft's Dreamlands, from Chaosium, for more ideas.
Finally, you may want to answer for yourself the question of just what Hastur
is. This article has referred to Hastur in purposefully vague terms -- you may
well notice the lack of any detailed statistics for beings encountered in
Carcosa, and that is an extension of the confusion surrounding Hastur. In "Tell
Me, Have You Seen the Yellow Sign?" it is mentioned that the term Hastur appears
in The King in Yellow as both a person and a place. The name crops up often in
Robert W. Chambers' short stories, but Hastur is not identified as being a god
or a man or much of anything. His short story "The Demoiselle D'Ys" has a very
minor character named Hastur, a man who works as a falconer. This would seem to
only be a bit of inspired mischief on Chambers' part, but who can say?
In many ways, Hastur seems to be a very abstract manifestation of something we
cannot understand. Its existence raises many questions -- who did write The King
in Yellow, and how did the author know the details of the coming of the Yellow
King? "Tatterdemalion" identifies the writer as a man named Castaigne, but this
appears to be incorrect. Two men named Castaigne do appear in Chambers' story
"The Repairer of Reputations" and one of them reads the book, but certainly
neither one wrote it. One possibility worth considering is that Hali did not
exist until the unknown writer created it, making the city, the palace, and the
lake into a sort of projected reality, brought into being by the madness of the
play's readers. Which came first, the play or the King? Perhaps Hastur knows,
but It is not telling.

Damn, my post was long...
I wonder if anybody actually read the whole thing?
And can anybody cite my source(s)?
Bah, anyway, in answer to the question, I think it is definite, using the original sources and disregarding any following sources (though they all seem to agree/support the original), that The Yellow King, The Ragman, and Hastur are all the same entity...
Nyarly comes over for tea once in a while though...