1
 
 

Possible source material for a Gaslight-era Cthulhu campaign. A free e-book from Project Gutenberg from 1823 called "Sketches in Bedlam: or Characteristic traits of insanity, as displayed in the cases of one hundred and forty patients of both sexes, now, or recently, confined in New Bethlem."

The descriptions of the individual patients are quite sad, but the parts about how Bethlem Hospital (better known as Bedlam) worked in the 19th century might be useful for anyone running a Lovecraftian game in that era.

https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/79350

2
 
 

Here is another German folklore with some rather Lovecraftian elements. It's a brief one, so I will quote it in its entirety, but it's so very juicy.

"The legend is widespread in the Holstein region that a rooster who has lived for seven years in the exact same house will then lay an egg. A strange animal will come out of this egg which people call by different names: Dragon, crocodile, and so forth.

A man named Swatkopf lived in the parish of Wewelsfleth. This man had a rooster which, since it had already lived within his house for seven years, laid an egg into the crib for his horses. But a strange thing crawled out of this egg. During the day, it always stayed in the crib for the horses. However, as soon as it became dark, it flew up to the owls’ gable in the house and made fluting noises. Now Swatkopf would have liked to sell his house, but he could not get rid of it. Then he had it torn down and built a different building on the same spot. The animal now moved away from him and to his neighbor Kasten Tumann, and in the evening sat in his chimney as a clump of fire. If Tumann was home, then the fluting thing always looked inside through the window, and caused him no little terror. In the end, Tumann took this so hard that he went to the sea and never returned home. But then the animal was also gone, and no one has seen it again."

While it is lacking in proper Lovecraftian words and phrases such as "squamous", it makes up for being very bizarre. The "Fluting Thing" has no clear appearance, but it drives the locals to madness and exile, and nobody knows what it wants. The notion that a bizarre creature can hatch from a rooster's egg is part of basilisk narratives, but the actual description of the creature is rather different.

(Note: I took the picture myself when I passed through Wewelsfleth last year.)

3
 
 

I just had an idea for a #CallOfCthulhu / #DeltaGreen scenario:

In a desperate gambit to gain a positive Return on Investment before their IPO, a multi-billion AI company turns to a Mythos source to power their latest AI model. Hilarity ensues.

So what precisely did they attempt, and how does it go horribly wrong? What are your thoughts?

4
 
 

I translate German folk tales, and here is one that definitely made me wonder about possible connections to the Cthulhu Mythos:

In the year 1454, a curious heresy spread in Thuringia, particularly in the Sangerhausen region as well as the domains of the Schwarzburger Unterherrschaft. According to legend, the men and women who adhered to this heresy secretly came together in cellars and dark chambers where they worshiped the Devil. The Devil appeared in the form of a bumblebee and flew in front of the mouth of each of them. Once the devotions were over, the lights were quenched, and everyone grabbed around them. And when they grabbed someone of the opposite sex, they sinned with them in a brazen manner, even if they were mother, sister, or daughter.(*) A smith revealed this to the lord of the realm, and led him to such a congregation in disguise so that he could witness this outrage for himself. After this, most of these sectarians were apprehended and burned, but many of them went joyfully to their deaths.

5
Cute companion (mander.xyz)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/callofcthulhu@ttrpg.network
 
 
6
 
 
7
 
 

Looking for any feedback on Alchemy for running Call of Cthulhu homebrew campaigns, that people may have - currently using Roll 20 which is acceptable