I must warn you about a threat to our world.

Long before mankind roamed this earth, therelived great and terrible beings. A single of theseancient beasts held the power to enslave, ordestroy, the world. When they entered a state ofhibernation, humanity was allowed to prosper.

Even now, however, their power infects mankind.

Weak-minded men have fallen under their controland formed Cults dedicated to each Elder Godsrevival.

You must prevent them from succeeding or theworld will be lost.

- Walter P Matherson

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OVERVIEWSinister Cults are attempting to awaken their Elder Gods. Ifthey succeed, it will plunge the world into endless darkness.But awakening a god is not easy and requires many Minionsto perform the ritual.

This is the one advantage you have against them. Byattacking these Cults, you can prevent them from gatheringthe strength they need.

Each turn, you will draw cards from the Cult Deck torepresent their gathering forces.

You must lead attacks against the Cults of Cthulhu,Arwassa, Chaugnar Faugn, and Yog-Sothoth to reduce theirnumbers and prevent them from gathering enough strengthto summon their specific Elder God.

If you fail to hold back the vile forces, our world is doomed.

COMPONENTS

CULT BOARDS

The Cult of Cthulhu

The Cult of Arwassa

The Cult of Chaugnar Faugn

The Cult of Yog-Sothoth

The Cult Boards have areas for their Gate cards,

their Minion cards,

and their Horror cards.

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SYMBOLSThe Symbol on each Cult card identifies which Cult theMinion, Horror, or Gate belongs to. These cards havematching colors and symbols on the Cult Boards.

Cult cards are always placed on the Cult Board with thecards matching color and symbol.

The Cult of Cthulhu

The Cult of Arwassa

The Cult of Chaugnar Faugn

The Cult of Yog-Sothoth

THE HELP SHEETThe Help Sheet listsMagic Spells, the TurnOrder, and otherinformation necessaryto play the game.

THE CARDSMinion Cards

Minions gather to summon Horrors. Ifthey are very luck and can gather 5 ormore Minions together they can summonan Elder God.

A Cult card with a numeric value in thetop left corner represents the Minions ofa Cult.

The value represents the Minions specific strength.

Gate CardsThese Gates bring Minions and Horrorsto our world. They must be destroyedquickly or our world will be overrun.

Horror CardsThese creatures are fearsome and willtest the sanity of even the strongest-willed Investigators.

Horror cards do not have a number in thetop left corner.

While these creatures do not contributetoward summoning their gods, their

arrival will challenge your Sanity.

InvestigatorsThis is your character in the game. Youwill choose one of the Investigators toplay during the game. Your Investigatorcan only use his or her Skill once perturn.

Investigator cards have a special backingidentifying them as Investigators.

Investigator cards are not part of the Cultdeck.

FollowersThere are Follower cards in the Cult deckthat you may purchase during the game.Each Follower has a unique Skill.

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ItemsYou can purchase and use Items to battlethe Cults.

Beware, there are also Cursed Itemswhich will hamper your efforts!

THE DICEYour Body Die

The red Body die represents your physical body. Ifyou roll a 1 with your Body die, you are Woundedand you lose a Health die. If you roll a 1 with your

Body die, and you do not have any Health dice remaining,you are killed, and you lose the game.

Any roll, including 1s, can be used to destroy Minions andHorrors in Combat.

Your Health DiceThe 2 green Health dice help you Slay Minions andHorrors in Combat.

Each time you are Wounded, you lose one of these HealthDice until you Heal.

Your Spirit DiceThere are 4 Spirit dice. You can purchase 3 of themto temporarily aid you in combat.

You gain the use of Spirit dice by purchasing the SpiritDie Magic Spell. These dice are purchased for a single use.You do not retain them, but they can be repurchased foreach Attack.

You cannot roll more than 3 purchased Spirit dice during anAttack.

You receive the fourth Spirit die if you acquire the Sword ofthe Crusader Item.

Experience CoinsUse the Experience Coins to track your unspentExperience points.

When you Slay Minions and Horrors, CloseGates, or elect not to purchase Items and

Followers, you gain Experience.

You spend Experience to purchase Spells, Items and

Followers, Close Gates, and to resist Sanity Loss.

The Coins do not limit your Experience. If you run out ofCoins, use some other marker to record your unspentExperience.

Instead of using the Coins, you can also collect cards as youdestroy them. Place them in a pile near your Investigator tospend as you need them. Each Minion, Gate, orunpurchased Item or Follower is worth 1 Experience, andHorrors are worth their Combo Values. Make change asneeded using cards from the discard pile.

MULTIPLAYER RULESThese rules are written for a solitaire game. The game canbe played with more than one player using only a fewmodifications. Multiplayer rules are found in the OptionalRules section at the end of this rulebook.

SET-UPPlace the 4 Cult Boards in front of you.

Separate the Investigator cards from the Cult Deck. Selectone of the Investigator cards to be your character during thegame. Set aside the other Investigators. You will not needthem during the game.

Shuffle the Cult Deck and place it within easy reach. TheCult deck contains Followers, Items, Minions, Horrors, andGates.

Place the Body die, Health dice, and Spirit dice within easyreach.

Place the Help Sheet near you.

Starting ExperienceYou begin the game with 4 Experience. Take 4of the Experience Coins and place them onyour Investigator.

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OBJECTIVEIf there are more than 5 Minions on any Cult Board at theend of any turn, that Cult summons their Elder God. Youlose. No mortal can hope to face these beings, and the worldis lost.

If, however, you are able to empty the Cult Deck withoutthe world ending, you have foiled the arrival of the ElderGods, and you win the game.

TURN ORDERPerform the following steps each game turn:

(1) SummoningDraw Cult cardsPurchase Items and FollowersAwaken HorrorsSanity Loss

(2) CombatChoose Target Cult BoardRoll Combat DiceRe-roll Combat DiceProtection

Attacking MinionsAttacking Awake HorrorsAttacking Gates

Gain Experience

(3) OutcomeCheck for DefeatCheck for Victory

SUMMONINGDraw Cult Cards

Draw 4 Cult cards. .

If you draw Followers and Items, setthem aside for purchase later in the turn.

Minions

When you draw a Minion card, place it in the Minion areaof its Cult Board. Stack Minions so their strength values areshowing.

GatesWhen you draw a Gate card,place it in the Gate area of itsCult Board.

When a Cult Board has 1 ormore Gates in play, draw 1extra Cult card each turn.

Keep in mind that the numberof cards you draw is increasedimmediately. You will draw anadditional card from the Cult

Deck on the turn you draw the Gate.

If more than one Gate is in play during the Draw phase,draw 1 extra Cult card for each Cult Board with a Gate.

Example: You draw 4 cards. One is a Cthulhu Gate. You place it onthe Cthulhu Board and immediately draw another Cult card.

Example: There is 1 Gate in play on the Arwassa Board, so youdraw 5 Cult cards. You draw a Cthulhu Gate and place it on theCthulhu Board. This increases your Draw by 1 card. Instead ofdrawing 5 cards this step, you must now draw 6 cards.

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If you draw a Gate for a Cult Board that already has a Gate,place the new Gate on top of the first Gate. You mustDestroy both Gates before that Cult Board stops generatingan extra card draw.

Example: There are Gates on the Arwassa and Cthulhu Boards.You draw 6 cards, (4 + 1 for each Board with a Gate on it). Youdraw a Cthulhu Gate. Place it on top of the other Cthulhu Gate. Donot draw an extra card.

HorrorsHorrors are not from this world. Theymust be Awakened in our plane ofexistence by their Minions.

When you draw aHorror, place it facedown on its CultBoard, in its designatedspace. A face downHorror card is aSleeping Horror.

Purchase Items and FollowersWhen you draw Cultcards, some of themwill be Followers andItems.

Each Follower or Item card has apurchase cost shown near the top. Paythis Experience to purchase the card.

When you draw an Item or Follower card, you must eitherpurchase the card during the Purchase step of the turn ordiscard it. If you discard it, gain 1 Experience for each Itemor Follower you discard. You can purchase as many Items orFollowers as you can afford.

You can choose to purchase and discard cards in any orderduring this step.

Example: You drew 2 Minion cards, an Item, and a Follower. Youplace the Minion cards on their Cult Boards. Youd like to buy thecost 1 Item, but you dont have any Experience. You discard theFollower to gain 1 Experience, and then spend the Experience tobuy the Item.

If you purchase a card, place it next to your Investigator forlater use.

Each card also has a cost to use thecards ability. The cost is found to the leftof the ability text.

You can only use each cards ability once each turn, even ifyou gain an extra Combat Attack from Magic Spells.

Unless the card reads otherwise, you can only use a cardsability during your Combat step.

When you suffer a Sanity Loss or a Wound you can slay aFollower to absorb the effect.

Card TermsThe following game terms appear on the cards.

Any - This means any of the specifiedcards on any Cult Board.

Discard - Remove the targeted card fromthe game and place it in your discardpile. You do not gain any Experience

from discarding the card.

Slay - Remove the targeted card from thegame and place it in your discard pile.Gain Experience each time you Slay a

Minion, Horror, or Gate card.

Awaken HorrorsDuring this step, if a Cult Board has one or more SleepingHorrors, check if there are enough Minions present on theBoard to Awaken each Horror.

A Minor Horror Awakens if there are 2 or more Minions onthe Board. A Major Horror Awakens if there are 3 or moreMinions on the Board. An Unspeakable Horror Awakens ifthere are 4 or more Minions on the Board.

If there are enough Minions to awaken a Horror, turn theHorror card faceup on the Cult Board in its correspondingHorror Slot.

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Sleeping HorrorsIf the Cult Board does not contain enough Minions toAwaken the Horror, keep the Horror card facedown in itsplace on the Cult Board. That Horror is still a SleepingHorror.

A faceup Horror is Awake and a facedown Horror isSleeping.

Once a Horror has been Awakened, it remains Awake.

Sanity LossIf there are one or more Horrors Awake during this step, yousuffer a Sanity Loss. You must immediately discardExperience equal to the Combo Value on the most powerfulAwake Horror, or you must Slay a Follower card.

Example: There is an Awake Minor Horror andan Awake Major Horror. The Major Horror ismore powerful, so it inflicts the Sanity Loss.You must either Slay one of your Followers, ordiscard 3 Experience.

If you cannot pay the required number ofExperience , and you do not have aFollower to Slay, your Investigator goesInsane and you lose the game.

COMBATAfter you place the Cult cards, it is your turn to fight them.You can lead an attack on one of the Cults to weaken it.

You may skip this step, but that is rarely a wise choice.

Choose a Target Cult BoardYour first step in combat is to select which of the 4 CultBoards you wish to attack. Any dice you roll can only beused to Slay the cards on the selected Cult Board.

Roll Combat DiceRoll your 2 Health dice and your 1 Body die as well as anySpirit dice you have purchased.

All the dice rolled are your Combat Dice.

Re-Roll Combat DiceAfter seeing your die roll, you may pick up any dice thatyou wish to re-roll, except those dice that rolled a 1 or aWound.

You cannot re-roll dice that rolled a 1.

Your goal is to use the values on the dice to Slay Minions orHorrors on the Cult Board.

Ones and Wounds1s rolled with a Body die are a special case inCombat. These represent mistakes or moments ofweakness.

If you roll a 1 with your Body die, the Cult has Woundedyou.

You must either set aside 1 of your Health dice atthe end of this Combat phase, or Slay a Follower.

You may not roll the lost Health die until you Heal.

If you ever lose both Health dice, and you roll a 1 with yourBody die, you die. The game ends in failure.

If you are Attacking a Cult Board with an Awake Horror,you have the chance of getting Wounded more often.Instead of just getting Wounded on a Body die roll of a 1,you get Wounded on a Body die roll of a 1 through the DiceCombo value of the most powerful Awake Horror on thatBoard. You may not re-roll your Body die if the result is aWound.

Example: If you are Attacking a Board with an Awake Major Horror,you suffer a Wound if your Body die rolls a 1, 2, or 3. You may notre-roll your Body die if you roll a 1, 2, or 3.

ProtectionCult cards on a Board Protect each other. Awake Horrorsprotect the Minions on the Cult Board. Until all AwakeHorrors are Slain, you cannot attack the Minions on thatCult Board.

Minions Protect the Sleeping Horrors and the Gate. Youcannot attack a Sleeping Horror or the Gate if there are anyMinions on that Cult Board.

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Example: In the above graphic, you cannot attack the Minions untilthe Awake Minor Horror is Slain.

Once the Awake Horror is Slain, you can attack the Minions.

You cannot attack the Gate or the Sleeping Horror until all theMinions are Slain.

Attacking MinionsUse your rolled dice to Slay Minions.

Single DieIf you place a single die from your Combat Roll on anyMinion card with an equal or lower value, you Slay theMinion.

Example: You may place a die roll of 4 on a Minion with a value of4 or less to Slay it.

Multiple DiceYou can place multiple dice from your Combat Roll on anyMinion card. If the total die roll is equal to or greater thanthe Minions value, you Slay the Minion.

Example: You may place die rolls of 2 and 4 on a Minion with avalue of 6 or lower to Slay it.

Example: You may place die rolls of 3, 4, and 2 on a Minion with avalue of 9 or lower to Slay it.

You gain 1 Experience for each Minion you Slay.

Attacking Awake HorrorsYou also use your rolled dice to Slay Horrors.

If there is more than one Horror on the Cult Board you areattacking, you can choose which Horror or Horrors youattack.

After you roll, you can choose how you allocate your diceto Slay Horrors.

Slaying Horrors is more challenging than Slaying Minions.To Slay a Horror, you must create a Matching Combo or aRun Combo with your roll.

Matching ComboMultiple dice with the same value may be allocated to thesame Horror to create a Matching Combo.

Examples: You can use a 5 and 5 to make a 2 dice MatchingCombo. You can also use a 3, 3, 3, and 3 to make a 4 diceMatching Combo.

Run ComboTwo or more dice that are in sequential order may beallocated to the same Horror to create a Run Combo.

Examples: You can use a 5 and 6 to make a 2 dice Run Combo.You can also use a 1, 2, and 3 to make a 3 dice Run Combo.

You must use a 2 dice Combo to Slay aMinor Horror.

Example: You Slay a Minor Horror with aMatching Combo roll of 2 and 2 or with a RunCombo roll of 2 and 3.

You will suffer a Wound if your Body dierolls a 1 or 2.

You must use a 3 dice Combo to Slay aMajor Horror.

Example: You Slay a Major Horror with aMatching Combo roll of 2, 2 and 2 or with aRun Combo roll of 2, 3, and 4.

You will suffer a Wound if your Body dierolls a 1, 2, or 3.

You must use a 4 dice Combo to Slay anUnspeakable Horror.

Example: You Slay an Unspeakable Horrorwith a Matching Combo roll of 5, 5, 5, and 5or with a Run Combo roll of 2, 3, 4, and 5.

You will suffer a Wound if your Body dierolls a 1, 2, 3, or 4.

You gain Experience equal to the combo value of the Horroryou Slay.

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You gain 2 Experience for Slaying a Minor Horror.You gain 3 Experience for Slaying a Major Horror.You gain 4 Experience for Slaying an Unspeakable Horror.

You gain the same Experience for Slaying a Horror, whetherthe Horror is Awake or Asleep.

At the end of the game, there can be no Awake Horrors.Keep playing and suffering Sanity Losses until no AwakeHorrors remain on any Cult Boards.

Attacking Sleeping HorrorsYou may Slay a Sleeping Horror by placing dice on theSleeping Horror. You must place the number of dice equal tothe Horrors combo value. The dice can be of any value, butthe Body die must be rolled to check for a Wound.

You will only suffer a Wound if your Body die rolls a 1.

Example: You can Slay a SleepingMajor Horror by placing any 3dice on the card.

Example: There is a SleepingMinor Horror Protected by a Value5 Cultist Leader Minion on theCult Board. You roll 3 dice. You rolla 2, 4, and 6. You can use the 6 toSlay the Cultist Leader and the 2

and 4 to Slay the Sleeping Horror.

Attacking GatesDuring your Combat Step, you can Purchase the Seal GateMagic Spell by discarding 3 Experience. This will Destroyan Unprotected Gate on your targeted Cult Board. Move theDestroyed Gate to the discard pile.

Example: The Cult Board has 2 Minions and a Gate. I use myCombat dice to Slay the Minions, leaving the Gate Unprotected. Ithen spend 3 Experience to purchase the Seal Gate Magic Spell toDestroy the Gate.

Example: There are 2 Cult Boards with Unprotected Gates. Youtarget one Board and Destroy the Gate. You must then purchasethe Hurry Magic Spell if you want to attack the Gate on the otherCult Board.

Gain 1 Experience for Destroying a Gate.

Gain ExperienceAs you fight, you gain Experience by SlayingMinions and Horrors, Destroying Gates, and bynot purchasing Items and Followers.

This Experience allows you to activate powerful MagicSpells, purchase Items and Followers, use Investigator andFollower Abilities, and to resist Sanity Loss.

Gain Experience after each Combat step. You can useExperience from one Attack to purchase Magic Spells orAbilities during future attacks.

Return an Experience Coin to the general pile when youspend it. Cycle them as needed between the pile and yourInvestigator.

Action Experience Coins GainedSlay a Minion 1Slay a Horror = Dice Combo ValueDestroy a Gate 1Do not Purchase an Item 1Do not Purchase a Follower 1

OUTCOMECheck for FailureCheck each of the 4 Cult Boards. If any Board has 5 ormore Minion cards, the Cult members summon their ElderGod, and the game immediately ends in failure.

Check for VictoryIf the Cult deck is out of cards, and there are 4 or fewerMinion cards on all the Cult Boards, and there are no AwakeHorrors, you win.

Continue to play as long as there are Awake Horrors in play.Do not draw cards after the Cult deck is depleted.

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MAGIC SPELLSAs you Slay Minions andHorrors, you can spendyour Experience topurchase single-use MagicSpells. Each Magic Spelltakes effect when youpurchase it.

Spirit Die [1 Experience]During an Attack, add 1 Spirit die to your roll. You maypurchase this Magic Spell up to 3 times before an Attack.All Spirit dice for a Combat must be purchased at the sametime, before the Combat begins.

If you Hurry and perform a second Attack, you mustpurchase any Spirit dice you want to use during the secondAttack. Spirit dice from the first Attack do not remain forthe second Attack.

Hurry [2 Experience]After performing your Attack for a turn you may spend 2Experience to perform another Attack on any Cult Board.You may only purchase this Magic Spell once per turn.

Healing: [3 Experience]You may spend 3 Experience to recover one previously lostHealth die. You may purchase this Magic Spell more thanonce per turn.

Seal Gate [3 Experience]Destroy an Unprotected Gate card on your targeted CultBoard. You may purchase this Magic Spell more than onceper turn.

ITEMSThese Items are found in the Cult Deck. You may choose topurchase these cards with Experience during the Purchasestep. You may only use each Item once per turn, even if youHurry.

Disruption RitualPurchase cost: 3, Use cost: 1Each turn, if you pay 1 Experienceduring the Draw Cult Cards step, draw 1less Cult card.

Example: If you have no open Gates, you onlydraw 3 Cult cards this turn.

Elder SignPurchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0You may discard this card when you aresuffering a Sanity Loss to cancel theeffect.

Example: There is an Awake Major Horror inplay. You are about to suffer a value 3 SanityLoss. You discard this card to stop the Loss.

Necklace of the VeilPurchase cost: 2, Use cost: 0You may discard this card to Discard AnyGate in play, even a Protected Gate.

NecronomiconPurchase cost: 4, Use cost: 2Once each turn, you may pay 2Experience to Discard Any Gate in play,even a Protected Gate.

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Otherworldly IdolPurchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0Once each turn, during the combat step,you may Slay a Follower to Discard AnyHorror in play. The Horror can be on anyCult Board, Awake or Asleep, and caneven be Protected.

Example: You previously purchased theRitualist Follower. There is an UnspeakableHorror in play. You Slay the Ritualist and

Discard the Horror. You do not gain Experience for the Horror.

Potion of WisdomPurchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0You may discard this card to pay for anyone Experience cost.

Example: You may discard this card to pay fora Spirit die.

Example: You may discard this card to pay theExperience cost for a Sanity Loss.

Example: You may discard this card to pay the Experience cost touse a Followers ability.

Ritual DaggerPurchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0During your Combat step, you maydiscard this card to treat it as a Spirit dieof any value from 1 to 6. This is inaddition to any Spirit dice you may havepurchased.

Example: You are attacking the Cthulhu CultBoard which has an Awake Major Horror. Youroll, and re-roll, but are one die short of the

combo you need to Slay the Horror. You discard this card tocomplete the combo.

Sword of the CrusaderPurchase cost: 5, Use cost: 0Once each turn, you can roll one freeSpirit die during one Combat Roll.

You can still purchase up to three Spiritdice for the Combat roll.

Temple of LightPurchase cost: 3, Use cost: 1You may pay 1 Experience during yourCombat step to draw the next 2 Cultcards and discard them. You must discardthese cards and you do not gainExperience for Item or Follower cards.

CURSED ITEMSThese Items focus otherworldly powers to act against you.

During the Purchase step, you must either pay the Purchasecost of the Cursed Item, or suffer its effect. Discard theCursed Item once you resolve its effect.

Cursed CubesWhen you draw this card, pay 2Experience or you cannot re-roll any dicethis turn.

Cursed ScrollWhen you draw this card, you musteither pay 2 Experience or immediatelydraw 3 Cult cards.

Cursed TempleWhen you draw this card, you musteither Slay 1 Follower or you cannot useMagic Spells this turn.

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INVESTIGATORSThese cards are your Investigators and Followers.

You must pay the Experience cost to use the Skill noted onthe Investigator or Followers card.

Example: Each time the Big Game Hunter uses his InvestigatorSkill, he must first pay 3 Experience.

Big Game HunterThe bigger they are, the more fun they are to hunt. Biggame hunters love the challenge of fighting powerful beasts.As such they are skilled at dealing with Horrors in combat.

Once each turn during the AwakenHorrors step, you can pay 3 Experienceto Discard Any 1 Horror. The Horror canbe on any Cult Board, Awake or Asleep,and can even be Protected.

Purchase cost: 1, Use cost: 1Once each turn during your Combat step,you can pay 1 Experience to Discard Any1 Minor Horror. The Horror can be onany Cult Board, Awake or Asleep, andcan even be Protected.

DoctorA knowledge of the healing arts often comes in handy whenhunting the occult.

Once each turn during your Combat step,you can recover a lost Health die bypaying only 1 Experience to regain thedie.

Purchase cost: 0, Use cost: 2Once each turn during your Combat step,you can recover a lost Health die bypaying only 2 Experience to regain thedie.

ExplorerUnderstanding subtle trail signs will get you where youneed to go and keep you from getting lost.

Once each turn during your Combat step,you can roll and re-roll your dice beforedeciding which Cult Board to Attack.

Purchase cost: 2, Use cost: 0Once each turn during your Combat step,you can roll your dice before decidingwhich Cult Board to Attack.

JournalistThe people need to know the truth, and the journalist is theone to find it.

Gain 1 extra Experience when you Slayan Awake or Sleeping Horror.

Purchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0Each time you Slay an Awake orSleeping Horror, draw and discard 1 Cultcard. You do not gain Experience if thecard is an Item or Follower. You can usethis ability more than once each turn.

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PriestWhen faced with the unthinkable, faith in a higher power isneeded.

Once after each initial Combat roll, youcan re-roll any of your Health dice orSpirit dice that rolled a 1.

Example: You roll a 1 with one of your Healthdice and two of your Spirit dice. You normallywouldnt be allowed to re-roll the three rolls ofa 1. With the Priest, you could.

If you roll a 1 during the Re-Roll step, youcannot re-roll it.

Purchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0Once after each initial Combat roll, youcan re-roll any of your Spirit dice thatrolled a 1.

PsychiatristThe mind is the most powerful weapon when dealing withthese cosmic creatures.

Roll 4 or higher on one die to stop aSanity Loss.

Purchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0Roll 5 or higher on one die to stop aSanity Loss.

RitualistA master of the arcane arts.

Once each turn during your Combat step,you can move Any 1 Minion to adifferent Cult Board.

Purchase cost: 1, Use cost: 0Once each turn during your Combat step,you can move Any 1 Minion with a valueof 4 or less to a different Cult Board.

SoldierThe Soldier is well-trained and skilled in combat. Thismakes him exceptional at attacking Minions.

Once each turn during your Combat step,you can pay 1 Experience to Discard Any1 Minion with a value of 2 to 6. TheMinion can be on any Cult Board, andcan even be Protected.

Purchase cost: 1, Use cost: 1Once each turn during your Combat step,you can pay 1 Experience to Discard Any1 Minion with a value of 3 or less. TheMinion can be on any Cult Board, andcan even be Protected.

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ThiefHaving connections can be very handy when getting thingsthat supposedly do not exist.

Once each turn, you can purchase anItem that costs 3 or more for 2 lessExperience.

Example: When paying for a 4 Experiencecost Necronomicon, the Thief only pays 2.

Purchase cost: 0, Use cost: 0Once each turn you can purchase an Itemthat costs 3 or more for 1 lessExperience.

Example: You have the Thief Investigator and the ThiefFollower. When purchasing the 5 Experience-cost Sword of the Crusader, the ThiefInvestigator lowers the cost to 3 and the Thief

Follower lowers the cost to 2.

TycoonWith enough money, anything is possible.

Begin the game with 8 Experienceinstead of 4.

Purchase cost: 0, Use cost: 0When you purchase this card,immediately gain 2 Experience.

OPTIONAL RULESMULTIPLAYER RULESPlaying with 2 to 4 players is easy. Each player chooses anInvestigator to play. Use the normal game rules exceptwhere noted below.

Roll for player order. Highest roll goes first, then proceedaround the table clockwise. Each player conducts a normalturn, including checking for Defeat and Victory, then playpasses to the next player.

You may only use your Investigators Skill during your ownturn.

You may only use your own Experience to purchaseFollowers, Items, Magic Spells, or stop a Sanity Loss.

You may only Slay your own Followers to stop a SanityLoss.

You can choose to allow another player to use yourFollowers Skills or Items. The other player must pay yourFollower or Item Use cost with his own Experience.

Turn a Follower or Item card 90 degrees to show it has beenused.

Each Investigator must keep track of his own injuries andExperience.

At the beginning of your Investigators turn, return all Itemand Follower cards to their upright position to show they areonce again ready to be used.

When a Horror inflicts a Sanity Loss, only the Investigatortaking their turn suffers the Loss.

If an Investigator is Slain due to Wounds or Sanity Loss,continue playing the game with the remaining Investigators.The game ends when all Investigators are killed, or whenthe Cult deck is depleted and all Awake Horrors are Slain.

If there are ever 5 or more Minion cards on a Cult Board atthe end of any players turn, an Elder God is summoned andeveryone dies.

VictoryAt the start of the game, decide if you will playcooperatively or competitively.

Cooperatively - If any Investigator survives to the end, allplayers win.

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Competitively - If more than one Investigator survives tothe end, the player to have Slain the most Minions, Gates,and Horrors wins. Each Horror is worth points equal to itsCombo Value.

SCORINGWhen you complete a solitaire or multiplayer game, youmay score your results for future reference.

Won the game ................................................................+50Each Cult Board with no cards on it ..............................+10Each Unspent Experience ................................................+1Each Minion......................................................................-2Each Sleeping Horror........................................................-1Each Open Gate ................................................................-3Each unhealed Wound ......................................................-3

DIFFICULTYYou can adjust the difficulty of the game to suit your needs.

If you would like to reduce the difficulty, draw only 3 Cultcards each turn instead of 4.

If you would like to increase the difficulty, draw 5 Cultcards each turn instead of 4.

CREDITSDesigner Ian RichardDeveloper Holly VerssenCover Art Christian QuinotCard Art Christian QuinotRulebook Proofing Jack Bennett, Jim Silsby, Jr.

Playtesting: Jason Bowden, Justin Cochran, Ben Stanley,Robert Stoffers, Dan Verssen, Kevin Verssen

Special Thanks...

Ben Stanley for helping a noob designer turn a prototypeinto a solid game.

Game Box in Topsham, Maine for all your support and justbeing a great place to buy games.

Card Quotes...

The quotes on the cards represent thoughts, (often finalthoughts) from the unfortunate souls who encountered thecreatures or Items on those cards.

Our thanks go out to the wonderful people who supportedthis game on Kickstarter. Many of the quotes come fromthose generous people.

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SAMPLE GAMEI decide to play a solitaire game using theSoldier as my Investigator.

I place him in front of me, along with the4 Cult Boards, 4 starting ExperienceCoins and the Player Help Sheet.

I start by drawing 4 cards from the CultDeck.

Arwassa: Deep OnesArwassa: Leng SpidersCthulhu: Cultistand the Ritualist Follower

I purchase the Ritualist using 1 of my Coins. I choose toTarget the Arwassa Cult Board.

I roll my three Combat dice and get a 5, 6, 3. I can place thevalue 5 dice on the Deep Ones, and both the value 6 and 3dice on the Leng Spiders. Both are Slain.

I discard both cards and add 2 ExperienceCoins to my pile.

I draw 4 more cards. Cthulhu: Saboth the Elder Minor HorrorCthulhu: ByakheeYog-Sothoth: Gate - forcing me to immediately drawanother card: Thief FollowerAnd finally, the Chaugnar Faugn: Beast in the Pit MajorHorror

I place all the cards on their Boards, putting the Thief asideuntil the Purchase step.

During the Purchasestep, I add the Thiefto my row ofFollowers. She doesnot cost anyExperience.

Time to Awaken Horrors. I look at all the Cult Boards andnotice that the Cthulhu Board has two Minions on it, and aSleeping Minor Horror. It only takes two Minions toAwaken a Minor Horror, so I turn the Horror card faceup.

I have a choice to make. I must either discard twoExperience Coins (the Combo Value of the Minor Horror)or Slay one of my Followers. I choose to pay twoExperience Coins.

Time for Combat. I choose to Target the Cthulhu Board.

I must first Slay the Horror before I can reach the Minions.To Slay the Horror I must roll either a Combo of twomatching dice, or a run of two dice. I choose to purchase 2Spirit dice to help me. I pay one Experience Coin for eachSpirit die and roll the 5 dice. I roll three 3s, a 4 and a 6. Iplace two of the 3s on the Horror, Slaying it, then the other3 on the Cultist and the 6 on the Byakhee. The roll of 4 isignored because I dont have any other cards to Slay on theCthulhu Board.

I discard the Minor Horror, the Cultist and the Byakhee, andtake 4 Experience Coins. 2 for the Horrors Combo value,and one for each of the Minions.

17

I choose to purchasethe Magic Spell Hurry, for twoExperience Coins. Inow get to choose aTarget Cult Board andparticipate in a secondbattle.

I really dont wantanother Horror toAwaken, so I Targetthe Chaugnar FaugnCult Board. I roll mythree dice, andunfortunately, myBody die rolls a 1.Before I deal with myWound, I place mythree dice on the

Sleeping Major Horror. The Horror is Slain. I discard thecard and add three Experience to my pile.

Unfortunately, I am Wounded. I must either lose the use ofone of my Health dice, or Slay one of my Followers. I setone of my Health dice off to the side. Until I Heal, I canonly roll my Body die, one Health die, and any purchasedSpirit dice during future combats.

I choose to purchase a Heal Magic Spell immediately,before my next Combat. I pay 3 Experience and regain myHealth die.

I draw 5 cards now, 4 + 1 for the Gate card.I draw a Yog-Sothoth: Cultist LeaderYog Sothoth: ShoggothThe Explorer FollowerCthulhu: ByakheeAnd the Temple of Light Item card.

I place the Minions, and choose to purchase the Temple ofLight. My Thief Follower lets me purchase it for 2Experience. I discard the Explorer Follower and gain 1Experience Coin.

I use my Ritualist to move the Cthulhu Byakhee onto theYog-Sothoth Board.

I roll my 3 dice and get a 2, 3, and 5.I choose to re-roll the 2 and the 3.

Now I have a roll of 4, 6, and 5.I Destroy the Cultist Leader and the Shoggoth Minions(gaining 2 Experience Coins), but I dont have enough toDestroy the Byakhee. I pay to use my Soldiers skill toDiscard the Byakhee, which leaves the Gate Unprotected. Ipay three Experience Coins to Destroy the Gate. I then gain1 Experience Coin for Destroying the Gate.

Finally, I pay to Use the Temple of Lightto discard the top two cards from the Cultdeck. I discard a Chaugnar Faugn Cultist,and a Priest Follower. I gain noExperience for the discarded cards.

The game continues until I win when theCult deck is empty and I have no AwakeHorrors on any Cult Board, or I lose

because I have lost both Health dice and I am Wounded withonly my Body die to suffer the Wound, or there are ever 5 ormore Minion cards on one Cult Board at the end of the turn,or I take a Sanity Loss from an Awake Horror and I cannotSlay a Follower or pay the Experience cost for it.

18

CTHULHU FICTIONDuring the Kickstarter campaign, we reached out to some ofour world famous writer friends, and they responded in heroicfashion!

The most awesome part of this is that these authors haveplayed a part in my life. Through the magic of Facebook, wewere able to connect with them, and they were graciousbeyond all measure in helping us with our Kickstartercampaign.

Most days, life just kind of happens, but every once in awhilesomething magical happens, and we get a peek at a wondrouspart of the world. This is one of those days.

Thank you David, Daniel, and Matt!

-Dan Verssen

----------------------------

David Gerrold has been writing professionally since1967, and many of his books and television scripts are nowconsidered classics.

An alumnus of CSUNs Theatre Arts Dept., he soldhis first script to Star Trek even before he graduated. He hasalso written episodes of Star Trek Animated, Land Of TheLost, Twilight Zone, Tales From the Dark Side, Babylon 5,Sliders and other hit TV series.

Between TV assignments, he wrote three books onwriting and forty novels, including the Hugo and Nebulanominees When HARLIE Was One and The Man Who FoldedHimself. His autobiographical tale of his sons adoption, TheMartian Child won both of those awards and was the basis fora 2007 film, starring John Cusack and Amanda Peet.

His television scripts have been seen by more than abillion people. He's written more than 50 books and has beentranslated into 20 different languages. A prolific author, hesalso written hundreds of stories, columns, and articles as wellas teaching script writing at Pepperdine University for nearlytwenty years. He has traveled all over the world, speaking hisvision of a future that works for everyone.

Gerrolds most popular series is The War Against TheChtorr. Four novels have been published in this septology: AMatter For Men, A Day For Damnation, A Rage For Revenge,and A Season For Slaughter. Book five, A Method ForMadness is scheduled for completion in 2013 and publicationin 2014.

Out of the DarknessBy DAVID GERROLD

Intro by David Gerrold: I was invited to participate in a five-author round robin story for the tenth issue of Witchcraft &Sorcery, an irregular periodical. The other authors were BrianLumley, Emil Petaja, Mirian Allen de Ford, and Ross Rocklynne.That was pretty heady company for a young writer.

I wrote Chapter Two of the tale. Not knowing how the rest of thestory would work out, I wrote it as a kind of stand-alone horror.It was published in 1974 and disappeared into the mists ofhistory. Trying to organize my own files, I discovered I couldn'teven find my own copy of it. I had to look up the exact issue onthe internet and then buy a copy on eBay. (I was amazed it wasavailable.)

Now, almost forty years later, I look at this story from the farside of experience. I resisted the temptation to "fix" it, becausethe ending still works for me. Enjoy.

- - -

Ward Christopher dropped the pages of the letter on hislap and looked across the room at Hieronymus Thorne.

Well, said Thorne, carefully packing fresh tobaccointo his pipe, What do you think?

Christopher, a young man with a shock of sandy hairthat kept falling into his eyes said, Im not surehe certainlyseems to believe what he says, but

Thorne struck a match and puffed gently at the flame.It licked across the bowl of the pipe, the tobacco glowed andcaught. Gesturing with it, he said, I think its a bloody hoax.

Oh, but if it is, its devilishly clever. Hes indicated justenough to be intriguing and

Nonsense! said Thorne. He had a ruddy face and athick brown mustache. It reads like one of those trashy pulpmagazine storieshints of unknown menace, strange doings inthe dark, mysterious cavesand of course, at the end, adisturbing mention of some dark occurrence that he is unawareof the meaning of, but is all too obvious to the reader. I thinkwhat we have here is a reject from Astonishing Terror Tales.

Oh, now, Uncle, I think youre being too harsh onhim

Ward, mboy, when one deals regularly with theoccult, one gains a healthy sense of skepticism.

Then youre not going to investigate it?Who said anything like that? Of course Im going to

investigate it. But, as with all matters like this, the evidence willspeak for itself. Now, then, have you arranged for the airplanetickets as I asked you to?

Ward patted his coat pocket. I have them right here.Two roundtrip passages to New York City, but tell me, Uncle,who will be using the second ticket?

Why, you are, Wardmy secretary is on vacation andI thought you might enjoy a summer holiday

A look of surprise crossed the youths face, the

19

expression quickly became one of delight.Before you get too excited, I should caution you. This

will be a working trip. You wont be able to spend all your timechasing after those liberated American women.

Oh, yes, sirbut what will we be working on?You just read it, said Thorne. Were going to

investigate this Freeland characterJust on the strength of this letter?No, of course notbut since I received that, Ive tried

to get in touch with the man. I found out that he has since fledto the coloniesexcuse me, the United States, I keep forgetting.The man we need to contact is Chandra Mission, who presidesover some kind of Eastern mystic cult. The group is ahodgepodge of Gohonzon Buddhism, the I Ching, andTranscendental Meditation.

I dont think I understand any of thatNo matter. Chandra Mission can explain it all to you

when we talk to him. Mission is perhaps the worlds foremostmaster of the occult. If anyone can help us locate Freelandand Othuum, whatever it may behe can. We also have to paya visit on Dr. Delvin Oberson. Hes a research physicist atHBM.

HBM?Heuristic Business Machinescomputers.Computers?Hieronymus Thorne sighed. I can see Im going to

have to explain everything to you now. Dr. Oberson is also amember of the Society for the Investigation of OccultOccurrences. He has a theory that Im very intrigued with. Youknow how a computer works, dont you?

Only vaguely. It operates a simulation of the problemit is supposed to solve.

Yeswell, Obersons theory is that realitythat is,what we perceive as reality is actually a simulation, too. That is,we dont really exist, we only think we exist. Were all patternsheld in the banks of some vast meta-computer.

He sounds as mad as Freeland.No, not quitebesides, I havent done justice to his

theory by describing it like that. Thorne puffed at his pipeslowly, decided to rephrase his description. It has to deal withthe theory that all mathematics is only a hypothetical constructthat has correlation only to occasional specific incidents in thereal worldwhat we perceive as the real world.

However, Oberson believes that any real event of anymagnitude can be expressed in mathematical terms or logicalequations; hence, perhaps our correlation to reality is onlyoccasional as well. In other words, our reality is only a set ofrelationships that is currently existing in some cosmic arena ofpossibility.

Now, we dont know why this particular set ofrelationships has been set up, do we? Of course not, but let usassume for the sake of argument that some entitycall him agod, a demon, whateverhas created us for his ownamusement. Perhaps we are nothing more than a diversionapuzzle, a toy. Periodically, he might wish to insert himself intoour universe and look around. If so, he would probably arrangesome kind of simple safety mechanism that he could use in caseof danger. It would quickly remove him from this world, or it

might give him powers and abilities otherwise impossible. Bysafety mechanism, Im suggesting some kind of simple routineor pattern of behavior which might seem totally meaningless,but would cause the master computer in which we are only asimulation to alter the meta-program

I think youre starting to lose me.Magic, mboymagic. What we perceive as magic or

occult events could possibly be the accidental triggering of oneof the gods devices in this universe which allow him to sidestepthe cumbersome task of achieving the same effect bymanipulation of actual physical matter through our so-calledlaws of physics. In other words, he can change the conditionsof this universe simply by a few careful chants. I believe thatmost of the black magic spells and arcane arts that we havestumbled across are clues to the nature of some cosmic all-inclusive equation. If we could gather enough knowledge aboutall the various known occult occurrences, we might be able toextrapolate the basic equation to all magic patterns. Of courseyou can understand then the importance of proper verificationof every occult event. One false element in the equation wouldthrow off the validity of the whole. Dr. Oberson hasprogrammed a computer to evaluate all occult happenings insearch of usable common denominator. He thinks hes very closeto it.

Thats where Freeland comes in?Almost. When Adrian Whites house burned to the

ground several months ago, the evidence hinted at somethingmost unusual. I allowed myself to be talked into investigating itand found some indications that an actual occult experience hadoccurred there. I wrote up my conclusions for the ModernOccult Journal, but I was careful to say that I considered thematter unresolved. one way or the other. More information wasneeded. I believe thats what prompted Freeland to write to me.Of course, I didnt believe one word of his letter, it was toopatently phonythe Freeland disappeared and I startedinvestigating some related incidentswell, to make it short,mboy, there is a strong possibility that the soul of Adrian Whitehas claimed, or has lodged itself in the body of, Jamieson H.Freeland. If this is true, then we have an actual occult experiencearound which we can perform an experiment to test the validityof Dr. Obersons hypothesis. He wants to try to perform anactual magic spell derived from his computer equationstheexorcism of Adrian White!

Wards eyes were glowing with excitement whenHieronymus paused to relight his pipe. Thorne looked across hisstudy at him and said, Therere two problems, however. Thefirst one is locating the missing Jamieson Freeland. All we knowis that he is somewhere in the United States. The second one ismore serious. If we are able to find him and make him the centerof a magical rite, can we do it without attracting the attention ofthe entity we perceive as Othuum?

It was not Hieronymuss first journey to the UnitedStates of America, so he was not as startled by the intensity ofNew York City as Ward was. However, within a few days, thelad was able to adjust and could snarl his way through a crowdas well as anyone.

Other matters, though, did not proceed quite as well.

20

Jamieson Freeland was reported to have contacted ChandraMission only once and shortly thereafter disappeared. There wasa rumor that he had been sighted in Macys basement, but thiswas beyond investigation; the two Englishmen were left withouta clue.

Dr. Oberson, however, was not dispirited by their lackof success; he said to Thorne, All right, Herky, so we cant findFreeland; that doesnt mean we cant still perform ourexperiment.

But I thought, said Ward, that the experiment wouldbe to exorcise Adrian White from the body of JamiesonFreeland.

On the contrary, said Oberson, a tall, thin man, baldon top, with narrow horn-rimmed spectacles, the experimentwill be to determine if our computer-extrapolated equations bearany correlation to the basic magic structure of this space-timecontinuum.

Oh, said Ward.Oberson added, If we cant perform an exorcism spell,

perhaps we can perform a different kind of spellone that willlocate the missing Jamieson Freeland. You still have his letter?

Hieronymus produced it.Ah, goodyou see, we have one object which was

quite close to the missing person, a letter written by his ownhand. It will have a certain resonance that is particular toJamieson Freeland. It will have a faint echo of his personal aura.We can use that as an element in the equation.

Hieronymus began to pack his pipe. His large, deep-seteyes were thoughtful. Im not sure its such a good idea to usethat letter, Dr. Oberson. Im not an expert on supernaturalresonances, but I suspect that these are bad vibrations

Oberson dismissed Thornes objection with a wave. Ibelieve we can compensate for that. I should have the spellequations derived within a few days. Youll look them over, ofcourse, and well see if you still have doubts

Hieronymus did have doubts as he looked over thecarefully inscribed computer printouts, but he could not pindown exactly what it was that bothered him. Maybe, hemuttered to himself, maybe it isnt possible to express thesupernatural in physical terms.

But the printouts were before him, a physical stackmore than three feet high and covered with equations andcarefully drawn runes.

Now, all this, explained Oberson, is merely thedescription of the basic program. Once we switch the computeron, it will begin to execute the program, and as it performs thesevarious chants and equivalent functions and ritualssymbolically, of coursethe spell is a simulationwe shouldderive some form of occult effect. Hopefully, it will tell us,without resorting to normal channels of information, where wecan find Freeland. He busied himself at a console for a moment,then said, I have high hopes for this, Herky. If we do producea super natural effect, it will be a landmark first for science, Itwill be an effect that will be reproducible by any scientist whocan duplicate our conditions. Well be taking a giant step for allmankind in unlocking the secrets of the occult. Science willinvade the supernatural world

I think, said Hieronymus quietly, that first we had

better perform the experiment before we pat ourselves on theback.

Oh, yes, said Oberson. Right. Youre right. If youllsit over thereand if Ward will sit over here. He indicatedtwo chairs on opposite sides of the room. Ill stay by theconsole and operate the program.

Ward and Hieronymus took their seats and watched asOberson began setting up last minute details.

There was no pentagram on the floor. There were nocandles. There was no blood in goblets, or dusty tomes. Therewere no sacred knives in cobwebbed altars. There was not eventhe fur of a newly skinned toad.

Instead, the room in which they stood was brightly lit,a fluorescent ceiling glowed overhead, white walls shone withreflected glare. Banks of computers and memory units stretchedup and down the length of the chamber. The air conditionerwhirred softly, just below the threshold of consciousness. Therewas not a speck of dust on any surface.

Now, said Oberson, as he performed the last check ofhis material, if everything works right, we will evoke a patternwhich will simulate a magical spell, thus evoking a metaphysicalchange in this space-time continuum, Everything depends onthe pattern being correct. To this end, I have analyzed everyelement of Freelands letterI have used Graphology,Numerology, the I Ching, Supernatural Aura DetectionI havereduced those elements to values in the equation which we areabout to work

And with that, he pressed the button.Every light in New York City went out.All electricity on the whole Northeastern end of the

United States ceased to flow.Every device that depended on the flow of electrons

through conductive metal stopped. Oh, nuts said Oberson. Not again.This has happened before?Yes, a few years ago. Obersons voice floated out of

the darkness. Well have to wait until the power is restoredbefore we can perform the spell.

Hieronymus stood up, but the room was so black thathe decided to sit down again. It was safer than groping his wayaround sightlessly. Conversationally, he asked, How long willit be?

Hours maybeit all depends on how widespread thefailure is.

Will we be all right here?Oh, yesif necessary, we can go down the emergency

stair. But Im disappointed. If the power failure had only waiteda few seconds more

Eh ? said Thorne.The program was set up to execute the spell almost

immediately. It wouldve taken only a few secondsOh, you blundering fool ! raged Thorne. Dont you

know what youve done?Whatwhat are you talking about?Every magic spell involves a release of powera spell

violates the law of conservation of energy. That energy has tocome from somewhere. Usually its drawn from the body of theperson who is casting the spell. Thats why most spells take

21

several hours to prepare and execute, so a person wont killhimself. Hes going slow enough so that the energy loss isminimal and replaceablebut you, you idiotyour computerexecuted the spell in the space of a few seconds. It pumped allof its available personal power into that spell! Youve drawn offall the power from the entire Northeastern electrical network!Youre responsible for this blackout, you thundering oaf!

Then, you meanwe havent failed?No, of course not! This blackoutthis is your

supernatural effect!Erg, said Oberson, choking deep in his throat.Somewhere, something chuckled Hieronymus went chill. Abruptly he realized that Ward

hadnt spoken a word since before the lights went out.Ward? Are you there?The blackness was impenetrable.Ward? Hieronymus took a step forward Ward? he called. Ward? He stood up nervously.Something made a sound.

Then Wards voice, strangely distorted, as if someoneelse were using it. Ward? it asked. Whos Ward?

And then it laughed maniacally.

----------------------------

Matt Forbeck has been a full-time creator of award-winning games and fiction since 1989, designing games and toysand writing stories of all sorts. He has twenty-seven novelspublished to date, including the award-nominated Guild Wars:Ghosts of Ascalon and the critically acclaimed Amortals andVegas Knights. His latest work includes the Magic: TheGathering comic book, the MMOs Marvel Heroes and GhostRecon Online, and his novel The Con Job, based on the TVshow Leverage, as well as his Dangerous Games trilogy ofthrillers set at Gen Con.

Meant to KnowBy MATT FORBECK

Things man was not meant to know? Maria Vegasneered at the black-robed cultists arrayed around her, onekneeling at each of the five points of the star inscribed in thepentacle inside which theyd chained her down. Ive alwayshated that saying. Always.

The pale-skinned men stared at her, not uttering a word.Maria rattled her chains to get their attention, hoping to toppleover the burning candles that stood atop the posts to which hershackles had been anchored. One ran to each of the pentaclespoints with the exception of the one that lay just past her head.She felt the dried blood caked on the floor beneath her crackleand flake as she moved, releasing a blended stench of copperand mold.

Just unpack it, would you? Maria said. First, theresthe horribly sexist term man, as if that could stand in for allhumanityif there were no women in this world.

She glanced at the men, trying to meet their eyes. Oneof the younger ones, a youth with a peach-fuzz goatee struggling

to cover his receding chin, glared at her. I guess I understand aboys club like this buying into that sort of crap. She winked atCaptain Weakbeard. I mean, this is probably as close any ofyou have been to a woman in years, right?

Shut it! The youth yanked the chain attached to oneof Marias ankles, and she winced in pain.

Ignore her, the pipe-thin man kneeling behind herhead said in a reedy voice. Focus on the ritual.

Then theres the meant bit. Mean by who? Somemusty librarian who keeps the keys to the Rare Books Roomstuffed into a locket he wears next to his shriveled-up heart? OrGod? She coughed a bitter laugh at that.

The halfbeard hauled on her chain again, scraping theskin on her ankle. He kept his tongue if not his temper, but thatdidnt stop the man at Marias other leg from putting a hand onhis arm to stop him. Shes just trying to rattle you.

Rattle your faith, he means, Maria said. But youvealready done a hell of a job of that yourself. I mean, all thatchanting you were doing before? Cthulhu fhtagn is a long wayfrom a Hail Mary.

The kids knuckles tightened on his chain hard enoughto turn white, but he held still

And to know? I mean, isnt knowledge why were allhere?

Not you, the man near her right arm said with a lowchuckle that sent him into a coughing fit.

Hes correct, the scrawny librarian said as he leanedout over Marias head to peer at her with his watery blue eyes.You have an entirely different purpose here,

From your point of view, maybe. She stared back athim until he looked away. But not from mine. I came here tolearn something.

The rail laughed at her. Youre arguing against yourselfnow. Youre about to become an abject lesson in why you wouldhave been better off staying at home and keeping your nose outof things that dont concern you.

Maria rolled her eyes. Youre trying to awakenCthulhu, and you think Id be better off not knowing a damnthing about that until he came to devour the entire world? Shenarrowed her eyes at the man. You know, I didnt think thatwas possible.

Whats that? the scruffy kid at her feet said. Maria smiled at the way the librarian had bitten his

tongue but the kid had taken the bait. Believe it or not, hesstupider than he looks.

The librarian scowled down at her, gritting his teeth sohard his cheeks jutted out from his jaw.

He aint the one chained up here, the kid said. But Im not the onewell, fivewho think that

waking up an elder god and inviting him over for a barbecue isgoing to go well.

For you, the man at her left arm said. For anyone. For the world. For the rest of the world, the librarian said in a quiet

voice. Our little part of it will be just fine. Better than ever, infact.

Right. Because you cut a deal with the Devil. Mariashook her head in disgust. Noworse than thatan elder god.

22

Thats like a mosquito cutting a deal with a bug zapper. Some mosquitoes got nothing to lose, the cougher

said. He sounded like someone had gone over his lungs with acheese grater.

If youre so bent on knowing what man was not meantto know, then what do you have against us learning how to makea good bargain for ourselves? the librarian asked.

Maria grunted. Knowledge isnt inherently good orevil. Its just bad in the wrong hands. The point is, you five mustbe the men in that little phrase.

Watch your mouth, witch! The librarian Right. She winced at him. That hardly seems fair to

the other men in the world. Substitute idiots.The librarian smacked Maria across the face. Blood

spilled from her split lip. She turned her head and spat it ontothe pentacle beneath her. It sizzled where it touched the lines.

Maria felt the men holding her limbs shudder. The kiddropped her foot and scrambled away backward on his hands.The cougher started to snarl at him but started to choke and hadto sit back on his rump instead. The librarian cursed at them all.Dont let her shake you!

Maria launched into a chant in a language never meantfor a human tongue. The librarian gasped in horror. The menwhod been holding her arms recoiled, kicking themselves awayfrom her.

Maria kept chanting. The dried blood on the floor belowher liquefied and began to boil. The heat scorched her back, butshe kept chanting, the pain spurring her voice to a scream.

The kid leaped to his feet and raced for the stairs. Hemight make it out alive. The other men sat there toodumbfounded to flee. The librarian was the only one amongthem who could do more than gibber in terror at the way thepentacle beneath Maria had started to glow with a white heat.

This cant be. He tried to reach for her, but aninvisible force at the edge of the pentacle sparked his fingersaway. He snatched them back with a curse. Its impossible!

If youd been more diligent in your research, youdknow that a pentacle is really just a protective circle, Mariasaid. It can work whether youre inside of it or out.

But youre part of our ritual! Which you havent finished yet. I started mine before

I got here. The only thing I needed to wrap it up was to swallowa bit of blood spilled in anger. So thanks for that.

The other men shoved themselves to their feet then andfled, even the cougher bringing up the rear. As they neared thestairway, something blacker than the shadows beneath itemerged from the darkness, the countless mouths attached to itsdizzying array of tentacles each keening in a horrible harmonyas they reached out to gather the first fleshy feast theyd foundin untold eons.

The librarian fled to the far corner of the room, flippingthrough a stack of dusty, crumbling books, hunting forsomething that might save him from sharing the others fate.Maria closed her eyes and hummed a little tune in her head totry to mute his screams.

It didnt help much. When it was over, she unscrewed her face and shook

herself free from her shackles, which had warped in odd ways

in the strange visitors presence. She glanced at the librariansdesk, which now stood lonely and bare.

That brings up a saying I do like, she said aloud, towhoeveror whatevermight be listening. A little knowledgeis a dangerous thing.

----------------------------

Daniel Keys Moran is a database programmer andwriter. He made his first professional fiction sale at 18 and hasbeen programming databases since dBase II. He has worked onYahoo! Music and MySpace among other SQL projects. Hecoined the word webcast in 1987 and was probably the firstperson to write on the subject of internet addiction, in 1989. Hisnovel The Long Run, a part of his Tales of the ContinuingTime series, is the most highly rated SF novel onGoodreads.com.

What Is And Is Not TrueBy DANIEL KEYS MORAN

It made him laugh, it really did. Sitting in the little patioarea outside at the restaurant Swingers in Santa Monica,Gregory Diavola burst out laughing at the conversation at thenext table.

The boy he overhead was about twelve, and Gregorythought he could have just eaten the kid alive, he was soadorable. (He didn't, he ordered a club sandwich instead.) Ablonde haired kid with the standard local L.A. accent, the kidhad said, Cthulhu?

Surprisingly, he pronounced it well. Not correctly noone with a mouth filled with a tongue and teeth shaped like thatwas ever going to say it correctly but well enough to have puta hell of a scare into some of the people Gregory had known,when he was young. (Well, people was a flexible word, no?)

Yeah, said the kid sitting next to him, a bigger andolder version of him. His brother, probably. A monster in oldstories.

The smaller kid laughed. It sounds like something outof Star Trek. Cthulhu! Take the controls!

That was when Gregory laughed. It scared them andsince they were done with their dinners, they got up and got outas quickly as possible without conceding to each other that theywere scared.

They impressed Gregory. Most adults were too sensibleto be scared by a mild looking man like Gregory Diavola.

When he left Swingers that evening, Gregory caughtsight of a big blonde guy dressed all in white, drinking coffeeand vodka at the counter. By himself, as usual. The big mannodded at Gregory as he passed by, but neither of them spoke.Seeing him depressed Gregory Los Angeles was gettingcrowded. It had been a long time since he'd had it to himself,but now he was starting to run into people, to use the word, inhis favorite restaurants.

23

Father Mike laughed too, a couple weeks later, whenGregory picked him up to go fishing, and related the story.Well, Mike said, they wouldn't have been scared if they knewyou like I do. This was true, thought Gregory, though not toMike Devlin's credit. Father Mike didn't know him very well atall, after more than a decade of friendship.

Even with your last name, Father Mike added.Gregory smiled at Father Mike, showing a row of even

white teeth. I've known people with worse names. I knew a girlonce named Dolores la Puta. Father Mike looked puzzled, andGregory's smile widened a bit the half-Irish, half-American-mongrel priest knew the Italian meaning of Diavola, but not theSpanish meaning of puta, and him growing up in Los Angeles.It means a woman of very low virtue, Father, Gregory saidpolitely.

Oh. Father Mike actually blushed a bit. In all theyears Gregory had known him, Mike Devlin, and then FatherMike Devlin, had never had a woman, or a man or a child.Gregory thought he was, in fact, chaste. He knew that most ofMike Devlin's time was devoted to good works, to working withchildren and addicts and homeless. Gregory was reasonably surehe hadn't met a better man in the last century.

That must have been a very difficult name to have,Father Mike said, growing up.

By the time they left Malibu behind them, travelingnorthward on Pacific Coast Highway in Gregory's dark grayJaguar Vanden Plas, Father Mike was already twenty minutesinto his favorite subject, the Death of Faith in America. We'recivilized, aren't we, too good to proclaim our faith, ourknowledge of what is and is not true, of what is and is not right.The saints of old weren't embarrassed by their faith, weren'tafraid to be laughed at, they were righteous --

Blinking mad, too, Gregory agreed, though withoutraising his voice much.

Father Mike blinked, smiled uncertainly, and got backon track. secure in their faith, the faith a rock upon whichthey built

Father Mike was asleep by the time Gregory pulled offthe road. Gregory let him sleep, popped the trunk on the Jaguar,and got out the tent. He took the tent down to the beach and setit up, in the dead of night, about twenty feet back from the water.Despite the moonless night he didn't need a light; Gregory'snight vision was superb. The sea looked silvery in his vision,from the scattered starlight. He came back to the car and got thefishing gear and supplies, set out the two captain's chairs, andthen went back to the car to wake Mike.

Mike walked down to the tent, rubbing his eyes andstretching. Greg, you didn't need to do this by yourself. Hesettled himself down in the right-hand captain's chair, facing thebeach, and settled in, pulling his coat in on himself a bit againstthe chill.

Irish coffee?You do just mean coffee with whiskey in it, right?I do, Gregory admitted. Please.Gregory poured from the thermos, handed it to Mike

and seated himself as well.They weren't two hundred miles from Los Angeles, but

the beach was empty of any evidence of humans beyond whatthey'd brought with them. Several minutes went by betweencars, sometimes longer, and from the campsite the traffic wasinvisible and barely audible. The world smelled of salt andsounded of the gentle surf. Gregory could smell Mike, even overthe whiskied coffee, could hear the thump of his heartbeat, buteven for Gregory the senses grew stretched and thin after that.

Catholics, said Gregory, believe that if they die in astate of grace, they are forgiven and go to heaven. And youconfessed your sins to your brother priest, this afternoon. Havinghad no meaningful opportunity to sin, since, you are at this verymoment in a state of grace?

Father Mike thought about it. It would be arrogant tosay so; we are all sinners. Not I, thought Gregory, and by hislights this was true. But I don't suppose I've done anything veryterrible since this afternoon. Why, are we about to die?

Gregory gulped back the rest of his coffee and droppedthe cup. You are, he said and came out of the chair and strodeforward five feet with a single step and threw out his arms.Zoth-Ommog! he cried. Father and Cousin! Rise! You arecalled. Rise!

What came from the water, splashing up out of thewaves and then flying low over the gentle surf, would beinvisible to Michael Devlin. A kindness, that.

The heavy silver chain holding the cross aroundDevlin's neck exploded, spraying bits of glowing white moltenmetal across the beach. Some of it struck Devlin, and someGregory, and neither noticed, Gregory because it didn't hurt, andFather Mike because he had no time. The cross itself neitherheated not shattered, but it fell to the sand as Devlin, howling,rose to meet the barely-seen figure rushing toward him throughthe night sky

Gregory stood quietly and waited for his cousin it waseasier to think of him that way to finish.

He was the best? Zoth-Ommog asked, after a while.In this last decade, yes.There was not much there.He knew it, too, Gregory said. Deep down, I think

he did.Zoth-Ommog regarded Gregory Diavola. Gregory

stood very still. Then his cousin threw himself into the sky, anda moment later was gone, and Gregory shuddered, havingsurvived again, and took his clothes off so that he might let hishuman form drop away, and fell upon the leftovers.

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