H P Lovecraft, page 45
Henquist Gordon.
("The Dark Demon", Bloch (O); "The Winfield Heritance", Carter.)
SOUTHERN SEA. Dreamlands ocean that borders on Dylath-Leen and Sona-
Nyl. The sea contains a mysterious sunken city and the isle of Oriab. The Granite
Pillars of the South mark the edge of this ocean to the south.
See Bahama; Dylath-Leen Oriab; Skai. ("The Dream-Quest of Unknown
THE CTHULHU MYTHOS ENCYCLOPEDIA
S P A C E - M E A D T O S T A R - S T O N E S O F M N A R
Kadath", Lovecraft (O); The Complete Dreamlands, Williams and Petersen.)
SPACE-MEAD. Golden liquid used by those who travel between the stars. The
mead insulates the drinker from the detrimental effects of space travel, leaving
them in a dream-like state for the entire journey. It remains up to the person
who drinks the mead to provide a means of interstellar transportation; byakhee
are a particularly favored method. If not used for this purpose, the mead often
provides the drinker with visions of events happening far away which have an
impact on them.
According to some, those who drink space-mead do not actually leave this
world. Rather, their physical bodies are left in some place on this planet, while
their astral selves make the journey to the stars. This makes these expeditions
no less dangerous, however.
See byakhee. ("The House on Curwen Street" (O), Derleth; "The Keeper
of the Key", Derleth.)
SPECTRAL HUNTER. Magical creature created through a sorcerous rite. A
magician transforms a willing victim into a human-shaped monster with shark-
like teeth, a thin, rubbery body, and pincers for hands. The spell also binds the
hunter's soul to a particular item. Once created, the hunter can never travel
more than a mile from that focus. The Hotethk tribe of California once knew
this spell, but that group is now extinct.
("Devil's Canyon", Carnahan (O); Call ofCthulhu Roleplaying Game, Cook
and Tynes.)
SPELLMAN, MARTIN, (c. 1912-) Would-be writer who became a nurse at
Oakdeene Sanitarium in 1935. The events of the night of January 1,1936 drove
him insane, causing him to be incarcerated in the same institution. In 1974, an
overdose of medication left him with brain damage, and later a sniper killed
him as he exercised in the sanitarium's yard. Spellman's notes on the Cthaat
Aquadingen are now on file at Miskatonic University.
See Oakdeene Sanitarium. ("Not to Force the Rhymes", Adams; "The Horror
at Oakdeene", Lumley (O); Ex Libris Miskatonici, Stanley.)
SPHERES OF NATH. Device of the Elder Things mentioned in the notes of
Professor Gordon Walmsley. According to this noted cryptographer, the Elder
Things, knowing that their days of empire would soon come to an end, installed
one of these devices in each of their cities and outposts. When turned on, the
device would destroy all traces of that particular location, including any artifacts
borne away by outsiders, and transport the entire complex to a site beneath the
ocean. The Nazis are rumored to have found such a device during their Antarctic
expeditions, but it is believed to have been destroyed with their base.
Whether there is any connection between this device and the land of Nath
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S P A C E - M E A D TO S T A R - S T O N E S OF M N A
is unknown.
See Elder Things; Nath. ("An Item of Mutual Interest", Glancy;"In the Vaults
Beneath", Lumley (O).)
SSATHAAT SCRIPTURES. Book on the god Yig. A 17th century Native Ameri-
can monk wrote the Scriptures, which tells of Yig s worship and his mighty
battles against those creatures that would intrude upon his chosen land of
Oklahoma. It contains rites to the snake-god and a spell that might stop time
on a limited basis.
("The Snakefarm", Ambuehl; "The Caller from Oklahoma", Mackey (O).)
SSS'HAA (also SSSAAA). Leader of the Valusian serpent people and high priest
of Yig. He led the faithful of Yig from their former home in Yoth to the caverns
beneath Mount Voormithadreth.
(Thongor and the Wizard ofLemuria, Carter (O); "The Vengeance of Yig",
Carter; "Zoth-Ommog", Carter.)
STANFORD, CARL. One of the most important sorcerers in the Masters of the
Silver Twilight. He may have gained some fame as an occultist at one point,
though the details of this have been lost.
[Carl Stanford Petersen was the author of the Call of Cthidhu role-playing
game.]
("Worms", Harrigan; "The Hermetic Order of the Silver Twilight", Hutchin-
son (O).)
STANZAS OF DZYAN. See Book of Dzyan.
STAR-SPAWN OF CTHULHU (also CTHULHI). Beings that came to earth
with Cthulhu and dream with their master in the corpse-city of R'lyeh. Despite
their ability to mold their form at will, they always resemble their master to
some degree; indeed, they may all be descended from him.
The Cthulhu-spawn arrived on earth many eons ago, building a great city
on the newly-risen continent of R'lyeh. The Elder Things of the Antarctic re-
sisted this incursion, but the star-spawn beat them back into the ocean. Peace
was finally declared, and both races settled back into their cities. In the end,
however, R'lyeh sank beneath the waves, trapping Cthulhu and all of his spawn.
Presumably the Cthulhi will awaken with their master when R'lyeh rises above
the ocean. A few of these beings may still be free.
See Cthulhu. ("At the Mountains of Madness", Lovecraft (O); The Transition
of Titus Crow, Lumley; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis.)
STAR-STONES OF MNAR. Grey-green rocks from the land of Mnar with the
Elder Sign carved into them. (Their power comes not so much from the Sign,
THE CTHULHU MYTHOS ENCYCLOPEDIA
OIAK V A M r i K t » LO OLAKKY W I S D O M CULT
however, as from the power inherent in each stone.) Holding a star-stone may
protect a person from the minions of the Great Old Ones, but not the Great Old
Ones themselves. The Elder Gods themselves may have created these stones, as
they are often found near the tombs of some of the Great Old Ones.
Star-stones are usually where they are for a good reason and should not be
disturbed if found. Each year, dozens of paranormal investigators are injured
or killed because they ignore this simple rule. Not only might the stones' re-
moval allow an evil force to break free, the Elder Gods have been known on
occasion to punish those who move large numbers of star-stones from their
proper places. Acquisition of star-stones should be left to seasoned veterans of
preternatural struggle who (it is hoped) know what they are doing. Miskatonic
University has been conducting experiments in mass-producing star-stones
with some success.
The Sussex Manuscript maintains that there are three different kinds of
star-stones: the regular kind, a polished oval stone useful against "kings" (lesser
Great Old Ones?), and a jewel with fire in its heart which guard the tombs of
the Great Old Ones themselves. No one has observed the latter two varieties,
so they may not exist.
[Stones very much like these first appear in "At the Mountains of Madness",
but there they serve as decorations and currency for the Elder Things and are
not associated with protection or Mnar.]
See Circles of Thaol; Elder Sign; Kish; Mnar. ( The Burrowers Beneath,
Lumley; "The Doom of Enos Harker", Carter and Cornford; "The Lurker at the
Threshold", Derleth and Lovecraft; "At the Mountains of Madness", Lovecraft
(O); The Sussex Manuscript, Pelton.)
STAR VAMPIRES. Species of interstellar beings who most commonly appear
when summoned. Star vampires are completely transparent, save for a brief
time after they drink the blood of a victim. Then they appear as masses of sharp
talons and waving suckers.
A star vampire may be summoned by reading a book with the spell (such
as De Vermis Mysteriis) at night under a cloudless sky. Rumor has it that star
vampires are now colonizing this planet, and are responsible for many mysteri-
ous livestock deaths.
("The Shambler from the Stars", Bloch (O), Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying
Game, Cook and Tynes; Call of Cthulhu Rulebook, Petersen and Willis; S.
Petersen's Guide to Cthulhu Monsters, Petersen et. al.)
STARKWEATHER-MOORE EXPEDITION. Expedition to Antarctica under-
taken as a follow-up to Miskatonic's Pabodie Expedition. Professor William
Dyer of Miskatonic University strongly protested against it, but his tales of a
stone city built by an alien race only served to encourage these new explor-
ers.
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The Starkweather-Moore Expedition, led by adventurer James Starkweather
and Professor William Moore of Miskatonic, departed New York on September
6 1933. Their expedition was plagued by sabotage and malfunctions, but they
eventually returned to the site of the Pabodie expedition. When the team ar-
rived, they reported that any alien ruins that might have existed had collapsed
into an underground network of caverns. The expedition had to return with
no evidence of prehuman intelligences.
[An earlier Call ofCthulhu supplement states that the Starkweather-Moore
Expedition, led by Professor Eustace Blake, left Bremen on December 20,1931.
I have no solution to this conundrum.]
See Elder Things; Pabodie expedition. ( Alone Against the Dark, Costello;
Beyond the Mountains of Madness, Charles and Janyce Engan; "At the Mountains
of Madness", Lovecraft (O); "In the Vaults Beneath", Lumley.)
STARRY WISDOM CULT. Group of devotees of Nyarlathotep who met in
Providence, Rhode Island between 1844 and 1877. Professor Enoch Bowen, a
well-known expert on the occult and archaeology, founded the cult after his
return from an expedition in Egypt. The congregation, which met in the old
Free-Will church, swelled as time went on. In 1863, the Starry Wisdom Church
had over two hundred members. A branch church opened for a brief while in
Townshend, Vermont, and missionary efforts to Arkham began. Even after the
death of Bowen in the 1860s, the church continued under the leadership of a
Dr. Raymond Flagg.
The nature of the cult's worship was kept a secret, but several rumors began
to be circulated. According to some sources, the cult owned a sacred artifact
known only as the Shining Trapezohedron, which Professor Bowen had brought
with him from Egypt. By gazing upon this sacred object, the members could
call up a being known as the Haunter of the Dark, who shared dread secrets
with the faithful. This being could only be summoned in absolute darkness; if
it were exposed to light for any period of time, it would be banished. The cult's
rituals consisted of obeisances to this object, sprinkled with pseudo-Egyptian
mysticism.
In 1877, the town leaders finally took action against the cult, due to evidence
of its involvement in the kidnappings of several individuals. After a campaign
of harassment and threats, 181 of the former cultists left the city before the
end of the year. The Starry Wisdom cult had been disbanded, and its sacred
books and relics remained within their crumbling old church until the town
demolished the structure in the mid-1930s. It is rumored that the sect con-
tinued its meetings in Providence in secret, under the leadership of Asenath
Bowen, a relative of Enoch.
Various cults giving themselves the Starry Wisdom name have come and
gone over the years. One church in Yorkshire, England, which flourished be-
tween 1880 and 1890, may have been under the leadership of Raymond Flagg.
T H E CTHULHU MYTHOS ENCYCLOPEDIA
STARS ARE R I G H T , THE TO S U M M A N U S
Some have also linked this religion to the Celestial Providence sect in Chicago
that was destroyed in the fire of 1871. One branch set up in Arkham during the
Twenties, but it was disbanded in 1927 after its leader's death. A more recent
Starry Wisdom Church appeared in San Francisco, but was destroyed by arson
A Chicago area congregation known as the Church of Seven Stars is believed
to have connections to the Starry Wisdom dating back over a century.
More recently, rumors have linked certain disappearances, mostly in Canada
to cells of the Starry Wisdom cult. The group is very secretive, however, so is
impossible to be sure if these organizations are connected with each other
through affiliation or doctrine.
[I have heard rumors of real-life contemporary "Starry Wisdom" churches
in both Florida and California.]
See Akeley, Henry Wentworth; Book of Dzyan; Book ofEibon; Bowen, Enoch;
Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh; Cultes des Goules; De Vermis Mysteriis;
Dexter, Ambrose; Lillibridge, Edwin; Necronomicon (appendices); Nyarlathotep
(Haunter of the Dark); Shining Trapezohedron; Unaussprechlichen Kulten.
("The Yorkshire Horror", Barton; "Mysterious Dan's Legacy", Baugh; "The
Shadow from the Steeple", Bloch; Strange Eons, Bloch; "The Horror from the
Middle Span", Derleth and Lovecraft; "Cults Exposed!: The Starry Wisdom
Church", Harms; Keeper's Compendium, Herber; "Strange Aeons", Flansburg;
"The Haunter of the Dark", Lovecraft (O); "Documents in the Case of Elizabeth
Akeley", Lupoff; Balak, Rainey; "King of Chicago", Sumpter; Sherlock Holmes
in the Adventure of the Ancient Gods, Vaughan.)
STARS ARE RIGHT, THE. Time at which the Old Ones will return and the
reign of humanity over Earth will end. Though cultists often believe that this
time will come soon, the exact time and stellar positions that will bring this
about are uncertain and possibly unknowable to humans.
See Angles of Tagh Clatur; Cthulhu; Elder Gods; Ghroth; M'nagalah; Nug
and Yeb. ("The Call of Cthulhu", Lovecraft (O).)
STILLWATER. Town in Manitoba. All of Stillwater's inhabitants disappeared
on February 25,1930, and only one body from the town was ever found. There
have been unsubstantiated rumors of cult activity among the town's former
inhabitants.
("The Thing that Walked on the Wind", Derleth (O).)
STREGOICAVAR (also CREGOIVACAR?). Village located in Hungary, west of
the city of Budapest. Stregiocavar may be translated as "Witch-town" due to a
cult whose members once lived on the site when the town was still known as
Xuthltan. Although Muslim forces slew its members in 1526, the town's name
has remained as a reminder of its past. Stregoicavar's most famous landmark
is the Black Stone, a monument where the disbanded cult worshiped hundreds
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0f years ago. Its most famous visitor was Justin Geoffrey.
See Black Stone. ("The Gorge beyond Salanpunco", Derleth; "The Black
Stone", Howard (O).)
STRONTI. See Shonhi.
A STUDY OF THE BOOK OF DZYAN. Book published around 1930 by Joachim
Feery that deals with Madame Blavatsky's famous text. His use of Deeley's
"translation" makes his conclusions even more dubious than usual.
See Book ofDzyan; Feery, Joachim. ( The Fate, Detwiller with Ivey; Keepers
Compendium, Herber (O).)
STYGIA. Land of the Hyborian Age in the area of present-day Egypt and Libya.
The founders of Stygia were refugees from the destruction of Lemuria who
came to this land and destroyed a pre-human civilization (of which nothing
is known) that thrived there. The Stygians took their own customs, along with
some aspects of the former inhabitants' culture and religion, and created a
new country.
During the life of the adventurer Conan, Stygia was one of the world's most
powerful countries, though its influence was already waning. Its capital was the
inland city of Luxur, but outsiders were more familiar with the port of Khemi,
on the banks of the river Styx, which is known today as the Nile. The people
worshiped such beings as Nyarlat (Nyarlathotep), Shuddam-El (Shudde-M'ell),
Gol-Goroth, and Azathoth, though they reserved their highest respect for the
god Set and his priests.
Near the end of the Hyborian Age, the Vanir from the north conquered
Stygia, setting themselves up as rulers and mingling their lines with those of
the previous inhabitants. These people gave rise to those of Egypt, though some
state that the Hyksos were closer in blood and tradition.
See Acheron; black lotus; Cthugha; Gol-Goroth; Nyarlathotep; Serpent
Ring of Set; Set; Shudde-M'ell; Thoth-Amon. ("Black Colossus", Howard (O);
"The Hyborian Age", Howard; "Black Eons", Howard and Price; "The Worm of
Urakhu", Tierney; "The Throne of Achamoth", Tierney and Price.)
SUMMANUS. Great Old One that manifests itself as a mouthless man with
