Brian M Sammons [Sammons - Tales of Cthulhu Invictus

Tales of
Cthulhu
Invictus

Edited by

Brian M. Sammons

Copyright 2015 by Golden Goblin Press, LLC

All Rights Reserved.

Excerpts in the publication and related advertising, artwork original to Tales of Cthulhu Invictus remains the property of the artists, and is copyright by them under their individual copyrights.

Cthulhu Invictus is a Registered Trademark of Chaoisum Inc., and is used with permission.
www.chaosium.com

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Published in the United States by:
Golden Goblin Press
90-48 210th Street
Queens Village, New York, 11428

ISBN 978-0-9895603-3-7

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Thank You

Id like to start by thanking the backers of the De Horrore Cosmico Kickstarter for making this book possible.
My thanks to Alberto Guerra for the amazing cover art. Thank you to Brian Sammons for putting such a wonderful collection together for us. My thanks to the authors of these wonderful tales; William Meikle, Christine Morgan, Konstantine Paradias, Pete Rawlik,Edward M. Erdelac, Penelope Love, Tom Lynch, Lee Clark Zumpe, and Robert M. Price. Thank you to Chitin Proctor for your help proof-reading this collection, and to Mark Shireman for layout.
You are all incredible!

Oscar Rios

Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, GGP

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my wife, Mitzi.
Thank you for making every day of my life, for the last twenty five years, one long epic and occasionally horrifying adventure. If we go down, well go down together.

Oscar Rios

Publisher and Editor-In-Chief, GGP

Table of
Contents

Vulcans Forge
by William Meikle page 5

Fecunditati Augustae
by Christine Morgan page 15

A Plague of Wounds
by Konstantine Paradias page 30

Tempus Edax Rerum
by Pete Rawlik page 37

The Unrepeatables
by Edward M. Erdelac page 46

Magnum Innominandum
by Penelope Love page 61

Lines in the Sand
by Tom Lynch page 75

The Temple of Iald-Tquthoth
by Lee Clark Zumpe page 88

The Seven Thunders
by Robert M. Price page 101

Vulcans Forge

by William Meikle

Day 1

They told me it was a temple, one dedicated to a forgotten god from over the seas. The ziggurat builders of Mesopotamia were the main names being mentioned, but as soon as I climbed the smoking slopes and entered the shaft I saw that what the quake had uncovered was something far olderand far more interesting.

I immediately knew one thing for sureit is certainly no temple, although I am at a loss as to categorize the place in any other fashion. The basalt walls are smooth, as if cut in great precision by a master builder, although there is no sign of any joints, not even where high arches have been formed to mark the passageways. Strange jars line every wall; tall glass vases filled with wondersand horrorsstrange creatures beyond imagining, all of them dead, dissected and floating, specimens of some dark experimentation.

Three long tables, hewn from a strange green marble mark the workspace, and on each lies a range of knives, specula and a variety of objectsobviously toolsthat I can only hope to fathom the meaning of. It will take weeks of careful study.

But first, some cleaning will be required. Everything is covered in a thin layer of ash, and I speculate that the place was abandoned in some unimaginable past during a previous volcanic episode, although I will admit to that being no more than a theory at present. I only know for sure that it is oldolder by far than the great structures of Rome herself, maybe older still than the Sphinx in the desert, and with as little intention of giving up its secrets.

The place is an enigmaone that I hope to be given time to understand. I must not complain. To be given the task at all is a great honor. There are mysteriesand wondershere that will do much to advance my reputation should I manage to penetrate the secrets, and the chamber itself is a privilege to behold.

It might never have been found had it not been for the quake that shook the slopes of Vesuvius three days ago. There have been tremors in this area beforeof course there have, and some of them large enough to do substantial damage around the region. But none has ever opened up such a gash in the mountainside as this. The fact that so much has survived intact is only one of the many wonders of this place.

I am told by Galvinius the Builder that a new eruption may indeed be imminent, one that might destroy this wonder before we have time to fully understand it, but I cannot allow myself to worry about that at the moment. The marvels I have seen this day must be catalogued and preservedthat is my only priority at this time.

I have a lot of work ahead of me.

Day 2

The complex of shafts beneath the main chamber is far larger than we have been led to believe. Galvinius is astoundedsomething I never thought I would say about such a stout, earthy mason. But the sight of the tunnel network that he uncovered this morning is certainly enough to amaze even the most jaded of minds. It is as if an army of antsenormous beyond all beliefhave hewn and cut out the heart of the volcano for their own as yet unfathomable devices. Galvinius has his young assistants down there now, trying to delve ever deeper

There are many chambers like the one in which I sit penning thisa score at least, with more being uncovered at every turn, each containing more of the glass jarsmore monstrosities, more evidence of experimentation on a grand scale. We have seen no sign that men have been the subjects of these grotesque depravitiesbut I fear what we might find even further in the depths of this infernal place.

Infernal is not a word I use lightly. It is warmer here than the hottest summers day, a dry heat that sucks the very moisture out of a man in minutes, leaving him parched and leathery. Great care has to be taken inside the complex, and to tarry too long will only bring quick and certain death. Several of Galvinius men have succumbed to heatstroke already, and he is having fresh water brought up by the barrel from the lower slopes in an attempt to keep us hydrated.

As for myself, I have as yet ventured no farther than the initial findthere is more than enough to keep me occupied up here. So far I have identified some of the creatures from the jarsalthough their forms are strange to my eye, as if not quite fully realized. There is part of a horse that seems too small, a strange lizard thing that seems far too large, and a hairy loathsome beast in a tall jar that I can scarcely look at. It has some resemblance to the monkeys of the Barbary, and an even closer resemblance to a man around the face, but it is far larger than any manand somehow looks angry despite having been dead for a great length of time.

There are other jars where I can only guess at the provenance of the occupants. Some contain many legged things with membranous wings that look more like a hideous prawn than anything. Others are full of squat leathery eggs that have long since hatched, and insectshuge insectsunlike any I have ever seen.

And then there is the black tarry substance that, on close examination, seems to have coated almost everything at one time. It has long since hardened such that it is almost indistinguishable from rock, but when you break a pieceI did so by banging a fragment hard on the green marbleit shows distinctive internal structure that tells of a once living thing. Not for the first time in these past few days, I am at a complete loss as to what to make of it.

Day 3

I had believed myself beyond any further astonishment, but today has proved me quite wrong. Galvinius had sent to Pompeii for rope and tackle last night, and this morning he and his assistants went even deeper into the bowels of the volcano. I was at one of the green marble tables when the mason returnedeyebrows singed, skin covered with a layer of ash and sweat, eyes showing whiteand terrifiedin a smoke blackened face.