The End Rite, by an unknown author.
Language: see below
+16 Cthulu mythos; -1D10+10 San; x5 spell multiplier
Study time: 3 weeks
Publishing history: none
Spells: Call Azathoth; Create temporal gate; (see below for Notes on spells)
This wretched and filthy text is allegedly written in the year 2015, by a person whose identity is never revealed. The author claims to belong to a secret society of mages he refers to only as ‘the Fades’, who, following the Endtimes, engineer the mass ‘suicide’ of the human race to spare them from the ravages of the Great Old Ones. The book is written in no recognised language, but rather a curious mish-mash of European dialects - similar to Esperanto. Any skilled linguist will be able to decipher it within a few days.
The book is part journal, part grimoire. It refers to obliquely how the Fades go about their despicable task, and recounts their rejection of any sane kind of morality in order to do it. Even more sickening are the author's descriptions of the things the Fades had to do in order to survive in the Endtimes long enough to complete their plans. To this end, the book is also a ‘survival guide’ to the Endtimes, and may be useful to those travelling to places like Carcosa, that are already subject to the dominance of the Great Old Ones.
The author is clearly insane - even withstanding the supposed date of the book's completion and his other wild claims; he accepts the Fades' nihilism, but at the same time is tortured at having to do so. The book ends after the mass death of humankind, with the author standing on an atoll of human flesh, looking across an ocean of blood towards risen R'lyeh, and realising he has become ‘as the Great old ones’.
The only known copy of this book resides in the Vatican's ‘forbidden library’, after it was recovered from Abyssinia by an Italian soldier in 1937. Vatican scholars have been unable to ascertain it's origins or establish whether or not it is a fraud. As a consequence, it was buried in their vaults and forgotten. However; the author claims the Fades had been established for hundreds of years before the Endtimes; hiding in the recesses of human society - planning and organising for their inevitable destiny. Assuming the author's claims are true, it is not known if the Fades are aware of the books presence in this time.
Note on spells:
It's intended that this book contains some really nasty magic - extremely powerful but sanity blasting spells that would annihilate most present day casters. Spells like ‘Astral fire’ and ‘Control Psychoplasm’. However, given that these are all so dangerous I'll leave it to individual keepers to decide whether or not they allow players to understand the stranger, deadlier spells.
The Fades' genocide spell however, does involve calling forth Azathoth, hence the appearance of that ‘familiar’ spell in the listing. There should also be a number of time travel related spells - including ‘Create temporal gate’ a variation on the traditional Create Gate spell.
This is from the Ice Cave.
