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Page 1: Sample file - DriveThruFictionwatermark.drivethrufiction.com › pdf_previews › 82428-sample.pdf · Malleus Monstrorum ExpandedEnglishEditionispublishedbyChaosiumInc. Malleus Monstrorum

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by

Scott David Aniolowski

withSandy Petersen & Lynn Willis

Additional Material by:David Conyers, Keith Herber, Kevin Ross, Chad J. Bowser, Shannon Appel, Christian von Aster, Joachim A. Hagen,

Florian Hardt, Frank Heller, Peter Schott, Steffen Schuütte, Michael Siefner, Jan Cristof Steines,Holger Göttmann, Wolfang Schiemichen, Ingo Ahrens, and friends.

For fuller Author credits see pages 4 and 288.

Project & Layout: Charlie Krank

Cover Painting: Lee Gibbons Illustrated by: Pascal D. Bohr, Konstantyn Debus, Nils Eckhardt,Thomas Ertmer, Kostja Kleye, Jan Kluczewitz, Christian Küttler, Klaas Neumann, Patrick Strietzel, Jens Weber,Maria Luisa Witte, Lydia Ortiz, Paul Carrick. Art direction and visual concept: Konstantyn Debus(www.yllustration.com) Participants in the German Edition: Frank Heller, Konstantyn Debus,

Peter Schott, Thomas M.Webhofer, Ingo Ahrens, Jens Kaufmann, Holger Göttmann, Christina Wessel,Maik Krüger, Holger Rinke, Andreas Finkernagel, 15brötchenmann

Find more information at www.pegasus.de

German to English Translation: Bill Walsh

Layout Assistance: Alan Peña, Lydia Ortiz

Chaosium is: Lynn Willis, Charlie Krank, Dustin Wright, Fergie, and a few odd critters.

A CHAOSIUM PUBLICATION • 2006

—EXPANDED ENGLISH EDITION IN 380 ENTRIES—

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Malleus Monstrorum Expanded English Edition is published by Chaosium Inc.

Malleus Monstrorum is copyright © 2006 by Chaosium Inc., all rights reserved.Malleus Monstrorum containsmaterial originally copyrighted © 1994, 1996, 1998, 2006 by Chaosium Inc.; all rights reserved.

Call of Cthulhu® is the registered trademark of Chaosium Inc.

Similarities between characters in Malleus Monstrorum and persons living or dead are strictly coincidental.

Cover:Wrath of Great Cthulhu. ©2006 Lee Gibbons; all rights reserved.

Except in this publication and related advertising, or unless otherwise agreed to, artwork originalto Malleus Monstrorum remains the property of the individual artist, and is copyright by that artist

under his or her separate copyright.

Reproduction of material from within this book for the purposes of personal or corporate profit, by photographic,optical, electronic, or other media or methods of storage and retrieval, is prohibited.

Address questions and comments about this book to:

Chaosium Inc., 22568 Mission Boulevard #423, Hayward CA 94541-5117.

Please do not phone in game questions; the quickest answer may not be the best answer.For information and current publications, see our web site at www.chaosium.com

ISBN 1-56882-179-4

Chaosium Publication 23102

November 2006

Printed in USA

Complete CreditsScott David Aniolowski: the children of Abhoth,Aforgomon, aihais, alligators, the Ancient Ones,Aphoom Zhah, bears (grizzly & polar), Baoht Z’uqqa-Mogg (Grimrock Isle from Triad Entertainments),Black Man, broodlings of Eihort, (and LynnWillis) thegreater brothers of Chaugnar Faugn, cold ones, theguardians of the crystallizers of dreams, Cthylla,Cxaxukluth, Cynothoglys, the Dark Demon, Death-Walker, Dweller in Darkness, the dwellers in thedepths, the Faceless God, Fthagghua, the Feaster fromAfar, fishers from outside, the fosterlings of the OldOnes, Ghizguth, the ghost-beings of Ib, Ghroth,Gnophkehs, Goatswood gnomes, Gog-Hoor, golems,(and Stéphane Gesbert in Cthulhu Dark Ages) gof ’nnhupadgh, the Great God Pan, the Green God, the chil-dren of the Green God, Groth-golka, Han, the spawnof Hastur, Horned Man, the horses of the invisible areinspired by and based upon the description and statis-tics created by A.J. Bradbury (“The Horse of theInvisible,” in White Dwarf), Hydra, hyenas, the Hy-perboreans, Hziulquoigmnzhah, Iod, Jack O’Lantern,Juk-Shabb (Sacraments of Evil), Kassogtha, the Keeperof the Moon-Lens, killer whales, K’n-yan people, Ko-kopelli, Kr’nk, Kruschtya Equation, Kthanid, lakemonsters, Lesser Elder Gods, the inhabitants ofL’gy’hx, (and Stéphane Gesbert in Cthulhu Dark Ages)Lilith, Lloigor, Lrogg, Madam Yi, man-eating plants,MANA-YOOD-SUSHAI & Skarl, Martense Kin,

M’bwa, megalodon, the Million Favoured Ones, themind parasites, the miri nigri, M’nagalah,Mordiggian,moose, M’Tlblys, the nioth-korghai, Nug & Yeb, octo-pus, Ossadagowah, Othuum, the minions of Othuum,Othuyeg, Othuyeg spawn, (and Kevin A. Ross) OurLadies of Sorrow, Pharol, piranha, Q’yth-az, the Godof the Red Flux, Rhan-Tegoth (At Your Door), RlimShaikorth, Saaitii, sasquatch, scorpions, Set, the den-izens of S’glhuo, shaggai, sharks, the shoggoth lords(based on LynnWillis’Mr. Shiny), Shugoran, snappingturtles, Snow-Thing, spawn of the winds, swine folk,Tawil at’Umr, Thoth, the Tick Tock Man, the tree-menof M’bwa, Tru’nembra, typhonian beasts, Ubb, Ubbo-Sathla, the brood of Ubbo-Sathla, Ut’ulls-Hr’ehr, thevoormis, the voors, Vorvadoss, Vulthoom, the WailingWrither (Escape from Innsmouth), the wendigo,WickerMan, X-2634, Xada-Hgla, the denizens of Yaddith,Yad-Thaddag, Ycnágnnisssz, Yegg-ha, the inhabitantsof Yekub (Sacraments of Evil), the children of Y’golo-nac, Yig children, zarr, Zathog, Zoth Syra, Zstyl-zhemgni, and the zy’tl q’ae.

Sandy Petersen: Azathoth, Bast, byakhee, chthonians,Cthugha, Cthulhu, Dagon & Hydra, dark young ofShub-Niggurath, Daoloth, deep ones, dholes, dimen-sional shamblers, elder things, fire vampires, flyingpolyps, the formless spawn of Tsathoggua, ghasts,ghouls, Glaaki, the servants of Glaaki, gnoph-keh,Great Race of Yith, gugs, Hagarg Ryonis, Hastur,

. . . continued on page 288

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Table of ContentsA Guide to What Follows.

Take Care. You Can Not UnlearnSuch Knowledge.

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Creatures of the Mythos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Deities of the Mythos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Creatures of Legend & Folklore . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .252

Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .261

Appendix I: Chaosium Pronunciations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .274

Appendix II: Describing the Indescribable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .276

Appendix III: Mortality & Immortality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .282

Appendix IV: Creating Original Monsters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .283

Appendix V: The Dreamlands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .285

Complete Credits, continued . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .286

Call of Cthulhu Monster Master . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .289

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Dedication

I’d like to dedicate this tome to the people who were a part of my fifteen-year Call of Cthulhu group/campaign.Over the years players came and went, and we had many strange adventures together (some of which ended upin print). My scenarios weren’t always as successful as I’d wanted, but a few did genuinely scare some people,

and those are moments I shall treasure forever! The major players in my Call of Cthulhu gaming group to whom Iowe so much to are: Amy Adkins, Steve Aniolowski, Karen Beningo, Tim Bush, Will Ehgoetz, Clif Ganyard, PaulaGanyard, Paula Garlock, Greg Gerstung, Brian Hutchens, Nathan Hutchings, Bill Koonz,Mike Lesner, Lisa Leverock,Dan Long, Scott Mawhiney,Mike Szymanski, RobWatkins, and Greg Zuba. It was many years and many people, andI’m sure I’ve forgotten some names: to those fine folks I sincerely apologize.

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FOREWORD 7

Foreword

In assembling this book, I scoured every profession-ally-published Call of Cthulhu book and scenariolooking for new monsters and deities. I also read

through many obscure Mythos stories and books insearch of the same. Presented herein, then, is the mostcomprehensive collection of gods & monsters assem-bled for Call of Cthulhu to date. Included are all of thecreatures from the rulebook, most from The CreatureCompanion (previously published as Ye Booke ofMonstres I & Ye Booke of Monstres II), many newly col-lected from scenarios, a sampling from the CompleteDreamlands and Secrets of Japan, and many brand newto this volume.

The entries for many of the creatures and deitieshave been tweaked, edited, updated, or corrected everso slightly. Most of these changes or additions are sosubtle that they will not be noticed, and none affect orcontradict the being’s appearance or use in earlier sce-narios. A few of the creatures have been significantlyexpanded. The mi-go, sand-dwellers, nioth-korghai,wendigo, and Tcho-Tcho people are among those thatreceived the most attention.

Novice keepers and those new to Lovecraft or theCthulhu Mythos may be overwhelmed by the sheervolume of entities. Even hardened and experiencedkeepers and Mythos fans may find a surprise or two. Afew creatures not specifically Cthulhu Mythos havebeen embraced and included for fun and because oftheir “Lovecraftian” nature. After all, the Mythos isvery subjective, and each reader/keeper will have his orher own idea of what is or what isn’t a part of the ever-expanding artificial mythology we collectively refer toas the Cthulhu Mythos. Use, ignore, or change entriesas fits your own campaigns and ideas.

This project has been a labor of love, and I hopeevery reader—even experienced keepers and long-

time Mythos fans—finds something new and excitingwithin these pages. I could never have hoped to havewritten and assembled all of these entries myself, anda full and detailed list of credits and copyrightsappears elsewhere within this book. Thanks to LynnWillis, who was of infinite help in supplying meneeded manuscript pages and who suggested the pro-ject in the first place. Frank Heller and Pegasus Spielare to thank for the neat title, and their beautifulGerman edition of my Creature Companion that wasthe inspiration for this volume (and the great title weshamelessly stole!), and Bill Walsh is to thank fortranslating original German text into English (I’m justsorry there wasn’t room for more of it). Thanks toDavid Conyers for supplying many of the new entries.Thank you to everyone who participated inChaosium’s Halloween Malleus Monstrorum Contestand especially our three winners: second runner-upRobert Horowitz for his dust-men, first runner-upBruce L. Priddy for his Father-Of-All-Sharks, andgrand prize winner Chad J. Bowser for his palliddancers. I must mention Daniel Harms’ EncyclopediaCthulhiana as it was of indispensable help, as wasBrian Sammons’ “The Keeper’s List of Lists” from theKeeper’s Companion 2. Finally, I heartily thank all ofthose fine authors—game and fiction alike—for theirmonstrous creations and additions to the CthulhuMythos.

I hope everyone enjoys my horde of horrors.Perhaps the stars are finally right!

Unpleasant Dreams,

Scott David Aniolowski

Lockport, NY

Halloween, 2004

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MALLEUS MONSTRORUM8

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INTRODUCTION 9

Entries are made alphabetically, usually by keyword or phrase: thus you’ll find the hounds ofTindalos entered under T, as Tindalos, Hounds

of. The exact forms for entities occur in the deities andmonsters boxes, at the start of each section. There theentries are also classified according to one possibleMythos hierarchy.

The listing of a servitor species for a single deitydoes not preclude independent use or the choice ofanother entity.

* For the sake of convenience, the term “deity” is usedthroughout this introduction to refer to Outer Gods,Great Old Ones, Elder Gods, Great Ones, and Avatars.

Creature ClassificationsCreatures of the Mythos are classified in one of fourcategories: Fabulous Creatures, Independent Races,Servitor Races, and Unique Entities. Not all of theseclassifications are used in this book.

Fabulous CreaturesFabulous creatures are enchanted or mystical beingsdrawn from legends and lore. Although they can bedangerous, as often fabulous creatures inspire aweand wonder in those who see them. Fabulous crea-tures are generally connected to the Cthulhu Mythosin no other way than through their existence in theDreamlands, where they are almost exclusivelyfound. Fabulous Creatures may be manipulated bythe various races, beings, and gods of the CthulhuMythos, but they seldom worship them. Goblins andbasilisks are Fabulous Creatures. No FabulousCreatures are described in this book; see H.P.Lovecraft’s Dreamlands for many Fabulous Creatures.

Independent RacesCertain species are servitors to no particular deity,although individuals may certainly worship, cooper-ate, or co-conspire with such beings. Certain speciesneither desire nor instigate any interaction with otherraces of the Mythos, while others may actively associ-ate with or war against other species or even deities.The mi-go and ghouls are examples of independentraces.

Servitor RacesSpecific species are often associated with particularGreat Old Ones, Great Ones, Outer Gods, Avatars, orElder Gods. These areservitor species. Fre-quently a deity manifestsaccompanied by severalsuch servitors. In scenar-ios and stories these rep-resentatives have actedas guards, abductors,assassins, messengers,spies, and delivery boys,frightening investigatorsand bulking out con-frontations. The darkyoung of Shub-Niggur-ath and spectral huntersare among the servitorraces.

Unique EntitiesCertain individuals defy classification. Some are dis-tinctive members of a certain race—either particularlyinteresting or powerful. These creatures are often theleaders of their race and, although not actually deities,receive worship. Zoth Syra and Father Dagon and

Introduction

CELTIC ORNAMENTin the Codex Aurerus, Episcopal Library of Litchfield.

UNIQUE ENTITIESCREATURE CLASSIFICATIONS

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OUTER GODS

MALLEUS MONSTRORUM

UNIQUE ENTITIES

10

Mother Hydra fall into this category, and are listed inthe Deities of the Cthulhu Mythos section. Others aremembers of no race (or are powerful members but notleaders of any race), nor are they deities. Mr. Shiny andM’bwa are among these beings, and they are listed inthe Creatures of the Cthulhu Mythos section. All thesebeings, for lack of any better classification, are desig-nated as Unique Entities.

Unique Entities run the entire gamut of possibility,but are often powerful, unusual beings that have thegod-like ability of being dispelled upon reduction tozero hit points or less, rather than death. Often meredamage cannot destroy a Unique Entity. CertainUnique Entities may, over time, evolve into Great OldOnes. Ubb and Fthaggua might be among those beingsdestined for godhood.

Deity ClassificationsDeities of the Mythos are classified in one of five cate-gories: Elder Gods, Great Old Ones, Great Ones, OuterGods, and Avatars.

Elder GodsThe Elder Gods are a race of gods neutral to or possiblyrivals of the Outer Gods. Though of vast and awesomepower, the Elder Gods do not seem to be as dangerousto humanity as the Outer Gods. Like them, the ElderGods have little contact with humanity. Few Elder Godsare mentioned by name, and there is a host of lesser,unnamed Elder Gods known as Lesser Elder Gods.Withtime and worship, these unnamed Lesser Elder Godsmay one day become named and procure a following.

Bast and Vorvadoss are both Elder Gods, while Nodensis the most famous.

Great Old OneThe Great Old Ones are not omnipotent, but nonethelessare godlike and terrible in human eyes.Humans are likelyto worship Great Old Ones, who are comparatively nearat hand. Great Old Ones occasionally participate inhuman affairs or contact individual humans. The GreatOld Ones appear to be immensely powerful alien beingswith supernatural-seeming abilities, but not to be gods ofthe potency reported for the Outer Gods. Each Great OldOne is independent. Many seem imprisoned in someway. Rhan-Tegoth and Shudde M’ell are Great Old Ones.Of course,mighty Cthulhu is the most famous Great OldOne of all.

Great OnesThe Great Ones are the gods of Earth’s Dreamlands. Donot confuse them with the Great Old Ones. The GreatOnes are the weakest of all the deity types, and a wisemortal can surpass them in might. However, they areprotected by the dread Outer Gods, so mortals properlyrevere and worship them. The Great Ones are fairlybenevolent toward mankind and are so similar tohumans that they can actually breed with them. AllGreat Ones resemble human beings and all share thesame general racial aspect: a stern and terrible visage,with long narrow eyes, long-lobed ears, thin noses, andpointed chins. Great Ones walk through the air as eas-ily as on the ground and they can travel between thedimensions at need, arriving swiftly at their chosen des-tinations. They may step into the waking world, as well,but their power and influence is much weaker there. AGreat One slain (reduced to 0 hit points) in the wakingworld is banished back to the Dreamlands until specif-ically summoned to the waking world, or allowed toreturn there by Nyarlathotep. Nyarlathotep looks uponthe Great Ones meddling in the waking world withmuch disdain, however, and those that are caught doingso often suffer the Crawling Chaos’ wrath. The OuterGod has even been known to actually destroy GreatOnes who angered him with their curiosity of the worldof waking men. Karakal and Lobon are two Great Ones.

Outer GodsThe Outer Gods rule the universe. All races and lesserdeities of the Mythos acknowledge the Outer Gods, andmany worship them. Except for Nyarlathotep, thesegods have little to do with humanity. Humans whomeddle with these entities suffer for it—usually bygoing mad or dying. The Outer Gods are portrayed astrue gods, and some seem to personify some cosmicprinciple. Of those known, only a few Outer Gods affecthuman affairs. When they do, they often seek to breakthrough cosmic walls or dimensions in order to wreaknew destruction. There are many lesser powerful or

PLATEFrom Les Prophéties de M.Michel Nostradamus, Macé Bonhomme, Lyon, 1555

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known Outer Gods known collectively as Lesser OtherGods. These are the things that dance mindlesslyaround Azathoth, and make up the Daemon Sultan’s“court”. Azathoth and Ubbo-Sathla are among theOuter Gods.

AvatarsAvatars are variant manifestations of an Outer God,Great Old One, Elder God, or Great One that possessthe capacity for independent action. Avatars are usuallyless powerful than the gods they represent, althoughmany are more horrible to witness. Avatars are usuallylimited to a specific size and form. Nyarlathotep is mostwell known for its avatars, of which 999 are claimed; atleast one (the Black Man) is human-like in appearance.In this book, avatars are classified under the heading ofthe god they represent. The King in Yellow and theQueen in Red are avatars (of Hastur and Nyarlathotep,respectively).

Gods & Monstersof the Dreamlands

H.P. Lovecraft wrote about an entire world of fantasyand horror that could be visited only in dreams. Thisworld—the Dreamlands—he populated with scores offabulous beings and creatures, exotic peoples, andstrange gods. Some of these creatures and many of thedeities may also be encountered in the waking world,although they live in and are most likely found in theDreamlands.

A few Great Old Ones dwell in the fantastic realms ofthe Dreamlands. Some of them may also be worshipedin the waking world. An entire class of Mythos deities—the Great Ones —dwell exclusivelyin the Dreamlands.They are the gods ofEarth, and quite oftenthe inspiration for fig-ures from Earthlymythologies.

A small sampling ofthe most important orcommon inhabitantsof the Dreamlands isincluded to get keepersstarted. Dozens morecan be found in H.P.L o v e c r a f t ’ sDreamlands, and thatbook is recommendedto keepers wishing torun extended cam-paigns in theDreamlands.

Other Creatures& Animals

There are also a number of animals and non-Mythosmonsters presented for the keeper’s use. Those includedare among the ones most likely to be encountered or themost common or popular. The listings for animals andnon-Mythos horrors are identical to the other listingswith a few exceptions: animals have no INT listed, nordo they cause Sanity losses. Their likely habitat is alsoindicated. The creatures from folklore and legend causeSanity losses to see, although not usually as great aSanity loss as the truly alien horrors of the CthulhuMythos. These monsters also have habitat listed.

Entry FormatWhere possible, each entry starts with a descriptive quotefrom the story, poem, or scenario where the creature firstappeared, or where it was best described. Some entrieshave atmospheric quotes instead of actual descriptivequotes of the creature. If much is known about the entity,there may be additional description. If discussing a deity(or a few unique entities), notice of any notable cultcomes next. The rest of the notes consider peculiarities ofhabit or habitat. A deity may be discussed as it is onlyafter it has been summoned or otherwise encountered.Subheads may break up lengthy and complex material.Entries end with information on specific attacks, whenappropriate.

The relative length of entries has nothing to do withthe importance of the entity or species within theMythos, nor with the likelihood of encounter. Certain

ENTRY FORMATOUTER GODS

INTRODUCTION 11

PEASANT ARTfrom the Allgäu region of southern Germany

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LOSS OF CHARACTERISTICS

species may have remarkable properties which demandconsiderable space to summarize. Ghouls, for example,are among the most likely denizen of the CthulhuMythos to be encountered, yet their entry is muchshorter than the one for the rare flying polyps—but, asdescribed by Lovecraft, the flying polyps have remark-able properties demanding more space to summarize.

The StatisticsMythos statistics include STR, CON, SIZ, INT, POW,and DEX. Only a few human-like races or entities haveAPP, EDU, or SAN, since those qualities in more aliencreatures are not meaningful. The Tcho-Tcho are oneof the few races with APP, EDU or SAN listings. Humanavatars of beings like Nyarlathotep or Yidhra have APPlisted, but not EDU or SAN, as these things do notapply to the deities of the Mythos. Unintelligent beingslack INT. Creatures composed of sound, color, fire, gas,snow, or other transient elements may lack STR andCON, their hit points determined by their POW orsome other statistic. SIZ varies on some creatures, asthey may expand and contract, or otherwise show noconstant size. Finally, some creatures or entities are soalien or so enormous that certain statistics are listed asN/A or not applicable.

Single beings such as deities and unique entities aregiven precise statistics, but species are given a dice-rollrange: when a specific monster is called for, the keepershould use those rolls as guides. Average scores forspecies are also given, and these can be transcribedwhen speed is necessary.

The keeper should not feel locked in to using theprovided statistics for the gods and monsters, andshould feel free to change them as needed. Perhaps aband of tougher ghouls is needed—increase the SIZand CON of the standard ghouls. Perhaps a small or“baby” shoggoth is needed for some reason—use theminimum stats for shoggoths or reduce them. Or thekeeper thinks Quachil Uttaus’ INT and POW are toolow—increase them (most statistics for Outer Gods andGreat Old Ones are moot, anyway, as the best mostinvestigators can hope for is escape if confronted by oneof these mind-destroying horrors!).

Hit PointsUsually a monster must lose all hit points before deathfollows. This is figured by averaging SIZ and CON (inthe case of unusual or special races, hit points may befigured differently, such as by POW). Bigger or health-ier monsters have more hit points.

Though they have hit points, deities cannot be trulyslain. When a deity is reduced to zero hit points or less,the thing is dispelled—forced back to whence it came.Mere physical damage will not destroy any Great OldOne, Outer God, Elder God, Great One, or Avatar. Theycan return—sometimes of their own volition afterregeneration, and sometimes only at special times,

places, or through the use of specific rituals to summonthem. Humans may be able to defeat or dispelled them,but the awesomely-powerful gods and god-like beingsof the Mythos can return, so their defeat is temporary atbest.

MoveIf two or more numbers are separated by slashes, thetrailing number is the monster’s Move in anothermedium (water, air, etc.), as listed next to the statistic.Some beings have no Move. These creatures are gener-ally stationary, although they may lash out with tenta-cles or other limbs. Other entities move so fast or insuch an alien manner that they have incalculablespeeds.

Damage BonusFor individuals, the damage bonus notations show theactual rolls to be added to damage results. Those forspecies are given as average rolls: for an individual ofthe species, calculate the damage bonus from itsSIZ+STR. The notation +db indicates that the damagebonus should be included in the attack.

WeaponsThe weapons listed are usually natural weapons, asopposed to artifacts. Here the entity’s characteristicattacks and chances to hit are shown, plus damagedone. Deities often get to attack at 100%—a 100%attack never misses. Again, those values given forspecies represent averages, while those for individualsare the actual chances to hit. The entry +db stands forplus damage bonus.

Special Effects & DamageMany deities and creatures of the Mythos inflict specialdamage with their attacks. This may be in the form ofsome statistic drain, suffocation, drowning, burns orelectrocution, freezing, hypnosis, paralyzation or petri-fication, poisoning or infection, some sort of transfor-mation, engulf or swallow, aging, devolution, or evenautomatic death. The text of the individual monster’sentry describes any special damage or effects inflictedwith a successful attack.

Loss of CharacteristicsIf an entity drains points of characteristics from a tar-get, those points are lost permanently, unless the entryclearly states that the loss is temporary.

ArmorThe creature may have a hard shell, thick hide, gelati-nous flesh, be able to regenerate flesh, or be immune tocertain sorts of attacks. If so, this will be explained inaccompanying notes. Many deities regenerate hitpoints. Most can be dispelled if attacks lower their hit

MALLEUS MONSTRORUM

ENTRY FORMAT

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points to zero or less. Subtract the amount for armorfrom the hit points cost by a successful attack.

Spells

This entry notes the likelihood that an individual mon-ster or an average species member can cast spells orknows particular spells. Listed spells are intended to bethose most appropriate to the entity: a thrall of Cthulhuis more likely to cast Contact Cthulhu thanSummon/Bind Fire Vampires, for instance. Additionalspells are always possible, and always left to the keeper’sdiscretion. Some creatures have special spell-like abili-ties.

The use of magic is never required. These powerfulentities may notice humans no more than humansnotice mice. To speak of the Mythos deities as knowingspecific spells is handy but reductionist—aspects oftheir wills are expressible as spells, but these entities aremostly seamless and indefinable; they know what theywant to know when they want to know it. The idea of agod sitting down to learn some spell or other is a laugh-able one.

Skills

Most monsters have only a few skills shown, if any,though most or all could have physical skills such asListen, Sneak, Spot Hidden, or Track. As with spells, addor delete skills as desired. It is assumed that most crea-tures may Dodge attacks (DEX x2%), even thoughmosthave no Dodge listed.

Sanity Loss

This entry shows how many Sanity points an investiga-tor loses when encountering a member of a Mythosspecies or a deity. The actual amount lost mightincrease if more than one monster were seen, at thekeeper’s discretion, but the Sanity loss charged at onetime should never exceed the maximum possible lossthat a single creature could cause.

“To see” is appended as a way of saying “to witness”,or “to experience”, or “to encounter”. The investigatorsare affected whether or not they close their eyes.Sometimes the sound or odor of the monster con-tributes to the Sanity loss.

IllustrationsIt is notoriously difficult to illustrate indescribable hor-ror. Accompanying many of the entries are examples ofthe existence of the Mythos influencing the art of myr-iad cultures. Some of these examples are obviously por-traying one entity or another; others provide onlyoblique references to particular creatures or gods.

The Journals ofSir Hansen Poplan

Scattered throughout this book are excerpts from thejournals of Sir Hansen Poplan. These records are by anotable scholar, knighted for acts of bravery during theGreat War and now a professor at MiskatonicUniversity.

In his own words: “My studies of the Mythos beganwith certain investigations into the nature of the deityCthulhu, the result of aspectacular shipping acci-dent in the Pacific in early1925 related to thefreighter Vigilant. My sur-prise was great when Ilearned that Cthulhu wasat the center of a complexmythology which I findstill growing before myeyes.

“I have spent the eightyears since scouring theglobe for other tomesrelating to this elder cycleof mythology, leading tomy appointment here atMiskatonic.

“Most of my learning isbook based, but I have seensufficient hints at thetruth—the actions of half-mad cultists and the arti-facts of long-dead worlds—to come and believe in theveracity of the entire Mythos cycle of mythology.

“I offer my journals here as a compilation of what Ihave learned and as a gloss and testament to the secretsthat most scholars refuse to learn. They are also a warn-ing, though I fear that I am the modern-day Cassandra,cursed by the deities of the Mythos to know the truthbut to never be believed by my peers.”

Poplan’s essays are speculative, and thus must betaken with the proverbial grain of salt, but still theirinsights are intriguing.

The essays in this book are excerpts, and not in theirorder of composition. They are portions thoughtappropriate to the main text and arranged accordingly.

May you be protected from Mythos monstrosities!

SIR POPLANARMOR

INTRODUCTION 13

WOOD CARVINGdiscovered c. 1900 in the Mulu Caves, Borneo, East Malaysia.

(Sarawak Museum, Borneo, Malaysia)

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ADUMBRALI

ABHOTH, SPAWN OF, Lesser Servitor Race.There were things like bodiless legs or arms thatflailed in the slime, or heads that rolled, or

floundering bellies with fishes’ fins; and all manner ofthings malformed andmonstrous, that grew in size as theydeparted from the neighborhood of Abhoth. And thosethat swam not swiftly ashore when they fell into the poolfrom Abhoth, were devoured by mouths that gaped in theparent bulk.

— Clark Ashton Smith, “The Seven Geases.”

The spawn of Abhoth are the various creatures whichthe Outer God sloughs off from its great fertile bulk.Unlike Shub-Niggurath’s offspring, no two children ofAbhoth are alike, yet unlike the brood of Ubbo-Sathla,the Abhoth-spawn are generally complex life forms.

Some appear as unfin-ished bodies or singularbody parts, while otherslook like prehistoric crea-tures, monstrous mutantthings, queer humanoids,amorphous blobs, etc.Some spawn of Abhothfly, some swim, somecrawl, some don’t move atall. Abhoth scoops up andreabsorbs some of itschildren. Those that es-cape their sire’s graspwander about in dankand lightless subterran-ean lairs or even ventureup into the world of menor into the Dreamlands.

Abhoth’s spawn aremostly simple-minded

creatures which act and react on impulse. A few ofthese creatures tend to the alien needs of their sire, butmost simply wander away. Because every child ofAbhoth is different, each has a different mode ofattack. The keeper should determine the specific formof attack for each child he or she creates.Characteristics for the Abhoth-spawn vary greatly. Formost statistics, the keeper must first make a randomdice roll to see how many dice the statistic has. Forexample, STR is listed as 1-4D10. So the keeper shouldfirst roll a 1D4 and then roll that many 1D10.

SPAWN OF ABHOTH, Spoor of an Outer Godchar. rolls averages

STR 1-4D10 10-18

CON 1-6D6 9-16

SIZ 1-3D10 10-12

INT 1D10 5-6

POW 1-6D6 9-16

DEX 1-3D6 6-8

Move 1-3D6-2 4-6

HP 10-14

Av. Damage Bonus: +1D6.

Weapons: Various 1D100%, as per mode of attack

Armor: none; regenerates 1D20 hit points per round.

Spells: none.

Skills: Sneak 50%.

Sanity Loss: varies from 0/1D2 Sanity points to 1/1D10 Sanitypoints to see very horrible spawn of Abhoth.

ADUMBRALI, Lesser Independent Race.There were things in the abyss, he said in hoarsetones, great shapes that were like blobs of utter

blackness, yet which he knew to be alive. From the centralmasses of their beings he could see them shoot forthincredibly long, filamentine tentacles. They moved them-selves forward and backward horizontally, but they could

MALLEUS MONSTRORUM

ABHOTH, SPAWN

14

Creaturesof the Mythos

Here Are Alien & Supernatural Races of the Cthulhu Mythos.Some Serve Horrible Deities, Others Act on Their Own Desires.

A Few Dwell on Earth. The Liveliest Hail fromDifferent & Unfathomable Places.

UNCLASSIFIED SPECIMENcourtesy of the Anthropological Institute, Edinburgh

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ADUMBRALICREATURES BY TYPE

CREATURES OF THE MYTHOS 15

INDEPENDENT RACESAdumbrali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Alskali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Children of theWind . . . . . . . . . 23

Chthonians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Colours Out of Space . . . . . . . . . 25

Desh, Greater & Lesser . . . . . . . . 32

Dholes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Dimensional Shamblers . . . . . . . 34

Elder Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Flying Polyps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Fungus,Vile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Ghasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Ghouls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43

Gn’icht’ Tyaacht . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Gnoph-Keh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Green Abyss, Spawn of the . . . . 47

Gugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

Horses of the Invisible . . . . . . . . 51

Hyperboreans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

K’n-yan, People of . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Leng,Men from . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Leng Spiders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

L’gy’hx, Inhabitants of . . . . . . . . 56

Lloigor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

Martense Kin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Martians . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Mi-Go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Mind Parasites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Moon-Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Nioth-Korghai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Ny’ghan Grii . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Rat People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72

Reptile People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Serpent People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

S’glhuo, Denizens of . . . . . . . . . . 77

Shaggai . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Shaggai, Insects from . . . . . . . . . 79

Shoggoths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Shoggoth Lords . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Space Eaters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Star Vampires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Swine Folk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Terrors from Beyond . . . . . . . . . 91

Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

Tindalos, Hounds of . . . . . . . . . . 93

Tindalos, Lords of . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Tindalosian Hybrids . . . . . . . . . . 95

Travelers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Triffids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98

Tunnelers Below . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

Voormis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Voors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105

Worms of the Earth . . . . . . . . . .108

Xiclotl, Beings from . . . . . . . . . 109

Xiclotl, Death-Vines of . . . . . . . 110

Xo Tl’mi-go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110

Yaddith, Denizens of . . . . . . . . . 111

Yekub, Inhabitants of . . . . . . . . 111

Yith, Great Race of . . . . . . . . . . 114

Yith, Great Race of (New) . . . . 116

Zoogs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

SERVITOR RACESAbhoth, Spawn of . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Aihais . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Animiculi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Athlach-Nacha, Daughters of . . 19

Byakhee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Chakota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chaugnar Faugn, Greater &Lesser Brothers of . . . . . . . . 21

Cold Ones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Crawling Ones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Crystallizers of Dreams,Guardians of . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Cthulhu, Star-Spawn of . . . . . . . 28Cthulhu, Thralls of . . . . . . . . . . . 28Dark Ones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29Dark Sargassum . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Deep Ones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Deep One Hybrids . . . . . . . . . . . 31Dust-Men . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35Dwellers in the Depths . . . . . . . . 36Eihort, Broodlings of . . . . . . . . . 36Fire Vampires . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38Fishers from Outside . . . . . . . . . 38Fosterlings of the Old Ones . . . . 40Glaaki, Servants of . . . . . . . . . . . 43Gloon, Servants of

(see Gloon) . . . . . . . . . . . . 151Goatswood Gnomes . . . . . . . . . . 45Gof ’nn Hupadgh

Shub-Niggurath . . . . . . . . . 46Green God, Children of the . . . . 47Gyaa-Yothn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Hastur, Spawn of . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50Hell-Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Hunting Horrors

of Nyarlathotep . . . . . . . . . . 52Ib, Beings of & Ghost-Beings . . 54Lumens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59Miri Nigri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64Nagaae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Nightgaunts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66Nyogtha, Spawn of . . . . . . . . . . . 69Othuum,Minions of . . . . . . . . . . 70Othuyeg, Spawn of . . . . . . . . . . . 71Outer Gods, Servitors of . . . . . . 71Pallid Dancers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Petesouchi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Rat-Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73

Sand-Dwellers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74

Seekers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Shantaks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Shoggoths, Proto- . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Shoggoth-Twsha . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Shub-Niggurath, Dark Young . . 83

Shugoran . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Spawn of theWinds . . . . . . . . . . 85

Spectral Hunters . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Sphinx, Children of the . . . . . . . 86

Tcho-Tchos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Tomb-Herd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Tree-Men of M’bwa . . . . . . . . . . 97

Trolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

Tsathoggua,Formless Spawn . . . . . . . . 100

Tsathoggua, Scions of . . . . . . . . 100

Typhonian Beasts . . . . . . . . . . . 102

Ubbo-Sathla, Brood of . . . . . . . 102

Unspeakable Possessors . . . . . 103

Watchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Wendigo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Y’golonac, Servants of . . . . . . . 113

Yig, Children of . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Yig, Spawn of . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114

Yog-Sothoth, Sons of . . . . . . . . 117

Yuggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Zarr . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119

UNIQUE ENTITIESM’bwa (see Red Flux, The God

of The) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 218

Million Favoured Ones . . . . . . . . 62

Mr. Shiny . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Star Pool, Lurker in the . . . . . . . 87

Worm thatWalks . . . . . . . . . . . 108

Creatures, by Type

not move vertically, it seemed. They were, he thought,nothing but living shadows.

— Robert A.W. Lowndes, “The Abyss”.

The adumbrali are a race of two-dimensional, sha-dow-like entities that dwell in an abyssal dimension.They are only capable of moving in the horizontalplane (forward, backward, right, and left) and cannotmove vertically, even in their own dimension. Some ofthem, however, are capable of teleportation and mayuse this to reorient themselves to a new plane. A crueland mischievous race, the adumbrali delight in toyingwith and hunting down their prey before killing them.

The eyes of an adumbrali victim are forever frozenopen in a stare which seems to see into another plane.

The adumbrali and their minions are described inan obscure mythos tome known as the Song of Yste.

SEEKERS: while the adumbrali are usually confined totheir own dimension, they have means of hunting andacquiring victims from other worlds. Adumbrali cancombine individual efforts to create a “seeker”, anentity able to enter other dimensions and from thereproject the minds of chosen victims back to the realmsof the adumbrali.

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THE JOURNAL OF SIR HANSEN POPLAN

MARS

I have written elsewhere of how unknowable even our own solar system is, explaining

some of the truths concerning Saturn and Uranus. Now I come to Mars, our sister in

the sky, our brother at arms, and will show that it too is alien to us.

Scientists tell us that Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and appears to be

the most like our own. It has a less dense atmosphere, perhaps only as high as a

quarter of the density of our own. It is also colder, with its mean temperature

estimated at 48 degrees; temperature fluctuations are likely much more extreme.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.

There are no bodies of water upon Mars, but the planet does possess polar caps

which most scientists believe contain water ice. Schiaparelli, Lowell, and others

have catalogued a system of straight and precise surface features on Mars which

they call canals. Many believe that these canals offer irrigation, bringing water

from the ice caps to the rest of the planet, and this suggests life upon the

planet.

The tomes of the Mythos agree that there is life on Mars--two different species

of aliens--and so we see that as we learn more about the universe we begin to

stumble upon the secrets of the Mythos.

The first of the Martian peoples are the Aihais. According to the Mythos tomes

they are generally a peaceful and peaceable race, and, one day, when we reach out

to the stars as so many races have before us, they may be the best of neighbors.

The Aihais appear to be descended from the Yorhis, an older Martian species now

largely or totally extinct. What may have caused the downfall of the original

Yorhis civilization is unknown.(cont. on next page)

AIHAIS

ATTACKS: when theyfeed, the adumbrali ex-tend tentacles of black-ness to engulf their vic-tims, draining them of allbody fluids. Such an en-tity drains 1D6 STR and1D6 CON each time itsuccessfully attaches fila-ments to a victim. Once avictim’s STR reacheszero, he or she is perma-nently bed-ridden; oncea victim’s CON reaches 0,he or she is dead. STRand CON drained by anadumbrali regenerates ata rate of 1 point per weekof bed rest. A person

killed by this vampiric alien is left totally dehydrated.Although there are no visible wounds on the corpse, itis marked with disturbing geometric patterns whichhave an eerie luminescence, and which shift and moveacross its skin.

ADUMBRALI, Other-Dimensional Shadow Vampireschar. rolls averages

STR N/A N/A

CON 4D6 14

SIZ 8D6 28

INT 3D6+3 13-14

POW 4D6 14

DEX 2D6+3 10

Move 8 HP 21

Av. Damage Bonus: N/A.

Weapon: Filament 30%, damage 1D6 STR & 1D6 CON drain

Armor: none, but due to their shadowy nature the adumbrali areimmune to all mundane weapons. Only enchanted weaponsand spells which affect POW or INT can harm the adumbrate.

Spells: all know 1D3 spells, typically those which affect the mind.

Sanity Loss: 0/1D6 Sanity points to see the adumbrali.

AIHAIS, Lesser Servitor Race. The figure,nearly ten feet in height, was taller by a fullyard than the average Aihai, but presented the

familiar conformation of massively bulging chest andbony, many-angled limbs. The head was featured withhigh flaring ears and pit-like nostrils that narrowed and

MALLEUS MONSTRORUM

ADUMBRALI

16 MALLEUS MONSTRORUM

DR.HAHL EXAMINES AN UNUSUAL CORPSEfrom a medical circular c. 1894, Heidelberg

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A sub-species of the Aihais also seems to have developed, grown larger and

stronger than their peaceful brethren. They live beneath Mars in a realm named

Ravormos and there they worship the Great Old One Vulthoom, following him through

thousand-year cycles of sleep and waking.Considerably less is known about the second of Mars’ two intelligent races,

called simply the Martians. Scant references to them portray them as warlike, and

it also seems that they have a vampiric nature. An uneasy truth exists between the

Aihais and the Martians.A number of other species are said to dwell upon Mars. Most are simple animals,

no more beautiful or horrific than the species found upon Earth, only different.

There are those, however, that make me shudder, such as the black vampiric leeches

said to dwell beneath the dead city of Yoh-Vombis. They eat away at a victim’s

brain, then ride atop his corpse like a jockey atop a horse. And these leeches are

not the most strange species of Mars, for there are also millipedes half-a-mile

long, chameleons invisible in the light, and many more.

As for Yog-Vombis, that is but one of the many places of mystery upon Mars. It

is said to be a city abandoned long ago by the dead Yorhis. Mars is a planet full

of mysteries.I have already noted Ravormos, the home of Vulthoom. Another place of particular

note is The Gulf, a complex of dark and winding caverns in which the blind and

stunted survivors of the Yorhis race are said to dwell, in which they are said to

worship a dark and blasphemous god.Someday we will travel to Mars, and then the whole world will be forced to

acknowledge the dark secrets that we few now know. ���

expanded visibly in the twilight. The eyes were sunken inprofound orbits, and were wholly invisible, save for tinyreddish sparks that appeared to burn suspended in thesockets of a skull. According to native customs, this bizarrepersonage was altogether nude; but a kind of circletaround the neck-a flat wire of curiously beaten silver-indi-cated that he was the servant of some noble lord.

— Clark Ashton Smith, “Vulthoom”.

The aihais are one of two intelligent, dominant racesindigenous to Mars. The aihais are generally a peacefulrace content with culture and trade, while their neigh-bors—the Martians—are a warlike species bent on theinvasion and conquest of other worlds. The two racescoexist by in uneasy truce and have very little to dowith each other.

The aihais presently dwell in hidden cities, but inthe future, when Earth has finally made contact withthe inhabitants of Mars, they will move to the surfaceand construct great and beautiful cities.

Many, although certainly not all, aihais are followersof the Great Old OneVulthoom.Vulthoom and its cultmembers dwell in an expansive complex far below thesurface of Mars where they live out an eternal cycle ofsleep and activity. The complex—Ravormos—is a cav-

ernous place of alien technology and Eden-like gar-dens populated by strange and beautiful plants andanimals unknown even on Mars. A potent drug isreleased into the cult complex during the long sleepphases. This gas puts Vulthoom’s followers into statesof deep sleep, almost like suspended animation.Vulthoom and its minions sleep for one thousandyears at a time.

Vulthoom fled toMars from its homeworld aeons ago. OnMars, the Great Old Onegathered loyal followersand armed them withadvanced weapons sothat they could wage agreat civil war against theruling aihais. Eventually,Vulthoom and its follow-ers were defeated andfled to their under-ground complex where,after centuries of inactiv-ity, they were remem-bered only in legends.

AIHAISAIHAIS

CREATURES OF THE MYTHOS

THE MARS PENTACLEfrom The Visions of J. Behmen, 1763

17

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