Location: Huston’s Headquarters (Australia) Huston’s Castle (Dreamlands)
Physical Description: Hand-written, unbound manuscript organized neatly into six 100-page stacks (Australia). Glittering platinum bound tome with jewels (Dreamlands).
Author: Robert E. Huston, MD
Publication History: Written during his Australian excavation, he intends to have it etched onto platinum panels to line his throne room when he ascends to his rightful position as Grand Emperor of the Earth.
Skim:
This tome reads as a quasi-religious manifesto in which Huston outlines the nature of the universe and humanity’s relationship as distilled through his psychospiritual dissection of the human mind. The very first page reveals the doctor’s limitless ego, as he extols his wisdom as greater than any of the world’s greatest philosophers and religious leaders. He cites his unparalleled intuition, vast intellect, and potent dreams as the source, but attributes his final awakening to “his shadow,” intermittently referring to it throughout the text as “The Black Man.”
He asserts that no “sane” human being can comprehend the relative nature of the massive cosmos. Despite the deeper capabilities of our unconscious, human evolution and civilization have established safeguards to prevent the mind from identifying the evidence of the “greater reality,” and only through the power of dreams can we begin to potentially understand the truth of the universe. Only in the dark, hidden places can brave explorers peer beyond the veil to see our true gods. And only the enlightened can show others the way.
Amidst detailed descriptions of nightmarish and unearthly lands, Huston also reveals his discoveries in the tunnels beneath the Great Sandy Desert. He relentlessly lauds himself for uncovering a trove of great technological wealth and vast archives assembled by an ancient alien civilization. He considers the discoveries as a gift granted by “his shadow,” as a means to prepare “the way.” From his position, Huston regards the alien beings as inferior and destined to live as pathetic insects.
Spells: Time Trap, Send Dream
Connection to the Broader Campaign:
If you wish to play Huston in the Dreamlands (more on this soon!), you can hide this tome in his fortress beneath Sarkomand. By allowing your Investigators to recover it before reaching Australia (or the Great City), they can potentially learn of Kakakatak and gain the 1D6 points of Read (Yithian) before their subterranean excursion. This offers an advantage to players that wish to pursue Huston in the Dreamlands.
If your players have recovered the tome from Huston’s Australian Headquarters, and you have elected to stage a final confrontation in the Dreamlands, you can provide hints through the text about how to reach and defeat him.
Thorough Reading:
Fortunately, Huston’s pompous predisposition to academic rigor and organization means the voluminous ramblings feature a helpful table of contents. By selecting a specific topic, they quickly navigate the giant stack of pages and skip his incomprehensible bloviating about how he intends to facilitate the dawning of the age of enlightened demi-gods through his profound knowledge, etc, etc. Bypassing the scientific jargon, autobiographical propaganda, metaphysical rambling, and insane commentary on the New York subway schedule, the study time is effectively reduced to just one full day to grasp the gist of the text, as well as ascertain all the useful information.
The Great Plan: “Thanks to my incredible technologic discoveries here in these dingy tunnels, and my precisely mapped timing, I can declare with full certainty a trans-dimension portal will be opened on January 14, 1926. As a studied horologist, I felt particularly well-suited to select the finest chronometers to synchronize the execution of this masterful plan. My time in Switzerland with Jung provided ample opportunity to identify the finest craftsmen available, and I contacted them personally—through an alias, of course! The world shall benefit from my sublime rigor as they pass through ignorance and I cast my glorious Shadow of enlightenment upon the face of the earth with an atomic eruption in the firmament!”
Yithian Mind Controller: “An astonishingly elementary device. Just a cap and a trio of curious padded wires. In retrospect, I’m quite surprised I never contrived of such a piece of equipment myself. Would have proved quite useful during therapy. Simply applying the apparatus to the cranium—not even a need to remove hair, marvelous conduction—subjects become quite open to any sort of suggestion. Excellent programming tool for feeble, stubborn minds. Has made for some terribly interesting, even entertaining, studies during my spare moments.”
Lightning Guns: “A most hilarious and shocking discovery, this. And so valuable. Found this apparatus lying in a chamber just beyond the Great Plazas. Mistaking it for a camera, I intended to capture some photographs of my impressive excavations. Seizing the knobby projections with both hands, I depressed a button and instantaneously electrocuted my foreman. What a novel surprise! We have produced many replicas after consultation with the alien.”
Kakakatak Abduction: Intentionally captured this pre-historic alien monster to identify the most valuable technological devices. Regards the 20-foot monster as an abomination with an ill-placed sense of importance and a reliance on knowledge stolen from beings they forcefully inhabited.
Rule Over the Dreamlands (optional): “Blessed with the gift from a young age, I did not know what to call my ability until Frederik van Eeden addressed the Society for Psychical Research in 1913. Lucid dreaming, but, oh, it is so much more! Our journey into ancient Egypt deepened my ability. I spoke with My Shadow, and my power simply grew. I have installed myself as the master of the domain. Every night, I sit in my high castle gathering my forces, preparing to unleash my fury on the worlds of wake and slumber. It is there that I hide my true strength.”
Flying Polyps: “After opening that sealed chamber, the invisible monstrosities assailed us relentlessly and truly confounded my finest efforts to continue the excavations apace. Fortunately, they respond quite fearfully to the focused electrical charges emitted from that primordial weapon. I handpicked a group of men after a series of ocular examinations and a field assessment of their aim. Arming them with the weapons has quadrupled our productivity, reduced the attacks by 71%, and aided us in obtaining a series of charred specimens for study…terribly disgusting creatures. Nothing to learn from their wretchedness. Once we are done with this accursed place, I will detonate another bomb and bury them all! The alien captive approves of this plan but foolishly questions its effectiveness. Further evidence of his willful arrogance!”