OSR Commentary - The Alko Option Arthur Machen Mythological Campaign Madness

 “We lead two lives, and the half of our soul is madness, and half heaven is lit by a black sun. I say I am a man, is the other that hides in me?”

― Arthur Machen, The White People and Other Stories


Part of the problem with the OSR is staying fresh as every adventure idea, old school author, old module, etc. is snapped up & brought into another product, fan pdf, or other media for consumption. There are still there are Appendix N authors who are not well known or as well read at all today. Machen is key to helping me overcoming one of the great controversies of old school Dungeons & Dragons as well as its retroclone systems. No I'm not talking about pointless political bickering that seems all of the rage for marketing OSR products. First a bit of background on Arthur Machen.

"Arthur Machen (/ˈmækən/; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language."^[1] He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons. " Arthur Machen is one of my all time favorites when it comes to dealing with the weird secret societies  & strange occult survivals specifically the realm of a particularly nasty family of fairies. Most have heard of  The Great God Pan which is his apocalyptic novel; "The novella begins with an experiment to allow a woman named Mary to see the supernatural world. This is followed by an account of a series of mysterious happenings and deaths over many years surrounding a woman named Helen Vaughan. At the end, the heroes confront Helen and force her to kill herself. She undergoes a series of supernatural transformations before dying and she is revealed to be the child of Mary and the god Pan. " This was novel is a classic of supernatural literature & horror without a doubt.
But the events that lead up to The Great God Pan can be traced to  The White People & The Three Imposters.  There had to be secret cult that was behind the events of The Great God Pan!? There was & we get a glimpse behind the curtain in the novel The Three Imposters. 



The Three Imposters reads like a Call of Cthulhu adventure & investigation game of grand proportions. Why? Because Arthur Machen is the father of the modern weird tale. HP Lovecraft borrowed many literary techniques & writing twists from Machen.
"His significance was recognized by H. P. Lovecraft, who in his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" named Machen as one of the four "modern masters" of supernatural horror (with Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, and M. R. James)"
The Three Imposters gives a birds eye view of how a cult & secret society can close a noose around a PC's neck easily in their quest for an artifact or item. "The novel comprises several weird tales and culminates in a final denouement of deadly horror, connected with a secret society devoted to debauched pagan rites. The three impostors of the title are members of this society who weave a web of deception in the streets of London—relating the aforementioned weird tales in the process—as they search for a missing Roman coin commemorating an infamous orgy by the Emperor Tiberius and close in on their prey: "the young man with spectacles""

This narrative setting  style also extends into the novel the White People where we get a glimpse into the deadly & dangerous world of these evil fairies;
"A discussion between two men on the nature of evil leads one of them to reveal a mysterious Green Book he possesses. It is a young girl's diary, in which she describes in ingenuous, evocative prose her strange impressions of the countryside in which she lives as well as conversations with her nurse, who initiates her into a secret world of folklore and black magic. Throughout, the girl makes cryptic allusions to such topics as "nymphs", "Dôls", "voolas," "white, green, and scarlet ceremonies", "Aklo letters", the "Xu" and "Chian" languages, "Mao games", and a game called "Troy Town" (the last of which is a reference to actual practices involving labyrinths or labyrinthine dances^[1]). The girl's tale gradually develops a mounting atmosphere of suspense, with suggestions of witchcraft, only to break off abruptly just at the point where a supreme revelation seems imminent. In a return to the frame story, the diary's custodian reveals that the girl's body was later found dead near a seemingly pagan statue in the woods."

All of Machen's works shift around these strange occult & alien Fairy survivors from ancient Pre second Ice Age days. The deadliness of their relics & artifacts is detailed in
"The Red Hand" (1895). ""The Red Hand" (1895) — a short detective/horror story featuring the main characters from The Three Impostors. It focuses on a murder performed with an ancient stone ax. "We see even more of this in the "The Shining Pyramid" (1895);
""The Shining Pyramid" (1895) — short horror story. Strange arrangements of stones appear at the edge of a young man's property. He and a friend attempt to decipher their meaning before it is too late."

Finally Machen's  The Hill of Dreams (written 1895–1897; published 1907) details mostly everything we need to know about the family of fairies;
"The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The Hill of Dreams of the title is an old Roman fort where Lucian has strange sensual visions, including ones of the town in the time of Roman Britain. Later, the novel describes Lucian's attempts to make a living as an author in London, enduring poverty and suffering in the pursuit of art and history. Lord Dunsany admired The Hill of Dreams and wrote an introduction to a 1954 reprint of the novel.^[1] In Henry and June, Henry Miller tells Anaïs Nin about The Hill of Dreams.^[2]
According to the Friends of Arthur Machen website, the novel is
almost undoubtedly Machen's most important and moving work. Lucian Taylor, the hero, is damned either through contact with an erotically pagan "other" world or through something degenerate in his own nature, which he thinks of as a "faun". He becomes a writer, and when he moves to London he becomes trapped by the increasing reality of the dark imaginings of this creature within him, which become increasingly real. Machen drew copiously on his own early years in Wales and London, and the book as a whole is an exploration through imagination of a potential fate which he personally avoided. One of the first explorations in fiction of the figure of the doomed artist, who is biographically so much a part of the decadent 1890s."
Any contact with these fairies or their alien works is chaotic & utterly alien. A PC must make a save vs wands or be subject a random temporary insanity. Those who actually crossover into their astral fairy lands maybe subject to actual chaotic mutations or worse! I mentioned a controversy at the beginning of this blog entry & I can say that it has to do with how to deal with dealing with traditional Dungeons & Dragons Elves, Fairies, etc. with Sword & Sorcery elements. Rereading Arthur Machen over the last couple of days I came to the conclusion that these survivals are the key. There are things that the Fairy will not talk about at all & there was a war for the soul of all mankind. The Fairy don't talk about it but humanity was at its center & their allies during it.  "The Voor" were banished to the very edges of the planes but from time to time their world crosses over onto their ancient haunts. To say that there is enmity between the Fairy & the Voor is an understatement. These forces will kill each other on sight & there are frequent wars in the Deep Astrals.    

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum by Brian Young goes into the Celtic mythological conflicts that are the central piece of such a campaign. The Fairy don't talk about the Voor with their human allies. Druids may speak of such dark things if PC's are really lucky.

 

An Arthur Machen mythological campaign would be perfect for an epic   Mike Stewart Victorious rpg campaign. The age of the Arthur Machen  literature is perfect for a Victorious game campaign where the PC's are the play things of a secret society,a cult of the Voor or their human allies.


Amazing Adventures! Rpg maybe the best option for an Arthur Machen mythological adventures as the Voor infiltrate different levels of society on the fringes of reality. The Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters actually has a number of creatures that could fit the bill for bringing the PC's into the realm of these malevolent fairies. the Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters is also a solid option for use as a players guide to fighting these dangerous subtle menaces. Also the psion PC class from Amazing Adventures could be used as a powerhouse to help overcome the insane effects of these Fey monsters.

B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (Basic) By Tom Moldvay, & Jean Wells
might be one of the best modules to get the Arthur Machen treatment. The Palace of adventure might make an excellent Britain Roman Era castle & grounds. The chaos of the ruins could be directly related to a curse of the 'good neighbors'. B3 could be a solid choice because its a basic module & could get PC's into the deep end of things.

B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (Basic) By Tom Moldvay, & Jean Wells could be a proper adventure location within the Deep Astral. Sky Ships could stumble upon the place traveling between worlds & find themselves at the attention of these horrors from beyond. Some of the fairy gods & entities from the CC1 Calidar, Beyond the Skies by Bruce Heard may have the lowdown on certain aspects of these mysterious entities.

With the Invisible College rpg out this whole affair is easy to slide into the background of a game of the modern occult as the Fey make thier return into the world of man through the occult conspiracies presented in the Invisible College. Aklo would be a side or misunderstood inner mystery of one of the game's societies. 
Alko would also be a perfect add on for the Red Room's Wretchedverse games as a lost language or pre Adamic languages of the Beyond. 

The Spawn of Pan - A Sanity Blasting Cult for Silent Legions rpg & Your Old School Campaigns

There are times when you need a cult for a game & that's where the Silent Legions rpg comes in very handy. Arthur Machen remains an old favorite of ours & its easy to take 'the Great God Pan novel' of his & exploit into a 
 a full blown cult easily.


The novel's plot is a quick go really according to the Wiki entry on 'The Great God Pan' ; "The Great God Pan is a horror and fantasy novella by Welsh writer Arthur Machen. Machen was inspired to write The Great God Pan by his experiences at the ruins of a pagan temple in Wales. What would become the first chapter of the novella was published in the magazine The Whirlwind in 1890. Machen later extended The Great God Pan and it was published as a book alongside another story, "The Inmost Light", in 1894. The novella begins with an experiment to allow a woman named Mary to see the supernatural world. This is followed by an account of a series of mysterious happenings and deaths over many years surrounding a woman named Helen Vaughan. At the end, the heroes confront Helen and force her to kill herself. She undergoes a series of unearthly transformations before dying and she is revealed to be a supernatural entity."

Helen Vaughan had a daughter at the novel's conclusion & that daughter is Mrs. Helen Beaumont whom at the novel's climax committed suicide when confronted by the novel's protagonists. Mrs. Helen Beaumont was the child of Pan; "Raymond informs Clarke that Mary became pregnant after his experiment caused her to see the god Pan, implying that Pan fathered Helen."  But does an 
 alien demi god easily die?! In the novel;"Helen disappears for some time; according to rumor, she spent the time taking part in disturbing orgies somewhere in the Americas. She eventually returns to London under the pseudonym Mrs. Beaumont. "  
What if Mrs. Helen Beaumont is still out in the world!? And that the children of those orgies are actually today in 2020 still operating secret cults dedicated to Pan out in the remote areas of the American Mid West. 
 Mrs. Helen Beaumont is still alive after a fashion like any entity capable of extreme shape shifting she reproduces by budding off a piece of itself with all of the memories of the original 
Helen going back to 1894. 
The spawn of Pan are capable of shape shifting between human male, female, & finally a sanity blasting form. 
The Spawn of Pan 

 AC:5 
HD:7 
Attacks : weapon revolver 

Skill :+3 

Special: Unnamable,charm person ability 

Move: 30'

Morale: 9 

Damage: per weapon 

Madness: 1d10 

Save:12+

Anyone seeing the true form of a Spawn of Pan must make their save or be subject to their own insignificance in the sanity shattering scheme of the grand cosmic design. Those that don't will be subject to highly sanity shattering thoughts, vistas, & illusions as their sense of reality is over wrought. 

The Spawn of Pan are not combat oriented & instead attack with the weapons of mankind such as fire arms, knives, & swords. Those foolish enough to mate with a spawn of Pan are subject to horrid depravities & attentions they will often become pregenent with a demigod child in order to continue the spread of their fertility cults. 
These entities also have a charm ability that allows the spawn to  make a humanoid creature regard you as its trusted friend and ally (treat the target’s attitude as friendly) unless the appropriate saves are made. 

The spawn of pan are often in the ongoing process of corrupting body & soul various indivduals in order to continue its line of cults. These cults are dedicated to material weath, fertility, and utter corruption of body & soul. 

Paul Delaroche - Offering to the God Pan

These cults will often have several enforcers who are known as satyrs & recruiters who are known as nymphs. The cults operate under a number of names & covers evolving to spread their message far & wide. The cults rites always culminate with a Spring orgy where the spawning of the children happens within the inner cult circles. 

Those that are truly blessed are taken into the folds of the spawn & through a degenerate rite turned into true 'corrupted satyrs' the guardians of the cult. These entites are capable of acts of extreme depravity & violence. 

Chaos Fey & Arthur Machen's Works Within 'The Wilderlands of High Fantasy' Campaign Setting

' We wake sometimes from dreams uttering strange phrases, murmuring incredible things. At the moment of waking, for some ineffable instant of time, the words we speak, or perhaps think we speak, seem to us full of illumination. To every one who speculates at all as to the heights and depths of the soul, there comes at very rare moments—there are not, perhaps, more than half-a-dozen such experiences given to any man's lifetime—the sense of the true world which lies beyond this dark place of images and shadows; a world that is full of light and glory, a world where all our dim desires are interpreted and fulfilled. It is as if we stood among shadows before a black curtain, as if for one moment a fold were caught back and we saw that which we can never utter: but never deny."

The Shining Pyramid (collection) by Arthur Machen

The Foundry Elebor figure found here.

The adventurers stopped & looked at the strange series of henges where they knew there were none mere days ago. The first one heard the dog like things behind them first. Shu- ks they called em & it was the last thought they had before the hound like beasts tore into the party. 

Sidney Paget's illustration of The Hound of the Baskervilles. The story was inspired by a legend of ghostly black dogs in Dartmoor.

Up on the hill was a wild figure of a man like shape that snapped a whip that snapped with what seemed the fires of Hell itself. 

In the wilderness of the  Wilderlands of High Fantasy campaign man holds no sway at all. Even the demi races of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons tread lightly. The ancient sons & daughters of the Nephiliam still hold sway here. They are caught between the ancient threshold of dream & reality for this is their sway.  Now going through my own Machen literature & reference books there's quite a bit of a case to be made for the rude,primitive,  & highly dangerous servants of the Chaos Fey. These things are quite literally able to slip in between realities to take their alternative time & space contiuum onto the Wilderlands. This blog entry picks right up right after this one! 

 

Even regular Fey give these things a wide bearth, their altars are stained with the blood man. These left overs from another era & time are able to use rust spells, cloud kill fogs, & ancient curses to kill with little regard for hearth, home, & humanity. They feed on anyone they choose with impunity & rule the local residents through a combination of implied fear, outright might, & damnation. Fairy tales & legends are the masks that the locals put on the 'kindly ones' & speak of them in hushed tones given to gods, heroes, & myths. The truth is much darker. 

These pagan god hold overs breed with the local population producing twisted off spring that often carry out their parent's wishes among the residents that they rule. 
These can also be bred into several of the evil humanoid races found within Advanced Dungeons & Dragons first edition monster manual. 


After the events of Mines of Custalcon are over then its the perfect time to spring upon the players the other gods that have stakes within the area. The ancient 'gods' that are Hell bent on taking over but this isn't their only conquest within the Wilderlands. 

Machen leaves lots of hints, possiblities, & survivals on the table with his stories. My ancient Elven hold overs are the inheritors of a banished race of ancient proto god things that want what's thiers back! They will do anything to regain it as we shall see. 

'The Three Impostors of Greyhawk' An Amazing World of Greyhawk Campaign Connection & Commentary

"Enter the WORLD OF GREYHAWK...
...A world where bandit kings raid from their remote stronghold;
...A world where noble elves fight savage invaders and where bold knights wage war on the terror of Iuz;
...A world scarred by a vast Sea of Dust, across which drift lost memories from the awful forgotten past.
Enter a World of Wonder & Intrigue...
Fantasy Game Setting for a panoramic view of this fantastic place.

More than a collection of maps and names, it is an active world filled with decaying empires and dark forests. Game elements include the gods of Greyhawk, the clash of political factions, and encounters in this wild land."



If you've been following events on the Danube parts I & II  then you know that the Astro Hungarian Empire  had  a joint operation between  the German  Intelligence Bureau & the German Foreign Office, have uncovered ancient documents relating to the two wealthy adventurers, Roghan the Fearless and Zelligar the Unknown while working with officers & soldiers of The Astro Hungarian Empire. But  operations down in the lower levels of the dungeon went very wrong.  Yesterday I mentioned that there was a gateway that opened to an AD&D style fantasy world. But what I didn't mention is that fact that I think that Gary Gygax's Greyhawk  setting could seamlessly slide into this Pulp & Supers  alternative WW1. How?!
Lets talk about two facts about Arthur Machen & the Greyhawk setting. Greyhawk is both a fantasy world & a post apocalyptic world with its twin events  'rain of colourless fire'  & 'the invoked devastation'. Both events dramatically changed the face of the Greyhawk  setting & brought the Suloise peoples across the world of  the Flanaess;

"In the World of Greyhawk campaign setting for the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, the Suloise, also known as the "Suel," are one of the major races of humans inhabiting the Flanaess.

The Suel began migrating to the Flanaess in large numbers c. -447 CY, from the Suel Imperium. The numbers of the Suloise Migration increased dramatically after the Invoked Devastation and the Rain of Colorless Fire in -422 CY. The Suel settled in many regions of the Flanaess, often competing with the native Flan and migrant Oeridians, as well as non-human inhabitants such as the elves and dwarves.

Though people of Suel descent can be found nearly anywhere in the Flanaess, notable lands that contain a significant number of Suel include the Thillonrian Peninsula, the Scarlet Brotherhood, the Lordship of the Isles, the Sea Barons, the Sheldomar Valley, and the Urnst States. The Lendore Isles was once home to a large contingent of Suel, but most humans have been expelled from that land since the cult of Sehanine Moonbow gained control after the Greyhawk Wars." 

What if these humans & near human peoples had migrated to Greyhawk in the ancient mythological days & this was only one more migration for a world's peoples that was a part of a greater cycle?! What if these movements & migration were a part & parcel of the mythology of the Earth as well?!  I'm I speaking of the Elemental Evil religion here?! No & this isn't normal Greyhawk at all. This Greyhawk is tightly woven to a secret occult society which at its highest levels has infiltrated pre WWI society across Europe & the world as a whole! What does this have to do with Arthur Machen? Well back in 1895 Machen wrote 'The Three Impostors'
The book's plot goes something like this; "The novel comprises several weird tales and culminates in a final denouement of deadly horror, connected with a secret society devoted to debauched pagan rites. The three impostors of the title are members of this society who weave a web of deception in the streets of London—relating the aforementioned weird tales in the process—as they search for a missing Roman coin commemorating an infamous orgy by the Emperor Tiberius and close in on their prey: "the young man with spectacles" " This occult conspiracy & society rears its head across Europe as deadly as any terrorist bombing or other military action. Heroes are needed! Arthur Machen's Three Impostors is available here for free. 


What happens if part of the inner circle of occult secret societies 'the true Biblical & mythological'  history of the Earth is revealed & part of these reveals is the fact that 'lost fairy worlds or lands' like Greyhawk exist? Would this spark off occult & supernatural wars? Possibly sparking off events that happened within Machen's own life time & because of publication of the 'The Three Impostors' ; "Partly in response to criticism of the Stevensonian style of the book, Machen altered his approach in writing his next book, The Hill of Dreams. Following the death of his first wife in 1899, Machen developed a greater interest in the occult, joining the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. He noted that a number of events in his life seemed to mirror events in The Three Impostors, most notably a conflict in the order between William Butler Yeats (a "young man with spectacles") and Aleister Crowley, which reached its height around this time. (These experiences are reflected on in Alan Moore's Snakes and Ladders.)

In Things Near and Far (1923) Machen wrote:

It was in the early spring of 1894 that I set about the writing of the said "Three Impostors," a book which testifies to the vast respect I entertained for the fantastic, "New Arabian Nights" manner of R. L. Stevenson, to those curious researches in the byways of London which I have described already, and also, I hope, to a certain originality of experiment in the tale of terror."

If I was to run Greyhawk in this style I'd use an unholy mix of Castles & Crusades with Rpg Pundit's Lion & Dragon rpg  Make no mistake that the occult forces we're talking about here are evil & chaotically deadly. The stratification of Greyhawk social norms & the human dominated areas of the setting make this perfect. Yeah,yeah, Lion & Dragon is a historic  medieval  rpg & shouldn't have anything to do with Pulp or Supers. No it should all the more because it reflects history in a better way. 

But what the Hell does this have to do with World War I & Pulp heroes? Well just about everything really. 'Post Gilded Age' society is an upheaval at all levels & change is in the air. The death of the monarchy is at hand & crown heads of  society as they knew it were going to change completely. The Gilded Age to  World War I marked an incredibly progressive death kneel for Europe. This is a time when heroes are needed! 
But who is this occult conspiracy & society?! Well if I was too guess? I'd say it would be one of the new witch queens of the Le Fey & Morgause's  great grand daughters lines respectively. Machen gives us a really clear view of the occult forces behind the curtain & their very alien & very dangerous. The Arthurian legends connect up very nicely with Greyhawk because Arthur has his swords deep within Greyhawk's history. 

The Castle & Crusades's Castle Keeper's Guide is going come in real handy here to help keep track of several key points of monsters, magical events, & managing some of the campaign elements not to mention possibly the pre or post WWI technologies. All together though this is going to be an uneasy mix & the dungeon master is going to have to make their own decisions. Tomorrow we get into the deeper campaign aspects of Amazing Adventures! rpg & how Victorious affects all of this. 

OSR Commentary - The Alko Option Arthur Machen Mythological Campaign Madness

“We lead two lives, and the half of our soul is madness, and half heaven is lit by a black sun. I say I am a man, is the other that hides in me?”
― Arthur Machen, The White People and Other Stories


Part of the problem with the OSR is staying fresh as every adventure idea, old school author, old module, etc. is snapped up & brought into another product, fan pdf, or other media for consumption. There are still there are Appendix N authors who are not well known or as well read at all today. Machen is key to helping me overcoming one of the great controversies of old school Dungeons & Dragons as well as its retroclone systems. No I'm not talking about pointless political bickering that seems all of the rage for marketing OSR products. First a bit of background on Arthur Machen.

"Arthur Machen (/ˈmækən/; 3 March 1863 – 15 December 1947) was a Welsh author and mystic of the 1890s and early 20th century. He is best known for his influential supernatural, fantasy, and horror fiction. His novella The Great God Pan (1890; 1894) has garnered a reputation as a classic of horror, with Stephen King describing it as "Maybe the best [horror story] in the English language."^[1] He is also well known for his leading role in creating the legend of the Angels of Mons. " Arthur Machen is one of my all time favorites when it comes to dealing with the weird secret societies  & strange occult survivals specifically the realm of a particularly nasty family of fairies. Most have heard of  The Great God Pan which is his apocalyptic novel; "The novella begins with an experiment to allow a woman named Mary to see the supernatural world. This is followed by an account of a series of mysterious happenings and deaths over many years surrounding a woman named Helen Vaughan. At the end, the heroes confront Helen and force her to kill herself. She undergoes a series of supernatural transformations before dying and she is revealed to be the child of Mary and the god Pan. " This was novel is a classic of supernatural literature & horror without a doubt.
But the events that lead up to The Great God Pan can be traced to  The White People & The Three Imposters.  There had to be secret cult that was behind the events of The Great God Pan!? There was & we get a glimpse behind the curtain in the novel The Three Imposters. 



The Three Imposters reads like a Call of Cthulhu adventure & investigation game of grand proportions. Why? Because Arthur Machen is the father of the modern weird tale. HP Lovecraft borrowed many literary techniques & writing twists from Machen.
"His significance was recognized by H. P. Lovecraft, who in his essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" named Machen as one of the four "modern masters" of supernatural horror (with Algernon Blackwood, Lord Dunsany, and M. R. James)"
The Three Imposters gives a birds eye view of how a cult & secret society can close a noose around a PC's neck easily in their quest for an artifact or item. "The novel comprises several weird tales and culminates in a final denouement of deadly horror, connected with a secret society devoted to debauched pagan rites. The three impostors of the title are members of this society who weave a web of deception in the streets of London—relating the aforementioned weird tales in the process—as they search for a missing Roman coin commemorating an infamous orgy by the Emperor Tiberius and close in on their prey: "the young man with spectacles""

This narrative setting  style also extends into the novel the White People where we get a glimpse into the deadly & dangerous world of these evil fairies;
"A discussion between two men on the nature of evil leads one of them to reveal a mysterious Green Book he possesses. It is a young girl's diary, in which she describes in ingenuous, evocative prose her strange impressions of the countryside in which she lives as well as conversations with her nurse, who initiates her into a secret world of folklore and black magic. Throughout, the girl makes cryptic allusions to such topics as "nymphs", "Dôls", "voolas," "white, green, and scarlet ceremonies", "Aklo letters", the "Xu" and "Chian" languages, "Mao games", and a game called "Troy Town" (the last of which is a reference to actual practices involving labyrinths or labyrinthine dances^[1]). The girl's tale gradually develops a mounting atmosphere of suspense, with suggestions of witchcraft, only to break off abruptly just at the point where a supreme revelation seems imminent. In a return to the frame story, the diary's custodian reveals that the girl's body was later found dead near a seemingly pagan statue in the woods."

All of Machen's works shift around these strange occult & alien Fairy survivors from ancient Pre second Ice Age days. The deadliness of their relics & artifacts is detailed in
"The Red Hand" (1895). ""The Red Hand" (1895) — a short detective/horror story featuring the main characters from The Three Impostors. It focuses on a murder performed with an ancient stone ax. "We see even more of this in the "The Shining Pyramid" (1895);
""The Shining Pyramid" (1895) — short horror story. Strange arrangements of stones appear at the edge of a young man's property. He and a friend attempt to decipher their meaning before it is too late."

Finally Machen's  The Hill of Dreams (written 1895–1897; published 1907) details mostly everything we need to know about the family of fairies;
"The novel recounts the life of a young man, Lucian Taylor, focusing on his dreamy childhood in rural Wales, in a town based on Caerleon. The Hill of Dreams of the title is an old Roman fort where Lucian has strange sensual visions, including ones of the town in the time of Roman Britain. Later, the novel describes Lucian's attempts to make a living as an author in London, enduring poverty and suffering in the pursuit of art and history. Lord Dunsany admired The Hill of Dreams and wrote an introduction to a 1954 reprint of the novel.^[1] In Henry and June, Henry Miller tells Anaïs Nin about The Hill of Dreams.^[2]
According to the Friends of Arthur Machen website, the novel is
almost undoubtedly Machen's most important and moving work. Lucian Taylor, the hero, is damned either through contact with an erotically pagan "other" world or through something degenerate in his own nature, which he thinks of as a "faun". He becomes a writer, and when he moves to London he becomes trapped by the increasing reality of the dark imaginings of this creature within him, which become increasingly real. Machen drew copiously on his own early years in Wales and London, and the book as a whole is an exploration through imagination of a potential fate which he personally avoided. One of the first explorations in fiction of the figure of the doomed artist, who is biographically so much a part of the decadent 1890s."
Any contact with these fairies or their alien works is chaotic & utterly alien. A PC must make a save vs wands or be subject a random temporary insanity. Those who actually crossover into their astral fairy lands maybe subject to actual chaotic mutations or worse! I mentioned a controversy at the beginning of this blog entry & I can say that it has to do with how to deal with dealing with traditional Dungeons & Dragons Elves, Fairies, etc. with Sword & Sorcery elements. Rereading Arthur Machen over the last couple of days I came to the conclusion that these survivals are the key. There are things that the Fairy will not talk about at all & there was a war for the soul of all mankind. The Fairy don't talk about it but humanity was at its center & their allies during it.  "The Voor" were banished to the very edges of the planes but from time to time their world crosses over onto their ancient haunts. To say that there is enmity between the Fairy & the Voor is an understatement. These forces will kill each other on sight & there are frequent wars in the Deep Astrals.    

Castles & Crusades Codex Celtarum by Brian Young goes into the Celtic mythological conflicts that are the central piece of such a campaign. The Fairy don't talk about the Voor with their human allies. Druids may speak of such dark things if PC's are really lucky.

 

An Arthur Machen mythological campaign would be perfect for an epic   Mike Stewart Victorious rpg campaign. The age of the Arthur Machen  literature is perfect for a Victorious game campaign where the PC's are the play things of a secret society,a cult of the Voor or their human allies.


Amazing Adventures! Rpg maybe the best option for an Arthur Machen mythological adventures as the Voor infiltrate different levels of society on the fringes of reality. The Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters actually has a number of creatures that could fit the bill for bringing the PC's into the realm of these malevolent fairies. the Amazing Adventures Manual of Monsters is also a solid option for use as a players guide to fighting these dangerous subtle menaces. Also the psion PC class from Amazing Adventures could be used as a powerhouse to help overcome the insane effects of these Fey monsters.

B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (Basic) By Tom Moldvay, & Jean Wells
might be one of the best modules to get the Arthur Machen treatment. The Palace of adventure might make an excellent Britain Roman Era castle & grounds. The chaos of the ruins could be directly related to a curse of the 'good neighbors'. B3 could be a solid choice because its a basic module & could get PC's into the deep end of things.

B3 Palace of the Silver Princess (Basic) By Tom Moldvay, & Jean Wells could be a proper adventure location within the Deep Astral. Sky Ships could stumble upon the place traveling between worlds & find themselves at the attention of these horrors from beyond. Some of the fairy gods & entities from the CC1 Calidar, Beyond the Skies by Bruce Heard may have the lowdown on certain aspects of these mysterious entities.