The Relic

Tóbal brings us this "Hellboy" inspired reliquary, complete with bone fragment.

Archeological Dig, Samaria

From 1920, the excavation of Ahab's Palace in Samaria. Most of the workers were women, who carried away hundreds of tons of soil in baskets perched on their heads. When the dig was complete all of the soil was brought back and the complex was once again buried beneath the earth.

Click through for the high resolution version.

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Bella Edition

Artist "bigbella1976" brings us this nicely done recreation of the Cthulhu idol discovered by Inspector Legrasse.

Pinkerton Credentials

"They found his credentials and his...hat..we think, near what we assume was...him at one time, sir."

"At one time?"

"Formerly, yes. He seemed to have been extensively....gnawed, sir."

Mr. Able of the Able workshop, the alter ego of artist Julian DiMarco, brings us this vintage Pinkerton badge and ID. The badge is all metal, and the agent identification card is based on an example from 1930. The case is 100% antique leather.



The Pinkerton National Detective Agency was at one time the largest security and investigative service in the world. In the decades after its founding in 1850 it became famous both for the quality of its detective services and its involvement in the brutal repression of the American labor movement. In the classic era of the Mythos it was still an immensely powerful organization, but the backlash against its anti-union involvement and the development of professional policing would reduce it to a glorified security and bodyguard company by the 1950s.



Wikipedia has more information about the Pinkerton Agency and its founder, Allan Pinkerton.

Maps of Nyarlathotep

In an example of synchronicity, "droesler" at Yog-Sothoth has posted his custom maps of every single location in Chaosium's epic "Masks of Nyarlathotep" campaign. Over two dozen top down views depict every major scene, so it should go without saying that following the link will reveal some spoilers.





Masks is one of Chaosium's finest achievements, a truly epic global campaign that incorporates elements from a number of Lovecraft's most famous stories. There are some philistines who consider it the best RPG adventure ever published, superior to even my beloved "Beyond the Mountains of Madness", but that's clearly the result of Nyarlathotep's seductive influence.

The Nazir

From 1920, Jacob, son of Aaron, the Samaritan high priest of Schechem.

I re-purposed this photograph as a depiction of Nazir Achmed Zehavi for the "Masks of Nyarlathotep" project. I don't want to give away any spoilers, but I think the portrait perfectly captures his character, in every sense.

Click through for the high resolution version.

Arkham Sanitarium Update

Sweet fancy Moses.

I just finished "discussing" the status of the Arkham Sanitarium lapel pins with the manufacturer. I have been assured that they will absolutely, positively be in my hands on Monday the 11th. Then again, this is the same manufacturer that told me it would take 7 to 10 business days to complete the order back on September 6th.

At this point I'm really not sure what to think, and I can more than understand if you're getting frustrated waiting for your prop sets. I've used the same company for all of my previous runs and they've always delivered on time, but there have apparently been delays because the pin blanks have to be custom cut. All I can do is, once again, apologize for the delay.

I'm really starting to think that there's some kind of curse on any Lovecraftian project using the pledge model.