sststr

sententiously: in a way that tries to sound important or intelligent, especially by expressing moral judgements minatory: expressing or conveying a threat orotund: full, round, and imposing febrile: having or showing a great deal of nervous excitement or energy hieratic: of or concerning priests narcissi: daffodils sad onyx - both my text and the text below use this term, but it is a strange one. I wonder if perhaps it was meant to be sardonyx? felicitate: congratulate adytum: the innermost sanctuary of a temple open only to priests; the Holy of Holies nacarat: bright orange-red paean: a song of praise or triumph nyctalopic: unable to see clearly in low light; night-blind noctambulist: sleepwalker The picture used is an illustration by Clark Ashton Smith for the story's publication in Weird Tales To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/22/the-charnel-god

enow: enough stoup: in this case, a flagon or beaker for drink croft: a small rented farm (especially one in Scotland) comprising a plot of arable land attached to a house and with a right of pasturage held in common with other such farms cote: a shed or coop for small domestic animals and especially pigeons grange: granary or barn syenite: a coarse-grained gray igneous rock composed mainly of alkali feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals such as hornblende. While it can be found in red color (where it is rich in potassium), in this form it would more properly be called episyenite. Small miss by the author. Trying to be too fancy for his own good ;-P fust: in this context, the shaft of a column or pilaster heliotrope: a mineral aggregate sometimes known as bloodstone or ematille. It is a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz that occurs mostly as jasper (opaque) or sometimes as chalcedony (translucent). The classic bloodstone is opaque green jasper with red inclusions of hematite. lees: dregs; the sediment of a liquor during fermentation and aging terebinth: a small southern European tree of the cashew family that was formerly a source of turpentine tenebrous: dark; shadowy or obscure concamerated: arched; vaulted addorsed: set back to back carmine: a vivid crimson color, historically made from cochineal miter: in this context, a liturgical headdress typically worn by bishops and abbots natron: a hydrous native sodium carbonate used in ancient times in embalming, in ceramic pastes, and as a cleansing agent. Specifically: a naturally occurring mixture of sodium carbonate decahydrate (Na2CO3·10H2O, a kind of soda ash) and around 17% sodium bicarbonate (also called baking soda, NaHCO3) along with small quantities of sodium chloride and sodium sulfate friable: easily crumbled holocryptic: incapable of being deciphered pertinacious: holding firmly to a course of action The picture used is by Clark Ashton Smith himself, used as an illustration in Weird Tales for this story. To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/241/the-weaver-in-the-vault Well, we don't get many of these types of cosmic horror stories from Smith. It was written in 1934, and he had known Lovecraft going back to 1922, so plenty of time for that horror influence to rub off on him. Just interesting more of his stories aren't more of this sort.

Black Lord of bale and fear, master of all confusion! By thee, thy prophet saith, New power is given to wizards after death, And witches in corruption draw forbidden breath And weave such wild enchantment and illusion As none but lamiae may use; And through thy grace the charneled corpses lose Their horror, and nefandous loves are lighted In noisome vaults long nighted; And vampires make their sacrifice to thee — Disgorging blood as if great urns had poured Their bright vermilion hoard About the washed and weltering sarcophagi. -Ludar's Litany to Thasaidon. ---- Xantlicha... I couldn't decide how to pronounce the 'licha', it's that 'ch' you see, there are several options, so you may hear several variations on it during the recording. What a strange name... obsequies: funeral rites scullion: a servant assigned the most menial kitchen tasks amphora: a tall ancient Greek or Roman jar with two handles and a narrow neck catafalque: a decorated wooden framework supporting the coffin of a distinguished person during a funeral or while lying in state parterre: n ornamental garden with paths between the beds suspiration: a long deep breath; a sigh bawcock: a fine fellow sexton: an officer of a church, congregation, or synagogue charged with the maintenance of its buildings and/or an associated graveyard cortège: a solemn procession, especially for a funeral assignation: an appointment to meet someone in secret, typically one made by lovers exigence: an urgent need or demand mummia: any of several different preparations in the history of medicine, from "mineral pitch" to "powdered human mummies". In our case here, it almost certainly refers a type of resinous bitumen found in Western Asi, used as an aphrodisiac. cantraip: a magic spell (known these days, at least in D&D, with the spelling of 'cantrip') cothurn: a high thick-soled laced boot worn by actors in Greek and Roman tragic drama poulaine: A long, pointed toe of a shoe, a style fashionable in the 14th and 15th centuries. From the Middle French "soulers a la poulaine" ("shoes in the Polish fashion"). The picture used is an illustration by Virgil Finlay for the story as published in Weird Tales To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/38/the-death-of-ilalotha

inspissation: the act of thickening, or more technically: the process of increasing the viscosity of a fluid, or even of causing it to solidify, typically by dehydration or otherwise reducing its content of solvents. decoction: the liquor resulting from concentrating the essence of a substance by heating or boiling (typically a medicinal preparation made from a plant) athanor: a type of furnace used by alchemists, able to maintain a steady heat for long periods arthame: knife used in casting spells. Apparently this is an older spelling no longer in common use? Today this would be called an 'athame'. It is not entirely obvious to me what the pronunciation should be for this older 'arthame' version. shagreen: sharkskin used as a decorative material or, for its natural rough surface of pointed scales, as an abrasive. Historically used in some socities for sword grips! moiety: half arrack: an alcoholic liquor typically distilled from the sap of the coconut palm or from rice xebec: a Mediterranean sailing ship of the 16th through 19th centuries, commonly used by the Barbary corsairs felucca: another type of sailing vessel of the Mediterranean, these more commonly used in the eastern end, especially by the Egyptians lateen: a triangular sail on a long yard at an angle of 45° to the mast beefwood: Typically this word is used to describe any of sveral types of Australian tree which have timer of a red color resembling raw beef, although some other trees in South America share the name. Either way, it appears to be a southern hemisphere thing. riffle: disturb the surface of; ruffle to ship: in this context: take oars from the oarlocks and lay them inside a boat thwart: a structural crosspiece sometimes forming a seat for a rower in a boat breeks: Scottish for breeches plover: a type of wading bird, of the family Charadriidae lazuli: short for lapis lazuli, a bright blue metamorphic rock consisting largely of lazurite chatoyant: a cat's eye gemstone peroration: the concluding part of a speech, typically intended to inspire enthusiasm in the audience imprecation: a spoken curse lubber: a big, clumsy person The picture used is an illustration by Lee Brown Coye for the story as published in Weird Tales To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/128/the-master-of-the-crabs Well, well, the villain was made to monologue! We all know how that ends! :)

The legend of Mmatmuor and Sodosma shall arise only in the latter cycles of Earth, when the glad legends of the prime have been forgotten. Before the time of its telling, many epochs shall have passed away, and the seas shall have fallen in their beds, and new continents shall have come to birth. Perhaps, in that day, it will serve to beguile for a little the black weariness of a dying race, grown hopeless of all but oblivion. I tell the tale as men shall tell it in Zothique, the last continent, beneath a dim sun and sad heavens where the stars come out in terrible brightness before eventide. ---- 0:00:00 Chapter 1 0:10:34 Chapter 2 ---- Cincor is the homeland of Xeethra, although obviously the story by that name must have been set well before its desolation depicted in this story. In the story "Xeethra", the titular character travels to the realm of Calyz, which was already utterly desolate in Xeethra's time. One can only imagine that whatever laid waste to Calyz must have been creeping gradually westward over Zothique to engulf the whole land in desert. But it's still early in the cycle, perhaps we will find out better what is happening as we go along. Cincor and Calyz are along the southern coast of Zothique, and it sounds like Tinarath may not yet be a desert wasteland, at least not so utterly desolated as Cincor, and Tinarath is just the next realm north of Cincor, so whatever is laying waste to the continent is, at the time of this story, seemingly still just along the south coast. contumely: insolent or insulting language or treatment arrogate: take or claim without justification The picture used is an illustration by T. Wyatt Nelson for the story from Weird Tales To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/61/the-empire-of-the-necromancers The last story (Necromancy in Naat) was mostly about the every day life of a couple of necromancers, now we have a story that tells us something of the every day "life" of the undead raised by necromancers! D:

Dead longing, sundered evermore from pain: How dim and sweet the shadow-hearted love, The happiness that perished lovers prove In Naat, far beyond the sable main. Song of the Galley-Slaves. ---- How to pronounce "Naat"? It's a name that has to be said frequently, and it's completely non-obvious how it should be said. Ugh. Upon reflection, I probably should have done more of an 'ah' sound to it, but oh well. That would be more consistent with words like aardvark or Baal or Afrikaans. If that's what Smith wanted, he should have explicitly indicated it somehow. After all, we have words like Isaac or Aaron or Canaanites that don't use that 'ah' sound for the double 'a', so there is variability with it. It's a bad spelling to use if you aren't going to provide any sort of pronunciation guide with your text. shelfy: in this context, most likely meaning: full of sandbanks or dangerous shallows sanies: a thin blood-tinged seropurulent discharge from ulcers or infected wounds. Seropurulent? Consisting of a mixture of serum and pus. fell: as a noun, a hill or stretch of high moorland, especially in northern England Stoat, a.k.a. Eurasian ermine, a type of mustelid, which looks rather similar to the weasel anthropophagi: cannibals poltroonery: cowardice; lack of spirit; pusillanimity I wonder if that mirror of clairvoyance could be the same one used by Gaspard du Nord in "The Colossus of Ylourgne", which somehow survived all the ages of the world until its very ending? Hmmm... besom: a broom made of twigs tied around a stick The picture used is an illustration by Virgil Finlay for the story from Weird Tales. To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/151/necromancy-in-naat We don't often get stories about the mundane everyday life of run-of-the-mill necromancers...

Subtle and manifold are the nets of the Demon, who followeth his chosen from birth to death and from death to death, throughout many lives. -The Testaments of Carnamagos ---- As with many of Smith's stories, we have a plethora of strange names with no obvious pronunciation, and no hint or guide as to what he had in mind. And less than perfect consistency in pronunciation on my part. I expect we're going to have a very great deal of that in this Zothique cycle... combe: this could mean either "a short valley or hollow on a hillside or coastline" if you are British, or "a dry valley in a limestone or chalk escarpment" if you are a geologist. Either way, some sort of valley. There are two accepted pronunciations for this word, perhaps depending on whether you use British English or American English? pleasance: a secluded enclosure or part of a garden, especially one attached to a large house straiten: become narrow gorge: in this context: throat coigns: a projecting corner sward an expanse of short grass puissant: having great power or influence covert: in this context: a thicket in which game can hide levin: lightning odalisque: a female slave or concubine in a harem, especially one in the seraglio of the Sultan of Turkey wot: have knowledge senescence: the condition or process of deterioration with age objurgation: a harsh rebuke cirque: circle league: for English units of measurement, this would normally be 3 miles (4.8 km) (or 3 nautical miles (5.56 km) in a maritime context). Canopus: the brightest star in the southern constellation of Carina and the second-brightest star in the night sky. midden: refuse heap marmorean: of, relating to, or suggestive of marble or a marble statue especially in coldness or aloofness mummery: ridiculous ceremonial, especially of a religious nature plaint: complaint, lamentation leman: lover or mistress murrain: a plague, epidemic, or crop blight divertissement: minor entertainment or diversion mummer: pantomimist (an actor in a traditional masked mime, especially of a type associated with Christmas and popular in England in the 18th and early 19th centuries) guerdon: reward or recompense zephyr: a soft gentle breeze mufti: plain clothes worn by a person who wears a uniform for their job, such as a soldier or police officer recreancy: shameful cowardice; perfidy The picture used is an illustration from the original Weird Tales publication in the 1930s. To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/250/xeethra Well, at least Xeethra wasn't a sore loser about the whole thing, eh?

He who has trod the shadows of Zothique And looked upon the coal-red sun oblique, Henceforth returns to no anterior land, But haunts a later coast Where cities crumble in the black sea-sand And dead gods drink the brine. He who has known the gardens of Zothique Were bleed the fruits torn by the simorgh's beak, Savors no fruit of greener hemispheres: In arbors uttermost, In sunset cycles of the sombering years, He sips an aramanth wine. He who has loved the wild girls of Zothique Shall not come back a gentler love to seek, Nor know the vampire's from the lover's kiss: For him the scarlet ghost Of Lilith from time's last necropolis Rears amorous and malign. He who has sailed in galleys of Zothique And seen the looming of strange spire and peak, Must face again the sorcerer-sent typhoon, And take the steerer's post On far-poured oceans by the shifted moon Or the re-shapen Sign. ---- Most astoundingly, there's really no SAT words in this poem. Smith always densely packs his poems full of the most obscure words imaginable, but somehow this one got away from him ;-) The picture used is a map of Zothique To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/666/zothique

Wells being a cathedral city in Somerset county, not far from Bath and Bristol. Cambrai - I didn't even attempt the French pronunciation here, given how awful my attempts at French are. But when Anglicized, it appears there are multiple accepted pronunciations? Maybe? I don't know, it's all very confusing to me trying to figure out how to pronounce this city name. Arf a mo' - I had no idea what this meant, but the almighty oracle of google says "half a moment". Apparently most famously on a 1914 poster of a British Soldier lighting a pipe saying "Arf a mo', Kaiser!" "Opening of Parliament by the King" - given this story is set in WW1, this would be King George V. Who had become king only a few years before the war, in 1910. And would remain king until a few years before the next war, in 1936. And he legitimately looks like a twin brother of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia. They were related, being first cousins, but they seriously look like twin brothers. Vin nouveau du Royaume: Possibly this is a reference to Matthew 26:29? I'm not entirely clear what the last lines are supposed to be a reference to. Perhaps the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel? Although that's typically more a Catholic thing, and of course British soldiers are more likely than not to be Anglican. And technically Machen was Anglican, although he seemed to have a liking for Catholicism, so I would expect he was plenty familiar enough with the prayer, especially after the start of the Great War. The picture used is a Greek Catholic icon of the archangel Michael. The angel holds a flaming sword in his hand. The icon was painted in the end of the 18th century as part of the iconostasis of the Greek Catholic Cathedral of Hajdúdorog, Hungary. Michael is depicted on the northern Deacons' Door. Photo by Jojojoe, used here under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en). To follow along: https://web.archive.org/web/20120414102251/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/machen/arthur/angels-of-mons/chapter2.html#chapter2

The new head-covering is made of heavy steel, which has been specialty treated to increase its resisting power. The walls protecting the skull are particularly thick, and the weight of the helmet renders its use in open warfare out of the question. The rim is large, like that of the headpiece of Mambrino, and the soldier can at will either bring the helmet forward and protect his eyes or wear it so as to protect the base of the skull... Military experts admit that continuance of the present trench warfare may lead to those engaged in it, especially bombing parties and barbed wire cutters, being more heavily armoured than the knights, who fought at Bouvines and at Agincourt. -The Times, July 22, 1915 ---- Listening to people on youtube who are from Croydon say the word Croydon, some say it as 'cry-den', others in the proper phonetic manner. Since even the locals can't seem to agree on the pronunciation, I'm going with the phonetic pronunciation. Aug 16, 1914 - the war started July 28 with Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia. The British declared war on Germany on August 4. I can't quite find when the first British troops landed on the continent, but their first battle was Aug 23, so they must have had at least some troops ready to go right away. Giltar Point, St. Margaret's Island, Caldy Island, all real places in Wales. Machen usually likes to make up place names, but for some reason this time he stuck to real world places. Hmmm... I am fully aware of the British pronunciation of 'lieutenant', and since this is a British author talking about the British army, I no doubt should have used it, but I just cannot bring my American tongue to put an 'f' into a word which clearly has no possible 'f' sounding phoneme in the spelling. There is no 'ghoti' type non-sense going on with the word. Silent letters in words is one thing, but inserting non-existent letters when speaking a word aloud?! English spelling is troubled enough as it is, let's not make it even worse! The picture used is French soldiers with their grenade-shooting crossbows. I had no idea this was ever a thing until I read this story! There is also another crossbow-like bomb throwing weapon used by the French in WW1 called the Sauterelle, contrasted with the British Leach trench catapult. WW1 really was a crossroads between the centuries of warfare prior and the industralized warfare that was to come. To follow along: https://web.archive.org/web/20120414102302/http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/m/machen/arthur/angels-of-mons/chapter4.html#chapter4

A time-black tower against dim banks of cloud; Around its base the pathless pressing wood. Shadow and silence, moss and mould, enshroud Grey, age fell'd slabs that once as cromlechs stood, No fall of foot, no song of bird awakes The lethal aisle of sempiternal night Tho' oft with stir of wings the dense air shakes As in the towre there glows a pallid light. For here, apart, dwells one whose hands have wrought Strange eidola that chill the world with fear; Whose graven runes in tones of dread have taught What things beyond the star-gulfs lurk and leer. Dark Lord of Averiogne — whose windows stare On pits of dream no other gaze could bear! The picture used is of Clark Ashton Smith To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/tributes/poetry/166/to-klarkash-ton%2C-lord-of-averoigne

Clearly this Benedictine Monastery must be different from the one in the Colossus of Ylourgne, as the ruins across from the monastery in that story of the ruins of Ylourgne, and here we have the ruins of Faussesflammes. Not the first reference we've had to Faussesflammes, but this is the first reference to a monastery being nearby to it. Of course, it is possible this monastery was built much later than the one at Ylourgne, we have no way of knowing. It is strange, though, that all these monasteries in Averoigne are built across from some evil castle ruins. Why would they do that? Hmmmm.... refectory: a room used for communal meals in an educational or religious institution floriated: decorated with floral designs incunabula: early printed books, especially those printed before 1501 delectation: pleasure or delight charnel: a building or vault in which corpses or bones are piled ineffable: too great or extreme to be expressed or described in words beatific: blissfully happy Apollonius of Tyana is said to have defeated the Lamia of Corinth, a feat celebrated by John Keats in a poem "Lamia" This is the first story in which holy water actually does anything useful! It's also the latest (late 18th century) story in the series, interestingly enough. And the only story where it works, as this is the last short story in the Averoigne cycle. There's one more poem to round it out, so this is the one and only example of holy water actually working in all of the Averoigne history we are exposed to. The picture used is "Vain Lamorna: a Study for Lamia", by John William Waterhouse To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/63/the-end-of-the-story

We found, we knew it dimly Within a dead life grimly By guarding time inurned— A glamour far and olden, A fulgor night-enfolden, A flame that in long-darkling Eden burned. Though hardly then we claimed it, We yet adored and named it With a name forgotten now- A faery word and dawn-like, A word of gramarie, gone like An opal bird from off a purple bough. . . . Ah! vain the lamp reluming The unhaunted vault inhuming The cold Canopic jar, And vain the charm recovered From out the daemon-hovered, Worm-travelled page of pentacled grimoire. And yet the thing we yearned for, The thing that we returned for From tomb and catacomb, It may not wholly dwindle While moon or meteor kindle A phantom beacon on the ebon foam. Through ghoul-watched wood unthridden, By goblin mere and midden, No ivory horn will blow, No gold lamp lighten gloom-ward, But we will carry doom-ward The broken beauty caught from long ago: An echo half evading The ear, remotely fading From a far-vibrant lyre. A long-plucked flower blooming In the dry urn, a fuming Myrrh-fragrant ember in a darkened pyre. ---- fulgor - dazzling brightness; splendor gramarie - magic, necromancy Canopic jar - containers that were used by the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process, to store and preserve the viscera of their owner for the afterlife grimoire - book of black magic, especially one dealing with demons unthridden - I can't find a definition for this, although I can find one other use of this word by Richard F. Burton in his translation of "The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night". That said, all hints I can find suggest it is an alternate for "untrodden". mere - in this context, pond or lake midden - a dunghill or refuse heap To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/389/o-golden-tongued-romance

chariness: the trait of being cautious and watchful maculation: the state of being spotted Cotytto, a.k.a. Kotys: a Thracian goddess whose festival, the Cotyttia, resembled that of the Phrygian Cybele, and was celebrated on hills with riotous proceedings and orgiastic rites, especially at night. "Companion of Cotytto" was synonymous with "slut"... Although I could find a little bit of info about Cotytto, I could not find a useful pronunciation guide for the word, so I have no idea if I got it right. Cytherean: relating to the goddess Cytherea, which is an alternate name for Aphrodite (i.e. Venus), Cytherea being a Greek island from which Venus is sometimes claimed to have originated from. I don't understand the "hollow hill" reference - if you do, please leave a comment below! piacular: requiring atonement; sinful; heinous lubric: lubricious, i.e. marked by wantonness; lecherous Anthony: Anthony the Great (A.D. 251 to 356), a.k.a. Anthony of the Desert, the Father of All Monks, and many other names, who was a Christian monk from Egypt who in 270 went into the wilderness of the Eastern Desert of Egypt (i.e. that part of the Sahara east of the Nile) and endured supernatural temptation therein. disapprobation: strong disapproval, typically on moral grounds captious: tending to find fault or raise petty objections The picture used is a statue of Venus, Conservatory Gardens, Rosalind Park, Bendigo, Victoria, Australia. Photo taken by Dansforth and used here under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/). It's not exactly in a turnip and carrot garden, but at least it's outdoors - most Venus statues you can find pictures of are indoors, which doesn't suit this story at all. To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/47/the-disinterment-of-venus Although it should be noted that the last two chapters have very notable differences from the book I am reading from, so apparently there were some non-trivial revisions to this story! Especially the third chapter, which goes from a Brother Louis POV used here to a follow-the-trail-of-his-actions POV in the link above. Not sure either one is necessarily better, just different. Which one you like depends on your own personal preference for story-telling styles.

A cambion is the offspring of an incubus, succubus, or other type of demon with a human. In the word's earliest known uses, it was interchangeable with changeling. wold: a usually upland area of open country; a hilly or rolling region Alecto: one of the Erinyes (Furies) in Greek mythology. Daughter of Gaea fertilized by the blood spilled from Uranus when Cronus castrated him, with snakes for hair and blood dripping from her eyes, and wings like those of bats. Alecto's job as a Fury is castigating the moral crimes (such as anger) of humans, especially if they are against others. leman: lover or sweetheart, especially an illicit lover, especially a mistress The picture used is a pair of cambions by Anne Stokes, from the D&D 4th edition Monster Monster To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/75/cambion

So in English, apparently it is most commonly accepted to use the long 'a' in Satyr, but the original Greek uses a sound closer to an English short 'a'. My physical book dictionary gives both pronunciations, but the long 'a' is listed first so is presumably preferred. It turns out I used both pronunciations in this story. I didn't even realize it while recording, it wasn't until edit that I caught myself going between the two. Oh well. Annoying, but such is the hazard of words with multiple acceptable pronunciations. Ronsard: Pierre de Ronsard: 16th century French poet. Indeed, he was called by his contemporaries the Prince of Poets. Pleiade: La Pléiade was a group of 16th century French Renaissance poets, including Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay, and Jean-Antoine de Baïf. Helicon: A river in ancient Greece near the city of Dion in Pieria, which is reputed to have sank underground after the women who killed Orpheus wished to wash off in it the blood-stains. villanelle: a nineteen-line poetic form consisting of five tercets followed by a quatrain. There are two refrains and two repeating rhymes, with the first and third line of the first tercet repeated alternately at the end of each subsequent stanza until the last stanza, which includes both repeated lines. chrysolite: a usually greenish mineral that is a complex silicate of magnesium and iron chrysoprase: an apple-green chalcedony valued as a gem beldam: an old woman, especially a malicious and ugly woman (a witch!) vertumnal: vernal, i.e. of, relating to, or occurring in the spring, or fresh or new like the spring fain: now here's a fun word that means two completely opposite things! It can mean willing, or it mean to be compelled. It has other meanings besides, but one of those two is what we are looking for here, but which one is impossible to know. LOL! aureole: a circle of light or brighting surrounding something sovereign philtre: a curious phrase that is only used a tiny handful of times by several different authors, maybe 6 or 7 instances that google returns for me. They all use it in the same way, a love potion, but the fact that it only appears in these couple of stories and doesn't return any other results is curious. Even if I go with the spelling of "philter" instead, I get another two uses in other stories, so now 8 or 9 instances, but that's it. How odd, that this term was known just enough to be used by a handful of authors, but not used enough to get any sort of other results explaining what it is or where it derives from or any other information. Hmmm... venerous: lustful, lascivious mandragora: mandrake, which if you recall from Smith's story "The Mandrakes" from just the other day, was apparently an ingredient in love potions. If you aren't subscribed to the channel and didn't catch that story, be sure to look it up here to listen to next! superannuate: obsolete or out-of-date The picture used is "A Satyr Pursuing a Nymph" To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/214/the-satyr So the ending of this version of the story is the alternate ending (http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/255/the-satyr-%28variant-conclusion%29). The original ending is the one shown in the earlier link. The original ending was seen as a bit to spicey for a 1930s audience... Murdering your adulterous wife was a-ok, people of the day apparently could relate to that, but having your unfaihtful wife be carried off by Pan? Nope, can't have that!

In my heart a wizard book, Only love shall ever look: Darling, when thou readest there, Wisely falter and forbear Ere thou turn'st the pages olden, Deeply writ and deeply folden, Where the legends of lost moons Lie in chill unchanging runes. Trifle not with charm or spell, Heptagram or pentacle, Leave in silence, long unsaid, All the words that wake the dead. Darling, in my heart withholden, Letters rubrical and golden Tell the secret of our love And the philtred spells thereof; There, my memories of thee, Half of all the gramarie, Are a firm unfading lore: Read but these... and read no more... Shall it profit thee to find Loves that went with snow and wind? Leave in silence, long unsaid, All the words that wake the dead. ---- 'find' and 'wind' (moving air) clearly don't rhyme in any modern version of English. I could have forced them to rhyme, but whichever word I changed it would have been too weird, so I just left it non-rhyming. Even forcing 'pentacle' to rhyme with 'spell' was painful, but that one I could at least do, even if I don't like it. Heptagram is a seven sided star. Not nearly as well known as the pentagram / pentacle, but sure, why not? Rubrical, in this context, is: a heading of a part of a book or manuscript done or underlined in a color (in this case, gold) different from the rest gramarie, obsolete spelling of gramarye, from the middle French gramaire (current spelling being grimoire), so a spell book, especially one of necromancy Sorry for using a meme for a picture, but it does fit the theme of the poem! And I had no other ideas of what to use here. I probably could have found some medieval painting of a romantic couple or some such, but meh. To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/76/canticle

quotidian: ordinary or everyday; daily swain: a country youth, or a young lover or suitor homunculus: a very small human or humanoid creature simulacrum: an image or representation of someone or something. I was caught completely by surprise that this word apparently has two accepted pronunciations. I did not use the pronunciation I would normally use, I went with the other one because that turned out to be the pronunciation given by my physical paper and ink dictionary published in 1984. I feel like anything that predates widespread adoption of the Internet is likely a more trustworthy guide than anything I find on the Internet :-P recreant: cowardly; unfaithful to a belief raddled: broken-down spate: in this context, a sudden flood in a river, especially one caused by heavy rains or melting snow oracular: hard to interpret; enigmatic termagant: a harsh-tempered or overbearing woman The picture used is by Rembert Dodoens, 1583. Stirpium historiae pemptades sex sive libri XXX. Antverpiæ, ex officina Christophori Plantini. (scanned from Reprint 1979, Uitgeverij de Forel, Nieuwendijk (Netherlands). To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/213/the-mandrakes In the module X2, the PCs can meet Gilles Grenier as a random encounter in Averoigne. He can make potions for the PC, but there's a good chance the potion has a harmful effect :)

Tons of good vocabulary packed into this poem! Acherontic: dark and dismal (as of the river Acheron in Hades) attar: a fragrant essential oil (as from rose petals) oriel: a large bay window projecting from a wall and supported by a corbel or bracket gules: the heraldric term for red verdure: the greenness of growing vegetation; health and vigor oleander: a poisonous evergreen shrub (Nerium oleander) of the dogbane family with clusters of fragrant white to red flowers hoar: this word has several definitions that could fit the bill here, so you can pick whichever one tickles your fancy the most: frosty; ancient; no longer interesting or meaningful due to repetition over time seneschal: the steward or major-domo of a medieval great house coigne: given the association with 'niche', we're probably looking at the meaning of "a projecting corner", but it could also mean "the keystone of an arch", or " the external corner of a building; especially any of the large, squared stones by which the corner of a building is marked", or any wedgelike piece of stone. Anyways, you get the idea. jambart (or jambeau): a greave, i.e. a piece of armour worn to protect the shin from the ankle to the knee lampadephore: torch bearer. Or I suppose in this case, lamp bearer. limn: the draw or paint on a surface. Or possible: to outline in clear sharp detail. Not entirely clear which definition fits better. The picture used is "The Dark Chateau" (1919) by Leslie Moffat Ward. Frankly it reminds me strongly of "The Fall of the House of Usher", but it'll have to do for here. To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/113/the-dark-chateau

A rather long and well crafted set-up, for what felt to me like a very abrupt and abbreviated conclusion. Hmmmm... undine: a female spirit or nymph inhabiting water trouvère: one of a school of poets who flourished from the 11th to the 14th centuries and who composed mostly narrative works (such as chansons de geste and fabliaux). Trouvère is the northern French form of the langue d'Oc word trobador, which is obvious the origin of the modern word troubadour. billet-doux: love letter pourboire: normally this would be a tip or gratuity, but in this context we must resort to the less common definition of a bribe. purl: flow with a swirling motion and babbling sound succor: assistance and support in times of hardship and distress hoary: could be grayish white (as if with age), or could be extremely old. Probably both here in this context. superannuate: obsolete or out-of-date unctuous: excessively or ingratiatingly flattering; oily moue: a pouting expression used to convey annoyance or distaste cresset: an iron vessel or basket used for holding an illuminant (such as oil) and mounted as a torch or suspended as a lantern vizard: a mask or disguise hebetude: the state of being dull or lethargic To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/181/a-rendezvous-in-averoigne The ghost feast is suggestive to me of the feast room in X2. Not part of the Averoigne section of the module, but one of the early rooms the players will likely encounter in the Chateau. The PCs can, however, meet Gerard de l'Automne in the Averoigne section of the module, as a random encounter.

I met a witch with amber eyes Who slowly sang a scarlet rune, Shifting to an icy laughter Like the laughter of the moon. Red as a wanton's was her mouth, And fair the breast she bade me take With a word that clove and clung Burning like a furnace-flake. But from her bright and lifted bosom, When I touched it with my hand, Came the many-needled coldness Of a glacier-taken land. And, lo! the witch with eyes of amber Vanished like a blown-out flame Leaving but the lichen-eaten Stone that bore a blotted name. ---- wanton, in this context, is going to mean a sexually unrestrained woman To follow along: https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Witch_with_Eyes_of_Amber

What's this? A CAS story that's isn't chock full of obscure vocabulary?! *boggle* A few words we've seen in other recent stories of the Averoigne cycle that I won't redefine here, but otherwise nothing particularly new. Maybe the word 'rondure', but I'll leave that one as an exercise for the reader :-P The picture used is "toads 03-2012 (9)" by Armin Rodler, used here under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/). To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/143/mother-of-toads

empery: empire mantic: relating to divination or prophecy Lar: the Lares were guardian deities in the ancient Roman religion amaranthine: there are many possible definitions here, starting with: undying. Otherwise, it could be of or relating to any of the following: 1) a genus of coarse annual herbs with clusters of small green, dark pink, red, or purplish flowers; 2) a flower than never fades; or 3) a pinkish or rosy red "Shall tread the amaranthine lawn" doesn't make it obvious which meaning is the one intended, but any of them could work. I guess take whichever one tickles your fancy the most. And there's that stars/wars rhyme Smith used in Amithaine. I don't understand why he's so obsessed with forcing that rhyme that isn't. The picture used is "Necromancer" by DikkiDIrt, used here under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/). To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/poetry/528/song-of-the-necromancer

scrivener: professional or public copyist or writer; scribe rutilant: glowing or glittering with red or golden light "the Dragon" is surely the constellation Draco. Interestingly enough, in the northern hemisphere Draco never sets. Scorpius, on the other hand, is only visible from May to August in the mid northern latitudes. blent: archaic or literary past and past participle of blend evensong: a church service traditionally held near sunset focused on singing psalms and other biblical canticles. It is loosely based on the canonical hours of vespers and compline. corposant:an appearance of St. Elmo's fire on a mast, rigging, or other structure nimbus: a luminous cloud or a halo surrounding a supernatural being or a saint nones: in this context, a service forming part of the Divine Office of the Western Christian Church, traditionally said (or chanted) at the ninth hour of the day (3 p.m.) blench: become pale prime: the First Hour, one of the canonical hours of the Divine Office, said at the first hour of daylight (6:00 a.m. at the equinoxes but earlier in summer, later in winter), between the dawn hour of Lauds and the 9 a.m. hour of Terce chine: backbone ostent: a significant sign; the act of showing or displaying Phlegethon: In Greek mythology, one of the rivers of Hades. Plato describes it as "a stream of fire, which coils round the earth and flows into the depths of Tartarus". Lethean: causing oblivion or forgetfulness of the past (from the river Lethe, another of rivers of Hades, noted for causing forgetfulness among those who drank of its waters) cellarer: the person in a monastery who is responsible for the provisioning of food and drink haircloth: a stiff, unsupple fabric typically made from horsehair and/or from the woolly hair of a camel pernoctation: an all-night vigil wain: wagon or cart energumen: a person believed to be possessed by the devil or a spirit To follow along: http://www.eldritchdark.com/writings/short-stories/11/the-beast-of-averoigne There are some non-trivial differences between the text I'm reading from and the link above, especially in regard to the details of how the Beast is defeated, but the essential outline is still there either way, and my recorded version is, IMO, more dramatic and interesting. More X2 fodder, wherein the PCs must deal with the Beast and acquire the ring of Eibon.