Adventure Seed: The Hidden Lore.

The Hidden Lore – Google Docs

The Hidden Lore

So the party finds this incantation when they’re looking for something else. Preferably under circumstances where they know that the incantation is not a forgery, a hoax, or anything else. Hand it to them, absolutely casually.

HYOL M’DHAMDL H’RADA FHRAM!

IA! IA! OH!

ABNON-ZAT FHRAM HEHT-A-DA KOO!

IA! IA! OH!

WZTAH MEH-MU HY’R
AMDA MEH-MU T’TR
HY’R AMEH! T’R AMU!
AZO-THOTH AMEH-MU:

HYOL M’DHAMDL H’RADA FHRAM!

IA! IA! OH!

If anybody reads it aloud, stop them after the first word, take that player to another room, tell him You feel an irresistible urge to sing it to the tune of “Old MacDonald,” and then you both go back to the other room and rewind the game to just before the player started to read the text aloud. Then see what happens.

…That’s it.

13 thoughts on “Adventure Seed: The Hidden Lore.”

      1. Trying to decide if the Mau-Maus being everywhere is better or worse than having this tune stuck in my head all day ..
        .
        Evil Moe.
        .
        *tips nonexistent hat*
        .
        Well done.
        .
        Mew

    2. Few expressions of madness are quite like literal visualizations of children’s rhymes: Yes Gator, The Moo-Moos are indeed everywhere.
      .
      It’s Old MacDonald’s universe, we’re just living in it.

      1. I did. It still doesn’t make any sense to me. I’m getting a Lovecraft vibe off of it, but i still don’t get it.

        1. That’s pretty much the gag: it’s supposed to be the cosmic horror incantation that was later warped into the ‘Old MacDonald’ not-quite-a-nonsense-rhyme. Looking mostly to create a mood piece, there. 🙂

          1. Ah, I was taking it more as a marker that the insane person who’s footsteps they were following is an unreliable source of information.
            .
            Fewer tentacles, but fear of the unknown is the kicker, anyway. (And all horror games need a moment of tension relief. If it later heightens the tension as the players consider the implications, so much the better.)

  3. On first looking at it, I thought that it had to be a commonly known song, though my first guess was “Molly Malone”.

  4. If you’re a parent of small children, you quickly realize that Fox in Socks is more evil and sanity-draining than the Necronomicon.

    1. Dr. Seuss is a widespread vector to infect young minds with Eldritch memetics. Why do you think the Eggs and Ham are “green” ? Bartholomew Cubbins clearly had dealings with Ancient powers.
      .
      And don’t get me started on that cosmic portal near Mulberry Street.

Comments are closed.