[ public ] text | un: astudyinviolet

[astudyinviolet]

Type: Text
Sender ID: astudyinviolet (Sherlock Holmes)
To: Public
Subject: Who is familiar with this entity?
Warnings: The worst book club ever, talk of eldritch horrors, potential poking at the 4th wall for Sherlock

I made the purchase of ‘Encyclopedia Necronomica’ earlier but had not the opportunity to make a study of it until now. Having done so, I must ask: who is familiar with the entity pictured here? What do you know?

I shall include photographs from the book and of my sketches in reference to imagery related to my world.

Furthermore, if anyone else wishes to reference or compare this book with entities encountered recently, I am at your disposal.

S.H.

[ Sherlock had some sense of mind to not study this particular book while feverish and ill. He should be praised for that, honestly, because he spotted something frightening familiar when he finally did.

Wait a minute, when did Arthur Conan Doyle write about Holmes going up against Cthulhu? ]

[ photograph of a book page which claims there are Cthulhu-type entities out there that are almost squid-like but impossible to say without more research ]



[ A sketch of the painting, including the frame ]



[ A sketch of only the Cthulhu statue (no Sherlock) ]



[ A sketch version of the above image ]



[ A sketch pulled further back of a nondescript figure sinking in water with Cthulhu looking up at them from deeper below. ]

Comments

[crystalrepose]

[Miriam stops when she looked up, giving a little wave without her elbow leaving the table. The sketch seemingly hasn't progressed very far, but not having to flesh out the anatomy much certainly helped.]

Something called a gieremund; one of the hound creatures I encountered before in the same place as Vepar. A bit snappish. [She says, while sketching in its teeth.]

[astudyinviolet]

It looks like a creature belonging to some old family's legend, the kind that creates fantastical stories and cautionary tales to pass from one generation to another. What might have been an underfed an violent stray had grown to become a hellhound in repeat tellings.

[ Although, Sherlock does not doubt they exist in Miriam's world. ]

Are they solitary creatures?

[crystalrepose]

[Miriam paused in the middle of sketching, looking thoughtful.]

...perhaps...that was how these ones were used. The place I encountered them was...not entirely of this world or another, and summoned over the ruins of the Alchemy Guild. And the Guild had been trying to scare its patrons to continue valuing their services.

[And then the supernatural was shaped by superstition.]

But for the most part they were solitary, yes; sometimes I'd see them alongside a different monster, but it showed no particular camaraderie. Only a single-minded purpose, like a hunting hound never taught how to stop. [A grimace.] Or a starving dog that'd spotted food.

[astudyinviolet]

[ At the last comment, Sherlock frowns in a similar manner. A starving dog that spotted food reminds him of two other dogs who were out alone and starving, and he has a fondness for dogs in general. ]

Has anyone ever tried to feed such a beast and befriend it?

[ Although perhaps there lacked any opportunity to try if the Alchemy Guild were using them for their own means. ]

[crystalrepose]

[The Shardbinder sighs through her nose, and stops sketching for a moment.]

...I do not know. By the time I encountered them, they were already leaping at my throat.

[astudyinviolet]

Ah, that is a shame. Under such circumstances, there is no opportunity.

[ And leaving food in certain locations may attract the beasts without any connection of it being provided by a kind soul. ]

How did you dispatch them?

[crystalrepose]

Quickly. As with any other assailant.

[Another sigh.]

...though I fear that may not have been enough. I encountered more of these creatures further down, where reality and nightmare became blurred even further. They became larger, even more savage, and wreathed in flames. The picture of a hellhound.

[astudyinviolet]

"Where reality and nightmare became blurred even further"...

[ Sherlock is all too familiar with how such a place can be. ]

To think they could transform, like a larva into a wasp, yet such is the nature of a nightmare, is it not? To take something that is already unnerving on its own and multiply their ferocity to horrific heights? The Guild would have people fearing those creatures and call for their aid and protection. Though, I do not doubt they had more ways of inspiring that fear.