Synopsis
The Nameless, a loose-knit group of vigilantes who fight the evil forces of the occult, have come in the posession of an old painting by Bohemian warlock Pavel Dvorak who was burned at the stake for witchcraft in 1476. They, through a series of intermediaries, trying to remain anonymous, ask Mr. Simons to verify the authenticity of the painting. Sir O’Reilly and Mr. Mason, each through different channels and for different reasons, come to the aid to Mr. Simons’ attempt.
Quickly, it turns out the painting has a very storied past and that a person is locked inside of it, only becoming visible at roughly 10pm each evening, showing more and more of himself. It turns out to be late Mr. Armitage, a erstwhile companion of Sir O’Reilly who died when banishing a malevolent spirit from a farmhouse in a village outside of Arkham.
Doing their research, the investigators find a way to ressurrect Mr. Armitage, which was The Nameless’ reason for giving them the painting all along. They manage to perform the ritual and ressurrect Mr. Armitage, only for him to disappear without a trace the following day.
John H. Mason
A little more than a week before Christmas, 1923, John H. Mason, an award-winning and best-selling author of mystery novels residing in Arkham, recieved a letter from Sir Kevin O’Reilly, suggesting he write his next novel on the disappearances of children near the church on Brown Street, further explaining more about the suspicious and nefarious history of the church. When Mr. Mason and Sir O’Reilly meet, the latter claims never to have sent the letter. A second letter from Sir O’Reilly to Mr. Mason details more information about Mr. Lillybridge, the late journalist at the Boston Globe that was found in the bowels of the church, as well as much of his research on the church. Sir O’Reilly maintains he did not send the letters, but does divulge more about his experiences with the church, the events that lead up to his involvement with the church and the aftermath.
In the meantime, Sir O’Reilly takes it upon himself to hire Paul Lansing, private investigator, to do some digging into Mr. Mason and present his findings. He finds out many mundane facts about Mr. Mason, including date and place of his birth, the names of his parents and wife, where he was married, academic achievements, professional achievements (a list of published novels), and his finances.
Walter Simons
Mr. Simons, a war veteran and antiquarian specialising in restorations, is contacted by Jonathan Arlington and an elderly gentleman by the name of Charles Roven. Mr. Roven claims to represent a wealthy collector who would appreciate it if Mr. Simons could verify the authenticity of a painting. The painting is the 15th century Zajatec Temnoty, or “Prison of Darkness”, by disturbed, Bohemian warlock Pavel Dvorak, who was burned at the state in 1476.
Mr. Roven is a lawyer and partner in the prestigious New York City-based firm of Roven, Siegal & Gale. The firm has offices all throughout the United States.
Mr. Arlington introduces Sir O’Reilly to Mr. Simons, and Sir O’Reilly in turn introduces Mr. Mason. Together, they decide to investigate the authenticity of the painting, even though they get very little information from both young Mr. Arlington or Mr. Roven.
The Painting
The 120×90 centimeter painting depicts a scene of a small farmhouse standing in the foothills of Tábor, where Pavel Dvorak lived and died. It has two small windows and a door. All in all, the painting isn’t particularly exciting. On the back of the painting, they find two codes;
Σ-1476-21466283
Σ-1914-21466283
After talking to Pino Clamenza, a local art dealer, Dr. Aram van Doren, the theology professor at Miskatonic university, and Ms. Sofia Morrell, curator at the Miskatonic university museum, they quickly learn that the codes are so-called Z-codes, assigned by the Order of the Sword of St. Jerome, a secretive order within the Catholic church dedicated to collecting and suppressing dangerous information and artifacts. The order has their headquarters in a monastry in the Alpine mountain range between France and Italy and keep in their vaults the Vatican’s infamous “Z-collection,” anything the Vatican deemed heresy.
During the Italian Unification in 1861, pope Pius IX cancelled all monastic orders, the order survived as a secret society, continuing their work without papal consent. In the years prior to 1914, many items needed to be moved and kept safe from the ravages of the coming war. The Z-collection was vast and according to the order still very dangerous and able to destabalise the church. Not trusting any one ally to carry the burden of that much corrupting power, they broke up the collection and distributed it among various allies, kept safe until such a time when the war was over and the Z-collection could safely be reassembled.
The codes indicated that the painting was added to the collection in 1476 and removed from the collection in 1914, likely given to a trusted group for safe keeping. It seemed the painting was never returned.
Researching Pavel Dvorak more, the investigators find that a wealthy collector of rare books living in New York, a man by the name of Mr. Blair Monroe, bought a fifteenth century journal at an auction in Switzerland, claimed to have been written by Pavel Dvorak before his death. A quick long distance telephone call with New York sets up an appointment with Mr. Monroe.
Blair Monroe
The wealthy Mr. Monroe, a prominent rare book collector, receives Mr. Simons and Sir O’Reilly at a most unfortunate time, as a botched burglary into his estate on the prestigious upper west side of Manhattan has left his faithful man servant dead and several of his precious books ruined.
When the investigators arrive the police had just wrapped up their investigation of the library where the murder took place. After a discussion with Mr. Monroe he confessed being in the possession of the journal of Pavel Dvorak, which he bought in 1921 at a private auction together with an accompanying painting. Also, upon hearing of Mr. Simons’ speciality in restoration, Mr. Monroe was also interested in commissioning him to repair the books that were damaged during the burglary and consequent murder.
Mr. Monroe gave the investigators a tour of his extensive library, which held many rare and curious books. Mr. Monroe also indicated that there was no particular genre or type of book he was interested in but that his collection did hold a fair amount of books on the occult and that it was these books that had been damaged in the burglary.
The library held several surprises for the investigators. First of all, the bloodstains of the murder scene had not been cleaned up yet. The stains formed the exact same shape as the sign found over the body of Miskatonic university library master John Henry when he was murdered. Several of the vandalised books, journals, pamphlets and manuscripts had been set aside. Pages had been torn, texts had been crossed out and bloodstains covered many of them. Secondly, the investigators were shocked to see the painting that accompanied the journal of Pavel Dvorak, being an almost exact copy of the painting residing in Mr. Simons’ shop on Pickman Street in Arkham.
Flipping the painting over to investigate the Z-codes on the back, the investigators discovered the following stamps;
Σ-1476-21466283
Σ-1914-21466283
Σ-1919-21466283
Σ-1921-21466283
The investigators came up with a theory that the painting was added to the Z-collection, then handed over to a third party for safe keeping before the great war. In the hands of this third party it was copied and either the forgery or the original was sent back to the Order of the Sword of St. Jerome and added back to the collection in 1919. In 1921 it was declassified and sold at an auction to Mr. Monroe.
Pavel Dvorak
When Mr. Simons promised to restore several of the lesser important books Mr. Monroe gave the journal of Pavel Dvorak into their temporary possession to be used in verification of the authenticity of the painting in Arkham and thus lending creedence to the authenticity of the painting in New York.
The investigators had already found out several pieces of information about the accussed warlock:
- Pavel Dvorak was born in 1435.
- He lived in seclusion near Tábor, in southern Bohemia.
- He was a tall, unnaturally attractive man.
- According to nearby villagers, he was had a pact with wolves.
- Put to death by being burned at the stake in 1476 by Dominican monk Heinrich Kramer.
His journal, written in Latin, revealed several things.
Winter, 1467
A black man came to my farmhouse asking for shelter from the bad weather. He seemed harmless, and there was something enigmatic about him that I responded to well. He carried only a few supplies and seemed to have been on foot. His dress was rich and well-maintained, and he carried a pack containing some writing equipment and a large tome he was very protective and evasive about.The first few nights, as the snow was making any travel impossible, I shared my provisions with him while he told me of far off lands and strange tales of the magical kingdoms of the African continent. He was also very knowledgeable of the Holy Lands the knights and monastic orders went to liberate from the barbarous hordes.
He himself was Egyptian. Wonderful Egypt, with its regal pharaohs and strange Gods. I couldn’t believe my luck. I am not allowed to enter the city of Tabor, and the people of the villages around here cross themselves when I pass, and all because they think I worship the fallen angel Lucifer. Instead, I’m looking for more than religion. I’m looking for experience and knowledge of the world beyond the borders of the Catholic world.
Spring, 1468
The black man’s tales have turned from the wondrous to the fantastic. He said that he could teach me the arcane knowledge of his Gods, and he has shown me that it’s real. I couldn’t disprove what I saw with my own eyes, and I couldn’t neglect the opportunity that was presented to me. I became a willing student.We made trips into the woods, to the sea far to the north and east, and into the mountains of the south. There he summoned and spoke to demons and heard their voices. They spoke to him and told him their secrets. And slowly but surely I started to learn. Pretty soon I was helping with the rituals.
This is power! This is real power! The demons send wolves to protect me when I travel, they protect me when I sleep, and they will protect me when the Inquisitor comes for me. I have already struck a deal that I will be protected.
Spring, 1469
…and so, I came upon the year of my painting. The black man had told me much of what was to come and it was clear that I was going to have to seek refuge when the puritans would come for me. They would never understand. He told me that I could devise a way to live on in a world of my own design; my spirit held in a receptacle that I was to make. A creative effort on my part, which would fuel the ritual transforming my painting from a mere mundane piece of artistic self-expression into a wonderful focus of my newfound might.Autumn, 1470
The painting is finished, and the black man has told me that the ritual that links my spirit to the painting can begin. Should I ever come to harm and die, my spirit will be contained in the painting and live on in what he calls a place of darkness. It will be my sanctuary, and therefore I have called it the Sanctuary of Darkness, where I will rest until such a time that the black man will come to release me.Winter, 1470
I had to recuperate after the ritual. It was most exhausting. I can’t begin to explain all the worlds and demons I saw while being subjected to the black man’s mad sadisms. He…I dare not even speak of what he did to me. But it will all be worth it if I can be reborn into the Kingdom he’ll create.I have spied upon the book he carries around and copied some of the Pnakotic texts in it concerning the ritual that needs to be preformed to release me from the Sanctuary.
The body, which was the original sanctuary of the spirit, needs to be reduced to its essential salts, a bluish-gray powder and the result of the following chant, which must be preformed two hours before dawn, under a cloudless sky, so that the Elders may look upon the entire corpse – not a piece must be missing – and grant their infernal blessings;
“Hail Azatoth! Look favourably on this one who died before his time. Grant your infernal blessings and release this man’s essentials from his form.”
The salts must be mixed with the blood shed from a man who knew the spirit’s name, then be used to write his name on the Sanctuary, before burning it at the place of death, at the time of death.
I’m writing it down because over the last couple of months I’ve started distrusting the black man more and more. He’s still telling tutoring me in the infernal arts, but he tells me I’m not ready to hear some of the answers to my questions. He feels I’m too hungry. I’m afraid he might be planning something nefarious for me…
From these entries, it seemed quite obvious to the investigators that the painting was created to serve as a vessel for Pavel Dvorak after his death in order for him to be reborn later. Sir O’Reilly also noted down in great detail the ritual that needs to be performed to release Pavel Dvorak.
Heinrich Kramer
Pavel Dvorak was put to death by Heinrich Kramer, an ambition monk in the Order of St. Dominic, charged with the persecution of witches and warlocks in Moravia and Bohemia. He would go on to receive the Summis Desiderantes Affectibus from pope InnocentVIII on December 5th, 1484, after he besieged the Vatican for unwavering and unequivocal authority to persecute witchcraft in Germany. Together with long time friend and collaborator Jacob Sprenger he wrote the Malleus Maleficarum, a manuscript serving as a guide to persecuting witches and warlocks. The trial of Pavel Dvorak is described within in the third part of the book in quite some detail as an example of how a witch-trial should be held.
A Threat to John Mason
During the absence of Mr. Simons and Sir O’Reilly as they went off to visit Mr. Monroe in New York City, Mr. Mason found a young man, tall and slender, in a dark suit with a neat appearance and a British accent, in his house warning him to stop investigating the church on Brown Street and to break off contact with Sir O’Reilly and Mr. Simons. The following morning, Mr. Mason files a report of the incident at the police station and decides to not inform his wife, who, throughout the entire incident, is asleep and unaware.
The Painting Changes
Upon returning to Arkham and meeting up with Mr. Mason, Mr. Simons and Sir O’Reilly return to Mr. Simons’ antique shop on Pickman Street. To their amazement they find a figure standing in the Pavel Dvorak’s painting. Standing inside the farmhouse in the window, a vague figure can be seen that wasn’t there before.
These changes seemed to occur every day around 10 pm and continued until the figure did not just step out of the farmhouse, wearing a long coat and a 1920’s style hat, but walked closer to the painting’s canvas and reached out towards the viewer. Sir O’Reilly thought he recognised the appearance of the deceased Mr. Armitage in the painting.
Whisper
Through Dr. Nannetti, Sir O’Reilly comes into the posession of several pages of a patient report by Dr. Martin Kingsley, chief of staff at the Arkham Assylum.
January 7th
After experimental treatment with barbiturates it seems that Whisper, as he likes to be called, is finally calming down. This is a tough nut to crack, which is most likely the reason why he ended up under my treatment to begin with.My first impression of Whisper is that he suffers from a constant, acute and very severe case of Demonophobia, which causes extreme paranoia, which results in Clinophobia and severe Nyctophobia. He is severely delusional, as are most Demonophobes, and when faced with rationalities that go against his carefully constructed schizophrenic ideas he gets violent to the point where he needs to be medicated and put in restraints. Of course, that just drives the point home for him, but considering his size and strength, I feel I have no other choice.
What is unusual is that sometimes he has sudden attacks of logorrhea. He’ll talk on end about monsters and demon dimensions that he’s supposedly seen and even visited, and his fascinations are highly detailed to the point where it sends shivers down my spine. After twelve to fifteen hours of talking, in which he never seems to repeat himself, or talk about the same thing twice, he usually slips into a fatigue-induced catatonic stupor, lasting for a day or so.
January 12th
Sanitarium director Hardstrom is still unwilling to share the real identity of this man, or explain who is paying for his stay here.February 16th
I finally got his medical report from Hardstrom and it seems he’s had many injuries over the last few years. I never got to inspect his body myself, because it means taking him out of restraints, and I don’t think he’s ready for that yet. I did examine him when he was being showered, and his body does show a lot of signs of injury; scars everywhere.His voice is still coarse and whispery and I don’t think it’s going to get any better. In his medical report it says he was once treated for a partially crushed larynx after what was labeled as a “hunting accident.”
April 29th
There is still no real progress, though my talks with Whisper have shown me that his delusions are consistent. I’m convinced that he’s convinced of the realities of these things. He speaks of monsters and demons and gods and the cultists that worship them. He speaks of knowledge so forbidden that he won’t share any of it with me. He assures me that I “don’t want to know what (he) knows.”July 7th
The medication seems to be helping, and he’s been out among the other patients for a while now. He spends most of his time writing in a diary we’ve asked him to keep. Not surprisingly the texts are chaotic and filled with his delusions. It seems that even here at the Sanitarium he’s confronted with demons and “the ghosts of the men (he) killed.”Director Hardstrom has reprimanded me for treading outside of the scope of my duties to Whisper by “wasting (my) time on formalities that are none of (my) concern.” I’m afraid that I must give up on my quest to find out who Whisper is. I just feel that it would benefit his treatment if I knew what had happened to him. If Whisper won’t tell me, and Hardstrom is barring my attempts to find out more, then how am I expected to treat this man!?
August 1st
Whisper’s been physically intimidating other patients on the ward. He says they are “sorcerers” and that he has sworn an oath to “The Nameless” to eradicate them. “The Nameless” is a recurring item in his diary. It seems to be a group he belonged to. My conclusion is that he himself was once a pagan cultist, and that the teachings of this “Nameless” must’ve driven him mad. It is not unknown for an enigmatic leader of a group to convince his subjects of things that aren’t true. When confronted with the falsehoods of that which they thought was truth, they seek refuge in schizophrenia.We have taken away his diary in punishment and have taken him out of the general populace and increased his medication. We’ll see how fit he’ll be to rejoin the others in a few days.
August 3rd
Medication doesn’t seem to have any affect on him the last few days. He’s been using his excrements to write on the walls of his cell. I’m afraid we’ll go through a long period of regression before his behavior will be getting any better.September 9th
Whisper has been moved to solitary confinement after assaulting and critically injuring one guard, and injuring four others. He was talking about a church fire and he felt a need to warn his friend Vincent. I haven’t had any note of a friend he calls Vincent, and I’m guessing it might be an auto-defense mechanism; a made up personality to keep him company through the solitary hours in his cell.September 10th
Robert Smith, the orderly that was rushed out of the Sanitarium after trying to subdue Whisper last night died in the hospital this morning. Whisper has been moved to the ward for the criminally insane. He’ll most likely get a stiff sentencing and will ride out his days here.Incidentally, the paper says an abandoned church on Brown Street was seriously damaged in a fire last night. How could he have known?
October 29th
Two men came to see Whisper today, which is the first time he’s received visitors since he came to us. The men registered themselves as a “Jake Armitage” and a “Darren Cobwell.” I’m relatively sure I’ve seen Mr. Cobwell before, somewhere here in town.Hardstrom kept me from supervising the meeting between the three, but wouldn’t give an explanation. When I pointed out that Whisper could be very dangerous he merely ignored me. I made sure there were witnesses to that so that I couldn’t be considered negligent should anything go wrong during their meeting.
The surprise mention of Darren Cobwell and Jake Armitage made the investigators sit up and take notice. That and other clues seemed to indicate that there was an organisation to which Mr. Armitage belonged to before dying at the farm in Ross’ Corners and ending up in the painting to which both Mr. Arlington and perhaps the owner of the painting belonged to. Perhaps even this group called “The Nameless” that Whisper referred to.
Contact was sought with Dr. Martin Kingsley and a request was put forth to talk to Mr. Whisper. Dr. Kingsley would only agree if the questions were prepared and vetted by him and the questions were posed under his supervision. Sir O’Reilly and Mr. Mason agreed and would do the talking. When the day came to question Whisper, it turned out that Dr. Kingsley himself was barred entry to the questioning by the assylum director Dr. Eric Hardstrom. The questioning was held in the second basement floor of the assylum where the criminally insane were locked up. From a separate room Dr. Hardstrom and an older, wiry gentleman with an eyepatch looked on.
Mr. Whisper, a burly man with the face of a bulldog, seemed deeply disturbed but answered several questions all the while being chained to his chair and to the floor. Below is the transcript that Mr. Mason made.
O’Reilly: Do you know Jonathan Lucas Nathaniel Arlington?
Whisper: The dilettante, the youngster. Never worked with him. Works for “The Nameless”. Reported to the president himself before he got murdered.
O’Reilly: Who was Jake Armitage?
Whisper: Vincent. The Cajun. My brother.
O’Reilly: Tell us about the church on Brown Street?
Whisper: Caught fire. Bruend down. Infested by cultists. Bowen tried to find the dark Arab, the dark pharaoh. They took the church from my father. I was determined to get it back. I took them out one by one.
O’Reilly: The Templars bought the church. What do you know about them?
Whisper: They’re old. The Order of the Sword of St. Jerome is weak and they will not wipe them out.
O’Reilly: Wipe who out?
Whisper: Evil.
O’Reilly: What do you know about the raid on the church in 1915?
Whisper: All organized by Dr. Randal Flagg, their leader. He burned bridges, left cultists as scapegoats while he got away.
O’Reilly: Who stayed behind when Dr. Flagg left?
Whisper: Don’t know.
O’Reilly: Ever heard of the painting Zajatec Temnoty?
Whisper: From the darkness, Vincent shall be reborn.
O’Reilly: Was there someone to take Vincent’s place when he died?
Whisper: I don’t know, perhaps Hiram the Visionary.
O’Reilly: Did you ever meet Blair Monroe?
Whisper: I don’ t know.
O’Reilly: Did you ever meet Ruper Merriweather?
Whisper: I don’t know.
O’Reilly: Does the name Abd Al Hazred mean anything to you?
Whisper: Al Azif. Dark Pharaoh. Nyharlathotep. Dangerous. Good adversary.
O’Reilly: We have met him.
Whisper: He’s toying with you. That which is not dead can eternally lie…
O’Reilly: Is he old?
Whisper: Ancient. Beyond ancient. There’s no word to describe his age.
O’Reilly: Can we help Vincent?
Whisper: Find the painting. The rest will be clear.
O’Reilly: Can we help you?
At this point Whisper turns towards the glass, looking at the two men in the shadow of the other room and says: “Take me home, father.”
O’Reilly: Does the yellow sign mean anything to you?
Whisper: You will find it painted near a dead librarian. The fool. It’s the brother of the yellow king. Magnum innominandum.
O’Reilly: Was John Henry part of The Nameless?
Whisper: He could have been. He’s too greedy and self-centered.
O’Reilly: Did you ever find Dr. Flagg?
Whisper: I would’ve remembered.
O’Reilly: What do you know about the golden sarcophagus?
Whisper: I know of it. It holds a stone with an insect in it. From ancient hyperboria. A vessel. Something foul lives within.
O’Reilly: Do you know the pharaoh from which the sarcophagus came from?
Whisper: Nephren-Ka, arrogant like Enoch Bowen.
O’Reilly: Do you know the men in the room beside us?
Whisper: Ask them yourself.
O’Reilly: Do you know Edward M. Lillybridge?
Whisper: I put him on the right track.
The Nameless
After talking to Mr. Arlington it became quickly evident that both he, Mr. Armitage, Whisper and the man in the room wearing the eyepatch were part of a group informally called “The Nameless.” They and several others like them, investigated the occult and did what they could to stop innocent people from getting injured or killed. For a long while they were personally financed by president Warren G. Harding, until his death, which they don’t believe was an accident.
Mr. Armitage was sent to Arkham, with Mr. Arlington soon to follow, to investigate the church on Brown Street. When Mr. Armitage died, Mr. Arlington, up to date on the happenings at the farmhouse in Ross’ Corners, could step in and finish the banisment ritual.
Years before, when the great war was looming over Europe, the Order of the Sword of St. Jerome asked The Nameless to temporarily take possession of some of their artifacts, the painting being one of them. A psychically sensitive member of their group, going by the name The Visionary, told their nominal leader, Colonel Killian, the man with the eyepatch, that they should hold on to the painting, though he didn’t quite know why yet. So they had the painting forged and sent back after the war. When Mr. Armitage died and started appearing in the painting, they brought it to Mr. Simons for examination, knowing that he’d quickly end up at Sir O’Reilly’s for advice. They were not responsible for Mr. Mason’s involvement and claim no knowledge of the letters sent to him on behalf of Sir O’Reilly.
With the gaps filled in, the ritual present and Mr. Armitage banging his hands against the inside of the canvas, the investigators decided to head back to Ross’ Corners.
Back At the Farmhouse
The ritual wasn’t nearly as grueling as the banishment ritual they had performed previous, but jarring nonetheless. They had to dig up Mr. Armitage’s corpse and burn it down to its “essential salts” in a small ritual, mix that with several other ingredients and use that to burn the painting. When the smoke had cleared, Mr. Armitage was laying on the floor of the farmhouse in a near catatonic state, naked and soot covered.
Meanwhile, outside, the swarthy Arab that had been mocking the investigators in the streets for days now had showed up, unable to enter the farmhouse due to Mr. Allen’s carefully applied warding signs. The investigators tried to ignore him as best they could while the ritual was going on, but he was performing his own ritual with the body of the farm girl they had buried alongside Mr. Armitage. When the investigators were done with their ritual, they released Mr. Armitage, but they also released another spirit, taking shape as a thick black smoke, presumably Pavel Dvorak’s spirit. The spirit was locked inside the farmhouse in much the same way as the swarthy Arab was locked out, so Mr. Simons removed one of the warding signs and the spirit flew out and inhabited the body of the farm girl.
Back to Arkham
The swarthy Arab and the farm girl make their exit as do the investigators, who pack everything up and head back to Arkham, with a still catatonic Mr. Armitage in tow, who is now burning up with a fever. Everyone decides to go to the shop on Pickman street and Mr. Mason goes to pick up Dr. Nannetti, who helps bring Mr. Armitage’s fever down.
The following day at breakfast, Mr. Armitage is found missing.
