The Black Book of the East
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Author: Steve Hatherley
Homepage: http://www.flar.demon.co.uk/
System: Call of Cthulhu
Type: Hook
Category: Horror
Requirements:

The Black Book of the East
Steve Hatherley
	
	The discovery of an ancient book in the belongings 
	of Frank Kirby, Crouch End, has stirred local 
	historians. The book, found in his attic after his 
	death last week, purports to be the Black Book of 
	the East, a tome of quite considerable legend.

	The Book is supposed to have been written by a 
	french sorcerer during the 11th Century. The 
	sorcerer was an advisor to King William the 
	Conqueror who supposedly carried the tome with him 
	everywhere. 
	
	After the sorcerers death it was rumoured to have 
	been annotated and largely reworked by various other 
	witches and warlocks.

	It has a history of curses and is riddled with black 
	magic. The Black Book is supposed to be very 
	dangerous, even reading it can be hazardous. It is 
	commonly believed to be cursed.

	Before the discovery by relatives of Frank Kirby, 
	the book was last rumoured to have been in the 
	possession of John Dee, Royal Astrologer to Queen 
	Elizabeth. It has appeared throughout history in the 
	hands of sorcerers across the land.
	
	The book is being auctioned tomorrow, and is 
	expected to reach œ500.

	The Black Book is eventually sold, after much hard bidding, 
for over œ1000 to an unknown bidder operating through an agent. The 
book was originally written in French, although that has been largely 
annotated in a number of languages since.

Possibilities
1       The book is a fake. Kirby was known for his practical jokes, 
and this was his last. He wrote largely nonsense inside, much of it 
made up. Despite this, the book contains several passages which appear 
to be uncomfortably prophetic.

2       The book is not the Black Book, but is an original version of 
the Bible. However, the Bible has changed much since this was written 
and its tone is completely different. It tells of the Lord being 
defeated by Satan and cast to earth in the form of Jesus, only to be 
crucified by the Romans. It is a blasphemous work, but it is so 
horribly plausible.

3       The Black Book of the East is a mythos tome, and an 
exceedingly rare one, this being the only copy. It was written by the 
french sorcerer, but when he died his soul was imprisoned in the tome. 
The book can only be opened by satisfying his hunger and spilling 
human blood across the covers which is quickly absorbed into the 
material.

Copyright (c) 1990 Steve Hatherley
steve@flar.demon.co.uk