Sources of Hidden Lore

Below are some examples of source of Hidden Lore, organized by specialization. The list is by no means exhaustive. Players needing sources in other areas of specialization should query the GM.

Hidden Lore resources are not publicly available. In cases where such sources are known to exist, they are usually in closely guarded private collections. Abridged or forged copies of these works may exist in publicly accessible formats, but do not represent sources of Hidden Lore and may only provide bonuses to Occultism.

Hidden Lore (Conspiracy)

Secret Societies. Written by Frater Tomas Moqeur (Rumored to be a pseudonym of Thomas Jefferson, though the book was published 50 years after his death.) Includes a comprehensive history of secret societies from Egyptian and Greek mystery schools through the guilds of the middle ages and on to the early 1800s. The chapter on the Bavarian Illuminati provides best evidence for its existence and influence in US government. First edition published by Piedmont Press, Virginia, 1886. Subsequent abridged editions are missing substantial portions and thus unreliable. 4 volumes of 444 pages each to a total of 1776 pages, to is a serious undertaking to study. 400 hours of study allows 1 point of Hidden Lore.

Access to government documents with Security Clearance allows 1-4 points, depending on level of security clearance.

Hidden Lore (Demonology)

Hanuman’s Hornbook: A Guide to Hindoo and Muslim Demons. Actually a fairly accurate copy of the Hidden Asuraveda, a legendary and forbidden text of lore, translated by Sir Richard Francis Burton and published in a limited edition in 1878.

Historias de demonios y diablos, written by a 8th century Spanish sorcerer known only as El Brujo. Contains stories and descriptions of over a hundred obscure demons, information that is found nowhere else.

Hidden Lore (Spirits)

Book of the Djinni, Abd al-Rahman Ibn Mohammad Ibn Khalzun. Arabic folio edition, 1867. Persian translation, 1922.

Tobin’s Spirit Guide, John Horace Tobin. Miskatonic Press, First edition, 1932.

Hidden Lore (Faerie)

A True Encyclopaedia of the Faerie Kingdoms, by Victoria Kooning Diamondthorne. Published by Harbingers of London in a private edition of only 333 copies, 1904. Victoria Kooning claimed to have visited the faerie kingdoms on several occasions, beginning in childhood. She compiled this compendium of faerie lore over her lifetime. At the age of 33 she married an importer named Tobias Diamondthorne and spent many years traveling the world. Her letters to friends as well as her diary entries make the claim that Diamondthorne was a "faerie prince" who had fallen in love with Victoria during one of her visits to the faerie kingdoms.

Hidden Lore (Things Man Was Not Meant to Know)

Unausprechlichen Kulten by Friedrich Wilhelm von Junzt. Often referred to as “the Black Book.” First German edition published in 1839. Partial and unreliable English translations were published in 1845 and 1909 by an unknown translator. Few copies of the earliest edition still exist because most were burnt by their owners when word of von Junzt's gruesome demise became common knowledge. A copy of the German edition was known to be kept in a locked vault at Oxford's Bodleian Library. The text contains information on cults that worship pre-human deities and includes hieroglyphs and symbols related to these cults. There is also information on more recent cults including that of the Necromancer and the Dark Man.

Hidden Lore (Vampires)

Lamia Juvenal. Author unknown. This 15th century encyclopedia of vampire bloodlines is well-known but rarely studied. It contains a lineage and chronicle of vampire “families” from the time of classical Greece up to the 13th century, when the work was originally composed. Few additions to the work are thought to have been made after that point. Copies were produced by hand until the late 19th century, when the first and only comprehensive edition of the work was published by a small press in Maine. Less than a hundred copies of the book were produced and distributed before the publisher and press were destroyed in a fire. The extant copies of the book made their way to private collectors, many of whom met untimely deaths. All copies are now presumed destroyed or in the hands of those who do not want such things known - namely, the vampire families themselves.