Our Ladies of
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Sorrow
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Call of Cthulhu
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OUR LADIES OF SORROW by Kevin Ross. Edited by Keith Herber.
Copyright © 2009 by Kevin Ross.
All Rights Reserved.
Except in this publication and related advertising, artwork original to Our Ladies of Sorrow remains the property of the artists, and is copyright by them under their individual copyrights.
Colwell and Metro Black fonts by HPLHS, Inc., and used under license from The H. P. Lovecraft Historical
Society. www.cthulhulives.org.
For information, contact Miskatonic River Press via their
web site at www.miskatonicriverpress.com, or via email at [email protected]
Published in the United States by:
Miskatonic River Press, LLC
944 Reynolds Road, Suite 188
Lakeland, Florida 33801
ISBN 978-0-9821818-2-9
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Our Ladies of
Sorrow
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®
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Call of Cthulhu
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written by Kevin Ross
cover art by Santiago Caruso
cover design by Tom Lynch
interior illustrations by Jason C. Eckhardt
edited by Keith Herber
copyedited by Christopher Smith Adair
layout and design by Keith Herber and Badger McInnes
Westchester, NY • Lakeland, FL
2009
Table of Contents
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Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Book One - Tenebrarum
House of Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Book Two - Suspiriorum
Desert of Sighs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Book Three - Lachrymarum
River of Tears . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Book Four - Epilogue
The Final Cut . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Appendices: Our Ladies of Sorrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Appendices: Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow
by Thomas De Quincey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134
Afterword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Handouts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
Our Ladies of Sorrow
Foreword
Mythos. There are no ravening alien monsters or bloodthirsty
cults here, but instead entities more akin to ghosts or spirits. And
unlike many Cthulhoid entities, The Sorrows are directly interested in the affairs of men, since they seem to enjoy tormenting
mankind, perhaps even feeding off of their suffering. For this reason there is a more personal level to the threats here, as the investigators and other sympathetic parties herein become the targets
of The Sorrows’ unpredictable — and often malevolent — attentions. While many Call of Cthulhu campaigns at least hint at a
vast scope to their antagonists’ motivations, Our Ladies of Sorrow
focuses on the fates of a few individuals.
These differences in theme and scope may seem off-putting,
but rest assured that the adventures herein offer many, many
opportunities for investigation and suspense, along with liberal
doses of soul-chilling fear. At the very least I hope you get a case
or two of the shivers out of reading or playing these scenarios. Better still if they scare you so badly you have to keep a light on at
night, or leave the TV on while you sleep.
“I’ll probably tell the story — at least in spots — in a somewhat
poetic style. Don’t let that put you off. It merely helps me to organize
my thoughts and select the significant items. I won’t be straying in
the least from the strict truth as I’ve discovered it; though there may
be traces of paramentals in my story, I suppose, and certainly one
ghost. I think all modern cities, especially the crass, newly-built,
highly industrialized ones, should have ghosts. They are a civilizing
influence.”
—Fritz Leiber, Our Lady of Darkness
No, on second thought, maybe not the TV...
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Phantasmagorically,
Kevin Ross
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Our Ladies of Sorrow is a collection of modern era scenarios for
Call of Cthulhu. These scenarios form a loosely-linked campaign,
though Keepers are encouraged to mix in other modern day
adventures to supplement those found here. Any number of investigators of any level of experience can be used to play these adventures, even as few as one or two novices.
Anyone intending to play an investigator in these scenarios
should read no further lest he or she spoil the surprises that lie in
wait within these pages. You’ve been warned...
Prospective Keepers should read this book in its entirety in
order to familiarize themselves with the material presented herein.
In addition to this Foreword, an Introduction outlines a great deal
of important background material and offers advice for running
these scenarios. The “Tenebrarum”, “Suspiriorum”, and “Lachrymarum” chapters are the main scenarios, the “meat” of the campaign, while the Epilogue is a brief final scenario that ends The
Sorrows storyline — for now... In the Appendices, the Three Sisters article describes a number of entities from myth, folklore, and
legend that may be other forms of The Sorrows. A bibliography/filmography follows, acknowledging the various fiction and
non-fiction sources that either inspired or informed the writing of
this book. The Afterword outlines the development of The Sorrows project over its 20 year (!) history. Finally, Thomas
DeQuincey’s story “Levana and Our Ladies of Sorrow” is
included, as it is the root inspiration for the creatures and the
mythology presented in this book.
These scenarios are markedly different from those found in
most Call of Cthulhu releases. The antagonists of Our Ladies of
Sorrow are unabashedly supernatural in origin, as opposed to the
alien and/or cosmic nature of the creatures of the Cthulhu
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