Hearken, ye who tread the fractured veil! I, Nephren-Ka—pharaoh of the shadowed dynasties, whose eyes were seared by the Crawling Chaos for beholding his glory—have been vouchsafed this rite through visions in the eternal desert, where the Black Pharaoh capers amid the writhing young of the Goat. Shub-Niggurath, that squamous sow of the woods, swells her Harvest: her Dark Young trample the fields, her spawn choke the earth with foul fecundity, devouring the ripe souls of the faithful and faithless alike. But the Prince of Chaos delights in thwarting her glut! He who sows discord among the Outer Gods bids me inscribe this seal from the forbidden pylons, that her teeming womb may wither, her branches snap, and her harvest rot upon the vine.
Beware! This is no boon of the stars-right, but a jest of the Faceless One. Cast it true, or become the thorn that pricks your own heart. The Chaos whispers: success births greater ruin.
To enact the Rite of the Barren Thorn, gather ere the witching hour under a waning moon, in a grove where her cultists have spilled seed or blood:
A Living Branch from the Black Goat's Wood: Severed from a tree twisted by her touch (test with blood; it blackens on contact). Must be 7 feet long, unmarred.
Thirteen Thorns of Iron: Forged in the shape of screaming faces, quenched in the blood of a willing betrayer (a cultist turned, or kin-slayer).
The Milk of the Void: One vial of ink mixed with a drop of your own heart's blood, penned from the dream-visions of Nyarlathotep (Occult roll to transcribe symbols).
Sacrament of Ash: The cremated remains of one of her Dark Young (or a lesser spawn; powdered and sifted through a human skull).
Chantbound Circle: Drawn with the branch in the dirt, inscribed with the 13 thorns.
Cost to Prepare: 1D6 Sanity loss per caster (minimum 3 participants). Failure on preparation roll (POW ×5) summons a hostile Dark Young sapling.
Plant the Thorn-Tree: Drive the branch into the heart of the corrupted grove. Bind the 13 thorns along its length in a spiral, chanting the Litany of Withering (below). Each thorn pierces the wood, drawing black sap (POW roll per caster to resist 1/1D4 Sanity loss from visions of endless birth).
Invoke the Chaos Patron: Pour the Void Milk at the roots, tracing Nyarlathotep's Sign (a coiling tentacle piercing a goat's eye). All casters must succeed an Occult roll or suffer 1D3/1D10 Sanity (the Black Pharaoh mocks their fears).
The Grand Incantation: Link hands around the tree. Recite in unison, thrice:
Iä! Nyarlathotep! Black Prince of the Masked Dance!
Thou who foils the Goat's glut, snap her thousand teats!
Wither the branch, barren the womb, end the Harvest's feast!
By thorn and ash, by crawling shade, her spawn shall blight and fade!
Shub-Niggurath, bound in thorn-thorned cage, rage 'gainst the void's cold gauge!
The stars laugh low, the woods grow still—her young shall wither, bend, and spill!
Mechanics: Hard POW roll for lead caster (assisted by others). Costs 10 Magic Points per participant (recover half on success). Casting time: 1 hour.
On Success: Shub-Niggurath's local influence wanes for 1D10+10 lunar months. Her Harvest ends: Dark Young wither to dust, spawn revert to inert sludge, cultists' fertility curses (mutations, endless births) are reversed. The grove becomes a dead zone—no plant grows for a generation.
Extended Success: Her global spawn production halts for 1D6 months; cults worldwide fracture in despair.
Failure: The thorns bloom with foul fruit, birthing 1D3+3 Dark Young amid caster slaughter (1D10 Sanity loss each).
Fumble: Nyarlathotep manifests briefly (as the Haunter of the Dark), granting the seal but claiming one caster's soul as "payment" (instant death, body phases into shadow).
Hidden Jest of the Chaos: Even on success, each caster gains a permanent 1D3 Insanity: visions of the Black Pharaoh's grin in every withered leaf. Whispers urge betrayal of allies...
This rite endures etched upon the walls of my buried temple, concealed beneath the sands where no priest dares tread. Seek it at peril, for the Crawling One watches—and laughs.
Nephren-Ka, Reign of the Blinded Sight, Circa 2400 BCE
(Handout Note: Cracked papyrus scroll, hieroglyphs intertwined with writhing tentacles. Edges flaked with Nile silt; faint glow under moonlight reveals hidden eyes watching the reader.)