From Editors NoteA Story by George CoombsI help people in prison, this is by one of my prisoners 'Miles Cooper' who has his own unique way of writing and art I am adding is an example of his art more ofwhich is on Facebook,Art 3000,Redbubble
FORUM EDITOR’S NOTE:
Dear Fellows, Welcome once again to the private message board of our main temple’s confidential website. I must remind you that our annual 4th of July grand gathering is not far away. After the yearly renewal ceremonies have been completed, a national committee meeting will take place (more details can be found on our events page). Last year’s meeting produced an ambitious proposal which was approved by 88% of those voted. In her opening statement to that committee, the Senior Treasurer reported that our business activities had become consistently profitable, and we were in a position to consider making new investments. It was subsequently decided that we should use this money to start building a network of agents throughout Europe. Their purpose would be to find and procure occult resources on our behalf, using whatever methods are most appropriate. This ongoing project has already unearthed some interesting treasures (for more details view our progress time-line.) The next document was laboriously transcribed from a collection of digital photographs of hand-written pages. These were supplied to us by an independent agent who will not be identified here. Our intelligence specialist has classified this source as consistently reliable. The statement was labelled as Rexford’s diary, however, we have not been able to positively identify its author. This name may have been used as an alias within a covert society. The supplier was unable, or perhaps unwilling, to further assist us with our enquires. Transcribing the pages was particularly difficult because they were written entirely in a form of cryptic shorthand, which was clearly intended to baffle uninitiated snoopers. Up until roughly a century ago, methods like this were commonly used by occultists and other seekers of dangerous knowledge. It has only been possible to unravel this puzzle with the aid of our colleagues at the forbidden library of Cambridge. When reading the diary, you might be reminded of disturbing rumours that seeped through our community some years ago. We must therefore keep in mind that this could be a clever hoax intended to exploit, and build on, those morbid stories. The text of the diary is here given as close to verbatim as was possible. How to interpret, and who to infer from it, all readers must ultimately decide for themselves. Copies of the original images can be found in our private archive. As always, your feedback and analysis is wanted, but be warned: sharing this information outside of our noble circle would be treated as a severe betrayal. Any advantage that can be gained from this data belongs exclusively to us. Transcription of Rexford’s diary Subject: The Lovecraftian altar A clue indicating its existence had originally been found in an old book purchased from a market stall. The book was a collection of horror stories by H.P. Lovecraft. Random paper scraps, mostly covered with weird diagrams, were stuffed between its discoloured pages. The margins of which had been filled with strange note and references. Any serious student of occultism could have easily recognized their basic significance. The writer apparently believed that Lovecraft’s sinister fiction contained something genuinely preternatural, and he was doing research in an attempt to understand it. This conclusion was further supported by evidence which suggested that someone had performed rituals involving certain chapters. These areas smelt faintly incense and contained suspiciously precise oil marks. This all seemed highly ironic considering Lovecraft’s firm disbelief in supernatural phenomena. According to the stall-keeper, this annotated book was part of a batch of items illegally dumped on a railway embankment about six weeks ago. Apparently he regularly inspected popular dumping sites for anything potentially saleable. On this occasion, almost everything had been ruined by water-damage before he found it. After checking and rejecting the stall-keeper’s remaining stock, our agent negotiated a price for being guided to the rubbish pile’s specific location. They arrived at the site later that day. It was a dismal stretch of scraggy trees and overgrown weeds. Fading plastic trash was scattered everywhere. A section of broken fencing allowed them easy access. As they trudged onward, small grey rabbits scrambled away and disappeared into a bramble patach. The stall-keeper soon identified a damp, grubby heap of domestic objects. Every bit at least twenty years old. Soggy furniture lay on top of broken cardboard boxes and rolls of musty carpet. By picking through this detritus they revealed numerous decomposing books. The note scribbler’s distinctive markings were visible on their splayed pages. At this stage, anything that looked potentially informative was retrieved for later examination. These items included: computer floppy discs; cassette; all the published works of Lewis Carroll; and various books about astronomy, home computers, electronics, hobby crafts, carpentry, metalwork etc. This collection strongly suggested that their former owner was inclined to build things, however, everything found at the dump site was obviously factory made. There was also a strange absence of publications related to occultism. The note writer had definitely studied this subject. Taken together, these things immediately indicated that more remained to be discovered. Almost everything gathered would take weeks to dry thoroughly, and much was expected to be useless because of extensive rodent and fungi damage. Such advanced degradation could not possibly have occurrence within six weeks. This process must have largely taken place somewhere else. While the tarnished evidence gradually dehydrated, our agent began re-examining his first discovery and its added handmade contents. He slowly concluded that the rough drawings were conceptual plans for a grand experiment, which required an elaborate custom-built tool. A loose description of this ungodly thing was eventually circulated amongst our property scouts. That story of past events was recounted to me during a meeting with our acting chairman. I had been abruptly summoned to his office at an unusually early hour. As a standard security precaution, no preliminary details were shared with me over the phone. This is wise given that we still have some highly motivated competitors. Upon my arrival, I was handed a confidential dossier and then given a verbal report of the relevant facts. Our organization had recently acquired a possibly hazardous items. It was described briefly as a strangely proportioned and impressively ugly table. Its excessive decorations included a host of obscene pictograms. These featured strange creatures cavorting with humans in an offensive manner. My skills as an occult artisan were needed for performing a comprehensive structure and function assessment. Soon after opening the dossier about this acquisition, I felt sure that I was already familiar with the craftsman’s work. His identity is not known to us, but his products are infamous within our community. Between roughly 1970 and 1995, this experimental occultist constructed an unknown number of avant-garde objects. None were purely ornamental. Each was designed to somehow test the boundaries of accepted reality. If my intuition was correct, this would be my first chance to directly examine his work. Previously, I have only been able to study it via photos, drawings and written records. Many bizarre legends now surround these odd devices, and forgeries are increasingly common as a direct result. Fraud and deception have always been integral parts of our chosen field. I no longer believe there is a clear dividing line between truth and fiction. Humans constantly blur any such perimeter by turning ideas into real things. This ability is the root of all human power. As a practical example, society only exists because most people act as if it is real. If enough people stopped believing in it, chaos in it, chaos would soon rule. Magick is an in exact term which encompasses a group of natural and man-made forces. Regardless of who created the Lovecraftian table, what really mattered was its potential capacity to exploit those forces. A tip-off from an antiques dealer who often co-operates with us, had led to its discovery. He routinely advises charity shops about the value of donated items. This puts him ina good position to cherry-pick things for himself, while also acting as a freelance scout for us. The table was found in a stack of bespoke furniture that was anonymously given to charity. To be more precise, it had been clumsily wrapped in official donation bags and left in a designation collection area. This generous act was notably suspicious. Our investigators are currently searching for whomever is responsible. We naturally suspected trickery. Perhaps an attempt to find our main storage site. Our esoteric organization was established in 1890 for the worthy purpose of obtaining occult knowledge and any power that can be derived from it. We have spent over a century acquiring rare artefacts and text that serve our cause. This assemblage has become one of the most formidable of its kind in England. Throught out these years, we always carefully concealed our activities in order to maximize our autonomy and security. We have unscrupulous rivals and public morality is fickle. What society deems to be acceptable today might be furiously condemned by it tomorrow. For these reasons, we still keep our records in a cryption hand-written format that I was taught as a child. The table is currently being guarded at a temporary storage site. It will remain there until my inspection is completed. We always do this if a new acquisition might conceivably contain a tracking device. An initial signal scan had detected nothing, but a device could simply be dormant. Arrangements had already been made for my surreptitious relocation to the assessment place. Every tool and document that I am likely to need was moved there earlier. My phone will have to remain at the chairman’s office until I return. Any important messages for me will be passed along by courier or two-way radio. I will continue this written record upon my arrival. © 2017 George CoombsAuthor's Note
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StatsAuthorGeorge CoombsBrighton and Hove, Southern, United KingdomAboutI am a retired lecturer from Hove in Southrn England. I write poetry, stories, essays and also draw and paint more..Writing
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