Cthulhu Invictus (Black & White Cover)

Roman children tremble in their beds as their mothers tell them the stories of Zeus, the hundred-handed ones and the War of the Titans. The mothers believe the stories will make the children behave. The children believe the stories and pray that the Fates have woven a long skein for them, free from encounters with the Minotaur and Cerberus. Little do they know that there are much more horrible things in the world than the creatures of myth and legend. A dark god skulks through the streets of Rome stealing the souls of the rich and the poor, the young and the old, to populate his empire on the other side of the wall of sleep.

Thousands of miles away, on the coast of a freshly invaded island, Roman centurions huddle around campfires hoping their fortifications keep the barbarians at bay while they entertain themselves with dice and ghost stories. As a chill wind blows through the camp, they laugh and clap each on the back and return to their tents, secretly hoping it was only a breeze. The barbarians are the least of their concerns. Small shapes scuttle outside the ramparts looking for new hosts.

In the midst of the largest sea the world knows, an Egyptian merchant anxiously scans the horizon looking for the first sign of landfall - and safety. He knows pirates prowl the sea, avoiding the Roman navy and preying on merchant vessels. His men are armed and should be able to fend off any pirates, but he hopes it doesn’t come to that. When the coast is in sight, he’ll be able to relax. His men are ill prepared for the forms swirling under the waves, slowly reaching their claws up to pull the boat down. Greek scholars in Athens are ecstatic when they uncover scrolls relating to an African god from the deepest interior of that Dark Continent. They’re eager to read all they can in the name cause of science. All their education has not prepared them for the fact that the god is already in Athens, and they fail to notice that Athens has not changed for hundreds of years.

Young women scurry through the streets of Herculaneum to the Temple of Vesta, shaking off the advances of lecherous old men and soldiers who’ve returned from the front looking for a place to spend their coin. Only these women know that their chastity protects the world from an unspeakable horror. Should they fail in their mission, all of Rome is doomed to fall under the depraved god’s whim.

Sweat and grime cover the young Persian woman as she pulls her sword out of yet another monster that’s risen out of the sand. As she glances around, several more unbury themselves and charge toward her. She casts one last look over her shoulder to make sure the families that were ambushed escaped before raising her sword and charging the monsters, a fierce battle cry echoing over the dunes.

This is the world of Cthulhu Invictus, horror role playing in the time of the Roman Empire.

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