The Lou Carcolh

When they first hear of the creature known as the Lou Carcolh, the art students of Yellow King: Paris may breathe a sigh of relief. This titanic, man-eating cross between a snail and a serpent dwells more than a day’s train trip away from the École des Beaux-Arts, in a cave beneath the town of Hastingue. And of course it doesn’t dwell anywhere at all, because it’s folklore, an animal that doesn’t exist, part of a story to scare children out of straying from home.

Or they might notice the similarity between the words Carcosa and Carcolh and shudder. The reality fracture caused by the King in Yellow has brought all manner of beings into the world. Sometimes they closely resemble old mythic creatures. But sometimes they only borrow a theme or two from folklore, becoming strange new entities suited to Paris shadows.

People who let their shyness turn to envy and hatred and then read the mind-bending play may transform into slimy, predatory beings with elements of snail and snake. They retain their normal human appearance while stalking victims, selecting the popular, socially adept individuals they only wish they could be. After following their targets to learn the key details of their lives, they drop into slimy snailsnake form and dissolve them with a slime attack. This gives them the ability to mimic their victims. It lasts for weeks to months; they pose as their victims until their impressions of the target fade, or friends and family grow suspicions. With peevish reluctance the lou carcolhs slump back into their lackluster, unloved, original human forms.

One experience of brief popularity might prove enough. Usually though the lou carcolh has gone too far down the road of inhumanity, soon seeking another beloved Parisian to destroy and evanescently impersonate.

Eventually the lou carcolh’s ability to return to any human form ebbs. This may happen for good as the art students’ investigation closes in on them. The discovery of the shift may prompt a homicidal tantrum, directed at the PCs.

A lou carcolh who has not yet killed might draw back from the brink. Learning of the art students’ past investigations, they may reveal what has happened to them and seek assistance in returning to mundane humanity. As the investigators seek a cure, the lou carcolh may start to gaze at the group’s resident muse with increasing yearning and temptation.

Numbers: 1

Difficulty: Superior (Escape 3, Other 4, Kill 6)

Difficulty Adjustments: -1 if you know what a lou carcolh is; +1 for each of their murders (if you failed to prevent them); +1 if they have chosen you as their next victim

Toll: 1

Tags: Alt

Injuries, Minor and Major: Stinging Slime/Caustic Slime

STINGING SLIME

Injury

-1 to Physical Tests.

Discard after three hours world time or (if you prefer), six hours, after which you refresh any pool.

CAUSTIC SLIME

Injury

-2 to Physical Tests.

Discard after three hours world time or (if you prefer), six hours, after which you refresh any pool.

If this card kills you, you dissolve into slime and the creature can copy your appearance.

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The Yellow King Roleplaying Game takes you on a brain-bending spiral through multiple selves and timelines, pitting characters against the reality-altering horror of The King in Yellow. When read, this suppressed play invites madness, and remolds our world into a colony of the alien planet Carcosa. Four core books, served up together in a beautiful slipcase, confront layers with an epic journey into horror in four alternate-reality settings: Belle Epoque Paris, The Wars, Aftermath, and This Is Normal Now. Purchase The Yellow King Roleplaying Game in print and PDF at the Pelgrane Shop.