Mauvais (family)

Name(s): Mauvais (family)

First Appearance: "The Alchemist (fiction)", by H.P. Lovecraft

Short Description: a family of sorcerers, little above the station of peasants in the 13th Century

The Family

Michel, usually designated by the surname of Mauvais ("the Evil"), on account of his sinister reputation, was a certain ancient man who had once dwelt on a noble estate, a person of no small accomplishments though little above the rank of peasant. He had studied beyond the custom of his kind, seeking such things as the Philosopher's Stone, or the Elixir of Eternal Life, and was reputed wise in the terrible secrets of Black Magic and Alchemy. Michel Mauvais had one son, named Charles, a youth as proficient as himself in the hidden arts, and who had therefore been called Le Sorcier ("the Wizard"). This pair, shunned by all honest folk, were suspected of the most hideous practices. Old Michel was said to have burnt his wife alive as a sacrifice to the Devil, and the unaccountable disappearances of many small peasant children were laid at the dreaded door of these two. Yet through the dark natures of the father and the son ran one redeeming ray of humanity; the evil old man loved his offspring with fierce intensity, whilst the youth had for his parent a more than filial affection. Michel Mauvais was slain in a fit of rage caused by a misunderstanding by his landlord, prompting Charles Le Sorcier to pronounce a curse upon the noble family, a curse which held for six hundred years until the events described in "The Alchemist (fiction)" (1800s), in which the last known descendant of the family was killed in self-defense.

"The Alchemist (fiction)", by H.P. Lovecraft:

• Michel Mauvais (13 century)
  ? Mauvais, wife (said to have been burnt alive as a sacrifice to the devil)
  • Charles Le Sorcier, son
    • (no known descendants, though unknown descendants may be possible)

Resources

Almost certainly in possession of multiple Mythos Tomes and various Occult Books, an alchemical laboratory and gear, etc. The family knows the secret to multiple spells, including those relating to the unnatural extension of life beyond death, or the power to turn the sorcerer into a lich/vampire/etc. with the use of an "Elixir of Eternal Life", as well as alchemical spells relating to the production of gold from lead (Philosopher's Stone), and spells which the family might use to "curse" their victims and bring upon them great misfortune through apparent "accident".

• Philosopher's Stone
• Elixir of Eternal Life
• Occult Books

Quotes

There in the ancient Gothic doorway stood a human figure. It was that of a man clad in a skull-cap and long mediaeval tunic of dark colour. His long hair and flowing beard were of a terrible and intense black hue, and of incredible profusion. His forehead, high beyond the usual dimensions; his cheeks, deep-sunken and heavily lined with wrinkles; and his hands, long, claw-like, and gnarled, were of such a deathly, marble-like whiteness as I have never elsewhere seen in man. His figure, lean to the proportions of a skeleton, was strangely bent and almost lost within the voluminous folds of his peculiar garment. But strangest of all were his eyes; twin caves of abysmal blackness, profound in expression of understanding, yet inhuman in degree of wickedness.

- "The Alchemist (fiction)", by H.P. Lovecraft

Appearances

• Fiction: "The Alchemist (fiction)", by H.P. Lovecraft