The Treader of the Dust (fiction)

• title: The Treader of the Dust
• author: Clark Ashton Smith
• published: 1935
• pages: ~7
• setting: 1920s

Summary

A story by Clark Ashton Smith which introduces Quachil Uttaus and the Testament of Carnamagos to the Cthulhu Mythos in relation to the tale of an unnamed character who obtains the forbidden tome from a sinister book-seller, and in reading it accidentally seals his own doom by summoning a terrible demon of corruption and decay.

Comments / Trivia

• One of the original Mythos stories to follow the since oft-pastiched and now familiar plot of a clueless cultist who obtains a forbidden book from a creepy book-seller, rushes home with it, and then reads it, only to have his face eaten by a Tentacle Monster with an awkward name (in this case, Quachil Uttaus). This particular example benefits from being one of the originals, and from the skill and imagination of Clark Ashton Smith.

Spoilers

Associated Mythos Elements

• deity: Quachil Uttaus
• character: Carnamagos, evil sage/seer
• tome: Testament of Carnamagos

See Also

• Scenario, "The Condemned"

External Links

Link to outside reviews or helpful pages.

• Story hosted by Eldritch Dark at: (link)