View source for The King in Yellow (tome)

<blockquote><center>''“Along the shore the cloud waves break,<br>The twin suns sink behind the lake,<br>The shadows lengthen<br>In Carcosa.<br>Strange is the night where black stars rise,<br>And strange moons circle through the skies,<br>But stranger still is<br>Lost Carcosa.<br>Songs that the Hyades shall sing,<br>Where flap the tatters of the King,<br>Must die unheard in<br>Dim Carcosa.<br>Song of my soul, my voice is dead,<br>Die thou, unsung, as tears unshed<br>Shall dry and die in<br>Lost Carcosa.”''<br>Cassilda’s Song, Act I, scene 2<br>English translation, 1895.</center></blockquote>

<blockquote>
...<br>
Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.<br>
Stranger: Indeed?<br>
Cassilda: Indeed it's time. We all have laid aside disguise but you.<br>
Stranger: I wear no mask.<br>
Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!
- ''The King in Yellow'', Act I, scene 2<br>English translation, 1895.</blockquote>

This anonymously written play first appeared in France around the year 1895. Originally published in France, it was soon after seized and destroyed by the government. The play is in two acts, and the blandness of the first act only allows the second to shock the reader even more. The English translation is less explicit and the version most often encountered. It was printed in a thin, black octavo, the Yellow Sign embossed on the cover.
The play itself is a dream-like fantasy that leaves readers, actors, and audience subject to dreams sent by Hastur. 

==The Original French==
This version is more potent.

==The English Translation==
This version is far more common.

==Xanthic Folio==
Aset of tablets in what is said to be elder thing glyphs, found in China. These deal with the King in Yellow and his court at some length. Why a prehuman document should do so is unknown.

==Yellow Codices==
These English and French translations of the Xanthic Folio have circulated among jaded artists and writers for years. They are believed to be the inspiration for The King in Yellow even though its contents are quite different from the play, the Codices seem to convey it to the reader, almost subconsciously.

==Contents==
===Places===
See:  [[Carcosa]] for a description of the sorts of places portrayed in the play.

===Characters===
==Characters==
* Dynasty of Carcosa - the Imperial family, to Uoht and Thale, from Naotalba and Phantom of Truth, to Aldones, to the Las King
* Cassilda (seems to have a leading role in the play, perhaps as a high-ranking lady or noble?)
* Camilla (seems to have a supporting role in the play, perhaps a servant of Cassilda, or lower-ranking noble?)
* Stranger (appears to perhaps be [[The King in Yellow (character)|King in Yellow]], or its agent, introducing the corruption into Carcosa)
* Phantom of Truth (appears to perhaps be the [[The King in Yellow (character)|King in Yellow]], or its herald, equivalent to [[Nyarlatotep]]'s role in Lovecraft's mythos?)


==Related Mythos Elements==
* setting: [[Hastur Cycle]]
* races: [[Tatterdemalion (race)]], [[Pallid Dancer]], [[Spawn of Hastur]], [[Unspeakable Possessor]]
* location: [[Carcosa]]

==Spells==
Only the Xanthic Folio contains a spell: Create Time Warp.

[[Category:Mythos:Tomes|King in Yellow]]
[[Category:HasturCycle|King in Yellow]]
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