The library in Malacandra had a number of ancient texts slowly disintegrating
in its vaults. The library
director decided to inventory these texts and display them during a fundraising drive. The director hired a young
druidess named Riel to catalogue the rare books. Riel spent day after day in the dusty vaults and naturally grew
curious about the manuscripts she catalogued. She skimmed many of the texts, reading any passages that caught
her interest. One book, however, kept drawing her back. Time and again she would glance at it and put it aside and
time and again she would return to it. The book spoke to her, tantalized her, seduced her. Stolen glimpses at work
weren't enough, she needed to read it in its entirety. She needed to study it. The book was the mad Arab Abdul
Alhazred's Necronomicon.
One night when she left the library, Riel smuggled the Necronomicon
out with her. She spent the whole
night poring over Alhazred's words. When she finished the book, she went back to the beginning and started
rereading. The book became her life. When she read it, she could hear the Old Ones, the former masters of the
Earth, calling to her. Riel's obsession grew. The Old Ones live and will once again rule. They are imprisoned but
will one day be free. Riel began to worship these ancient gods and wished to serve them. Finally she decided to
do the unthinkable. She decided to summon Yog-Sothoth--the gate, the key and the guardian to the Old Ones. She
would release the Great and Loathsome Cthulhu, brother to the Old Ones, from his deathsleep in the sunken city
of R'lyeh.
Riel spent many a night trying to summon Yog-Sothoth and many times
failed. Parts of the text were
missing and it took much of Riel's druidic magic to restore the evocation. Finally the reason for the failure was
revealed, the stars weren't in the correct alignment. Riel watched and waited until the time Yog-Sothoth could be
brought forth. Finally the day came, Riel's preparations were complete and the incantation was spoken.
Yog-Sothoth appeared. Its presence in the Barren Realms did not go unnoticed. Citizens feared this unknown
creature and, even more so, they feared what it represented, the return of the Old Ones and the end of life as
they knew it. Riel was torn between the prospect of her new masters and her previous life and home. She came
up with a compromise. The time for the Old Ones' return was not yet at hand so she and Yog-Sothoth travelled
to R'lyeh where they would await the coming of the Old Ones and the awakening of Cthulhu. Meanwhile, the
people of Barren Realms were free to enjoy the time remaining without the spectre of Yog-Sothoth and Riel,
Priestess of Cthulhu, always before them.