Laban Shrewsbury

Dr. Laban Shrewsbury was "a student of mysticism, a lecturer in occult sciences, a teacher of philosophy, an authority on myth and religious patterns of ancient peoples."[1]

He lived on 93 Curwen Street in Arkham; however, his house is also described as being on Aylesbury Street.[1] Possibly it was at an intersection of these two streets. This would place Shrewsbury's home on the west side of town, for Aylesbury Street exits Arkham to the west and turns into Aylesbury Pike.

He was at one time connected with Miskatonic University[4], probably as a professor at that institution. At any rate, Peabody of the Miskatonic University library referred to him as "Professor Shrewsbury"[1], and his various associates also referred to him as "Professor."

He was the author of An Investigation Into the Myth-Patterns of Latterday Primitives With Especial Reference to the R'lyeh Text and Cthulhu in the Necronomicon.[1]

Following his retirement, he led an "erratic, post-teaching existence" with "apparently wide travels."[4]

First Disappearance

Shrewsbury first disappeared in September, 1915, a few moments after being seen walking in a country lane west of Arkham.[1][6] No clue to his disappearance had ever been discovered.[1] However, he left instructions in his papers that the house was to be unmolested for a period of at least thirty years.[6] His legal advisers paid the property taxes while he was gone.[1] He drew no money out of the bank during the missing years.[1]

He began the missing years by riding on a giant bat-winged Byakhee creature to the Nameless City under Arabia. He imbibed a magical golden mead which placed his body in suspended animation, where it remained in a transparent casket while his astral or spirit separated from there and traveled to the star Celaeno. There he studied in a "great library of ancient monolithic stones with their books and hieroglyphs stolen from the Elder Gods."[1][2][3][4] Initially he was tortured because he did not have a star-stone for protection.[1] Subsequently his eye sockets were empty, which suggests that he was tortured in his physical form, while still at the Nameless City rather than on Celaeno.

Appearance

On Shrewsbury's return to earth in 1935, he looked no older than when he left.[1] Even so, he was an elderly man, with long white hair, a clean-shaven face, prominent chin and a strong Roman nose. He wore dark glasses with shields that prevented his empty eye sockets from being glimpsed even from the side. [1][3] He had greying, bushy eyebrows. He wore an old-fashioned high collar and a flowing tie. When traveling, he wore a cape-like coat and sometimes carried a cane.[4]

His countenance was strangely impressive, and his voice had a peculiar carrying power.[5] The impression he made was disquieting and grim without being menancing. There was an almost hypnotic compulsion to his voice and manner.[4]

First Return

One day in 1935, Shrewsbury walked out of his home on Curwen Street and resumed his life. He was closed-mouthed about his whereabouts, saying only that he had been traveling. The newspapers only briefly publicized his unexpected return.[1]

His work An Investigation Into the Myth-Patterns of Latterday Primitives With Especial Reference to the R'lyeh Text was published around 1936 or 1937.[1][3]

Sometime after his return, he met and impressed Professor Andros at a convention of educators in Mexico City.[3]

Shrewsbury's goal was to find and close the openings by which Cthulhu might return.[2] To pursue this goal, he sought to make use of the rivalry between Cthulhu and his half-brother, Hastur. Accordingly, he used the Byakhee, who are servants of Hastur,[1][3] as well as the Nameless City which is a domain of Hastur,[4] and Celaeno which in the sky appears not far from Hastur's domain in the Hyades.[1]

In June of 1938, Shrewsbury engaged Andrew Phelan as a personal secretary, and dictated to him much of the text of his second book, Cthulhu in the Necronomicon. He also drugged Phelan repeatedly with the magical golden mead to secure his help on nocturnal expeditions to Cthulhu's gateways in Peru and the Black Island in the Pacific. Shrewsbury's explosives proved insufficient to seal either gateway or to kill Cthulhu himself. Unfortunately, Shrewsbury became aware that their efforts had aroused the attention of Cthulhu's immediate servants. Shrewsbury arranged for some of his papers to be deposited at Miskatonic University library and sent Phelan away with instructions on how to summon the Byakhee and escape to Celaeno if necessary. Phelan had to make use of these instructions soon after.[1]

Shrewsbury disappeared again in September, 1938, and was presumed dead.[4] His house was destroyed by fire.[2] However, no body was found, in the ruined house or anywhere else.[3]

Supernatural Resources

Shrewsbury prepared and made use of a golden mead that heightened the senses and enabled travel through space and time.[2] To varying degrees, it separates the the astral or spirit from the body.[3]

Whether because of the mead or for other reasons, Shrewsbury showed signs of unnaturally heightened perception. For example, despite his missing eyes, Shrewsbury had at least normal eyesight.[1][4] He sometimes was aware of visitors before they arrived, and even divined their purpose.[1] He somehow was aware of the location of a letter that had been misplaced at a post office.[3] He could hear Cthulhu's immediate servants stirring under the earth.[1]

While on Celaeno, he had some ability to monitor events on earth.[2] He was also able to use some form of hypnotism or telepathy to communicate from Celaeno to Claiborne Boyd on earth in the latter's dreams.[3]

He apparently had little to no need of sleep. However, his physical strength was not exceptional, as he had to ask Nayland Colum to carry some things that were too heavy for him.[4]

He had a supply of star stones from Mnar, which protect against the lesser races that serve Cthulhu and the Great Old Ones. However, these cannot defend against the Great Old Ones themselves or their immediate servants.[1]

He could call the Byakhee and use them to travel to chosen places. The process depended on drinking the golden mead (or a pellet distilled from it), blowing a certain whistle, and reciting a spell to Hastur.[1][2] The mead also enabled a person to remain dormant in the Nameless City while their astral self traveled to Celaeno. There is a hint that some aspect of the astral self remains on Celaeno even after returning to earth, for Phelan once said "We are both there [Celaeno] . . . Dr. Shrewsbury and I."[2]

Missions by Disciples

Presumably at Shrewsbury's behest, Andrew Phelan returned from Celaeno in 1940 and killed the new leader at Innsmouth, Ahab Marsh. While on this mission, Phelan unwillingly accepted the participation of theology student Abel Keane, who thus also became a target of Cthulhu's forces and had to flee to Celaeno to join Shrewsbury and Phelan.[2]

Sometime between then and 1949, Shrewsbury appeared in Claiborne Boyd's dreams, and persuaded him to make an expedition in Peru to slay a Deep One who was masquerading as a missionary near one of Cthulhu's gateways. Subsequently Boyd also fled to join the others on Celaeno.[3]

Second Return

By 1951 at the latest, Shrewsbury returned to earth. He may have been keeping a low profile; a biographical sketch consulted at that time still listed him as "presumed dead." He approached the writer Nayland Colum in London and enlisted his help on a journey to the Nameless City in Arabia.[4] It is unclear why Shrewsbury did not use the Byakhee for this journey; he seems to have been interested in establishing how to get to the city by an overland route.

At the Nameless City, he used a portion of Colum's life force to reanimate the corpse of Abdul Alhazred. With Alhazred's help, he created a rough chart of the location of the Black Island, the portion of R'lyeh that emerges occasionally. He also obtained an incomplete copy of the original Arabic version of the Necronomicon. Soon after, he and Colum fled to Celaeno, thus adding Colum to his band of refugees.[4]

Later, also by 1951 at the latest, Shrewsbury once more returned to earth, this time bringing his four companions with him. In Singapore, they recruited a scholar (and latent Deep One) named Horvath Blayne for help locating the Black Island. Later they all traveled to the island on a U.S. Navy vessel. There an atomic bomb was deployed to destroy the island and Cthulhu himself. Shrewsbury was hopeful but uncertain of Cthulhu's demise, while Blayne was secretly certain that Cthulhu survived. Shrewsbury felt that his "work was either done or had gone as far as it could go, short of ceaseless vigilance to stop up temporarily every avenue to the open that might be attempted by Cthulhu or those who followed him."[5]

References

Seneca Lapham said that "Professor Shrewsbury was the only man in New England who knew more of these matters now before us, as well as of allied matters both terrestrial and astronomical, than I."[6]

Jason Wecter referred to "the disappearance of Professor Shrewsbury over in Arkham not so very many years ago."[7] Most likely Wecter was referring to Shrewsbury's second disappearance, in 1938.

Henry Pilgore's personal library included a biographical sketch of Professor Shrewsbury.[4] It is not clear whether this was in a reference work such as Who's Who or whether it was a news clipping.

1. AWD Curwen
2. AWD Sky
3. AWD Gorge
4. AWD Keeper
5. AWD Island
6. AWD Lurker
7. AWD Wood

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