(The following is a verse by verse translation from the recently discovered Book of Yng. Words in parentheses are interpolations for those words missing from the Arabic scrolls due to wear, or for those which have no literal English equivalent. -- F.C.A.)

¹ In the twenty-third year before the fall of Celyx to Yl the Conqueror, there arose in that Valusian city a high priestess of Set, a serpent-woman (whose name was) Misharga. ² Set had been abandoned for many years in that land; ³ His worship had faded before the presence of Shub-Niggurath, whom the Valusians (accepted) with awe and wonder.

⁴ Set endowed Misharga with many magical powers, and at a time when the presence of Shub-Niggurath was away from Celyx, she appeared before the serpent-men in a cloud of smoke and with great lightnings.

⁵ "Fools!" she said. "The great god Set has become enraged at those (fashioned) in his image who have quit his face and turned to favor the image of an Outworlder! ⁶ Hear the words of I, Misharga, whom Set has chose as his voice; know that it is I whom he has chosen to bear the son to be his priest-king and restore his true worship."

⁷ But the people of Celyx mocked Misharga, so that she was enraged, and employed the powers that Set had bestowed upon her. ⁸ In the midst of the city stood a great pillar, a tribute to Shub-Niggurath, carved with the likenesses of himself and his many sons. ⁹ The priestess of Set struck the pillar with a fiery bolt, and it toppled into the throng below, killing many.

¹⁰ The people of Celyx grew fearful, and thus (abandoned) Shub-Niggurath for the renewed worship of Set. ¹¹ Misharga herself was treated as if a deity, honored with the luxuries and favors of all the city's inhabitants.

¹² Upon returning to the city, Shub-Niggurath found his temple deserted. ¹³ The sacrificial fires were ash on the altar. ¹⁴ No offerings lay at the Gate of the Sky. ¹⁵ Of all his priesthood, only a chosen handful remained. ¹⁶ They (begged) mercy for the Celycians, laying the blame on Set's priestess, whom that very night would select her mate to sire a child destined to rule Valusia in Set's name.

¹⁷ It was then that Shub-Niggurath's decision was made; the lash of scorn on a female's vanity would outweigh the cruelest of tortures. ¹⁸ Thus he determined that Misharga's own eye would bring about her downfall.

¹⁹ That night, in the courtyard of Set's temple, Misharga had ordered all males of the city brought before her, that she might choose the most suitable to sire her son. ²⁰ As her gaze swept among the candidates, she found her eyes returning to one, time and again; ²¹ A male of such handsomeness she ultimately could not (draw) her eyes away. This one she chose.

²² The serpent-man's name was Ishmak. ²³ The lines of his (visage) gave testimony to the most aristocratic blood of his race, descended from Father Set many generations before. ²⁴ That same night, Misharga and Ishmak consummated their marriage vow on Set's altar, and (soon thereafter), came the news throughout Celyx that Misharga bore Set's priest-king within her.

²⁵ Time passed quickly, and many preparations were made for the divinely ordained birth. ²⁶ The spectacle was to take place on the very altar of Set himself, before the assembled throng of worshippers, that all might witness the (genesis) of a new era.

²⁷ Misharga began her pangs of birth, and lay gasping on the altar stone as the priests of Set offered prayers and burned incense. ²⁸ The disciples of Set pressed eagerly into the temple to see the heralded event. ²⁹ Ishmak waited beside her, exalted in his role as well.

³⁰ Misharga cried out sharply, and those priests farthest away shouted, "It is done! All hail our destined ruler!" ³¹ But their cries waned to the stone (silence) of those beside the altar, when they pressed close and gazed upon the newborn.

³² Misharga screamed, and Ishmak seized their offspring, holding it aloft for all to see.

³³ "Indeed!" cried Ishmak. "The image of Set!"

³⁴ The progeny was in the serpent's likeness, but only from its waist to the tip of its tail, for its upper body and head were those of a goat.

³⁵ Ishmak no longer stood before the Celycians. ³⁶ Instead, they cowered in fear before Shub-Niggurath in his true form. ³⁷ "As with Misharga's tainted son, so too in this city shall I, Shub-Niggurath, take the (head) and put Set behind me."

³⁸ A cry arose among the Celycians to destroy Set's priestess and her son, but Shub-Niggurath ordered them spared. ³⁹ "Rather," he said, "chain mother to son, and let them wander the ruined places together, that all might remember the power of Shub-Niggurath over Set."

⁴⁰ That same hour, the Celycians tore down the pillars of Set's temple, and returned to serve their (true) master once again.

⁴¹ Misharga was cast out of the city, and her child with her, ⁴² But pitying his son for the (abuse) that he would suffer, Shub-Niggurath endowed him with the gift of fiery breath as a protection.

⁴³ Misharga soon perished of hunger, thirst and shame, but her offspring lived on to be feared by men for many generations, known in legend as the dragon-goat, Chi-maera.

Created: October 5, 1998; Updated: August 9, 2004