The Tree on the Hill

Overview

On a Wisconsin hill a lightning-scarred tree marked ground that felt wrong underfoot. The narrator and Christopher dug up a casket of unknown alloy, inside it a plate engraved with angles that hurt to read and refused to photograph.

The symbols matched Shub-Niggurath cult marks from Dunwich and Lurking Fear files - suggesting the hill was node, not random strike.

Narrative Record

Opening the casket released odour of deep earth and spoiled milk. Christopher grew obsessed with tracing symbols; the narrator buried the plate deeper and fled. Christopher returned alone later; his mind afterward wandered only to the hill.

The tree still stands; metal detectors fail around it; birds do not perch. The casket was empty when re-examined - the plate remained, or returned, depending who digs.

Witnesses & Aftermath

Christopher entered Arkham care in 1935; he draws the same sigil on walls. Photographic blanks are filed as evidence symbols operate outside ordinary light.

Geological survey found cavity beneath hill consistent with burrow networks in Martense file.

Archive Notes

Do not photograph unknown sigils without occult film protocols - standard emulsion fails by design. Lightning-attracted trees on hills warrant Shub-Niggurath screening. If a colleague insists on returning to a hill, restrain gently. The tree is a post; what it marks is the network.