𝓦𝐓
The Jest of Droom-Avista is a very short Cthulhu Mythos story by Henry Kuttner, first appearing in Weird Tales in August 1937.
Synopsis[]
The story is orientalist, set in the city of Bel Yarnak where a would-be powerful wizard called Thorazor summons and binds Droom-avista to exact from this god the alchemical ability to transmute gold into iron. Gold was common in Bel Yarnak, and iron was unheard, of although through their telescopes the wizards knew that other worlds possessed it.
In a cruel trick, Droom-avista causes not merely a crucible of gold to transmute to iron but the entire city. Bel Yarnak becomes in an instant Dis, The City of Iron.
Publication History[]
First appearing in the August 1937 issue of pulp fiction magazine Weird Tales , The Jest of Droom-Avista has been reprinted numerous times in a variety of publications.
Trivia[]
- A similarly orientalist city called Dis, although this one named Dis The City of Brass, is home to the fire genies (Efreeti) in early editions of Dungeons & Dragons, a game which was well known to draw a great deal of inspiration from pulp authors such as Robert E. Howard and H. P. Lovecraft.
Gallery[]
