"The Scroll of Morloc" is a fantasy short story, first published in the October 1975 issue of the magazine Fantastic, where it was identified as being by Clark Ashton Smith and Lin Carter. When incorporated into the 2002 anthology The Book of Eibon, it was credited solely to Carter.
"The Scroll of Morloc" is a rare example of a Mythos story in which no humans appear (although they are mentioned).
Synopsis[]
In ancient Hyperborea, a Voormi shaman named Yhemog is infuriated after his seventh failed attempt to be elected high-priest. Embittered, he abandons his faith in Tsathoggua and decides to get revenge on his own people by trespassing into their temple and stealing the scroll of Morloc, which the Voormis themselves had stolen from their hated enemies, the Gnophkehs.
Putting the guards to sleep with a spell, Yhemog violates the chamber where the idol of Tsathoggua is located, and takes the scroll that had been placed at the god's feet. Not satisfied with that, he mocks the idol by reciting the rituals of the Gnophkehs in praise of their own god and Tsathoggua's enemy, Rhan-Tegoth. As soon as he does so, Yhemog sees himself transformed into a Gnophkeh and screams, thus attracting the attention of the guards, who brutally deal with the intruder.