446. Harden’s Used Books
226 E Main Street
The exterior needs a lick of new paint and some general care. Within, the store is equally shabby, offering a pedestrian selection of used academic textbooks, cheap and dog-eared novels, and a century’s worth of religious tracts. Books are crammed onto shelves or otherwise lie in crates or stacks on every available surface. The dust is horrendous. Open 9:30 am to 4:30 pm, Wednesday to Saturday.
Sunday Under Three Heads, Timothy Sparks, 1836—first edition.
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, Charles Dickens, 1837—signed.
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll, 1865—first edition.
A Study in Scarlet, Arthur Conan Doyle, 1888—first edition and signed.
Mardi: and a Voyage Thither, Herman Melville, 1849—first edition.
The Poetical Works, Edgar Allan Poe, 1852—first edition.
The Zankiwank and the Bletherwitch, Shafto Justin Adair, illustrated by Arthur Rackham, 1896—first edition and signed by Rackham.
If desired, the Keeper may elect to have a more useful book found, such as a minor Mythos tome or otherwise some snippet of Mythos or occult lore handwritten into the margins of a book. The benefits, left to the Keeper to determine, should be relevant to the campaign and current plot; however, if needed, assume +1/+3 Cthulhu Mythos and Sanity loss 1D4+1.
Herbert Harden, 45, is the owner with no knowledge of books. He enjoys reading, but has no taste, preferring lurid pulp fantasies.
Joyce Avery, 38, Author & Researcher.
Bibliophile Wonderland
For those prepared to wade through the dross and dust, there is the ever-present dream of discovering a rare or collectible book here. Each day of searching enables a combined Library Use and Spot Hidden roll. With success, an investigator finds a volume of interest, although they should then make a Luck roll to determine whether the book is complete/in good condition (at the Keeper’s discretion). Most of the time, any book so found will be a classic, such as a first or signed edition. Given Herbert Harden’s, the owner’s, lack of knowledge, such a book is liable to have a price of 1D100+10 cents. Possible books include:If desired, the Keeper may elect to have a more useful book found, such as a minor Mythos tome or otherwise some snippet of Mythos or occult lore handwritten into the margins of a book. The benefits, left to the Keeper to determine, should be relevant to the campaign and current plot; however, if needed, assume +1/+3 Cthulhu Mythos and Sanity loss 1D4+1.
