The Summoning by Disciples of Decay

The Summoning is loosely based upon the notorious Seven Sigils cult and their demise at their Goat Head Ranch compound on October 3rd of 1997.
The Seven Sigils cult was formed by Jacob Roberts in the city of Raven Springs in northern Colorado. Prior to forming the cult, Jacob was a professor of archeology at Elmwood State College which is located in the near bye town of Eldritch Falls. In the Fall of 1994 he suffered an apparent mental breakdown while on a dig near Mesa Verde National Park. He later claimed he had a vision of the obscure goddess Nyx and not a mental breakdown. In his vision Nyx appeared before him and chose him as her harbinger, and revealed that she planned on returning to earth. Her intentions were to reclaim her throne and restore her dominion over humanity.
However, when Jacob was taken to a local hospital after his mental breakdown in Mesa Verde, he was found to be in possession of psychedelic mushrooms.
In the Spring of 1996, after several years of therapy and medication, Jacob returned to Elmwood State, not as a professor, but as the head of the rare books department at the college’s library. This gave Jacob easy access to nefarious books such as the so-called Lost Chapters of the Necronomicon, Mysteries of the Worm, Richard Upton Pickman’s sketchbooks and other nefarious books.
In the winter of 1996 he began to recruit students to his Seven Sigils ‘church’. Jacob used his natural charm along with psychedelic mushrooms and hypnosis to brainwash and control his followers, many of whom were college students.
Jacob Roberts and his followers were quiet and stayed out of trouble for the first six months of the cult’s existence. But starting in August 1997 the cult proved troublesome for the community and law enforcement. Jacob and his followers were accused of vandalizing cemeteries and grave robbing, but no solid evidence could pin the crime on them. Numerous noise complaints were filed against them and police often were called when large crowds gathered at the Goat Head Ranch.
With mounting pressure from parents of missing college students, claims of underage drinking and possibly growing and selling psychedelic mushrooms, the Raven County Sheriff’s office prepared to lead a raid on the Goat Head compound.
However, before they could do so, calls came in of a large explosion at the cult’s compound. When authorities first arrived they found no signs of any one alive or dead at the Goat Head Ranch. Deputies were dumbfounded when they discovered food still cooking, personal belongings left untouched, and all the cult’s known vehicles were parked on site.
The most bizarre discovery happened when law enforcement entered the cult’s chapel. Laying on the floor in a circular pattern were piles of cremated remains. DNA testing proved difficult, but eventually it was determined that the majority of cremations were from the Seven Sigils members, including Jacob Roberts.
Stranger still is that there was no evidence of any fire anywhere at the compound nor was there any equipment capable of cremating corpses. However many of the residents in the area swear that they heard and felt a large explosion earlier that day, but saw no signs of smoke or fire. They also claim to have seen no unusual traffic or persons on the road leading to the Goat Head Ranch that day or in days prior.
Authorities were left with more questions rather than answers. The biggest questions being who or what caused the cultists’deaths? If there was an explosion did it play a role in the deaths and what was the nature of the explosion? Why was there no damage to the property from the supposed explosion? There is also the theory that an unknown individual or group may be responsible for the deaths and cremations. But no suspects have been named by law enforcement.
Among the personal belongings at Goat Head Ranch were cassette tapes found in Jacob’s personal quarters. A portion of them were used in the making of The Summoning. Other materials recovered included journals, sketch books, maps and an apparent ‘book of shadows’. All of the evidence is currently held by Raven County law enforcement, but copies have been circulating for years amongst fans of the paranormal.
Today, Goat Head Ranch is owned by Raven county and the Department of Open Space intends on developing it into a public area for recreation. No deadline has been set for this project, and the buildings at Goat Head Ranch remain standing for now.
Despite the death of the cultists, or perhaps because of it, the Goat Head Ranch compound remains a thorn in law enforcement’s side. Both local and international ‘ghost hunters’ have made a habit of sneaking into it which often results in arrests or calls for Search and Rescue teams when the trespassers get in over their heads. Several ‘ghost hunters’ have gone missing from Goat Head Ranch over the decades.
The case remains open today, and anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Raven County Sheriff’s Office.

Disciples of Decay is a solo act that resides in the darkest recesses of your mind.

It is influenced by the cosmic horrors, myths and occult that few dare speak of.