The Master of the Crabs

"The Master of the Crabs" is a short story by Clark Ashton Smith set in his world of Zothique. It was originally published in Weird Tales in 1948.
== Synopsis ==
The benevolent working wizard Mior Lumivix accompanied by his callow apprentice Manthar race against the malevolent Sarcand to obtain the chart of the ancient pirate Omvor, and with it the location of the pirate's long-lost treasure. In addition to conventional precious stones and metals, the treasure of Omvor also includes books of lore sacred to the Moon God containing knowledge invaluable to a wizard. 
The story shows what a civilized wizard such as Mior Lumivix does to earn a living in a settled area, such as creating love potions for sale. Manthar is a typical apprentice wizard, unsure of himself. Sarcand is a driven and ruthless antagonist, who is also a cannibal as was his mother. The magic demonstrated in this story clearly influenced the original conceptualization of spellcasting in Dungeons & Dragons.
At the climax of the story Sarcand uses a magic item found in the pirate's treasure, the Signet Ring of Basatan. This ring has several magical effects, one of which is the power to summon and control a horde of crabs. Sarcand has been using them to catch unwary visitors to the island on which he is shipwrecked whereupon he and the crabs eat the unfortunate person.
When Sarcand attempts to swarm crabs over Mior Lumvix and Manthar, Mior Lumvix chops off the hand on which Sarcand wears the magic ring. As is the way of such things, the enraged crabs, no longer controlled by Sarcand, swarm over him and eat him alive.
The story concludes with Mior Lumivix entreating his apprentice to build a stout fire in which to cook a dozen crabs for their dinner. The wizard tells his apprentice to make sure that their dinner crabs are fresh caught from the sea.
== Behind the Mythos ==
Of concern to some modern readers is the ancestry of the antagonist Sarcand. He is a negro, and his mother is described as a "black cannibal", the usual epithet Smith used for the inhabitants of Naat, for example in his letter describing the island to L. Sprague de Camp.
Category:Clark Ashton Smith works
Category:Lovecraft Circle Works