Obed Marsh

> “*Imagine every cult, every secret society in the world answering to one man and then imagine that this one man has some seriously sinister designs on the world.*” - **Dr. Eleanor Peck**
>
>

**Obed Marsh** is an immortal man who has accumulated great wealth and established several occult societies. Marsh’s overall goal is to help Nyarlathotep to summon Azathoth from the Dreamlands.

Throughout the centuries, Marsh has adopted a number of aliases while travelling around the world including the ‘Comte de Saint Germain’, 'Graf Saltykov', ‘Major Fraser’ and ‘Casey’.

While he is only encountered by Kennedy Fisher and Matthew Heawood in The Shadow Over Innsmouth, it’s discovered that he has been a central antagonist influencing events during their investigations of The Case of Charles Dexter Ward and The Whisperer in Darkness.

## Early Life

> “*Forget Ipqu-Aya or Joseph Curwen or whoever. Saint Germain is older than any of them. Ipqu-Aya was in Nineveh around 600 BC. But Saint Germain was supposedly knocking around with the pharaohs.*” - **Dr. Eleanor Peck**
>
>

In her research, Eleanor Peck found links between Marsh and the Persian deity, Dagon, from as far back as 2500 BCE. However, many aspects of Marsh’s early life are unknown and likely lost to the annals of history. There is no clear understanding of just how old Marsh is or the nature of his immortality. His association with Dagon and the Deep Ones suggests their involvement in gifting Marsh such long life. Similarly, Marsh’s motivations for wanting to help Nyarlathotep summon Azathoth have never been clearly established.

It’s not even clear if ‘Obed Marsh’ is the man’s original name but this alias becomes one of his most important. It also appears to hold considerable meaning to him as it was with this name that he introduced himself to Matthew Heawood and, eventually, Kennedy Fisher.

## Aliases

* As Obed Marsh
* As Comte de St. Germain
* As Graf Saltykov
* As Major Fraser
* As Casey

Obed Marsh first appears in the history books as a sea captain travelling between England and the North Atlantic colonies. He travelled to Roanoke in 1589 and there he met and befriended the occultist Quentin Fisher. Research by Eleanor Peck suggests this meeting in Roanoke led to what may have been Marsh’s first attempt at the ritual to summon Azathoth. This first attempt would prove a failure that only Marsh would walk away from alive.

However, this failure taught Marsh much about what was needed for the ritual to succeed - he and Fisher had successfully opened a portal but were unable to stabilise it. It is unclear whether Quentin Fisher was a vessel for the Ipqu-Aya spirit at the time, but all known subsequent attempts by Marsh to conduct the ritual included a human inhabited by Ipqu-Aya. It was also during this ritual at Roanoke that Marsh appears to have identified something important in the Fisher bloodline and, to that end, he travelled to England and tracked down Quentin’s daughter, Mary in 1600.

He impregnated Mary but she died in childbirth with their daughter, Temperance. Not being of any mind to settle down and raise the child, he left her to be raised by her uncle while Marsh continued to develop institutions that would support later attempts at summoning Azathoth. In the early 1610s, Rosicrucianism, and by extension the Invisible College, arose in Europe and there is some speculation that Marsh had some influence in its development.

Marsh returned to England and his daughter in 1619 and, apparently keen to continue the family line further, entered into an incestuous relationship with Temperance in order to father another child - Matthew, his son and grandson. Again, Marsh left the Fishers and this time travelled back to North America and founded the town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts in New England. In 1645, he was joined by Temperance and the now-adult Matthew and with a shipping business set up by Marsh and the Fishers, they quickly amassed wealth that presumably led to Marsh being able to successfully set up his next persona as the Comte de St. Germain.

The immortal returned to his alias of Obed Marsh some time after posing as St. Germain, Graf Soltykov and Major Fraser. Under this name, he was involved in two key 19th-century events that progressed his plans; firstly, he transplanted the Deep Ones that Abdul Alhazred had encountered over 1000 years earlier from Rub' al Khali to a location near Innsmouth that would come to be known as the Devil's Reef, and secondly, he founded the Esoteric Order of Dagon and converted the town of Innsmouth to become members of the order and followers of the Deep Ones. It was also around this time that the Marsh Refining Company was set up to produce golden Dagon iconography that would be shipped around the world.

By the early 20th century, Marsh made another attempt to summon Azathoth, this time in the French town of Melusine, along with a member of the Tillinghast family and the Ipqu-Aya vessel, Edward Landsdale. This ritual again resulted in failure but on a scale far bigger than Roanoke - this time Melusine was not only erased geographically but also historically as any and all record of the town ceased to exist.

Marsh appears to have continued on in France after the Melusine ritual as photographic evidence from 1925 exists that connects him to Man Ray, Alice Prin, Aleister Crowley, Nancy Cunard, André Gide, Pablo Picasso and Edwin Lillibridge.

   The 1920s saw another change in tactics for Marsh and the Fishers as, having developed a successful business empire, they were exposed in 1927 when Robert Olmstead’s chance visit to Innsmouth revealed the goings on of the Esoteric Order of Dagon and the Deep Ones. This led to a government raid on Innsmouth the following year and the escape of Abigail Fisher from the town her family had called home for nearly three centuries.  Marsh and the Fishers retreated from public life and again became reclusive, but this didn’t stop Marsh from continuing to stir up conflict around the globe in an effort to generate the energy Marsh believes would be necessary for a successful ritual. Eleanor Peck’s research has uncovered evidence that Marsh was in attendance at the Volta Conference of 1927, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and was present during the Korean War of the 1950s, the Vietnam War of the 1960s/70s, and various wars in the Middle East.

By 2020, Obed Marsh had amassed and hidden a fortune within various shell companies and felt ready to try another attempt of the Babalon Working ritual. Over the years and the many failed attempts, he had identified a number of favourable factors required to increase the chances of a successful ritual: increased conflict and aggression across the globe, a favourable geographical location, the attendance of the Ipqu-Aya spirit, and finally the attendance of a sacrificial member of the Fisher family. For this last contribution to the ritual, Marsh had manipulated events in order to capture podcaster and distant relative, Kennedy Fisher, whom Marsh described as the product of 500 years of breeding for the purpose of a blood magic sacrifice.

Despite all this, the ritual was foiled by Matthew Heawood who, in being confronted by Daisy Marsh disrupted the ritual and inadvertently ‘sacrificed’ the wrong member of the Marsh family. As had happened in Roanoke and Melusine, the town of Pleasant Green disappeared along with nearly all of the attendees of the ritual. However, given his history, Kennedy Fisher is of the firm belief that Marsh is not dead.

### Obed Marsh’s Timeline

**1589** - Attempts the Babalon Working ritual in the colony of Roanoke with Quentin Fisher.

**1600** - Tracks down Quentin Fisher’s daughter, Mary Fisher, near Chelmsford, Essex.

**1601** - Mary Fisher dies giving birth to Obed Marsh’s daughter, Temperance Fisher. Marsh leaves England and continues to travel.

**1610s** - Rosicrucianism develops in Europe, potentially under the influence of Marsh.

**1619** - Returns to England and starts an incestuous relationship with his daughter, Temperance.

**1620** - Temperance Fisher gives birth to Obed Marsh’s son, Matthew Fisher. Marsh leaves England and travels to North America.

**1645** - Temperance and Matthew join Obed Marsh in Innsmouth, Massachusetts where they enter into a business partnership and develop the town as a trading port.

**19th Century** - Tracks down and relocates the Deep Ones from Rub' al Khali to the Devil's Reef in Innsmouth. Marsh and the Fishers then co-found the Esoteric Order of Dagon and convert the population of Innsmouth to become followers of the Deep Ones.

**1914** - Attempts the Babalon Working ritual in the town of Melusine with a member of the Tillinghast family and the Ipqu-Aya vessel, Edward Landsdale.

**1925** - Photographed in Paris with Aleister Crowley, Alice Prin, Nancy Cunard, André Gide, Pablo Picasso and Edwin Lillibridge.

**1927** - Photographed at the first Volta Conference at Lake Como, Italy.

**1989** - Was in attendance at the fall of the Berlin Wall.

**2020** - Attempts the Babalon Working ritual in the re-emerged village of Pleasant Green with his daughter, Daisy Marsh, the Ipqu-Aya vessel, Melody Cartwright, and the captive Kennedy Fisher.

### Notes

This character is based on Obed Marsh, a character in the original Lovecraft story, The Shadow Over Innsmouth.

## Comte de St. Germain

### Affiliation

Rosicrucians (founder)
Freemasons (founder)
Invisible College (founder)
Madame Blavatsky's Theosophists (influencer)
Cagliostro (associate)

Marsh adopted the persona of a member of the European nobility, the Comte (or Count) de St. Germain. In this role, the Count was recognised as a musician, an intellectual and a possible spy.

The persona of St. Germain first appeared in Europe around 1710, described as a man in his 40s who was upper-class, well-educated, multilingual and an accomplished musician. Music composed by him is held by the British Museum and his talents were acknowledged by Horace Warpole, 4th Earl of Orford. As to his intellect, St. Germain met Voltaire in Paris in the mid-1750s and was described by the writer and philosopher as “a man who knows everything and never dies”.

Around the mid-1740s, St. Germain was involved in England’s Jacobite Rebellion and eventually was arrested as a spy. However, he was released without charge. Throughout his ‘lifetime’, the Count appears to have travelled extensively, being recorded as visiting Persia, Versailles, London, Vienna, India, the Château de Chambord, the Hague, and even was supposedly in attendance at the signing of the American Declaration of Independence.

The Count officially died on February 27th, 1784 in Eckernförde, Germany. However, records of sightings of the man meeting with numerous powerful people continued beyond his death. Cagliostro is reported to have performed a Templar ritual with St. Germain at a Masonic convention in Paris in 1785. By 1788 he was reportedly seen in Venice and Federhof, Germany but by now was being described as an American gentleman.

Around a century later, the legend of the Comte de St. Germain has grown to the point where Napoleon III established a special commission to investigate and gather evidence of St. Germain’s activities throughout history. However, the commission was short-lived as its headquarters, at the Hôtel de Ville, was burnt down in 1871. It was also around this time that Helena Blavastky claims to have met the now officially long-dead St. Germain and this encounter encouraged the development of her Theosophy movement.

### St. Germain’s Timeline

**1710** - First mention of the Comte de Saint Germain.

**Late 1730s** - Reportedly visited Persia and Versailles.

**1743** - Took part in the Jacobite Rebellion in England.

**1745** - Arrested as a spy by the English but released without charge.

**Late 1740s** - Gave musical performances of his own work in London.

**1755** - Travelled to India.

**Late 1750s** - Returned to the court of Louis XV as a guest at the Royal Château Chambord.

**1760** - Travelled to the Hague.

**1776** - In attendance at the signing of the American Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

**February 27, 1784** - Officially dies in Eckernförde, Germany.

### Notes

This character is based on the real-life Count of St. Germain.

## Graf Saltykov

### Relationships

Catherine the Great (possible lover)

At the same time as Marsh was influencing international politics in Europe under the guise of the Comte de St. Germain, Dr Eleanor Peck also discovered evidence suggesting he was also operating under the alias of Graf Saltykov at the court of Catherine the Great.

In this persona, he visited Catherine at least twice in Russia, once in 1762 (around the start of her reign as Empress of Russia after overthrowing her husband, Tsar Peter III) and again in 1786.

### Notes

   ‘Graf Saltykov’ is likely inspired by the real-life Count Sergei Vasilievich Saltykov, the first lover of Empress Catherine the Great and possible biological father of Catherine’s son and successor, Paul I of Russia.

## Major Fraser

### Affiliation

Albert Vandam (friend)

Albert Vandam, when writing his memoir, “An Englishman in Paris”, spoke of knowing a man called Major Fraser. Vandam was impressed by Fraser’s apparently encyclopaedic knowledge of history but noted that Fraser often spoke about events from centuries earlier from the perspective of having witnessed them personally. Vandam apparently later became convinced that Fraser was the Comte de St. Germain.

### Notes

Peck’s research suggests this meeting happened in 1820, but this would be unlikely given that the real-life Vandam lived from 1843 to 1903.

## Portrayal

### Last Appearance

"Pleasant Green"

When Kennedy Fisher travelled to Innsmouth in 2020 to investigate her family history, she stayed at the Gilman House Hotel. She was the only guest staying there, apparently due to it being the off-season, and she was greeted by Casey, a very polite and attentive concierge. Fisher got to know Casey over the time she spent in Innsmouth; learning that he grew up in Baltimore with a father from there and a mother from Newburyport, and while not an Innsmouth native, Casey would visit the town as a child and see his uncle who had a boat. Casey’s family was distantly connected to the Gilman family who built the hotel.

However, all of this was a ruse, and Casey was just another persona adopted to observe Fisher and keep her from leaving Innsmouth. In his guise as Casey, Marsh provided Fisher with some historical background about Innsmouth as she explored the town, directing her to Zadok Allen’s Innsmouth Historical Society and explaining Innsmouth’s transition from burying their dead on land, to offering their dead as a sacrifice to the Deep Ones.

While happy to indulge Kennedy Fisher’s investigations into her family’s ancestral hometown, Casey appears to have been less tolerant of Fisher’s research assistant, Alice. Her enthusiasm and efficiency in identifying inconsistencies and quirks in the town’s archives led to her being slaughtered at the Marsh family home, quite possibly by Casey himself.

Fisher, with the aid of Parker, was able to escape Innsmouth and returned to England. However, when catching up with Fisher in Pleasant Green, Casey dropped the charade and introduced himself as her distant ‘Uncle Obed’.

### Background Information

Originally, it was supposed to be Zadok Allen who would be Obed Marsh in disguise. However, because the Zadok Allen character was quite a peripheral character in the story, Julian Simpson and Karen Rose wanted to give Kyle Soller more to do. This led to the bigger character of Casey being rewritten as an alias for Obed Marsh.

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 1.17 TSoI: “Saint Germain”
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 TSoI: “Pleasant Green”
3. ↑ TSoI: "Melusine"
4. ↑ K. Fisher, voice memo, Paris 2022.
5. ↑ TSoI: “Haumea”
6. ↑ Letters of Horace Walpole
7. ↑ TSoI: "Footsteps"
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 TSoI: "Harlequin"
9. ↑ TSoI: "Apartment 6"
10. ↑ Miskatonic University Podcast, Episode 215