Stories
The "Zothique Cycle" consists of sixteen completed short stories, a one-act play, and assorted incomplete story-fragments and story-sketches. The Tales of Zothique was also referenced in other mythos stories such as Derleth's The Dweller in Darkness and in Ramsey Campbell's The Tomb-Herd (an early version of The Church in High Street {published in Crypt of Cthulhu #43} ).
In chronological order of writing, the short stories are:
Belonging to the period following the publication of "Morthylla" is a one-act play set in Zothique, "The Dead Will Cuckold You" (DC). It was not published during Smith's lifetime, but appeared in In Memoriam: Clark Ashton Smith, the Anthem Series in 1963.
In addition to these, two fragments of unfinished Zothique stories, each amounting only to a couple of pages, survive: "Shapes of Adamant" (SA) and "Mandor's Enemy" (ME). A never-written Zothique story, "The Feet of Sidaiva" (FS), exists as a one-sentence plot sketch. A planned Zothique novel, The Scarlet Succubus, only exists as a title.
In chronological order of writing, the short stories are:
- "Empire of the Necromancers" (Weird Tales, September 1932) — EN Setting: The city of Yethlyreom in the realm of Cincor. Characters: Mmatmuor and Sodosma, necromancers; Illeiro and Hestaiyon, dead emperors of Cincor.
- "The Isle of the Torturers" (Weird Tales, March 1933) — IT Setting: The city of Faraad in the realm of Yoros, and the island of Uccastrog. Characters: Fulbra, king of Yoros; Vemdeez, the king's astrologer; Ildrac, king of Uccastrog; Ilvaa, woman of Uccastrog.
- "The Charnel God" (Weird Tales, March 1934) — CG Setting: The city of Zul-Bha-Sair. Characters: Phariom and Elaith, travelers from Xylac; Abnon-Tha, a necromancer; Narghai and Vemba-Tsith, his assistants.
- "The Dark Eidolon" (Weird Tales, January 1935) — DE Setting: The city of Ummaos in the empire of Xylac. Characters: Zotulla, emperor of Xylac; Obexah, his concubine; Namirrha, a necromancer.
- "The Voyage of King Euvoran" (The Double Shadow and Other Fantasies, 1933; Weird Tales, September 1947 (abridged) as "The Quest of the Gazolba") — VE Setting: The city of Aramoam in the realm of Ustaim, and a long sea voyage through the islands of the orient sea. Characters: Euvoran, king of Ustaim; Naz Obbamar, a shipwrecked sea-captain.
- "The Weaver in the Vault" (Weird Tales, January 1934) — WV Setting: The dead city of Chaon Gacca in Tasuun. Characters: Yanur, Grotara, and Thirlain Ludoch, henchmen of King Famorgh of Tasuun.
- "The Tomb Spawn" (Weird Tales, May 1934) — TS Setting: A lost city somewhere in the north of Yoros. Characters: Milab and Marabac, jewel-merchants from Ustaim.
- "The Witchcraft of Ulua" (Weird Tales, February 1934) — WU Setting: The city of Miraab in the realm of Tasuun. Characters: Famorgh, king of Tasuun; Ulua, his daughter, a sorceress; Amalzain, cupbearer to the king; Sabmon, his great-uncle, an anchorite.
- "Xeethra" (Weird Tales, December 1934) — X Setting: The Mykrasian mountains in the east of Cincor; the city of Shathair in the realm of Calyz. Characters: Xeethra, a goatherd of Cincor; Pornos, his uncle.
- "The Last Hieroglyph" (Weird Tales, April 1935) — LH Setting: The city of Ummaos in the realm of Xylac. Charactes: Nushain, an astrologer; Mouzda, his servant.
- "Necromancy in Naat" (Weird Tales, July 1936) — NN Setting: The port city of Oroth in Xylac, and the island of Naat in the west. Characters: Yadar, prince of Zyra; Dalili, his beloved; Agor, ship's captain; Vacharn, Vokal, and Uldulla, necromancers.
- "The Black Abbot of Puthuum" (Weird Tales, March 1936) — BA Setting: The Izdrel desert of Yoros. Characters: Zobal and Cushara, warriors of Yoros; Simban, a eunuch; Rubalsa, maiden of Izdrel; Ujuk, abbot of Puthuum; Uldor, dead abbot of Puthuum.
- "The Death of Ilalotha" (Weird Tales, September 1937) — DI Setting: The city of Miraab in the realm of Tasuun. Characters: Xantlicha, queen of Tasuun; Thulos, her lover; Ilalotha, former lover of Thulos.
- "The Garden of Adompha" (Weird Tales, April 1938) — GA Setting: The city of Loithé on the island of Sotar. Characters: Adommpha, king of Sotar; Dwerulas, court magician.
- "The Master of the Crabs" (Weird Tales, March 1948) — MC Setting: Mirouane, a seaport of Xylac, and the island of Iribos. Characters: Mior Lumivix, a wizard; Manthar, his apprentice; Sarcand, a rival sorcerer.
- "Morthylla" (Weird Tales, May 1953) — M Setting: Umbri and Psiom, cities of the Delta, and the necropolis between them. Characters: Valzain, poet and voluptuary of Umbri; Famurza, his mentor; Beldith, woman of Psiom.
Belonging to the period following the publication of "Morthylla" is a one-act play set in Zothique, "The Dead Will Cuckold You" (DC). It was not published during Smith's lifetime, but appeared in In Memoriam: Clark Ashton Smith, the Anthem Series in 1963.
In addition to these, two fragments of unfinished Zothique stories, each amounting only to a couple of pages, survive: "Shapes of Adamant" (SA) and "Mandor's Enemy" (ME). A never-written Zothique story, "The Feet of Sidaiva" (FS), exists as a one-sentence plot sketch. A planned Zothique novel, The Scarlet Succubus, only exists as a title.