With a certain incantation, a magic-user could draw Karkull into the tablet. However, Karkull also appeared able to manipulate the appearance of the tablet to some degree, and trick some gullible person into reading the spell to release him. Probably for this reason, the tablet was hidden away by some ancient civilization inside an innocuous clay jar. At some time, the jar was discovered by archaeologists and kept in a storage room at Metropolis University.