After a long string of banter and a short meta discussion about where we are and what we hope to accomplish, we were spirited back into the dungeon.[1]
As we were walking along, disarmed and accompanied by nervous cultists, the Keeper went to great lengths to establish the atmosphere. Absolute silence, broken only by our footsteps and the chatter of cultists. Sterile air, broken only by small intervals of the smell of gasoline from the generators. A way illuminated only by a string of lightbulbs, with endless darkness to both sides.
As the cultists prodded us on, the way was broken only by occasional bits of rubble.
That was, until we reached a large pit. Now of course Sanchez had to wave in his flashlight, illuminating a writhing mass of half-men. Most of the deformed horrors had the physical characteristics of bats melded into them, but others resembled insects, frogs, caterpillars and the like. Obligatory sanity loss at the crying, moaning mass, while the cultists screamed for silence, as the time of feeding hadn't yet arrived. Cool.
Our destination was a three storied wooden cabin, of obviously recent construction. The ground floor had crates, and the first floor had caged aboriginals. On the top floor, we met the master himself, Robert Huston. He welcomed us amiably, asking for news of the outside world. I told him about the latest happenings in the US, which he received in good manners. However, a cultist soon whispered in his ear, and the man changed in an instant. I was now pretty sure that we were previously destined to be sacrificed. Upon hearing that one of us had been touched by eldritch powers[2], Huston was electrified. He asked for a demonstration of our powers; the cultists brought up an aboriginal slave, and Sanchez melted his fingers off. Then Huston launched into a tirade about the freedom brought on by power and the way they will reshape the world, asking us to join him. Obviously quite insane, but mild mannered. Lovely. We obviously played along, and I literally asked: when can we start? Giddy, he suggested we do a huge ritual in celebration. Then, at our constant prodding, decided we can have a tour of the place.
At this point we got our gear back, and we could take a better look at the mob of cultists. All stocky white men between 30 and 60; based on their clothing, probably the missing miners we've heard about.
Then we visited all the points of interest, starting with a huge half sphere of a room, some 600 meters across. In the middle, another, small half sphere pulsed with bioluminescence, like something alive. We made a group luck roll, and never found out what horror we skipped. In the meantime, Huston blathered on about this possible multi dimensional energy source, which he means to tap using electro mechanical devices. We had nothing to add there.
Next to this, we noticed a stone altar, traces of a campfire, and several statues haphazardly made of wood, stone, canvas and other materials, some painted, glued, daubed in the blood. The center one, 8 meters tall, apparently represented Nyarlathotep, and Huston bid us touch it! We did as commanded, taking a small electrical shock. Not bad. But then we failed an extreme power roll, losing magic points and power stat. Bad.
Huston kept talking, about his winged creatures hunting for more aboriginals. They should be getting back the next evening, which is when we will do the ritual.
Finally, we visited another warehouse. We passed by a load of electrical equipment, some of which obviously not of human make. This time, Huston told us about the Ythians. A race so advanced, that they mastered projecting their consciousness backwards and forwards in time, exploring all, and compiling great libraries, some of which were to be found in the sunken city. Moreover, they did this by exchanging their consciousness with beings from the given time, exploring that world in the host body. At least once, their entire race did this, thus saving themselves from some great calamity; the bodies they now inhabit being of those they took over.
The second room had a couch equipped with leather restraints, and a strange helmet linked to a separate machine. According to Huston, it was used by the Ythians to erase the memories of those they replaced. Spooky. But not as spooky as actually meeting one of the things, kept behind a shimmering force field. It was just as disgusting as I imagined it.
The thing tried to initiate telepathic communication, in decreasing size order. Sanchez couldn't resist, but fortunately[3] the creature only asked for help. It was kept there against its will. Shocking.
While Huston described how they yanked the creature out of the past into its future - our present!, the Ythian tried to make a deal, offering knowledge in exchange for release. Sanchez identified the fuse box we need to break in order to release it, and asked for the death of Huston, stopping the cult, and getting his sanity back, testing the waters on what the creature could offer.
We ended on that cliffhanger.
[1] My bad, sunken city.
[2] That would be Sanchez and his magic hands.
[3] He's already walking on thin ice regarding sanity.
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