Play@YSDC

Y’ha-Nthlei, Aeon When the Stars Are Not Right, Era of the Six Continents, Hour When The Shadow Hides the Priests

The green-black Atlantic churns in anticipation of a storm. Enough light seeps beneath the low gray clouds to reveal an ancient and rotting rowboat, riding the swelling water like a splinter in the sea. Two strange figures, slightly simian, somewhat canine, row furiously, and the boat lurches onwards, constantly threatening to capsize or collapse. One of them stops periodically to inspect a piece of electronics. The illuminated screen and smart plastic case of the waterproof GPS are out of place against the hairy paw of Eleanor Pickman, the boat scraped to a shell by the wears of time, and the splintering paddles. At a sudden beeping from the receiver, a long claw smashes through the screen and rips out a mess of mangled circuit boards. The coordinates, now arrived at, are destroyed. The oars are thrown overboard, and each of the soaked Ghouls clutches the strange masonry talismans that they wear around their necks. Then they leap overboard and slip beneath the writhing water.

At first the water darkens with the descent, but then a light shines from below. The two begin to see shapes spreading out across the bottom. Curving, twisted towers thrust upwards. Seen from above, the towers form an abstract image that seems to change over time. It resembles an eye, a moon, a maelstrom, a dark star, a pale flame, a vast crustacean, a garden of monstrous fungi, a mirror reflecting a distorted Narcissus. It is a portrait of worshipped chaos. It is the city and stronghold of the Deep Ones, Y’ha-Nthlei.

At the center of Y’ha-Nthlei, a pair of fish-raisers fold a silver net back from a portable enclosure. A school of shining herring lose their ancient instincts to mad panic and scatter across the city. Deep Ones casually grab them from the water and devour them live, cleaning the clouds of blood from the water with facial tentacles. More discerning eaters face off alone and barehanded against live squid or sharks in enclosed dining courts. From the top of a carved whalebone stage, a 500-year-old suicide artist finishes his 400-year performance to an attentive audience of critics. In a cavern beneath the city, two poets hold a ninety-second debate in verse on an obscure period of Yuggothian history before a roaring crowd. Legions of priests in the pervasive temples pray, study, discuss, bless, curse, sacrifice, and worship in thought and deed. Two armies wielding maces and garrotes skirmish around the dwellings of the north end of the city, sports writers following the boldest units and medics standing by to prevent deaths and nothing else. Occasional larger shapes ooze through the streets on errands of diplomacy, tourism, or cohabitation; visiting shoggoths from the South Pole. Researchers drift amongst the shelves of long, narrow, winding libraries, while scholars carve words onto steel slabs, not bothering to record anything that takes less time to figure out than the chisel does to move.

In squares and on rooftops, crowds practice and train in every form of fighting imaginable, most favoring the traditional weapons of spear and trident or the unarmed wrestling of their most savage ancestors. On the side of one of the rare metal towers that lies isolated amidst acres of masonry and stone, a group in metal armor stands on the magnetized wall, preparing to spend time on a high-gravity planet. Scientists work alongside priests to study the universe, analyzing ancient scrolls and running simulations on near-sentient computers. Artists of every sort walk the streets or meditate in their homes, not thinking twice about taking a few centuries to contemplate each detail of their works. Metal trolleys of anemones and seaweed begin to roll on their tracks across the city, while a tubular transport leaves the outskirts, carrying passengers across the ocean floor to the human research station built around a hacked undersea telecommunications cable.

On the open land surrounding Y’ha-Nthlei, pilgrims and wanderers meander, some walking into the city, others embarking on journeys, a few merely crossing paths by coincidence. Only two other mechanized transports are visible, a large one bearing shipments from R’yleh and a small one carrying supplies to Innsmouth.

The two Ghouls reach the streets of Y’ha-Nthlei and enter a building adjoining the Great Temple of Cthulhu. Soon after, a psychic call emanates from the priesthood to the populace. It is a series of impressions and thoughts, but the message is understood. Volunteers will be accepted for an assignment dealing with the doings of humanity on dry land. The assignment is urgent, but not of dire importance to the Deep Ones, and so is open to any comers. It is not said but it is known that volunteers will be accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis.

In a pressurized, watertight room filled with Earth atmosphere, the two Ghouls relax in the company of the priest who arranged the favor. In a similar room, three lower-ranking priests call upon the power of Great Cthulhu to conjure a being from another place and another time. They tense, weapons ready, as it begins to arrive, then relax when a tall, skeletal, heavily humanoid sorcerer appears. A danger telltale remains still, and a digital sensor beeps safety. The otherworldly – yet oddly familiar and humanlike – entity is lead with gestures into the room with the priest and the Ghouls, where the priest works a blessing of translation upon it. Two Deep Ones file into the room; a priest and a soldier, they seem qualified for any contingency, and another psychic emanation closes the volunteer opportunity.


The priest explains that the Ghouls are being repaid a favor, and will be leading the group. Then he leaves.

Eleanor Pickman turns to her assistant Argyle and speaks to him in Gibberish.

{Argyle},{"Our allies have summoned this creature from beyond to help us, but they have not bound him. See if you can convince him - he might look something like the people we have been dealing with recently, but he is probably unlike them. He might help us for the sake of it, but if he bargains, only we can return him to where he came from, and we can also offer him wealth and power in this world. If he refuses everything we can arragne a binding, but I would rather have a willing assistant. "}

Then she addressess the two Deep Ones that have entered the room, speaking in Reason.

"I need to meet Professor Dimmesdale of Miskatonic University. His house has been warded against everything but other humans, and probably defended by guards, so I thought the easiest way would be to call in a favor and arrange for some of your Arkham-based human cultists to get him out of his house. I need your help to manage the cultists."

"That sounds simple enough," says Y'nkee. "I'm good with humans. What do you know of this Professor Dimmesdale? With the proper pretext, it should not be too difficult to lure him out of his house. I presume he goes to the university to teach and conduct research. Does he ever leave his house for other reasons?"

Argyle nods to Eleanor. He turns to the newly summoned being. Greetings, great one. We come with a request for assistance in an endeavor that will be mutually beneficial to all parties involved. He bows deeply before the figure.

Jahee comments, "It is unusual for a human to be of significance. Professor Dimmesdale must have or know something important?"

Although Pickman's Reason is not perfect, she is clearly a natural at languages.

"I have not had the opportunity to research the man. Until recently, I have been infiltrating terrestrial societies and playing with their politics. This ended when a Ghoul with the same hobby was killed before my eyes by heavily-armed humans. His last words indicated that a Professor Dimmesdale of Miskatonic University could provide a lead to something very important, possibly what caused his death.

Although I don't think he knows it, many of the buildings of Miskatonic have lingering wards and protections. The campus has been an interesting place for most of its existence. It makes luring him out less appealing.

He did not leave his house when I watched it, but it was after nightfall. He will likely be more active during the day, but since Miskatonic is currently dormant, he probably does not have to work as he normally does right now.

If you think you can find a better way to get him, I would consider it, but I have a feeling that it is an urgent matter which killed my colleague."

"Unless we can find out more about the man," says Y'nkee, "it will be difficult to find a better way to draw him out. If he has family or friends, it may be possible to reach him indirectly through them. Humans are getting far too clever for their own good. I was here when they attacked this magnificent city over eighty years ago, and it seems they've gotten worse since then. They've had the capability to wipe themselves out since they developed nuclear weapons, and I still find it hard to believe they haven't done it yet. They could do some serious damage if, Dagon forbid, they became largely aware of the true extent of this world's superior life forms." He turns to the newly summoned creature and also bows. "Welcome to Y'ha-Nthlei, powerful one. You do appear much like a human, but I can tell that you are something greater."

Tschhh was puzzled. What were those creatures? Were they the dominant life form now? Wait, there were two races different here! One seemed a walking fish, and the other some big mammal. Maybe they were female and male? Hardly, they were too different, they were probably 2 different species, working together. So, intelligent species could actually coexist? That would be considered a blasphemy in ancient Theem'hdra. He remembered the Liturgy: "No intelligent species can coexist, all other must perish, and only the people of Theem'hdra can exist because they are the chosen one by the ancient powers". Anyway, it seemed that the time of simians had passed. And they were making sounds with their mouth. Right, the members of the low castes in Theem'hdra also used the mouth to communicate. But they were powerful enough to summoned him! How couldn’t they know telepathy? He tried to utter a sound, but then he remembered that he didn't used his mouth for a long time. Well, at least he could understand them, since they used a spell of translation. He decide to heard them and then answer by telepathy.
"...come with a request for assistance in an endeavor that will be mutually beneficial to all parties involved. He bows deeply before the figure."
"Welcome to Y'ha-Nthlei, powerful one. You do appear much like a human, but I can tell that you are something greater."

Ah! A request! So they pretended something. Of course. And they showed him respect. Well, this was an improvement after passing the last millions of years to obey the insane orders of the Walker of the Waste. And of Cccchg, the Supreme Hierophant, who was completely crazy. Tschhh remembered that nodding was used by commoners to accept, and then answered with telepathy.
-I'm listening.
Y'ha-Nthlei was obvious the name of the place. But what was a human?

Jahee is concious of the respect paid to Tcshh, and so nods his head slowly.

To Eleanor Pickman-
"It will not do for humans to be aware of superior beings, if we can, let us destroy those who killed the ghoul. And, yes, lets investigate the Professor. We could travel to Arkham in disguise and watch the Miskatonic University?"

{OOC},{If you read the complete description of Y'ha-Nthlei, you would have noticed that the priest cast a blessing of translation on Tschh. Thanks to the power of Great Cthulhu, he can understand the meaning of anything said to him in Reason or Gibberish, and his words will be understood by any speaker of Reason or Gibberish.}

Pickman seems surprised by the respect paid to the summoning, but does not comment on it.

"They've always had the capability to wipe themselves out, although I did notice a similar fascination with nuclear weapons amongst them.

Something about the attacks makes me think that time is of the essence. I would rather not spend too long observing Miskatonic, although traveling there in disguise would be fine."

"There will not be much time for a stakeout, then," says Y'nkee. "I can change my appearance to look human, and I know the language they speak in those parts better than I do Reason. I am also familiar with their ways and society. The university is in Arkham, only a handful of miles away. If there is nothing else, we should equip ourselves and leave quickly. I think we should travel by way of Innsmouth. There is much traffic between there and Y'ha-nthlei, and our arrival from the sea should not be noticed by prying eyes. Then we can proceed overland to Arkham."

-Can you explain me why do you need me exactly?

OOC: I edited the translation part

Pickman does something quickly with her hands, and the priest returns to the room. Everyone except the ice-priest realizes that, as is only polite, he has probably been listening to the conversation from a distance.

"You have, of course, the city for supplies," he says. "The Innsmouth vehicle left recently, but, Eleanor Pickman, I am sure any Deep One in Y'ha-Nthlei, including these, can guide you there by foot. We also have a more covert route to Arkham through its sewers. Do you want information about the cultists we support in Arkham?"

"Yes, please," says Y'nkee. "That information would be very useful. If you know a secret route into Arkham through its sewers, that will help greatly too. It will be no problem escorting you to Innsmouth by foot. I've been there many times."

Arglye rises from his deep bow. My mistress, Ms. Pickman, had infiltrated the highest levels of the human Government in this land. Unfortunately, there was an attempt on her life by a group of humans. From information gathered by another Ghoul, who was unfortunately slain, it seems one 'Professor Dimmesdale' is involved in some way. We went to investigate his home and it was surrounded by powerful wards.

"Between your abilities, mine, and the presence of cultists, we should be well equipped to investigate inconspicuously," Pickman says to Y'nkee.

"Yes, tell us about the cultists."

The priest stands in a dismissive posture when he replies.

"There are about half a dozen worshippers of Great Cthulhu in Arkham who prefer to have us act as intermediaries. They make sacrifices and provide us with mostly useless information, and we appear at their rituals and give them our blessings. Their leader refers to himself as Yof-thas, although he has a different name amongst his own kind. To my knowledge, the name Yof-thas means nothing and has no spiritual significance, except to him."

He then gives Eleanor Pickman detailed directions to the house and the sewers. Y'nkee and Jahee both hear the directions as well, although Tschhh and Argyle are busy conversing.

"Humans are strange," says Y'nkee with a silent chuckle, "but useful. We can obtain proper disguises in Innsmouth. Many hybrids live there, and they need to be able to pass for human. Is there anything else we need before we leave?"

"Need? No, I know of no special circumstances," says the priest. "The blessing of translation that I laid upon the summoning will allow him to understand anyone who was in the room in at the time, so you should have no trouble with him."

{OOC},{You might want to pick up ammunition for your weapons - as the priest said, you have the city for supplies, so he can provide it to for you free. You can also request other equipment, including disguises, communicators, or some way for Tschhh to survive on the bottom of the ocean - the two Ghouls, as I mentioned, have been carrying amulets for the purpose. Y'ha-Nthlei has quite a few resources, most of which are free and some of which might be of use to you, although you do not know which ones and you feel a sense of urgency.}

"I don't require all that much in the way of equipment," says Y'nkee. "Some magazines for my HPG, a human disguise, and we should all carry some means of communication. The humans have this fairly new thing called a cell phone they use for that, so something that looks like it would be ideal."

The human has powerful wards protecting his house. In the event the humans fail to accomplish what we desire, we would need to breach them. And, as for what we can offer? Wealth. Power. Whatever it is you desire, Great one, we shall strive to provide. Argyle explains.

"I'm sorry," the priest says, "but I have not studied them. Will throatpieces suit you?"

OOC,Any soldier of Y'ha-Nthlei will have used a throatpiece before. Throatpieces are small, wireless communicators concealed in the back of the mouth. They can pick up subvocalized speech, clarify it, and broadcast it to nearby units.

Jahee replies, "I will take ammunition for my HPG. And a disguise is paramount for me, as has been mentioned, humans see me as a walking fish! - If only they realised how ugly they are."

Argyle nods. That can be arranged. The human cult worship Great Cthulhu.

"Yes, throatpieces will be most suitable," says Y'nkee. "Something else that might prove useful would be potions to restore psychic energy." He turns to Jahee with a smile. "Humans generally do not see me at all unless I choose to let them."

"I see," the priest says, and another Deep One enters the room, carrying an ornate wooden chest which he places on the low, blue stone table that occupies the western wall. The porter opens the chest and removes a pile of clothing and disguise gear, a package of HPG slugs, and a handful of throatpieces. Then he carefully places a stone bottle next to this equipment.

"Normally, I would not give away the liquid, but if you think you need it, you are welcome. Taking the entire draught will restore you completely."

He selects two of the throatpieces and holds them up. You notice that they seem to have a certain lustre deeper than the the other three.

"These have been endowed with souls so that they may recieve the virtue of translation. They are for your allies less skilled in languages."

"Then do we have a deal? I will breach the wards of the house for a village I can call mine?" Tschhh asks Argyle.

Argyle smiles. Yes, we have a deal.

"Thank you," Y'nkee says as he takes one of the ordinary throatpieces and inserts it in his mouth. He takes his share of the HPG slugs and picks out his clothing and disguise, starting to put them on. "Father Dagon has also granted me the ability to temporarily take on human form with a suitable human sacrifice, but it requires a great expenditure of psychic energy. If I perform a second sacrifice while this is still in effect, I can even become human for a short time, which would enable me to bypass those wards if it becomes necessary, but without the aid of this potion I would lack sufficient power to peform it a second time."

Jahee says to Y'nkee, "The psychic potion is an excellent request - to become human may be important in our adventure."

"I would love to spend time within the University and so judge the human technology, comparing it to our own."

A look of intense disgust passes across the priest's face at Y'nkee's explanation, but he says nothing. Instead, he assists Eleanor Pickman in using one of the throatpieces. Together, the two persuade Tschhh to take one of the soulful ones.

Looking at the disguises, you see a mixture of human garments, along with detailed masks made of a fexible, yellow-brown material. Y'nkee recognizes an assortment of shirts, pants, gloves, socks, shoes and hats, all more modern than his period.

OOC,Jahee can roll Idea.

Y'nkee selects a modern black business suit, black shoes, and a striped tie and gets dressed, then puts on a non-descript face and a pair of gloves to disguise his claws. "Most people don't wear hats any more these days," he says as he looks over the head coverings. "Too bad, really. There's something to be said for a nice hat."

Successful idea roll,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2226280/]Idea 60% (1d100=54)[/url]

Jahee says, mock-serious, "Is it humiliating to play a human youngster?"

Y'nkee shrugs. "I was human once," he says. "I can play at being human again for a worthy cause. You were human once yourself, were you not? Of course, that must have been long before I was born. What's humiliating is humans going around killing ghouls. Don't think they'll stop there. They've attacked us before, and some of them at least are aware of our existence. I think the only reason they stopped eighty years ago was that the fools believed they had wiped us out."

"Yes Y'nkee, I too was human as well," says Jahee reflecting on his mother. "It was a small part of my life; I know it is a cliche: like a dream! Thank Dagon, my father saved me from oblivion and now I know the truth about the universe."

Y'nkee isn't able to tell what exactly is the most current look, but he does find what he recognizes as black business clothes.

OOC,Roll Knowledge: Human to recognize the hats, or take a random pick. If Jahee wants to do more than select at random, he will need to either make a Knowledge: Human roll or ask for advice from someone.

Combing through the disguises, a waterproof bag turns up; it must be for transporting the clothes across the bottom of the ocean to dry land.

The package of ammunition, on closer inspection, contains one hundred slugs, enough to load an HPG five times.

Eleanor Pickman offers to help Argyle with the second soul-imbued throatpiece - there seems to be a knack for inserting them that the Deep Ones already have.

Jahee realizes that the human researchers in Y'ha-Nthlei have likely already made such judgments and comparisons, and may have recorded their findings. Even if they have not, they could be willing to talk about them to an interested priest.

Y'nkee shakes his head, at a loss about the latest styles. "Fashion was never my strong suit," he says. "We don't want to dress oddly, or we'll draw undue attention. Someone more knowledgeable might be able to better help us select the proper attire. Perhaps whoever made these costumes?"

Argyle clears his throat several times as he tries to become accustomed to the throatpiece. I've got not idea about human fashion. The humans my Mistress and I interacted with mostly wore two piece suits. He grabs one of the masks, fitting it on, used to the feeling by now. Next goes on a dress shirt, tie, and a black suit. He fits on a pair of black leather shoes. I'll never understand these humans or their love with these foot coverings. Finally, he grabs a pair of black gloves and fits them on, stuffing the revolver into the inside pocket of the coat.

Knowledge,60%[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2229601/]1d100=58[/url]. Is that correct?

Jahee looks through the garments with distaste, he says to Argyle, "It is not only the human foot coverings, but all of it, clothing seems so unecessary - I suppose, though, their hide is extremely thin."

To himself: "I will remember to query the researchers here about the humans' current knowledge."

"The priesthood would not have brought us conspicuous garments, and anyway my experience confirms that these are slightly old but normal. Do not worry abou them, although you will still be somewhat noticeable amongst humans because you move and smell differently than they do," Pickman explains.

OOC,What was that roll for, Jahee? When I click the link I get an error message. You have a Knowledge: Human of 1%, not 60%, and you already made your idea roll.

Y'nkee shrugs and picks out a black hat and a pair of sunglasses, then puts them on. "Can't go wrong with black," he says. "Black goes with everything. Makes it harder to see you in the dark, too."

OOC/Mi-Go,The button reveals now - maybe Invisible Castle was down? Anyway, ignore it, irrelevant and wrong. :)

Jahee looks astonished at the transformation of Y'nkee, and hurriedly puts on the garments.

OOC/Mr. Handy,That photo is so cool and right, I must have a go, too. :P

"Hmmm, this doesn't fit my self image at all, and I've got the wrong sex!"

"This is more like it. What do you think?" adds Jahee shyly.

"Yes, that is good," says Y'nkee. "Of course, you should take care that it is not too good. That can attract attention too."

OOC,Hehe, thanks! 8-) Maybe you'd like to take this one instead, so they match: [img]http://www.bluesbrotherscentral.com/beale/m/150/s/images/profiles/characters/dan-aykroyd.jpg[/img]

Pickman makes a strange, quiet sound - a muffled Ghoulish laugh.

"What exactly are your plans?" she inquires.

"The first thing we'll need to do is contact the cult," says Y'nkee. "They're locals, so they may know something about Professor Dimmesdale, or failing that they might be able to find out. The next step depends on what, if anything, they can tell us. If we can find out what the professor is interested in, we may be able to arrange a meeting by using the cult as a go-between. Humans are often tempted by forbidden knowledge, especially scholarly types. That could be what we need to draw him out."

"Yes, a good idea, Y'nkee. Lets travel to Innsmouth - it sounds like an ideal place to emerge from the waves," says Jahee.

OOC,Your "disguises" are authentic human garments and will be ruined by the Atlantic if you leave the air-filled room wearing them.

Tschhh starts to become confused, wondering if he has misheard something. His projected thoughts reach everyone in the room.

Emerge from the waves? Where are we?

"This is Y'ha-nthlei, the pearl of the Atlantic Ocean," says Y'nkee as he takes off his disguise and packs it away in the waterproof containers. "It's one of our cities under the sea of this world, near the coast of a large continent where humans live. The town of Innsmouth is on the coast, not far away. Many hybrids, the offspring of humans and Deep Ones, live there. They will eventually transform fully into Deep Ones when they mature. Some humans live there too, but they know to keep their eyes and mouths shut. Arkham is a human town some miles from Innsmouth."

Jahee removes his disguise as well.
"Tschhh, humans are adaptable to our ways, Innsmouth proves it, unfortunately they do not know what is best for them and cannot recognise us as higher beings in the Universe; they continue to be an interesting thorn in our side. If only Father Dagon would bother to cleanse this planet of the human vermin!" says Jahee, frothing at the mouth slightly.

If we are under the sea, where is the water? Tschhh wonders. And the town you promised - is it one of Deep Ones or humans?

While the origins of the summoning are unknown, he does not look adapted to life underwater.

"The water is all around us," says Y'nkee, "but not in this chamber. It has been prepared for air-breathing visitors to Y'ha-nthlei such as yourself and the ghouls who summoned you. They can best tell you about the village that will be your reward."

Argyle adjusts the face mask, smoothing out any severe wrinkles to make it as life like as possible. The town shall be of humans, your Greatness. Though they may seem primitive and stupid at times they have a sort of low cunning, like an animal. I'm sure they'll serve your purposes just fine.

"'Primitive', yes Argyle, that was the word I was looking for," says Jahee, "humans are primitive."

"I am eager to start - it has been several centuries since my last visit to dry land."

It occurs to Tschhh that he has been duped into accepting a lesser reward, and at first he seem about to protest.

Then he relaxes. Instead of thinking, he makes an effort to speak aloud. His throatpiece picks up the motions of the atrophied muscles, translates them, amplifies them, and broadcasts them so that they are audible to the assembled creatures.

"I should have asked before agreeing. I'll remember not to make the same mistake the next time we make a deal."

OOC,You may go to the "Innsmouth" thread whenever you are ready.