Ch. 14c. Together Again (all)

[Philulhu]

Monday, September 1st, 1930 7.15pm
Tunnels beneath 79 Power Street, College Hill, Providence, R.I.

Hearing the familiar voices was a surprise, but a pleasant one. Once the lights were no longer being shone directly in their faces, Alex and Ivy recognised William. They could also see Lawrence’s likeness in Jerry.

You’re stood in a passage just outside the room where the pipe organ is. The short passage to your left leads back into that room and you can surmise that going straight ahead leads back to the tunnel where William and Jerry saw the creatures and navigated the pit. To your right is a tunnel that you are yet to explore.

[jp1885]

“Good Lord,” says Ivy. “I would say I’m pleased to see you William, but given the circumstances…”

She turns to Jerry.

“No need for confrontation young man, you’re among friends. I take it, given the resemblance, you are related to Lawrence?”

“I take it you’ve both seen the prehistoric carvings and that ghastly organ?”

[Silver Priest]

Given the trauma associated with William and Lawrence, I'm going to have Alex make a san roll to see how much he freaks out at seeing William here.

1d100

Alex's eyes widen at the sight of William, and a slight tremor goes through him. William being here meant only one thing in his mind-- these events were clearly unnatural, and that brought him back to so many horrors he had tried to suppress.

"I told you I never wanted to see you again," He tells William, and for a second considers shooting him. But the insane impulse passes. "I don't know why you're here, but for the time being we can work together. But after this, I am serious, I never want to see you or Lawrence ever again.

"I've called the police and they're on their way to these tunnels to look for Ivy. I suggest we head back and wait for them to arrive; we could use the backup. Meanwhile you can tell me what it is exactly you're both doing here."

OOC:   Alex remains the most unlikely CoC protagonist.

[Philulhu]

Shooting poor William? What has he ever done to Alex?

[Bullfrog]

"This has been a great day for me, Detective. I come all the way from Atlantic City because my brother, the only family member who still talks to me, is stuck as a vegetable in the asylum, and nobody can give me a straight answer why. Turns out, Lawrence is living some kind of double life where I guess he just messes around with horrible, unnatural things that shouldn't exist, like that organ covered in faces!" Jerry comes apart at the seams, just a little bit, giggling to himself about just how insane this situation was. He'd always figured that he was the black sheep of the family on account of his burning of buildings for insurance scams, yet somehow Lawrence had gotten into something worse than a life of crime.
"Joshua Winscott wanted my brother to have a look at his basement, because Lawrence had experience with something somehow relevant to this, which I am still in the dark on. Does that satisfy you?"

[Mr. Handy]

"We came here to meet him at 4:00," adds William. "When we didn't find him here, we were concerned he might have gone into the tunnel without us and came looking for him. What brings you here?"

[jp1885]

“A case of sour grapes,” Ivy interjects.

“Someone thought they should have inherited the Winscott house instead of Joshua and cried foul play, so we were called on to investigate.”

She barks a mirthless laugh.

“I think the fellow had a lucky escape.”

[Silver Priest]

"I don't know what's going on here, but we seem to be dealing with an unhuman intelligence of some sort, judging by the murals and the moaning wall. Not to mention the apes we've encountered. I still think we should return and meet up with the police, especially given how easy it is to get lost in here, but if either of you gentleman have any leads of what to pursue down here now would be the time to mention them." Part of Alex did not want to get the police involved, but they were already on their way and may have already come down here by now. Still, he recalls Mordiggian and how ineffective the army had been against it... could officers of the law do much against whatever horrors were down here?

[Philulhu]

If you decide to go back, please describe in which way you are heading. I’m trusting you not to refer back to your previous posts

[jp1885]

“If we do go back, you’ll have to lead the way,” Ivy grumbles. “I was brought here in pitch darkness, slung over some brute’s shoulder. Consequently I was somewhat disoriented.”

[Mr. Handy]

"I know the way back," says William. "Whenever we had a choice of direction, we went to the right. All we have to do is turn around and follow the left wall, and we'll get back to the base of the cliff. I've set up a rope there so we can get back up...provided it's still there."

[Silver Priest]

Alex nods. "That's a start, then. Did you gentleman find anything down here that merits further investigation?"

"Truth be told, I do worry a little about leaving this to the local authorities-- this is rather out of their expertise, though the same could be said of us.And if we are dealing with some sort of underground civilization here that predates humanity, I question just how much we can hope to do by ourselves. At least with some back up we can map the tunnels and search for Mr. Winscott more effectively."

[jp1885]

“I do wonder how many officers the local department will be able to spare,” Ivy muses. “Though a wash and a change of clothes won’t go amiss.”

[Mr. Handy]

"I think we should go back and get reinforcements," says William. "We came this way by the main path. You've probably already seen everything we have. There was a gunshot we heard, right after we came down the rope. It sounded like it was coming from back the way we came, so we'll have to be careful."

[Bullfrog]

"William, there is one gun in this cave that isn't ours, and it's right in front of us." Jerry gestures towards Alex's pistol, looking quite disappointed at Lawrence's choice in legal counsel.
"We haven't found anything that you didn't, Detective, but your mention of apes really catches my interest; the lawyer and I found some cave paintings earlier, just like the ones in Spain. Do you think there could be cave-men living down here?"

[Silver Priest]

Alex nods in agreement to Lawrence's assessment."I believe Ms. Ripley here fired a shot to scare the apes off when they had her. Perhaps that's what you heard. As for cave men,But the paintings we discovered seem to point to some inhuman snake people that were intelligent and may very well predate humanity. We have no idea if they're still down here or if the apes we've found are related to that. Regardless, we'll have quite a story to tell the police, and we may need to call in national law enforcement. If only there was some of organization that was cleared to deal with all of this." He mutters in contemplation.

"Ah well. Regardless,that settles it then," Alex nods at the lawyer as he also recommends heading back. "Follow me, everyone.." He still sounds unusually curt with the lawyer. It's not really his fault, but he reminds Alex of a time he felt powerless and of all the horrors that came along with that.

[Philulhu]

You’re at an intersection with organ room behind you, a tunnel in front and one to the left. Which way do you go?

[Mr. Handy]

Behind us to the organ room, the way we came.

[Philulhu]

Returning to the organ room, two large humanoid creatures could be seen at the far end, looking into the room from another tunnel. Standing on bent legs like a goat, they were still taller than anyone present, and their faces looked like badly mangled approximations of human, albeit with a flattened forehead and no actual noses, just a hole where a human nose might be.

One lifted its head and sniffed the air, before its eyes shifted in the direction of the party and it growled alarmingly exuding a foul menace that made the skin crawl…

SAN rolls, please (0/1d8).

[jp1885]

[20] = 20
SAN 69 1d100: [ 20 ] = 20

Ivy holds her nerve. Perhaps she recognises the foulness; is this the same type of creature that previously barrelled over her in the dark?