In Dreams… part 1
Extracts from the Personal
Diary of
The Night of
After returning to the hotel, eating and
bathing, we had to face the next task. If the souls of the lost children were to
be rescued, then there could be no further delay. Time passes too fast in
the Dreamlands. Friday's time might have nearly been up.
Friday was the most deserving case as well
as the most urgent, as we were sure that she was
completely innocent. We thought Giles might be equally innocent, but were less
certain, and dire as his situation was, he did not face imminent annihilation.
We initially gave little consideration to Jeremy as unreachable, and Isobel as
the least deserving.
Alex had a spell that he had learnt from
the priests in Ulthar, which would allow as to travel to the Dreamlands together. We assembled in his
flat with the things that we would like to take with us. Although none of us
have tried this before, we think we can take equipment with us into dream. I
have my dowsing rods in their case, the bone mask, the binoculars and my
pen-knife. We sat in a circle in his flat and chanted.
Then we started to drift. We were still
sitting in a circle but we drifted away from our bodies. We moved, by common
consent I think, to the morgue where Friday's mortal remains lie. Even without
using the mask, the thread to Friday's soul was clear. By a combined effort, we
managed to follow it. Had we not had the spell to hold us together, I think few
if any of us would have made it.
To begin with we journeyed through complete
darkness with the thread the only thing in sight and that not all of the
time.
Then through the dark
there appeared lights, a scattering of torches or lanterns. As we approached we saw wharfs with
windowless and irregular buildings behind. There were two ships at the quay,
one black galley and a sailing vessel. On the docks, there were a couple of
dozen Moonbeasts and some other humanoid creatures.
The thread led towards the middle of the tallest of the towers. We followed it
through the wall and into complete darkness.
Barbara had had an electric-torch, but on
arrival we found it was an oil lantern and we didn't have any matches. However
we did eventually managed to get it alight. All of our equipment and clothing
had changed into medieval equivalents. The place we were in was a cell with two
occupants. One was Friday who was in a bad way with the marks of having been
tortured, and was asleep. The other was an athletic lady who calls herself Gloriana, a denizen of the Dreamlands, who had only
recently arrived.
Both prisoners were shackled to the walls,
and we had established that undoing them was going to be very difficult with
our (lack of) equipment, when a gaoler arrived. I regret that at this point I
had one of my black-outs.
———
Raid on Moonbeast
facilities;
The raiding party consisted of Cameron, Ice
Maiden, Penrith-1 & EH-1. Neither Penrith-1 nor
EH-1 are yet formally on strength but are being
considered for recruitment. The object was the extraction of a particular
prisoner, sixteen year-old female [codename “Wednesday”].
Initial insertion was entirely successful
and executed without raising the alarm. The arrival location was a cell in a
tower containing Wednesday and another prisoner, Gloriana.
Shortly after our arrival, a Moonbeast entered the cell. This was successfully
engaged and rapidly taken down. We recovered a crude bill-hook like weapon and
a set of keys from the corpse. With these it was possible to release both
prisoners.
The tower has one cell on each floor and we
were approximately half-way up. We suspected that there were no Moonbeasts above us, but this needed to be checked to
prevent being surprised from the rear. There was also the opportunity of
releasing the prisoners on the higher floors. Whereas this was not one of the
mission objectives per-se, all other prisoners escaping with us would help to
overwhelm the Moonbeasts’ resources in countering us,
so had some positive value in achieving the primary objective. There was also a
clear moral and hence morale advantage to releasing as many as possible.
Penrith-1 and myself guarded the downwards
stairs with a candle for light. EH-1 and Gloriana
took the oil-lamp and the keys up the tower. Ice Maiden tended to Wednesday at
the cell entrance. We were not disturbed from below before the upward party
returned with about a dozen prisoners in varying states of health. We started
to proceed downwards, releasing further prisoners at the next level.
We had freed about another half dozen from
other cells, by the time we reached the bottom, where a torture session was in
progress. Two Moonbeasts were in the process of
torturing a man and a third was examining some booty spread on a table.
Penrith-1 and myself led the charge and we immediately
engaged the Moonbeasts. After a brief engagement, we
succeeded in taking down all three.
The torture victim was Yanez,
the captain of the ship that Gloriana had been
travelling on when captured. Much of the booty on the table was claimed by Yanez and Gloriana as their own
personal property. The room was five-sided, one the exterior entrance, and the
other four leading to towers. I dispatched a party with the keys to search the
remaining three towers for prisoners. This brought the total number of our
party to over thirty, although less than half were in any real state to fight.
All of the Moonbeasts' bill-hooks, the instruments of
torture and every other object that could plausibly be used as a weapon were
distributed to the fittest prisoners.
Peering out of the door, we observed at
some distance to the right a black galley. There were a large number of Moonbeasts near it, many involved in loading a rhinoceros
in a cage on toa cart. To the left at the end of a
short pier was a sailing vessel that Yanez identified
as his own. Directly in front of us ten or so men were
being forced into a cage on another cart. Yanez
recognised these men as being from his crew. Also there were a number of the Moonbeasts' humanoid helpers, the so-called Men of Leng who resemble satyrs and are their slaves. Many of
the Men of Leng, carried torches, which are
apparently for their own benefit, the Moonbeasts
being blind.
I assessed there being two objectives that
were necessary for a successful retreat. Most important we
needed to take Yanez’ ship. The secondary
objective was the release of Yanez’ crewmen, as a
lack of skilled sailors would greatly reduce the chance of a successful
get-away. To minimise command and control problems, I delegated Yanez to take responsibility for releasing his crew and I
personally took command of taking the ship. Yanez
was to take Gloriana and four of the fittest of the
released prisoners. Penrith-1, EH-1, and the rest of those prisoners capable of
fighting would come with me to storm the ship. The remaining prisoners were to
move as swiftly as possible to the ship, helping each other where necessary.
Ice Maiden was to ensure that the weakest received the necessary assistance
from their less impaired comrades.
As a final source of distraction, Yanez cast some spells designed to release and enrage the
rhinoceros. These cast, we sallied forth. Yanez’
party went first, immediately followed by our party.
On the way up the pier, we encountered a
Moonbeast. This was engaged by Penrith-1. I did not pause as the ship needed to
be taken before defences could be organised. If the enemy holding the ship
could have held out for even a couple of minutes, we would have been taken in
the rear and failed disastrously.
The gang-plank was being defended by a
single of the Men of Leng. I charged him and he
refused combat by jumping into the harbour, so we were on to the ship. On the
deck there was a single Moonbeast, which I immediately engaged assisted by EH-1
and a bill-hook wielding prisoner. The Moonbeast attempted to grapple me
and overwhelm me with his foul bulk, but I kept him at distance and our
combined efforts soon brought him down. I made quite sure he was dead and then
turned to the Men of Leng, only to discover that everyone of them had jumped into the harbour. Instead,
I began to organise the defence of the ship.
Penrith-1 had managed to dispatch the
Moonbeast he had engaged. (He may have been helped by one or more bill-hook
wielders.) The walking-wounded were by now coming aboard rapidly. Whatever
injuries they had suffered, they were straining every sinew to avoid
recapture.
Yanez’ party had also been successful, but at
the cost of greater casualties. They had initially engaged four Moonbeasts, and a few more had reinforced the enemy later.
They had lost two or three freed prisoners, but had dealt with the Moonbeasts, and released the sailors. Unfortunately
the release rhinoceros had run through his retreating party and trampled Gloriana. Nevertheless, assisted by a couple of unarmed
released sailors, she and the other survivors of the party had managed to
withdraw to the ship. The sailors were working feverishly to get underway. Yanez, the last to board, threw the gang-plank into the
sea, and everyone with a weapon to hold, lined the gunwhales,
ready to repel boarders.
There was an awkward moment when a gigantic
Moonbeast, much larger than the others reached the end of the pier with the
evident intent of jumping aboard. However it was hit by a spell and hesitated, and its opportunity was lost.
Conclusion
The operation was an unqualified
success.
• The original party suffered no
significant injury.
• The target of the operation was extracted
without injury post-dating our arrival.
• Three dozen further prisoners were
successfully extracted at the same time.
• There were a number of fatalities among
the escaping prisoners, but in all cases their fate was considerably improved
by the action.
• There will be no need to return to base, prior
to our attempt to rescue the male captive [codename: “Pugsley”].
Recommendations
•It is recommended that EH-1 &
Penrith-1's recruitment should go ahead. Both conducted themselves in a
manner likely to be a credit to the service.
signed Agent Cameron
———
What I remember was the Moonbeast, entering
the room. Then it seemed it was far larger but further away. Then I realised
there was water between us and we were moving away from it. I was surrounded by
wretches in filthy, soiled rags, who were cheering loudly. Then they were all
thanking us for their deliverance.
I soon realised that we had not merely
escaped with Friday and Gloriana, but nearly the
whole contents of the prison. We are aboard the ‘Graça
do los Deuses de Fora’. We have rescued three dozen, but quite a few more
broke out with us but fell on the way. When I expressed regret that we had
caused their deaths, the survivors assured me that dying fighting the Moonbeasts was so much better than the fate that otherwise
awaited them, that the dead too would thank us if they could.
I met Yanez, the
captain of the ship, who thought the celebrations pre-mature. We might still be
intercepted by another black galley. We spotted one on the horizon and took
evasive action. As I have better eye-sight than most people, I decided to go to
the mast-head. Fortunately I had the presence of mind to watch the sailors
climbing. I managed it, I felt, in some style, and I think the sailors thought
it at least a good effort for a beginner.
At the mast-head, I proved my worth as a
look-out, and the sailors were discreetly on hand to help me up and down on my
later trips aloft. While I was taking the role of look-out, Elisa had slipped
into the role of ship's surgeon. I am sure the others were also making
themselves useful.
A few days later, we were on the “low seas”
again, and the real danger past. Yanez asked
where we wished to be taken. He was extremely reluctant to go to Ulthar, as we would have to sail past Dylath
Leen on the Skai. We know
that Jimmy Wainwright is now in Celephais, so we
suggested going there. This was accepted as an eminently sensible
destination, and somewhere that he will be able to refit.
The next day our rather bedraggled, but
happy ship, docked in Celephais. For the next two
days, we tried unsuccessfully to locate Jimmy. Unfortunately none of us could
remember the name that he uses in Dream. We did however learn that we were well
thought of. Some residents of Celephais were among
the rescued and their accounts are clearly circulating among family and
friends. Dreamers in general are held in some regard, and we since our
exploits on the moon are rated as, to some degree at least, heroic dreamers.
Then we were visited by a herald with a summons to the palace, and were sent
suitable clothes for a royal audience.
That evening we were welcomed into the Palace
of Seventy Delights and taken into a public audience where we were formally
presented to the king. After awhile the king withdrew, and we were discreetly
ushered into a private audience. Here the King Kuranes
was much friendlier. He had clearly already heard something of the events on
the moon, but wished to hear a full account directly from us.
He was sufficiently impressed that he
presented us with some particularly generous gifts. Friday was granted
lodging at the court, and will effectively be the king's ward. I am not sure
whether this was really a gift to her or to us, in that it relieves us of all
further responsibility for her. I was given across-bow and a dozen bolts.
Barbara was given a crystal that will store energy for spells. Alex and Gloriana were each given some armour. Elisa was given a
down-right dangerous enchanted dress, which magnifies her sexual
attractiveness, rather excessively. The king clearly approves of our continuing
to rescue Giles. He recommended that we consult the seers and sages of Zakarion.
A couple of days later, Jimmy Wainwright
paid us a visit. He goes here by the name Olondor. He
does not really tell us anything new, but does confirm a few things.
Yanez was happy to take us to Zakarion as soon as his ship was refitted but would leave
us there, as he has to get his ship and crew back to Rinar.
Gloriana was to continue with us. We were to travel
via her home, so we would be travelling together in any case. However she
wishes to help us with our quest for Giles.
In the remaining days, we obtained all the
equipment that we thought we might need. I personally procured a shield.
We finally took our leave of Celephais, leaving everyone on the best of terms. A few days
later, we landed in Zakarion. We consulted both the
sages and the seers. From these we learnt the history of the pillars. They are
magical devices for feeding “dragons”, which we think means Hunting Horrors
in this context. By regenerating the victim, they allow one sacrifice to
provide the beasts with a continuous supply of flesh, rather than merely a
single meal. The city, that installed them to appease the dragons, was
eventually overwhelmed by their increasing numbers and is now in ruins. Our
information is that there are five such pillars and Giles is chained to the
eastern most of them. We also learnt that we will require a key to unlock Giles
from the pillar and that we should seek the key among the refugees from the
north in
We found a caravan going to
On the way we were attacked and things got
very sticky at one point. We were all on the front wagon. When the bandits
attacked they started with a volley of arrows and one hit me in the leg,
preventing me from standing. I was then very nearly killed by an attacker who
boarded the wagon. However they eventually withdrew leaving a couple of their
number dead.
A day or two later, we finally got into
We were found a guide in the form of an old
crone, called Mailissa. She was apparently born in
the abandoned city and has a key which we hope will unlock the pillar. We have
also been provided with zebras to ride. However these are ordinary riding
zebra, not riding-school easy-to-ride animals and as most of us have never
ridden at all, most of us just used them as pack animals and walked.
Mailissa's attitude was strange. She seemed to relish
the prospect of encountering Hunting Horrors. She remarked that she
could deal with one of them herself. We really didn't know what she was up to,
but it seemed reasonably obvious she was up to something.
We arrived at the end of the second
day. We considered spending an extra day, properly scouting the city, but
decided that it was safer to have only a single night in the city.
Having trekked up the mountain to the
pillar, and found Giles in a terrible state. It seems that the regeneration is
not continuous, but occurs only at dusk. If we release Giles before dusk, he
will die as soon as he is unchained. So we had no option but to wait for dusk,
release him and run for it.
After an hour or so's
wait, Giles quite suddenly was whole in body again. We quickly unlocked him,
and it became obvious that he was not whole in his mind. The experience had
been too much for him. However we did manage to get him to run, he was clearly
witless with terror. We did get down to the city and into the building we hoped
to hide in.
For the next few hours, we could hear the
appalling shrieks of the monsters as they ravenously sort us. A little after
Suddenly I understood why Mailissa had come. She wished to capture one of the beasts
and we were bait. She was binding it as a riding animal. The only safe place
would be on that bound creature's back. As she moved to mount it, I ran to her
and jumped on too.
She just laughed. Moments later we were
flying through the night, leaving the city behind.
After a few hours, we descended from a
leaden sky to a city of dark grey stone towers. Our mount landed on a roof and Mailissa cackled that I had arrived. I looked around and
saw the style of stonework and form of statuary. I immediately knew that this
must be the temple of the Hornéd God. I felt like an
errant pupil who would really, really did not wish to see the headmaster now,
but now found himself summoned and stood about to knock on the study door.
Reluctantly I dismounted and walked over to the cowled
priestess who waited to receive me. I was greatly surprised to find that it was
Isobel.
———
I received an unexpected summons to attend
on Isobel. I found she was with my companions, who had it seemed managed to
escape the Hunting Horrors. Apparently some magics of
Gloriana's had frightened them off.
We are to be sent on a quest to obtain to
four shantak eggs from the Father of all Shantak birds. These are to be the price that Nyarlathotep demands for releasing Jeremy, who Isobel calls
her “true love”. Isobel presented me with a green and black banner of the Hornéd God. I am not sure what its purpose is, but no
doubt that will become apparent in time.