Pickman’s Student: parts 1 & 2

Selected extracts from the journal of Adam Walters

Wednesday 27^th August 2008: Some of the patients in the Wilmarth facility have been troubled by nightmares. Two patients woke screaming. They had been shouting the names of otherworldly creatures. The names Ghadamon, R’lyeh and Cthulhu were overheard. A number of us have bizarre dreams. My dream is of some cliffs overlooking a sea. There are ancient statues on the cliff tops, possibly of Greek design. Ringing around I determine that several other members of the team have been having strange dreams. These include ghouls at Karl Marx tomb, deserts and ancient petrified forests.

Meeting up with Eliza, Barbara and Alex we traded information. Alex had visited the Dreamlands. He had heard of a harbinger. Phoning Lionel he tells me of a time twenty years ago when he headed MI13. Events were occurring at a pace and drastic measures were required to stop the apocalypse. In that incident creative or sensitive people were affected first. This may explain why Toby Higginbottom is in such a state. He surmised that there is a possibility that R’lyeh might rise up from the depths.

Later enquiries lead to an artist called Nelson Blake who had suffered the effects of drowning in salt water despite living in landlocked Reading. An art gallery owner by the name of Adrian Stimpson was also implicated. Talking to Mr Stimpson we realised that the dreams we were having relate quite eerily to a series of paintings by Nelson Blake called the Ghadamon cycle. We had a chance to see some of the pictures and digital images of the others. The names of some of the paintings are ‘Elder Yuggoth’, ‘A Walk in the Park’ and ‘The Outsider’. We later learn that Elder Yuggoth relates to the planet the Migo left when it was destroyed. Yuggoth refers to Pluto.

Following different lines of enquiry we eventually meet up at MI13 HQ. Nelson Blake has two silver threads attached to his head. They both appear to be pumping fluid. Possession springs to mind. We decide to visit the dreamlands. Alex is able to guide us to a city where a sage resides. Asking the first person I meet whether he knows a sage called Ezekiel Corathon he says he is the very person. He has already met some of our group previously. We are in a place called Celephais. It is a city where people don’t age. Finding a local coffee shop we tell him of our dreams. The dream I had is of an Underground Sea. The view is of the south shore close to the fungus forest. The peaks in the distance are the Peaks of Thok. Apparently this is in the underworld where ghouls dwell. We find out that his master, Malachi the Wise, may well have the information we require. Meeting up with Malachi we learn something of ghouls and the place in my dream. One way to travel there is by getting the help of ghouls, another might be to dream of the place of by looking at the picture. Malachi says that he will soon be going on a trip to the underworld and may find out more by talking to his contacts.

Thursday 28^th August 2008: There are a number of ways of getting rid of possession. One is be exorcism using bell, book and candle. Another is the way Adam got rid of his. Adam asks the occult expert St John. Spells are an option. You may need a specific spell to dismiss a specific entity. Where to find a spell to dismiss Ghadamon? He rings Lionel who suggested we talk to Toby. He has read the Book of Eibon and knows much about Dreaming and the Book of Eibon. In order to talk to Toby Higginbotham he must receive clearance from higher ups. Talking to Marmaduke, he is a little put off when he refuses saying it is dangerous to wake Toby, he doesn’t like meeting new people, and we don’t have enough of a connection to the book of Eibon yet. It also occurs to Adam that he may want to talk to Mr Mecredi the occult expert in Paris who Alex and Barbara met.

Talking to Belinda who has been to Nelson Blake’s apartment she tells him that Nelson had read a derivative of the Book of Eibon called ‘Eibon Saith on Dreams’. He phones MI13 and leaves a message for Marmaduke. He heads into Reading to liaise with some of the others. He learns that an artist named Pickman is in the Dreamlands and may have transformed into a ghoul. He left a note to Nelson saying he should wear an Ankh if he wanted to meet with him. Ghouls would recognise and respect the wearer of the symbol.

Alex and I dream of Celephais. We meet up with Ezekiel who takes us to see the Chief Librarian and later for a quick meeting with his master Malachi. We learn more about the Underworld and Ghouls. Ghouls have an upper rank. These Ghouls have names. He knows one who has the title ‘Richard the Third’ though he has no connection to the real man. It is possible Pickman is another of these ghouls with a title. Malachi is eager to know how ghouls attain this rank. This seems to be a personal quest for Alex Douglas.