Pickman’s Student: part 4

Selected extracts from the Personal Diary of Adrian Stimson

Saturday 30^th August 2008: After his visit to Nelson’s room, St. John is removed, gibbering, from the Royal Berkshire. I wait at the hospital until the rest of the group arrive at about 10am. We go into the interview room with Dr. Jones for an update on Nelson’s condition. He is massive – at least 500lbs - with black and swollen arms and legs and covered in buboes which had burst overnight to reveal many tiny heads! Only one nurse, nurse Charleston, will go into the room. She is from the Caribbean and constantly chants voodoo prayers. Dr. Jones is also near breaking point, he says he will examine Nelson at lunchtime, but it seems he is forcing himself to look at his patient.

Stories are circulating of “men in frog suits” attacking people in town last night. Two women were raped and Eliza was attacked by Deep Ones, one of whom was a spell caster. We have a new member of our group, Sandy, who arrived with Belinda and Alex. Sandy seems to know a lot about Deep Ones – apparently they live in underwater colonies (usually deep water) and require humans to breed. There was a known colony in the South Pacific until the end of the 19^th Century and then a new colony was established in Innsmouth on the Eastern seaboard of the USA. Upon maturity Deep Ones turn into frog/fish men, which is probably the origin of the mermaid myth, reminding me of the mermaid carvings on the statues in Nelson’s unfinished work.

The party discuss what should be our next move and we conclude that there is little more to be done until we can return to the Dreamlands. Alex and Sandy go off to Thames Valley police. Barbara and Adam go off together and Eliza and Belinda go off for a run so that they are tired enough to sleep tonight. I remain in the hospital to keep watch in case anything happens.

Nurse Charleston goes off duty at midday. Dr. Jones goes into Nelson’s room and comes out again inside two minutes. He gives me the latest update on Nelson’s condition. Nelson is getting bigger and blacker; he must weigh 6-700lbs. He is shooting out mucus-covered tendrils which have attached to the walls and ceiling and are trying to pull him off the bed. The bed is breaking under the strain, one of the wheels has buckled already.

Sandy gets some sleep in the afternoon so that he is able to stand watch all night while the rest of us dream. A nurse comes to see me to say that Eliza’s ex-boyfriend has been back causing trouble. I call Eliza to tell her and she asks if he is still there so I go to check. When I ask in A&E I am told that he has gone – he caused a commotion, swore at some nurses and then left. In A&E I meet Mr. Edwards, the hospital manager, who asks about my relationship with Eliza – am I a friend of Dr. Jamieson?

During this conversation I notice several nurses watching us and talking about us amongst themselves. I go to lunch with one of the nurses who tells me that Eliza is not popular at the hospital and Mr. Edwards seems to be making a case to get Eliza sacked. The nurse tells me that Eliza is arrogant, even for a doctor, she makes comments about other doctors’ work and her “other work” gets in the way of her hospital duties as she goes off with no warning or explanation and others have to cover for her. I thank the nurse and immediately call Eliza to let her know what is going on.

The party meets later at Nelson’s flat to have a meal before dreaming. Sandy will stay in reading to keep watch. I ask Eliza about her ex-boyfriend who is apparently one Lt. James Doolittle of the SAS. This immediately rings bells with Sandy and Alex who have been looking for a second gunman who was out in Reading helping Gallowsman to hunt Deep Ones. Eliza then tells of her ex’s movements the night before. Lt. Doolittle came to the hospital and caused a fuss while looking for Eliza. They arranged to meet later and Doolittle probably witnessed Eliza being attacked by the Deep Ones. He also may have witnessed Eliza talking to Gallowsman and then followed Gallowsman into the firefight.

After dinner we all settle down in Nelson’s flat to dream. Alex casts a spell called Pilgrim’s Chains which means that we can all appear in the same place – Celephais. We find ourselves on the road of the Ivory Rose and make our way to the Palace of the Seventy Delights where we are expected!

King Kuranes tells me that the book (Talia’s journal) is ready for me so I begin to read immediately and the others split up to search for information on the Lord of the Fungal Forest. But first King Kuranes holds a ball in our honour!

After talking to various sages the party discover that the Lord of the Fungal Forest is Nurgal, a Sumerian deity of disease. There are statues and altars to Nurgal on the shore of the Netherworld Sea, as seen in Nelson’s painting. Alex says that he should not participate in the ritual or enter the forest since he is an acolyte of Bast (Egyptian cat goddess) and Bast and Nurgal are at war.

Having read Talia’s journal again and learnt the spell of Oneiro-Dismissal, I am ready to leave with the rest of the party which now includes a Celephais sage called Ezekiel Corathon. We are seen off with a big parade and depart on a ship provided by King Kuranes. The ship takes us to the Isle of Oriab and we go to Mount Ngranek whence we are guided to the entrance to the tunnels to the Netherworld.

As we enter the tunnels Gloriana suffers a relapse and turns into a shoggoth again! There is a brief delay as we recover from the shock. We find some ghouls in the tunnels who are prevented from attacking us again by the presence of our ankh talismans. We ask to see the Pearly King and Queen and Alex strikes a deal with him to guide us through the tunnels.

We are taken through the tunnels until we emerge on the Plains of Bone. We trek across the plains until we reach the edge of the Fungal Forest by the altars and statues in Nelson’s painting. We find an altar depicting a lion-headed god armed with a mace. This is Nurgal. The altar is surrounded by bodies, all of which are marked with various blemishes and pustules.

Ezekiel casts a spell on Eliza which massively increases her charisma and seems to turn her into an object of lust and desire for all of my companions (even including Barbara!), but I am relatively unaffected by her new-found charms. In the vernacular, she just doesn’t do it for me! Ezekiel performs a ritual of sacrifice to Nurgal which will permit us to enter the forest without angering the god. The sacrificed goat meat rots before our very eyes upon the altar.

The party (minus Alex) enters the Fungal Forest. There is mist and condensation everywhere, lit by glowing fungi some of which are the size of redwoods. All the light is coming from below – the mushroom canopy overhead blocks all light from above. We wander in the forest for an hour before we are attacked by a “shade”. It is a creature which lurks in dark places and attacks its victim’s psyche with fear. After another hour Gloriana spots a reptilian creature hiding in a pool. She engages it as it springs out of the water. It looks like a salamander but is the size of a horse! Gloriana inflicts significant injury on the creature without suffering herself and she forces the creature to retreat to its lair.

After another hour wandering in the forest Eliza spots the toadstool ring for which we have been searching. She uses her massively enhanced persuasive talents to invoke the Lord of the Ring. A gnome-like creature appears (a Goblin, according to Gloriana) dressed in blue and gold and begins leering at Eliza. The Goblin is persuaded to lead us through the forest pointing out the relevant fungi. We pick seven of them in all and as they are picked we see that the “roots” are in fact a wizened little creature which must be decapitated in order for us to acquire the part of the plant that we need. This place is full of the most strange and disturbing things that I have ever seen. I have to remind myself regularly that I am dreaming or I might lose my mind completely in such horrid surroundings!

After we have picked the fungi the Goblin Lord points us to the “way out”. Walking on I spot a light coming from a pool – there is something glittering in it. As I reach out towards it I realise that this is a bad idea and stop. Thinking about it I remember stories of Corpse Candles. These are unclean spirits which lure the unwary into mortal danger. This was a lucky escape! Further on Gloriana is trapped by a Snare plant and dragged off the path. Eliza grabs her and so do I and with the extra weight the plant is unable to drag us all. Eliza then cuts Gloriana free.

We realise that we are wandering aimlessly in the forest so Gloriana employs her knowledge of dreaming in order to speed our travel. With this we reach a clearing containing two black-clad women picking mushrooms and a tall man in black with his back to us. There are two broomsticks leaning against a large mushroom and as we enter the clearing the two witches (for such they are) seize their broomsticks and fly off cackling.

The man turns to us and we see that he is jet-black all over. He addresses us as ‘friends’ though I have never seen him before, but he seems to know a great deal about some of the party. He gives Eliza a blue flower to give to Alex. When we tell him that we are looking for a way out he points us to a gap in the vegetation which wasn’t there before. Adam thinks we should retrace our steps, but everyone else chooses to take the route which the black man has indicated and about half an hour later we emerge from the forest about a quarter of a mile from where Alex and Barbara are waiting for us.

Alex, Adam and I each eat the blue puffball fungi and enter the water. Adam is wearing a mask of bone which allows him to see into the spirit world and I have with me an Elder Crystal which contains magical power to be used in the Oneiro-Dismissal spell.

As we enter the water it is very hard to see and we rely on Adam to guide us, but we can see a glow in the distance which must signify our goal. We are surrounded by some sort of piranha-eel creatures which approach aggressively, but are unable to close with us, apparently thanks to the protection of the fungus we have consumed.

As we clamber across the sea bed I spot something I can hardly credit – a door! Opening the door I see beyond it a bedroom with wood panelled walls and a four-poster bed. I recognise this as the scene depicted in Nelson’s work ‘Fate’. I close the door and continue on.

It takes almost an hour for us to reach the object of our search. It is a huge globular creature covered in malformed heads and attended by myriad of the piranha-eels as a shark is by remoras. Atop the creature is Nelson’s head, obviously in great distress. Cords connect the creature to the waking world – one in and one out.

This sight is the final straw for me – a vision so horrific that I lose control of my mind and I am staring into a pit of black evil from which there is no escape! As I am about to fall and perhaps lose myself forever Adam drags me back from the edge of madness and calms me down enough so I can complete the task that I came here to perform.

Looking upon the creature again I realise that less than a day remains before this transformation is complete. This knowledge spurs me on as I begin to cast the Oneiro-Dismissal spell. As the spell progresses I see that the transformation of the creature into Nelson (and hopefully the opposing transformation which is occurring in the waking world) gradually begins to reverse. Nelson’s head slowly disappears as do the cords connecting the creature to the waking world and all the while we are continually beset by the piranha-eel creatures which are still prevented from coming into contact with us.

When the spell is complete only Ghadamon itself remains beneath the waves and all trace of Nelson has been banished back to the waking world. It is at this point that Adam and Alex succeed in waking themselves and disappear, leaving me alone beneath the water facing the horrific creature!

How can I escape in time? I am no swimmer and the fungus seems to offer me no protection against Ghadamon. I am alone in the dark, facing death at the tentacles of this horror and I have never been so afraid in my life. As I turn to flee my only consolation is that, if this is to be my fate, at least I have not sacrificed in vain and that the evil has been vanquished for now.

In turning my back and fearing the grip of the creature at any moment I find myself facing the door which we passed on our way here. I seize the door handle as a drowning man grasps for a lifebelt and plunge into the bedroom, slamming the door behind me.

I take stock of my surroundings and begin to notice more details about the room. I can hear something moving on the bed behind the curtains. Remembering St. John’s dream and what he saw in the bed, I resist the temptation to open the curtains!

I can see a picture-shaped hole in the wall and as I contemplate the use of the hole as an exit I can see that there are shadows moving across the walls, but there is nothing in the room which could cast these shadows! The shadows begin to reach for me and as I attempt to avoid their grip I can see that one of the shadows is not trying to grab me, but instead seems to be pointing me towards the hole in the wall. With few options open to me I decide that I must attempt to escape through the hole.

As I clamber through the hole I find myself awake in Nelson’s flat with the rest of the party! I cannot adequately describe my relief at finding myself safe, sane and alive.

The party immediately heads for the hospital to find that Nelson has been miraculously cured. He has returned to his normal physical form and the medical staff are at a loss to explain it. Though undoubtedly his mental wounds will take some considerable time to heal, we have saved Nelson and dealt the forces of evil a significant defeat.

We can be proud of what we have achieved these last few days, but we must not forget that the evil remains a threat to our world. It is not dead, but merely waits in dreams. Perhaps such powerful creatures can never be completely defeated, merely temporarily thwarted and banished to the darkness until their time comes again…