The Rapture Screams, part 2

Extracts from the Personal Diary of Dr Belinda Durham

Friday 28^th November 2008

We’re all going back into the Dreamlands. Well, apart from James who still flatly refuses to go. He says he’ll watch over our bodies, which is actually reassuring.

Having got the spells we are going to summon Sophie and then send her to the Dreamlands. We head to the cemetery since to summoning using ‘Evocation of the Damned’ has to be at the site of death or over the corpse. James comes with us and casts a circle of protection aiming to contain whatever we summon, and then he goes back to Cliffside to rest. We plan to ask Sophie’s spirit 3 questions, which the spell will make her answer truthfully. Lucinda will ask where they went for her 6^th birthday, and then we’ll ask her if she wants to go and live in the Dreamlands, leaving one question in reserve.

Emily cast Evocation of the Damned shortly after midnight. A glowing sphere appeared over the grave, that grew larger and we could not miss the stomach-churning smell of bitter rotting meat. Finally the sphere formed into a long-haired little girl dressed in weird science fiction style with completely black eyes. Lucinda said ‘Sophie’ but it was unclear whether she could hear us or not.

Then a voice I recognised as Nyarlathotep said ‘Ask your questions’.

Lucinda asked, ‘Sophie, is that you?’ and the strange girl said, ‘It’s me’. Emily asked about her 6^th birthday and the answer was correct that their parents had taken the two girls to Twycross Zoo. Freddie then cast the Kuranes binding spell and as she was pulled away, to Celephaïs we hoped, something tried to stop her and the direction changed as she vanished screaming. There was a growl of rage from an Elder god. As I collapsed unconscious the last thing I heard was a chuckle from Nyarlathotep. They had to carry me back to the house. I was told later that Emily also collapsed but recovered very quickly. We worked out that Nyarlathotep had intervened to stop Yog-Sothoth venting his anger on us. Back in the house, James was asleep and we all followed his example.

Saturday 29^th November

I woke up late. Mary gave us all an excellent cooked breakfast. Lucinda went on and on about going to see Sophie, and I could tell that Mary was concerned about her state. The task for the day is to go to the Dreamlands and see if we can track down Sophie. James is still adamant that he is staying in Scotland. We cast ‘Chains of the Pilgrims’ so that we (Emily, Lucinda, Freddie, Thomas and myself) will stay together and then I made the first attempt to dream, aiming to take us directly to Celephaïs. Not only do I manage to get us there but I also manage to arrive with a compass that points north. I’d hoped for one that would seek Sophie. On arrival, of course, I become Gloriana again. Emily had wanted tarot cards, and arrives with a set.

With my Dreaming companions we walk into Celephaïs through the east gate and head for the Palace of 70 delights. I could see from the flags that the King is at home. His standard is a black lion rampant on a white field. We went along the street of Bridges, past the markets on the right and the turquoise temple to the local Elder God Nath-Horthath and reached the palace. The King’s staff were courteous and thoughtful and led us to a reception room with food and drink. After a while King Kuranes entered. I introduced Emily, Lucinda, Freddie and Thomas to him. As I started to explain about our visit, and had just started on Gnosos, he stopped me and insisted that we move to elsewhere.

We ended up in a basement room that had all the walls covered in metal. He explained that we could speak freely in this room since he thought that we could be overheard elsewhere. His Majesty was not at all happy to know that Gnosos was back in Rinar. He made the immediate decision that Celephais must prepare for war since he thought that Gnosos would want revenge on him for his past expulsion from the Dreamlands and imprisonment in the Waking World. He sent one of his staff to bring Ezekiel to us and while waiting he advised Emily and Freddie that they now had Yog-Sothoth as a mortal enemy. In the King’s opinion, this Elder God was not the worst of mythos deities because although he was the most powerful he had a mind so it was possible to cut a deal with him. However, he would be difficult to avoid since he was everywhere and everywhen. To me, this was a masterclass from one of the world’s most experienced and wise rulers, someone who could consider the fate of his country in one moment but still have time for the fate of common people. I knew I was privileged to see him in this testing situation, and hoped to learn from him for the good of Etruria.

There was a knock on the door and, after his Majesty warned us not to speak any names when the door was open, Ezekiel Corathon entered. With the door firmly closed, Ezekiel told us more about the goddess Haazhektheh. She was the Hyperborean goddess of dreams who blurred the boundaries between dream and reality. Her followers could allow things from bad dreams to enter the waking world.

We, naturally, volunteered our services if war happened, but told him that our priority at the moment was to find Sophie rather than do anything about Gnosos. He suggested that we went to see a seeress, Aforgomon’s Daughter, who had been in Celephaïs for 2-3 years and had a very good reputation. He gave us money to pay her and a guide (Victor) to take us to her in the bazaar quarter. We ended up at a wooden house with a sign of a veiled woman seated at a table with a crystal ball and the words Aforgomon’s Daughter. Emily asked to see her through her attendant Aberax, a weasly-type of man, in rich but food-splattered clothes. In the end we each see her to ask a question. While we waited he offered us food and drink but I would not let anything pass my lips from such a man.

When it was my turn, I asked her what Sophie had been doing since her arrival in Celephaïs, and she says that Sophie has been telling fortunes, which was difficult to do sucessfully. Aforgomon’s Daughter had arranged the room so that as well as being veiled she was in shadow, someone very determined to keep her appearance secret. After sharing our experiences of her, we realised that we have actually not learnt anything much. Ezekiel decided to return to his scrolls to find out who Aforgomon was. In a few hours he found out that Aforgomon was an obscure avatar of Yog-Sothoth. We returned to the palace at dusk and joined the King for dinner (main course, Cornish pasty). Ezekiel passed us the information on a slip of paper. We realised that Aforgomon’s Daughter was likely to be Sophie.

The next morning, King Kuranes took the lead and went with an escort of 12 knights, and us, to Aforgomon’s Daughter’s house. This time when we knocked there was no response. We forced the door open. The king, two of his knights, Freddie, Thomas and myself entered. Abborax’s body was in the kitchen slumped over a small chest of gold and gems, with his throat cut. Upstairs there were two rooms, one obviously his because it was sumptuously furnished and full of a man’s clothes. The other room had much more Spartan furnishings and the wardrobe had black clothes for a small woman or girl. There was something very unsettling about the room, including the smell which was faintly like the rotting stench in the graveyard. The third floor of the house was completely empty. Emily, with her psychic abilities, sensed something odd about one wall in the woman’s bedroom. It looked like an archway to the next door room or house that had been bricked up. We decided it could be a gate to somewhere and the problem was how to open it. The king returned to the palace to get people who could open it. He left 4 knights with us and we posted 2 at the entrance to the house, 1 in the kitchen, while the fourth one stayed with us. After about 30 minutes, the court alchemist Nehemiah arrived. He said that he would open the gate but he wants the knights to be ready to keep anything that emerges at bay. I loaded my pistols and moved to a position where I could shoot with no danger of hitting any of my companions or the knights. Nehemiah studied the gate for a time and told us that he thought it went to another plane. Then he told us he was ready to try to open it and we should be ready for whatever was on the other side.

The arch started to shimmer and then we could see into a large cavern within a black coloured rock. There was a throne and 3 passageways at the far end. It was very difficult to tell its size. Thomas boldly stepped through into the cavern and headed for the throne. The smell became stronger, with spicy notes. We all, apart from the wizard, followed him through. The throne was very large while the door on its right-hand side was small. The passageways were suitable for normal sized people. Freddie crossed the chamber to open the little door, and as he did so, it opened and a small figure in black came out.

‘Hullo, it’s the hero,’ she said, as she climbed onto the throne and sat with her feed dangling. ‘You haven’t brought my sister. I want to talk with her. You’ve released me,’ she continued, ‘I’ve spent 18 years fettered, kept by stepfather. Now I can roam the universe, thanks to you. I can enjoy myself, have fun, a life. I’ve only had imaginary friends. Now you can play with one of them.’

The bronze doors opened as we decided we should leave now. One of the knights got out, and then returned since he was honour bound to defend the gate. Freddie also managed to get out. As I reached the gate the door opened and a helmet fell over my face so I could not see. My pistol went off, fortunately hitting the wall rather than anyone, as I fell out through the gate into the room. Sophie had let a star spawn enter the cavern. The two knights and Thomas nobly tried to fight it, while Freddie went to pull Thomas back through the gate. He got Thomas through but became frozen in the doorway himself. By this time I’d managed to get the helmet off so I could see what I was doing. I managed to pull them both back into the room. By this time it had killed both the knights and was heading for the gate. Fortunately the wizard managed to shut the gate before it came through. He thought this was a very odd gate, maybe made directly by an Outer God. Normally he would be able to seal a gate permanently but with this one he is not sure.

We had to tell the two remaining knights that one of their comrades was definitely dead and the other had vanished so was presumed dead. They remained in the house while we returned with the wizard to the palace. He went off to do more research. Thomas has to tell Lucy what happened and she cannot believe evil of her young sister.

Later, the king held a council of war. The wizard said he could definitely close that gate, but he thought that she could open more at will. We reported what had happened, and it was obvious that he was now going to start serious preparations for war. Freddie and Thomas became initiates of Nath-horthath, starting at the lowest rank. As a result they spent some time apart from the rest of us to learn about their new status.

Sunday 30^th November

Then we woke back in the real waking world. James was in the room, trying to keep awake to fulfil his promise to watch over us. The big question was what should we do next. We were pretty confident that the son of Nyarlathotep would be born before the next solar eclipse, 22^nd July 2009. We might not be able to stop that birth, but we had to try something. However, I’m not sure that I, Belinda Durham, can. I still suffer from the effects of my breakdown and came close to another in the last few days. I fear that I would be unable to do anything and my friends would have to spend time protecting me. Gloriana is, however, in a quite different situation and if we have to return to the Dreamworld to fulfil our commitment to King Kuranes, she might be able to help.