Call of Cthulhu Part Six: October 12-13, 1925

October 12, 1925

After a week of various exploits, all paths once again converge on Judge Putnam’s house. Johnny sighs and makes dinner.

It very swiftly becomes clear to everyone present that Ron, despite advice given to him the previous week, has told Vincenzo what really happened to Boss Bonano. Dr. Black relates a harrowing account of a very large man coming to his office and insisting that he meet with Vincenzo. Vivian notes that her daddy was pretty mad the last few days, and rolls her eyes at Ron very, very hard.

Vivian, Dr. Black, and Ron get their stories straight about what happened that night. Ron apparently told Vincenzo that Dr. Black and Vivian went with Ron in one of the family cars, but stayed inside the car the whole time he was murdering Bonano and, therefore, didn’t witness anything.

In the midst of this, Johnny lets drop a grenade he’s been carrying. Metaphorically. He has a partial list of the police officers from the precinct who are on the take from the Five Families. It turns out that Officer MacGowan is on the Bernouse payroll.

When things finally settle down, those who became initiated in the Order of Silver Twilight relate their experiences with the meeting. Mikhail describes his expedition into the basement of the lodge, and of his suspicion that there is something secret beneath the slabs in the back room. Everyone decides that this is worth investigating.

Judge Putnam relates his visit to the Lodge to meet with John Scott, the Noble Philosopher. He describes being guided, by Scott, through a meditation exercise to revitalize his body. Scott described this as “Apportion Ka,” whose greatest practitioners could survive heart attacks, disease, and drowning, among other things.

Mikhail mentions doing more research on demonology at the library, and that it led to a book called Monsters and their Kynde, of which a copy exists in the NYPL Rare Books Section. He says that he discovered, in his research that a copy of this book was found in the possession of a Scotsman named Rory, a self-styled “Tighearna an Fheasgair,” (Lord of Twilight), who was a member of Clan Chattan. Mikhail says that the book contains rituals to extend life, summon demons, and make enchanted weapons.

After more bafflement at Ron and his decisions, everyone makes plans for tomorrow. It is decided that Judge Putnam, Dr. Black, Kane, Mikhail, and Johnny will visit the Lodge in the evening. Four out of the five are members and have keys, which will allow for easier access. They will try to help Mikhail discover the secrets of the basement.

October 13, 1925

Mikhail visit the Rare Books Section of the NYPL and performs a cursory reading of Monsters and their Kynde. He finds the book extremely disturbing. Mikhail copies down two spells: one that allows him to call forth a Faceless One (some kind of demon), and one that allows him to enchant a blade. Mikhail eyes his “borrowed” Masonic sword with magical intent.

Dr. Black and Vivian both have interviews with Vincenzo Bernouse. He seems to believe both of their stories. What will come of this, if anything, remains a mystery.

Later that night, a large part of the group descends upon the Silver Twilight Lodge. Judge Putnam and Dr. Black head upstairs to the library, where they encounter Carl Stanford. The three exchange pleasantries before settling down to do some light occult reading. Both judge and doctor independently determine that they will attempt to keep Stanford in the library for as long as humanly possible.

Kane and Johnny hang around downstairs, waiting until they are unobserved to open the back door and let Mikhail in. The three of them then  disappear into the basement. Mikhail is relieved to find that the basement is much as he left it, and that the padlock on the door to the back room remains unlocked.

The trio enters, and soon discovers a loose brick on one of the walls of the room. Johnny depresses it, which causes one of the large tiles on the floor to lift off, carried upward by some kind of mechanism. This reveals a carved, stone staircase leading down into darkness. It is fortunate indeed that Johnny has brought a flashlight. It is even more fortunate that Kane has brought two.

Cavern, Level One

Cavern, Level 1

Kane, Mikhail, and Johnny descend into a cavern deep beneath the earth. The front portion of the cavern is sub-divided with brick walls into several rooms. The trio explore these rooms and find the following:

• A room with tables and wall pegs. On one of these pegs is a key ring. Kane takes it.
• A well-appointed study with a locked door to another room.
• Johnny later finds the key to the locked door taped to the bottom of one of the desk drawers. 
• This allows him to enter another well-appointed room with a shelf containing books of various types and a large, free-standing wardrobe. Resting atop the wardrobe is a small notebook, written in code, which he takes.
• A room where a brown-stained altar stone stands in front of a red curtain.
• Pulling back the curtain reveals a bas-relief of a horrifying sea monster/leviathan thing, holding a sun disc and trampling the peoples of the earth beneath its feet. Kane is unbothered by the carving. The others are more deeply affected.

A tunnel leads to a much larger cavern, whose roof is supported by massive, stone pillars. The trio explore this cavernous space, though Johnny grows increasingly nervous about the ordeal. However, Mikhail hears metallic tapping coming from…somewhere…and soon discovers a spiral staircase leading down. Despite Johnny’ protests, Mikhail insists on delving even deeper.

Cavern, Level Two

The Cavern, Level 2

A long hallway opens out onto a cavern at least as vast as the one on the level above. The trio notes that there are several oubliette-like pits in the floor of this room, all of which are covered by hand-welded iron gratings.

Mikhail, of course, wants to see what they contain, and so ventures to the nearest one to shine his borrowed flashlight down into it. What they see is a misshapen humanoid figure with wrinkled, oozing skin, and an eyeless, tortured face. Despite being blind, it seems to notice the light, which causes it to “look” right at Mikhail and shriek. This causes things in other pits to scream in response, until the entire cavern is filled with this inhuman cacophony.

Johnny immediately heads for the stairs. Kane, to no avail, tries to get Mikhail to leave. Mikhail refuses, plunging on deeper into the gloom.

It is at this point that Johnny unlocks and enters the library room upstairs.

The sound of the metallic tapping is louder now, and Mikhail and Kane follow it to a row of locked cells carved into one of the cavern’s walls. Most of them are either empty or filled with human remains. The last contains James Clark. He is manacled to the wall, starving, dehydrated, and utterly mad. He is responsible for making the metallic noise, as he has been obsessively banging his shackled wrists together.

Kane discovers that keys on the ring he’s found unlock both James’ cell and manacles. Kane now insists that they have to leave, and Mikhail finally agrees. James, catatonic and pliable, comes with them.

They reunite with Johnny who is, frankly, horrified that they are bringing James along with them. After a brief argument, he acquiesces and lets them rescue James, provided that they make sure the caverns are otherwise in order when they leave. To this end, Johnny locks up the library and replaces the key, Kane hangs the ring of keys on the peg, and Mikhail locks the padlock once they leave the basement’s back room.

Once back on the surface, Johnny gives the Judge’s car keys to Kane and Mikhail, and orders them to drive James back to the Judge’s house. After they leave, Johnny tries to collect his thoughts in the Lodge's bar when he runs across Carl Stanford, who is apparently on his way to the restroom. Mr. Stanford is closely followed by Judge Putnam and Dr. Black, who are trying to keep him from roaming around the lodge with minimal success.

Johnny has an awkward conversation with Mr. Stanford before all but shoving the judge and doctor out the door. They take a cab back to Judge Putnam’s house, much to the judge’s and the doctor’s befuddlement. Once there, Johnny calls Ron and Vivian to come over right the heck now.

James Clark, Esq.

Return of the Italian Soap Opera 

While everyone else made plans to do some little basement delving, Ron buys a new dress (not for himself) and swings by his ex-girlfriend’s new apartment that overlooks Central Park. He arrives at the apartment only to find that Vivian is also there, helping Gabriella (his ex-girlfriend) unpack.

Things are weird, yet positive, at least at first. Ron gives Gabby the new dress. Gabby goes into the bedroom to deal with her feelings. Vivian wants to know what the hell Ron is doing here.

Ron asks both Viv and Gabby if either of them know Billy Young, his wife’s current boyfriend. Neither of them do. Gabby becomes  very defensive about the question, and wants to know if Ron thought that she was cheating on him with this Billy guy.

Ron says, no, of course not. He tells her that Billy is the guy who is dating his wife and suggests that, you know, maybe, since she’s single, if she wants to, that Gabby could go out with Billy, leaving Ron free to pursue Connie, his wife.

This is the exact moment when the conversation becomes completely unsalvageable.

Viv tries, numerous times, to get Ron to leave. Ron and Gabby exchange increasingly mean-spirited words with one another. At one point, Gabby becomes so incensed that she picks up a heavy, ceramic lamp and makes as if to smash it over Ron’s head. Viv steps between the two, orders Ron to get the hell out. Ron steps around her and all but dares Gabby to hit him.

So, she does.

Ron, dazed and bleeding badly from a superficial head wound, offers no resistance as Viv brings Gabby into the bathroom to help her calm down. Ron continues to shout at the pair of them through the door, while Gabby shouts at him to get out.

The kerfuffle summons the building’s elevator operator, who hears the screaming from the hallway. Just as he’s about to intervene, Ron, at Viv’s insistence, leaves. Battered and bloody, he steps past the elevator operator, descends to his car, and drives himself to the hospital.

Several hours later, stitched up and doped up on painkillers, Ron thinks it’s a good idea to find out where Billy Young works. It takes a couple of phone calls, but he works out that Billy works for the Good Year Cab Company.  Ron goes down there, in bloody clothes, with his forehead stitched up, and confronts Billy in the garage. He makes a big show of telling Billy that there isn’t anything he can do, because Ron is great and the best, and will win back his wife’s heart. Billy doesn’t do or say anything and is visibly relieved when Ron finally leaves.

Viv gets back to the Bernouse residence sometime before Ron. An hour or so later, she gets a phone call from Johnny asking her to drive to Judge Putnam’s house.  With Ron nowhere to be found, she has Luca, one of her dad’s employees, take her over.

Sometime after that, Ron gets home, changes his clothes, and finds a note saying that Johnny wants him over at Judge Putnam’s house ASAP. Ron starts the longish trip across town and will arrive at the gathering late.