Cannich Part Six: March 21, 1926 (Night)

Regrouping and Rearming

The group split into two, with some returning to Cannich for various reasons, while others stayed put to watch the cottage. The plan was to take care of some things, come back together, and explore the tunnel into Creag Dhubh that was accessible from inside the cottage.

The Group at the Cottage

Mikhail went and fetched both Pushok and Seamus MacRae’s baby blanket from the car. He returned to find Judge Putnam sitting behind some shrubbery and resting his injured leg, while Kane Eastman picked up the scattered brass and explored the cottage a bit more.

While Kane was inside the cottage, he heard the door to the tunnel open up and hid himself inside the cottage’s tiny, filthy kitchen. Peering through the kitchen door, he watched as a misshapen figure in a hooded robe wandered around, resetting traps and trying to put the table back upright. When it failed at this latter task, it departed for the tunnel again.

Kane returns to the others to tell them this news, but only after searching the wood stove in the kitchen and finding a partially burned paper that read, “We went up…care of Chis…buried him at…no sign of…of the Disc.”

The Burned Note that Kane Found

Judge Putnam become very restless, and tells Kane and Mikhail that he wants to move as quickly as possible to rescue Seamus MacRae. The group agrees and approaches the house. Kane finds a long stick and uses it to disarm the rearmed traps. The group then uses stationery plucked from the ruins of Duncan MacBain’s living room to leave a note for the others. After tacking this note on the cottage’s front door, they prepare to descend.

The Group in Cannich

Ron attempts to cover up his bloodstained clothing before walking into the Slaters Arms and demanding the key to his room. He encounters both Luca and Jimmy Rizzo, both of whom attempt to engage with Ron, but quickly back off when they realize Ron has seen some shit tonight.

Ron changes his clothes, packs up, turns in his key, and checks in at the bed and breakfast a short distance up the street. The deaf old lady who runs the place charges him a reasonable rate and provides him with a small room with its own wood-burning stove. Ron uses the stove to get rid of his bloody clothing.

He considers going to sleep, but as he puts his head down, he hears the joyful laughter of a child playing outside. He opens the window and sees Nellie Thompson playing with dolls in the B&B’s yard. She asks him all innocently, if he has “had another fight with the missus,” which causes Ron no end of consternation. He proceeds to leave the B&B to confront the little girl and, after some questioning, realizes that Nellie knows quite a lot more than she’s letting on.

The Return of Everyone's Favorite Creepy Little Girl

Ron, dumbfounded by this information, goes to get his friends for backup.

Meanwhile, Vivian has also entered the Slaters Arms. She sees Tommy Hayes at the table and, remembering that his name is on the list of coven members they recently found, vows to get to the bottom of it. She then goes upstairs to talk to Luca, who tells her that Tommy is staying at the Arms, and that his room is right across the hall.

At Vivian’s insistence, Luca picks the lock. Then Vivian searches Tommy Hayes’ room. She finds a false bottom in one of Tommy’s suitcases that contains: a box containing powders and a brush, 100 pounds sterling in various denominations, a combat knife, and a small, black notebook written in a symbolic cypher. She replaces everything where she found it and, with the mystery of Tommy deepening, goes downstairs to meet up with the others.

No sooner does she do so than Ron comes running in, demanding that Vivian, Dr. Black, and Johnny go with him to meet Nellie Thompson. Tommy Hayes notices Ron and gives him an, “are you okay?” look. Ron ignores him.

The conversation with Nellie is fraught with frustration for Ron, as Nellie seems to revert to an average, if still precocious, child once Ron’s friends are around. Baffled at what to do, Ron sputters. The group tells Nellie that she should probably go home and go to sleep, which she says she will do. Once she’s out of earshot, the group decides to return to Creag Dhubh to rejoin the others and find Seamus MacRae.

At this point, Dr. Black suggests that they stop by the church to speak to Brother Theodore. His suggestion is mostly ignored, but it does prompt Ron to say that he does want to bring a stranger along with them back to the mountain. Specifically, Tommy Hayes.

Now the group is baffled. Ron, however, cannot be dissuaded from this course of action and insists that he, “knows people” and that he “has a good feeling” about Tommy.

Tommy Hayes, Just Happy to Be Here

At Ron’s urging, the group compels Tommy to leave the Slaters Arms and come talk to them outside. He seems surprised at the group’s interest, and explains, when asked, that he was concerned about Ron because he happened to notice some blood on Ron’s previous outfit. Ron refuses to tell Tommy much of anything, other than to explain that the group is going to rescue Baby MacRae and wants to know if Tommy will help. Tommy says he will. Johnny, completely distrustful of Tommy, vows to keep an eye on him.

Beneath Creagh Dhubh

Upon entering the tunnel, Mikhail waves Seamus MacRae’s blanket under Pushok’s nose. Pushok, noticeably skittish, picks up on the scent and leads Mikhail, Kane, and Judge Putnam deep under ground into a large cavern. The trio attempts to remain as quiet as possible, but Pushok, startled by something moving around in the dark, starts barking and yowling fiercely.

This draws the attention of one of the denizens of the cave who pulls out some kind of ray gun and starts firing silver-white beams at the trio. The group takes shelter behind some stalagmites and return fire. Kane fires off a volley and hits, and seems to kill, their attacker.

Meanwhile, the other group has returned to Creag Dhubh and has found the note left by Judge Putnam, Kane, and Mikhail. Dr. Black determines that the trio left the note about 20 minutes previously. Armed with this information, the group, including Tommy Hayes, enters the tunnel and follows after them. Tommy, a Londoner, notes the arsenal the group is carrying and remarks how illegal it is, attempting to lighten the mood. The rest of the group mostly ignores him.

As they progress, they hear the gunshots from the battle described above. After a few minutes of calling out to one another and searching through the cave, they manage to find the others and become one group again. At this time, Kane approaches the downed, robed figure who is laying face down in a spreading pool of black blood. Kane flips the figure over on its back, revealing that it is a hunched and ugly serpent-like biped. The group is collectively horrified.

Everyone's Favorite Valusians

Things get a little bit ugly when Tommy attempts to commiserate with the group, only to be told that they know that he is a member of the coven and, as such, is likely responsible for the horrifying things that they are encountering. Tommy protests his innocence and, when the group presses him for evidence, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a badge. He tells them that he works for Scotland Yard, and that he is in the process of infiltrating the Cannich Coven to bring it down. Johnny still doesn’t trust him.

The Attack of the Serpentpeople

The Caverns of Creag Dhubh

By now, the group can hear activity going on in other parts of the cavern complex. Realizing that they have almost certainly been discovered, they attempt to move as quickly as possible to find Seamus MacRae. Pushok picks up the scent and leads the group down a doglegged tunnel into another large cavern, dominated by an altar stone and by carved stone stairs that lead up into the darkness.

In the room are two serpentpeople who, from positions on the stairs, fire at the group with projectile weapons that look like a strange amalgam of glass and metal. These weapons fire the silver-white beams seen previously, one of which strikes and wounds Dr. Black. Johnny returns fire, killing one of the serpentpeople. Dr. Black uses his magical ability to Wrack the other serpentperson, ending the battle almost as quickly as it began.

Dr. Black finds that the light weapon has marred his skin with a strange, straited starburst pattern, and has done so without causing any damage at all to his clothing. He wonders just what sort of damage the weapon has wrought on him while the others make a quick search of the room. Johnny discovers that the sacrificial altar is consecrated in the name of the Crawling One, He of Many Faces. The others can also hear distant, hissing conversations throughout the cavern complex. Vivian and Johnny both realize that the conversations are actually in Valusian.

it is at this point that Ron is very sure he hears a baby cry out in the distance.  Dr. Black and Tommy guard the cavern while the rest of the group, with lights off, creep carefully in the direction of the baby’s cry. They eventually find their way through a narrow tunnel into a smaller cave, where two serpentpeople hiss and spit at one another and a baby—presumably Seamus MacRae—beings to cry.

This room has numerous objects scattered about the floor, but the group is moving slowly and cautiously enough that they don’t disturb any of them. Very carefully, Vivian bends down, picks up a heavy, stick-like object, and hurls it at a far corner of the cave. The resulting noise alerts the serpentpeople, one of whom wheels at the sound and opens fire with its ray gun. The bright flash of its discharge illuminates the chamber, revealing that one of the serpentpeople is holding a squalling baby.

The group attacks! Judge Putnam poleaxes armed serpentperson with the head of his cane, knocking it unconscious. Ron lets out a roar of pent up aggression and runs in to garrote the other serpentperson with a length of piano wire. Kane deftly moves along with Ron and scoops up Seamus MacRae, just as the serpent person drops him. Mikhail draws his enchanted masonic blade and gives a final coup de grace to the slowly strangling serpentperson.

The Escape

Having found Seamus MacRae, the group votes that it is more than past time for them to flee. They return to the main cavern to collect Tommy and Dr. Black. At this point, they hear two distant voices raised in a ritual chant—one of whom, Johnny notices, has a very thick Scottish brogue. Johnny catches a few words in Valusian that sound like, “terror, earth, destroyer,” and urges the group to get a move on.

The group retreats, and is almost back to the tunnel that leads up to the cottage when an earthquake hits! No one is hurt, thankfully, but a rockfall splits the group into two. On the side of the tunnel nearest the cottage is Kane (and Baby MacRae), Dr. Black, Judge Putnam, Vivian, and Ron. On the other side are Mikhail, Johnny, and Tommy.

The group nearest the exit runs out of the cottage and into the night. After ensuring that Seamus MacRae is safe, Judge Putnam and Dr. Black race back into the tunnel complex to rescue the others. Meanwhile, the group trapped in the cavern attempts to make their way to the stone staircase, their progress slowed by frequent earthquakes and falling rocks.

After a harrowing few moments, Judge Putnam, Dr. Black, Tommy, Mikhail, and Johnny all meet in the altar room and, as quickly as they dare, ascend the staircase. This leads them to a small brick room with a stone ceiling that, to their dismay, seems to offer no way out. However, the group has discovered their fair share of secret doors and, after a quick search of the room, finds a brick that, when pressed, causes the ceiling to slide back. They ascend into the empty air, finding themselves on top of Creag Dhubh by the standing stones. The altar in the midst of the stones slides back into place, blocking the staircase from view.

The "Terror, Earth, Destroyer," That the Group Did NOT Meet

The Better Part of Valor

The team regroups and flees the still shaking mountain. Once back on the main road to Cannich, they decide to first go to the constabulary and turn in the wee baby Seamus.