Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (North Borneo Part #3)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

[Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)]

After brainstorming a range of ideas for getting past the night gaunts, the team decide to simply sneak past. Zeke goes up the ragged cliff face first, followed by the rest of the team roped together like mountain climbers. Except their guide Abidin, who wisely stays hidden in the tunnel entrance in the clearing. They make it without arousing the interest of the perched monsters, and find themselves in a hexagonal tunnel. It glows with a white light, and is made of some seamless rock-like or concrete-like material. It leads into a large hexagonal room, 20 feet in height. Standing in the center of the room is a six-sided step-pyramid of polished metal, and hanging in the air above the pyramid are two hexagonal frames. In an adjacent room there are control panels inscribed in Nacaal and other weird symbols, while three walls are coated in a glossy glass or some similar material. Zeke gets down to work trying to figure out the controls, and is successful in bringing up an image on the three flat glassy panels. They show a map, which after some confusion they realize shows the earth millions of years before. There are some spots on the map in red, and Ivy sketches it all in her notebook for future reference. 

After some further fiddling about, Zeke powers up whatever is in the the adjacent room. The low hum he heard earlier now intensifies, and the team glances in the pyramid room to see the two hexagonal frames now circling around in the air. After a few moments, the two overlap and lock together. Where before is was possible to look through the individual frames, they now showed only an inky blackness. Ivy and Nigel clamber up the pyramid to look into the frames, and Ivy's keen eye's spot movement in the darkness. A huge worm-creature chewing through rock, much like the description the ghouls gave them of the creature that dug the tunnels in the clearing. The party surmises this is the portal to another dimension through which all the weird plants and monsters have travelled, and they decide to destroy it. Prying open one control panel uncovers what looks to be more serpent person technology of intricate brass gears and moving gyroscopic parts. They also finds fragments of writing in Nacaal that Oz tells them refers to Tsathoggua, which suggest the involvement of the Inner Night and further convinces them the facility needs to be destroyed.

The party is just wiring up the last of the dynamite when to their surprise Quintin Shapiro enters the chamber. He is shocked to see what they are doing, saying they need to stop so they can all shelter here. He has discovered there is no cure to the Yellow Death and they must stay here to be protected from the Haftorang device when it blows, a course of action now necessary to stop the infection from spreading. The team is suspicious. Zeke notes Shapiro is not acting like himself, being very cavalier about the death and destruction that is about to be released. Ivy notes that he is also not sweating at all; unusual for an out of shape scientist whose just climbed through the hot jungles and up the cliff face. They try to bluff him and proceed with rigging the demo charges. Quinten responds with an inhuman scream, threats of death and destruction to the human race, and leaps at Zeke. The mechanic dodges, and Nigel guns down 'Shapiro' with his Webley. When they examine the body, they find it unnaturally cold with oddly inhuman features. Even though it looks like Shapiro.

They waste no further time, and blow the facility with dynamite. Immediately the night gaunts on the cliff above disappear, as does the strange dying plants they'd observed earlier.  Collecting the shaken Abidin, the team heads back down the mountain as fast as they can, determined to figure out what happened to Shapiro and hopefully get the Haftorang device far far away. They reach the armored cars just as daylight breaks, and head for Kazin's farm and the medical tent. They find Shapiro has confirmed the disease was the Yellow Death, and that is no cure producible with the viral analyzer. There is a way to delay the progress of the disease, but in the end the person would die in a week rather than a day,. There was however a curious note that read 'hybrid?' in the margin of his notebook. 

While Ivy is picking apart their erstwhile leaders notes, the rest of the party checks the rest of the tent. In the wooden chest in which the lab chemicals and apparatus had been packed, they now find a collection of human bones and scraps of flesh. But more troubling than that was the Haftorang device. When Zeke looks inside the lid, he realizes the timer had been advanced and it will now blow in less than an hour. Given the time it would take them to get out of the blast radius, they have to leave in the next 20minutes or be caught in the blast. A fast and furious argument breaks out about what to do. Nigel insists they must try and save any uninfected folk they identify using a testing solution produced by the viral analyzer. The others, though sympathetic, didn't think they have time to do that. And are appalled by the panic and angst that would ensue when separating those who could be saved from their infected loved ones who would be left behind. Not to mention how could they get them out of the blast zone in a hurry with just the armored cars. 

In the end, Nigel has to be forced into one of the armored cars, and Ivy has to persuade the crowd now blocking the road to move out of the way so they can go get help for the sick nad dying. And having quickly checked that everyone in the party, including Abidin and their drivers, are free of the Yellow Death, they head down the winding dirt road at high speed. The tear into the army camp just as a massive conflagration explodes behind them, incinerating the jungle and all in it for miles around. As ash and debris starts to fall around them, the team is met by Captain Lancaster and a pair of officials from the North Borneo Chartered Company. Once the excitement dies down, the official's  question the team. And they, with a great deal of pragmatic skepticism, buy the story that the dormant volcanic mountain had blown and wiped out the infected zone. 

With heavy hearts at their inability to save the doomed people, the team climbs aboard their plane for the long flight back to New York and another debriefing at Caduceus headquarters. 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (North Borneo Part #2)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer) 

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

The teams initial reaction to the haftorang is to drop it into the sea from the plane. Quentin insists they need to keep it for now just in case they need it to eradicate the virus, even though the though of using it is distasteful to him. Zeke and Oz look at the device to try and disarm, and discover it is not normal human technology and has no visible 'explosive' but rather a collection of astronomical signs and sigils. The team agrees and Quentin directs them to search for Inner Night activity while he uses the viral analyzer to identify the pathogen and find a way to treat it if possible. 

First, however, they report to the officers mess to lunch with Captain Lancaster. He explains the quarantine zone, and that his men have orders to keep anyone from leaving using lethal force if needed. Inside the zone are a large number of local farmers gathered at a local tobacco plantation. They have gathered to protest mining exploration work the North Borneo Chartered Company  is carrying out. These locals believe the mining team has angered to spirits of the mountain with their blasting and drilling. The mountain had recently blessed them with wild abundance of strange fruits, but these have now died away and they blame the mining team. That exploration team is likewise trapped in the quarantine zone.  The captain does not seem too troubled by his orders when it comes to the locals, but is anxious to save the mining team.  Asked about the strange happenings on the mountain, he gestures to an odd animal head mounted on the wall. It looks like a cross between and elephant and a stegosaurus with moss skin, and he explains two of his men shot the creature outside the perimeter two nights ago. Very weird and must be a new discovery. Also very tasty, and the team realizes the steak on their plates is from the strange creature. Zeke goes ahead and eats heartily, but the rest politely avoid the meat.  Oz clairvoyantly bonds with the creature's head, and gets an impression that it comes from some other reality, and is not native to earth. 

Lunch complete, Captain Lancaster walks them over to a pair of armoured cars and drivers who will take them up the mountain to the tobacco farm and survey camp. Before they can leave a woman stumbles out of the brush, obviously sick and covered in yellow pustules. The team first moves to help her, but when she gets too close and it becomes obvious she cannot be saved, Nigel and Captain Lancaster end her misery with a pair of pistol shots. 

A hour driving up a rough track brings them to a fork in the road. They take the left fork to the survey camp, and find a ragged line of protestors outside the chain link fence surrounding a collection of pre-fab huts. Two guards stand just inside, and the team talks their way through as one goes to get Richard Clements , the head of the survey team. As they wait for him to arrive, the second guard suddenly bends over and vomits out all his rotting internal organs and dies before their eyes. Mr. Clements arrives, and seems to think the team is there to escort him and his men out of the quarantine zone. When he learns that is not the case, he gets increasingly angry and threatens them. Sensing they will get no where with him, the party leaves and goes to the tobacco plantation / refugee camp. There the plantation owner (Kazin)  meets them, and insists that the team clear the protestors off his land. He thinks once they are gone, the spread of the disease will stop. Instead the team convinces him Quentin will set up here to collect blood samples and look for a cure. Once the party has their boss settled into one of the medical tents, he directs them further up the mountain to look for Inner Night activity and any clues to the source of the Yellow Death virus. Kazin sends along a guide with them, a cheerful scruffy young man named Abadin. 

Leaving the armoured cars behind, the team proceeds on foot. They encounter a number of different tracks, some clawed and slender going up the mountain, and other hoof-like and going to the east. They continue up the mountain, and pass though areas where a kaleidoscopic array of weird plants and fruits are dying.  As they climb, they encounter two strange creatures. One looks like the thing in the officers mess, and it when encountered it charges straight at Zeke. Lucky for him Nigel drops it with a full magazine from his BAR. The second creature is a 20' fall, four-armed giant with a massive toothed maw at the top of it's head. Zeke returns the favor to Nigel by emptying his tommy gun into the thing. Oddly enough, neither sight seems to phase anyone on the team. The weird and unknown must be getting too common. 

As light is failing, they come to a clearing. Abidin tells them this is where the survey team had been blasting, and caused a rockslide that killed two men. They see the rock slide and ragged rockface ahead. On the rockface perch nights gaunts, which seem to at this point ignore them. There is also a hexagonal opening in the rock, obviously not natural and faintly glowing with a white light. There are also two, 200' wide tunnels at opposite ends of the clearing. One goes straight down, the other at a 45 degree angle, The team heads down the slopped tunnel to explore, and after some time hear noises ahead. But are surprised from behind by a hideous ghoul with hoofed feet. The noise ahead proves to be a pack of ghouls feasting on flesh infected by the Yellow Death. They don't attack, content in their feast, and instead one speaks enough English to question. The tunnel was dug by a great worm from another reality, attracted here by all the recent death in the area. This stench of death has opened the already thin veil between here and the Dreamlands, and other things like the strange plants and creatures have also come through as well. The ghouls too have been drawn here to feast, and they offer the choicest bits to the team. Who politely decline, and head back to the clearing to determine how best to get past the night gaunts and into the hexagonal tunnel ...  

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (New York Part #1 / North Borneo Part #1)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer) 

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

Over the course of the 5 day trip from Bolivia to New York City, the team discusses their experiences and what they should do when they arrived back at Caduceus headquarters. Decision is made to tell Caduceus everything, but to hold back a few of the artifacts. Specifically the 'Serpent Scepter' and the 'Pain Whip'. They feel the team as earned some 'reward' for their troubles, as well as some vague sense that they shouldn't give their employer everything. Over the course of the debate, Oz picks up the scepter to examine it clairvoyantly; and is immediately struck by horrific visons of snakes that shake him to his soul and instill a deep ophidian fear into his bones. 

Having telegraphed ahead from their last refueling stop, the party is met at the airport in New York and brought to the Meadham Building, centre of operations for the Caduceus Foundation. There the serpent person mummy Tyranissh is whisked away and the team is brought to the previously out of bounds 7th floor. There they turn in their expense reports to Philip Connors, the special operations quartermaster, and then meet with Quinten Shapiro, who debriefs them on the mission. The team also asks him a few things about what they observed, but he is unable to any specific information. He also turns down a request from Nigel to meet Mr. Meadham and offer him a gift of fine cigars and rum they picked up in Cuba on the way back. But Quinten does have Mr. Meadham's personal secretary, Deloras Parville, take the gift and bring them to her boss. 

When the debrief is complete, Quinten repeats what they were told over the radio while in  Bolivia. That the team now knows the true mission of Caduceus, and having been thrown into the deep end (successfully he adds) they have been granted Tier Two access to the organization. And leaves them each a portfolio of documents to review, telling them they will meet again in the morning to be briefed on a new mission. 

The documents lay out the history of the serpent people (much as Oz has already learned from the 'Annuals of Mu' scroll in the mummy temple) and learn the serpent people remain active on earth today. But they further learn of a split between the serpent person followers of Yig and the followers of Tsathoggua. Those of Yig seem content to let humanity be, knowing they cannot compete with humans or they risk annihilation. The followers of Tsathoggua on the other hand have the elimination of the human race as their goal, spearheaded by a group known as the Inner Night. These were likely the serpent people the team encounter in Bolivia. The documents explain that sometime around 1912, the head of Caduceus Joshua Meadham had a violent encounter with the followers of Tsathoggua, which lead him to sell off his successful pharmaceutical business and devote his fortune and money to protecting humanity from the serpent folk under the cover of the Caduceus Fountain and it's charitable medical works.  

Somewhat shaken on having their suspicions confirmed, the party scatters to various haunts through the evening before meeting Quinten back at the Meadham Building in the morning. Their handler is packed and ready, and he tells them they must leave immediately for North Borneo. Caduceus has received a request from the North Borneo Chartered Company for assistance in combating an outbreak of what the company believes is a virulent strain of infectious hepatitis. Caduceus however believes it to be the Yellow Death, a biological weapon created by the serpent people to depopulate areas of human habitation. The team, led by Quinten, are to go to North Borneo and investigate. Quinten will be their scientific lead and focus on identifying the infection and how to address it, while the rest of the team assists him and determines if there is a connection between the Inner Night and this outbreak. Asked about treatment for the Yellow Death, Quinten notes the advanced equipment he is bringing may be able to produce an antidote depending on the exact nature of the strain. 

Quinten takes his leave, and the party reports back to Phillip to draw equipment and supplies.  Nigel take advantage of the foundation's library to do some research on North Borneo. And in the process uncovers a pair of misplaced documents. One is a report from the chief of security about a break-in at Mr. Meadham's Connecticut estate.  In it are curious references to a temple (of Yig?) on the estate, and other comments pointing to possible serpent person activity there. The second document is from Dr. Victor Gonsalves, Caduceus Chief Researcher. It is in reference to the Cobra Crown, and notes it was once located at the Temple of the Dreamer along with the Serpent Scepter, but reports over the centuries seems to locate it in Asia and more recently in Calcutta. Mr. Meadham seems especially interested in the Crown, and is ready to fly to Calcutta at a moments notice if it is located there. There is also a curious reference to Mr. Meadham's  daughter and her possible connection with the Inner Night.  When Nigel passes these documents onto the rest of the team, Ivy heads back to the library to look for information on this daughter. It seems Rose Meadham had once been her fathers 'right hand woman', deeply involved in the operations of the Caduceus Foundation. But around 1920 all mention of her disappears, with no indication of what happened to her. 

The team collect Quinten and his pile of equipment, then head to the airport and thence on another globe spanning flight. Five days later they are approaching their destination, a British Indian Army camp and airstrip at the base of Mount Kinabalu. As Nigel focusses on keeping the plane under control in the buffeting winds blowing off the mountain, Zeke gazes out the window. And notes a pair of clouds moving against the wind very quickly and in their direction. He shouts a waning as two shadowy bat winged night gaunts (creatures of the Dreamlands) crash into the side of the plane. And rip it open, climbing inside and grabbing Ivy before once more leaping from the the plane. As the pair of gaunts prepare to drop Ivy to her death, Oz grabs a rope and leaps out of the plane in an attempt to reach Ivy before she plummets to her death. He misses, but Nigel is able successfully maneuver the plane under her and catch her in mid fall. The creatures fly off, and Nigel brings the plane more or less intact to the ground. 

Met there by a Capt. Lancaster and a half dozen turbaned soldiers, the team is invited to the officers mess for lunch once they've unloaded gear and made necessary repairs. When the Captain departs, Quinten calls the team over for urgent news. During the attack, wild flying, or Oz's bout of rage afterwards, much of their equipment was damaged. Most importantly, a wooden box Quinten had kept secret until now. He calls it the Haftorang Device, a specialized incendiary weapon designed to sterilize an area infected by the Yellow Death. It has been brought along as a last ditch defense if needed; but the damage has started the time bombs' countdown and they now have less than 24 hours to compete their mission ...

LINKS

Letter- Estate Break-in

Report- Cobra Crown 

Map - North Borneo Quarantine Zone 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Bolivia Part #4)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer) 

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

Dr. Jayaprakash Singh, PhD, P.Eng (Scholar / Engineer)

March 18th - 23rd, 1933 

As the team ponders the preponderance of snakes, Nigel re-joins them after securing the truck. And they are likewise joined by the tardy Dr. Singh, their erstwhile companion on the flight down to South America. Several attempts are made to get past the snakes. Including Oz trying mass hypnotism, burning with a jerrycan of gas, and wild plans of laying a bed of tarpaulins across the snakes and simply walking over them. None of these are successful, so the team rigs up torches and uses them to force the snakes back and clear a path. This is successful, and the team finds the snakes thin out once they are around the bend in the tunnel. Further decent brings them to  an arched opening. It is plain on the near side, but is carved on the opposite side in the from of a pair of snakes whose heads meet at the top of the arch and point into the room beyond. Everyone notes the fist size green gems that form the snake's, but Ivy is the one who discovers the eyes start to glow is anyone breaks the plane of the entrance into the chamber.  In the large chamber beyond is a spiral structure which mirrors the corkscrew shape of the temple itself. At the top however there is a seat or throne on which a humanoid figure sits. Warry of the snake arch, Nigel and Zeke take pieces of canvas tarpaulin and cover the heads  before the party enters the chamber. Both are lucky to escape a blast of green light emanating from the eyes as they do so. 

Entering the chamber, the team crosses to the structure. It and the vaulted chamber are devoid of decoration. Nigel uses his binoculars to get a closer glimpse of the figure on the elevated throne, and finds it is a dried and desiccated serpent person clade in a scarlet and gold robe. Thinking this is the mummy they have been sent to recover, the team starts to climb. But as they get about halfway there, the structure begins to shake and crumble beneath their feet. From the dust and rubble emerges a great snake, four feet across and 100 feet long. It twists its head around and drives its open maw onto Zeke, swallowing him whole.  Desperate to save their companion, the others open fire on the snake. But their bullets and blades do little damage against it's thick scales. At least until Ivy notes a scale free spot just behind it's jaw, and directs the fire of the other three to this vulnerable spot. Meanwhile, inside the beast, Zeke lashes out with dynamite and manchette until  the combined effort of those inside and out slay the foul thing and Zeke is vomited forth from the dying beasts belly. Ivy proceeds to patch up both Zeke and Nigel, who was himself battered by the snakes tail during the battle. 

With the dust now settled, the team notes the throne remains above them, supported by a pillar. Nigel climbs the pillar to get a closer look at the figure on the throne. He reaches out to touch the figure, at which point it crumbles into dust and seems to disappear into the throne. Pulling himself up atop the throne, Nigel finds a hole in the seat, which leads down the middle of the pillar and into a small chamber below. Rigging up ropes to aid the climb and decent, the team heads deeper into the bowels of the earth. Taking the lead, Dr. Singh emerges into a small chamber, design-wise almost identical to the throne room above, albeit on a much smaller scale. Peeling paint on the walls show images of a female serpent person wearing a gold and jeweled crown with a snake motif, and holding a scepter formed of a snake with a giant pearl in it's mouth. She is  surrounded by prostrate worshippers. The rest of the walls are covered with images and writing, which Oz identifies as Naacal. But he is unable to translate any of it.

This small chamber leads into another, larger but decorated the same. But here in the centre is a plinth atop which reclines a female serpent person, fresh scales glistening in their flashlight beams. There is also a large stone chest at the head of the plinth. First checking for booby traps, the team moves into the chamber. Taking a cargo net salvaged from the battlefield, four of them quickly cover the serpent person with it while Nigel stands by the tie it up with rope if necessary. But the figure, though faintly breathing, does not stir. The team now turns to the chest. Carefully opening the air-tight container, they find inside a barbed whip, several sets of crimson and gold robes, a scroll, and two wooden boxes. One box is larger and squared, the other long and narrow. Opening the boxes, the find in the long one the scepter illustrated in the wall paintings. The other, however, is empty except for a velvet cushion that seems to have once held the crown. 

Oz takes the scroll and unrolls it and is unsurprised to find it is written in Naacal. As the others labor, he reads the scroll and learn it is a history of the Second Serpent Person Empire and the lost continent of Mu. It tells the history of Mu and describe the rise of the usurper race of humanity. Opinions about humanity among the serpent people are divided. One faction of serpent people saw the future of their race in coexistence with humans and went so far as to mix their genetic material with humanity. They constructed a temple, over a dead volcano and drew upon its arcane power to fuel their engines of transformation. The rest of the serpent people saw the human race as a scourge and something to be eradicated, fearing that interbreeding would contaminate the pure serpent person bloodline. The resulting conflict led to the growth of extremist factions and a civil war. The scroll also describe an assault on the Citadel in Mu by an alien race. This attack somehow resulted in the shattering of reality, separating Mu from the rest of Earth. Many of the serpent people were left unable to return home to Mu, destined to walk in the world of men. The final passages speak of the Chosen One: a serpent person whose destiny is to unite the serpent people and lead them home to glorious Mu.

By now, the rest of the team has hauled the serpent person and the items up and out of the chamber, and they now proceed back up the temple corridor to the outside air. But they halt at the top to look for trouble. And sure enough, they spot hiding the the brush a trio of Bolivian soldiers, one of who appears to the the captain who attacked them on their arrival in the jungle. Taking advantage of their cover inside the tunnel,  Nigel turns his rifle on the captain and cuts him down, causing the other two soldier to flee into the bush. But then a rifle shot rings out from the left where their truck is hidden. Swinging  around, they see more soldiers lead by the lieutenant. He is treated by Oz and Zeke the same as the captain, and once more the other flee. 

Their mission now seemingly complete, the team wastes no time getting back to the plane and loading their finds aboard. Nigel then revs the engines and they are soon airborne, winging their way north for the long journey back to New York City and Caduceus headquarters ...

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Bolivia Part #3)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer) 

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

[Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)]

March 16th-18th, 1933 

Putting their plan into action, the party heads out from the temple towards another of the wards, this time to the south-east. After a few hours driving narrow paths and searching, they come upon another capstone on top of a low mound in the bend of a stream. Oz uses his clairvoyance and feels the presence of another guardian, and sense it had been summoned here in ages past to stand guard. Zeke takes lead on a plan to blow an opening at the edge of the capstone with dynamite. Then lays another stick at the edge to be fired remotely via a detonator he rigs using some spare wire and the starting crank form the truck. The first explosion goes as planned. After some time, Oz hears the guardian squelching up the stairs, and turns to run to let Zeke blow the second charge as the creature emerges. While wounding it grievously, the dynamite does not finish it off. The creature, moving quicker than its bulk and form would suggest, lunges forward and grabs Oz in an extended tentacle, crushing the mystic to the edge of death and unconsciousness. Zeke, Ivy and Nigel make various attempts to destroy the creature with fire and truck, but in the end the long suffering Oz is able to thrust the burning torch in his hand into the creature’s body and kill it.

Ivy patches up the mystic with first aid so they and Zeke can descend into the pit. It is identical to the first one, the same construction and the same murals at the bottom. The party climbs back out and jump in the truck to head back to the temple. As it is getting dark, they hide the truck and camp out for the night. Ivy takes some time to patch Oz up further to keep him alive and on the mend. In the morning, they see the temple has emerged another 30 feet out of the ground. The previously smooth surface now shows lines between the cyclopean blocks and signs of minor damage due to the ages. Twenty feet from the top of the temple the outline of a door is now seen. Figuring they must deal with the remaining wards to open the door and unblock other potential barriers deeper in the temple, the party heads out to blow the remaining three capstones and guardians with dynamite. Their first stop though is back to the site of the battle, to syphon more gas for the truck and gather a mix of useful gear from the leavings of war. The rest of the day and part of the next is spent travelling from ward to ward, blowing each in turn and dropping dynamite into each pit to take care of the guardian lurking there.

Returning the to the temple, the party finds it hasn’t risen any higher, but now the door is wide open. The hero’s climb the outside of the screw to the door and look inside. They find a round spiral passage, 10’ wide, looping around the perimeter of the structure and descending into darkness. The decide to plunge in, but first Ivy takes advantage of the elevated view to examine the surrounding landscape. She catches glimpses of someone or something lurking in the undergrowth nearby but cannot tell what or who.

The party proceeds with caution down the tunnel. After a couple of revolutions of the passage, they see bas-relief depicting similar events to the murals in the ward pits. After a few more turns of the path, Zeke triggers a wicked blade trap and avoids losing his head by a whisker. Continuing further and deeper, they suddenly note objects falling from the ceiling. The bean of their flashlights shows them to be snakes of all types and sizes, emerging from cracks and crevices in the stone ceiling. The numbers increase as they so deeper, and they eventually raise and old salvaged tarp over their heads to protect them. And then they suddenly come upon a mass of snakes, filling the entire passage for more than 20’ feet and at least a foot deep. Here they pause to decide what to do next … 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Bolivia Part #2)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer) 

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Concerned their presence may be a danger to the aid camp, the party parts ways with Dr. Gomez and heads to the scene of the recent battle, looking for clues. While passing through the battlefield around the ford, Zeke has the party stop for awhile so he can get one of the abandoned trucks running.  They then drive across the ford and after short search find their first clue; the remains of a large, alien concrete slab destroyed by an artillery shell. It had covered a 40’ diameter well or pit, which under the layers of moss and lichen is covered with strange writings and carvings of unknown origin. The pit is likewise clad in this strange concrete. And has a stairway winding around the perimeter and descending deep into the darkness.  The party enters the abyss warily, and after some 1000 feet come to the bottom. Their flashlights illuminate a series of murals painted on the walls, showing that this location is one of five identical places, at the centre of which was marked a location of some importance. Also shown are strange serpent-men, some using whips to direct hairy giants to build a cone shaped temple. One serpent person is shown holding a scepter and wearing an ornate snake crown. Oz spends some time examining these carvings closely, and learns both some things better left unknown, as well as a smattering of the ancient language scattered among the murals and on the capstone. 

Finishing with the murals, the party begins its trek back up the stairs. And just as they reach the top, a large amorphous shape looms over the edge of the pit, blocking the light of the stars. The light of Nigel’s flashlight reveals a black, protean being; a lump of with hundreds of rudimentary legs. The sight causes Ivy to scream in terror and lunge back down the dark stairs, while the others are horrified to see their bullets have no effect. Nigel makes a small fire of scotch and bandages on the stairs, which makes the creature hesitate. So as the fire burns down, Zeke leaves a lit stick of dynamite. Everyone retreats deeper into the pit as the dynamite explodes and showers them with rubbery, singed flesh. And leaves a gap in the stairs. This Nigel jumps across, hauling a rope with which he pulls the rest of the party across (including the still visibly shaken Ivy) to the surface where they set up camp for the rest of the night. 

Dawn the next morning. The party strikes out to the NW, plotting a course based on their seized map and the information from the mural. After some hours of following pitted, winding tracks, they come upon another of the cement capstones. This one intact. They do not disturb it, instead striking off to the SW to look for another and hopefully thereby pinpoint the centre of the pentagram and the temple. After more slow driving, they come over a low hill and break into open land. In the near distance they see hints of another capstone. But approaching it is a small party of Bolivia soldiers. These spot the truck and unshoulder their weapons. Nigel immediately drops the clutch and slams the accelerator to the floor,  barrelling down the hill at high speed. A few shots ring out, but the fool-hardy aviator slams the truck into the Bolivian sergeant and then into a large dog-creature accompanying the soldiers. The remaining soldiers are cut down by rifle fire and machete blows from the rest of the party. The party loots the bodies of more rifles, ammo, and dynamite. But to their horror they find the sergeant is not a man at all. The collision has torn away his skin, revealing scales and cold reptilian eyes.  The ‘dog’ likewise exhibits a strange mix of mammalian and reptilian features, as well as venomous fangs. 

The party once more ignores the capstone, hurrying off to find the temple. But leave a false map behind to throw off any pursuit. More slow driving brings them to a clearing in the forest. In it sits a strange structure; a conical helix some thirty feet tall, like the tip of a massive stone screw protruding from the ground. Oz climbs the corkscrew exterior but discovers no entrance or clues. The other search the base and likewise come up empty handed. Ivy, however, notes that based on the way the turf and vegetation have been torn away from the base, the ‘screw’ emerged from under the ground only recently. Probably not more than a week ago; which matches with the destruction of the first capstone from artillery fire and release of the guardian from he pit. They surmise that more of the pits needs to be broken open to get access to the temple … 

Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Bolivia Part #1)

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer) 

Nigel Thorne, VC, DSC (Thrill Seeker / Explorer)

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

The campaign begins with the heroes in the employ of the Caduceus Foundation, a charitable organization that provides medical and humanitarian aid to disaster areas and war zones around the world. Their party, lead by Dr. Arturo Ursini, has flown 5 days from the foundations' New York headquarters to the wilds of Bolivia. They are to help set up a field hospital to treat the military and civilian victims of the Chaco War raging between Bolivia and Paraguay. 

Leaving their plane at a remote landing field, the party leads a train of mules carrying medical supplies (and Nigel's scotch supply) on foot towards the aid camp some hours north. They are almost there when Dr. Ursini stops them and begins to tell them there is more to the mission than they've been told. And that Caduceus isn’t everything it pretends to be. But before he could tell any more, a shot rings out from the jungle, killing the doctor. A small party of Bolivian soldiers has ambushed the party. In the ensuing firefight, Nigel, Oz, and Zeke are all wounded by rifle fire. The party tries to raise their humanitarian credentials, but to no avail. Fighting back, they kill the four soldiers trying to surround them through the jungle, and Nigel drives off the officer firing on them with a few well placed shots from his Webley .445. In the process of fleeing, the officer drops a backpack. Nigel also notes the man took more shots than he should have been able to and still remain standing. 

The party recovers and loots and the bodies. They loot rifles, ammunition from the soldiers, as well as a short range radio and three sticks of dynamite. Try to take uniforms for disguise, but they are too blood stained and/or poor fitting. From Dr. Ursini's baggage they recover a rough map of the area, letters of introduction,  a mission briefing talking about a temple, a mummy and a 'level 3 threat'. And a .45 Colt revolver, plus 3 more sticks of dynamite and a short wave radio. From the backpack dropped by the fled Bolivian officer, they recover three more sticks of dynamite, a stone flute, a compass and what seems to be a map or diagram covered in strange unrecognizable writing. Parts of the diagram/map had been scratched out. Oz takes the stone flute and uses clairvoyance on the object, learning that it is an object of primordial evil predating the dawn of man. He warps it carefully and tucks it away.  

Listening on the soldiers radio, they hear infrequent snippets of conversation. Sounds like several teams of men searching. For what they can't tell. The party gathers the mules and continue on for the aid station, passing a partially ruined village along the way. The aid station looks innocent enough, except for a group of army tents at one end, occupuied by a pair of Bolivian soldiers.  

They enter the aid camp and meet Dr. Rafael Gomez and the rest of the medical staff. They get their wounds dressed and talk to the doctor. He seems above board, and gives no hint he knows anything more about the mission beyond the humanitarian aspect. He says a group of Bolivian soldiers arrived two days ago and set up camp. Although Dr. Gomez was not happy with this, there was little he could do against the armed men. And though they acted strangely, the soldiers have left them alone apart from destroying the camp radio. 

Zeke and Ivy approach the soldiers camp, to talk and distract so Oz could sneak into the officers tent to look for clues. The soldiers act oddly, like they are drugged or have some intense 1000 year stare. They also smell awful, and have obviously not been looking after themselves. One has multiple minor wounds that have likewise have not been treated. They do, however, notice Oz trying to sneak into the tent and turn on him. Oz fast talks his way out of the trouble, and learns the soldiers are still under what they believe to be their normal chain of command. But it is strange that they have been left behind here searching for something while the rest of the army has followed the battle front miles to the east. 

Leaving the soldiers, the party heads off into the jungle to find a safe place to set up their radio and call Caduceus HQ in New York. Patched through to Dr. Quentin Shapiro, a Caduceus scientist and team handler, they learn their true mission, and the true mission of Caduceus:

"You’ve probably guessed by now that Caduceus does more than provide humanitarian aid. Our teams also seek out threats against humanity and deal with them. You are one such team. Ursini was supposed to explain this to you all. On March 4th, an artillery shell hit a site of interest near to the aid camp you are now in. Some kind of ancient guardian was released and may still be at large. We don’t know what it is, but we consider it to be dangerous, so be careful. We’re interested in what this guardian is protecting. We believe that you’ll find a temple in the local area. Inside the temple, you’ll find a mummy. Your job is to bring the mummy back to us. Alive!" 

The party starts sizing up their maps and documents to decide what to do next. 

WEAPON STATS

Argentine Mauser Model 1889

7.65 x 33mm 

SKILL: Firearms(rifle)

DAMAGE:  2D6+4 

RANGE:  110 yards 

SHOTS PER ROUND: 1

MAGAZINE: 5

MALFUNCTION: 98

 

.45 Revolver (Nigel's Webley .445 and Dr. Ursini's Colt .45) 

SKILL: Firearms(pistol)

DAMAGE:  1d10+2 

RANGE:  15 yards 

SHOTS PER ROUND: 1 (3)

MAGAZINE: 6

MALFUNCTION: 100

Machete

SKILL: Fighting (Brawl)

DAMAGE: 1d8+DB 

 

LINKS

Aid Camp Map

Dr. Ursini's Map

Dr Ursini's Mission Brief 

Introduction Letter to Dr. Gomez 

Bolivian Officer's Map