Pulp Cthulhu - The Two Headed Serpent (Calcutta Part#3 / Brazil Part#1)

 DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

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

Zeke and Ivy work frantically to pull their unconscious colleagues from the wrecked car. Luckily the approaching police officers are still caught in the crowd, but the truck from the fort is not so impeded. The two finally pull Oz and Nigel out, along with some choice items of their gear, then toss a grenade in the wreckage to destroy anything incriminating. Dragging the comatose two, Ivy and Zeke head up the stairs and inside the Victoria Monument. Pausing for a moment to let Oz and Nigel recover, they then all run out the back door, looking for somewhere to hide  or a vehicle to use in their escape. Finding nothing, and with the truck full of soldiers almost on top of them, Zeke whips out the Cobra Crown and convinces Oz to put it on in the hope that it will give the mystic some sort of power to help them. Immediately, the cobras on the crown animate, and drill their tails into Oz's skull. Oz now feels the power to control snakes and other reptilian creatures, as well as the ability to summon nearby snakes. Which he starts to do just as the army truck pulls up and  disgorges soldiers from the back. 

Confronted by a young Lt. Williams intent on taking them into custody, Nigel manages to use a mix of fast talk and impressive war stories to convince the officer they are some sort of special operatives. While the lieutenant won't let them go, he agrees to take them to his own commanding officer  instead of just locking them up. His men load the teams gear in the truck, wave off the now arriving police and, and then load everyone aboard to head back to Fort William. As they drive, Oz orders the cobras he has attracted to attack their captors. The venomous snakes kill half the soldiers, while the others jump out of the back and and quickly left behind.  Zeke crawls on to of the truck cab, and as another cobra kills the driver, slides into the driver seat and takes control of the vehicle. Slamming on the brakes, he pushes Lt. Williams out of the cab, and Nigel slips into the drivers seat. And gets them to the airport quickly, stealthy and without raising any further alarm.  They make it to their plane, and as they board notice another plane with a Caduceus crest on the side, taxiing for take-off. Assuming the is Joshua Meadham, they initially plan to quickly follow him into the air and try shooting him down with their small arms.  But in the end decide to just rely on Nigel's piloting skill and outfly him, figuring they are headed to Brazil and the gate to Mu as well. 

Two weeks of flying from one airport to another finally lands them in Santos, the port of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Hiring an out of the way hanger, they get the plane out of sight. Questioning the airport personnel, they learn no one matching the description of Rose or Joshua Meadham have landed recently. Nigel figures his marathon flying has gained them a half day at most, so the team hires a truck to bring them down to the docks where they hope to find a boat to take them to the Ilha de Queimada Grande aka Snake Island. Once there, they find it impossible to hire a boat. No one will take them on the water, and certainly no one will take them to Snake Island. They also note a small steamer nearby flying a Caduceus pennant. Zeke uses his contacts and makes a phone call to the local US Navy attaché, learning that a US Navy task force is stationed offshore but the attaché doesn't know why. There was some thought of requesting a boat from the Navy, but in the end they decide just stealing one would be their best bet. 

While they wait, a young boy approaches with a folded piece of paper. Nigel takes the paper and unfolds it, revealing a crude drawing a a serpent eye. Which to their horror, then blinks at them! The young boy, looking at the paper with them, suddenly gasps and they see his shadow start to to wrap itself around him in a constricting embrace. Before they can do anything to help, the boy is dead. And Oz feels his shadow start to grasp his body. After a few panicked moments, the team hauls Oz into cover where he cast no shadow, thereby saving him from death. 

Fearful now of going out in the sunlight, the team watches helplessly as a group of vehicles approaches the Caduceus ship, loading men and supplies. After this, the ship raises steam and heads out the harbour.  Shortly after, as darkness had fallen, the team slips out onto the docks and steal a boat to make their way under cover of darkness across the waters to Snake Island. 

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

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

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

The team finishes their tea and discuss next steps. They decide to head to the museum, hoping to find more clues before checking out the shrine of Masa Devi by the Adi Ganga canal. At the museum they bluff their way into the office of the curator, Nathanial Blyth. They quickly learn Blyth is tired of talking about the Cobra Crown as the museum doesn't have it and has no information on the artifact The assistant curator, Vatsala Kumtekar, who posted the newspaper notice has not been back to work for days, obviously too embarrassed to show himself at work.  Blyth does let slip that, among everyone else who have been asking, a pair that sound like Meadham and Canning were at the museum the day before Kumtekar disappeared. And the team thus assumes Kumtekar is dead and there is little more to learn on this path of inquiry. 

Back to their hired car, the team gets Narayan to bring them deep into the slums to the shrine of Mansa Devi. They arrive in a little square in front of a garish but somewhat rundown shrine. At the top of the steps leading inside stands a large statue of a woman wearing a snake crown. They also encounter a scene of chaos, with injured and dead scattered in the square and more still stumbling out of the shrine. Ivy examines one of the fallen and sees they all suffer hemorrhaging from eyes, ears and mouth, and that is is not a natural injury. The team fires a few rounds into the air to clear the mass of humanity blocking their way, and push into the shrine to investigate. But are stopped by an old woman who is the shire keeper. They learn one of the temple adherents, a man named Kiran Kapoor, broke into just an hour before, forced his way into the lower shire and stole the crown of Mansa Devi! It was he that caused such death and destruction, but how or why the woman could not say. 

As they pondered this new mystery, the team hears a commotion outside. The old woman translates for them; the people are saying Kiran Kapoor has returned!  Everyone rushes outside, and the team sees a small man approaching, stumbling as in a daze. The crowd parts fearfully for him. He reaches the step, and raising a hand in greeting whispered "she stole my face" before disintegrating into a pile of dust! This causes more panic and pandemonium, and the crowd quickly disperses. Oz reaches out  to the dusty remains to use his clairvoyance power. In his minds eye, he sees Kiran talking to an unknown woman about the shrine and the crown. The woman then reaches out to him  and Oz senses the man's life force being pulled from him, leaving just an empty shell. And the woman now wears the visage of Kiran Kapoor. Oz finally senses the empty shell of the man wander back to the shrine. 

Stymied once more and out of leads, the team decides to head for the Victoria Monument where they'd agreed to meet Tyranissh, hoping the serpent woman would be there and give them some idea of what to do next. As they drive up towards the open common and the monument, they encounter a huge crowd, who are cheering for someone standing atop the monument dome. The figure is proclaiming the glory and the might of Mansa Devi, punctured with a display of magic and illusions. Sharp-eyed Ivy recognizes the figure as Kiran Kapoor. She also notes two cars at opposite ends of the crowd. One contains a pair of Rose Meadham's goons, while the other is occupied by Joshua Meadham and Canning! 

Sensing trouble, they pool all their cash and buy Narayan's car, sending the poor man home and out of danger. At this point, Kiran pulls out what looks to be the Cobra Crown and moves to place it on his head. As he does, the man changes into the form of Tyranissh. Moving fast, Nigel fires a shot at her wrist, causing the serpent woman to drop the Crown to the ground below. Zeke and Ivy start to push through the crowd, but are slowed by the mass of people. Nigel, dropping his BAR, jumps behind the wheel of the car. Joined by Oz, he drives wildly through the crowd, throwing bodies left and right in an attempt the reach the Crown before Tyrannish. Meanwhile, Canning has also starting pushing through the crowd, having as much easier time of it than Ivy and Zeke. The Inner Night goons instead copy Nigel and drive their car through the crowd as well. 

Tyrannish climbs gecko-like down the building and reach the crown first.  But Canning arrives almost as quickly, lashing out a serpent-like tongue and entangling/paralyzing the serpent woman. With the Crown almost in his hands, Canning is cut down by automatic fire from Nigel and laser staff bolts from Oz. This frees Tyrannish, and she now turns her wrath on the team. Ivy, having snatched the fallen Crown, jumps in then car. But Tyrannish calls down a fist of force that smashes the car and flips it over. She slams down again on the vehicle, trapping both Oz and Nigel and knocking them unconscious. At this point, the Inner Night goons arrive and wrench the Crown from Ivy's hands. Who lets them take it, as she has cleverly swapped it with the fake crown while tumbled in the back seat. The goons retreat, and Ivy crawls out of the smashed wreckage with the real Crown. But as Tyrannish prepares a final fatal blow on the team, Zeke unloads a drum of Tommy Gun fire into her and the dispersing crowd. The serpent woman (and a few bystanders) go down in a hail of .45 bullets. Looking around, they see Meadham directing his driver the pull away from the scene, and hear the sound of police whistles and diesel engines as a truck full of Indian soldiers pulls out of  Fort William and heads across the common towards the monument...

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

DRAMATIS PERSONAE:

Zeke Broda (Grease Monkey / Mechanic)

Ivy Guinness (Outsider / Nurse) 

Oz the All Knowing (Mystic / Entertainer)

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

After seven days of travel, the team lands at Dum Dum Airport on the outskirts of Calcutta. After first hiring a secure hanger for the plane, the team hires a car and driver (the unfazeable and cheerful Narayan) for the duration of their stay. Directing their driver to find them a hotel, Narayan bring them into the heart of the city to the Great Eastern Hotel. Inquiring as to any less opulent establishments, Narayan notes there is the equally upscale Grand Hotel, and a series of more moderate establishments catering to European travelers (Bristol Hotel, Conrad Arms, Fairlawn Hotel). But Nigel convinces the team this is the place to be, and notes Joshua Meadham would likely stay nowwhere but the best hotel. Questioning the doorman, the team is somewhat alarmed to learn Meadham and Canning are both in the lobby right now! Nigel goes in to eavesdrop and watch, he being the one team member Meadham has not met face to face. The old man, with Canning standing an intimidating guard nearby, is inquiring about two men (Tulsidas Vikmatji and Jonathan Taylor). Learning they has checked out, Meadham turns to leave. He locks eyes momentarily with Nigel, but does not recognize him. 

With Meadham and Canning gone, the team questions to doorman about Vikmatji and Taylor, wondering what they have to do with Caduceus or the Cobra Crown. They find no link to the mission, but get good description of the two men; early 30's, well dressed and educated. After checking into the Great Eastern themselves, Oz obtains and skims the last few Sunday editions of The Statesman newspaper. He notes the India Museum has a standing column in the paper announcing upcoming exhibits and shows. But there is no mention of the Cobra Crown, and the column is bylined to "Nathaniel Blyth - Curator", not the Mr. Kumtekar their own newspaper clipping identifies as the curator.  He also find the original announcement of the Cobra Crown exhibit, but it is buried away elsewhere in the paper away from the regular museum announcements.

Deciding they need to follow-up on this discrepancy, the team piles in the car for the drive to the India Museum. As Narayan weaves through the crowds and traffic, tragedy occurs. A man runs out in front of the car and is struck, falling to the pavement.  Ivy leaps out to help, but the man is beyond saving, his head smashed open and oozing brains and blood onto  the cobblestones. As the others join her, they note he is a rather well dressed European. As the crowd, interested for fleeting moment, starts to drift away, the team also notes two other points of interest. One,  a woman watches the scene from a nearby car, parked on the side of the road from which the man ran. Ivy recognizes her as Rose Meadham. The car then pulls away and is lost in the crowds. Two, as the team turns over the body, something rolls out from under his jacket. The Cobra Crown!!

Moving fast, the team loads the body into the car and Nigel starts rifling through the deceased's jacket for ID; the man turns out to be the mysterious Jonathan Taylor. He also finds a copy of the museum exhibit clipping; business cards for Mr. Kumtekar of the India Museum and a Reginald Askwith with the British Museum; napkin from Willard's Tearoom; and a matchbook from the Fairlawn Hotel marked "217".  Outside, Oz swiftly throws his jacket over the Crown just as an Indian policeman runs up blowing his whistle and demanding the team  stand down and turn over the body. After some discussion and bribery, the team turns over the paperwork and ID to the policeman and state they will bring the body to the police morgue. And then drive quickly away as the policeman attempts to take their names and statements. Narayan looses them in the twisting slums along the Hooghly River, where he finds  them someone who will take care of the body. 

Meanwhile, they examine the Crown and are not overly surprised to find it's a fake. Still unsure of where this Vikmatji and Taylor fit into things, they decide to head to the Fairlawn Hotel, assuming they'll find more information in room 217. Narayan gets them access through the kitchen and up the back stairs to the room. Faking room service, they get the door to open a crack, but still closed by the chain. A large goon confronts them, and after some tense back and forth, a female voice from inside the rooms tells the goon to let the party in. This leads to a brief standoff with guns drawn on both sides, broken by the calm words of the veiled woman sitting at a table by the window. And so the party finally meets the elusive and mysterious Rose Meadham. 

A somewhat amicable but tense conversation ensures, in which Rose attempts to convince the party that her father is the real villain with his plan to enslave humanity, while she and the Inner Night oppose him. She intends to prevent her father from getting the Cobra Crown, and use it to access the Gate to Mu on Snake Island for her own undefined purposes. The Crown, it seems, is needed to defeat the guardians of the Gate. She provides some intelligence from her agents that confirm much of what the team knows, and makes it clear that once any of the three interested parties (Tyranish, Inner Night and Caduceus) get they Crown, the next stop is Snake Island and the Gate.  Rose explains Vikmatji and Taylor are two men who claimed to have found the Crown and were going to sell it to her. But they had delayed and double crossed her, and she was now getting ready to leave Calcutta to deal with other matters. But perhaps she could make a deal with the team; they recover the Crown for her and she makes sure Joshua Meadham does not get his hands on it. The party initially tries to bluff, telling her they have the Serpent Scepter; but she tells them it is not critical to the plan. Rose is likewise unperturbed by the news Tyrannish is also in Calcutta looking for the Crown; she dismisses the Dreamer as a useless fossil of days long past. In the end, the team "agrees" to join forces, and to their surprise she hands them a Haftorang Device like the one they used to blow up Borneo. She tells them if they have the opportunity, it would be wise to plant this somewhere to take out her father for good. She assures then it is in good working order and set for a 6 hour delay.  And that that she announces her intent to leaves India, and her goons hustle the team out of the room. 

Back at the car, the team reflects on their latest questionable comrade and next steps. Maybe Willards Tearoom for a break and to look for clues? Arriving at the tearoom, they are quickly seated and are surprised to see a man matching the description of Tulsidas Vikmatji cowering behind his newspaper in an adjacent armchair. Confronted, he leaps up and runs, but after a short chase through tumbled tables and broken teapots, Nigel grabs him by the back door. Hustling him outside, the team learns the final piece of the puzzle. Vikmatji and Taylor were old university chums with plans to make their fortune recovering and selling ancient artifacts to the rich and famous. They'd learned the Cobra Crown was now held by a local Hindu cult, and were trying to figure out a way to get it from them. Along they way they crossed paths with one of Rose Meadham's spies, and so entered an agreement to sell it to her once it was in their hands. They also spoke of the crown to Mr. Kumtekar of the India Museum, and to a strange and frightening eccentric. And then Joshua Meadham arrived in town asking after them. Now frightened out of their wits, and under pressure and threat from Rose Meadham, they planned to pawn  a fake crown off on her and either get the real crown to sell to another interested buyer, or just get out of town. That plan is of course now in tatters, and Vikmatji begs the team to help him. He divulges the location of the shrine with the Cobra Crown, and the team them gives him enough cash to get out of the city forthwith ...