13/08/2023 – The Great Chamber (12)
Into the Tunnels
Mahmoud is reluctant to go into these dark, scary tunnels. Zalkador tells him that they need him and because he trusts the Fortune Teller, he agrees to come with them. Jeziah turns on some of the electric torches, while the Muslims light some burning torches.
Tiger then leads the way into the tunnels. The walls are smooth stone, with a pointed ceiling. As they proceed along them, crude carving are visible on the walls. The deeper they go, the more disturbing the images become. There are lots of images of monstrous beings with tentacles consuming human victims.
The tunnel goes downward for a while until they reach a split, where it seems to level off. They are not sure which way to go, but Tiger is able to discern because there is still sand in this area from the outside, that the more trodden route is left. They proceed down the left passage, which winds along for a while. One of the Muslims suddenly complains something has dripped on him. It seems that blood is slowly dripping from the ceiling and has formed a stain on the floor underneath.
Breathing
They move on from this disturbing place, deeper into the mysterious and chilling tunnels. They pass a side tunnel and Tiger goes down to investigate, but he comes to conclusion it is not used and turns back. They proceed forwards. The tunnel turns a corner and they feel an odd, intermittent breeze on their faces. There is also an odd noise, which is in sync with the breeze. They realise that the whole tunnel is breathing. The stone walls appear to flex in and out with the breaths, as though they are inside some sort of living creature made from stone.
This spooks some of them and they pick up the pace, speeding forwards. They can smell some sort of bad monstrous breath and their ears are popping with the strange pressure. When the corridor finally turns, the effect finally comes to an end, but another side tunnel presents itself. Tiger does not want to go past without checking, so he heads down with Joe, while everyone else waits in the main tunnel.
Animal-Headed People!
They explore down the side tunnel, but it goes on for a while. Just as Tiger is considering heading back, two horrible figures attack him. They are humanoid, but one has the head of a bird with a large beak and the other the head of a crocodile, just like in Egyptian hieroglyphs. They try to grab Tiger and bite him.
A difficult fight breaks out, with Tiger in shock, struggling to fight the bird creature off and is wounded. Joe fights the crocodile creature off and is able to shoot it. He then helps Tiger finish the bird off. Alex and the Muslims come running at the sound of guns, but by the time they arrive the fight is over. They are horrified by the appearance of the creatures and cut their heads off.
Pressing On
They return to the main tunnel, where Jeziah, Cassandra, Zalkador and Mahmoud are curious to know what happened, but Tiger just tells them animal-handed men and they should press on. Joe says that all of the enemy must be killed. They continue along the main tunnel. They pass other side tunnels, but Tiger and the Muslims decide not to investigate them and keep moving forward.
At the back of the group, Zalkador and Mahmoud are keeping an eye out behind them. They occasionally hear noises but they do not see anything. They realise they have probably walked more than a mile from the entrance by now.
The tunnel turns to the right, with a very short way before turning again, with a side tunnel on the left. Tiger checks the left and thinks he sees something head, so he heads that way, telling the others to follow him. The Muslims carry on forward, but the rest of the Investigators follow Tiger and eventually the Muslims come after them.
The Great Chamber of Nyarlathotep
After a short distance, the tunnel, which heads down, emerging into a huge, cathedral-like chamber. They can see lots of pillars holding up the ceiling, a pool, stairs heading downwards and a huge altar and duel thrones at the end. The Investigators recognise the room from their visions in the Bent Pyramid.
Tiger calls out for everyone to stop, but his voice carries and a cultist with a torch heads over to investigate. Tiger shoots him with his rifle, giving away their presence. They move into the room and soon realise that there are dozens of cultists in the chamber, gathered around the altar. The leaders of the Cult, also in robes, are stood over an embalmed figure lying on the altar. They order the cultists to destroy the intruders. About fifty cultists are coming their way!
Battle Commences
The Investigators take positions to shoot them as they approach, but unfortunately the Muslims draw their swords and rush forward, blocking their line of sight. The onrush of cultists is broken up by the stairway and they split into two groups. Joe and Tiger take the left hand side, along with three Muslims, while Alex and two other Muslims take the right, with Jeziah and Cassandra. Zalkador and Mahmoud watch their backs.
The Muslims engage the knife-armed cultists with their swords, giving them an advantage, but off-set by there being far too many cultists for them. The Investigators and Joe open fire, taking down several of the cultists.
On the right hand side the Muslims are overwhelmed by the number of cultists and some of them are killed, as only Alex is firing to support them on that side. Jeziah and Cassandra are forced to use their hand guns to help, but their accuracy is poor.
Tiger is forced to switch from left to right, leaving Joe using his Tommy-gun to keep support the Muslims on the left.
Cultist Surge
The cultists on the right kill the last Muslim and start rushing towards the Investigators. Tiger uses a grenade, but it explodes too far behind them, only stunning a number of them.
On the left side, Joe is able to gun down a number of cultists, but two floating point of fire are moving towards him, summoned by the leadership of the Cult at the altar summon. One of the fire points engulfs Joe in flames, killing him, while the cultists finish of the last of the Muslims on the left.
Many of the cultists are now dead, killed by Muslim swords and Investigator bullets. The six remaining run forward, reaching where the Investigators are. Zalkador runs away, while Cassandra, Jeziah, Alex and Tiger are caught in desperate hand-to-hand combat. Alex is cut badly on the arm and falls down. Tiger wields two pistols at point black range and shoots as best he can.
The Ritual Begins
Cassandra is also wounded by a cultist and Jeziah shoots wildly to try to save her, but misses. Cassandra backs off, pursued by the cultist, with Jeziah charging after. The butler is able to jump the cultist and Cassandra then shoots him dead. Alex is about to be finished off by two cultists, but a lucky shot from Zalkador and a good shot from Tiger saves his life, killing both his assailants.
That finishes off the last of the cultists. The Investigators pause to catch their breath. They hear an elderly woman cry out in horror and look up at the altar, where the leaders of the Cult are. Agatha Broadmoor and James Gardner are being dragged onto the stage. Agatha says she came to stop Queen Nitocris, not help her. They start to drug her with smokey-incense.
Meanwhile, a second floating point of fire is approaching the Investigators.