Tatters of the King - User contributions [en-gb]

Tatters of the King

2006-10-04T03:48:35Z

203.211.93.191:

[[Image:Tatters_Cover.gif|right]]
'''Tatters of the King'''[http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?products_id=773&osCsid=07f84f248e3a49f3cf6199ee7fbb6629] is a Call of Cthulhu campaign written by Tim Wiseman and published by [http://chaosium.com Chaosium] and which our role-playing [http://tentaclesandunderpants.info group] recently completed. Play started on May 8th 2006 and ran until October 2nd 2006.

The game was played in the suburb of Ellerslie, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland Auckland, New Zealand].

==Setting==

The game is initially set in [http://www.yog-sothoth.com/docs/article-london-guide-1928.pdf London], [http://greywolfnz.homeip.net/wiki/attachments/1928.doc 1928]. It is the start of a bitterly cold winter, the worst in decades.

London is the capital of an empire covering a quarter of the globe and governing one quarter of the human race. The people busy themselves with concerns of politics and government, finance and production, work and recreation. How fragile things are. What ignorance there is.

There are those whose engage in different pursuits - who would see an inhuman power come to Earth such that it would make mundane activity seem like a last twitch before dying.........

==Keeper of Arcane Lore==

The Game Master is [[Mark Chiddicks]]

==Players==

The players are:

[[Nicola Bishop]]

[[Julia Blackmore]]

[[Marcus Gustafsson]]

[[Darryn Mercer]]

==[[Player Characters]]==

[[image:crew2.jpg|right|200px]]

[[Nathaniel Browne]] - A failed writer, looking for his big story, played by Darryn Mercer

[[Andrew Saunders]] (Deceased) - British Museum curator and proud Scot, Played by Julia Blackmore.

[[Captain George Withers]] - Coldstream Guards. Career soldier. Played by Nicola Bishop.

'[[Umberto]]' (Deceased) - Mysterious former Vatican investigator. Played by Marcus Gustafsson.

[[Doctor Frederick Bartlett]] (deceased) - Eminent research psychologist, played by Marcus Gustafsson.

==Notable Non-Player Characters==

'''Prologue - Opening Night'''

[[Talbot Estus]] (deceased) - American novelist, now debuting as a playwright

''The Group'' - an amateur theatrical troupe:

[[Michael Gillen]] - Retired publisher, amateur actor and acquaintance of [[Doctor Frederick Bartlett]]. Estus's friend and companion.

[[Hannah Keith]] - Amateur Actress and sister of [[Andrew Saunders]]

[[George Keith]] - Amateur Actor and husband of [[Hannah Keith]]

[[Walter Paige]] - Amateur Actor

[[Jean Hewart]] - Amateur Actress

'''Chapter One - The Madman'''

[[Dr. Charles Highsmith]] - Asylum Superintendent

[[Alexander Roby]] - Incarcerated Madman

[[Lucius Harriwell]] - Incarcerated Madman

[[Price and Evans]] - Asylum Nurses

'''Chapter Two - A Walk in the Park'''

[[Dr. Lionel Trollope]] (deceased) - Roby family physician

[[Grahame Roby]] - Financier, Alexander Roby's brother

[[Detective Inspector Andrew Taylor]] - of New Scotland Yard

[[Delia Hartston]] - Alexander Roby's former fiancee, now [[Delia Morrison]]

[[Peter Morrison]] (deceased) - Abusive husband of Delia

[[Vincent Tuck]] - Private Detective, hired by Grahame Roby

Michael [[Coombes]] (deceased?) - Sinister stalker, Bacon's ex-bodyguard.

'''Chapter Three - Springer Mound & the Canal'''

[[Harold Jennings]] (deceased) - Unfriendly Suffolk farmer

[[Montague Edwards]] (deceased) - Alexander Roby's secret guardian

[[Lawrence Bacon]] (deceased) - Antiquarian, occultist and sorcerer

'''Chapter Four - The Flight North '''

[[Cec Watts]] (deceased) - Tabloid Journalist

[[Henry Lister]] - Terrified cultist and necrophobe

[[Aleister Crowley]] - Famed Occultist

'''Chapter Five - To Walk Upon the Earth in Carcosa'''

[[Quentin Spence]] - Poet and Failed Cultist

[[Noss]] of Yhtill - Leather worker from an alien world

[[Yolanda]] - Noblewoman from [[Cassilda]]'s court

'''Chapter Six - Talk of Goatswood'''

[[Wilfred Gresty]] (deceased) - Writer of letters and spy for the Goatswood cult

'''Chapter Seven - Nug's Farm'''

[[Hillary Quarrie]] - Estranged wife of Malcolm and priestess of the Goat

[[Atkinson]] (deceased) - Ailing leader of the Goatswood Shub-Niggurath cult

'''Chapter Eight - The Brothers of the Yellow Sign'''

[[Paolo Tuminardo]] - Milanese Guide and young Fascist

[[Giuseppe Colombo]] - Ancient, curmudgeonly Italian Brother of the Yellow Sign

[[Thomas Villiers]] (deceased) - Insane artist and Brother of the Yellow Sign

'''Chapter Nine - The Viceroy of India'''

[[Julian Knight]] - Minor diplomat and lounge lizard, en route to India

The Reverend [[Ian Gore]] - Missionary, en route to India

Mrs [[Henrietta Tullis]] - Matronly figure, en route to India

[[Stephen Thomas]] - Quiet, bookish man, en route to India

Miss [[Francesca Nicholson]] - Bright young thing, en route to India

Miss [[Patricia Berry]] - Quiet, shy young lady, en route to India

'''Chapter Ten - A Thousand Miles'''

[[Sivakumar Patel]] - Guide and translator from Bombay

[[Jigme Rinzing]] - Nepalese merchant/guide

'''Chapter Eleven - To Drakmar'''

[[Tsewan Pemba]] - Tibetan Guide

[[Carlo Schippone]] (deceased) - Graduate student and Himalayan adventurer

'''Chapter Twelve - The Upper House'''

Major [[Ricardo Delnegro]] (deceased) - ''Alpini'' officer and Himalayan adventurer

[[Roberto Anzalone]] (deceased) - Professor of Asian History and Brother of the Yellow Sign

[[Malcolm Quarrie]] (deceased) - Elusive scientist and occultist

[[The King in Yellow]] - Beautiful, yet terrible, alien god

==Literary Works==
[[Image:mask.jpg|300px|right|thumb|The Masque of Yhtill]]

[[Carcosa, or The Queen and the Stranger]] - a fantasy in two acts, [http://greywolfnz.homeip.net/wiki/attachments/CARCOSA.pdf script] by [[Talbot Estus]]

[[The King in Yellow]] - a collection of short [http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/library/stacks/literature/chambers/stories/kinginye/contents.htm stories] by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Chambers Robert W Chambers]

[[Le Roi en Jeune]] - a rare French play, playwright anonymous

[[An Inhabitant of Carcosa and Haita the Shepherd]] - by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce Ambrose Bierce]

[[Der Wanderer durch den See]] - by [[Alexander Roby]]

[[British Gods]]: Religion and Myth in the Western Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon Britain - by [[Malcolm Quarrie]]

[[The Turner Codex]]: A translation of Mesoamerican prayers and libations to Hastur - trans. M. Turner ''et al''

[[The Tatters of the King]]: A book of short stories by [[Nathaniel Browne]]

[[The Revelations of Glaaki]]: The Goatswood cult's compilation of occult knowledge

==Locations==

[http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/mapengwa.htm Map of England and Wales, 1928]

[http://www.yog-sothoth.com/docs/article-london-guide-1928.pdf London], England - [http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/roads-central.htm Map of London, 1926]

The [[Scala Theatre]], Charlotte St, London

[[St Agnes Asylum]], [[Weobley]], Herefordshire, England

[[Clare Melford]], Suffolk, England

[[Loch Mullardoch]], near Inverness, Scotland

[[Carcosa]], a dream city made flesh

[[Goatswood]], an area of the Severn Valley in Gloucestershire

[[Nug's Farm]], Hillary Quarrie's home, in the Goatswood region

[[Milan]], Lombardy, Italy

[[The Viceroy of India]] - Modern P&O passenger liner, en route to India

[[India]], the gateway to Nepal

[[Bombay]], port of entry to India

[[Nepal]], mountain kingdom, closed to Westerners

[[Mustang]], a small kingdom in Northern Nepal

[[Drakmar]], in Mustang, the legendary site of the death of the ogress Balmo

[[Leng]], legendary icy plateau - not on this Earth

[[The Upper House]], labyrinthine alien structure, found in Leng

==Sessions==

''As referred to in the session reports below, there have been a number of [[murders]] related to the Roby case.''

[[Session 1]] - Opening Night

[[Session 1.5]] - The Madman

[[Session 2]] - The Plot Thickens

[[Session 3]] - Alexander's Friends

[[Session 4]] - Teeth of Winter

[[Session 5]] - Four Go Mad in London

[[Session 6]] - Death by Night, Death by Day

[[Session 7]] - Missing Persons

[[Session 8]] - To Walk Upon the Earth in Carcosa

[[Session 9]] - Aftermath - a Year in the Lives...

[[Session 10]] - Nug's Farm, or "Are You Local?"

[[Session 11]] - Il Fratelli di Signo Giallo

[[Session 12]] - The Viceroy of India, or "May I Have This Dance?"

[[Session 13]] - A Matter of Honour

[[Session 14]] - The Trail of the Pilgrims

[[Session 15]] - Drakmar and Beyond

[[Session 16]] - The King Steps Down

[[Aftermath]] - Forever Wondering

Tatters of the King

2006-10-04T03:47:41Z

203.211.93.191:

[[Image:Tatters_Cover.gif|right]]
'''Tatters of the King'''[http://catalog.chaosium.com/product_info.php?products_id=773&osCsid=07f84f248e3a49f3cf6199ee7fbb6629] is a Call of Cthulhu campaign written by Tim Wiseman and published by [http://chaosium.com Chaosium] and which our role-playing [http://tentaclesandunderpants.info group] recently completed. Play started on May 8th 2006 and ran until October 2nd 2006..

The game was played in the suburb of Ellerslie, in [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auckland Auckland, New Zealand].

==Setting==

The game is initially set in [http://www.yog-sothoth.com/docs/article-london-guide-1928.pdf London], [http://greywolfnz.homeip.net/wiki/attachments/1928.doc 1928]. It is the start of a bitterly cold winter, the worst in decades.

London is the capital of an empire covering a quarter of the globe and governing one quarter of the human race. The people busy themselves with concerns of politics and government, finance and production, work and recreation. How fragile things are. What ignorance there is.

There are those whose engage in different pursuits - who would see an inhuman power come to Earth such that it would make mundane activity seem like a last twitch before dying.........

==Keeper of Arcane Lore==

The Game Master is [[Mark Chiddicks]]

==Players==

The players are:

[[Nicola Bishop]]

[[Julia Blackmore]]

[[Marcus Gustafsson]]

[[Darryn Mercer]]

==[[Player Characters]]==

[[image:crew2.jpg|right|200px]]

[[Nathaniel Browne]] - A failed writer, looking for his big story, played by Darryn Mercer

[[Andrew Saunders]] (Deceased) - British Museum curator and proud Scot, Played by Julia Blackmore.

[[Captain George Withers]] - Coldstream Guards. Career soldier. Played by Nicola Bishop.

'[[Umberto]]' (Deceased) - Mysterious former Vatican investigator. Played by Marcus Gustafsson.

[[Doctor Frederick Bartlett]] (deceased) - Eminent research psychologist, played by Marcus Gustafsson.

==Notable Non-Player Characters==

'''Prologue - Opening Night'''

[[Talbot Estus]] (deceased) - American novelist, now debuting as a playwright

''The Group'' - an amateur theatrical troupe:

[[Michael Gillen]] - Retired publisher, amateur actor and acquaintance of [[Doctor Frederick Bartlett]]. Estus's friend and companion.

[[Hannah Keith]] - Amateur Actress and sister of [[Andrew Saunders]]

[[George Keith]] - Amateur Actor and husband of [[Hannah Keith]]

[[Walter Paige]] - Amateur Actor

[[Jean Hewart]] - Amateur Actress

'''Chapter One - The Madman'''

[[Dr. Charles Highsmith]] - Asylum Superintendent

[[Alexander Roby]] - Incarcerated Madman

[[Lucius Harriwell]] - Incarcerated Madman

[[Price and Evans]] - Asylum Nurses

'''Chapter Two - A Walk in the Park'''

[[Dr. Lionel Trollope]] (deceased) - Roby family physician

[[Grahame Roby]] - Financier, Alexander Roby's brother

[[Detective Inspector Andrew Taylor]] - of New Scotland Yard

[[Delia Hartston]] - Alexander Roby's former fiancee, now [[Delia Morrison]]

[[Peter Morrison]] (deceased) - Abusive husband of Delia

[[Vincent Tuck]] - Private Detective, hired by Grahame Roby

Michael [[Coombes]] (deceased?) - Sinister stalker, Bacon's ex-bodyguard.

'''Chapter Three - Springer Mound & the Canal'''

[[Harold Jennings]] (deceased) - Unfriendly Suffolk farmer

[[Montague Edwards]] (deceased) - Alexander Roby's secret guardian

[[Lawrence Bacon]] (deceased) - Antiquarian, occultist and sorcerer

'''Chapter Four - The Flight North '''

[[Cec Watts]] (deceased) - Tabloid Journalist

[[Henry Lister]] - Terrified cultist and necrophobe

[[Aleister Crowley]] - Famed Occultist

'''Chapter Five - To Walk Upon the Earth in Carcosa'''

[[Quentin Spence]] - Poet and Failed Cultist

[[Noss]] of Yhtill - Leather worker from an alien world

[[Yolanda]] - Noblewoman from [[Cassilda]]'s court

'''Chapter Six - Talk of Goatswood'''

[[Wilfred Gresty]] (deceased) - Writer of letters and spy for the Goatswood cult

'''Chapter Seven - Nug's Farm'''

[[Hillary Quarrie]] - Estranged wife of Malcolm and priestess of the Goat

[[Atkinson]] (deceased) - Ailing leader of the Goatswood Shub-Niggurath cult

'''Chapter Eight - The Brothers of the Yellow Sign'''

[[Paolo Tuminardo]] - Milanese Guide and young Fascist

[[Giuseppe Colombo]] - Ancient, curmudgeonly Italian Brother of the Yellow Sign

[[Thomas Villiers]] (deceased) - Insane artist and Brother of the Yellow Sign

'''Chapter Nine - The Viceroy of India'''

[[Julian Knight]] - Minor diplomat and lounge lizard, en route to India

The Reverend [[Ian Gore]] - Missionary, en route to India

Mrs [[Henrietta Tullis]] - Matronly figure, en route to India

[[Stephen Thomas]] - Quiet, bookish man, en route to India

Miss [[Francesca Nicholson]] - Bright young thing, en route to India

Miss [[Patricia Berry]] - Quiet, shy young lady, en route to India

'''Chapter Ten - A Thousand Miles'''

[[Sivakumar Patel]] - Guide and translator from Bombay

[[Jigme Rinzing]] - Nepalese merchant/guide

'''Chapter Eleven - To Drakmar'''

[[Tsewan Pemba]] - Tibetan Guide

[[Carlo Schippone]] (deceased) - Graduate student and Himalayan adventurer

'''Chapter Twelve - The Upper House'''

Major [[Ricardo Delnegro]] (deceased) - ''Alpini'' officer and Himalayan adventurer

[[Roberto Anzalone]] (deceased) - Professor of Asian History and Brother of the Yellow Sign

[[Malcolm Quarrie]] (deceased) - Elusive scientist and occultist

[[The King in Yellow]] - Beautiful, yet terrible, alien god

==Literary Works==
[[Image:mask.jpg|300px|right|thumb|The Masque of Yhtill]]

[[Carcosa, or The Queen and the Stranger]] - a fantasy in two acts, [http://greywolfnz.homeip.net/wiki/attachments/CARCOSA.pdf script] by [[Talbot Estus]]

[[The King in Yellow]] - a collection of short [http://www.yankeeclassic.com/miskatonic/library/stacks/literature/chambers/stories/kinginye/contents.htm stories] by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_W._Chambers Robert W Chambers]

[[Le Roi en Jeune]] - a rare French play, playwright anonymous

[[An Inhabitant of Carcosa and Haita the Shepherd]] - by [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambrose_Bierce Ambrose Bierce]

[[Der Wanderer durch den See]] - by [[Alexander Roby]]

[[British Gods]]: Religion and Myth in the Western Kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon Britain - by [[Malcolm Quarrie]]

[[The Turner Codex]]: A translation of Mesoamerican prayers and libations to Hastur - trans. M. Turner ''et al''

[[The Tatters of the King]]: A book of short stories by [[Nathaniel Browne]]

[[The Revelations of Glaaki]]: The Goatswood cult's compilation of occult knowledge

==Locations==

[http://www.mdx.ac.uk/www/study/mapengwa.htm Map of England and Wales, 1928]

[http://www.yog-sothoth.com/docs/article-london-guide-1928.pdf London], England - [http://www.londonancestor.com/maps/roads-central.htm Map of London, 1926]

The [[Scala Theatre]], Charlotte St, London

[[St Agnes Asylum]], [[Weobley]], Herefordshire, England

[[Clare Melford]], Suffolk, England

[[Loch Mullardoch]], near Inverness, Scotland

[[Carcosa]], a dream city made flesh

[[Goatswood]], an area of the Severn Valley in Gloucestershire

[[Nug's Farm]], Hillary Quarrie's home, in the Goatswood region

[[Milan]], Lombardy, Italy

[[The Viceroy of India]] - Modern P&O passenger liner, en route to India

[[India]], the gateway to Nepal

[[Bombay]], port of entry to India

[[Nepal]], mountain kingdom, closed to Westerners

[[Mustang]], a small kingdom in Northern Nepal

[[Drakmar]], in Mustang, the legendary site of the death of the ogress Balmo

[[Leng]], legendary icy plateau - not on this Earth

[[The Upper House]], labyrinthine alien structure, found in Leng

==Sessions==

''As referred to in the session reports below, there have been a number of [[murders]] related to the Roby case.''

[[Session 1]] - Opening Night

[[Session 1.5]] - The Madman

[[Session 2]] - The Plot Thickens

[[Session 3]] - Alexander's Friends

[[Session 4]] - Teeth of Winter

[[Session 5]] - Four Go Mad in London

[[Session 6]] - Death by Night, Death by Day

[[Session 7]] - Missing Persons

[[Session 8]] - To Walk Upon the Earth in Carcosa

[[Session 9]] - Aftermath - a Year in the Lives...

[[Session 10]] - Nug's Farm, or "Are You Local?"

[[Session 11]] - Il Fratelli di Signo Giallo

[[Session 12]] - The Viceroy of India, or "May I Have This Dance?"

[[Session 13]] - A Matter of Honour

[[Session 14]] - The Trail of the Pilgrims

[[Session 15]] - Drakmar and Beyond

[[Session 16]] - The King Steps Down

[[Aftermath]] - Forever Wondering

Aftermath

2006-10-04T03:45:48Z

203.211.93.191: /* George Withers */

==Nathaniel Browne==

Browne married Francesca a month after Andrew Saunders's memorial service in Scotland. They honeymooned in America where Browne sought out Robert W Chambers. After this meeting Browne decided to try his hand at writing non-supernatural fiction and much like Chambers before him he became a hugely successful, but critically reviled writer of light romances.

His first novel "Love At Sea" told the tale of an author meeting a beautiful woman on an ocean liner to India and was filmed in the mid 1950s with Alec Guinness in the main role.

Browne converted to Catholicism in 1938, having taken that long to convince Francesca to do the same.

Browne and Francesca had 5 children and 12 grandchildren and died in 1980, surrounded by those he loved.

==George Withers==

Captain Withers married the widow Morrison just before Christmas 1930. Despite the demands of a new wife, and shortly afterwards a young son, Andrew, Withers' advanced through the ranks and in 1940 Colonel George Withers lead a battalion of the Coldstream Guards to France, where he died, strafed by a German fighter plane, on the beach at Dunkirk while refusing to board an ecape boat until all his men were safe. His adjutant said that Colonel Withers hated the idea of leaving a man behind.

Nathaniel Browne wrote a very strange obituary for him.

He received a posthumous VC, the first of the war, and one of the dormitories at his old school is named after him.

Aftermath

2006-10-04T03:41:33Z

203.211.93.191: /* George Withers */

==Nathaniel Browne==

Browne married Francesca a month after Andrew Saunders's memorial service in Scotland. They honeymooned in America where Browne sought out Robert W Chambers. After this meeting Browne decided to try his hand at writing non-supernatural fiction and much like Chambers before him he became a hugely successful, but critically reviled writer of light romances.

His first novel "Love At Sea" told the tale of an author meeting a beautiful woman on an ocean liner to India and was filmed in the mid 1950s with Alec Guinness in the main role.

Browne converted to Catholicism in 1938, having taken that long to convince Francesca to do the same.

Browne and Francesca had 5 children and 12 grandchildren and died in 1980, surrounded by those he loved.

==George Withers==

Captain Withers married the widow Morrison just before Christmas 1930. Despite the demands of a new wife, and shortly afterwards a young son, Andrew, Withers' advanced through the ranks and in 1939 Colonel George Withers lead a battalion of the Coldstream Guards to France, where he died, strafed by a German fighter plane, on the beach at Dunkirk while refusing to board an ecape boat until all his men were safe. His adjutant said that Colonel Withers hated the idea of leaving a man behind.

Nathaniel Browne wrote a very strange obituary for him.

He received a posthumous VC, the first of the war, and one of the dormitories at his old school is named after him.

Aftermath

2006-10-04T03:40:01Z

203.211.93.191:

==Nathaniel Browne==

Browne married Francesca a month after Andrew Saunders's memorial service in Scotland. They honeymooned in America where Browne sought out Robert W Chambers. After this meeting Browne decided to try his hand at writing non-supernatural fiction and much like Chambers before him he became a hugely successful, but critically reviled writer of light romances.

His first novel "Love At Sea" told the tale of an author meeting a beautiful woman on an ocean liner to India and was filmed in the mid 1950s with Alec Guinness in the main role.

Browne converted to Catholicism in 1938, having taken that long to convince Francesca to do the same.

Browne and Francesca had 5 children and 12 grandchildren and died in 1980, surrounded by those he loved.

==George Withers==

Captain Withers married the widow Morrison just before Christmas 1930. Despite the demands of wife, and shortly afterwards a young son, Andrew, Withers' advanced through the ranks and in 1939 Colonel George Withers lead a battalion of the Coldstream Guards to France, where he died, strafed by a German fighter plane, on the beach at Dunkirk while refusing to board an ecape boat until all his men were safe. His adjutant said that Colonel Withers hated the idea of leaving a man behind.

Nathaniel Browne wrote a very strange obituary for him.

He received a posthumous VC, the first of the war.

Session 16

2006-10-04T03:27:38Z

203.211.93.191: /* Action Resumes */

==Session Report - Played Monday 2nd October, 2006==

=== The Upper House - February 1930 ===

[[Image:king.jpg|right]]
The [[King in Yellow]] appears standing beside the gate. He was not seen to pass through it.

The King does not speak, but all hear his words in their minds:

GREETINGS PILGRIMS I AM THE KING IN YELLOW WHICH OF YOU HAS COME TO GUIDE ME

THE WHITE ACOLYTE WILL BE MY HONOURED SERVANT MY HIGH PRIEST TO CARRY MY GOSPEL TO THE WORLD

====Nathaniel Browne====

Ahead of the others, [[Nathaniel]] stands, awestruck by the power and majesty of the being before him. This is his muse, the very personification of the driving force behind the last year and a half of his life. There seems nothing more important to him than to be the servant of this being, this god, this king. But he remembers. He remembers the deaths of [[Bacon]], [[Edwards]], and [[Quarrie]]. He remembers the grave of [[Frederick Bartlett]], his friend. He remembers the horrors which have driven him and his friends across London, across England, across oceans and high mountains. He remembers his dream, the graveyard of the world. At last, finally and overwhelmingly, he remembers [[Francesca]]. His love is a greater thing than his art. His head moves slowly to the left, then to the right in slow, but unmistakable, denial. He passes the test. He will not serve. He will not be the [[White Acolyte]].

====George Withers====

Such is the power of the King in Yellow's presence that for a brief moment even [[Withers]] remains transfixed by his majesty and beauty. Of all his friends and companions Withers has always remained the most unaffected and unimpressed by the power of the dream they have been pursuing. Far, far removed from the positive revelry in sensation that Nathaniel Browne has abandoned himself to and distant even from the professional curiosity about those people affected, felt by his close friend Doctor Frederick Bartlett. Frederick. The thought of his friend snaps Withers out of his brief reverie - his dear friend was butchered by one of the servants or heralds or some damn thing serving the creature that stands before him now. How could he have allowed himself, even for a second, to waver in his purpose!. That THING is a threat to every thing he holds dear and there is no damn way that George Withers is going to be the White Acolyte. He'd burn in hell first!

====Umberto====

Recognising the King in Yellow from his dreams, for a second the majesty of the King makes Umberto doubt all he believes. Surely this reality is greater than any Christian myth? Then he realises that this being is the truth behind the story of Satan. This is the Lord of Lies, and Umberto will not be tempted.

====Andrew Saunders====

Saunders has spent his adult life living a lie. His life has been a life of compromises and half-truths. The majesty and glory of the King in Yellow offers certainty, beauty and freedom. The veil lifts from his eyes and Saunders wants nothing more than to serve this being. Saunders realises that it is his destiny to be [[the White Acolyte]].

===Action Resumes===

The voice in his head urges him to be it's servant, but [[Nathaniel Browne]] again denies it. The voice says "ONE OF THESE OTHERS LOVES ME". Nathaniel turns to his companions, a look of deep worry sketched on his face. "Remember Franscesca" begs [[Withers]]. "I know" replies Browne, "It's not me I'm worried about". [[Umberto]] begins to move toward the King, his right hand grasping the symbol around his neck. He is closely followed by Withers. Browne intercepts, raising a hand to block his path, "No, I don't think so" he says. Umberto looks, bewilderdered, at Browne. "What are you doing?" asks Browne. "That is the apparition!" replies Umberto. "The King?" enquires Browne, confused. "No king of mine" replies Umberto in a firm voice.

Suddenly, Withers notices that [[Saunders]], uninvolved in this confrontation, has moved forward - a vacant, rapt, expression on his face - and has almost reached the imposing figure of the King! "Saunders!" shouts Withers, realizing he cannot reach his friend in time. Saunders appears to struggle against an irresistable pull, "Shoot me Withers, shoot me!" he begs. Withers draws his revolver, carefully aiming for the Scotsman's legs. Click! The round is a dud! Hastily withers makes to fire again, but he is too late - Saunders' outstretched arm makes contact with the spectre's robe, the king unseen eyes seem to bore into those of Withers, Browne and Umberto and they stand paralyzed. Unable to move the others can only watch and listen.

A change comes across Saunders' expression. It is obvious that his infatuation with the King in Yellow is fading fast. "No", the sound bursts from the Scot's throat, a few seconds later "No, you'll destroy it!" and finally, in total denial "NO!". At this third declaration, the others find they can move again, but before they can react, the King in Yellow spins, becoming a whirlwind of yellow. The tatters of his robe hit Saunders and, before their horrified eyes, the others see Saunders torn apart, a gout of red stained gore spreads across the floor. Withers fires, his bullet passing harmlessly through the whirlwind of colour.

The King in Yellow reforms. His voice fills their heads once more: WILL ONE OF YOU GUIDE ME. "Go to [[Carcosa]], it's where you belong!" says withers, 'Nooo!!" shouts Umberto, "By the Lord's name I shall not!", Nathaniel remains silent. WILL YOU GUIDE ME the King asks again, his face looking straight at Nathaniel, "No!", he shouts. At this third denial, the King turns on the spot and vanishes.

While Browne moves forward to inpect the lecturn next to the gate, Withers and Umberto approach what is left of Andrew Saunders. "I'm so sorry", intones Umberto, "it should have been me". "Oh, God" says Withers, "poor Saunders".

"The [[Yellow Sign]]!" - the sudden outburst from Browne breaks their reverie. "What?" says Withers. "This lecturn", replies Browne, "it's just like the one in the cave here we came to this place". "You think it's somehow magical?" asks Withers. "Yes!" replies Browne. "Then let's get out of here!" shouts Withers. Browne nods, drawing the knife with the yellow sign pommel from his belt, he slices his palm and places it against the lecturn. For over a year this sign has been the focus of his life, the tracing is perfect. The gate changes from misty white to blue. Nathaniel steps thorugh. Immediately, a high-pitched keening noice begins to emit from the gate. There is a gasp of horror from Umberto. Withers turns and sees the King in Yellow, flying at high speed towards the gate. "Quckly!" he says, jumping through. The last thiing he sees, as his face passes throught the curtain of blue light, is the King's robed arm sweeping the bloody sign from the lecturn.

===The Return===

Withers emerges from the gate and stumbles, yelping in pain. The skin has been stripped from the back of his trailing right leg, leaving it raw and bloody. Browne rushes forward to help. He glances up at the gate, finding it has returned to a misty white curtain through which can once again be seen the elephantine bulk of [[Chaugnar Faughn]]. The two have clearly returned to Mustang. Withers looks
back at the gate in horror - Umberto has not followed them through! The fate of the world rests in the hands of a man they hardly know, nor trust.

===Gethsemane===

[[Image:Prayer.jpg|right]]

Back in Leng, the gate snaps shut as the King wipes the blood away. The King advances on Umberto. WILL YOU AID ME. "No!" reiterates Umberto, clutching at his holy symbol. I CANNOT LEAVE YOU HERE YOU WILL WAIT I WILL SEE YOU SOON. The robes of the King flap up blocking Umberto's view and he finds himself in cold and solitary darkness.

Umberto flicks on his torch, finding imself in a large, flagstone floored chamber with four exits, one in each wall. This is clearly deep in the bowels of the [[Upper House]]. There is absolute silence. Careful to mark his route, Umberto explores his surroundings, finding himself back in the labyrinth of
the Upper House. Without the piping to guide him and with no idea where he is, Umberto returns to the room the King left him in and prays.

After an hour or so, the King's voice again fills his head. YOUR FRIENDS ARE DEAD YOU ARE ALONE BUT YOU NEED NOT BE GUIDE ME TO YOUR WORLD AND YOU WILL BE MY CHOSEN ONE. "Never!" says Umberto defiantly, "you will not break me, I serve a higher power!". At this, the presence leaves him. Some hours later, the King returns and asks again, and is again rebuffed, although Umberto can feel his resistance ebbing slowly away. The presence does not return for some hours, during which Umberto again prays. Finally, just a moment after the last power from his torch is gone and he is again left in total blackness, the voice again returns. DARK AND ALONE HUNGRY IT NEED NOT BE LIKE THIS GUIDE ME. "No..., my...heart..lies...with...God!" this time Umberto barely resists the King's mental intrusions, delivering the words through gritted teeth. For a time beyond knowing, Umberto lies in the darkness. Finally, when all his food is gone and but a sip of water remains, Umberto realizes what he must do.

'''Umberto cradles the rifle in his lap.'''

"Dominus reget me et nihil mihi deerit." - "The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want."

'''He takes a round from his pocket and lays it on the floor'''.

"In loco pascuae ibi; me conlocavit super aquam refectionis educavit me." - "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters"

'''He picks up the rifle in his left hand.'''

"Animam meam convertit deduxit me super semitas iustitiae propter nomen suum." - "He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake"

'''He cranks the lever to open the breach.'''

"Nam et si ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis non timebo mala quoniam tu mecum es virga tua et baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt." - "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."

'''He loads the round.'''

"Parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me inpinguasti in oleo caput meum et calix meus inebrians quam praeclarus est." - "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemes; thou annointest my headwith oil; my cup runneth over."

'''He cocks the rifle.'''

"Misericordia tua subsequitur me omnibus diebus vitae meae..." - "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..."

'''He raises the barrel to his mouth, the toe of his right foot reaching for the trigger.'''

"Et ut inhabitem in domo Domini in longitudinem dierum." - "and I will dwell in the house of The Lord forever."

'''A bang, a thump, then silence...'''

===Drakmar===

[[Image:Explode.jpg|400px|right]]

BOOOOMMMMM!!!! A huge explosion rocks the cave where the gate lay. Browne and Withers have given up waiting for Umberto. They hope beyond hope that he has somehow managed to defy the King, or lead him elsewhere and have determined to seal the cave to prevent others coming to free him. Withers initially wanted to use his dynamite to destroy the gate, but Browne thought it unwise as he felt it may break down the very walls of reality and bring [[Hastur]], or something even worse, to Earth. The two argued about whether to collapse the cave or wait for Umberto to come out. At last they reached a compromise - they would wait as long as they could and then collapse the cave. That time limit has now expired.

The two stand now at the base of the rockface, watching the dust settle. They know that a mere barrier of rock will mean nothing if Umberto leads the King back to Earth. Nathaniel idly wonders what the natives might think if they hear the explosion, perhaps the voice of the gods. This may not be so far from the truth.

They make their way back to the Monastery at [[Te]] where they find [[Siva]] still waiting for them. He is surprised by their quick return and they come to realize that during their journey to [[Leng]], no time has passed in this world. Fortunately, in their abscence, the old guide has recovered somewhat from his wounds, he is not up to the journey down the mountain, but can wait alone at the monastery until help is sent. After another uneasy night at the Monastery, the troupe of three make their way wearily down the mountain. Withers and Browne wonder with every step whether the King will come through the portal, but the trip remains unevental back through Nepal, and then through India to [[Bombay]]. For better or worse, the adventure is over.

Session 16

2006-10-03T23:06:02Z

203.211.93.191: /* Action Resumes */

Session 16

2006-10-03T23:02:11Z

203.211.93.191: /* Andrew Saunders */

Session 16

2006-10-03T23:01:12Z

203.211.93.191: /* The Upper House - February 1930 */

Session 16

2006-10-03T22:58:58Z

203.211.93.191: /* Umberto */

Session 16

2006-10-03T22:56:20Z

203.211.93.191: /* Action Resumes */