Heliowall

From Whitley Bay to Limehouse

10th - 11th July 1929

Next morning the Investigators headed towards Whitley Bay by tram. It didn't take long for them to find the address on John Carrigan's letter, a large Victorian house by the seafront, slightly set apart from it's neighbours by a large walled garden. The wrought iron gates were locked by a padlock, suggesting either visitors were unwelcome or that whoever lived here was not at home. They decided to delay any further action till nightfall when they would be less conspicuous, and returned to Newcastle booking out of their hotel there and into another in Whitley Bay.

After dusk they headed back to Carrigan's house and heading round the back shinned over the wall of the neatly kept garden. They made their way to he back door which Max duly unlocked. The interior of the house was silent, the doors down either side of the corridor in which they stood shut tightly. Billy picked one at random and went to open it, only to be hit by a pale beam of light, that caused him to fall to the floor in excruciating pain. Carl dragged him out of the beam and the pain subsided though the after-effects still coursed through him.

Both Max and Jimmy were hit by similar beams as they opened doors until they found the study, where apart from the usual items you might expect to find was also a large, clear sided box with a hinged front. The back of this box appeared to be missing, and it was mounted securely on the floor. Billy put his arm in the open back only to be hit what felt like a massive electric discharge shocking him into unconsciousness. Max then tried the same using a wooden ruler he found in the desk nearby in an attempt to protect against the electrical discharge. Unfortunately for Max this was not electricity as any human understood it, and he too was shocked into unconsciousness.

The remaining Investigators started at their unconscious friends and the mysterious box. Eventually Paul summoned up enough courage to touch it, this time on the front. He felt a brief touch of something against his mind, a challenge! He pushed back and a series of glowing lines lit the front of the box and it opened. Within they found folder marked with the strange pointed star shape they had seen on other documents. Within as well a six tickets fro the Graff Zeppelin, they found a passenger list and, written on strange metallic paper on which was written " Device completed, tested, Pyramid

dispatched to location, awaiting Carrier pick up. Initiates automatically. The Carrier need only protect it. Good fortune.
Over “location” Carrigan, presumably, had scrawled “Hawksmoor’s, Limehouse.” Deciding not to risk searching any further, they dragged their unconscious friends back to the hotel. Paul, Carl and Jimmy all recognised this noptation as to being a famous church in Limehouse.

Next morning they returned to Newcastle spending the day resting and casting healing magic on the injured. During that time the lingering effects of the pale beams eventually wore off and they decided to get tickets on the overnight sleeper to London.

12 July 1929

Arriving in London they immediately made their way to St Anne's Church. As they entered the ground they spotted a strange pyramidal monument, almost identical to the shan pyramid they had seen in Durham. They immediately made their way towards it . Though seemingly solid, when Billy touched it a doorway appeared. Max, Carl and Jimmy managed to enter before the doorway abruptly vanished. Outside, Billy tried to reopen it to no avail. Inside, the pyramid seemed much larger than the exterior, a fact reinforced when the interior was suddenly illuminated in bright light. The three recoiled as along with the light a shan had materialised gazing coldly at each of them. Carl drew his pistol and shot the thing before it could do much of anything, the heavy calibre bullet spattering it across the walls. Catching their breath the three tried to reopen the door they had come in, but when Max touched the wall, a doorway in one of the other walls opened beyond which they could see trees. Somewhat reluctantly the trio headed out.

Billy's attempts to open the door, suddenly paid off and as the doorway reappeared he and Paul dashed in, the doorway vanishing behind them. As the lights came on they saw nothing in the interior except the blood spattered remains of the shan. Billy then pressed his hand against the wall one more time, opening a doorway where he could see the others milling about amongst some trees. Looking at each other he and Paul emerged into the light and found themselves in woodland clearing situated in a steep-sided, narrow valley, with a sheer cliff face behind them. A quick survey of the area convinced Billy they were still in the northern hemisphere and most likely somewhere in the UK or Europe. The wood fills this valley but they could see another pyramid in the distance.

They began making their way through the woods, only to come under attack by two xiclotlan which they eventually managed to kill - using their pistols and several of the vials of the Baneful Dust of Hermes Trismegistus.

The Wooded Gorge and Loch Carron

12 July 1929

The Investigators continued to maneuver through the forest heading towards the other pyramid. They managed to avoid most of the xiclotlan that seeming infested the area however two more stumbled into their path at various points and were quickly destroyed. Basil handed out more of the vials of Baneful Dust he had manufactured while they had been in Newcastle - which proved invaluable.

Deep Ones

When they arrived at the pyramid they found it guarded by two more of the xiclotlan. Basil, Jimmy and Carl rushed one, while Paul and Max tackled the other. The first was quickly destroyed, but as Paul threw his vial of dust, he unfortunately got grabbed and then as the others watched in horror, was swallowed whole!

The rest of the Investigators reacted quickly hurling vials of Baneful Dust at the creature. Under the combined assault dissolved into a pool of slime, disgorging Paul. Fortunately the antiquarian was only woulded, especially in his dignity!

Entering the Pyramid they emerged though another gate into what appeared to be a small island in the middle of a fjord. In the distance on the shore, they could see a second pyramid. Fortunately a row boat was moored on the island nearby and they quickly boarded, Basil taking the oars. As Basil began pulling for shore, Paul spotted what initially he though were seals in the water swimming towards them. Swiftly he realised they were not seals, but something else! He called a warning to the others. Carl immediately drew his revolved and fired, badly injuring one of the creatures, judging by the amount of blood staining the water.

The creatures, some king of amphibious creatures, immediately retailed attempting to drag the Investigators into the water, and jabbing them with short spears. Carl was pulled into the water and one of the creatures managed to get on board and stab Jimmy! Basil continued to row, desperately heading for the shore as he felt something, or several somethings, attempting to destabilise the boat from below.

Carl somehow managed to evade two of the creatures attempting to drag him under, and swam for the boat, where Paul attempted to help him on beard, only to himself be catapulted into the icy water. As Paul dragged himself back about, Max and Jimmy were firing at their assailants, joined by Carl. As he ran out of ammo, Max began bashing at them with his improvised club, Paul following suit with his claw hammer. Eventually as the water hallowed the attacks fell off and an exhausted Basil grounded the boat in the shallows.

Quickly debarking, the Investigates ignored the pyramid standing there and instead headed for a narrow road they could see on the other side of the field that the pyramid stood in. Following the road for some miles they eventually arrived in the village of Lochcarron where they took rooms at the Lochcarron Hotel. Paul and Carl arranged for their clothes to be laundered, and the settled down for a pleasant meal in the hotel lounge.

13 July 1929

At breakfast the next morning they briefly discussed whether they should try and get to Glasgow or Edinburg and take the train back to London, but eventually decided they should investigate the next pyramid. They walked along the coast road to they pyramid on the shore and entered it.

The Investigators emerged onto the flat roof of a low building, in a space enclosed by a three foot-high brick wall. There was a square hole in one corner. Although it had been morning when they entered the pyramid in Loch Carron, night is falling and the sky was clear and full of stars. They could see the next pyramid some distance away, at the end of a network of trenches leading away from the building at ground level. These both connect and bypassed a number of rectangular spaces, each about five meters square. Max recognised these as being military trenches from his time in the Great War, so they were most likely at some military training ground somewhere. Suddenly Paul called out a warning as he spotted several shapes fly in front of the moon - shantaks!