Durham CathedralThat evening the Investigators were looking for something to occupy themselves. Billy and Jimmy decided to hang out in the hotel’s bar, which had a piano player entertaining the patrons. Billy overheard people in the bar talking about large birds, possibly eagles, being seen in the surrounding area. Max and Carl decided to head out to explore the local hostelries, while Basil and Paul chose to check out the meeting of the local Music Society after finding a flier for it in the hotel reception. The Music Society was meeting in a church opposite the cathedral, and they seemed to be playing some kind of strange mix of modern classical music and jazz. To their surprise, Basil recognised a young woman who had been with the obnoxious Ashton Brown in the Flask Inn. He followed the young woman back to her digs in the Durham Castle part of the university.  The next morning they went to see Professor Graham, who was affable enough, but wasn’t really able to add much about the Cult of Azathoth other than confirm what they already knew. Somewhat at a loss about what to do, they spotted a flier for a meeting of something called “The Azazel” in the Buffalo Head Pub that evening. Max commented on the similarity of the name to “Azathoth,” and they decided to check it out. The Azazel turned out to be some kind of historical society, that evening hosting Professor Mark Hooke, who was giving a talk on the Sacred Geometry of British Cathedrals. Interesting though the talk was, more interesting was the presence of the obnoxious student they had met at the Flask Inn, Ashton Brown. Ashton seemed particularly friendly with the president of the Azazel, Amelia Carter. After the talk, the Professor advised that he would be giving a guided tour of the cathedral the next day, and the Investigators signed up. In the bar after the discussion, somewhat oddly, Amelia made a point of speaking to each of the Investigators. This aroused Billy’s suspicions, and he tried to keep an eye on her through the evening, but lost her when she went to the Ladies and did not return. Ashton Brown also managed to slip out unnoticed at some point. As things broke up, Paul escorted a somewhat inebriated Professor Hooke back to the hotel. The next day they all assembled for the tour, noting that Amelia, Ashton, and a small group of students who had been at the talk the previous night were all present. The tour took them around the upper levels, up spiral staircases, through doors to walkways high above the ground, under the stained glass, and finally down into a part of the undercroft. They were repeatedly warned to be careful, as some of the walkways were narrow and had no safety barriers. Billy was keeping a close eye on Amelia and Ashton, only to discover, as they walked around a pillar, that Amelia had vanished. Billy confronted Ashton, who denied that Amelia had even been there and walked on. Billy was still trying to digest that when someone barged into him from behind, almost knocking him off the walkway. Whirling angrily, he saw one of the young students smirking. Billy angrily confronted the young man, opening his jacket to display his holstered revolver. The young man suddenly lunged forward and pushed Billy off the walkway. To horrified screams from the onlookers, Billy slammed into the ground thirty feet below. Everyone rushed down to Billy. First Aid was administered and an ambulance summoned. Basil questioned the young student, who maintained that Billy had stumbled and fallen. Still suspicious, though he could not detect any overt lies, he reported his concerns to the constable who arrived with the ambulance. Paul accompanied Billy to the hospital to ensure nothing else happened to him. Billy, badly bruised and with a broken leg, was discharged later that night. Returning to the hotel, he informed the others exactly what had happened. Choir PracticeNext morning once the laudanum had worn off Billy used the Healing spell to repair his broken leg. Going down to breakfast with the others he picked up a copy of the Durham Chronicle to read. A story immediately caught his attention. The body of a young student had been found in the river Wear, badly mangled by what was presumed to be a propeller strike from a boat. Billy immediately pointed out the report to the others, suspecting that the unfortunate victim was the young man who had pushed him yesterday, particularly as there was a reference to the events at the cathedral in the article. Jimmy and Carl decided to check the story out with the Chronicle and the police respectively, the others decided to try and locate Amelia. They waited outside the castle till Amelia appeared and followed her. Unfortunately the young woman seemed intent on doing nothing more suspicious than clothes shopping and the investigators grew bored and decided to check out the riverside where the body had been found. Carl
and Jimmy continued to dig into the student death, finding out little
more that what was in the article other than the Inspector in charge of
the investigation was a bit of an idiot and had no interest whatsoever
in treating the death as anything other than a tragic accident. Billy,
Max and Paul headed to the riverside, where Max was immediately
diverted into a quaint riverside pub, deciding an early lunch was just
the ticket! Paul and Jimmy decided to continue up the riverbank and
discovered a mysterious cave. Unfortunately for them the cave was
guarded by two shantaks and the intrepid investigators beat a hasty
retreat, battered bruised and bloody with their clothes ripped to
shreds. Max met up with them out side the pub and headed off to a
nearby charity shop to procure replacement clothing. They returned to
the hotel and after a judicious use of the Healing spell collected
heavier weapons, and returned to the riverbank cave. The cave this time
was empty, but there was a strange static electricity like aura in the
place that made their hair stand on end. After a thorough search and
finding nothing, they returned to the hotel and met up with Carl and a
slightly inebriated Jimmy who had consumed an extensive liquid lunch
with his new best friend on the Durham Chronicle!Next morning, they resolved to search Amelia’s rooms, Max volunteering that he had some experience with locks. They managed to break in easily, finding the room neatly arranged. Paul made a bee-line for the bookcases which with filled with feminist tracts, volumes of history and anthropological text related to witchcraft, which though interesting were not particularly helpful. Billy found Amelia’s diary which had only one entry for today “Choir Practice” that evening at the cathedral. Jimmy also found, hidden under the mattress a scrap of paper with the spell summon shantaks. Billy immediately transcribed the spell into his notebook and they returned the room to order. That evening the Investigators resolved to investigate Choir Practice, but found their entry to the cathedral barred. They waiting some time, Jimmy periodically walking round the building. On one expedition he noticed a side door left ajar, though it had not been so earlier. Calling the others they entered the cathedral, immediately hearing voices. Peering into the dimly lit building they could see a small group of people heading to the far side. The group suddenly began chanting in an eerie inhuman tone, which made the investigator’s flesh creep. They were about to follow when Max fortunately spotted two shantaks lurking near the vaulted roof of the cathedral. The chanting group stopped near the spiral staircase that led to the organ. The chant reaching a crescendo, as it did the staircase began to rotate counter-clockwise, descending into the under croft. One by one the “choir” descended. The Instigators were at a loss what to do, the shantaks perched above them were obviously acting a guardians. However they eventually screwed up their courage and dashed towards the stairway. The shantaks reacted immediately, swooping down to attack! Fortunately the attacks all missed ad the investigators made it to the stairway safely. As they began their descent however, the staircase began another slow rotation, this time clockwise! The Investigators managed to get to the floor before the stairway finally disappeared above them, sealing them below. The Investigators found themselves in a large room, they air heavy with that strange static-electricity feeling. The room had a strangely marked square-patterned floor black stone wall either side. On the far side of the room were what appeared to be two exits, one a tunnel mouth, the other an old oak door. As they looked at the blank walls, each began to see strange sigils, inscriptions and murals. As their minds struggled to interpret what they were perceiving they found themselves moving forward across the patterned floor heading towards one or other of the exits. As he came close Billy could see that passageway exit led to a cave where he could see the beady eyes of what could only be a shantak watching. Eventually, after what seemed like an eternity, their minds reeling from the attempts to perceive and understand the content on the walls, they all found themselves standing outside the aged oak door. |