Call of Cthulhu, Episode 26 - 'Who Ate all the Stormbringer Pie?'

 Having agreed to help Grant Winwood and rescue Professor Methridge and his students from Easter Island, our heroes make their way to the massive airship hanger south of LA, where the Rosinante is moored.

 It is crewed by Winwood’s hired professionals (lackeys by any other name): Captain ‘I know what I’m doing’ Jensen, Fat ‘do I have to?’ Pedro and Ronnie ‘I’m the apprentice but I’m really in charge’ Van Zant.

Captain Jensen - confident as any drunk Australian can be...

 Also in evidence is a multitude of foodstuffs, under the care of Consww...Consuel...Winwood’s housekeeper. When quizzed about the amount of food, Winwood mentions how the number of students might be 20 or more, and Easter Island is run by the Chilean army, and they will seen as an American rescue mission...and some 'barter items' might not go amiss.

Long corridors and dodgy hydrogen bladders.

 McLeod stays on the bridge, convinced that Captain Jensen McCloy perhaps does not know what he is doing and Apprentice Ronnie is there to keep an eye on things. Taking off, gaining height they hook on an ‘ex’ US Navy seaplane, for good measure. More height, and compass bearings to head south, and they narrowly miss the 'Hollywoodland' sign, oops not missed after all...and now it says simply ‘Holywood’.

'Let's get outta here mayte!'

 In addition, in order to get better range, the airship is using hydrogen filled bladders, rather than helium (very available in the US at this time, and far safer), and also carrying – as Pedro points out with a cigar in his mouth – additional containers of hydrogen in the stowage. What could go wrong? I mean, it’s not as if there have been any major accidents...yet?

Picking up the plane no one can fly

They head south, out across the ocean. In the gondola, McDade starts to investigate the composition of the loaded foodstuffs...finding a large pumpkin pie – the bottom of the deep, and seemingly ancient dish – bearing an elder inscription that they have seen before. Our heroes immediately devolve into argument as to its meaning, with Sinead (now having rejoined the party after a spell in the same sanitarium as the Prof) arguing that they should not throw it over the side. 

'Whatever you do, make sure you've got a risk assessment...'

Even though she has been having very strange dreams since having her new necklace made – funnily enough with the same symbology – she believes the pie bowl to be harmless. 

The dreaded symbol, in the bottom of the dreaded...pie bowl...there purely to ensure that the baking is effective.

 Fat Pedro quickly removes the evidence of there ever having been pie inside, ...clearly to help the characters out ‘eh senor...did anyone else want pie?’

Long narrow corridors in hydrogen filled, fiery explosive potential...what could go wrong?

As the characters argue, McLeod learns from Jensen how to pilot the airship...roughly, as they head into a patch of bad weather, and it grows dark. Sinead has a vision of a worm faced hooded thing, astride a Shantak...staring at her, but manages to keep her sanity intact, and look away... the Prof informs her, that she had a vision of Nyarlathotep ... is that bad?

Into the storm

Then all hell breaks loose as two Byahkee, clearly summoned by nefarious forces, and homing in on the still on board pie-bowl...which Pedro has kindly cleared…

...seems a little hungry

McLeod stays on the bridge, bravely looking away, as McDade and the Prof start shooting with solid slug...far, far away from the hydrogen, and Sinead hides under the table.

Close range solid slug eventually does its duty, as the foul flying things manage to miss the characters...but, something has rent open one of the bladders and the airship is losing pressure fast. The characters, with shotguns, make their way to the keel and spine of the airship, walking delicately between bladders hunting down the remaining Byahkee. 

Balancing on the edge...

The Prof, McDade and Sinead find one, dispatch it, and shut down the pressure leak as the airship descends to 6,000 feet, but there is still something on top of the blimp. McDade volunteers and climbs the vertical access ladder, opening a hatch on top rising into the dark, wind and rain, seeing the thing that has rent the canopy come lurching toward him. He has no time to reload and the beaked monstrosity takes a bit out of him, hanging on to his shoulder and sucking blood as he screams, reloads and blows its head off, before kicking it away, climbing back through the hatch, and managing his way back down the tube, bleeding… but still alive.

Not recommended...

Sinead throws the pie bowl out one of the holes rent by the byahkee in the gondola. Fat Pedro asks if there is any more pie...and can he lick the bowl first.

Destination ahead...(see what I did there)

A few days later, the Rosinante reaches Easter Island, and the ship does a circuit so that they can scout the island, before landing about a mile north of the only settlement at Hangaroa so that Ronnie can carry out repairs to the damaged outer skin and the hydrogen bladder.

South West portion of the island

 They have of course attracted the attention of both the local populace and the Chilean army, whose trucks filled with armed maniacs, now head to their position on the coast.

The discourse seems, roughly jovial, with Captain Manuel Pereira - the Chilean officer in charge, wanting to have the ‘missing Americans’ problem solved, and assuming correctly that this is the rescue party. Though, at the Prof’s persuasion, he allows them one handgun with a full load of ammunition, much to the chagrin of McDade and Sinead, who have ideas about umm...hiding ammo…

Convinced by what they have, they are brought into town, and immediately taken under the care of Father Jorge Haedo, the local Priest (who also likes his food), and who brings them into the church where the stricken students and the now drunk Professor Winthrop Methridge are holed up.

Father Jorge tells them of the ancient legends of the island, proudly displaying his large book collection – occult, historical and...the Prof notices an ancient text, clearly copied many times, but displaying aspects of the same cuneiform language that he taught himself during the flight and whilst in hospital.

He has found a journal it seems...the record of the last days...of Lord Belphegor of Mu and the sacred quest for the lost steel blade of Mu…an ancient sword and Easter Island...something familiar about it all from the party’s time in Scotland.

A journal containing details of the final doomed voyage of four ‘heroes’ at the end of the pre-historical, antediluvian world, when ‘serpents’ from the sky (definitely not comet fragments at all...no...no) had impacted the Earth and shattered empires: Lord Belphegor – Warrior Priest, Septimus – Noble Warrior, Kall the savage brute and ShanTryan – Atlantean slave to Lord Belphegor…

He starts to read of a time of magic; a time of noble warriors; a time of elder races striving to survive, and win back the remnants of a shattered Earth...

 Tune in next week ...