A new era, a broken friendship, the first step...
Summary[]
Transported to 13th century England, Arthur and John take refuge in a windmill, where they meet a friendly owl. After making temporary peace regarding their frustrations, they find themselves in the caverns below the windmill. They encounter strange, fleshy surfaces and crawling black maggots – as well as an unknown figure, chained to the wall in one of the caves.
Synopsis[]
Finding themselves in 13th century England during a downpour, John and Arthur argue about John’s decision to wipe Arthur’s memory. John threatens to project himself once again, but backs down after Arthur bluffs him. In the end, tensions ease. John details his struggles with his own identity, his instincts of being the King in Yellow, and his own torn desires. He states that he feels lost.
Arthur admits he has no answer, but wants John to stop taking out his frustrations on him and admit he fucked up. John does so, and Arthur admits that while what John attempted to do was unforgivable, it was a very human impulse.
Keen to escape the rain, they enter a stone windmill. It smells like rot inside. As they reach for their lighter, Arthur realizes everything inside is soaked. As they dry the lighter, John asserts that he wouldn’t project without talking to Arthur, but at Arthur’s questioning, admits it did feel powerful.
After they ignite the lighter, John notices something with yellow eyes in the rafters. Arthur hesitantly calls out to it… only to find that it’s an owl, to Arthur’s relief and John’s annoyance.
They discuss their current predicament, briefly admitting the possibility that they are not in the 1200s England of their own universe. In the end, they renew their determination to find The Blackstone and start to search the windmill. It is dilapidated and not in use, with ladders that lead to upper and lower floors.
In a cabinet, they find some dried leaves, rope, and candles. Arthur takes the latter, and begins to ask John about the Dark World. When John is hesitant, Arthur reassures he won’t push, and that he understands why John made the deal with Kayne.
They turn their attention back to the owl, with Arthur remarking that owls are often seen as bad omens. He introduces himself and John to the owl, and names it Alexander.
Having found shelter for the night, they decide to bunk down on the floor. John suggests making sure that they are alone. They decide to head down the decrepit, rotting ladder. The smell of rot is stronger here. While they find wheat, Arthur believes the rot is coming from somewhere else – it smells “wetter”.
In the basement, they find a crack in the wall – unnaturally so, as if the stonework was “unzipped” by its own hand. Something glistens within wetly. It smells earthly, bigger, and damp.
They search for something to block the crack, though John’s attention is continually drawn towards it – he compares it to a mouth with jagged, broken teeth. They find a makeshift bed, and Arthur pricks his finger on a brooch. It's made of silver and depicts two deer or gazelle running from a lion. The lion has caught the adult deer (with horns), while a fawn manages to flee. A snake watches the scene from a tree, hissing.
As they ponder over it, they hear an echo coming from the crack. Alexander briefly startles them both by joining them in the basement.
Rather than explore inside the crack, they decide to return upstairs to find something to block it. The ladder breaks under Arthur’s weight and he falls, a large splinter embedding itself between his third and fourth fingers. Arthur removes it with his teeth, and wraps his bleeding hand with the cultist robe.
Frustrated, he sorts through his bag to see what he can use. They toss the sodden letters from Frank, the Butcher, and Anna and keys from Marie’s house, Daniel’s car, and the Hotel Tudor, the invisible creature tendril, the Order of the Fallen Star cultist mask. They keep the bestiary, book with John’s symbol on it, the pallid mask, the medallion, the Order’s ring, and the Crystallizer of Dreams. They look through the Glass of Leng, seeing a flash of lightning revealing a castle on a cliff, and keep it.
They keep the shaving tin, which contains fishing hooks, the coin, Daniel’s Freemason ring, Marie’s locket, a picture of Faroe, and now the brooch. The flute they stole from Larson is broken.
He places Kayne’s dagger on his belt and reloads his gun, which has seven shots. They also keep the Vanguard tooth and the letter from Oscar. Finally, they have the three black candles.
Again, they hear strange noises from the crack – John compares it to whispers, though Arthur remarks it could be a breeze. Most importantly, it could be a way out. They decide to hold a torch in one hand and place one hand on the wall to navigate, though this may keep them vulnerable to attack.
Ready to depart, they bid goodbye to Alexander.
Inside the crack, the tunnels are much tighter than John thought. It is so humid that the torch dims. Arthur comes into contact with a fleshy membrane (which, according to John, looks like “skin” and “dark veins”). Arthur tears through with his fingers. Some black liquid drips on his arms, though as they break through, John realizes that Arthur is actually crawling with many small, black maggots.
The cavern beyond them is made of black rock with a fleshy hue, and the maggots are ubiquitous. Ignoring his own disgust, Arthur keeps moving. Something abruptly shrieks, blowing out the torch, but John cautions against it. Instead, Arthur draws the dagger.
They continue on, hearing rain. John sees flashes of light from the storm – entering a room, they see a small hole in the ceiling, which is too small and high to escape through, as well as human bones scattered across the floor. Additionally, there is a figure chained to the far wall of the room.
Arthur asks if they are alive, and they answer by repeatedly calling out "help me".
Votes[]
- Chapter 201: Passive [209] / Aggressive [11]
- Chapter 202: Explore Up [103] / Explore Down [139]
- Chapter 203: Head Back Up [168] / Search The Hole [83]
- Chapter 204: Hold the Dagger [96] / Track the Wall [128]
- Chapter 205: No vote.
