Diary of Kuranes (waking)

December 31st 1964

Xavier Hellstrom. Such power. From what that man Jonathan said about his "visions" (I'll have to look into that more later), XH must have spent quite some time preparing this elaborate trap. I fear had I not woven that first counterspell in exactly the way I did, the defenses on the box might have proven a near impossible challenge.

I must say, XH made an interesting choice in spells… and to delay, interesting choice indeed. I'm not sure if he would have been as happy with a quick evisceration spell or a simple fireball. He wanted those original Prometheans to stew, to try their best to find a solution and fail. And, should they survive, they would have had quite the message.

I gather I've made a powerful enemy by allying myself with the foundation. Hellstrom, what would you have done if you were in my shoes?

I figure I should mention some of the less important things this evening brought, namely my fellow Prometheans. They all seem to be fairly skilled in some way or another, perhaps in ways I've yet to see. I might have been a tad too… myself around them, not realizing how entangled we'd become. It would be wise to befriend them, far easier to get what I want.

I'm not sure I can stomach that Elaine creature though. It might stretch me to the limit holding back from turning her into a little piggy for my Kieluu to devour. I'm curious if she might be smarter in the form of semi digested zoog food. Still, even dull tools have a use. At least she will keep Kieluu on his toes, if he displaced a pebble I would be shocked if she didn't fire a round at it.

Jonathan as mentioned above is of interest, as is Genda who besides obvious talent with spirits has a little power in him. I could swear I noticed looks of fear from the great man… directed at me? He can't see Kieluu can he?

Lisa however, intrigues me. She clearly has power, although not as varied as my own. She spoke of teleporting in such a way it seemed she might excel in that class of magic. She chose to live in the guest house closest to mine. Perhaps Kieluu and I should try and make the Avoid spell permanent.

I just realized I have only touched on the biggest news, becoming a Promethean. This should be an interesting diversion. Imagine this world with higher mana, it's certainly no Celephais but perhaps a step closer to getting me there. Speaking of, perhaps I can pry Magdalena for a little more information on this "silver key" once she returns, or at least get a chance to look through some of her brother's belongings. I'm tired of hearing Kieluu's LEGENDS of the man, perhaps there is some truth to the tales but i'm sure he's not as fantastic as fabled.

I'm curious what we might come across in our assignments.

January 4th 1965

Magdelena returned today. We sat for breakfast and discussed some possible courses of action for the Prometheans. She felt a particular mansion in Pasadena was a good place to start.

One amusement was when Elaine pressed her for information on something… probably inane, I couldn't be bothered to recall what. Magdalena lied, and I have to give our silly gun child some credit, she caught on. Best part, she called Mag' out on her lie without flinching. I hate to say it, but I like her a little bit more than before. Of course, a shiny turd is still a turd though.

When everyone left I made sure to ask her about the silver key. She responded as expected, only knowing what Randolph storied. Although, she does believe it to be an actual key, not some code for something else. Even with a spell to cause a more favorable reaction she wouldn't allow me access to Randolph's belongings. Seems I might need to butter her up a little more.

We made our way to the house and before even stepping foot inside, Genda got so scared he started to vomit. That kind of weakness disgusts me, but coming from such a big man it is pure comedy. He didn't do this only once either. One time, I just couldn't help myself, I made him fall right into his own sickness. The look on his face! It really was a treat. Sadly, after a while Lisa felt the need to be a spoil sport and magically cleaned him up. She stole the joy I got watching him squirm in shame and discomfort… just like she stole that book.

The book she took is clearly magical in both content and nature. At the moment I assume, as does Lisa that this is The Book of Gates. A great discovery… although I'm sure not as "world changing" as Lisa would like to think. Anyway, after snatching it up, she wouldn't part with it for even a moment. I guess she's not as sharing as she likes to make others think. She should understand such items of power belong in my hands where they can be used properly.

I found it amusing that she doesn't have the skill to cast a spell to read unknown languages. Even sillier was her insistence to learn Persian rather than allowing me to read it by spell. She says she believes this wont work, which is ridiculous. However, what do I care, if she takes the time to learn the language I'll just borrow her skill with it, much easier than starting from scratch.

My time will be taken up instead by reading the diary of Jacob Jansen from 1963 and possibly earlier ones if I find them. Also, it seems Jansen was as much a lover of art as I am. A large number of the paintings were by Austin Spare a fellow magician. Many use paint imbued with magic. I'll have to analyze those when I get a chance.

Lets see… oh yes, the brain. I guess Jansen got in over his head and gated a giant brain here from some other plane of existence where these things roam around sucking mana from the atmosphere. It too requires some study, although I must be careful as this entity is quite powerful.

January 5th 1965

I am so furious. Why didn't we take those paintings before we left the house the first time. Stealing? From who? Why do we care about debt collectors? Also, I wish I was given a little more information on the forces we are up against. OSI comes in and just stops our investigation of the house. I wasn't done! Now I have these journals with info probably made worthless once OSI douches out the place. Beautiful and magical works of art just gone. Not even to mention the brain.

I wonder what they will do to it. I only barely buttered it up. The telepathic link I established allowed me to see such wonders. His world is unlike anything I have ever seen. I intended on later asking the brain permission to truly search it's... mind... its self... that's confusing. I doubt it would have let me, but to take possession of such a great creature would have been amazing. Now, that sliver of a hope is impossible. Although, I might try and connect to it when I'm not too busy, see what OSI has done, assuming our agent "friend" kept his word and didn't just destroy the brain.

Also, I'm going to have to have a conversation with the others about magic. I was shocked to see Lisa... the other mage of all people... strike the OSI agent immediately after I dazed him. Unbelievable!

Jonathan showed a little more of his skill with psionics today much to my annoyance. It seems he noticed I was holding back some information and chose to pry it out of me instead. I might just have to keep up a spell to hide my thoughts while around him. I'm sure it took a lot of guts to stand up to someone such as myself. He should be glad that I am trying to keep a nice show going here or I could have made life uncomfortable for him. And yet, I'm growing to like the guy; he doesn't seem to be afraid to make the hard choices. That I can respect.

And Keaton, such an oddity. From my knowledge of him he must be in his 60's or 70's but looks to be around 30. He has no idea how this is so either. I've heard of magic that does as much but such a spell would require great energy and skill. Perhaps I'll pry him for a bit more information next time we meet. Kieluu tells me I shouldn't care and that I always have "tentacles in every crack" (a zoog expression of being nosy that I find hilarious for other reasons).

Anyhow, I got the painting I admired so much on my first visit to the house. It's the one titled "Mystic Dreamscape". I'd never analyzed a magically created work of art before. I regret to say it is much harder than I expected. I have some skill in painting but certainly not as much as Spare. This coupled with my magic helped me see just how time consuming such an inquiry might be. I chose instead with a heavy heart to leave the paintings for Quinn so he could arrange for a specialist to study them. I think I'll be sore over losing those other works for some while, especially the large one.

January 18th 1965

I have not been writing recently as it has been pretty boring here. Most of the others have been of with Tropet training. I however spent most of my time reading these journals and correspondances. They were mostly dull mundane life. However, there were a few interesting tidbits. Perhaps I'll enter my notes in here later. The last two days I spent with Lisa. She was teaching me that breathing technique she learned from one of her previous mentors, Wei I believe. I'm surprised at how efficient it is in these low mana environments. Perhaps I have depended on magic too much. In the dream the world is far different. You don't get this exhausted from simple spells. At the very least you are able to regain your energy much quicker. It will come in handy i'm sure.

I'm curious to know if she noticed Kieluu practicing as well? I think he has a bit of a crush on her. Well, I guess it would be more appropriate to say he thinks she looks tasty. She has clearly been pushing herself hard trying to learn skills to help her study that book. It was fun watching her obsess for a while, but now that i'm done with my studies I'm antsy to see what knowledge The Book of Gates holds.

I thought about attempting to analyze the book magically from afar but i'm unsure if that would cause any trouble. Assuming it isn't prohibitively difficult which is also a possibility as I've never tried such a tactic. Hopefully, our meeting with Mag will go well tomorrow and I'll have something new to occupy my time.

January 19th 1965

Today we met Microft Jones III , the foundation's financial advisor. We were given a 10k credit line and invoices for larger purchases. I've always had to scrimp and save to buy anything special so this could be a real change of pace.

Magdalena of course had a reason for setting this up. She recently inherited a magic typewriter from the estate of Benton Tuttle. Although the enchantment was a minor spelling correction one, she found it important to investigate the items he willed to others. I was pleasantly surprised when Mag pulled me aside after the meeting and told me a little more information on the silver key. Apparently it was last rumored to be in the possession of a school teacher, Joel something like Mantain, Manson or similar. He was last seen in the old Arkham area in 1932, so I'll have to find a way to search him out.

Anyhow, Nathaniel Peterson, the lawyer who settled the estate led us to the auction, pawn shop and Goodwill he used frequently. He also gave us a few leads on other items he had more specific information on.

Since the Pawn shop was so close we chose to quickly check it out. Through a spell or two I found a bicycle and a pocket watch. I could tell immediately that the bike had some form of movement magic placed on it and the watch a protection spell of some sort. I just handed these in to Quinn when the day was done so who knows what is truly on them.

When we made it into the Goodwill I was overwhelmed by the sheer amount of garbage and chose to use a spell to point me in the direction of the nearest magic item rather than sift through it all with enhanced vision. Sure enough I found a flashlight. Further analysis showed it to be a darklight, this could come in handy to hide my troublesome glowing eyes.

I decided to check one last time for another magic item before leaving. This damned world with it's terrible mana levels caused me to fail spectacularly. A swarm of illusory gnats swarmed all over me. Kieluu of course found this to be the highlight of the day and wouldn't stop his snickering. I chose to purchase the light for myself rather than use the foundation's funds as it was a mere 5 dollars!

Later in the day I came upon my second find. This washed out, trashy detective (Max Finton) had been bequeathed a flask, lighter and cigarette case. He knew they were magical, providing an endless supply of their contents. He lost the case and lighter and with a simple spell I found them quickly enough. The room was so foul that Kieluu shrieked away in terror… so I pocketed the items as my fee for having to experience that horror.

It was a bit unnerving but the man was wearing a pair of glasses which I presume allow him to see invisible things as well as perhaps magical ones. I'm sure he saw Kieluu but luckily was too drunk or doped up to connect it to reality. He of course was unwilling to part with the glasses. But the flask he gave away for a steal, 200 dollars. I didn't have the money on me so he said I could pick it up tomorrow.

January 20th 1965

I guess Genda is auditioning for a role in some movie (Frankenstein or something) to get a chance to meet with William Tuttle, the cousin of Benton. William was given a mask which by all accounts is "special" at least. I guess Benton used to talk to the masks he owned, and never let his cleaning lady go near them.

This cleaning lady, Lorelai, I forgot to mention it but we met her yesterday. She was given a treasure, which she of course ran out and sold instantly. It was a rare statue, maybe only 7 or so in existence, of a raccoon raising its arms to the sky. If I remember correctly it has an enchantment on it to make jewelry held long enough by it to increase in value. 200,000 is a lot of money, but such a piece is surely worth much more.

Anyway, I realized I might be stranded and had to give Elaine some charm so she would drive me to pick up my flask. Of course when we got there Finton was passed out, clearly under the influence of something. He as expected raised the price to 300 and wouldn't budge. Knowing that this was a bargain, I couldn't help it and tossed him the cash. Had Elaine not been there I might have just made him forget he ever owned such a thing… maybe even taken those glasses. Ha that would have been cruel… oh well, I know where he lives.

Elaine may have chanced upon a great item, a golden gun once owned by William Randolph Hearst. I couldn't help but giggle when the seller offered it to her at cost (600 dollars) and Elaine countered with 1000… without seeing it first! I secretly hoped the gun wasn't even magical as that would be comical. However, I sensed some form of destructive, possibly necromantic magic on it and although curious… It's not my gun. Worse… it's Elaine's, so Quinn can analyze it. I thought about not telling her it might be dangerous but then thought about my safety.

Late afternoon we headed to Carrington House where a large number of items were sent to auction. We had great luck meeting with Lloyd Carlson (one of the auctioneers) who told us a great deal of information on prices and who bought which items. I also put myself on the auction's mailing list. Hopefully in the future we'll find out about these items before they get sold off.

January 22nd 1965

Xavier Hellstrom enters the fray again. I'm unsure if he has any knowledge of our activities but I feel we must plan as though he does. When we inquired about the Red Book at Bixby books, the owner informed us that it was stolen the very night after the auction. Since the guy didn't give me time alone with the safe, later that night Lisa and I teleported into the shop. We found the burglar to be a gaunt man, bald headed, eyebrows gone too, with wire-framed glasses ( I magically created images of the night the book was stolen). Mag later confirmed this to be Hellstrom, but refused to believe he could still be alive. I find her assertion to be naive, a mage as powerful as X would have a failsafe should something go wrong.

My knowledge of The Red Books is enough to know that these are very dangerous texts. Each one is said to allow the summoning of a particular demon, and each one grants the reader a… quirk. I know of the book of Madness, suicide, and murder… and I think that's all the known ones. I'm curious which one X has. I wonder if a murderous person like X would be affected by a magical compulsion to murder. Would it do away with calculation, make him kill anyone he sees?

Whatever it is I'm sure X has a plan, and I have no idea how best to figure it out. I fear that attempting to scry any information on X will alert him to us. Especially if he does not know we are here. However, lacking that knowledge will surely get us killed.

We went to the book shop yesterday, these past two days blur together a bit as I cast a spell to allow us to stay awake through the night will no ill effects. In the same safe X stole into was an envelope which glowed in a way similar to The Book of Gates or as Lisa has now taken to calling it "Kitab al-Babi". I could have told her that ages ago. If she wants to believe she is some chosen one, lets let her have her delusions. Coincidentally, the envelope contained four pages from the book, actually a large page cut into quarters. Lisa quickly pocketed it once the shopkeeper handed them over.

We then traveled to Anaximander's Maps which is run by a man who calls himself such. The shop has clearly been wiped of mana through the use of magic or some other intentional means. We knew going in that two of the maps were magical and of course those had sold. Anaximander turned out to be very rude and entirely unhelpful, refusing to reveal the identity of his customers.

We returned to try the same spell used in Bixby Books. I can't help but respect him, he had enchanted his storefront to create an illusion of himself staring in, obscuring the real customers the spell exposed. He noticed what we were doing and came out to have a laugh at us, telling us to come see him when we figure it out.

Even though the night was barely through Elaine insisted that we leave as she deemed this unimportant to our investigations, the maps not being harmful. One of the maps was of The Dreamlands, I can't let that go. I'd rather meet with 'Ax on my own anyhow... Figure what out? That it was an illusion set through some linking spell?

When I later asked Mag about 'Ax she declined to comment. When I pressed the matter she simply said that she does not believe him to be "that" Anaximander. I don't like secrets that are not my own. I did a little research on the store and couldn't find much. One interesting fact however, the store is built in the same site Magic Moe's once occupied. The social club was burned down in the mid 20's at the onset of the Fire Magic Wars resulting in multiple deaths including the proprietor. I have no idea what this could mean, but it stands out.

I write this now as I wait a few hours until perhaps 2am. This is the second night I won't sleep. I properly identified the bike I found earlier in the week and plan on using it to head over to 'Ax's to see if he has a time he leaves the store... or sleeps. I might even attempt to have Kieluu use the darklight to hide me as I cast some longer spells. Getting a good analysis will help me to break whatever it is 'Ax has placed on his doorstep. Perhaps like me he would appreciate someone with guts standing up to him. He is a curiosity that I must understand.

January 23rd 1965

I think I'm truly starting to appreciate being a Promethean. I've already met some fascinating people, and today was no exception with Marjorie Cameron. Right away when we saw her at The Ambassador Hotel's restaurant, I could tell she was special. Her aura was… different, more lively, more… magical. Genda of course was just slopping through the whole menu and probably didn't notice a thing. He does surprise me sometimes with the information he gathers with his "powers" whatever they may be.

When one of the men accompanying her left their table, Kieluu followed him back to what we later found out was Marjorie and Nick's room. He gathered a large sum of money into a briefcase and brought it to the front desk to be held for a Mr. Jones. I felt we should keep an eye on this but the group felt it was not needed. Perhaps if Q had been kind enough to give me a ring like Elaine and Lisa had I could have left a magical lookout. I fear without one, I am quite weak magically, at least in terms of maintaining spells for extended periods. I hate weakness.

After much more waiting eventually Marjorie's party got up and went back to her room. I left Kieluu with Elaine, knowing full well she would mess things up. Of course, Kieluu told me later the reason she got caught was mainly from him not warning her as the bodyguards approached.

Around this time, I made a huge mistake. I'm really not sure why but rather than cast a spell to make Genda speak Italian ( the language he was probably overhearing spiritually) I wove a spell to make him more wise. I thought this might have multiple benefits one being he could mimic the the language, so I could translate it myself. The spell exhausted me, and Genda even with the extra resources was unable to speak anything other than gibberish. I had to call Kieluu back to replenish me, accompanied by the sounds of his giggles at my weakened state. Perhaps I should trust my fellow Prometheans more.

Eventually Marjorie left the hotel. Lisa was smart enough to take note of her car so she could trace it's whereabouts. Perhaps I should try my hand at clearing up Lisa's obsession with the book so she could research it lucidly; I'll think on it. The trace brought us to Marjorie's art studio. Lisa and I chose to go up and speak with her. She let us in and allowed us to question her on the Red Book. She had no knowledge of it but was willing to meet with us later at the Blue Lotus to discuss more.

While in her studio I noticed her artwork was occult in nature, and beautiful. I know from Jansen's diary that she was involved in some way with the forgeries he used to fund his gate projector. However, these paintings from my knowledge are originals of her own creation. I might go back and buy one when we inevitably go back for more information.

Later that night we made our way to the Blue Lotus and made our way to Marjorie's party. Kieluu for whatever reason wasn't paying attention and failed to hide my gun before the bodyguards gave us a search. I declared it early so we wouldn't have any trouble; the guard took it and pocketed it. We then had an uncomfortable meeting with Nick Licata while Marjorie sat there evaluating us. He told us he wasn't in the business of books, but other occult finds he might be able to procure. Finally at Marjorie's request he left us alone with her.

We had a candid talk about Hellstrom and The Red Book. When Lisa told her we planned to sequester the book, Marjorie made the connection and declared that we were the new Promethean team. We confirmed. She then told us that Hellstrom is not on this plane and she is positive of that. Instead, the visage of Hellstrom was probably adopted by a member of the Society of the Red Hand, a group of mercenary mage killers and magic artifact thieves. She suggested they chose X to emulate in order to scare Magdalena. With the new year's event and the foundation's history it seems wise to still be on the lookout for Hellstrom just in case.

Marjorie then told us she would be willing to put us in touch with a contact of the Red Hand. I'm not sure what good that would do, It seems it might cause more trouble than it would be worth. I'll keep this in the back of my mind, but stealing from a mage is risky business.

After our meeting we reconnected with Genda and Elaine. Lisa then disappeared for a while and I was getting antsy to leave. When she reappeared, Lisa told us she got us seats close to the stage so we could enjoy Miles Davis. I'd never heard of him as I'm not much of a jazz lover but he was very good. I also noticed he had an aura of magery, which Lisa pointed out to me later as though I'm blind or something. I was glad she brought my attention to the music however, I actually had a good time.

When the band was finished we made our ways to the cars. We had seen Marjorie leave a good hour previously and Lisa was able to track her car to the Hollywood hills. Lisa had a good idea that perhaps we should wait for Marjorie to leave and then go to the party and see if we could make any additional mage contacts. She had mentioned the death of Max Finton and I figured we may as well check up on his cause of death… as well as snatch those enchanted glasses. When we got there I cast a few spells and sure enough he died of being an old sloppy drunk druggie. Curiously his glasses were missing.

Marjorie was still at the party so we went back to the foundation to wait for her to leave and I also thought it might be a better place to try and track the glasses from. It was a huge coincidence but the glasses were actually at the same place as Marjorie's party. We decided as it was getting really late that perhaps the party goers might be quite drunk right now and might be more easy with accepting some strangers.

When we arrived it was clear that the party was either over or was not that kind of party. The lights were mainly out and it was quiet. Genda was able to discern a magical barrier meant to alert the occupants of any intruders. Lisa and I were discussing a plan of action when guess who made her way over to the house and started knocking on the door. Of course it was Elaine… who else would do something like that without thinking it through. The others followed her (I wouldn't have; let her get what she deserves) and I followed them not wanting to be left outside in case, by some miracle, this didn't go south.

By the time I got there someone had already checked on the door and went away, soon returning with with Marjorie's bodyguards. Of course the leader remembered me and demanded I hand over my gun. He then searched the party and took Elaine's gun. They told us to fuck off and when they didn't like Lisa's response the leader went to smack her in the face. Lisa being Lisa was easily able to deflect the blow. I then tried to mind control him into giving me my gun back but he was too strong willed. Genda, thankfully, was able to get it back through diplomacy.

We went back to the car and waited for Genda to prepare to leave. For whatever reason he had to stay; I guess he saw something interesting. He later told us that it wasn't really a party, more of a ritual. His assumption was that it was an induction of sorts. Marjorie seemed to be leading the ceremony. When the ceremony closed, he noted a Chinese man wearing Max Finton's glasses. I guess they are in the hands of a mage. He might be a lowly initiate, but this could also have been an induction into a higher order… so the man's skill level is in question. Too risky I should think.

January 24th 1965

I met with Mag and told her of all we learned yesterday. I couldn't help but get a little angry at her for holding back information on us again. I called her out on it. She had very little info on the Red Hand. She found it preposterous that they would be targeting her in choosing Hellstrom as their avatar. However, she admitted that she was one of the very very few who would even know what he looked like as pictured. She also confessed that one reason she holds back is that in the past full disclosure has gotten agents killed.

Although Mag is clearly knowledgeable on these matters it seems she is often years behind the times. Marjorie says as much. There is an obvious rivalry between Mag and Marj. It will be difficult to sort out the crap from the truth it seems. For instance Marjorie asked for something Mag would know of in order to help us get the red book. This item turned out to be the manastone from the foundation, a request that would never be accommodated.

When I brought up that Marjorie had alluded to successfully creating the magical child mentioned in her dossier, Mag got silent. She then told us this would make her quite powerful, as this "child" was not so much a child as a magical entity… a ruler of the astral plane. This gives Marjorie a sort of unknown power over our universe. She did note that Jack Parsons must be alive in the astral plane as one parent is needed to raise the child on that domain. I will obviously be researching this late into the night, perhaps I will not sleep if enough resources present themselves.

Perhaps tonight we will also investigate the jumping points of the two actors who killed themselves recently. It is our only lead as to the whereabouts of the Red Book, assuming it is the suicide copy as I suspect.

Oh one interesting tidbit… I got a letter from Quinn shortly after my meeting with Mag. Q sent me a ---

Hmmm, I just had a laugh, Quinn is sort of like our Q and Mag our M from the James Bond movies. Kieluu is absolutely obsessed with them, whenever the villains are on he always asks me to cast a spell so he can understand. He tries to make it seem like he thinks the movies are just stupid human crap but I know the truth.

--- anyway back to what I was saying before that major tangent. I guess M was quick to tell Q about my displeasure at not being given a ring. He quickly sent me a letter saying tough shit pretty much, but also that I should try and get Elaine's. I think I will.

This is of course the part that matters. Q has traced Randolph's Silver Key to Los Angeles. I have very little information on the owner of it, Q mentioning he is now deceased. It seems time is of the essence.

If things go right, I may be in the possession of the fabled key before long… and I think it wont be too hard to get that ring from Elaine either. I might have to take Kieluu out to see Goldfinger again… only this time I'll have the energy to sustain his understanding.

January 25th 1965

Elaine took the bait last night. She met me in the library and traded her ring for my powerstone. She came at me with a list of demands that she wouldn't budge on and required me to agree to. Something like, a full report every time I learn something new, being babysat while researching, and never using mind control on group members. She has to be kidding. I cast a spell, in Leng I've heard it called the "golden whisper", Elaine could only hear what she wanted me to say. I of course made sure to use a tape recorder as a "gift" to her, so she could reign me in if i broke our agreement. She didn't realize it but the tape was recording what I was actually saying, which was in no way what she wanted. I pretty much said I'll keep doing business as usual, although I did try and word it like I was reaching out. I'll be taking Kie to the movie theatre to celebrate when we get a night off. I bet I could even conjure up a couple snacks for us too. The concessions are always so expensive, plus Kieluu would rather die than eat most human foods.

Today was an odd day. From start to finish it was filled with surprises. On top of the many coincidences the day brought, I had terrible luck with magic. It was starting to get quite troublesome.

We chose to investigate the suicides right away this morning. We when to the Angel City Times and met with Rebecca Lawrence. The information we gathered from her was rather pedestrian, however, I was able to note through her aura that she is slightly magic resistant. It's a fairly rare trait, and me being me… I wanted to try my hand against it. I cast a spell to make her perceive me as more likable. I failed so miserably that a phantom scar lit up my face. So now I was looked at with distrust and revulsion. To my embarrassment Elaine had to take over the conversation.

We decided we may as well head over to the police station to get a better idea of what happened. A box of doughnuts later, and we got no further than we were before. Just a room number and confirmation that Bethany was a loner. I guess there was more information on her screaming at 3am so, that was important. The detective…LaPierre was of course interested in my totally suspicious scar. I told him that it was from a large cat, like a mountain lion, and he actually was impressed. I should think on using something like this in the future for certain rougher situations.

When we were done we headed over to the Roosevelt Hotel. For some reason Lisa got all weird and said there was nothing in the room, no need to go. She kept saying someone was playing a trick on her, whatever that means. This was before we even got there when all we had was a room number; she can be so weird and stubborn. This morning she was trying to convince us we should just timeport back to see what happened. Really? Why would we do that when we have no information? Anyway, Elaine and I headed up to the room while Lisa went up to the roof.

In the room we met some guy who was friends with the deceased. When we pretended we were friends and didn't know Bethany died, he grew very suspicious. Probably another case of my scar making things worse. I had to "tell" him we ARE her friends. From there we had no troubles. I tried to seek out any magic items and found none, but we still looked for the book just in case. We headed upstairs to the roof to wait for the guy to leave. We gathered Lisa and headed into the alley to try and see what we could learn from her fall; perhaps the book was gathered by some scavenger.

All we saw from the past of any note was some multicolored glass shards exploding on impact, probably a wine bottle. We went back up and looked into the past in a few locations. We noticed a large ugly goblet she was drinking out of, probably what shattered in her fall. The goblet was actually part of a set, there was an equally ugly ashtray that went with it. I pocketed it just in case, figuring I might cast a spell to hear what it heard later in the privacy of the foundation.

We drove to the location of the other suicide. Lisa sought out magic in the area and surprisingly found an item not in the building we were heading to, but it was instead in the pawn shop on the other side of the street. We headed in.

I could not see a magic item out in the open, but I did see more of that ugly glass. We asked the owner what was in the case behind him (there was clearly something magic in there). He then showed us his personality which was absolutely ridiculous. On top of him having a few inches on Genda, he was just an odd odd man. "I'm Emperor Jones!", that's his catchphrase.

Emperor Jones pointed out my scar and when I tried the mountain lion line, he laughed and said, "that ain't from no mountain lion, that's some dark magic, someone put a hex on you". Seems Emperor J has some odd ability to know magic when he sees it, even though I sensed no magery in him. When Lisa failed at some spell, a side effect triggered and this odd groaning started to come from the direction of the item. Emperor was not happy. He kicked her out with much "hoodoo voodoo not in my store". I tried to reason with him to get the item, but he called me a con man. Although it's not entirely untrue, it was pretty annoying when I was actually trying to be honest. I left.

We chose to check out the rooftop. When we got up to the penthouse, the girls thought I should stay outside due to my scar. The girls came out and spoke of an ugly glass goblet. Seems we somehow stumbled onto something other than the red book. I've never heard of it being used this way at least. More, the goblet came from Emperor Jones. I tossed Elaine the glass ashtray and sent her inside to see if she could learn anything else. Jones just continued to be fishy, and she went back outside to stakeout his store with me, while Lisa went around back. Sure enough when he left the magic moved with him. I magically traced his car, but didn't really need to as Elaine actually did pretty well tailing him unseen.

We followed him up to his apartment. Then with the aid of magic and Kieluu, we silently picked the lock. I then asked Kie to teleport in and spy on Emperor J. Kie must have somehow alerted Emp' to us as he tried to do some kind of mind control on Elaine. Luckily it was unsuccessful. We then entered the apt. and when we made it to the bedroom Lisa was almost tackled by Emperor J. Between Lisa's karate, Elaine's stun gun and a well timed spell from me, we were able to subdue him, leaving him dazed.

We looked around the apartment and found a magic bowl. I felt like it might be dangerous to touch and with my help Lisa was able to teleport it to a soft spot she made by the pool at the Alden house. Emperor Jones shook off his daze and was very confused. I told him the bowl was gone and we had no intention of hurting him. He must not have understood what I was saying exactly. It seems the bowl held him under some form of possession; he was barely able to remember our faces. We gave him a line about him falling down and us coming to his rescue. He was very thankful and told us to come by his store any time for a discount.

We saw he needed his space and left him to rest. We quickly headed over to the foundation and Lisa levitated the bowl into the ritual chamber where I cast a pentagram on it as a precaution before giving it a full analysis… which I bungled the first time. I screwed up so badly in fact that there was the effect of a dead mans's fart throughout the chamber, luckily it didn't last too long. I tried the analysis again and succeeded. The magic on the bowl was very strange, something I have never seen before. It is probably a magic from another world. It has the ability to both create items and then possess those who come to touch them. It seems I might have been the one who would have been possessed had I not handed the ashtray to Elaine earlier.

Lisa wanted to go and collect all the glassware from Emperor Jones but I assured her that without the bowl those items are inert. I had intended on sleeping in the ritual chamber to try my hand at oneiromancey, and made sure the bowl could have no effect on me. Assured by my findings I write this now before I prepare the rituals for my slumber. I hope tomorrow I will have greater insight on the whereabouts of the dream key.

January 26th, 1965

I awoke this morning with an overwhelming feeling of dread.... and a wet folded piece of paper in my hand. Last night I attempted to divine the whereabouts of the silver key through the use of oneiromancy. Somehow I seem to have stumbled upon something far greater and more urgent than I anticipated. I've included my account of it in my book of dreams. It's funny but I've had trouble with my dreams since arriving at the Alden house. I've certainly let my dream journal gather dust in that past month. I wonder now if my unconscious mind was preparing myself for last night.

After some thorough mediation on the dream's meanings I made my way upstairs to tell the others the dire news. I had met with Joel Manton, the man Randolph Carter had entrusted the silver key to. He warned of the destruction of our world. A comet is the sign, stars align 33 days after, then a cult opens a gate. We researched some of the elements I pulled from the dream. 

The rings I saw each of them wearing show them to be of The Choronzon Club. “ZIRDO IADNAMAD ELILA MICALZODO SAANIR MADRIAAX FINIS BALZIZIRAS IADA! IO KIA! IO KIA! IO KIA!”  -the mass of Choronzon,  "I am the undefiled knowledge of the 1st aether, mighty in the parts of the heavens, executing the judgement of the highest."

Alas, the one piece of actionable information was the name of the vineyard on a wine bottle: Mellizo Farms Winery. We looked into it, and it does not exist. However, it turns out Manton's daughter married into the name Mellizo. I gave her a call. In my efforts to not say anything too outrageous over the phone, I feared I had put her off. Somehow, she still agreed to meet with us at the Alden house tomorrow at noon.

The rest of the day turned out to be a waste of time for the most part. We made a visit to Mr. Van Landingham, the holder of Tuttle's copy of The Primer of Apprenticeship Occult. He was rather harmless, nothing more than a dabbler. Kieluu made it into Van Landingham's closet which he had converted into a ritual chamber, and noticed nothing odd about it.

Kie had cast a few spells to show any secrets, and to unveil any invisible bits and pieces. He was rewarded by seeing a little spirit mouse sniffing around. As the day wore on Kie became more and more positive the mouse was Genda's source of all information regarding his communion with spirits. Curious, now it all makes sense.

We said our goodbyes to Van Landingham when we were satisfied with his character. In the wrong hands even a relatively benign book like the Primer could be dangerous. Lisa was very friendly with him and offered her card so he could contact her if he ever wanted lessons. She was actually being quite smart I realized after we left; a millionaire that dotes on our organization is not a bad ally.

We made it home and I spent the night meditating more on the symbols from my dream.

January 27th, 1965

This morning was rather uneventful. I spent much of it in the library researching figments of my imagination, with no real breakthroughs. At noon we gathered and waited around for Mrs. Mellizo. After a good hour it became obvious we had been stood up.

I gave her a call, putting on nice Kuranes, which is quite difficult for me. It seems I had scared her off… surprise. I put the call on conference so Genda could help me out a little. We found out that a man with bright red hair was at Joel Manton's funeral years back, as well as his superior, a man with the name Johns. They were members of the CCC, the society Manton belonged, the one I saw in my dreams.

They left with everything besides a few of Manton's yearbooks. When I asked if we could see them Manton's daughter just grew colder and said we may as well just check the library. I'm really not sure why my dream divined her name. She had no idea who her father really was, nor had she any knowledge of me as Chet or Kuranes. I hate to say it, but I might very well have bungled this. Once all is exhausted I might have to dig further.

We had discussed for some time that we should check up on the Jansen house. After a trying drive we arrived. I cast a spell to alert us to anyone watching the door; we seemed to be safe. Upon entering, our fears were realized, everything of note was gone. The brain, the window, the paintings, everything… except, the walled up room where that entity was stored. With the help of magic we were able to see it was undisturbed, with the dual pentagrams still intact.

Our varied attempts to contact it were fruitless. It just did not care to speak with us, didn't even care to be brought back to it's home plane. We could tell it wanted to be free, but that was all. We eventually grew tired of trying to learn anything of our friend and left for the Alden house. We'd get the foundation to purchase the house, at least that would keep it from falling into innocent hands.

We made it home where I researched the CCC and some other aspects of my dream then made it to bed. I was too tired to attempt another night of oneiromancy. Perhaps tomorrow.

January 28th, 1965

We awoke early today to some interesting news. One of our associates, Teddy Nadler, noticed an event that he believes to be linked to an artifact of the 16th century: a Dybbuk box. The disappearance of some 300 people in Cave City mimics events in the past at sites (Roanoak the most famous) where the box was rumored to be present.

We researched the box thoroughly, then headed up to Cave City. Due to Genda's size we found it near impossible to teleport him. He also proved too heavy to even ride in Teddy's Aircar. Apparently Teddy won some gameshow or something and the car was the prize… he doesn't let you forget that for a second. I rode with him, getting there a good three hours before the others, except Lisa, who for whatever reason couldn't be bothered.

Ted and I decided we should have a look around. We checked out where all the aid workers and reporters had set up. We wanted to get a list of all the families who were stricken. Before long we learned that it wasn't really whole families that had disappeared but a random selection from the town. We decided we should make our way to the Sheriff's office as they would have a list.

Turns out they didn't want to release that information, as some would likely prey on those who left abandoned homes or possibly try and con those who lost dear ones.

Teddy was almost certain that the box would belong to a Jewish person even though I told him it was unlikely. We were directed to a Jewish butcher in the town over. Teddy and the Butcher, hit it off and turns out there was indeed a jewish man that appeared in the town only recently. We had very little luck finding out anything about this man. As it was getting close to the time Genda and Elaine would arrive, I made my way to them.

I set a trace and located them at a church. We waited outside for them. We exchanged information and then Genda exclaimed he was hungry and proceeded on to the diner across the street, where he ate pretty much one of everything they had and then bought an entire pie. I thought he might eat that as well, but I guess he was planning on giving it to the priest back at the church. He had a meeting with him to arrange lodging for us.

I had the idea that we might be able to see a pattern to the empty houses if we hovered high enough in Teddy's aircar. We did so, but it was rural enough that we were unable to find any real pattern to it all. We couldn't tell which dark spots were hiding houses and which ones were trees and whatnot.

Alas, I chose to do something I didn't think would really work. I sought out the nearest magic item. Expecting nothing, I was already planning out another course of action but the spell worked. There was an extremely strong magical signature coming from a cabin by the caves.

We traveled out there. We parked a good ways away and Teddy scouted ahead to disable their aircar. We then snuck in through the front door while Teddy chose to stay in the car. All seemed well but suddenly the door slammed shut behind us and a bright light flashed.

One of the men stood behind us and yelled for us to drop our guns. I complied, Elaine did not. He shot at her but she luckily dodged out of the fire. Genda ran faster than I'd ever expect and slammed the man into the wall. I felt safe enough to turn my back to the man and headed to the other room where I expected another man.

Suddenly a voice from the other room said "Kuranes, stop". I made my way to the room and yelled back for the man to show himself, to tell me who he was, how he knew my name. No response. I made my way in and with the aid of Kieluu was able to see in the darkness, I could see this mans face and I had no memory of him. I must have thrown three or four spells at him in quick succession but they did not penetrate. Within seconds the man was gone, teleported away.

The other man was subdued and I was in the room with the Dybukk box as well as some other magical items. I feared at any moment the man might muster some forces and head back. I tried to get others to help me pack up the room but had no luck. I didn't want to get my eyes off of these items for a second.

Even though the other man was sturdily held down by Genda, Teddy felt the need to use his stun gun on the guy causing Genda to release his hold. So there was another struggle. I grew so tired of it that I yelled for Elaine to forget about all that and find some boxes. She could find nothing. I grew very angry and told her to flip over the ottoman I saw in the other room and bring it over. I then gingerly packed everything away, as the others struggled again and again to subdue the man, only to have teddy shock Genda and the man again.

Luckily, although this hurt Genda only the other man was knocked out. Teddy was yelling over everyone that he would be taking the box back alone. I would have none of this. I told him I'd go back with him, as I was afraid the others would track the item down or that Teddy (who I only met today) would walk away with it.

I put him to sleep. At least then we could rationally make a plan. Many of the plans we came up with seemed too dangerous. I really wanted to interrogate this man, but I knew that it was only a matter of time before this place was revisited by the man who teleported away, and who knew what trouble he would bring. We decided Elaine should drive away with Teddy and protect our interests.

Genda and I would take the man into a field and interrogate him. After more thought it became clear that this man's friends could still magically find him and ambush us anyway. We chose to head away leaving the man at the cabin. I put up a trace on the car and paid close attention to any sudden stops. Once it made it to the foundation I breathed a little easier.

I then found that if I didn't want to have a tour of the eateries of the freeway I would have to compel Genda to believe he could wait to eat until we got home. Luckily I had my restorative ring on otherwise I could never have maintained those spells.

I'll be using magic to stay up tonight, I'm so curious to analyze that box and its contents.

January 29th, 1965

I spent this entire morning studying the Dybukk box and its contents. It was fascinating. Part way through my studies I was interrupted by Lisa and Genda telling me that someone had been in the house. Lisa told me I should summon the image of the trespasser. I had to remind her that she knows how to cast spells too. I can't be thought of as some spell casting slave. She needs to pull her own weight. Get her head out of that book… or hand it over to someone who can truly decipher it. I'm getting to a point where I might just have to create an eye to study it over her shoulder. I've given her enough time. But alas that will have to wait, for reasons I'm about to share.

The trespasser turned out to be none other than the man from the cabin in Cave City. He teleported away rather fast but I got a good look at him. his name is Gardner Graves, a member of the CCC. The others looked into this man as I finished up my analysis of the box. We decided to seek him out.

We made our way to the CCC's front, a chess club. Graves actually owns it as well as many other properties. He wasn't there so we checked out an apartment complex he owns that he has a residence in. To our surprise he was making samosas. This seemed like a pretty clear sign that he expected us. Considering how obvious he was in his visit to the Alden house, he must have known we'd find him rather quickly.

We rang the doorbell and he let us in. Lisa chose to stay behind and wait. Graves was a wonderful host offering us every comfort. We spoke of the box and what he was doing in Cave City. He said he would like to see if we are aligned in our goals before he went into that subject. We talked about morality and bringing magic into the world. I have to say in many ways we saw eye to eye, although I'm sure the others would disapprove.

Eventually he opened up to talk of our recent engagement. It seems they were there with their leader Freddie Gumm. In an effort to live longer he drank from the silver chalice that I recovered. It has been enchanted to attract a spirit to initiate a possession. This spirit is known to the native americans as a Wendigo, the chinese call it a hungry ghost which describes it quite well. Freddie Gumm is no longer, all that is left is this lesser demon causing who knows what kind of havoc.

The conversation took a turn when Graves mentioned the Red Hand's contract for the assassination of Magdalena. His assumption was that Marjorie had ordered it. He was shocked we had not heard any of this. Which again leads me to believe we should update our information network.

After much more talk Graves offered me a place in his society. I asked him more about himself and his group, and after probably too little time, accepted. I'm to be initiated this very night, a car will pick me up at eight. We said our goodbyes and headed back. Lisa, very rightly so, was shocked to hear we didn't ask about the red books or the maps from Anaximander's. We could have used her in there for sure, but I understand why she would want to wait outside.

We went home and I desperately attempted to contact Carter and then Holmes to warn them of the hit order. From what I could tell it just wasn't going through. Hopefully that meant they were in a safe zone and not that they were already dead.

I took the little time I had left to look deeper into the CCC and meditate on my choice. I'm slightly uneasy with it, but still feel it is the right thing to do. It will help tie the CCC to the Prometheans, I only hope that is a good thing.

This very moment I can see the car pulling up, lets hope this isn't a huge mistake.

January 30th, 1965

The mixture of men who called themselves Kuranes was ritualistically slain.

Graves picked him up and told him more about Cave City. They were there in part to test the Prometheans, but also, so much more. They were attempting to contact a "God", an alien creature as old if not older than the world itself, Q'luthln. He who waits below. The candle stick with its weird magic was the source of the disappearances. Graves was the one who lit it. He had reached an accord with Q'luthln, magic would be brought back to this world.

Graves removed all seekings and traces left on Kuranes with a small handheld device he was said to have acquired from an OSI agent. He then put a hood over Kuranes' head and told him not to cast any spells. Apparently, the others thought Graves should kill him. Prestor Johns was the reason he lived and would be inducted. Kuranes was led into the CCC ritual chamber and seated. The chair grabed at him, binding all movement but his head. Graves whispers "Don't look behind you, remember Orpheus, and Lot's wife"

The hood was removed. Graves offered up Kuranes, he steped forward unflinching and was cleaved from shoulder to groin. The blade went through leaving him unmarked. It passed through twice more before the bearer handed the broadsword the Graves. He looked to Kuranes and intoned "Die now so that you may live" before thrusting the sword into Kuranes' heart, killing him.

Naked still magically strapped to the wooden chair Kuranes awakened. The chair was within a pentagram. A humanoid but alien creature walked toward him; it called itself the 333. It took its five jointed finger and slipped it into Kuranes' skull. Forever filled Kuranes. He slept.

Kuranes awoke in a familiar place, the Dreamlands. However, it was not as he remembered. The Great Zoog Forest had been burned to a tiny fraction of it's size, demon hoards roamed the land and sky. The main demon went by the name Hell-Storm… Hellestromme.

He reached for Kieluu not remembering this was a dream. He reached for Kieluu's dreams. That seemed to work. He traveled to safety with the warrior Zoog party, before long Kieluu arrived. Kieluu told this Kuranes that he should not be on that plane. The Demon King Hell-Storm might be dreaming, if he was he'd surely find him. He had to be taken to a soft spot and returned to the material plane.

After a night under the stars they made it to a cave. All the Zoog except Kieluu stayed outside. In the cave was a door. Kieluu told Kuranes his options. Both would go through, leaving the door open and allowing Hellestromme a greater chance of finding it, and therefore access to the material plane. Or, Kieluu would stay behind close the door after Kuranes, and travel back after a long recuperation. Kuranes chose the latter.

Kieluu began the ritual, wasting no time. His fluid dancing and elaborate song surprised Kuranes, who was not used to seeing the zoog so deep in concentration. Kuranes cleared his mind and stepped through the door.

January 31st, 1965

I have awoken. I am Kuranes, creator and king of Celephais, the cloud city of Serranian and the valley of Ooth-Nargai. The true Kuranes. Chet Porter has served me well. The boy was so young when we first joined. I saved him and he saved me. His body gave me safety from Hellestrommes' awareness as well as a place to recuperate from my second death.

Now I fear I have failed him in part. He has been taken by the OSI, along with Genda and Elaine. I could probably have saved him but I had to be sure not to lose the book Anaximander only just now gave us. If it had been taken and destroyed as I can only guess the contents of the Jansen house have been, I'd be furious.

I find it hard to get used to this form I've taken. In my prime I'm sure I could have easily secured all of the Prometheans. Even in Chet's body I had learned many tricks. I have been caught off guard, i'll be more prepared next time.

I suppose I should go back to the beginning. I watched Chet awake naked in an open field in Bishop, California. He made his way to a shed and got dressed in whatever he could find and then made nice with the farmer who owned the land. I felt it was important to get a good idea of his state of mind. After we were joined for so long, becoming a sort of merged soul I had to be sure he was alright. He was shaken up but was quick enough to secure a teleport trip home from Lisa.

I saw that silly mouse that Genda cares for so much and scared it senseless with an illusory soul-eater, telling it to keep quiet of me. I didn't feel like dealing with Genda and the others at the moment. Of course the little rat wasn't smart enough to follow my command well enough and Genda was obviously suspicious of Chet's new companion. I left Chet alone to talk with the group and made my way to Quinn's lab. Now that I'm insubstantial, I may as well make use of it. Quinn turned out to be some sort of unfortunate looking dwarf. He seemed other worldly, but that could have just been due to his eyes glowing with magic. I guess I can understand why he keeps himself shut away.

I asked him if there might be anything a spirit such as myself could use. He sent me away with nothing as he scryed some information about an earthquake earlier in the day. When I made it upstairs I overheard the others talking about the spirits, they were saying the earthquake woke up a sleeping god. With a little research the others found out that the earthquake was centered on Bishop, where I appeared.

Eventually Genda's meddling forced Chet to come clean about us. The others didn't seem to understand so I materialized and announced myself. I don't think they understood since they went on with business as usual. Lisa even seemed like her idea of the Kuranes she knew had been shattered, and not in the overawed way you would expect.

Soon enough I told of my time in the Dreamlands and Hellestrommes reign. They were at least reactive to that. I told them we might want to try and see Marjorie about getting her precious little magic child on our side. They told me they had actually been in contact with Marjorie recently and she was hoping to get Genda's aid to reach this child of hers.

I called Graves. I spoke to him through Chet and tried to understand what went wrong. He was genuinely shocked to hear my (Chet's) voice, which he didn't recognize at first. He came over right away. It seems he had no idea. The ritual had gone as planned and when they went to awaken me at the right time, my body was gone. I told him I'm a strong dreamer and that can happen. It seems the CCC sees this as me not passing, and now Graves is in terrible standing, probably to be voted out at any time.

We talked more but it was hard for me to trust him. I still have no idea if this was all just some devious plan of the Club's. Graves even said as much, his master told him that all is going as foreseen.

Lisa joined in on the conversation and we changed topics to the red hand. It seems my fellow Prometheans have been busy. Elaine has killed a member of the red hand. Graves was enjoying this as it is a rare feat. He hinted that he has suspected who the leader of the red hand might be, but he was entirely unwilling to share it. He does have a code of honor, at least that is good to know. He left, the two of us unable to continue the conversation further. Unable to go far enough in depth on either side.

Finally Genda called Marjorie and she offered to come over to discuss matters further. I had truly forgotten my feelings for her, how can someone be so infuriating? Perhaps she will one day be the Queen of the Universe, but at the moment she is just bothersome with her megalomaniacal ways. She just pushed aside the idea of Hellestromme being a threat. Her child will be able to blink and he'd be nothing she says… well we can only hope it isn't all bloat.

We set a date for the ritual. Then Lisa and I got a little free with our words and offended Marjorie. I swear she just awakens something awful in me. Anyhow, we said our goodbyes and Genda helped her to the door.

Before long I noticed a noise from the garden patio. There were intruders: the OSI. They overran us and captured half the team. Lisa ported away and saw to keeping her "precious" safe. I made my way to the underground, trusting in it's enchantments. I divined some personal questions through the tarot and then met with Lisa in her dreams where she informed me of the slander thrown at our organization, which likely caused this OSI raid. I'm preparing the ritual chamber for another session of oneiromancy. I'll be looking further into my possible relationship with Gardner Graves.

February 1st, 1965

One of my tarot readings last night told me to let Chet's imprisonment play out. So I did. I checked the upstairs of the Alden house periodically to get an idea of what the OSI agents were after. I overheard them speaking about stolen goods and needing to find them by noon. I kept going over in my mind what we might have stolen and could think of only a few items. The paintings from the Jansen house, and the cigarette I took from Max Finton. Both seemed highly unlikely to be what they were referring to. They were trying mercilessly to get into Magdelena's study, but couldn't get past the wards. I also tried again as my new state allows for some additional mobility. It was still off limits.

Before too long, it was noon and the agents started to pack up. Soon after Chet and Elaine returned. I asked him what happened, and like a good pet he told me. Perhaps I shouldn't be so harsh on him, but from the amount of time we spent together I wish he were a bit more… special. He is left quite a bit mundane at the moment. I wonder at the path I should guide him on, perhaps I'll teach him some magic so he can at least lend me energy more efficiently. The regenerative rings we were given by the foundation don't do very much for me any longer. Although I feel power unlike I've felt in years, maintaing even simple spells in this environment without aide has been a great hassle without the ring's benefits. Anyhow, he will have to find his place soon, wherever that may be.

Apparently Chet was treated well enough in his captivity. He was questioned by an officer and he was able to wiggle around the questions. I don't believe he would lie to me, so I must assume he did as well as he said. Later in the day he was questioned by a Mr. Wells. Chet thinks he must be someone big from the way he carried himself. The man wanted to know about Chet's magical powers. Chet assured him he had none, which is quite true, regrettably. The man tested him and when assured of the results left him alone, releasing him soon after.

I'd been sending Lisa messages all morning but being the stubborn girl she is, I didn't get many responses. As futile as it seemed, I sent to her again, telling her all but Genda were back. Surprisingly she responded… well, she teleported back. She'd been on the phone earlier with the lawyers and was working on getting Genda out. He'd probably be out by one or two.

When he got back it was clear we were not out of the woods yet. Genda was out on bail but any number of things we did on a regular basis could lead to him getting locked up again. And, of course we were under surveillance. I sent to Marjorie that we were unlikely to be able to help her any longer. I got no response back.

February 2nd. 1965

It became painfully obvious from the very start of the day that this was the Chinese new year. Lisa spent the first half of the day in the kitchen creating untold amounts of every Chinese dish you could imagine. Genda, was in heaven. We received a call from Marjorie, she was upset that we would not be helping her any longer. Genda explained our situation, but she responded with a very Marjorie answer. "Who cares?". She wanted us to do it anyway. Chet told Genda he should only do it if she could get his charges dropped. Marjorie explained how she didn't have THAT great of lawyers, but she would make sure Genda was treated as family and would not end up in jail, no matter the verdict. He agreed to help, but made sure that she would be cooking dinner for him.

We made it over there and although Marjorie was antsy to get started she was very hospitable to all of the others. Everyone was too stuffed from Lisa's cooking to have anything Marjorie prepared. Except Genda of course. Soon enough Genda and I were following Marjorie upstairs to her ritual room. I noticed I did not become visible and Genda saw Moussaka didn't either. This was an effect of her protections she had in place before. She said to make us comfortable she lowered those defenses against us.

The ritual began. She summoned many spirits, a truly overwhelming number. They all bowed to her and made signs of respect. It made Magdelana's assertions that Marjorie was Queen of the Universe in name only seem weak. She was worshiped. Still she could not reach Jack Parsons, her lover, and father of the Astral Child. Genda reached out to him. He felt a disturbing force, something clearly evil although not of great power close by. I couldn't notice it. Then he found Jack. I tried in vain to seek him out, I knew he was with us but there were just so many other spirits, and it was clear Jack must have some skill at hiding. I felt a spell being cast on me, I quickly identified it as an aura spell. Benign, but, that meant there was another caster in spirit form close by. I was unsure if this was Jack or that malign entity Genda spoke of.

Genda spoke aloud to Jack making it clear that he would not allow full possession until he trusted him more. Marjorie promised she wouldn't press him to do anything he didn't want. Genda seemed unable to fully convey what Jack was expressing and at one point I could see Genda was battling for control of his own body, but he prevailed. Genda puppeted more of what Jack said. He said he was worried for their child. That he was was often angry with Jack.

He then told of a demon that had made it's way into the astral plane. That the demon spoke to the child and was trying to guide him away from Jack's teachings. This demon had invaded the plane much as the Dreamlands had been. I couldn't help it. After Marjorie's blind insistence that Hellestrome was dead, and that the demon army invading my lands were nothing to her child's glory… I just couldn't help myself. I went to her and simply said "Hmmm, do those devils ring a bell?" She lost her concentration; the spell dropped. She turned to me in a fury "Who said that!?!". Her gaze found mine and she cast a spell on me, I resisted. She cast again and I was expelled from the room. I could hear the sobs from behind the door. Jack held to our plane with some effort and relayed more to Marjorie. He told us that the mana flooding our plane was wrong. He told us to "Look beneath". Then he was gone.

Marjorie was exhausted. She cried hard and openly. Genda consoled her then left. I went to Marjorie and told her "We can only do this if we work together." she said "That's what I was trying to do Kuranes." I do feel bad for my part in how things fell apart. She must understand, I am the King, God, and creator of Celepahis, the greatest city in the land of dreams, ruler of the cloud city of Serennian and all of the valley of Ooth-Nargai. I am not used to being undermined, and told my judgement is incorrect. When she repeatedly told me the demon invasion was no problem and that Hellestrome could in no way be involved… to have Jack tell her the same thing… I just couldn't help myself.

We went back to the Alden house. "Look Beneath". Genda explained to the others what happened. We decided to try for Cave CIty.

February 3rd, 1965

I continued my research on the wendigo and on Gans' golem. It seemed that was one of the few safe ways to be rid of the creature. However, I couldn't think of a way to activate the golem short of bringing Gans to our timeline to do it himself. I abandoned the idea and instead searched more into the great being Q'luthln. I found nothing more than before and resigned myself to go into this misadventure completely blind to what we would be facing. We drove up north in Elaine's van. She had created NSF badges for the flesh and blood members. We traveled relatively unimpeded with the aid of the badges and Genda's charm.

We made it to the caves and I volunteered to have a look inside. I quickly noticed many of the scientists were OSI. I stayed away from them as best as I could, in case any were sensitive to my kind. It was around dinner and there weren't too many people there any longer. I searched around the cave a bit further until I found a large platform with a hole in it. Scientists sat around the monitors at this station checking for anything out of the norm. I figured this must be the place closest to the entity. I defended the shaft and before too long I felt a stabbing in my mind, Q'luthln was trying to probe me. I resisted. I raced out the opening and traveled to my companions.

They returned with me. Genda used his charm on the guards and we were quickly at the platform posing as seismologists. When we were sure the real scientists weren't going to call in on us the others left and tried to commune with He Who Lies Beneath. The being entered his mind leaving visions of terrible things Genda was not ready to see. I stayed by the scientists and noticed the monitors registering a large disturbance. The scientists called to relay the news insisting that there was already a team of seismologists on site. We had been found, I told others they had little time left. I wanted to check some other areas of the caves to see if there was another way down to the entity, I couldn't find one. When I passed by the guard post I saw a man and a large group of others questioning about intruders. I sent to the others to get out as quickly as they could, then made my way back to the hole where the entity almost took over me.

Jack Parsons' words kept ringing in my ears. "Look beneath", I strengthened my will and made my way down the hole. I could feel myself being summoned, not by the creature below but by mages, the OSI knew I was here. I steeled myself and made my way further down. Q'luthln mentally tried to grab at me again and again but I evaded him. Eventually I made it down. There was some light set up by the feds so I could see well enough. The cavern sparkled like the inside of a geode, it was beautiful. I could feel the mana intensify by magnitudes, I'd never felt it so strong. I cast a spell to see magic and saw nothing new.

I believed I had seen all I could see and made my way back to the surface. I marked my position on the ground and measured my distance to the entrance of the caves. I'd be able to go directly down next time if I needed to. I called out for Chet to see if he made it out. I got no response, meaning he was not still with Lisa. I then called out to her with no response. I quickly made my way back into the caves. As I descended Lisa sent back that all was not ok. I continued deeper and breached the top of the cave. I was immediately spotted by an OSI agent. The man in charge, Mr. Wells, pulled out a glass blade. I recognized it as a spirit blade, It could easily kill me. I made my way back to the surface. I felt a scratching at my mind, it was Wells, he was using the blade to force me to speak to him. He told me if I did not come back down he would kill Chet. I couldn't let him die, he and the Prometheans were my best chance at getting my world back in order.

Wells sheathed the blade and told me I had little room for error in this engagement. He told me I had two choices, join the OSI or let Chet and the others die. I can't fully trust the OSI, but it is clear the Prometheans are finished. The OSI has resources I can only imagine. Perhaps they are the way to defeat the demon hoards and push Hellestrome back.

Genda made contact with Q'luthln. He kept repeating the same thing "with the waters of chaos meld the airs of power". Elaine grabbed a glass of water from the air to break Genda out of it but he resisted. She then grabbed a samosa… which or course broke him out immediately. I accepted Wells offer, but made it clear the others would have to make their own choices. They all joined. The agents took the Prometheans away, except Lisa who escaped.

Wells had a chat with Chet about our relationship, I told him exactly what to say, which wasn't too much. Wells will have to earn my trust before we go much further.