January 31, 1965 - February 5, 1965
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Sunday, January 31th, 1965
Sometimes I wonder what I've gotten myself into with the Promethean Foundation and all of these white people. The day started off strange and only got worse as the hours ticked by. Early in the morning, there was an earthquake, but I managed to go back to sleep after it subsided. We received a phone call from Kuranes a few hours later, a phone call from Kuranes. This guy never used the phone and always used magical communication. That was the first tip-off that something odd was afoot. It turned out he was in Bishop, California, and wanted us to come pick him up in a car. I found it strange that he did not simply teleport back, so I decided instead of spending hours in a car to just transport myself to Bishop and find out what was going on.
Kuranes was at a farmhouse having breakfast with a local family. The family members were preparing for church. Kuranes was eating. I was invited to breakfast and accepted, being sure to stash a biscuit for Genda. After we ate, Kuranes and I made our way off the farm and into a copse of trees. I took a few minutes to recuperate my energy then sent Kuranes to the beacon by the pool in the Alden House. I soon followed. We both made it home safely. We inquired with Kuranes what had happened, but he was vague. It seemed that something had gone awry with his induction, but I don't know what happened. Genda informed me, too, that Kuranes had arrived back home with some sort of spiritual companion. I said he always had a spiritual companion - that strange little monster that lurks around invisibly - but Genda indicated it was a different spirit this time, that the other creature was not present with him.
In the late morning we received a phone call from someone affiliated with Anaximander. He had a package for it. Elaine took the call then later took delivery of the package, a book of maps. The book was magical and had powers useful to us, powers that could help us learn about random places that we might end up, and also locate people of interest to us. Anaximander did assure us, however, that it could not be used to find him. That's not surprising, especially seeing as how he likes to hide out in magically void spaces. Right around the time the book arrived, we had a meeting in the library. Kuranes confessed to us, upon some prompting from Genda, that, in fact, Kuranes was a spirit entity that had somehow merged with Chet. Chet and Kuranes were two entities all along, two minds, but they had somehow been separated during his induction ceremony (or so I speculate). It makes sense now that Kuranes's mind and magical abilities always seemed so vast; he was two people in one! I must admit that now it all seems a little less impressive. The Kuranes spirit is evidently some entity from the Dreamlands, perhaps even the regent of a domain. He claimed to be the creator and ruler of some sort of Cloud City. I didn't exactly follow where.
While this was interesting to learn, what came next was disturbing. Apparently Kuranes, in his time away, had learned that one Xavier Hellestromme had raised an army of demons and invaded the Dreamlands. We could not guess his precise purpose, but does it matter? A deranged mage and an army of demons anywhere is not a good thing, and if he can use the Dreamlands as a cosmic nexus to reach into other realms - our own included - that just makes matters worse. We decided that we would need to find help dealing with this problem, that we would not be able to deal with him on our own. The others felt that Marjorie and her magical child may be relevant to stopping Hellestromme, but Marjorie has made it clear time and again that she has no interest in Hellestromme, so I don't know if we can rely on her. I know the real answer to the Hellestromme problem, and the answer is Kitab al-Babi. I will need to redouble my efforts in deciphering it.
I took it upon myself to return to the Pasadena Mystery House to speak with the entity there. I wanted to discern if it would have any interest in helping deal with the threat in the Dreamlands or in seizing power from Hellestromme in the Abyss. It gave no response. Whatever its motivations, they are alien to our world and perhaps even to our entire understanding of everything. For all I know, the Abyss and Dreamlands are meaningless to it. It was a longshot, but one I thought worth pursuing. I should note that on my way out to the house, I ran into Holmes in the garden. He was out there meditating and performing some magic rituals. He ended up being out there most of the day, distant and not quite himself. It only made the day all the stranger to have him out there doing that.
Shortly after our meeting in the library, Kuranes and/or Chet invited Gardner Graves over to the house, unbeknownst to the rest of us. Mr. Graves arrived while I was preparing lunch. I made us a small feast of Indian food and noodles. I never knew it before, but bhindi and chow mein go together well. And, of course, samosas are good with anything!
Mr. Graves joined us for lunch. He was guarded, and seemed a bit paranoid. He took to drinking a fair amount during his visit. He would not offer up much information about what had happened to Kuranes or who he was working with in the Choronzon Club or anything else, except that he was apparently ousted from the Choronzons. He was similarly unhelpful about giving us information we could use about the Red Hand. It's quite possible he actually knows who their leader is, a potential weak point that we could exploit. He indicated he was going to find a different residence. It sounded like he had intentions of going underground, and keeping low.
After he left we got in touch with Marjorie. She and Genda spoke for a while on the phone, and she agreed to come over to the Alden House in the afternoon. She arrived about a half hour late, as expected. She was standoffish and arrogant, also as expected. She was dismissive of the threat that Hellestromme posed. All this time we have known that Hellestromme could not just be discounted, yet everyone we ever run into seems to think he is inconsequential. A guy like Hellestromme is never inconsequential, no matter what form he takes, and no matter what plane he is in. No matter what, as long as he is alive in some form in some place and still has access to his magic, he is a threat and always will be. Why everyone is so smug about how he does not matter is beyond me. All the while that they were blithely going about their business thinking that he would not be a problem for them ever again, he was plotting against our entire realm of existence. I am prepared to go to the Dreamlands and battle these demons one-by-one if needed, but it could be that Marjorie's child presents an alternative. We agreed to conduct the ceremony tomorrow night. Marjorie insisted that her child is like a god compared to Hellestromme and could smite him with but a thought. We'll see about that! Most mothers tend to overestimate their children; if you were to believe mothers then every child walking this earth is a perfect being.
This is where things fell apart. Right as Marjorie was making her way to her car, men in suits came rushing into the house. I glanced down the hallway then ducked behind a column as one of the men pointed... something at me. I'm not sure what. Elaine was the next target, and I saw her freeze up, stunned. Whatever he had done had incapacitated her. Genda came rushing out of the kitchen and Chet drew his gun. I could hear more men coming up from outside, and they shouted that they were federal agents. I wish I had a better mastery of Gate magic! I could have gotten us out of this scrape. But, I don't, and I couldn't. I considered trying to transport Elaine out of harm's way, but I knew it would be almost impossible. Instead I hopped down to the temple to retrieve Kitab al-Babi and get away. I know the temple is supposed to be safe, but I also knew that if anyone could get in, it would be these OSI guys.
I hopped back out to a park with a view down the hill over the Alden House. I could see federal agents streaming in. Multiple black sedans were in the driveway. Marjorie and her goons had already been detained. Within about a minute I could see agents escorting Chet, Genda, and Elaine out of the house and into separate cars. The cars drove off, and I could not sense them anymore after a few minutes. Kuranes spoke to my mind, indicating that he had taken refuge in the temple, that he had Anaximander's book.
I watched the scene until sunset, then made my way to Chinatown. I found a small one-room unit. A weekly rental. It was little more than a bedroom with a lamp and a bathroom with a tiny shower. It would have to do. I had little cash and I did not want to chance using the Promethean card. My plan was to speak with the lawyer for the Foundation first thing tomorrow. I have warded myself against scrying and traced a pentagram around the entire room where I am staying. I absolutely must find a way to unlock the secrets of Kitab al-Babi, and I started on this by spending the rest of the evening studying Persian. The others may believe that Marjorie's child can save us from Hellestromme, but I know the answer is Kitab al-Babi. Hellestromme can be captured and imprisoned. The evidence is in the Pasadena Mystery House. Not only was a middling magician able to use Kitab al-Babi to summon the giant brain, but he was also able to entrap some cosmic entity in the double pentagram chamber. I believe we can use Kitab al-Babi to trap Hellestromme in a similar fashion. It's not something I could likely succeed in alone, but perhaps with the book I will find a way.