Beneath The Well

After Flanagan finds a bloody handprint on the old well the characters, and LaRoche, think they may be on to the trail of the murder suspect(s).  Solomon Lyman says that the well has been dry for as long he remembers, but that he has no idea what could be down there.

Putting their man-pants on the characters, LaRoche and Sgt. Glendon lower themselves down on a rope held by Lt. Ellery.   Striking a lantern, they find that the bottom of the well opens up into cavernous area.  Everything seems dryish except for an area directly under the well opening where rain has dripped down and eroded a small pool.

When all have dropped down, they discover what appears to be a human body sitting beside the pool.  On closer inspection the see that despite the dampness of the cave the body seems to be the desiccated remains of a black man.  Kildare has some difficulty assessing his age, but would put it at over 100 years, based on his style of clothing if nothing else. 

Investigating further, Kildare touches the body and is immediately overcome with hallucinations.  Visions of torches and men with whips and screaming flood his brain until he is dragged away from contact with the corpse.  Recovering, he takes a seat and relates his experience, when suddenly everyone hears a scream.

Turning away from Kildare, they see Sgt. Glendon in the deadly embrace of a brown bear.  Pistols are drawn and shots are fired as they try and drive the carnivore away from its prey (and prevent themselves from being next on the menu).

Ultimately the bear is killed, but sadly so is Sgt. Glendon.  They party reasons that it would be unlikely for a bear to come down they way they did, and that there must be another entrance/exit.  They send Glendon’s body up the well to Lt. Ellery and press on in their investigation. 

Following the network of caves by flashlight they keep close until someone hears a rustling behind them.  Backtracking to the well entrance they find no one but notice that the body of the sitting black man has moved.  Seeing no further signs of vitality, the party resumes its search for the exit with increased enthusiasm.

Exploring a corridor, they are surprised to find signs of human construction.   Crudely hewn steps lead down to a shallowly flooded chamber.  Searching to the right the right of the chamber entrance, they find another set of rocky steps leading to a small, raised area.  The natural cave floor here, seems to have been deliberately flattened into a floor, and on that floor, they find what appear to be decrepit wooden cages, notably human sized.

Besides a rotting old barrel, nothing else of interest is found in the cage area, so they proceed back down to the left from where they entered the flooded chamber.  They pass some decaying wooden piles and railings before another set of steps leads them upward, out of the water, and into a wider area.  From here they can see the “secret” entrance opening outside into a shallow, muddy creek.  Then, looking both left and right, they find more remnants of the cave’s dark history.

Between themselves and the exit, on either side, they see several human skeletons amidst the rotting remains of headstocks, rusty chains, and metal cages.  The also find two more desiccated bodies like the one sitting beneath the well.

It appears these unfortunates were imprisoned, and perhaps tortured, here for some reason, but it’s impossible to tell when and for how long.  As they approach one of the bodies, to the characters’ horror it stirs, stands…and attacks.

As the party at first recoils, the second body also rises, and they are forced to fight.   The re-animated corpses cause some injuries – mental and physical – before falling again to the ground under a hail of pistol fire.  The characters, not eager to see if they rise again, proceed to the exit. 

Just outside the cave opening, partially sunk in the creek bed, the find what appears to be stone table or altar.  On either side are two highly eroded statues, reminiscent of the figurine found at the murder scene, but impossible to interpret.   On the top of the altar, they find something more recent…another bloody handprint. 

LaRoche reckons that these are ancient Indian structures, and that the people in the cave were just dirty vagrants looking for shelter wherever they could find it.   They suspect must have gone this way, however, and as the creek banks are too steep to climb, he must have gone further upstream.

Trying to make sense of what they just saw, Kildare, Jones, Wilson, and Flanagan follow LaRoche deeper into the dark woodlands surrounding Arkham.

End-Of-Session