The cavern and the statue

As we continue to move down the unexplored path it's hard to tell exactly how much time as past - even with checking our watches it's still uncertain and the cold is continuing to sap the warmth from our bodies. The murmuring ahead has a rythmic chanting feel to it. Shadow and Wakiya lead the party - using the technique of one moves, one covers even if there's no cover in the passage for them to use (the rest of the group lag behind to give them the room to do this).

The chanting gets louder and the passage brighter and the last few steps lead out onto a flat surface and a balustrade overlooking a rough hewn cave. On either end of the balustrade is a flight of steps leading down onto the bottom of the cave. Looking into the cave we see a cobweb-strewn floor with carved columns on either side of the cave. At the far end of the cave is a statue of some sort (from this vantage point it's hard to distinguish of what the statue is).

A quick radio check shows that those are working (in gact, working better than they did on the surface since it seems that the interference from the weather conditions is actually minimised.

We split up three and three to take the two sets of stairs in tandem (trying to keep roughly in step as we descend). The cavern is lit by candles set into alcoves in the left and righthand walls of the caves. The floor itself looks like a sheet of ice (i.e., smooth and highly polished, it's not actually made of ice!).

We stop on the bottom step of the staircases (there's about 20 metres between the two staircases). Nameraka cautiously touches the floor - it is cold, but not ice cold. Shadow moves onto the floor and hugs the wall as he moves deeper into the cavern. The room itself is symmetric (the statue at the far end, while centred in the cavern is not symmetric). The light is quite blue and bright with the polished floor being quite reflective (so much so that we can easily see our own reflections. We cautiously move up the room (along the walls) towards the far end of the cavern. Neither our footsteps nor the chanting is echoing.

The columns are made up of hundred if not thousands of bones, it is hard to tell it they compose the whole column as there is no way you can see past them, you have no idea what sort of animal the bones came from. These alcoves have been carved out of the rock - but using relative old techniques (no evidence that power tools were used). In the alcoves stand blood-red candles with red flames. The candles stand between one-and-a-half and six inches tall and are about two inches in diameter.

From a distance the statue seems to be carved out of a rocky base but as you get closer you can see detail in what you thought was bare rock. The base is made up of hundreds of small children, each raising the arms towards the statue, although there are no facial features it seems they are begging for attention. The statue itself is in the female form hands lowered towards the children, hands open wide as if ready to grasp. Again the face is featureless but it hard to overcome the feeling of dread that emanates from it. As we approach the statue the chanting stops and a very strong breeze blows from the hole above the statue. The candles flutter but don't go out. This lasts for a few seconds and then the breeze stops. There is a sweet smell to the breeze.

Ricky approaches the statue and looks up through the hole above it. The light is from it is dazzling in comparsion to the light in the cave and is coming from moss and crystals lining the hole which continues upwards beyond the moss and crystals. The cobwebs look like a cloak drapped around the statue.

Behind the statue there is no sign of any additional tunnels but to see the back of the statue requires climbing over the statues of the small children (they stretch the whole way either side of the main statue). Wakiya does climb over them but that doesn't reveal anything odd or strange about the back of the statue if you ignore the cobwebs.

Nameraka approaches the altar in front of the display of statues. This altar is made from black stone and there is a single blood red candle in the exact centre of the altar. Wakiya remarks that, to her at least, the chanting was coming from the small statue of the children. This leads Nameraka to closely examine the small statues - they are extremely detailed - except that their faces are blank. The clothing on the small statues is old-style european (i.e., not modern and not japanese). Nameraka now takes the glove off of his human hand¹ and, using a glancing touch, touches one of the small statues. He is freaked out to hear the word Father in his mind and a few seconds after that Nameraka keels over and collaspes.

Tharbin tends to Nameraka who is in shock and brings Nameraka round though he remains a little shocked. Wakiya now takes a more determined touch of the children and gets the same response (i.e., a mental sound of the word Father and then collapsing after a few seconds). She is in a worse state than Nameraka and takes several minutes to come round (during which time her face is caught in a rictus of terror.

I am now considering (a) whether we have any way to destroy the statue and (b) whether it would be a good idea to do so (as it could be cause of the portal). On reflection the team decides that returning and reporting to Kitsune is the best course of action at this point. As we leave Shadow sweeps the candle from the altar to the floor. The altar now shows no sign of ever having the candle on its surface nor is there any indication of the dead centre of the altar.

We return to the entrance of the temple. The amount of time that's passed seems to be different to our internal body clocks but, as it's night time, we camp in the relative warmth of the courtyard of the temple. During the night there is minor earthquake².

In the morning we head back towards the cave with the portal. This takes two days and on the second day we can see the cave and, looking back, Shadow sees a shape entering the temple (and this isn't the same shape(s) we saw leaving the temple on our original journey towards the temple). Looking more closely at the shape through binoculars Nameraka is able, after throwing up the remains of his breakfast, that the shape seems to be horrible and enormous spider).

Could this be the cause of the rustle and the webs?

We return to the portal and travel through it. Shadow sets up a shaped charge to attempt to destroy the portal. The explosion does cause the portal to flicker but when the dust clears it's obvious that the portal is undamaged and still operational. The same can't be said for Shadow who clearly mishandled the charge and is very badly injured and requires hospitalisation. As we return down the hill and through the second Torii, Wakiya spins round and sees both the rustle of leaves and some fresh webbing.

At the farm there is still many Section 9 operatives and they quickly call for medevac transport for Shadow. The rest move to return to base and prepare to report to Kitsune.

Kitsune, as seen by Tremen when he was giving his report

We return to the farm where there is now plenty of Section 9 activity (the normal parts of Section 9, not that part of it to which we have been assigned). After retrieving our gathered cold weather equipment we head up to the track that leads up the hill (attracting strange looks from the operatives in the area - but they know better than to inquire). We soon pass the first torii where, again, we get the feeling of being watched. This feeling only intensifies as we head further in and past the second Torii (Ricky reports that the feeling is no longer of unconstrained hatred but now has a tinge of restocking the larder about it).

Now we're far away from prying eyes and ears (or, at least, those of Section 9 and the general public), Tremen shares his experience reporting to Kitsune and her apparent change in appearance. The consensus is that this is more evidence of the secret world that is really behind what is going on in the world. In addition we also conclude that we need to investigate the temple we saw on the other side of the portal and then find a way to deactivate that portal (preferably with us on this side of it). If we don't then Kitsune is going to have to do so herself and that is likely to be a lot more violent than any closing solution we're likely to come up with.

We continue through the cave entrance and into the cave. There is now a noticeable breeze in the cave and the temperature is colder than our previous visit (e.g., the mist is deeper and thicker). We continue to the portal and do through.

There is a storm raging outside the cave on the other side and we decide to wait it out (mainly because the ice crystals in the wind can be quite irritating. Shadow does take the opportunity to scout the downwards slope, but can't risk going too far.

The storm passes in a couple of hours and the day become crisp and clean (even if the sunlight is somewhat pale and wan). We gather ourselves together, ensuring we have a rope tether to minimise the risks if (when) any of us stumble. A check of our short range walkie-talkies shows these are working - albeit with a limited range and a bunch of static. The path down is, initially at least, relatively easy going. Shadow, for he has taken point, spots something ahead and signals for Wakiya to join him. Through her scope she sees five figures - all hooded and larger than human apart from one. They seems to headed for the distant mountains and don't seem to have spotted us. We resume the journey towards the temple that was visible from the cave entrance - but now being more cautious about being spotted.

A view of one route we examined and then decided to avoid

The terrain is relatively flat (there are small undulations in the snow but nothing too severe and definitely flatter (and easier) than the surrounding terrain). We do a quick check of the snow depth which shows it's at least four feet deep. Despite Nameraka struggling a little with the journey we feel we're making progress towards the temple, even if it's often a case of It's just over the next hill. It's at this point we realise that it might have been a good idea to record our route so we take some time to record the terrain of the hills we left together with some compass bearings.

As the day wears on, we reckon that (a) we've come about half-way and (b) we have to make a camp that will have to be snow shelter dug into the snow. Digging the shelter takes a lot effort - so much in fact that Shadow collapses from the effort and Tharbin soon suffers from the cold (if in a slightly milder way than Shadow). Nameraka takes charge of getting Shadow and Tharbin into the shelter and working on restoring their core body temperature by any means necessary (including sharing body warmth). An uncomfortable night is passed by all with a light, intermittent watch being kept by Tremen.

After breakfast the next morning (and we're relieved to see that there's no wind this morning) we set off - now with Wakiya taking the lead and Tremen stumbling at the rear.

After taking most of the day we actually arrive at the temple. Its entrance has a large arch over it and there's no snow on the ground around the entrance. We welcome a warming heat from the entrance that not only has melted the snow, but dissipates the chill within us as well. To Shadow reminds him of South American monuments such as Machu Picchu.

Inside the temple a green glow is coming from the walls - in fact from the lichen on the walls and a corridor leads onwards. Following it we soon come to a crossroads (i.e., passages to the left, to the right and ahead as well as the corridor we came down). Tremen stays to watch the crossroads as the rest of the team explores down the right hand passage.

This leads to a large room with four closed and empty cages in it. Tharbin reports that one of cages shows scrape marks from its cage door and there's a black goo in the scrapes. A sample of the goo is gathered and Ricky observes that the cage itself has moved - but the cage is too massive for any (or even all) of us to move. On the wall a worn and indecipherable bas-relief - possibly a picture of some kind. Wakiya takes a film camera picture of the bas-relief (with Ricky standing next to it both as a marker of scale and cast a light along the surface to highlight any remaining relief to the bas-relief).

The bas-relief in the left hand room

Tremen is able to distinguish a faint machine/mechanical hum coming from the left hand passage and with investigation of the right hand passage being completed the team heads across and down the left hand passage. The hum is coming from a generator that is powering a bank of freezers (well one freezer - the others are not powered on at this time) and some fluorescent lights. The room also holds a pair of benches with a sheet over something laid on the benches plus what is obviously some kind of rest area (cots and furs are strewn about). However it is another large bas-relief that catches the eye of both Tremen and Ricky. This one is in much better condition and, for a brief period, Tremen and Rocky are capitivated by it - until they rouse themselves and hastily leave the room complaining of a nasty headache (Tharbin moves to deal with this leaving the others in the room). The bas-relief is of some kind of building/temple that is vaguely familiar to Wakiya.

Nameraka examines the benches and lifts the sheet to reveal a large long segmented leg (approxiamately twice as long as Nameraka is tall). There is more black goo on the leg - presumably its blood and Nameraka surmises that it looks like it comes from a (huge) spider.
He also checks the working freezer and determines that it seems to have a frozen block of the black goo (a sample of which is also taken).

Ricky explores the rest of the room. In addition to the cots there's a ricketty desk (one that looks like it's a cheap flat-pack). On the desk is a test tube rack with a test tube holding a silver liquid within and two parchments. One parchment has a five item list, the other has unknown writing but with the logo of Neuf mères on it. There's also a leather satchel (containing a pack of cigarettes, a pen and notepad - inside of which is another five item list (including Moon Cow Milk), bad song lyrics and worse poetry).
Wakiya scoops up the parchments and test tube, puts them carefully into the satchel and then moves the satchel into her pack.

We now leave that chamber, head back to the crossroads and down the one unexplored path. This continues downwards and after a hundred metres or so it starts getting cold again. In addition the light cast by the lichen changes from green to blue. There's the murmer of some kind of indistinguishable language ahead.....

The Torii gate straddling the crumbling path

Following on immediately from the , previous sessionWe see there are many cobwebs in the trees and Shadow spots something off to the side of the path - something with many legs and purple and which disappeared almost as soon as Shadow spotted it. Shadow calls up Wakiya to see if she can see anything through the scope of her sniper rifle but there is nothing visible. As they do that Tremen watches the other side of the path and Nameraka examines the Torii in more detail. The ropes and strings visible on the Torii look very old. He touches the ropes with his cyberarm but all this shows is that the ropes are strong and relucant to move (quickly falling back into position).

The gully leading to a cave entrance

Continuing up the path through the Torii we soon pass into a gully at the top of the hill. A second Torii is at the start of the gully which leads to a third Torii behind which is a gated cave entrance. The gate itself is not locked, but is chained and the chain closed with an intricate padlock.

Wakiya examines the lock and notes that it is very very cold and drops the lock which clangs back against the gate. Nameraka then has a go at picking the lock (using his cyberarm and hand to hold the lock). After 30 minutes or so he succeeds and the gate swings open. While this is happening Shadow again feels as if something is watching. Again he asks Wakiya to scan with her scope and again she spots nothing¹.

We cautiously enter the cave. While not claustrophobic we need to proceed in single file with Shadow leading followed by Wakiya, Tremen, Ricky, Nameraka and Spooky bringing up the rear. The daylight only goes a few metres into the caves and we are forced to rely on flashlights for illumination. It is cold inside, colder than you would expect for an underground cave though not as cold as the padlock. The passage leads us on a wide downwards spiral with shallow steps and the passage becomes more regular². After what feels like twenty minutes we reach a crossroads. To the left we hear no sound, unlike to the right where we can definitely hear the sound of running water (in addition the right hand passage looks to be a more roughly hewn passage than any of the other routes. Ahead the passage continues downwards.

As we contemplate our choices Spooky feels a faint breath on her neck. She brushes away the touch and her hand comes back with a cobweb (which results in her paranoia spiking at this point). Nameraka confirms that there is nothing behind her. Spooky puts the web into an evidence pack for later examination. The passageways not not seem to have any cobwebs. One of Spooky's theories is that she has had a tracking device attached but her thorough search doesn't find anything.

Shadow leads us down the left hand passage. This passage seems to be spiralling back upwards and after twenty minutes or so we reach a balcony overlooking a large cavern. Some sconces spring into life as we enter the balcony casting a dim blue light. Spooky is sure she saw something something on the floor of the cavern (it seemed to move in front of a light source at the base of the cavern) but, yet again, there is nothing visible using Wakiya's sniper scope.

We return to the crossroads and cross overe into the right hand passage. After fifteen minutes we come to a midsized flow of water (move than a stream but less than a river). There is a narrow path along side the water with the sound of water over rocks some way further along.

Initial View of the cavern

This seeming a quite risky route we again return to the crossroads and turn right down the straightahead path. This continues to descend in a wide spiral and it is getting noticably colder. After another fifteen minutes or so it opens out into a large cavern. There is the sound of water falling from above and the floor of the cavern is covered in a mist. High above are two dim blue lights illuminating a balcony. This would seem to be the balcony we were on earlier and its plausible that the water falling from the ceiling is from the flowing water spotted in the right hand passage. The cavern floor has been leveled to remove the bigger rocks and obstructions. Visible at the back of the cavern is a small raised area (about two metres by one metre by one metres) with steps leading up to it. There are two dim blue lights on the edges of the raised area and, at the back of the raised area is an archway. Both Wakiya and Nameraka really feel the cold, particularly those parts which held the lock on the gateway (even Nameraka's cyberarm is aching).

Moving closer to the archway we first see strange runes on the arch and then there is a loud crackling sound and the view through archway changes from the back wall of the cavern to a view of the interior of a small ice cave. The surface of the view is rippling making it obvious that the ice cave is NOT here as such. Nameraka (being the bravest of us) puts his cyberarm to the image and it does, indeed, seem to be a portal and he moves through the portal (we can see him through the portal on the other side). Tremen and Shadow go through next followed by the rest of the party. Once through the portal Nameraka and Wakiya feeling of cold gets much worse. There is, however, an orange light ahead.

The view from the ice cave

We round a corner and we're in a cave above a plateau. The view ahead is of a cold landscape. There is a building on one of the hills ahead visible ahead and the sun in the distance is being eclipsed. There is no net or wireless access available here and Tremen takes as many pictures as possible on his mobile phone.

We head back and are very relieved to see that the portal is still operational and still shows the cavern and we return through it (taking more picture to prove (even only to ourselves) that it is a portal). We head back through the passageways back to gated entrance. The position of the gate has moved (it is slightly more open). Nameraka closes the gate, replaces the chain and (using the intricate padlock) locks it.

We reckon it's been about four to five hours and we return down the hill. As we do so Shadow again feels like we're being watched - this time she also feels a sense of hatred from whatever is watching.

We return to the farm and our van where there is no change or signs of interference. Nameraka and Wakiya's sense of feeling cold dissipates.

We return to Section 9. Tremen reports to Lady Kitsune while Shadow and Wakiya attend to cleaning and checking their weaponary (in Wakiya's case to check the calibration of her sniper snope).

On his return Tremen is obviously somewhat shaken and says that (a) we need to visit that building which was visible from the ice cavern and (b) he'll explain more once out at the farm and beyond most forms of survelliance and observation. The team start gathering the equipment and supplies needed to do the investigation while surviving the extreme cold of the location beyond the portal.