The stone floor of the orphanage was as cold as ice. “They worshipped, so they said, the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky. Those Old Ones were gone now, inside the earth and under the sea: but their dead bodies had told their secrets in dreams to the first men, who formed a cult which has never died.” A tug on his sleeve told Jack to stop.

“But if the Great Old Ones are dead, how do they have secrets?” asked the small child that lay curled in his lap.

In order to summon a Servitor of the Outer Gods, one must have the complete trust of the sacrifice otherwise the binding will fail.

“Good question Mikey. You see, they were dead, but only on earth. They sleep in the other planes." Lately Jack had felt like two different men. One was the man who sang the praises of Cthulhu, who bloodied his hands in the name of the void. The other was the man he had been.

Once the sacrifice has been made a ritual liquid must be poured over the corpse

“Does that mean my mommy is sleeping too?” asked Mikey.

“Of course she is. She sleeps right beside Cthulhu.” Jack didn’t know why he chose Mikey. There was something about him, something that reminded him of…. Jack quickly quashed the rising memory. He had left the life behind in the mud. “Do you remember the secret prayer I taught you?”

Mikey shook his head eagerly. “Yep!" He paused for a moment, brow furrowed in concentration. "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh…. Cthulhu R'lyeh….. Ummm…. Oh I remember! Wgah'nagl fhtagn!” Although he still fumbled with the words, the child beamed with pride.

“Good job buddy, you earned another chapter.”

Next the caster must put an ounce of his or her own blood into the mouth of the sacrifice

The two men inside Jack waged a vicious war. He was no longer sure who was winning, or who he even wanted to win. He just knew that here he could forget about the war, about the darkness… about the mud. Jack’s mind reeled away from the memories he so desperately sought to forget.

Another tug on his sleeve brought Jack back to the moment and Mikey’s curious gaze. “Are you ok Jack? You stopped reading…”

“I’m fine, just a little tired. Maybe we should call it a night.” The disappointment that filled the child’s eyes tugged at Jack’s heart. With a soft grunt he lifted the child from his lap and deposited him on his feet. “I’ll be back soon and I’ll bring some of that licorice you like!” Dusting off his trousers, he rose to his feet and made for the door.

Then the caster must kiss the lips of the corpse and ‘breathe part of the self’ into the corpse

Mikey’s quiet voice stopped Jack as he opened the door. “Will you really take me to see my mom?”

Jack felt as if the last dredges of his soul died.“Sure buddy. In fact I can take you now,” he whispered. The heavy hunting knife tucked into his belt felt like it weighed a million pounds

In the mud, there was only death.
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:42, Thu 21 Dec 2017.