Rotation Two
13th October 2022
VIII
London to Milan
At 8.30 a.m. on the 2nd January 1930, you depart London Waterloo by train and arrive at the Stazione Porta Genova in Milan the next morning. Taking rooms at the Grand Hotel the receptionist arranges for a guide and translator to be assigned to you. Your guide is a polite and efficient young man named Paulo Turminado. Like the receptionist, and many other city officials, Turminado is a member of the nationalist Fascist party. Paulo will escort you on your travels around the city.
Naviliqi
After such a long journey you rest in your rooms for a while until Turminado arrives at the appointed time to escort you to the Naviliqi as per your request. He has arranged a taxicab. The Naviliqi is a grimy industrial area to the south of the city, criss-crossed by a network of canals and characterised by narrow bridges, poor roads and rundown workshops and warehouses. Eventually, after asking around, you arrive outside the shipping office of Giuseppe Colombo. You persuade Turminado to stay outside and wait with the taxi.
Villiers
Inside the office are two men, one old and bent, the other younger, tall and gangly wearing a cheap suit. Blossett and Stevenson lead the awkward introductions. The younger man is Thomas Villiers. At the mention of Quarrie and events in England, he seemingly mistakes you for fellow adherents to the true path and talks more freely than he should. The old man, Colombo, explodes with rage at Villiers “What do you tell these people Villiers! …The King in Yellow is coming to Earth this cycle…His plans are not yours Villiers, nor Anzalone’s or Quarries…..tell these people…the King in Yellow will tread on them and all like them!!!!” Colombo storms out as fast as his walking stick and hunched form will allow. He slams the door as he exits the office. As Villiers suggest perhaps you should all retire to his nearby studio to talk further you hear Colombo raging at the waiting taxi outside. The taxi driver (with Turminado still inside) drives off in response.
The Studio
Villiers studio is small. Most of the space is given over to his artwork. Amateur sculptures, artist’s easels and paintings in various stages of completion are everywhere. Villiers seems to pass through several moods but keeps talking like he’s with old friends. Malcom Quarrie had been corresponding with a Professor Roberto Anzalone at the University in Milan (Universita degli Studi di Milano). In 1926, Villiers accompanied Quarrie to Milan to meet and study with Anzalone.
Quarrie and Anzalone founded the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign in Milan, an offshoot of Il Fratelli del Signo Giallo based in Rome. The group was formed of dedicated historians, artists, sculptures and writers, who shared a firm conviction in building a better world. There is a path (in which some believe many tenets of Christianity might arguably be originally founded - such as Hastur the father, The King in Yellow, the son and The Stranger, holy ghost) that leads to the worship of Hastur. When Hastur comes to Earth he will cleanse mankind of its evils and create a new world.
Expedition
You learn that Malcolm Quarrie has departed Milan on a pilgrimage along with Professor Roberto Anzalone and others. Anzalone convinced his university that he was close to finding the location of the ancient and lost city of Jiwakhar in Tibet. The university, greedy for prestige, agreed to fund an exploratory expedition. Of course, this was just a ruse to raise funds. The true destination of the expedition is to a place called Drakmar which lies in Nepal. The borders of Nepal are closed to foreigners in 1930; hence the need for subterfuge.
Sleight of Hand
Piper notices a page of scribbling pinned to an easel; the words Springer Mound and Drakmar stand out. He picks his moment to reach out and snatch the page – slipping it into his inside pocket. Was he seen? Or did Villiers changing moods switch to something more paranoid and suspicious? His voice changes with it: “Why am I telling you this? Tell me again – how do you know Malcolm? Who are you anyway? Why are you here?”
Death from Above
Villiers runs for the door. He screams out: “Angel. I bound you. And I release you!” Stevenson tries to prevent Villiers from leaving. Blossett follows. Piper and Clancy are slow to react. Nobody hears the thud on the skylight above. Suddenly glass showers down into the studio and a large black winged figure drops down and clutches Blossett’s shoulders in its talons. Blossett is hoisted skyward. Clancy and Piper draw handguns and in a hail of bullets the creature is brought down before it can disappear with Blossett into the night sky. The creature is dead. Blossett is unconscious and badly wounded. Villiers is unconscious too. Stevenson’s knuckleduster has fractured the man’s cheekbone and broken his jaw.
Aftermath
The creature is weighed down and dumped into the canal. Its carcass dissolves over the coming hours. Villiers’ distressed state and facial injuries prevent him from saying more; he is abandoned in his studio. Blossett is taken to hospital for urgent treatment. The language barrier certainly helps to divert awkward questions about how he received such terrible lacerations. He is kept in overnight. The rest retire to the hotel.
4th January 1930
Next morning Turmindo is in the hotel lobby. He apologises profusely for inadvertently abandoning you yesterday. He was unable to stop the taxi speeding away – with him still in it. You decide to pay a visit to the university today, swinging by the hospital on the way to see if Blossett is in any fit state to be discharged.
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