4 July 1939
The team followed the tunnel from the shed. The main tunnel was made of stone, with electric lights spaced periodically, but there were numerous hand dug tunnels branching off along the way.
They heard skittering sounds in the darkness.
Killer spotted a humanoid form in the distance. At first the others could not see it, but then Evelyn saw it and was paralyzed with fear. She began repeating what the others said.
The creature was not aggressive, and on closer examination was seen to be bipedal, with canine features and large ears. It ran away before they could approach.
Continuing further, Killer spotted a T intersection, and a few minutes later, two men speaking Czech passed across the intersection carrying a radio. They did not seem to notice the team.
As they approached the intersection, Killer heard the men speaking from the right as the skittering of the ghoul to the left, the direction the men came from.
The men appeared pointing their rifles at the team. Evelyn spoke with them. After initial mistrust, the men identified Killer and English, and that the team was responsible for killing the Germans and causing the house to house search that forced them to hide in these tunnels.
Eventually, the men invited the team to wait out the Germans with them at the end of the side tunnel. The team shared their rations and blankets, and learned a little about the Father Andrej. The conversation switched to German to allow more of the team to participate. But Killer was still in the dark.
- The Father was not in the church, but the resistance could contact him. He was being hunted by the Gestapo. He was regarded as a hero
- These men were sent to assess the team and determine if they should be taken to the resistance leadership.
They split into four hour watches, with Chance and Killer up first. After an indeterminate period of time, Chance spotted the creature watching them. Again, it was not aggressive. Everyone got a good look at it, but only Chance was shaken. It started intently at him, holding eye contact for an extended period before wandering off.
Chance identified it as a ghoul, a creature of legend that ate corpses and was believed to live underground near cemeteries. He asked the Czechs about the ghouls and the tunnels.
- They had heard stories of creatures eating the bodies of the dead, but they always assumed they were nothing more than bedtime stories told to scare the kids.
- They said that there were roughly a dozen side tunnels that spin off from the main tunnel.
- Chance called upon his training to determine that the Czech’s fear of the Nazi’s far outweighed their fear of the ghoul.
The team went back to sleep with Chance and Killer on watch. Some time later, the ghoul returned with a more frail one with a cape and a short walking stick. The latter made mental contact with Chance.
- Chance learned that the ghouls despise the German because they are attempting to raise the dead.
- The ghoul said that they could take the team to the castle.
- He learned that they had helped Father Andrej once, but he did something to lose their trust. The ghoul said the priest had “lost his way” and could be “a danger to us all.” It added that they were “better prepared to meet him now.”
- Chance pressed for more information, but it did not answer. It told them to wait in the tunnel until they returned.
Chance relayed the information to the team in English so as not to alarm the Czechs.
- He believed that the ghouls were allies in the war against the Nazi pursuit of a supernatural advantage that his unit was engaged in.
- He suspected that while infiltrating the castle, the Father came upon some kind of supernatural artefact that had corrupted him.
The Team
- Sgt. Jack “Killer” Killarney, Irish British Army Sniper – Jordan
- First Lt. Nathan “The Professor” Chance, American Military Attache and expert on occult matters – Jon
- Evelyn Rose-Wolfe – SOE operative – Lucien
- Petty Officer, Second Class Gus Anderson – Navy Diver and Demolitions expert – Blake
- Tomáš Plašil, Czech Resistance Member – Kyle