Galápagos Islands: Approaching Lowell’s Cave

13) Approaching Lowell’s Cave
Volcán Wolf, June 29-30, 1845

Keeper Note: This encounter was written for “White Leviathan,” a Call of Cthulhu campaign set on a Kingsport whaling ship from 1844-1846. However, it may be used for any nineteenth-century Galápagos setting!
Keeper Note: The remainder of Chapter 4 unfolds along two distinct pathways. If the player characters defeated the Caliban sneak attack, they approach and enter Lowell’s cave as hostile invaders. However, if they were defeated by the Calibans, they awaken as captives. The following encounters are written from the perspective of the first scenario, and present Lowell’s cave and subsequent locations as they’d appear to explorers facing armed resistance. However, each encounter concludes with a “Prisoner Scenario.” This provides the Keeper with guidelines for running the encounter if the player characters have been captured. Encounter 23 concludes this “Prisoner Scenario” with a jailbreak or rescue attempt.

A) Finding the Entrance
Lowell’s sense of direction didn’t completely fail—his cave is indeed nearby, about a half-mile north along the caldera edge. A partial eruption in 1843 triggered a collapse of the nearby caldera wall, concealing the entrance and opening a sinkhole that subsequently filled with water. To add to the confusion, Quiring camouflaged the entrance using local vegetation woven into a fishing net. Whether the Quids are dragged to the cave or find it on their own, they must cross a large pool to access the narrow entrance. The pool is approximately 60 yards in diameter and 2-3 feet deep, the sulfurous water warmed by a nearby geothermal vent.

Dr. Nigel Vox
If the Lowell Expedition approaches the entrance as free men, Nigel Vox will be waiting behind the netting, armed with his Brown Bess musket. If it’s clear the Calibans have been defeated, he’ll shout a warning into the cave, where Inez waits to carry the bad news to Quiring. (A Listen roll overhears Vox’s message—“The Testifier is free! Tell Prospero that Milo f-f-failed!”) Vox then address the intruders, his stutter tripping over hard consonants—“Halt! We have you covered with good b-b-b-British muskets and an abundance of dry p-p-p-powder. Leave the caldera at once, and you won’t be harmed!” Vox’s position grants him excellent cover; it requires a Hard Spot Hidden roll to detect him crouched behind the netting.

Dr. Vox is lying; but a quick glance along the caldera’s edge suggests dozens of excellent hiding places, and permits a Spot Hidden roll to detect 1D4+2 “musket barrels” peeking from between the volcanic rocks. These are actually sawn-off sticks painted black; a ruse which may be detected by an Extreme success.

Combat: Resolving the Standoff
If the player characters open fire, they’ll discover that Vox’s position makes him difficult to hit. It requires a Hard Spot Hidden to pinpoint his position, and a Hard Firearms roll to target him once revealed. Meanwhile, Vox only needs to stall the invaders for a few minutes—long enough to ensure the escape of Ingo Quiring, Mary Roberts, and Silvio Marroquín to the Deep One temple. Vox holds his fire until absolutely necessary, then offers a parting shot before hurrying down the passage to join Quiring at the whaleboats (see Encounter 17-D). If Vox is critically injured, he exchanges fire the best he can, reloading his musket and cursing his fate. If a character rushes through the water towards Vox, he may close the distance in a number of rounds equal to 12 – MOV. (So a character with a Movement rating of 8 closes the distance in 12 – 8 = 4 rounds.) This may give Vox time to reload and fire again. If things look hopeless, he throws out his musket and surrenders.

Pursuit!
Whether or not Nigel Vox escapes, it’s likely the characters head down the passage with some haste—after all, Vox dispatched somebody with a warning! Nevertheless, as long as Inez hears Vox’s message, the player characters cannot catch up with Quiring. Not only do the Calibans have a head start, they have the home field advantage. After placing “guards” in the cave, Quiring unlocks the Zodiac Door and makes his way to Y’ha-n’thal. He then takes the Ferdinand through the canal and opens the Gate to Thal’n’lai.

B) The Antechamber
Once the player characters reach the opening, they can pull aside the netting and squeeze through the fissure—although it looks narrow, it can accommodate anyone up to SIZ 100. The opening reveals a natural foyer of hardened lava, its wall cleft by an improbable freshwater spring. This spring is the source of the pond’s water, emerging from the crack at 97°F and gleaming with a weird phosphorescence. A ship’s lantern hangs on the wall above the spring. Beyond the antechamber is a second fissure, slightly wider than the cave entrance. This opens on a narrow tunnel running deep below the caldera floor. The overflow from the pond spills down the passage, a burbling guide to the hidden depths.

The water’s phosphorescence is brighter past the lantern, but the stream has an oily, unpleasant texture. The passage runs 300 hundred yards, a gradual descent that offers a few tight squeezes and some moments of slick footing—the Keeper may call for a Hazard Roll if any character is proceeding recklessly. Lowell has vague memories of the passage, but it wasn’t this narrow, nor was there a freshwater spring! If Castro is present, he takes delight in the water, splashing in the stream and hooting, “¡Viene Calibán!” (“Caliban is coming!”)

The Wall Fragment
About 160 yards down the passage, a Spot Hidden roll discovers an incongruity in the volcanic rock—a long, flat rectangle carved from some form of greenish-black basalt, like a fragment of artificial wall emerging from the natural flow of solidified lava. Illuminating the wall reveals spiral patterns and decorative reliefs, a series of froggish men marching along a stylized seafloor. No skill roll can identify the culture that produced these reliefs, but an Idea roll connects the spirals to the weird jewelry of Innsmouth. Of course, Pynchon and Morgan understand what the carvings signify, but Pynchon keeps his thoughts to himself. A Natural World or Science (Geology) roll questions the integrity of the wall—how could something have been built here, in the caldera of an active volcano? That would be madness! Also, just what type of rock is this? It’s not quite basalt. It’s very presence is scientifically dubious, and most unsettling…

C) End of the Tunnel
About 110 yards after the wall fragment, a change in air quality announces the presence of a nearby cavern. The stream reaches its end, cascading down a glowing fissure. A pair of albino lizards clings to the rock above the fissure. The size of large geckoes, they have translucent skin and blind, white eyeballs like a pair of ping-pong balls. A previously undiscovered species, Lowell dubbed them “höeks.” A wooden bucket sits below to the höeks, its interior coated with phosphorescence. (The water is potable, but the oiliness and sulfurous taste are quite disagreeable.) Immediately past the fissure the passage curves upwards and opens into a large cavern—Lowell’s famous cave.

Prisoner Scenario: Approaching Lowell’s Cave

If the player characters have been subdued, they’re dragged through the pond like dead weight. Only Lowell is shown any deference, afforded the courtesy of a dry carry. If the Keeper would like a prisoner to regain consciousness, a face full of water may be worth a Hard Constitution roll! Any attempts to struggle are greeted with a thump on the head. Prisoners are simply dragged through the passage, an unpleasant affair that results in a thorough soaking. Prisoners do not see the wall fragment.

White Leviathan, Chapter 4—Galápagos Islands
[Back to Encounter 13, Attack of the Calibans | White Leviathan TOC | Forward to Encounter 15, Lowell’s Cave]

Author: A. Buell Ruch
Last Modified: 29 October 2023
Email: quail (at) shipwrecklibrary (dot) com
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