Achtung Cthulhu: the Sleepers of Ephesus (Part II)

Searching for the secrets of Ephesus

After a brief break for Christmas and New Year we continued with our game of Achtung Cthulhu. We left the spies in something of a cliffhanger situation at the hotel Kusadasi in Izmir, with local hood Fevze Bele storming into the lobby with three of his goons. Henry 'Hotspur' Smythe-Barrington was able to determine that something was not quite right with Bele, who was ranting and shouting "kill them all!"

A shoot out broke out almost immediately - Hotspur managed to confuse the attackers by shouting out that they were surrounded. He and Turhan Demir returned fire and one of the gangsters was downed with a non-lethal wound. Yusuf Ozmir took cover behind a sofa while Ismet Saka tried to outflank the enemy. Ozmir saw a clear shot from under the sofa at Bele, and took it, shooting him in the head. Another gangster took a flesh wound. Kulakov, the mysterious Russian, also fired at the attacking Turks, but ineffectually.

With two men down, Bele's remaining heavies decided to flee, with Saka in pursuit. Kulakov also ran out of a side entrance to the hotel, with Demir following him. Hotspur searched the dead Bele but only found his gun and some cash. Demir treated and stabilised the other gangster. With local police closing on the hotel, Hotspur managed to sneak a look at the register of guests and find out which room Kulakov was staying in, before fleeing the premises.

Demir tailed Kulakov to a nearby cafe where the Russian bought a coffee before he returned to the hotel, the building was now surrounded by a curious crowd and over a dozen officers. Kulakov talked his way back into the hotel, and managed to check out, leaving with his bags (bribing a police officer on the way out). 

By this time Saka had returned, having decided not to pursue the fleeing gang members any further and the spies mingled with the curious crowd. When they saw Kulakov leaving, they decided to follow him in a taxi, which led them to the railway station. While he was queuing for a ticket, Demir and Hotspur approached him, put a gun in his ribs, and frog-marched the Russian out of the station and into their taxi.

Kulakov was able to explain that he is a 'diplomat' with the Soviet consulate in Istanbul. He was in Izmir to investigate the Roman tomb that Miskatonic University had been excavating, because he has seen Professor Atticus Frith alive and well in Istanbul. Not only that, Frith has been having meetings with the Turkish defence minister. This piqued the Soviets' interest in the American academic, and Kulakov came to Izmir to have a poke around. Hotspur said his team was a British Museum expedition, but Kulakov obviously did not believe him. He agreed to work with Hotspur however to find out what Frith is doing in Istanbul.

The spies caught a sleeper train back to Istanbul with Kulakov and then decided to do some more library research on Ephesus and in particular snake cults in the Roman city. Here they found that there was a snake worshipping cult of some kind active in the earlier Greek city prior to the Roman conquest of Asia Minor in the first century BC. Saka discovered that the library's sole copy of a specialist tome on Greek snake cults in Asia Minor was out on loan, and overdue. He managed to bribe the librarian who told him the book was on loan to an Armenian monk called Brother Vincius, and provided him with his address at St George's Armenian church in Istanbul.

Ozmir quietly put in a call to Refset Ozalp, his police contact, to report that he was back from Izmir. Ozalp told him that he was aware of Frith and his meetings with the defence minister, Saffet Arkan. He said the minister had just ordered that a 24 hour police guard be mounted on the Serpent Column, an ancient Greek bronze statue of entwined snakes in the old Roman hippodrome. Ozalp had no idea what Frith and Arkan could be discussing however.

As night fell the team approached St George's Armenian church, busting in and confronting Brother Vincius just as he was lighting the candles. A couple of them could hear a faint screaming sound coming from behind one of the doors leading off the main chancel, and while Saka delayed Vincius, the others proceeded to investigate, whereupon they were confronted by an American woman with a gun. This turned out to be Marianne Chaste, another member of the Miskatonic expedition to Ephesus. The screaming was coming from a cell where Barry Carter, another graduate student, was tied to a bed and raving. 

Chaste eventually explained she was in Athens doing some additional research when the expedition in Izmir went missing. She returned to Izmir and found the tomb empty and eventually Carter wandering the streets in his current mental state. She brought him to Istanbul but quickly found out that Frith was in the city and talking to men who turned out to be German diplomats. She has been keeping tabs on him and knows he is currently living at Lysander's Tower, a lighthouse near the Asian shore of the city. She told the cell that there are Turkish soldiers at the lighthouse, and that Frith travels with guards to and from the city by boat when he goes for meetings with the Germans. Carter continued to rant about snakes in the tombs.

A debate now developed within the cell as to the next steps, including an attack on Frith's headquarters. Ozmir confessed that he had reported the cell to the authorities, in the form of Ozalp, and that he could not assist them if they were planning an attack on Lysander's Tower and Turkish army personnel. The cell pondered overpowering Ozmir and eventually the doctor fled the church, firing his gun. As he bolted out the doors he was spotted by a man across the street who was obviously watching the church. Hotspur ran out of the church to see Ozmir sprinting off down the street, and also spotted the watcher.

The stranger crossed the street and introduced himself to Hotspur as Walter Erskine, an American journalist who covers Turkey for several major US newspapers. He has been digging into the missing expedition from Arkham, and has discovered that Marianne Chaste is still alive and in hiding in Istanbul. He senses a story. Hotspur told him he could have an exclusive, if he was able to assist the cell, although he has not told Erskine they are agents for the British government. Erskine came into the church and met Chaste.

Meanwhile Ozmir returned home and put in another call to Ozalp. The policeman sounded worried - he told Ozmir that the police guard on the Serpent Column has been withdrawn on the mayor's orders. He has also found out that minister Arkan is technically on a leave of absence from the defence ministry in Ankara. Exactly what he is doing in Istanbul is an open question. Ozalp has heard rumours of some kind of naval exercise being planned in the Black Sea. He and Ozmir agreed it might be a good idea to take holidays away from the city immediately.

Back at the church, the spies debated their next move. Saka was for returning to his own lodgings - and eventually plans to contact Kulakov at the Soviet consulate. He has taken the volume on serpent cults with him. Hotspur and Demir decided to go to ground using one of the smuggler's hideouts in Istanbul in case the police start looking for them. Chaste said she would come with them, leaving Brother Vincius to look after Carter.