Protagonists
- Alistair Saint-Cyr - Antiquarian (Ioannis)
- Béatrice Beauvivre - Prostitute (Panagiotis)
- Raymond La Grave - Funeral Director (Konstantina)
- Lucidia Fare - Dilettante (Tasos)
New Orleans, Sunday, February 7th, 1926
The Guest
Beatrice returns home and tells Alistair about the idol that was found in the safe. He tells her that Martha, a “guest”, will stay the night.
The Most Honorable Krewe of Swords Offices
Raymond visits The Most Honorable Krewe of Swords Offices pretending to be one of the organizers of last year’s Mardi Gras winning Krewe. He meets Adam and Roger who provide him with information about the upcoming party, the leaders of the Krewe, the warehouse and Papa Screech.
Randal Fowler’s Mansion
Raymond put on a costume and spends a few hours staking out Fowler’s mansion. He notices Papa Screech along with five more “cultists” leaving the house. He calls Lucidia and Alistair to inform them of his observations.
The Avedon Antiquarian Gallery
Lucidia and Beatrice head to Avedon’s shop after breakfast. They meet Rodrigo Vargas who tells them that Mr. Avedon has been ill for the past few days.
Avedon’s House
Lucidia and Beatrice head over to Avedon’s house. He lets them in and starts rambling about the King in Yellow, Carcosa and the eyes that are all over the city watching him. Peter Gavvin showed him the Yellow Sign and after doing some research, he found out the “King in Yellow” book in his collection and studied it.
Beatrice convinces Avedon to hand over the book to them. She also steals another book from his collection, titled Monstres and their Kynde.
The Swamp Cult
Alistair spends the day doing research on the old swamp cult. He goes through his old notes, as well as police reports and records with the help of Officer Osbourne.
- November 1907: New Orleans police investigated reports of women and children disappearing from swamp communities south of the city.
- Police raid: Inspector John Raymond Legrasse led 20 officers into the swamps and discovered nearly 100 cultists conducting a ritual around mutilated bodies of the missing people. The Police stopped the gathering; 5 cultists were killed, 2 wounded, and 47 captured.
- The Cult: Most captives were Caribbean or other foreign seamen, with a few locals among them. Two cultists were tried and hanged; the rest were declared dangerously insane and institutionalized. Captured cultists claimed they worshipped ancient swamp-dwelling devils and that their servants killed the swamp residents. Cultists described their organization as extremely old and international in scope.
- The Idol: Legrasse recovered a half-octopus, half-dragon idol identified as being their chief deity, “Great K’toolhoo” (or “Thooloo”).
- Fate of the raiders: Of the 20 officers involved, 8 had died, 6 had left New Orleans, and 3 had retired. Of the 3 officers still on the force, Officer Walter Chambers is working for the New Orleans Police Department in Backatown.
The Charity Ball
At 20:00, Alistair, Beatrice wearing a yellow dress and Martha in a green one arrive at the charity ball hosted by Chet Craighten. Alistair convinces the bouncer to let them in even though he had only 2 invitations.
Martha feels Beatrice’s animosity when her dress gets spilled over with champaign.
Alistair is approached by Barbara who tries to seduce him. Chet Craighter notices them and threatens Alistair to leave his wife alone.
Beatrice charms Dennis Bouchard into offering her a drive in his car and a job position under him.
The Portal
Lucidia & Raymond stake out Fowler’s House. At 20:30, while Fowler is still inside, they sneak into the house by breaking through the kitchen door.
They discover a trail of muddy footprints leading into a storage room. Behind a dressing screen, they notice a peculiar series of lines and symbols are scrawled on the wall. By accidentally touching the wall, while trying to erase them, they are teleported inside a hut, with a similar drawing on the wall behind them. Both decide they don’t want to take risks, and they return back by touching the wall again.