Cathul's retreat

[cathul]

Ladies and Gentlemen, we here at Generation eXcess have received a package explaining the disapearence of Cathul. He has been on an extended vacation, and this video tape explains his absence. Normally, Generation eXcess doesn’t show vacation videos due to the possibility of scandels that may cause harm to our performers reputation. This video however, paints the Main Event Minister in a more personal light. Hopefully once he returns from his vacation, we will see where his allegiance lay. For now, we can only speculate.

The video clip rolls… The scene is a room light by a massive arrey of candles. Candelabras dominate every flat surface in the room. Rows of lit candelabras on tables or swinging candelabras suspended from the ceiling give the room a flickering golden light. The room is cavernous, the flickering light unable to chase the shadows from every corner of the room. What it does show are blocks of marble, some half chiseled away hinting at what the statue may become, others have yet to be worked on. One such virgin slab has a muscled man studying it.
Tall by every definition of the word, the man is nearly a giant. His shoulders and chest, exposed by the unbuttoned formal white shirt he wore, seems almost sculpted from marble themselves. A flowing full head of blonde hair cascades down his back. Slowly, the man circles the slab of marble contemplating where the first strike should take place. In one hand, a black marker is held still capped. The other hand caresses a goblet of fine red wine. A sudden loud bang from within the room doesn’t startle the giant from his contemplations. Another figure shrouded in shadows approaches the first man. Slowly, the light illumines his form, showing it to be Cathul.
: Ah Cathul. I heard you were back in town. Has my indentured servitude not ended yet?
Cathul: Pickman, you were once my star pupil. You showed so much more promise than any of my other followers. You were more… receptive to the world I showed you. My reason for bringing you under my wing had nothing to do with making you a rich “artist”, but your work served my purpose so I allowed it. You knew there was a price for my teachings; you have yet to pay up fully.
Pickman: If I remember correctly, my servitude to you was caused by me following you to your new profession. I warned you you were slipping from your true goal. Instead of righting your course, you attacked me. You ended my wrestling career and made me your errand boy. Once my contract to that organization ended, I thought I was free to pursue my own ambitions. I tell you now, I will not follow you back into the ring.
Cathul: You will do what I say you will do. I own you Jason Pickman. I own you and what you possess.
Pickman: I am a simple art teacher here at Miskatonic University. The only thing I have to offer you is my council and this wine. I think that you will like it. No, it’s not an American red, nor is it a Portugeise Porto. It’s actually grown in the highlands of Vietnam. The French imported seeds from it’s class A vineyards….
Cathul: I’m not here to share a drink with you Pickman. And I’m not here for your council either. I’m here to see her…
Pickman: Out of the question. You will not use her gift for your own perverse ends. She is too unique to spoil her talent for a vain man’s ambition.
Cathul: You are mine Pickman, don’t forget that. The woman is your ward, and thus she is mine as well. Do not think you can hide her from me. I will smoke her out of whatever hole you have her stored in, and then I will take her away from you. There’s not a damned thing you can do about it.
Pickman began to protest, but a quiet feminine voice silenced the room.
: It’s okay, Jason. I knew this time was coming soon. I foresaw it.
A woman dressed in dusty Victorian style garb stepped out of the shadows just off scene. Her red gown looked dirty, dry, and moth eaten. It framed her tightly with a corset that cinched her waist before the gown flaired out into a hoop skirt. She wore the veil of a bride, though it looks like it hasn’t been removed in years. Under the veil a dark black scarf was tied across her face, covering her eyes. Cathul glared at Pickman before walking over to the woman and helping her find a seat.
Cathul: Esmeralda. You’ve been expecting my return?
Esmeralda: I have, Cathul. The wind cries your name, and your followers have grown zealous. It’s hard to misinterpret the signs of your return.
Cathul: I see… How goes the art?
Pickman: Cathul…
Esmeralda: It’s all right, my love.
Esmeralda patted Pickman’s hand as he made his way close to her. For a moment she looked up and smiled to Pickman before sinking into deep contemplation.
Esmeralda: I have a gallery you should see, Cathul. Though, the painting I think that would most interest you is the latest one.
Esmeralda stood and made her way unassisted back into the shadows. Cathul followed a step behind her. Pickman however, glanced at the camera and walked towards it. A moment of vertigo followed as Pickman picked up the camera and carried it with him following Esmeralda and Cathul. Cathul and Esmeralda each carried a candelabra with 5 light candles as they walked down a hallway. The wall is adorned with paintings depicting various scenes of horror. An army of nondescript men each missing a nose and containing gills, marched out of ocean and onto a rocky shore. Another painting depicted a giant squid wrapping it’s tentacles around a globe, though the squid had a giant body with wings protruding from its back. Still another painting depicted a scene of chaos featuring a man much like the one in the famous “The Scream” painting, only this one was clawing at his own face, digging lines of red across his cheek and jaw. Finally, Pickman caught up to Cathul and Esmeralda. They were stopped standing in front of a painting still on its easel. The painting was still covered by a cloth.
Esmeralda: Cathul, the image contained in here is you. You know my gift for sight so you know my images only show a possibility. My works have shown events that have come to pass, both as I saw them happen and others changed to reflect choices made to change the future. This one is different.
Esmeralda removed the cloth to show a man standing in the middle of the painting. It had two faces, one pointed to each side of the paiting. On the right side, an image of the squid beast hovered over his shoulder and Cathul pointed and yelled orders to a swarm of gilled humanoids as they ran onto normal humans, the scene implied battery and horror. On the left side a serene Cathul wore a smile looking totally at peace. The image beside him was a meadow on a sunny day. Warmth seemed to radiate out of the painting making the viewer feel the rays of the sun and feel totally at piece.
Cathul: I don’t understand. What does this show?
Esmeralda: You serve two masters, Cathul. One you swore to serve when you took up the cloth. You know as well as I do what takes place in the Devil Reef. You know the secret Innsmouth has harbored for the past two hundred years, and you know the sacrifice the people make. The other master… was born into you. You were a result of one of those sacrifices. You were conceived in the Devil Reef. The blood of your towns sins course though your vains, half breed. Your time is growing short.
Cathul looked downcast, knowing she was right.
Cathul: I swore to save this world from your futures, Esmeralda. I took up the cloth and I travelled the world. The people have become deaf. They no longer fear, they are devoid of emotion. I tried to install fear into them, to show them the errors of their ways.
Pickman: Cathul, I fear you pushed people and made them fear you. That fear led them to hate you and thus turn an unhearing ear to your cause. The Inquisition was condemned for a reason; the priests were disgraced and excommunicated from the church for their actions. It’s not a role one who wishes to save the world should emulate.
Esmeralda: There is still time to change your way, Cathul. You set out with a noble cause, but you’ve lost your way. I will send Jason Pickman back with you to help advise you. You cannot serve both yourself and hope to complete your goal. Let Jason Pickman be your guiding light to hold you on your true course.
Pickman: Esmeralda my love, I do not wish this. I don’t want to leave you, how will you survive?
Esmeralda: I’m blind Pickman, but I’ve been blind my whole life. I managed on my own before you found me… I can manage on my own without you. I know I’m 87 steps from the kitchen, and 153 from the bathroom. I have walked this studio every day for the past two years and know it better than you do. Go with Cathul and return when you are satisfied with his morale choices.
Pickman: I understand. Cathul, I am not yet ready to leave. Please allow me a day to set things in order and pack for my trip. I fear it will be a rather extended leave.
Cathul: Make whatever preparations you can. We leave in the morning.
Cathul stalked away into the darkness off camera.
Esmeralda: Take care, husband. Cathul is tempted to forget his oath in favor of his own ambitions. It will not be easy to right his wrongs. I fear his ambition has become a deep rooted obsession. It may need to be seen through to the end before he can see the harm he has done to his own cause.
Pickman: “The only way to get rid of temptation is to give into it” eh? If that’s the case, I may need to help him hit rock bottom before I can rebuild him into what he needs to be. I’ve wrestled as his friend and as his foe, I know what must be done.
The scene flashes to black as Pickman turns off the camera.