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That asylum could have been picked from a REALLY terrifying horror-movie
 
Deus said:
now you brought holmes into this. It seems were entering a rough patch now.
Funnily enough, this isn't the first time Yogi has written about Sherlock Holmes trying to foil Fu Manchu's plans:
here, here, here, here and here.
He also tried to bring someone to safety in Canada. :D
It is the first time in the Fu Manchu AARs though. :)

But won't the Black Naga find them wherever they are? So fleeing to Canada might not help a lot. Or does he/it not yet "know their appearances"?
 
seboden said:
But won't the Black Naga find them wherever they are? So fleeing to Canada might not help a lot. Or does he/it not yet "know their appearances"?

maybe he could hide them up in "the sky" - a balloon ...perhaps one of those those barrage balloons over London ...if the last time the Black Naga was really free to explore the world was 1000 years ago perhaps it doesn know enough about "flight" to not be confused by them being "up there" ... ;)

OR ...perhaps get the empress a job as a stewardess ...shutling back and forth across the atlantic ...might throw off his tracking sence somewhat ?! :rolleyes:
 
The Yogi said:
‘Yes Sir!’ the uniformed policeman answered. ‘Although I should perhaps mention that he insisted you know him, Sir! Said his name was Sigerson Vernet. Does that mean anything to you?’

‘Sigerson Vernet?’ Nayland Smith looked up suddenly. ‘Tall fellow, long face, big nose, in his eighties?’...

Left alone with the alleged Mr Vernet, Nayland Smith drew closer, smiling broadly. ‘Uncle Sherlock! What are you doing here? Why haven’t you been in touch? What, with you not coming to Watson’s funeral last year, and the house empty, I feared…’
Ah! Reinforcements have arrived!

I, too, had assumed that Sherlock Holmes was dead by now. This is unexpected good news, for Holmes is to thinking as Master Chiun is to fighting.

Come to think of it, if they can figure out a weapon to fight Black Naga with, Chiun might be the only person in the world who can slay the beast. I mean, Silat is only "a pale reflection" of the glory of Sinanju, a "misguided attempt to apply its wisdom by those who have been brushed by its shadow," right?

At least, that's what Chiun will tell you.

seboden said:
But won't the Black Naga find them wherever they are? So fleeing to Canada might not help a lot. Or does he/it not yet "know their appearances"?
It will buy time. With the advent of airplanes, they can move Fah and the Empress of Japan around faster than Black Naga can pursue them. And, as boehm suggests, they can keep doing this.
 
Simon_Jester said:
With the advent of airplanes, they can move Fah and the Empress of Japan around faster than Black Naga can pursue them. And, as boehm suggests, they can keep doing this.
With airplanes and zepellins(if they are still used) they can stay out of reach of the Black Naga. I think it would be much harder to keep Fah and the Empress safe from more conventional threats though since they would have to be moving all the time.
 
Dinglehoff said:
With airplanes and zepellins(if they are still used) they can stay out of reach of the Black Naga. I think it would be much harder to keep Fah and the Empress safe from more conventional threats though since they would have to be moving all the time.
Well, hopefully they can work out a way to permanently neutralize the threat from Black Naga. The tactic of keeping them moving will only buy time; nothing more. But it will buy time, and that can be an important goal in and of itself.
 
Wow, I have too much free time. However, with that free time, I added up the length of Master Plan and this AAR together and compared it to the lengths of all the other longest AARs, and if the two were combined this would be the 6th longest AAR in all of AARland! Ever!

I found that interesting. Not to mention impressive :eek:

(EDIT: Longest in terms of total posts, not necessarily AAR posts. Perhaps I should've said longest AAR thread)
 
Morpheus506 said:
Wow, I have too much free time. However, with that free time, I added up the length of Master Plan and this AAR together and compared it to the lengths of all the other longest AARs, and if the two were combined this would be the 6th longest AAR in all of AARland! Ever!

I found that interesting. Not to mention impressive :eek:

(EDIT: Longest in terms of total posts, not necessarily AAR posts. Perhaps I should've said longest AAR thread)
So what are the longer ones?
 
dublish said:
So what are the longer ones?
Looking back at them now, I realize that two of the threads probably aren't really even AARs. My fault for being unfamiliar with EUII, I suppose.

In no particular order:

-Rensselaer's "Fire Warms the Northern Lands"
-Draco Rexus's "For King and Country"
-Warspite's "ITALY RPG/AAR"
-The Free Company Tavern and "OOC" Thread: Book IV
-AARbitrary stuff EUII

Assuming those last two don't technically count as AARs, you could say the Fu Manchu saga is the 4th longest AAR in AARland. Nifty.
 
Morpheus506 said:
Looking back at them now, I realize that two of the threads probably aren't really even AARs. My fault for being unfamiliar with EUII, I suppose.

In no particular order:

-Rensselaer's "Fire Warms the Northern Lands"
-Draco Rexus's "For King and Country"
-Warspite's "ITALY RPG/AAR"
-The Free Company Tavern and "OOC" Thread: Book IV
-AARbitrary stuff EUII

Assuming those last two don't technically count as AARs, you could say the Fu Manchu saga is the 4th longest AAR in AARland. Nifty.

The Italy AAR, which was where I started in this forum all those long years ago, was definitely a collaborative AAR. That means that Yogi's AAR here is one of the longest written by a single author.
 
Deus said:
now you brought holmes into this. It seems were entering a rough patch now.
With BN on the loose, it couldn't be rougher.

Jape said:
Bringing out the BIG guns now! Excellent, and the asylum was terribly creepy

Holmes and Jones Sr. adventuring through Bali? Do tell :cool:
Will tell, in the upcoming post, which is a kind of retrospection. The narrative time line (with Nayland Smith and the aged Holmes travelling towards London) will be resumed with the post after this one.

The_Carbonater said:
That asylum could have been picked from a REALLY terrifying horror-movie
Hehehe... excellent! :)

seboden said:
Funnily enough, this isn't the first time Yogi has written about Sherlock Holmes trying to foil Fu Manchu's plans:
here, here, here, here and here.
He also tried to bring someone to safety in Canada. :D
It is the first time in the Fu Manchu AARs though. :)

But won't the Black Naga find them wherever they are? So fleeing to Canada might not help a lot. Or does he/it not yet "know their appearances"?
Well, at least it will buy some time. And considering the poor focus of BN, it might be a good idea to relocate to less populous areas... to avoid collateral casualties, so to speak.

boehm said:
maybe he could hide them up in "the sky" - a balloon ...perhaps one of those those barrage balloons over London ...if the last time the Black Naga was really free to explore the world was 1000 years ago perhaps it doesn know enough about "flight" to not be confused by them being "up there" ... ;)

OR ...perhaps get the empress a job as a stewardess ...shutling back and forth across the atlantic ...might throw off his tracking sence somewhat ?! :rolleyes:
That might actually work. The only problem is keeping the Empress hidden from the obiquitous eyes and ears of the Si Fan while shuttling her about across the globe... it's not only BN coming after her!

Simon_Jester said:
Ah! Reinforcements have arrived!

I, too, had assumed that Sherlock Holmes was dead by now. This is unexpected good news, for Holmes is to thinking as Master Chiun is to fighting.

Come to think of it, if they can figure out a weapon to fight Black Naga with, Chiun might be the only person in the world who can slay the beast. I mean, Silat is only "a pale reflection" of the glory of Sinanju, a "misguided attempt to apply its wisdom by those who have been brushed by its shadow," right?

At least, that's what Chiun will tell you.

It will buy time. With the advent of airplanes, they can move Fah and the Empress of Japan around faster than Black Naga can pursue them. And, as boehm suggests, they can keep doing this.
Actually, I had thought Holmes dead too, until I got some interesting hints and suggestions from Derek Pullem. That lead me to check the "offical" biography by Mr Baring-Gould, which puts Holmes's death in 1957, at the age of 102! At 86, his mind is still sharp, but he's no longer fit for fight, and only a dire emergency like this could pull him out - temporarily - of his well deserved retirement.

Tskb18 said:
Argh. Cliffhanger. i don't often say this (okay, i do too often say this but never you mind that) but there had better be an update!
:D
There you go! :D

elbasto said:
This is every day getting to closer to be a remake of the league of extraordinary gentlemen (and Fah Lo Sue).

:D

Quality stuff.
Somewhat depressing, that, since I began this story before ever hearing of the League. But Holmes's visit will be a short one - he's a guest star, nothing more.

Dinglehoff said:
With airplanes and zepellins(if they are still used) they can stay out of reach of the Black Naga. I think it would be much harder to keep Fah and the Empress safe from more conventional threats though since they would have to be moving all the time.
Good point!

Morpheus506 said:
...I added up the length of Master Plan and this AAR together and compared it to the lengths of all the other longest AARs, and if the two were combined this would be the 6th longest AAR in all of AARland! Ever!
...
Hmmm... It would be interesting to know how the bare text of this story compares to others. As for number of updates, I would guesstimate that about 1/3 of my posts in this thread are updates, the rest being discussion. That would net about 115 updates in EOFM alone.
 
Near Lake Batur
Bali, Dutch East Indies

Friday, February 5th 1909


nagacrypt3eo9.jpg


‘Had any other man but you aschked me to go cave-crawling in search of a demon-god, I dare say I would have laughed heartily, Holmesch!’ Dr Henry Jones said with a twinkle in his eyes as he adjusted the miner’s helmet and checked the headlamp. Twenty years younger than Holmes, the Scotsman was in the prime of his years, his close-cropped beard barely showing the first signs of grizzle. The powerful musculature under his rough miner’s boiler suit was more suggestive of a man of action than thought, and yet this man had made medieval literature, especially relating to the Holy Grail his life quest.

‘I have done no such thing, Doctor!’ Holmes, similarly attired, protested. ‘We have come to look for any evidence to suggest this beast is not merely a figment of old myths.’

‘You do doubt its existensche then?’

‘Not in the least. All the priests that I interviewed here back in 1885 agreed that Miss Yogalimari had gone to do battle with Black Naga the day of her disappearance, and neither she nor the sacred Crises were ever seen again. All that the priests could find here was disturbed earth and grass, as if by trampled in battle, and spatters of blood and a foul-smelling green ichor.

Since I met the young lady in question, I can assure you that any suspicion of foul play on her part is erroneous. If she failed to return to the temple with the priceless sacred Kris daggers, then it was because she was unable to do so, because of her death or some other reason. Furthermore, anything able to overcome Sita Yogalimari in open battle would be fearsome in the extreme – I saw her move, doctor, or to be more precise, I did NOT see her move when she went from sitting in front of me making conversation to holding a deadly blade to my carotid artery. No, Doctor Jones, she met something, something terrible… but what exactly?’

‘Well, I supose we won’t find out schtanding idle here, will we?’

Holmes smiled and finished adjusting his gloves and his tool belt. ‘Elementary, Dr Jones!’

The mouth of the cave was lightly overgrown with vines and weeds, but it was obvious that it had been open in a not too distant past. The growth was easily cleared with bare hands.

Jones arched an eyebrow. ‘This haschn’t been overgrown for very long.’

Holmes nodded. ‘Hardly conclusive evidence of anything, but worthy of note anyway.’

The cave itself was more akin to a tunnel boring into the earth, turning tortuously but always desdcending at a rough 45 degree angle. It was surprisingly even in proportions, even if it’s side were jagged and uneven.

‘Hardly a natural passage, is it?’ Holmes remarked off-handedly. ‘If it had been gouged out by water alone, the sides would be smoother.’

Long strands of roots hung from the ceiling. Holmes suddenly stopped, produced his trademark magnification glass from his breast pocket and examined a few broken off strands protruding from small cracks in the ceiling.

‘Well?’

‘Some thick roots have been broken off just where they emerge from the fractured rock. They are dead and dry, but not completely decayed. To judge from the pattern of fragmentation of the fibres, I’d say they were broken off by something ascending this passage, rather than descending it.’

‘Hm. Makesch you think, doesn’t it? What do you schuposche we shall find down there, Holmes?’

The famous detective just shook his head. ‘Hopefully nothing but an empty natural cave Dr Jones, although I’m holding it as increasingly less likely. Steel yourself for anything.’

The descent seemed never-ending, but could not have lasted longer than two or three hours, after which time the two men were tired to their bones and totally disoriented as to any other direction of travel than downwards. The air had grown increasingly humid and cold, but Holmes and Jones still sweated profusely under the thick protective clothing. The rock face at this depth was a glossy black with moisture spotted with growths of fungi. And suddenly, the cave tunnel ended.

It finished with a wall obviously constructed and not natural, completely covered in tortuous carvings: a myriad intertwined, slithering shapes in stone. In the centre of it, a huge maw-like opening offered an entrance further into the subterranean complex.

‘Look at tisch!’ Jones exclaimed, his rich voice full of wonder. ‘At first sight, it looks almoscht Balinese in schtyle, but it ischn’t , not really. This hasch not been built by any civilisation I know of, it must be a precursor to the earliest known cultures in this area. I wonder how old it could be?’

Holmes said nothing, but instead produced a small geologic sampling hammer from his tool belt and went to the nearest corner, where the carven wall joined the tunnel wall. Here, he hammered energetically at the later until a large chip came loose.

‘What are you doing, Holmesch?’ The characteristic eyebrow rose again.

‘Aha! Just as I suspected; come here, look!’

When Jones came closer, he saw that where the chip of stone had broken loose, a minute portion of the carved wall had been uncovered.

‘What the… how on earth did they manage that!?’ Jones wondered, totally perplexed. ‘Look, it fits perfectly against the wall, down to the smallest ridge and crack. I have never seen such a closche fit of two uneven surfaces! How is that even possible?’

Holmes regarded the fracture. ‘What I just did is what palaeontologists do in order to establish the age of a fossil, which can only be determined by examining the geological strata in which the fossil has left an impression! I’ve just done the same to this structure. I’d venture to guess that the wall continues some considerable distance into the mountain. You see, the builders of this wall have not shaped the rock to fit the wall nor vice versa; no, the rock, the very mountain has formed around and entombed this structure. It’s literally older than the mountain.’

‘But… but that is imposchible!’ Jones objected. ‘This is Pliocene sediment! That would make this wall nearly two thousand million years old!’

‘At least no less than 1.800 million years. But when the impossible has been eliminated, then what remains, however incredible, is the truth. It seems “there ARE more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy”!’

Feeling oppressed by the shocking age of the monstrous-looking wall, Holmes and Jones pressed on through the dark opening, entering into a vast hall or gallery in which the distant walls and ceiling were at first lost in darkness. Examination with their headlamps exposed they were supported by closely spaced and pointed arches, giving the unsettling impression of the inside of a ribcage. Both men maintained an awed silence in this hall older than man, older than mammals, older than all known life above the order of molluscs. There was nothing to say as their souls shrunk from the implications of what they saw.

nagacrypt1nh7.jpg


In the very centre of that open space was a strange mushroom-like construction of rough black stone, taller than a man and some three metres across. It was composed of a flattened half-sphere mounted on top of a wide cylinder of stone of nearly the same diameter, which rose from the stone floor to a height of about the width of a hand.

‘Now what do you supposche this is?’ Jones asked. ‘It looks almoscht like some over-sized Lingam!’

‘I could not say. Let me examine it first and… What in the name of sanity is this!?’ Holmes kneeled to examine the base of the stone mushroom.

‘A Kris! The point of it is jammed between the dome and the base!’ He leaned closer to inspect the weapon with his magnifying glass, and suddenly recoiled, a look of disgust on his face. ‘Merciful God! What is that stench!?’

A frown immediately appeared on the brow of the academic. Apparently Dr Jones had little tolerance for blasphemy, but he nevertheless leaned closer to sample the smell.

‘Awg… repellent! Although it’s actually very faint. I believe that foul miaschma is actually filtering up through the crack left by the knife, schmall as it might be.’

Holmes shook his head, as if trying to deny what he was seeing. ‘I know this black Kris well, in fact I had it in my possession for some time before giving it up to Miss Yogalimari.’

‘But… how did it end up here?’

‘Well… I presume it was lodged in the flesh of whatever creature is now lurking below that lid and the smell of which we have sensed – oh yes, Dr Jones, this is a lid, covering a well or a pit, in which the monster resides during it’s long sleep. I believe it was impaled by this blade in the battle with Miss Yogalimari. As it descended into the well to heal, the blade got stuck on the edge, ripped free and was trapped by the falling lid.’

‘Well, that probably did the beascht in then! Schurely, that schmell was of something long dead!’

Holmes shook his head. ‘No Dr Jones; that was the smell of something that should not live. Sita told me it has two hearts; obviously she managed to pierce only one of them: had she managed both, the beast would have died there and then, and had she missed both, it would have spread terror and death on Bali as it has done many times before. No, it was badly wounded and forced to retreat back to this infernal pit to heal. But when the stars are next right, a thousand years from now, this lid will rise to let loose Old Black Naga again, and may God have mercy on humanity then!’

‘Can we not finish the job your Lady friend schtarted then?’ Jones asked. ‘We could blow up the lid, usche that blade to pierce the other heart, or simply dynamite the monster itself.’

Again Holmes shook his head. ‘And risk rousing that creature before it’s time? I doubt that it sleeps in helpless slumber. Most likely it can wake enough to defend itself. Possibly, nay probably the wounded heart has already healed, since we can deduce from the necessity of using TWO blades that two sequential hits would not be adequate to the task. And we have only one blade. As for using dynamite, I’m certain that it would not damage this Ancient Thing in the least, or the priests would not have sent their champion armed only with two small blades – they would’ve sent an army, backed up by heavy artillery!

No Dr Jones, until we have two blades, either by finding the missing left hand blade, or the priests can forge a new one, it’s best that this grave be not disturbed. In fact, we shall collapse the entrance shaft so that this place is never found by the unwary. Humanity can ill afford such knowledge as this!’​
 
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But when the impossible has been eliminated, then what remains, however incredible, is the truth.

It had to be this quote, it just had to be. :D

Holmes never had much time for the supernatural - but that would not stop him from deducing the truth when presented.

Faschinating stuff :rofl:
 
I love Jones' accent. :D