Nazis and Lovecraft

In May 1938, Hitler was desperate to find the Holy Grail. He believed it would bestow more power upon him, and that with it, he could overcome anyone. To accomplish this, he sent a group of his finest men to Tibet in hopes of finding the legendary artifact he so craved. 
The expedition lasted for almost an entire year. Towards its end, the men were becoming tired, but they trekked on, fearing the punishment for failure. They were, of course, overjoyed when they found the vault. They had been told by a guide that it was where they could discover great and lost treasure, things that had the power to change the world.
The vault was hidden deep inside some lesser-known ruins. Upon arrival, the men were awed by the sheer size of the door. It was circular, with a diameter of at least 100 feet. It had shrubs and growths of various natures all over it, most of which were plants they had never seen before.
The troops spent several hours removing the plant life so the vault could be opened. They used knives, flames, anything they could. It was only after they'd completed this task that they realized they had no way of opening the vault.
The door looked like it was made for a giant. They couldn't so much as reach for the handle; it was 50 feet in the air. Finally, though, after much hard work and thought, they decided on a plan.
The strongest men got their strongest rope, attached a hook to the end, and tossed it in the air towards the handle. Managing to wrap it around the thing was difficult, but they eventually succeeded. It took ten men to make it even budge, and twenty to really get it moving. But they managed it. They got the vault open as intended.
Upon doing so, the group sent in a small three-man team to try and scope it out. They entered with high hopes of something, anything to bring back to Hitler. They feared him more than anything, which was most definitely a mistake.
After three hours, they began to worry for the safety of their reconnaissance squad. But before more men could venture in, they heard screaming, like that of a madman.
One of the men ran out of the vault. He was crying, laughing, and covered in blood. They questioned him, but all he would tell them is that he had made a sacrifice for the 'Great Old Ones'.
After some debate, the remaining men entered the vault. They cautiously walked through what seemed like an ancient city. It was full of statues of giant beasts, some resembling squid, but with more human features added on.
The city center had a large platform with stairs leading up to it. In the middle of this platform was a book. The binding and pages were odd in texture, almost like flesh. The words in the book seemed odd and foreign, too, not like anything the group had ever seen. And the cover almost looked like it had a face...
They thought the book to be rare and took it, proceeding down the platform. Reaching the bottom, they felt a great thunderous shaking, and saw the vault door close before their very eyes. It was much faster than they had ever thought possible for something that large to move. They were trapped.
Torches in hand, they did the only thing they thought they could: search for alternative exits. Together, they marched through more and more odd ruins, with many of the same statues and art they had seen previously. Finally, they came to a great lake, one which seemed to extend deep into the Earth.
Then they saw something which chilled them. A slab. A large stone one with a German helmet sitting on it. The slab was covered in blood. Fresh blood. Only hours old from what they could tell.
They collected the helmet and explored around the underground lake. Suddenly, the one among them carrying the odd book began to laugh. He pulled his sidearm from its holster and took one of his own men hostage.
Forcing him to the slab, he shot him point blank and drained a small amount of blood onto it. Then he tossed the body into the waters below. It happened very fast, but the second it registered with the rest of the troops, they shot the renegade, sending him to rest with his victim.
Another great quake ran through the city and shook it. From the depths of the lake came a large tentacle, like from one of the squid creatures seen in the sculptures. It wrapped around a large rock. Then came another, and another. More and more erupted from the waters. Soon, it seemed like there were at least a hundred all around the men.
Then, shortly afterwards, they beheld a sight that no sane person had seen. A grand beast rose from the depths. It seemed godlike. The men all simultaneously felt they understood everything, and began to kill each other in fits of rage and madness.
The beast swept the bodies, both living and dead, into the sea, consuming them. By the end of the massacre, only one man remained; he shuffled away holding the book they had found earlier.
As he left, he put the book back in its place. The door proceeded to open. He left the vault, losing more than just a book. He had lost his sanity.
The man made it back to his base camp, where they questioned him thoroughly. He responded mainly with gibberish about the "Old Ones", and told his fellow soldiers that the men had been sacrificed.
The only thing known for sure past this point is that the book was never recovered. They tried several times, Hitler sending more men, but only one would ever come back from each group. All of which were mad, spoke in gibberish, and praised the Old Ones.
Category:Lovecraftian
Category:Disappearances
Category:Military
Category:Places