Part Twelve

*A familiar voice, a strange riddle, a buried past...*

### Content Warnings

Claustrophobia, asylums, trypophobia, animal attack (tadpoles, fish monster), parasites burrowing into skin, burns, fish monsters, blood sucking, long-dead corpses (and descriptions of advanced decomposition), cult sacrifice.

## Summary

Arthur heads down into the basement of the hotel, seeking the answers promised in the mysterious folio. Uncovering a secret door leads him deep underground and into a massive cavern, home to an entire city hidden under the earth. Moving deeper into the city, Arthur and John once again don the mask, this time following the cultists towards a large amphitheatre and the unnerving ritual taking place onstage.

## Synopsis

Arthur follows the information provided by the strange folio and heads down into the basement of the hotel. Finding the staff quarters, John is startled by their reflection in a full-length mirror. Shaking it off, they continue their search, eventually reaching the end of a corridor that leads them to a small office. They find a phonograph and a wax cylinder.

Turning on the phonograph, Arthur and John are shocked to hear the voice of Kellin Holeman. The recording contains an interview between Kellin and a psychiatrist named Dr. Jeffrey Orrett. Dr. Orrett questions Kellin about the Dreamlands, a place where Kellin claims to have visited. According to him, a person can only leave the Dreamlands if the King in Yellow permits them to. Kellin mentions the basement of the hotel in connection with the Dreamlands before saying “*Only when you truly see yourself, framed in gold, will you find answers.*”

This clue leads Arthur and John back to the mirror where John was startled by their reflection. The mirror sits in the center of the wall in an ornate gold frame. Arthur finds a hidden switch behind it, and the mirror swings open. A narrow tunnel hidden behind the mirror takes them to an old, chain-fed elevator that descends into an underground cavern. Inside the cavern is a massive city with strange, medieval looking architecture and a large river in front of it.

The elevator lands on the side of the river opposite the city, and Arthur and John must find a way across. They spot a small boat near the shore and head towards it, noticing an oil lantern hanging off the bow towards the water. John suggests lighting the lantern but Arthur refuses, saying he doesn’t want to draw any more attention to himself than necessary. He pushes the boat out and, unable to find anything to paddle with, uses his hands to propel the boat across the river.

About halfway across, John notices small, tadpole-like creatures swarming in the water around the boat. One of them bites Arthur while his hands are submerged, and he falls back into the boat with it still attached to his arm. The creature begins burrowing into Arthur’s flesh, and John realizes that the lantern must have been there to keep the creatures at bay. Arthur is able to use his lighter to burn the creature off of him, resulting in a severe burn on his left arm.

Arthur manages to light the lantern, but the flame is not bright enough to deter another monster from attacking them. An amphibious creature climbs into the boat and pounces on Arthur, attaching to his stomach and sucking his blood. Arthur smashes the lantern, causing flames to erupt into the boat and the creature to detach itself from his abdomen. Diving into the water, he swims to the shore as the light scares away the amphibious monster and the remaining tadpole-like creatures.

They begin exploring the city, entering one of the houses and finding some supplies, including new clothes and some cloth to use as makeshift bandages. After wrapping his abdomen, Arthur dons the new clothing and moves into an adjacent room, finding several crates stamped with the name ‘Cassilda’. While discussing the possible purpose of the underground city, John grows distant and says it was built to emulate a dream.

Moving into the next house, they find a desiccated corpse lying in a hanging bed. The corpse is holding something in its hands, but when Arthur reaches to retrieve it, he triggers the strange power he gained at the hospital and alerts the King to their whereabouts. During his vision, John sees the man in the hammock dreaming until he dies in his sleep. The object clasped in his hands appears to be a large, yellowish egg; John is unable to provide any more information about it. Donning the mask, Arthur moves into the next house and finds more corpses, all of which dreamed until their deaths. John calls the city the ‘Sleeping City’ and says he knows it and what it’s meant to be. He tells Arthur that the city is a place where the veil is thin between worlds, and that it’s meant to allow passage into the Dreamlands.

John directs Arthur back out into the street where they are met by one of the cultists. The cultist instructs Arthur to come with him, but tells him that he must come willingly. Arthur agrees, saying he is willing, and is led to a large auditorium in the center of the city. Hundreds of cultists are gathered in the seats around a central stage that houses a mirror and a table. Arthur takes a seat at the back of the room as a man enters the stage. The man turns to Arthur and asks him to unmask. John begins having doubts, but Arthur removes his mask, stating he trusts John. He is called up to the stage and asked to lay on the table. Arthur complies, asking questions as he does so. The cultist responds, easing Arthur’s fears until John asks after his own safety. The cultist answers John’s question, revealing that he can hear John’s voice and may have been answering John's questions all along, and tells him that their purpose is to make him whole again.

The table is tilted upwards to face the mirror. John looks into it and sees his true self, revealing that he is actually the King in Yellow. Arthur struggles to reach John, begging him to remember his name and what they’ve been through together, but John dismisses him, attempting to take full control of Arthur’s body.

Arthur is trapped inside a memory until he is interrupted by the King in Yellow. Arthur challenges him, asking why the King can’t simply erase all of Arthur, and the King reveals that a fragment of his soul, the fragment that became John, has become entangled with Arthur’s soul. He tells Arthur that he must reclaim the fragment by killing Arthur, but Arthur realizes that the King is unable to harm him as long as the King remains trapped in the Dreamlands. The King agrees, then pulls Arthur into the Dreamlands. Arthur lands on the shore of a lake, with John still sharing his body.

## Votes

* Chapter 56: What is the answer to the Riddle? [write-in]
* Chapter 57: Light the Lantern [5] / **Stay in the Darkness [6]**
* Chapter 58: **Don the Pallid Mask [14]** / Keep the Mask Off [2]
* Chapter 59: **Do You Go Willingly? [12]** / Keep A Careful Distance [1]
* Chapter 60: no vote

## Additional Notes

* While searching the hotel basement, John mentions hearing whispers as if there are people nearby. Arthur is unable to hear them.

* When discussing the Sleeping City, John’s voice becomes distant and slightly distorted, scaring Arthur.

* The amphibious creature that attacks Arthur injects him with some sort of anaesthetic when it latches onto him, causing his abdomen to become numb.

* The memory that Arthur becomes trapped in is of him playing piano and getting interrupted by his daughter Faroe.