Recently, after realising my need for more living space, I acquired a new abode which I have christened Withywindle. While the house itself is over a century old, its foundation dates to a much earlier time period, upon which several structures had been built in the past. Moreover, local legend holds that this area was once controlled by a small enclave of Welsh settlers cast from respectable society due to their rather alarming infusions of the occult into their religious practices. This particular property seemed to be at the epicenter of those tales. These intriguing facts and the quaint English cottage feel of the house were major inducements for my purchase. I could not escape the draw of the paranormal legends and was keen to discover what mysteries awaited me within the house.

Lucius uncovers the ancient aperture

I resided at Withywindle for several months before I received my first glimpse that there was indeed something odd about the house. I was in the process of cleaning and rehabilitating the basement when, beneath the crumbling floor tile I was removing, I discovered a queer dark hole staring out at me from the stone foundation. I could feel a breeze emanating from the aperture and thought that I could see a slightly sinister green glow illuminating the dark recess. The breeze wafting forth surely signified that the hole led into a vast space. I could not fathom what dire mysteries lay below.

It was not long after the discovery that my curiosity overwhelmed caution. Thus, with electric torch in hand, I secured one end of a rope coil and slipped over the side of that nightmarish orifice. The vertical shaft in which I found myself appeared to be quite long. I suspected that at one time this hole in my floor was used as some sort of well or perhaps a ventilation shaft. To my surprise, the deeper I went, the more humid and heavy the air became. The stone walls of the shaft became slick with slimy moisture and I could faintly smell the scent of dark decay. All the while, the sickly green glow continued to increase in luminance as I descended.

Intrepidly, Lucius lowers himself into the abyss

Eventually, the shaft opened up into a large chamber, clearly carved out of the stone by sentient beings. By the greenish light of the chamber walls, which was perhaps due to some particular bio-luminary fungus, I saw what appeared to be bands of carvings along the length of the cavern. I lit my torch and directed its beam at the carvings. My shock at what I found on the walls could not have been greater. I immediately recognized the queerly arabesque glyphs which were now clearly visible. I had seen such hideous but beautiful script before during my study of the occult, particularly in the almost forgotten fragments of the Pnakotic Manuscripts and in the most dread of all tomes, the Necronomicon. Although I could not decipher the glyphs without more research, their presence told me that this chamber was very old indeed, perhaps predating intelligent life on this planet as we understand it. The presence of the glyphs also told me that terrible beings had resided, or perhaps still resided, deep within this earthy womb.

As the mystery and danger grew, so did my curiosity. Even so, I was contemplating turning back to formulate a fresh plan when I felt an anguished plea within my mind. A being was telepathically transmitting its pain and suffering to me in an unspoken plea for assistance! Out of pity, I was compelled to aid this creature, and, thus, I followed the mental urgings being registered in my mind. I was led out of the large chamber and into a downward sloping passage which periodically branched off to both sides. I treaded softly as I could hear sounds which disturbed me to my very soul emanating from these side passages; sounds which reminded me of some wet pulpy thing being dragged across the uneven stone floor. Equally chilling, I occasionally heard garbled high pitched noises which I imagined could have been some form of ghastly communication.