by V. Wolkoff
Dear Dr. Pryce,
I hope this finds you well. I have encountered something remarkable in my time here in New Zealand. While studying the native culture with the Arkham Anthropical Society, we came to the settlement of Rotorua after hearing about an unusual tribe. The area is notably separated in two by sulfuric gasses that emit a grotesque rotten egg smell. On one side, the side that does not smell – I realize how comical that sounds – residents that go about their lives and business as you or I would. On the other side, the denizens on the sulfurous part of the land, are eerie, primitive, and I have no other way to call them but chthonic. Their appearance is somehow stunted, their features exaggerated, some of them almost not human. Most peculiar of all, they only come out at night. You may not believe this but there are only light posts, torches, and candlelight in half of the town, the others live in complete darkness and do not require any light to see! I have observed them on many moonless nights much to my amazement.
They have their own dialect which frankly sounds nothing like that of their neighbors, so we have not been able to personally communicate with them. The interpreter and neighbors we have been able to speak to describe their origins as unknown and them as quiet. They have not volunteered any remarks about their appearance or habits, perhaps as to not cause offense or because we are outsiders.
Their domiciles are a mixture of modern homes like that of their neighbors and huts with wooden and grass frames. There does appear to be a hierarchy of wealth among them. Our guide told us that higher ranking members live in modern homes on the other side of the gases, but their habits and appearance are not indifferent from that of their bizarre kin. We ventured into the bush behind their settlement during the day, as they will not allow visitors at night while they are active. Active – I feel insensitive describing them as one would nocturnal animals, but they are quite the anomaly! There are strange totems with appearances like monstrous fish in the hills, hidden behind rocks that look like teeth – a natural formation here known as the Dragon’s Teeth. In the rare instance you can get close enough to them, you can see they all wear the same green stone amulet that appears to be a tentacled creature, not quite an octopus. They seem to practice an antediluvian religion.
I feel we are getting closer to understanding what it is they do, how they earn their livings, what their nightly ceremonies are centered around. I will be venturing out once our director, who has been unexpectedly out in the bush for days now, returns.
Please share this with no one. I can’t imagine what the university will think if they get wind of this yet.
Regards,
Julian Plathers
V. Wolkoff lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband who suffers from ME/CFS and their rescued rats. She can be found here.
