originally published Cthulhu's Dark Cults, Chaosium, 2010
Guy is a sailor who's just disembarked at San Francisco in 1920, with a pocketful of cash, ready to get laid. Unfortunately, he runs into his cousin, David Delmonico. David takes him to Mama Tropos' speakeasy, and has a favor to ask - a big favor.
It seems David has acquired an item that once belonged to Lang Fu, leader of a Tong-like cult, one that Guy has heard of, and doesn't want to tangle with. David, however, persuades Guy to be his bodyguard for a night, until his performance at Mama Tropo's tomorrow. David, it seems, is a magician.
Quite a magician, apparently, as Guy learns when David helps ward off some Deep One assassins with some fiery magic.
Guy is wounded in a bout with some more terrestrial assassins, and he and David manage to hide out with a hooker until morning, when they make their way to Mama Tropo's, where Guy gets mauled by another Deep One. Lang Fu is moments away from capturing them, when Mama Tropo intervenes, insisting that David should be allowed to put on his performance, which he insists is critically important, thus demonstrating whether or not he is the true rightful owner of the item (a talisman, btw). Lang Fu, strangely, agrees.
David runs through a routine magic act, then produces the talisman, alluding to playing with powers that can wipe out entire cities. He (apparently) starts summoning Cthugha into the room. Reckoning that David can't handle the power, Lang Fu magically levitates the talisman out of David's hands and into his own. Cthugha disappears and David is gorily burned to death. Guy leaves town for Amsterdam and leads a straight life.
This is an energetically written, pulpish tale (it reminds me of some of R.E. Howard's adventure/Cthulhu crossovers), with an over-the-top evidence on brutal violence (every blow and injury of every fight is described in loving detail) and lowlife shock. Despite moving along at a nice clip, there's nothing terribly memorable about it.
P.S. - Lang Fu is an NPC from Chaosium's Fungi from Yuggoth scenario.
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