Christiane's righteous fuming and the mysterious power emanating
couldn't help but draw the attention of the leading horror. It turned
away from the cloakroom a moment (to the great relief of the two
within who had not yet assembled a response) and peered towards the
smouldering remains of the bar and the beatific lady there. Now fully
emerged from whatever netherworld lay on the other side of the torn
tapestry, it was clearly visible...

It was a thing of nightmares, and huge... it's skin was black and
oily and stretched tight across its lanky frame like a misshapen
skeleton swathed in rubber... and it was banded... iron plates and
strips of greasy leather were bolted to its body in some semblance of
armor. Lengths of cord and chain were wound around it in a profusion
which hissed and rattled as the beast moved over the flagstones,
while bits of bone and still-more-grisly mementos of previous
feastings hung like pendants around its neck. For a face, it bore the
semblance of a decaying hyena's skull with candlelames burning in
sockets from which the eyes had long-since rotted. Its shriveled
sides heaved as it sucked in the air. It's claws never ceased moving.

Spying Christiane, the thing reared as upright as its twisted spine
allowed and extended what might once have been wings... great spines
from which tatters of skin hung and fluttered. It bellowed once,
rattling the chandeliers and what was left of the bottles, then
vomited a great stream of acrid tar onto the floor.

It lumbered forward across its own noisome pool, drooling still more
of the viscous sludge from its slack jaws. It was only moments from
Christiane...
...
Upstairs, Rennyb searched the corridors for the other inhabitants of
the House. He flung open doors on empty studies and bedchambers, on
galleries and conservatories (both musical and botanical). He peered
into the gloom of what might've been a laboratory, but didn't dare
throw the rusty contact switches he spied near the door to take a
closer look. At least the chambers were still here, which was an
improvement over his last visit when the entire place was losing its
form. *Someone* certainly lived here... it was just a matter of
finding them. And he had better find them soon, because he didn't
think those two in the coat-closet could hold off the stygians
forever by themselves. Hopefully, there were others converging on the
forward chambers to help.

That thought stopped him dead in his tracks in the sculpture gallery.
What if there weren't anyone else to help? He'd best take steps to
slow the advance of the creatures he'd let in. His eye fell upon a
heroic bronze statue with the word, 'Hercules' on the pedestal, and
smiled. Yes, that would do for bit. The mage whispered sibiliant
runes to quicken the statue, then addressed it as it stepped down off
its perch. "Go to the entryway and battle the monsters there... I'll
send Conan down to help you if I find him."

Rennyb moved briskly off one direction, while the bronze demigod
tromped off on its assigned task...