Disclaimer: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and all characters from the show are the property of Joss Whedon, 20th Century Fox, and the UPN Television Network. The Cthulhu Mythos material is loosely based on the "Call of Cthulhu" role-playing game (copyright Chaosium Inc.) and the book "Encyclopedia Cthulhiana" by Daniel Harms.
Wednesday July 24, 2002, Night: Summers' Residence Buffy is dreaming. She sees a group of creatures with canine features kneeling before another creature dressed in yellow silk. Its face is covered in a yellow mask. It removes the mask to reveal a face covered in maggots. Then it begins to grow. It emerges from the ground, then splits the entire planet apart. Thursday July 25, Afternoon: Summers' Residence Willow and Tara are in their room, sitting in front of a bowl of water. They link hands, concentrate, and chant. A series of visions appears in the water: a cemetery, a black stone building with two bronze doors, a plain lit with a grey luminescence, and a face covered in a yellow mask. The visions end and Willow and Tara unlink hands. Willow says "The last vision could have been Nyarlathotep. Just like in Buffy's dream." She pauses. "I think I recognize the cemetery." Thursday July 25, Night: Last Rest Cemetery Willow and Tara walk cautiously through the cemetery. They see a group of ghouls approach. Most have canine features and hooves, but one is wearing purple robes and silver-looking masks. The masked figure says "Mordiggian comes." A cloud of darkness appears and the temperature drops. The cloud speaks directly to their minds "A gift for you." The masked ghoul hands Willow a piece of paper. Willow studies the paper carefully. "You're releasing Buffy from her promise to become a ghoul in ten years." Mordiggian continues, seeming to ignore her statement, "Nyarlathotep plans to seize control of the Plain of Ghouls." He pauses. "He will not stop there." Mordiggian vanishes. The masked ghoul says "Be here tomorrow night around ten. There is a physical entry point into the Dreamlands nearby." He turns and leaves and the other ghouls follow. Friday July 26, Morning: Magic Shop Giles, Anya, Buffy, Willow, Tara, Xander, and Dawn are meeting in the back room. Willow tells them about the visions and the meeting with Mordiggian. "I'm going to the Dreamlands. I have to try to stop Nyarlathotep." Buffy says "I'm coming with you." Willow shakes her head. "I'm going to be entering the Dreamlands physically. That means that time is going to pass here at the same rate it passes there. I don't know how long I'm going to be gone. It could be weeks. You're needed here in Sunnydale." Tara adds "Especially with both of us gone." Willow whirls toward Tara. "What?" Tara says firmly "We're stronger together. I'm going." Willow stares at Tara for a few moments, then nods unhappily. Anya says "I'm coming along. If something goes wrong, Giles will need to know right away." Giles nods. "Very well. Willow, Tara, and Anya will enter the Dreamlands. Buffy, Xander, Dawn, and I will keep an eye on things here in Sunnydale. And, of course, do further research on this matter." Buffy and Xander both look like they want to object but finally nod in agreement. Friday July 26, Night: Last Rest Cemetery Willow, Tara, and Anya are waiting in the cemetery. They see three figures, presumably ghouls, wearing hooded purple robes and silver-like masks. The ghouls lead them to a nearby building. One masked ghoul goes to a hidden door which opens into a tunnel. The tunnel eventually opens up into a plain at the base of a mountain range. The plain overlooks a valley filled with bones. The only light is a dim luminescence. The masked ghouls begin chanting. Eventually, a large creature approaches. Its back is lit with phosphorescent moss. The creature stops. A masked ghoul turns to Willow, Tara, and Anya and says that one of them needs to sing to the creature. Tara reluctantly steps forward and sings a brief verse. The creature seems to purr and then seems to invite them to climb aboard. The masked ghouls climb onto the back of the creature and Willow, Tara, and Anya follow. The creature starts running again. It enters the bone-filled valley and continues running. Saturday July 27, Evening: Dreamlands, Vale of Pnath The creature approaches a building made of black stone. There are what appear to be seven statues of horned, bat-winged creatures on the roof of the building. The twin bronze doors are open and light comes from inside. The creature stops and the group dismounts and enters the building. There is a bas-relief on the wall depicting a humanoid figure with a beard of tentacles. The altar in front of the wall has a small idol of the same figure. A man with long, unkempt hair stands in front of the altar. Tara whispers to Willow "Looks like Nodens on the wall. And on the altar." The man says "I've been expecting you." He reaches behind the altar and pulls out a silver pendant on a chain. The pendant looks vaguely like a hand. He walks up to Tara and gives her the pendant. "You'll need this." Tara studies the pendant carefully, then puts it on. Her eyes widen briefly. The man asks "Can you stay a while? Any news of the outside world?" One of the masked ghouls replies "Nyarlathotep rises. No time to talk." The party goes outside and remounts. Once they're underway, Tara tells Willow "Promise me you'll look after the others if anything happens to me. They're going to need you." Willow protests "Nothing's going to happen to you!" Tara persists. "We're facing a deity. Anything could happen. Promise me you'll look after the others." Willow replies reluctantly "All right. I promise." Sunday July 28, Midday: Dreamlands, Near the Plain of Ghouls The creature reaches a cliff and climbs it. It comes to a plain, lit only by an eerie grey luminescence, and starts running. Sunday July 28, Night: Magic Box Giles, Xander, and Dawn are in the main room when Buffy returns from patrol. Buffy reports "I saw this strange demon. It was completely black and had a long trunk, webbed feet, and what looked like small wings. It was the size of a large person. I tried to follow it but I lost it near Last Rest cemetery." Giles looks in one of his books and shows Buffy a drawing. "Is this what you saw?" Buffy nods. Giles continues "It's called a Child of Shugoran. A servitor of Nyarlathotep. It kills by sucking a victim's lungs out with its trunk." He pauses. "We'd better check this out." Buffy replies "After we drop Dawn off at home." Sunday July 28, Night: Last Rest Cemetery Buffy, Giles, and Xander are walking through the cemetery. Giles carries a sword, and Xander a crossbow. Buffy leads them to a nearby building and they cautiously enter. They see eight ghouls, all with canine features, surrounding a symbol drawn on the floor. A figure, presumably another ghoul, wearing a purple robe and a silver-like mask is tied up near the symbol. A lion-headed demon stands over the bound figure and the Child of Shugoran is standing sentry. Buffy charges in. She dodges the trunk of the Child of Shugoran and stabs it with a stake. The ghouls attack but Buffy snaps the neck of one, and throws another ghoul into a third. Meanwhile, Giles stabs one ghoul and Xander shoots another. The lion-headed demon charges Buffy. She dodges, throws it against a wall, then stabs it with a stake. The remaining ghouls flee. Buffy carefully unties the masked ghoul. The figure bows to her and leaves. Giles examines the symbol. "Symbol of Nyarlathotep. It's a good thing that we interrupted the ritual." He carefully smudges the symbol with his foot. Monday July 29, Morning: Dreamlands, Plain of Ghouls The creature finally stops and the party dismounts. They join a large group of ghouls, several of whom are hooded and masked. Flying overhead are horned, bat-winged creatures that look like the statues on the roof of the temple to Nodens. The group advances. They are attacked by another group of ghouls. The bat-winged creatures dive at the attackers and carry a number of them off. Willow and Tara fling backwards a couple of ghouls that try to attack them. The group continues to advance, occasionally fending off attacks by opposing ghouls. Finally, they see a group of ghouls gathered around a makeshift altar. A vaguely toad-like creature stands near the altar. The altar glows and a yellow-masked figure dressed in yellow silk appears and walks toward the party. A wave of fear seems to emanate from the figure, and the bat-winged creatures flee. Willow seems to sense the figure grinning beneath the mask. Anya goes into her demon face. She gestures toward the yellow-masked figure but nothing happens. Willow and Tara link hands and Willow sends a blast toward the figure, sending it backwards. The figure's followers appear surprised and back away. Willow sends another blast at the figure but he deflects it and counterattacks. Willow is thrown backwards but Tara charges the yellow-masked figure. She presses the pendant against it. There is a bright flash of light and both Tara and the yellow-masked figure appear to be sucked into the altar. Then the temperature drops as a cloud of darkness briefly appears, then ascends out of sight. Willow looks stunned for a moment, then stumbles forward. The followers of the yellow-masked figure scatter. Willow holds on to the altar. She seems to be trying to will Tara out of it for a few moments, then she sags in despair. Anya goes back to her human face. She takes Willow's arm and tells her "We have to leave." Willow looks dazed but allows Anya to lead her away. Wednesday July 31, Night: Magic Box Giles, Xander, Buffy, and Dawn are gathered in the main room. Willow and Anya walk in. Anya says "We won." Willow continues sadly "Tara's dead." Xander and Buffy try to comfort her. Willow and Anya relate what happened. Willow finishes by saying "Anya brought me out. I might have stayed there with Tara." She pauses. "I should have stopped her from going." Xander asks "How?" He pauses to let Willow think. "You couldn't have stopped her, Will. Tara knew she might be needed." Willow shakes her head. "But..." Xander continues firmly "You couldn't have stopped her." Thursday August 1, Night: Magic Box Giles, Willow, Tara, Buffy, Xander, and Dawn are meeting in the back room. Giles reports "It appears that Nyarlathotep is permanently trapped. Something I wouldn't have believed possible. The Silver Hand pendant trapped him. But it needed to consume a human soul to fully activate." He pauses. "Tara's soul." He pauses again. "One more thing. It appears that Mordiggian managed to completely free himself. This is likely to cause some problems, but they may be manageable." Saturday August 3, Night: Magic Box Willow and Xander are sitting in the back room, next to a stack of books. Willow looks tired and miserable, while Xander looks concerned. Buffy walks in. "I brought donuts." She places them on the table. Willow says, in a despairing tone, "Giles is right. She's gone forever. There's nothing I can do." Buffy says "I'm sorry." She pauses. "I know it doesn't help much now, but the pain does ease with time." Willow exclaims "You don't understand!" She pauses and glances at Buffy. "I guess you do understand, don't you?" Buffy nods and smiles sadly. She gently squeezes Willow's hand. Xander places his hand on Willow's shoulder and says comfortingly "It'll be all right, Will. It'll be all right."