Has Prometheus Actually Killed At The Mountains of Madness?
"Mountains" takes place in the 1930s where a group of scientists are making an expedition to Antarctica to study newly discovered ancient life forms and their evolution. It is an expedition that has potential to change the view of how life evolved on the planet. The protagonists make their way up to the region only to find huge, abandoned ruins of a once great civilization. Members of their group begin to die in mysterious circumstances, but the journey continues on. In the ruins, the scientists here read hieroglyphs that tell the story of the Elder Gods, extraterrestrials who came to this planet, and created life, both human and a slave race known as Shoggoths. Surprise, surprise, the Shoggoths turn on the Elder Gods and destroy them. The murals also suggest there is an even more terrifying evil than the Shoggoths in the area - the Chtulhu - described as, "an octopus, a dragon, and a human caricature.... A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted a grotesque scaly body with rudimentary wings." As the scientists discover more and more of the tale of the Elder Gods' fall, the corpses of the Gods begin to reanimate and re-inhabit the city. Using diversion and intelligence, the remaining scientists manage to get to their plane and leave the god forsaken land, but one of them catches a glimpse of the Chtulhu and loses his sanity. The story ends with the strong conviction that no further expeditions should be made to protect the world from the horrors of the Shoggoths and the beast up there.
