"Wrath of the Wind-Walker" is a short story by American authors Robert M. Price and James Ambuehl.
Synopsis[]
In the first part of the story, reporter J.J. Hanley listens to an ageing Professor Winslow tell the story of how in his youth he led an expedition into the jungles of Cambodia in search of an anomalous cult of ice worshipers. Hiring a group of hardened mercenaries, he located the cult but they were almost immediately ambushed by a band of Khmer Rouge; although successful in fending off their attackers, the mercenaries in their bloodlust also murdered the cultists, with the leader placing a curse on the survivors before passing.
The second part covers Hanley's investigation into the veracity of Winslow's story. He succeeds in confirming the name of the being the cult worshiped - Ithaqua - and discovers the fate of five of the expedition's survivors, all killed in bizarre accidents which left the bodies utterly frozen. Ultimately Hanley receives news of Winslow's death - his body found encased in a block of ice at the centre of a house fire - and this concludes his interest in the case.
Characters[]
- James Joseph "J.J." Hanley, a reporter for the Braving Bulletin.
- Professor Jonah Winslow, an elderly scholar.
- Ithaqua, a vengeful Great Old One.
Publication History[]
"Wrath of the Wind-Walker" was first published in the Chaosium anthology The Ithaqua Cycle: The Wind-Walker of the Icy Wastes in July 1998, and later appeared in the collection of Price's works Blasphemies & Revelations in November 2008.
Trivia[]
- Professor Winslow lived in a house outside Laren and worked at Royceton University, and Hanley works for the Braving Bulletin. These are all elements of Ambuehl's Braving, Minnesota milieu and the setting for several of his mythos stories.