You launch into a panicked explanation of everything that's happened to you. When the ghoul hears the name "Randolph Carter," his demeanor changes. He asks what has become of Randolph, and you tell him of his friend's fate. Sadness overcomes the creature. He introduces himself as Richard Pickman, and tells you that Randolph was once his friend. He agrees to let you pass in peace, but not before giving you a warning: strange happenings have been occurring within the Underworld. He tells of dark forces spreading throughout the vale below the Plain of the Ghouls, of vile weavers that crawl along the cavern walls, and of a terrible howling cry that penetrates throughout the realm. All of it, he explains in gibbering speech, emanates from one place: an ocean of pitch in the realm's deepest layer.