In Chapter X Dyer and Danforth finally begin their descent into the abyss.

The pair are pulled from their shocked stupor by a familiar sound, altogether disconcerting in this location. Despite being hundreds of kilometres inland, the pair hears the squawking of penguins. Dyer and Danforth follow the squawking and find a previously undiscovered species of penguin, gigantic in proportion, albino, and eyeless. They briefly recall images of penguins dotting the murals. The penguins stand outside an entrance to a subterranean vault, from which vapour billows.

The pair descend into the depths, which grow warmer and warmer until the two are forced to remove their outerwear. They eventually enter a vast entrance hall. They turn on their torches to inspect the halls and its art, only to discover that the craftwork of the Elder Things has sharply decayed. Stalactites hang from the ceiling. Carvings appear more crude. While the geometric patterns are clearly inspired by earlier art, there is something clumsy and careless to the carvings.

A new odour begins to assault their nostrils, an odour which overpowers the foul stench of the Elder Things. Ahead, the two see apparently lifeless obstructions in the hallway. They continue.

We saw in a previous chapter that the Elder Things experimented with intelligent Shoggoths for the construction of the new city. Could these crude new carvings be the product of these new Shoggoths, acting upon instruction of the Elder Things but without direct supervision?