The Masks of Nyarlathotep: Australia pt 2

Extracts from the Personal Diary of Dr Eliza Jamieson

February 11^th 2009

It appeared that Abiya was none the worse for her experience yet it should be noted that she was unable to recall any experiences of her time away, and she was also unaware as to how much time had passed.

Anyway, that to one side, as we are clearly planning to head to Port Hedland we decide to gather some information on the area and discover that it has a population of 1,301 and is major port for iron though it should be noted there are also a number of manganese mines in the area. Also we need to be aware that there will be a fine dust in the area so it is probably advisable to cover our faces. Fortunately none of us have any respiratory issues so this proves sufficient.

As to mythos issues there is an old report dated 31^st December 1968 of a Vickers Viscount having its wing torn off during a sandstorm plus there are the rumours surrounding a mysterious lost city in the desert. There are also rumours of fairies called Ngayurnangalku dwelling in Lake Disappointment and Delta Green reports there may be a hint of truth in this so we are strongly advised to avoid the area. These toxic waters are also strongly linked to Alpha One.

Though it should be noted that Jalkawarrinya (The Rainbow serpent) is also strong in the area but in saying this, while powerful, he/she is said to be blind.

Note the Indigenous Australians speak some dialects of Wati, the Western Desert language, part of the Pamayanga group. Most locals speak these languages but it would be best to acquire a guide once in situ. We should also not use the derogatory term Abo as this is widely frowned upon.

Still it should be noted that while we will be flying to Port Hedland this is not our starting point, for that is Cuncudgerie which lies 150 miles to the South East. And while there was once a rail service between the two this is long gone so we will be required to drive. Note: Delta Green will be acquiring us suitable vehicles for the journey but nothing military.

Cuncudgerie is noted as the source of the two crates we recently acquired and is where Mortimer Mycroft is located.

To avoid any awkward questions Delta Green charter an aircraft to fly us to Port Hedland and though we are warned that modern technology is unreliable in the desert we would still be provided with a satellite phone with GPS and headset communication devices, though these devices will not be secure.

Other than food and water and fuel we would have no heavy items and the only truly specialist gear other than my medical kit will be light intensifier goggles for Leroy, a sniper rifle for David and a small number of suppression and smoke grenades. Unfortunately no-one thought to ask for a pair of field glasses, which could have made our search easier.

We were also supplied with anti-venoms in case of snake bites but were warned that the general purpose anti venom was nigh on useless and it was essential that we attempt to identify which snake is involved. So with this in mind we were supplied with anti-venom for the most common snakes in the area complete with pictures in order to make it easier to know which to use.

Cuncudgerie was once a gold mining town but the mines have for the most part played out and it has re- branded itself. Though it still has a number of iron mines it is essentially now a tourist location as despite its small population there is a small hotel.

We hope to acquire a guide on site as there are a few listed though the one with the best reputation, Ms Virginia Frasier is usually booked up three months in advance. Though we were able to find two others with feedback named Mad Ginger Muldoon and Todd Gilman though it should be noted that both of these have questionable reputations mind you it will likely be a Hobson’s choice.

February 15^th 2009

The trip to Cumcudgerie is totally without incident and we are able to acquire rooms at the Burata Hotel and this is built of corrugated tin. The hotel is run by Jenny Burata a typical middle aged and hard-bitten Australian with white/grey hair. Jenny is also a widow and she runs the place with her two sons. But this is where our luck plays out for it appeared that only one of the guides we researched was available and that is Mad Ginger (apparently everyone calls him that to his face), also Jenny remarks that there is a family of guides in the area we should avoid and that is the Slattery’s who did not show up during our search as Jenny assures us that they do not have an online profile.

He is a beast of a man (big but not as big as Marshall I might add) with shaggy hair who I estimate to be in his forties who has an immense capacity for alcohol. Ginger advises that we should be prepared for the longest off-road drive in the world and that we should be wary of ‘flying bears’, whatever they are. We are also informed that there will be no water other than what we take with us and that while we can shoot animals for fresh meat we should not shoot kangaroos as they are protected.

We decide after dinner to check out the town and Mortimer Mycroft in particular, noting that his place, like most of the town, seems rather rundown and shoddy, and despite Mycroft’s Emporium being fenced off we are able to observe a white man reading to three indigenous Australians and see several vehicles parked in the compound most of which appear to be trucks. We are unable to see or hear what he is reading but hopefully it is nothing sinister.

Anyway, scouting done we return to the hotel and though some of our group choose to stay up with Ginger I retire to my bed as I will be driving and my tolerance for alcohol is non-existent.

February 16^th 2009

We are ready to go bright and early the next morning and I notice that Ginger is none the worse for wear even though he had put away substantial amounts of whisky. He will be driving the lead vehicle with Abiya as his co-driver, Winston and Sayeed. I meanwhile would be driving the second vehicle with Leroy and David.

While initially we make good progress we are delayed by a sandstorm and are forced to divert from our designated route to Dingo Falls, which is essentially a collection of great red rocks on a rocky ridge that conceals a small pool of water in its shadow. Fortunately we have time to get tarps over the radiator grills before the storm hits so the vehicles are not disabled despite a three hour battering. Though by the time the storm has passed it is time to camp for the night.

Of course it falls to me to do the cooking as Ginger asks for a volunteer, though he helps by laying a fire. As to the sleeping arrangements, Ginger and David bed down in one of the vehicles while Abiya and I take the other. This leaves Leroy, Winston and Sayeed in sleeping bags around the fire – because, like most deserts, it does get cold at night.

Fortunately years of being on-call allows me the ability to sleep anywhere and soon I drift, only to be woken seemingly moments later by someone banging on the window. This causes me to instantly jump into emergency mode, grab my bag and jump out of the car – still in my tee shirt and pants, as the shirt is long enough to effectively be a short skirt.

Once out in the open I take in the scene and note that Winston and David both appear to be looking out into the desert, where I can see Leroy seemingly wrestling with something. I quickly assess that I have been awoken to prepare a sedative so I do this and head out to see if I can assist Ginger, Abiya and Sayeed. There appears to be no sign of any of them yet I can hear movement in the car behind me.

I quickly put my bag safely back in the car and jog over to see how I can help, only to note that Leroy appears to be wrestling with Sayeed. Though when I look closer I note that Sayeed’s eyes appear to be reflecting a flame – yet there is no visible flame to reflect. Sayeed also appears to have acquired a quite noticeable highly pitched Aussie accent as he shouts at Leroy to let him go.

As I am crouching there, the rest of the team arrive, including Abiya and Ginger, and from what I can gather from Winston it appears that Sayeed is possessed. Once we are all gathered Leroy lets Sayeed up but retains a hold on him as Ginger offers Sayeed his hip flask, which apparently contains whiskey – Sayeed accepts and takes a swig.

It quickly becomes clear that Sayeed wishes to go somewhere and Ginger sparks up that there are desert spirits that can cause this effect and that is best to let him go but I am not convinced that this is the best course of action and we decide it would be better if we went with him. Now for the most part everyone is dressed but for me, Leroy and Sayeed so I suggest we hold the walkabout until we get ourselves dressed.

So with this said I head back initially to the car to acquire my clothes and bag before grabbing Sayeed and Leroy’s clothes from the camp. Then fully laden I head back to the others. After quickly dressing I assist in helping Sayeed dress, though when I try to put his boots on he tries to kick me. Almost as if he is afraid of his boots, so I place his boots in my bag for the time being.

Once we are ready we release Sayeed and he once again enters his trance and proceeds towards the pool, though he skirts around it to the left, where we are able to see that there is a rocky path. I am unaware of what exactly happens next as I find myself distracted by a snake that slithers across our path. However I am quickly back on track as moments later I am startled by the sound of a shot and a ricochet emanating close to my left. This inadvertently causes me to take a step to my right and into the pond leaving me with a sodden boot and foot.

I was later to discover that this whole commotion was caused by Winston who had apparently spotted a snake about to strike Leroy and, rather than just shouting a warning or throwing something at the snake, he had chosen the option to shoot at this small target in the dark despite the fact that had he missed he would likely have hit Leroy. On this occasion he did hit his target but I have to once again question his decision making.

So I take a moment to empty my boot, leaving the others to proceed without me. As I put my boot back on I hear a commotion from up ahead and Sayeed’s high-pitched Aussie accent again. After quickly tying my boot I head forward to see what is happening and I find Leroy is once again wrestling with Sayeed near the mouth of a small cave.

As I get closer that the cave drops five feet in depth just inside the cave mouth. As I get to the edge I am able to observe a human body in the cave that appears to both emaciated and badly burned yet the ground around the body does not even look scorched.

I find this rather puzzling and I lower myself into the hole for a closer look. I discover that whoever this poor unfortunate was one thing was clear and that is that he (as it was clearly a male) had appeared to have inhaled the fire. I also notice that while there appeared to be scorched remnants of clothing near the body there was no indication of any footwear.

It is then decided to see what will happen if Sayeed is allowed to complete his path so Leroy lowers him into the hole and follows him in. Once Sayeed is released he calmly moves to the body, lies down next to it and hugging it to him, which I felt was a little odd. Yet what happens next is totally unexpected for I suddenly begin to smell burning and I also notice that Sayeed is beginning to smoulder!

Spotting this I ask someone get water from the pool and Ginger disappears off to do this. However Leroy then reaches down and touches Sayeed. Suddenly Sayeed bursts into flames, which causes Leroy to recoil. I had to do something and, as I had the blanket I had brought to cover Sayeed had we been unable to dress him, I try to use this to dowse the flames but it proves ineffective. I suspect that we need to separate him from the bones in order for this to work so I quickly brace myself and push Sayeed away using my right boot, which is still damp from the pool.

Unfortunately Sayeed is able to maintain his grip on one of the bones and so he continues to burn until Leroy wrenches them from his grasp and only then are we able to dowse the flames. However it has to be said that Sayeed is badly burned and it requires me to use one of my sparklers to repair this damage. (I have to admit the effect of this sparkler is truly amazing to watch). Fortunately Leroy’s injuries are only minor and respond to basic medical attention.

Yet even though he is no longer on fire, Sayeed continues to scream until Winston steps in and throws one of his own sparklers, forcing the possessed spirit to leave him and self-manifest, which is a rather disturbing as the spirit is actually on fire (which I am led to understand was very similar to the incident in Egypt when Abiya summoned Knickknack’s spirit, which made me thankful that I had chosen to avoid that particular expedition).

Unfortunately Ginger has just returned with the water when the spirit manifests and he is effected badly by – he screams and runs back to camp. Fortunately this apparition does not last for long as Winston quickly casts a second spell that banishes the spirit to the Dreamlands and hopefully this put out the flames.

The only issue we now have is what to do with the bones and it is decided that we should collect them and take them back to Cuncudgerie for burial. Fortunately I have a bag for this in my medical kit. The one thing that really puzzles me here was why did this man burn to death within yards of the pool of water? Surely he could have made his way to the pool?

While I am not an anthropologist I am fairly knowledgeable in anatomy and in my belief these were the bones of a Caucasian male between the ages of twenty and fifty though I note that they are surprisingly light, which would indicate that the marrow has literally been burnt out of them.

February 17^th 2009

Unfortunately these events cause an issue for during breakfast Ginger makes it clear that he does not believe our earlier story about why we are here as he clearly saw what we were about. So we are forced to admit to being supernatural specialists, which he takes on board surprisingly well, so we are able to continue.

We see nothing during the morning but around midday we observe a trail of dust indicating another vehicle approaching us from the east. As we get closer Ginger is able to identify the vehicle in question. This vehicle belongs to a dark-haired middle-aged man with greying temples named Todd Gilman, who is one of the other guides. We decide to ask if he has seen the lost city but unfortunately Mr Gilman is unable to supply any clues to its location. With this in mind we wish him G’day and continue on our way east.

Two hours after this we arrive at Pinyana Springs, which as far as I could tell this is just another wide expanse of empty desert, though there are three young indigenous Australians cooking lizards on sticks over a small campfire. They introduce themselves as Micky, Si and Paul. They had also not encountered the lost city though they appear to be convinced that the evil sand bat has returned and is inhabiting a white man!

I also notice that they eye-up both me and Leroy and make some whispered comments, though I am unable to hear what they said. Before we leave they also make it clear that they have no intention of working in the mines, despite the fact that there is little other work in this area.

They had supplied us with some information, though it was of questionable usage. Our next encounter at a place named Well Forty-Six is rather odd, as Sayeed spots some strange vultures that he claims appear to be flying without wings! Maybe he is just de-hydrated and seeing things as we have just crossed a dry lake bed but we decide to have a look around and switch drivers.

As we get out, however, I feel a slight tremor. This could indicate seismic activity but Ginger informs us it is more likely to be someone using explosives. So with Sayeed’s vultures and possible activity in the area we decide to try and find a high point to see if we can see anything as it is getting late and we are about to stop for the night anyway.

Ginger manages to find a spot as we set up camp and Leroy and Abiya take a look around using David’s telescopic sight. They report that see strange creatures to the north-east which Ginger identified as flying bears. Leroy also spots a humanoid figure who he suspects was watching from a nearby rock. Though he senses the figure was rather emaciated and somewhere in the region of ten feet tall. Ginger names this as a ‘Mimi’.

During the night Winston reports seeing a figure while on watch some fifty to a hundred yards away but is not able to say more than that. Though David apparently sees more for he spies a humanoid figure picked out by a moonbeam who is some ten feet tall with claw-like hands that are bigger than its head with large tusks. This creature is apparently floating so was clearly not human. This is also seen by Leroy during his shift but while I see moving shadows I do not see the creature.

February 18^th 2009

One thing is for sure, none of us have any clue as to what this creature could be and we can find no trace of it during first light so after breakfast we decide to proceed north-east. Shortly afterwards we come upon tire tracks leading east-north-east so we start following the tracks.

Two hours later we observe two wooden shacks, one of which is the size of an outhouse while the other is slightly larger and more akin to garage, though as we get closer we are able to see that there are a number of broken tents in the area. While there is no clue as to how long they have been here they are modern tents and there are remnants of clothing scattered around.

Leaving the tents for the time being, we decide to check out the shacks and in the larger one we find an old shaft with winching gear and a lift of sorts. The smaller shed meanwhile appears to be an explosives shed which Leroy checks out – while he finds two boxes which once contained sizable amounts of explosives there are no actual explosives currently in the shed.

Behind the shed we find one tent still standing which appears to be made of remnants of several tents all stitched together. So we check this out and it appears to show that someone is still living here now. There also appears to be a small stream near the tent, which is odd as Ginger informs us that all streams are usually dried up at this time of year.

Suddenly we all hear a noise that surprisingly sounds like dogs barking, so we take a quick look around only to observe six dogs which suddenly charge our position. What is odd about these animals, however, is that they do not appear natural, for they are unaffected by the terrain and do not kick up any dust.

Fortunately they quickly cease their charge and head off behind our vehicles, in the direction of a man who did not appear to have been there when we arrived. A dark skinned man who is naked but for his boots standing inside a circle of stones. The man is accompanied by seven dogs and is convinced that we are star spawn so he initially refuses to leave his circle, though Ginger is able to convince him to come to us with the offer of a drink.

The man reveals his name is Jimmy Grogan and that we are standing in the remnants of a gold mining camp. While most of the workers had been locals the man in charge was an American named Carver who changed the way they dug after disappearing into the desert for several days. Shortly after this the camp was attacked by a number of strange creatures that appeared to have control over the desert winds! The creatures destroyed the camp and killed or scared off most of the diggers however Jimmy remained as he appears to believe that he is linked to the Rainbow Serpent.

Shortly after this the dogs appeared and Jimmy believes they are some form of spirits for they appear to almost float above the sand and I believe that this place is of a similar ilk to Mr N’s throne room and the maze under Big Cat, in so much that the veil between reality and the Dreamlands is very thin. This is clearly defined when Jimmy informs us that he prayed for water and following this a stream appeared, and to further emphasise this he walks over to the explosives shack, reaches in and produces a stick of dynamite!

Winston tries his luck and apparently summons a rabbit but maybe it had just been hiding behind a rock. Still I do notice that the sun here appears to be shining from the North, which is physically impossible, and our watches are starting to act up. Added to that the GPS is also having issues in regard to our global positioning – though we were informed that this could happen out here.

When we ask Jimmy about the lost city he is able to inform us that we need to journey through a deep crevice and then turn East North East and then we’ll find our goal.

We ask Jimmy if he wishes to come with us but he wants to stay here. So we get back in our vehicles and head out to the North East. I believe there are definitely forces at work in that camp as Jimmy clearly just popped into existence – I am fairly sure that at least one of us would have spotted a naked man when we initially stopped, but he only seemed to appear after the dogs manifested.

Anyway as I am driving off I sense that something or someone is watching from above and to the east but when I look there appears to be nothing there. Maybe I am just paranoid, still I decide to mention it to David and Leroy and they apparently sense something too, so maybe I am not losing my marbles.

Once again back on the trail we soon came upon a deep ravine and Ginger, who is driving the lead car, heads straight in. I am a bit more cautious as my little voice felt this would be a perfect spot for an ambush. Unfortunately my little voice is once again proven right and if it keeps on like this my little voice is going to become insufferable.

For we are deep in the ravine when I observe a number of figures looming above us who bombard us with a number of large boulders! Luckily we are able to safely negotiate and it looks like we are going to escape unscathed when the *stinking, Abo bar-stewards finally resort to throwing heavy war boomerangs at us which actually miss the first vehicle but we are not so lucky (once again, if I didn’t have bad luck I’d have none at all) as they smash two of the windows in my vehicle. Fortunately, though we are festooned with broken glass we escape any injuries and are able to exit the ravine without any further incident.

*(PC Eliza gets kicked to the curb when people are trying to cave her brainpan in with heavy objects)

Following Jimmy’s advice we then turn ENE and drive almost a hundred and fifty miles before spotting a number of large monoliths and anthills looming out of the heat haze so we have finally arrived at our objective. Though as we get closer someone notices that there appears to be a camp and several vehicles just beyond the monoliths to the right and there are also a number of flying bears over that way so we decide to stop short in order to strategize.

It is decided that we want to initially avoid this camp and find a place to hide the vehicles and I am able to pick out a spot in the shadow of one of the huge monoliths. We approach slowly to reduce our dust and park up there. Once parked I set about cleaning out the broken glass and fixing up temporary windows while Ginger sets up camp. The others go and check out the stones which almost appear mystical as they appear to be almost moving and the more distant ones appear to fade in an out but maybe that is just the heat affecting my senses.

Once I finish with the car I make dinner but as we are eating the others express their disappointment as there appears to be no clue as to what the stones represent. So I suggest they try using Baxter’s binoculars to see them in the past. (Wow! What is wrong with me these days as I am suggesting things like visiting the dreamlands and using those infernal glasses.)

Many of the others are not aware of the glasses ability. David knew yet he did not suggest this (I wonder why?) and Winston appears interested in trying this so I show him how they work, while informing him that they can lead to injury as the person using them actually interacts with the visions.

So we set up and I am positioned next to Winston just in case of an unexpected injury. He then punctures his skin on the burr and raises them to his eyes but because he has not really wound them back yet he sees little but what we already see.

So he then makes the decision to wind them all the way back and apparently what he sees is quite spectacular for he is seemingly standing in a well-tended jungle type environment surrounded by a large city made of squat light grey hexagonal buildings though there are some larger buildings off to the left, one of which has a large dome on top which he suspects is an observatory. Meanwhile the monoliths appear to be struts for an overhead walkway with strange aliens moving around on top which appear to match the description of the Yith.

Winston suspects by this that he is in some sort of nature reserve and this is confirmed when he sees an Allosaurus emerge from the undergrowth. Odd, I didn’t think the binoculars could see back to the cretaceous period. Mind you, the Yith probably had technology that could move things through time or do a Michael Crichton type thing. One thing is for sure however, being bitten in half or stomped by a dinosaur is a little beyond my medical capabilities to fix. Removing the glasses Winston then states his belief that this could be the City of the Great Race, which is mentioned in several testaments.

Anyway to confirm this Winston intended to use the binoculars again but from a position not actually inside an alpha predator’s cage and it was likely I would not be needed to stand sentinel. Leroy meanwhile wanted to scout out the other camp and wanted someone to go with him and I was the only one who had specific training in stealth operations so I was volunteered. With this in mind I changed into my coveralls and picked up a few things namely two smoke grenades my pistol, my short knife and a bum bag medical kit (with snake antidote). As per usual I removed my necklace containing my cross and ring and hung it over the rear view mirror I also placed the Ankh in the glove box, however I did retain my clip-on earrings as the left one is essential for my healing spell. I also tucked my hair under my cap and acquired goggles and scarf just in case. Also as an afterthought I picked up my Open the Way kit, placing the spritzer bottle in my top pocket and the needle under my collar flap.

Upon leaving Leroy led us off in the direction of the camp and though we moved with little conversation we did not really attempt to stay stealthy until we were within three hundred yards of the camp. As we did so I felt in tune with my previous training yet Leroy was having issues as I could clearly hear him, but hopefully this would not be an issue (how wrong I was). Anyway we were soon in a position where we could see into the other camp, which was roughly circular and almost fifty yards across with edges marked by a low wall of sandbags.

The camp itself contained two small trucks and an equal number of industrial style diggers which indicated that this was more of an excavation mission rather than an archaeological expedition. I also noticed a number of mobile lighting units and a large generator though surprisingly there appeared to be no actual living area though these could have been behind the vehicles.

So we decided to try and get a closer look but as we moved forward I was distracted by a glint of light on the nearby perimeter. I have to admit that I was rather slow in reacting to the threat this posed and once again it took my little voice to alert me to what this represented. For I suddenly realised this was the scope of a sniper’s rifle. (With twenty-twenty hindsight this appeared to indicate that they had spotted our arrival and that they were prepared for our scouting mission) This delay meant I was unable to warn Leroy of this threat in time. For I said ‘gun’ as the sniper fired and Leroy was hit in the head though this did not appear to impede him.

However I felt that it was probably best to bug out at this stage and that we may require something to cover our retreat which was why I had brought the smoke grenades. So, while remaining in cover, I tossed one of my grenades in the direction of the sniper’s position and then waited for thirty seconds before bobbing my head up, only to find that there was no sign of smoke. While I could have assessed that the grenade was a dud, I instead assumed we were in some kind of supernatural pocket like back at the gold mining camp (the so-named Dreamtime). So rather than using my second grenade I attempted to use my Dreaming to summon a sandstorm. This appeared to be working but unfortunately, I placed the epicentre too close to our position and unwittingly played into the attack of the Living Winds, so we were also caught in its effect.

In an effort to get us clear I tried to move the centre of the effect over the camp. I was able to achieve this but I was unable to break the storm’s grip. Even trying to belly crawl out proved ineffective as I was dragged towards the camp and though I did momentarily stop my slide by grabbing onto a piece of metal protruding from the sand I was unable to hang on. I was dragged by the wind and blinded by the sand until I was battered senseless and blacked out.