The Masks of Nyarlathotep:
Australia pts 2-4
The Diary of Marshall Winters, Delta Green
operative
Somewhen
in Australia
A quick summary of events prior
to today.
We hired a tracker/guide called Muldoon. He wasn’t ideal but on the plus side
he was known to be a drunk and thus any crazy rantings could be overlooked as
booze-fuelled imagination.
We journeyed through the endless desert. Cultists attacked us on
the way. After a while things got more surreal and we realised that we had
entered Dreamtime. It’s similar but different to the Dream Lands which my
fellow team members seem to have a good deal of knowledge.
Eliza and I had snuck up to the Entrance to the Yithian Complex. The cultists were lying in wait and
ambushed us. In order to provide some cover I threw a smoke grenade. It was a
dud and failed to go off.
Eliza decided to use her dreaming skill in order to help mask our
escape by bringing a great wind to blow up sand. Unfortunately the easiest way
for this to happen was for the invisible flying guardians (called Living Winds)
to come to the area and create a whirlwind.
In the ensuing maelstrom I managed to hang onto a rock but Eliza
was drawn in towards the entrance to the complex and captured.
We had to come up with a plan B. We headed for an entrance to the
complex that used fans to provide air to the complex. We entered the
underground complex. We found the presence of a large number of cultists. They
were using captives to breed monstrous creatures with a bat like
creature/statue. We came upon a pit full of them. They were bestial some more
human than others.
At some point things had gotten too much for John Zwaiter and he flipped and became a cultist whose aim was
to thwart our mission. I became suspicious when I noticed his reaction to the
complex. The rest of us were being brought down by the dreadful presences.
Depression and anxiety was the norm. Not for him, he was smiling and the most
dreadful things we came across. I mentioned this fact to some of the others,
who agreed we should keep an eye on him.
Later when I was tasked with stealthily approaching a number of
cultists I failed and had to retreat. On my way back to the group John Jamil Zwaiter proved himself to be a traitor by aiming his weapon
at me and firing. Luckily he missed and I was able to summarily dispatch him as
per my standing orders.
We have a plan. Our primary objective is to rescue Eliza and the
other captives. Our secondary objective is to kill Houston and enough of the
cultists to thwart their evil plans. We decide to split into two groups. One
group will be tasked with rescuing Eliza and the captives. This comprises myself, Freddie and Muldoon. The second team will provide
suppressing fire and ensure that the path to pur exit
is not blocked. This comprises Fatima, James and the Yith
known as Kakatak. Fatima plans to hide behind the Yith. We have the lightning guns we obtained from the Yith names Kakatack.
Oddly James seems to believe that the traitor John Jamil Zwaiter is alive and well. The fact that none of the rest
of us can see him is neither here nor there. We tell him that he is in
denial but it is of no use. The conversation goes something like this “He’s
dead man face it.” “No he’s not he’s standing right here.”
Turning the corner of a corridor 400m from the HQ we see that it
is barricaded and backlit. If we approach this way we will be sitting ducks. We
decide to try the dark corridors. We hold hands (?) with the Yithian. We end up on the corridor so we are 180 degrees
from the exit we are planning to use.
Using the night vision goggles I spot a gap in the barricades to
the left where people can squeeze by. I cannot quite make it out but the others
say that they have been using it as a latrine. There may be other creatures
there too that use it as their toilet. It doesn’t bear thinking about. I use my
neckerchief to help me stand the stench. We spot cages ahead of us filled with
captives.
An odd thing happens. I don’t recall well it’s like waking
suddenly from a nightmare but only having a vague recollection of it. Some of
the others insist the following really happened: At this point I dropped my
loaded shotgun which fell to the floor letting of a loud retort. The captives
were alerted and made a racket. Two guards hearing the ruckus appeared by the
cage. We shot both in the leg and they went down hard. Apparently I shot one
with the lightning gun. His leg was fried.
As I was stooping to pick up my
gun the rest of the party moved up. The combat began in earnest. It soon became apparent that there
are 30-40 enemy combatants. Meanwhile from within the cage I made out the sound
of Eliza's voice. Some of the team members tried to unlock the cage. Others
returned fire.
Things went pear shaped from there with a couple of the team
taking multiple gunshot wounds from enemy fire. That was only from those who
had reacted quickly to the sounds. The rest of the cultists were about to join
the combat. We were about to all die messily when all of a sudden we were all
back in the corridor at the moment I’m thinking ‘we need to find some allies to
aid us against the cultists’. Apparently Fatima was responsible for saving the
day although I have no recollection of that or how that would even be possible.
We have some ideas. Controlling the Living Winds
by finding the silver needles on John’s body, or in Eliza’s clothes. We
decide to find Dave, a cultist who has repented somewhat. We can summon a byakhee but we don’t think that it is such a good idea. I ‘find’
a torch that shines moonlight. I must have been using the power of dreams since
we are in the Dreamlands.
When we arrive where we left John’s body it is no longer there. I
only see signs of a scuffle not a fight to the death and no blood either. The
cultists’ bodies are decomposing at different rates too. No sign of the silver
needle.
Dave tells us of the dog snufflers
(ghouls) and mimis
(dreamtime aborigines possibly like fairies) who are possible allies in our
fight against the cultists. We are advised not to eat any food offered by
either group.
We realise that the Living Winds are in cahoots with the boss of
the cultists.
Dave has a mate called Greg among the dog snufflers.
Freddie scries Houston’s
private rooms in the complex. They are cluttered with Yithian
kit in various states of disrepair. We also see a man and woman sat on packing
crates eating from a can. The woman is Eliza. She is wearing a knee-length blue
dress. The man has white wild hair and a receding hairline. She doesn’t seem to
like him. Houston seems cultured. The captured ladies comprise a mix of Arabs,
African Negroes and Aboriginals.
We head off to meet with the dog snufflers.
Dave has sharpened senses which have allowed him to survive so long. He smells
rotten flesh. He has advised us to talk to the dog snufflers
about cricket and the ashes tour in particular. Loathsome
creatures with canine teeth and rotting food in them. They live in the
dark tunnels. Stench and Brute grunt and snarl but don’t talk. Greg and Dame
Nellie Melba are clever enough to use lightning guns. The knowledge of the
person eaten in their meals can be digested using an Egyptian spell ‘Devour Ba-Ren’.
We head back to the dead bodies. The ghouls devour them while we
eat canned goods. We tool up. The dog snufflers Greg
and Dame Nelly know some spells: Devour Ba-Ren, Throth’s
Stalwart, Healing, Shrivelling, Dominate or Web of Impediment.
So our plans are
Fatima Dreams up
a silver key (using the Dreaming skill). We go to meet the Mimis. The experience sends us slightly mad. The mimi is 10 foot tall and moves
like a bush in the wind. He has huge hands. He is wearing a loin cloth and
carries a spear. His arm reaches the wall and starts inscribing pictures.
6 sticks forms in a narrow passageway leading to a hexagonal hole. Wind coming from the well. The next one is of us passing a
hexagonal cover on the floor, We head through the rock
to a cavern with a blue light. Women
there are 7-8 feet tall and have curves. Women sway their hips in a suggestive
manner. It seems like an invitation. We are offered food and drink. Remembering
the warnings we respectfully decline. We do a deal. We need to trap another
living wind. In return they will send six mimis
to aid us against the cultists.