The Masks of Nyarlathotep: Australia pts 5

The Diary of Marshall Winters, Delta Green operative

Somewhen in Australia

There is much discussion about how we should go about assaulting Houston’s Stronghold, rescuing Eliza and the prisoners and killing cultists, while staying alive. We would also like to get out with as much information on the cultists future plans as possible. We have the idea of the Mimis looking for cracks in the walls of safe areas that lead to key locations, in or very near to the base.

The Mimis find a route through fissures in the rock into the dorm which is a good location to strike from. These fissures aren’t the sort you might be used to in caves and such like. They are tiny ones and if we weren’t in dreamtime we definitely would not be able to use them.

Unfortunately we don’t find any other routes in. We were hoping to find one into the room where Eliza is chained up. Freddie had used a scrying spell (The Eye of Nyarlathotep) to look into Houston’s chambers (at my suggestion) and we can see that she is chained to the wall. I find it odd that we are using a spell that utilises Nyarlathotep to spy on some of his cultists. He may decide to trick us.

We also contemplate the route out. We can go out the main entrance but it is guarded by Living Winds. We found this out when we tried to get some diggers into the building to be used as shields. Another route out would be the route we came in but then we would have to climb up a rope and hope that the area was stable. We have noticed with the odd rate of degradation of the bodies that we cannot assume anything.

We decide that we must split into three groups: an assault team consisting of most of the humans plus some Mimis and ghouls. The ghouls have been promised bodies to feed on. The Mimis want Houston and the cultists to die. I will be going in the assault team along with Muldoon, and Freddie. The other teams will engage the cultists in the corridors to draw attention away from the main assault team. James and ghost John plus two Mimis are in one team and Kakatak, Fatima and 2 Mimis are in the other.

We have tried to tell James that John is dead. I killed him myself. He cannot be convinced of this. Two ghouls, Dame Nellie Melba and Greg, know some spells. It seems they used one of them to eat the brain of a dead person and gain their personality. They know some other spells but they may not have time to cast them once the fighting begins.

Finally we decide to head in as we cannot be sure how long Eliza will last. The cultists may well be torturing her to gain information. As we head towards Houston’s base a Living Wind attacks. The Mimis pull us out of harm’s way in fissure in the wall. James, ghost John, Brute (a ghoul) and Kakatak react slowly and are left to deal with the Living Wind. They manage to do so but their sanity takes a hit.

We split up. Mimis create fissures from the dark corridors into the dorm. We head in and take a look. We are awaiting the sound of gunfire. This will be the sign to start the assault.

When we exit the dorm there will be a ramp up to the right that leads to the chamber where Houston, his cultist heavies and Eliza are/were. It is located near the NW corridor. Once we hear gunfire the ghouls enter and kill the sleeping cultists. They then move in to engage more cultists. The Mimis run at an amazing pace, far quicker than any human. Only the lightning guns can harm them. The cultists don’t seem to realise this and are massacred. Later on we hear that one Mimi suffered a shot from a lightning gun that took off his leg.

I run up the ramp, closely followed by Muldoon and Freddie. I know that I risk gunfire and spells from the cultists. Houston has emerged. He cowers behind two cultists. One of the cultists shoots at me. I run on, hoping to shoot him at close range with a shotgun.

Dr Robert Houston casts a Mind Blast spell that causes me to fall to one knee. It is only my strong desire to kill these cultists that allows me to continue. Otherwise I would be cowering or running.

Eventually, after what seems an age, but in reality is only a few minutes, the cultists are defeated. Freddie was close to killing Houston but the Mimis ran swiftly up the ramp and finished him off. We save Eliza and many of the captives. Some had undergone some foul process that made them like zombies, only able to follow orders.

I feel that whatever Houston did to me has affected me strongly and I will need psychiatric help when I get back to the states. James is also worse for wear and probably will not be continuing. I noticed something odd. Ghost James fired a lightning gun at the cultists and I witnessed it. These things should not be happening. Perhaps it is due to Dreamtime and James creating a version of John before he went insane and started aiding the cultists?