kenya

Session 74: The Boy Across the Street

Harley, Jack, Lee, Sayed, Everett and Jean Luis arrived at the port in Mombasa and decided to make accommodations at the Manor Hotel - a nice but not too expensive location in the middle of the city. They made arrangements with the concierge to book travel on the Ungandan Railway to Nairobi the next day. With the day to themselves Lee, Sayed and Jean Luis went to the Mombasa Times and tried looking through their back issues for articles about the Carlyle Expedition or whatever might turn up as eye catching. After a few hours when they are asked to leave Lee and Jean Luis had made little if any progress - but Sayed had noticed a pattern of devastating natural disasters happening yearly between Aug and Oct. They seemed unrelated on the surface but all seemed to be connected to the areas around Nairobi and the Aberdare Forest. While they were researching Harley, Jack and Everett went shopping for armaments and supplies. While testing the weight of a rifle, Harley noticed a young Indian man whom he had seen at the port, standing across the street and keeping tabs on the shop they were in. Everett snuck out the back and positioned himself behind the boy - close enough to see that inside the newspaper he was 'reading' was a sheet of paper with very accurate sketches of Harley, Jack, Lee, Sayed & Ted Dibnah. Harley and Jack bee-lined to them as the boy began to flee but Jack tackled him to the ground - finding that he had a small dagger on his person. A policeman came to investigate the scene and was told that the boy had tried to steal something from Everett - which the boy protested saying he had never touched their things. There was no stolen property on the boy, who kept insisting that the policeman get in touch with his uncle - Ahja Singh who runs the respectable Singh Exports - so the cop took him to the station to call his uncle.

 

Meeting back at the hotel and discussing what had happened on their outings - the group decided to go to the police station and see what happened when the boy was released. Taking a cab, they saw a middle aged Indian man in a suit arrive and escort the young man to a cab - and then followed them to Singh Exports, where they both went inside. Lee, Everett and Jean Luis decided to stay and case the building while Jack, Harley and Sayed returned to the hotel. Harley spoke with the concierge and arranged a 2nd set of rooms to be booked under a false name (keeping the original reservation) and a 2nd set of train tickets to be booked for the day their original ones (again under a false name) telling him it was a game he and his rich friends were playing. The concierge told him that he had spoken to him earlier to confirm the original tickets on the phone - (which he hadn't) so Harley gave him a code word that only the 2 of them would know so he could tell when he was actually speaking to him - as part of the game. The other group watched the Export company close up around 6 with the older & younger Indian man leaving via cab and several workers staying behind after the doors had been locked. Jean Luis followed the men in a 2nd cab - seeing the boy get dropped off at a run down apartment complex and the man at a nice house in the suburbs. Noting the addresses, he returned back to the hotel.

 

Lee and Everett worked out a plan to draw out the guards at the warehouse with Everett pretending to be drunk and breaking a window. When they came out to investigate the 4 guards were jumped by Lee and Everett and eventually subdued. After securing the guards in the warehouse they did a preliminary search - finding nothing of interest in the warehouse and only some money and a ledger (written in Punjabi) showing the comings and goings of all the shipments passing through. They were able to recognize some of the addresses as former cult locations. In the office there was a photo of Ahja Singh- but it wasn't the man who had picked up the boy. They decided to question all 4 guards - each giving the same information: they had no idea what the 2 were talking about, hadn't heard of a cult, respected their boss who was in India on business for 6 weeks, His brother, Opinder Singh was managing the warehouse in his absence, and why o why do you have a mummified tongue on a headband?! Enjoying the spunk of Brenden O'Shaughnessy, one of the guards - they decided to hire him to accompany them during their time in Kenya. They bribed the guards with the money from the office to say that they were attacked and robbed - and left a Bloody Tongue reference in the safe before returning back to the hotel where Harley was waiting to show them their new rooms.

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Session 75: The Flaming Train

Harley, Jack, Lee, Sayed, Everett and Jean Luis met with Brenden and introduced him to the group as their newly hired mercenary. Deciding to forego the decoy set of tickets they had purchased for the following day, everyone grabbed their belongings and headed to the train station. The trip to Nairobi would take around 18 hours so the group had purchased 1st class tickets and took up 2 compartments. Brenden, Jack and Lee were in the dining car around last call/midnight when they began to hear some screaming and ruckus coming from the 2nd class car - Sayed and Everett left their compartments and started to make their way as well - while Jean Luis stayed with the sleeping Harley. The 2nd class car's left wall was buckling under the strain of immense heat from some outside source. Jack looked outside and saw 2 tiny burning embers floating alongside the car - when he opened the window to get a better view they flew into the car starting draperies and seats ablaze. Panic ensued. Jean Luis, hearing the uproar cast a wall of protection around the 1st class car (and half of the dining car). Bullets seemed not to phase the creatures, whom only seemed interested in the group of investigators. Lee cast the Mists of R'lyeh causing moisture in the air to help put out the embers. Sayed looked out the window and saw the shadowy figure of a short squat woman in billowy attire on top of the train - and cast shriveling at her. The mysterious woman screamed and was flung from the moving train. As the news of the fire reached the engine and the train came to a stop, Lee sliced out at the last remaining ember with the Sword of Akmallah - ending the assault. 

 

The train was greatly delayed because of the attack - arriving at the Nairobi Railway Station late afternoon. Lee inquired with a worker about Sam Mariga (from Elias' notes) and was told that he works in the mornings as a gardener/janitor. Everett, knowing the area pretty well lead the group to The New Stanley Hotel - a very prestigious boarding house. After they secured rooms and made some calls to local hospitals - they were able to locate Dr. Horace Starret at the Swahili Mission in Swahili Town and Neville Jermyn at the Government House. As government buildings were closing they headed off to find Dr. Starret. He told them that he had met Penhew, Huston & Hypatia Masters while the Carlyle Expedition was in town. They contacted him to obtain some medical supplies that were unavailable at the more conventional chemists. Masters ended up volunteering for a few days while they were here - though she was frequently feeling ill the mornings. He had also been on of the court appointed medical examiners of the remains of the massacre. He said the bodies had been ripped to literal shreds but were in surprisingly good condition showing no signs of decay or post death disturbance even though it was months after the deaths had occurred.

 

As it was starting to wain into the evening, the group headed over to the Victoria Bar near Fort Smith - hoping to run into Bertram "Nails" Nelson. He was there - and very deep in his cups - but managed to tell them about meeting Jack Brady several years ago. When asked, he also told them that one of their leads, Lt. Selkirk had perished in a house fire not too long after the trials of the Nandi Tribesmen. Lee (thinks) he has recruited Nails to join the groups mission (in the name of Jack Brady) - but they will have to see if he remembers meeting them at all after the booze fade away.

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Session 76: The Boy Returns

Harley, Jack, Lee, Sayed, Everett and Jean Luis woke the next day and got ready to do some digging around Nairobi. Lee called and made an appointment to see barrister Neville Jermyn at the Government House that afternoon. The first stop was Nairobi Railway Station where the group spoke to Sam Mariga who told him that he was the person who had reported the massacre to authorities. He was visiting family members at a nearby village who told him about the site. He offered him self for hire as a guide if they wanted to travel to site. He also told them that the Mountain of the Black Wind was a local name that some of the tribes used for Mt. Satima just beyond the Abadare Forest. When they started asking about the Bloody Tongue he referred them to Johnstone Kenyatta at the Kikuyu Central Association. Seeing as they had time to spare the group headed there next. Johnstone took them back to a private conference room where they could talk in private. He explained that his grandfather had been a diviner for the Kikuyu tribe and he was familiar with the savage ways of the Bloody Tongue. He offered to arrange a meeting with Old Bundari - a very wise man from his tribe who might be able to help. They are to meet his associate (in yellow) in 3 days in front of the KCA and he will lead them to him.

 

The meeting ended with enough time to grab lunch back at the hotel before going to meet Mr. Jermyn. Everett noticed that the hotel seemed to be very busy - an influx of Asian and European visitors lining up to check in. Sayed opted to visit one of the local Mosques to try and find some guidance. While he was speaking with the one of the Imams, they became possessed by Nyarlathotep who reminded Sayed of their deal and warned him that the time of payment was approaching. He subtly threatened Sayed's family and Dr. Kafour saying that they would pay his debt if he did not. Shaken, he finished his prayers and met up with the group to go to Government House.

 

Neville Jermyn was very enthusiastic about the group's upcoming expedition - and claimed to have made arrangements for the Carlyle Expedition's bearers when they were here - though he said they secured way more than he thought necessary. He seemed a little preoccupied with changing the group's destination to a site in the Congo where he wanted to explore in search of the City of the White Gorilla which had been discovered (and then lost) by his ancestors several generations ago. Leaving Government House, the group headed over to Fort Smith to inquire about where to find Nails Nelson. They were told he was off duty. While they were there they made an appointment with Captain Montgomery for the following day - to try and convince him that there was an uprising happening within the local tribes near Mt. Satima that needed looking into. They found Nails at Victoria Bar. He vaguely seemed to remember meeting them the night before - and quickly jumped on board saying that within a week he should be able to recruit some other local ex-soldiers to join the mission.

 

After a few hours at the bar the group headed back to the hotel for the night. As they were settling in, Jean Luis was attacked by the boy that the group had crossed paths with in Mombasa. After being stabbed several times, and with the help of the others who busted the door down - the boy was knocked out and restrained back in Everett's room. Jean Luis dealt with the police and then joined the group as they woke the boy up and questioned him. His name is Avtar Singh - son of Opinder Singhand nephew to Ahja Singh and the woman whom had attacked them on the train - who he referred to as Auntie Kaur. He said she was very powerful and recruited him to help her deal with the group if they arrived in Kenya. After some magical theatrics and an incredible speech from Jack - the Avtar admitted he was more scared of his aunt than enamored by her. He promised to help them and said he would take them to her tea shop in the Asian District.

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Session 77: The Gifts of Old Bundari

The next morning Harley and Everett went to meet some of Everett's contacts in the area to see if they could find some more information. Jack, Lee, Sayed, Jean Luis and Brenden accompanied Avtar to visit Kaur Tea in the Asian District. They found the shop to be above board - though they did find Taan Kaur's ledger showing that the shop was to be closed the week leading up to the full moon on 10/31 - and 10/30 circled on the calendar. Avtar had brought Taan's shriveled body to the shop and showed it to the group in the storeroom. Sayed notice that Taan's Ring seemed to pulse with power and pocketed it. He also noticed a trapdoor leading down into a ritual chamber containing a large statue of a repulsive multi-armed deity, a pillar fitted with handcuffs and a large stone chest. Avtar told them the deity was called the Small Crawler - and a closer inspection of it found blood stains dried on the stone. Jack noticed that there were several graves dug into the ground - and when Lee began to unearth them he found human skeletons. Jean Luis cracked the lock that was holding the chest closed and inside found a yellow robe embroidered with the symbol of the Small Crawler, a ceremonial meat cleaver also with the markings, The Black Tome, a jar of fruit peels and a bag of incense. Avtar took a look at the book and read a small portion about the Small Carwler to them (and noticed several spells contained in the book). They decided to take the book, the meat cleaver and the robe - and Lee set to destroying the statue.

 

Leaving the tea shop, they went to Fort Smith for their meeting with Captain Montgomery. At first Montgomery didnt seem too interested in the inter-tribal "wars" going on outside of Nairobi but Lee was able to persuade him to assign a young Sgt Leonard Bumption to ready a group of 4 soldiers to accompany them and see if things posed a threat to the British population in Nairobi. The group ended the day with a visit to The Nairobi Star where they met proprietor Natalie Smythe-Forbes who allowed them to go through the archives. The information they found about the Carlyle expedition wasn't too revealing - though they did find a photo of Miss Hypatia Celestine Masters looking as though she had gained noticeable weight in her face and looking rather dumpy. Jack did find some article relating to Col Henry Endicott and his Game Lodge. Col Endicott had come to Nairobi with his wife and son in 1918 and opened the lodge. His wife and son died within a year from illness. Since then there had been 12 deaths have occurred at the Lodge with all the bodies found partially eaten in the vicinity of the Lodge's viewing platform. The Star reported the possibility of a rouge lion in the vicinity - though one has not been found.

 

The next 12 hours were devoted to rest and ritual practice - with Lee teaching Avtar the Mist of R'lyeh, though he had yet to master it. The following day Brendan stayed behind with Avtar while Lee, Sayed, Jean Luis and Jack went to meet Johnstone Kenyatta's contact. He cautiously led them to an old building with a Rolls-Royce roadster and drove them several hours outside the city to a small village. They met a young man named Okomu and Sayed convinced him to let them meet with Old Bundari. The shaman turned out to be the man that Sayed had met in his dream. After many hours Old Bundari emerged from his dreamlike meditative trance and greeted the group (he seemed to know all about all of them). When asked, he told Sayed that time moves differently in the realm of Dreams and while Sayed had dreamt of him previously - the meeting had not occured from Bundari's point of view yet. He told them that the Mountain of the Black Wind was so called because a dread god inhabitis it. Even the greatest spells cast against the mountain seem to have no effect and once a year the Black Wind is unleased bringing plague, famine and disaster to the surrounding areas. To satisfy their god, the cult abducts villagers and sacrifices them. After the sacrifices, the god appears in all its terrible glory, attended by creatures not of this earth. As tall as the mountain itself, the god has no face; only a blood-red tongue hangs down from where the top of its head should be. The mere sight of this hideous god drives men mad. The god’s priestess is called M’Weru. She lives in the mountain. It was she who prophesied the coming of a child of the god, a parthuman monster, who is soon to soak the land with blood. The group told him they had discovered the Eye of Light and Darkness and were determined to stop the Bloody Tongue. Old Bundari then gifted them a fly whisk saying it could help fight evil and a small lizard-like creature in a wooden cage that he had named Who Is Not What She Seems - telling them to keep her fed because they might not liker her when she is hungry and that she might also be of help.

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Session 78: The Final Approach

Jack, Lee, Sayed and Jean Luis spent the next day with Old Bundari who offered to teach them a Healing spell and one that would let them Command Feline/Snakes. Sayed also spoke with him privately about the deal he had made with Nyarlathotep. Bundari advised him that all was not lost and just like Nyarlathotep uses cunning to trick people without lying - he too can be tricked while still fulfilling whatever Sayed is tasked with. The group returned to Nairobi and met up with Everett, Harley, Brenden and Avtar Singh - and filled them in on their meeting. Lee made arrangements for the all of the extra party members (Sam Mariga, Nails Nelson and his 4 recruits, and Sgt Bumption and his 4 soldiers) to meet with them the following day to plan out the journey. Jack proposed that the group take the shorter route via train (collecting some goats first) and then move through the forest to the Mountain of the Black Wind. Sam advised taking the longer route as the shorter one could easily be watched but as the Full Moon was 9 days away the group choose the shorter one. Sgt Bumption made sure to assert himself and establish that since the military was a part of this mission - he would be in charge when it came down to tactical maneuvers and/or major decisions. Travel arrangements were made and final supplies collected and the following day the party headed out.

 

The first day of travel ended fairly uneventfully but they noticed smoke from several campfires within the area leading toward the mountain. The 2nd day found their camp site fairly close to one of the smoke signals. Everett and one of Bumption's men went to spy on the other camp - seeing a group of Asian men performing some kind of chant and throwing something on their fire that caused it to burn hotter and higher. Bumption advised the group to not bother the other camp as it might bring unwanted attention to them. The next days travel was interrupted by a Wild Boar that found Jean Luis during a smoke break. He was able to handle the animal - which was harvested for meat to be used the rest of the journey. That night Everett was awoken by the sound of flapping wings - and saw a Hunting Horror flying across the moon and circling around the general vicinity. In the morning several of the soldiers and Avtar said they had experienced horrible dreams. The 4th day of travel found them breaking to the other side of the Aberdare Forest. When they made camp - drums & chanting could be heard from the direction of the mountain. Lee, Everett and Jean Luis went to investigate - and found about 500-600 (est) cultists of all races, ages, etc camped out near the base of the mountain partaking in orgiastic behaviors. Bumption again told them not to bother the group for fear of giving away their position. They would wait out the orgy and in the morning while they slept he would send 2 of his men to watch the group while the rest explored the Mountain's base in an effort to locate a way into the Bloody Tongue's headquarters. That night many of the group were plagued with dreams. They woke at dawn to Avtar's screaming. He said in his dream he saw an native African woman standing on a cliff on the side of the mountain leading the throngs of cultists in a chant. As they chanted a creature formed from the mist around the mountain. A huge creature standing on the legs that straddled the mountain itself with a monstrous forked tongue where a head should be. The creature began to grab some of the cultists and devour them as he woke. The group started to prepare for the day - 3 days before the Full Moon and 2 days before the date that was circled in Taan Kaur's ledger.

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Session 79: The Cave of M'Wreu

Jack, Lee, Sayed, Everett , Jean Luis, Brenden and Avtar set out to search the area of the mountain around the cult encampment to see if they could find a way up to the cliffside.Nails took his men to the far east of the mountain while Sgt Bumption took his to search the west - and Harley and Sam stayed behind to guard and camouflage the campsite. Jack found that Bundari's Fly Whiskseemed to be leading him in the direction to the east - where Sayed's keen eyes had seen the path from the cliffside lead. Eventually they found a path that lead up and flagged down Nail's men who were nearby to guard the entrance to the path. The group found 2 guard posted at the entrance to a cave that led further into the mountainside. After evading their darts and dispatching them, the group slowly moved into the cave - finding 3 huge piles of discarded human remains and a large 15 foot effigy of The Bloody Tongue. Hearing some large rocks sliding and the team hid as a large group entered the cave from an unknown entrance to the north. Everett heard a woman saying that all was prepared and that she would be going back to watch over the mother. Then they heard the rock sliding again and the group moved to the east side of the cave. Lee stealthily moved around the cave seeing more guards lighting a fire near a huge metal cage that was crammed full of around 200 captives. There was much debate of what to do with the cultists and the captives - and the volunteer soldiers below. Not comfortable with the risks, Sayed took Brendan and Avtar back down to the ground level. He spoke with Nails who sent 2 of his men with them to go set up a small temporary base where Sayed could prepare to summon the Living Flame. Meanwhile the group closed in on the guards and took them out. They searched the area - and while Lee noticed something metal catch his eye on the eastern wall - Jean Luis found a secret door in wall behind the statue in the northwestern portion of the cave. After a little searching Jack and the fly whisk were able to locate the mechanism that would open the door.

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Session 80: The Fate of Hypatia Masters

Jack, Lee, Everett and Jean Luis decided to leave the prisoners caged (for the time being) and see if they could locate M'Weru and the mother-to-be in hopes of keeping the baby from being born. Jack spoke with Nails and convinced him to send one of his men to intercept Sgt Bumption's group and take his last remaining man to watch over the Cave from within. The group maneuvered their way through an ever inclining passage that lead into a cavernous room with many off-shooting tunnels. Hearing the whimpering sounds of a woman, the group snuck into hiding positions around the center of the cave - where M'Weru sat on the steps to a throne looking after a very very stretched out & deformed Hypatia Masters. Jean Luis accidentally stumbled in to their view but M'Weru didn't seem surprised to see him. She bade him to come kneel and pay homage to the Mother of Nyarlathotep's Spawn. From their hidden positions Everett tried to shoot M'Wreu and Jack to lob a grenade in their general direction but found them to be protected by some sort of invisible force field. From the shadows of the off-shoot tunnels M'Weru's bodygaurds shot Jack with a dart. He tried to retreat back to the entrance of the cave but passed out before he could make it. Jean Luis released Who-Is-Not-What-She-Seems from her cage and the group watched in horror as she grew twice the size of a human and ferociously devoured one of the bodyguards, entrapping him with her incredibly long tongue. From the shadows, more bodyguards shot Jean Luis and Everett with sleeping darts and they passed out. Lee managed to force his way through force field and shot every charge of his Lightning Gun into the belly of Hypatia Masters. Hypatia's body writhed with electricity and as she perished her abdomen tore open and the hideous Spawn of Nyarlathotep crawled free of her womb. M'Wreu cast a spell on Lee causing his eyes to burst and he was also shot with a drugged dart.

 

Meanwhile, Sayed, Brenden O'Shaughnessy, Avtar Singh and the 2 volunteer soldiers began to collect kindling to build a bonfire. Sayed also spent some time teaching Avtar to cast the Vorish Sign. While they were collecting wood Sayed heard movement and a low growl coming from the bushes - and saw a lion emerge. Using the knowledge he gained from Old Bundari he was able to befriend and command the Lion to watch over their new campsite. As night began to draw near, drums could be heard from the direction of the horde and one of the soldiers went to investigate. Sayed decided to call down the [Living Flame] and sent it to kill the spawn - instructing it that the baby was to be born and take a breath before the attempt was made. The soldier returned saying that a native woman had appeared on the mountain ledge. She announced that baby had been brought forth early and so they must prepare to pay respects to their God on his new Spawn and began to lead them in a chant. The crowd started to wild and he witnessed several murders among the groups before he returned. Sayed decided to call a 2nd Living Fire and sent it to cause havoc on the horde - though the drums and chanting continued to drift in their direction on the wind.

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Session 81: The Spawn of Nyarlathotep

Sayed left Avtar Singh with the soldiers and crept closer to the hoard with Brenden. While he watched the crowds chanting and storm clouds gathering over the Mountain of the Black Wind - a bolt of lightning struck the mountain. The smoke from the strike continued to grow and solidify until the humongous monstrous form of The Bloody Tongue had solidified standing astride the mountain. An rocks fell from the the top of the mountain revealing and opening and rock stairs grew out of the side. The cultists began to race up the stairs while The Bloody Tongue indiscriminately grabbed handfulls to devour. Bendan went a little mad and became very calm and pacifistic. Seeing the bonfires that the cultists had started, Sayed dug into his mysitcal resources and summoned several more Living Flames. He sent some to attack he cultists on the stairs, others to attack M'Weru - and the final one he commanded to cover himself like armor. Then he crept up the secret passageway to M'Weru's cave and the Great Temple.

 

Inside the Great Temple Jack, Lee, Everett and Jean Luis came to and found they were chained to one of the writing columns with other prisoners from M'Weru's cages, Nails and his lone recruit. Further prisoners were sanctioned off in some of the larger offshoot passageways. They heard chanting and the crashing of stones as an opening appeared in the far south part of the chamber and cultists began to swarm into the cave. Lee, blinded but still strong, wrenched himself free of the chains and helped the others to get free - They then hid in a offshoot tunnel near the passageway back to M'Weru's Cave. Within moments M'Weru entered being carried by her bodyguards - but before she could dismount her lift she was set upon by the Living Flames. Seeing what was happening Jean Louis and Jack worked together to cast Create Barrier of Naach-Tith around M'Weru. She attempted to fling the Flames off of her - but they were trapped within the walls of the barrier. Unable to reach the safety the flames burned M'Weru and her bodyguards to a crisp. A gutteral roar shook the mountain and the opening to the south closed. Seeing M'Weru dead the cultists began to turn on each other.  Through the warring cultists, a pleased looking Hypatia Masters showing no sign of the birth (and almost glowing with beauty) slowly made her way toward the strange altar in the center of the Temple. The group emerged form the tunnel, collected some of the disgarded weapons on the ground and killed her before she could reach the altar. Her body seemed to turn itself inside out - becoming the Spawn of Nyarlathotep. Sayed emerged from the passage from M'Weru's cave and let the final Living Flame free to attack the Spawn. Everett and Lee found themselves near enough for melee combat and began to attack as well. The Spawn body slammed both in one huge near fatal blow. The group decided to flee through the passage and regroup.

 

Sayed lead them to his mini-camp where Avtar showed them he had finally mastered Create Mist of R'lyeh. They waited out the night and in the morning were greeted by Harley, Sam and Sgt Bumption's party. Everett helped Sayed develop a form of the Eye that would be native to the local tribes. They taught the rest of the group the chant and on the side of the mountain itself began to cast The Eye of Light and Darkness. The next day, exhausted, the group began their long trek back to Nairobi.