Events in Kenya - Chapter 2

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27^th March

Arrive in Mombassa late at night; stay overnight in the King’s Hotel.

23^rd March

The investigators returned to Nairobi after their meeting with the old tribal magician carrying the two bizarre gifts he'd given them. Apprehensive about the terrors that awaited them at the Mountain of the Black Wind, they began to make preparations for their mission to that awful place to stop the birth of the "Child of Nyarlathotep".

Meanwhile, Lexington attempted to track down Lt.Mark Selkirk the commander of the unit that had investigated the site of the Carlyle massacre. He discovered from the CO of the Royal African Rifles, a Captain Montgomery that Selkirk had tragically died in an accidental fire in his quarters late last year. This evoked memories of the earlier train fire and Lexington suspected that the fire that killed Selkirk was not as accidental as it might have appeared to the authorities. However, Montgomery managed to locate a member of Selkirk's platoon who came into the office to tell Lexington all he knew.

The information obtained from Sergeant Bumption was less than useful. He claimed to have seen the bodies of several of the Carlyle expedition members, including Hypatia Masters' head cloven in two. Lexington knew better, and suspected that Bumption was simply trying to look good in front of his CO.

The rest of the group busied themselves with purchasing supplies and weapons, except for Jan Willem who reluctantly accepted a mission to locate the Victoria Bar in search of "Nails" Nelson; a man that Jackson had met with. Progress was slow, but eventually Nelson was discovered in a dingy enlisted men's bar The Loyal Defender. Through the alcoholic haze that ensued, Jan learned that Nelson had seen Jack Brady in Hong Kong in 1923 - confirming their suspicions that Brady did not die in Kenya. Nails also claimed to be able to speak a bewildering array of African languages, although Jan suspected that he knew only enough to buy a drink or hire a prostitute. Of more interest was Nails' claim that he was a "demolitions expert" and had a stash of dynamite in his hut.

That evening the group fortuitously bumped into a colleague, Dr.Martin Grey, who had been with them in New York. Grey was on a "Big Game" holiday, as befitting a medical man with a passion for shotguns! Grey agreed to assist them in their mission; provided there would be an opportunity to exercise his trigger finger. This, the party assured him, would not be a problem.

28^th March

Preparations continued with Lucius returning with Jan to see Nails Nelson and hire his services as a demolitions man on the pretence that they needed some boulders destroyed in order to clear some land. Nails demanded a £20 down payment. The group also wisely hired Sam Mariga as a guide.

Examination of the coroner's report on Lt.Selkirk's death revealed only that he had died of severe burns to the upper body. No mention of fire-demons was found.

29^th March

Unsurprisingly, Nails Nelson failed to show up at the appointed time and so Lucius led some of the group to find his hut in Blacktown. Nails was found in bed in a drunken sleep with a local prostitute. He was rudely awakened and after vomiting up most of the contents of his stomach was frogmarched to a waiting horse. Lucius ensured both that Nails couldn't smuggle any alcohol into his pack, and that the dynamite (evidently stolen from Army supplies) was taken instead.

The group journeyed north out of Nairobi and set up camp that night. Some of them noticed that there was a specific individual who appeared to be following them, or at least taking the same route north. That night, Fingers and Sam decided to sneak out and investigate. They silently observed a small Indian man who had made camp in a small depression, his horse tied up next to it. After a short while they noticed that he had begun to talk to himself in a strange language that neither Fingers nor Sam recognized. At this point, a bright ball of fire appeared. Initially it was only about a foot across, but it soon began to grow larger and brighter. Fingers rapidly came to the conclusion that this was another of the fire demons that had attacked the train a few nights earlier and that the Indian man had summoned it. He immediately opened fire with his revolver knocking the man on to his back. Fingers appeared to have interrupted the spell at a crucial point for the creature immediately smothered the prostrate man with intense fire - incinerating him.

30^th March - 5 ^th April

This time was spent journeying north. Small villages and impressive wildlife were observed but otherwise the journey was uneventful. On the 5th of April the group arrived in the village of Ndovu. Sam advised them not to speak of their mission.

The villagers appeared fearful, and after discrete questioning by Sam it was learned that the freshly killed carcasses of two elephants had been found yesterday a few hours east of the village. The deaths were highly unnatural for the elephants had been torn to shreds. The bodies, shunned even by vultures and jackals, had swollen enormously and were oozing purple-green matter.

The party decided not to investigate, preferring to press on to their final destination. They camped a few hours north of the village. That night the group suspected that their camp was being watched - although the watchers were not seen.

6 ^th April

In the morning Sam was able to track the unseen watchers as they moved north on foot. The group journeyed north through a saddle-shaped pass - the Neri-Nanyuki corridor - that separated Mt.Kenya from the Aberdare range. Later that afternoon they reached the Corrupt Ground were the Carlyle massacre had taken place some years before.

Sam explained that the place was originally a mountain meadow of considerable beauty, perhaps a mile broad. But what the party saw was a blackened wasteland. All animal trails skirted the area, and the only foliage was deformed and twisted. A foul odour hung in the air. The trail that Sam had been following also went cold here. The group decided to press ahead through this foul place, much to the displeasure of the horses, and reached the other side just before nightfall.

7 ^th April

The next day the group saw the Mountain for the first time. The mere sight of it deadened their spirits and, realising that they could not reach it before nightfall decided to encamp in a nearby forest near a stream.

That night the encampment was attacked by a group of about a dozen crazed cultists. Fortunately tribal spears and clubs were no match for modern weaponry, and the party unleashed a fearsome volley of firepower that made short work of the attackers. One was captured alive, but nothing was learned from him.

8 ^th April

After a restless, haunted sleep the party journeyed on foot to the Mountain of the Black Wind, arriving mid-morning. It was a dank, conical mountain rising abruptly from the broadening plain. The side of the mountain was a sheer rock face, but a narrow path was spotted leading to an entrance concealed in the shadows. The group moved cautiously up the path. Fingers sneaked inside the entrance to investigate. What he discovered beyond horrified him.

A large natural cavern opened up in front of him. In the dim glow of torches, Fingers could make out two huge piles of bones and corpses - the stench was terrible. He could also hear a faint whimpering or wailing sound. Further into the cavern he could see a throne behind which was a hideous statue, fifteen feet tall, of the god of the Bloody Tongue; another aspect of Nyarlathotep. The statue was so hideous, that Fingers withdrew to the relative safety of the outside air.

Upon giving his report to the others, they boldly* ventured into the cavern to investigate. Here they discovered a third mound of bodies, and a giant cage filled with prisoners - men, women and children both blacks and whites. The unfortunate occupants began calling out to the party and were in danger of unintentionally betraying their presence to the cultists.

They immediately set to work placing charges around the statue so as to destroy it. A small box containing a marine chronometer set to GMT was found at the foot of the throne - its purpose unknown.

Fingers, meanwhile, discovered a secret door behind the statue and ventured inside. A tunnel climbed up beyond the door, and Fingers followed it for what seemed like an age before it eventually opened up into the corner of another, much larger, chamber further up the mountain. Here he could see six huge pillars surrounding what appeared to be an altar that glowed with a sinister blue light. Fingers realized that this must be the main temple and that the chamber below was merely a secondary chamber.

Since Fingers had been gone for some time, the others decided to venture up into the tunnel themselves** Soon they had all met up and ventured into the upper chamber. This chamber was vast and was dimly illuminated by the glow from the altar stone, and the faint sound of a child singing could be heard.

Lucius conducted a visual examination of the room using the sight of his sniper rifle and located the source of the singing. A naked figure was lying across a throne on the other side of the room and was singing nursery rhymes (to itself?). Lucius moved to get a clearer look, and was horrified to see Hypatia Masters' twisted and pallid face. Her body had swollen into an amorphous, pulsating mass of sallow flesh. Two baleful eyes could be seen glaring through the translucent yellow membrane of her belly. Lucius immediately understood that Hypatia was to be the mother of Nyarlathotep's monstrous child.

After hesitating for a moment to steady his nerve after such a terrible sight, he aimed his rifle at Hypatia's head and fired. It was a precise shot that killed her instantly, spraying blood, brain and skull fragments over the throne. A hideous screaming noise followed (presumably from the monster in her belly) and then abruptly stopped.

Suddenly a group of about a dozen figures rushed toward the throne from the far corner of the chamber, and then spotting the group began to run toward them. Lucius let off another few shots taking down a few of the group, whilst another member of the party threw sticks of dynamite blasting several of the attackers to bits.

Then they spotted her: M'Weru, Priestess of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, standing with one hand on the altar and another outstretched toward them. A bolt of energy shot out from her hand into Sam Mariga who let out a gurgling scream as he began to literally melt. First his eyes, then hands then the rest of him turned to blood and poured out onto the floor. Knowing that they could never hope to defeat M'Weru in her temple, the party fled.

By this time the lower chamber was packed with a hundred wild-eyed cultists. This was the time to use Old Bundari's gift of the little lizard "Who-Is-Not-What-She-Seems" that they had been lovingly caring for. They crept out from behind the statue and opened the cage door. "Who" stepped out and began to grow, and grow and grow! Within an instant the creature was as large as two houses and began to attack the cultists smashing them against walls, crushing them with her tail or lashing them with her tongue.

Lexington, true to his kindly and somewhat rash nature, rushed toward the cage containing the prisoners. The others followed, blasting cultists out of the way with their shotguns. Once they'd reached the cage they managed to blast the huge lock off the door without killing any of them. Then they fled the chamber leaving "Who" to finish her battle with the cultists. As they did so, Fingers spotted the glint of a key hanging on the far wall of the chamber...

9 ^th April - 11 ^th May

Knowing that M'Weru's wrath would be terrible, and that she would hunt them down mercilessly, the party made their escape from Kenya as rapidly as possible. They caught a tramp steamer from Mombassa to Aden and then a liner to Shanghai - arriving on the 11th May.