Masks of Nyarlathotep 23
Another session of Masks of Nyarlathotep. Last month, we left Cairo and boarded the SS Kingdom of Firth, heading down towards Kenya. We would have a stop over at Aden for refuelling but were hoping for a relatively peaceful journey.
The entire session was plagued by a lot of bad dice rolls. Several times I rolled 90+, then pushed to roll 90+ a second time. We had several fumbles from people as well – sometimes in combat.
We end the session reaching Kenya, where we need to figure out what to do next. The characters in our group are:
- Mrs Evelyn Wooldridge – my character, a librarian at the British Museum
- James “Lefty” Buckley – American policeman
- Clayton Baxter – American actor
- Monty – American agent
Saturday 21st March
We leave Cairo for Port Said by train.
Monday 23rd March
At Port Said, we board the SS Kingdom of Fife. Surprisingly, we spot Martin Winfield on the dock as the ship pulls away. We get the impression that he is watching us. Why has he followed us all the way to Port Said?
The Kingdom of Fife is just a small steamer, not anything like the luxury liner we took from America. Our first destination is the Suez Canal, which we will reach next day.
I learn to Persuade people and study some Anthropology books.
Tuesday 24th March
The canal is huge, and I spend the day sitting and watching the landscape go by.
That evening, as we go into dinner, there is a sudden lack of engine noise. We have some soup, followed by a curry. Finally there is a steamed British pudding with custard. Then we are provided with whisky.
We go up on deck, and find out that the chief engineer has had a problem. I offer my services if they need a nurse.
Doc Weatherby asks for my assistance. I am taken down to the engine room, which is full of buff stokers.
There is a large Scotsman with a huge red bead. He is walking up and down, carrying a spanner. Apparently he was drawing on the boiler earlier. Looking at it, it’s a strange repeating pattern splitting down into smaller versions of itself, like fern.
The engineer leans in and tells me that the voices are telling him to put the mark on the ship. He asks whether I’ve heard the voices. I tell him every night. He says they are the sand voices. I ask him whether he wants to go somewhere to talk about the voices.
He accuses me of trickery, and I try to explain that everyone is tricking everybody, it’s just a question of whether it’s good trickery. He isn’t convinced, and takes a swing at me. A fight ensues, and he is eventually subdued. However, Lefty is accidentally knocked out when the Doctor sticks a syringe into the wrong person.
We take Lefty up to his room to sleep things off, and I try to take a photo of the patterns before wiping them off.
With the engineer pacified, the ship is able to start up again and continue heading south through the canal.
Wednesday 25th March
There is a hearty breakfast. The engineer remembers nothing since loading things at the dock. Lefty wakes up, and tells us that he had some strange and horrifying dreams about hungering skeletal forms reaching up out of the depths.
Saturday 28th March
We get to Aden, and we get off the ship whilst it refuels with coal and go to stay in a local hotel called The Crescent. It is very hot here, and full of flies. We also go looking for clothing which will be suitable for Kenya. We’ll some to keep cool, and some to keep warm when we go up mountains. But we get a bit lost.
A man staggers out of an alleyway, wearing a cloth over his eyes. The others spot that he’s been stabbed. I go to help him, and he gasps at me in English:
The Mountain of the Black Wind awaits. It wants its tribute. We carry the scent of the pharoah. The lions of the south are sharpening their teeth.
The tongues are coming.
He is speaking with an English accent.
A group of men with knives come charging towards us with headbands with red tongues.
One of them goes down, as Monty shoots him. I extract the knife, and bandage the wounds.
Lefty tries to shoot, but fumbles the magazine. I try shooting, and miss.
Monty shouts out that we are surrounded, and need to get out of hear. We can hear other people running down the side streets. I pick up the wounded man, and start running with him down the clear street that Monty indicated, with Clayton following behind trying to reload his gun.
We manage to start retreating, with some of our attackers going down as my companions shoot them. Monty gets stabbed, but nothing serious. As we make ourselves scarce, we hear the whistles of the shore patrol, probably attracted by the sound of gunfire.
The man recognises me, and says he is Rupert Campbell Thompson, as if I should know him. I don’t remember him.
We make it to the British Naval base, and to the hospital there. Checking the bandage around his eyes, I notice that he has bright blue eyes.
I stay at the hospital. Whilst he is unconscious, I check his possessions and find a map of water locations, but can’t tell where it is for. When Rupert comes around, I found he is has a Senior Demiship, a research affiliation to Maudlin college in Oxford.
He talks about things in the desert, including some strange inscriptions and something that watches. The cultists had captured him, but he’d escaped.
Our ship is leaving tomorrow, so we probably won’t have time to investigate ourselves.
I stock up on medical supplies, including some drugs and bandages.
Tuesday 31st March
We leave on the ship. We spend some time searching the ship for strange signs. Whilst checking the lifeboats, Clayton finds a dead crewman in one of the boats. He comes to get me, and I confirm that he’s dead. I don’t notice anything unusual, so we get Dr Weatherby.
Clayton keeps asking about his abdomen, but until the body has been removed from the boat we don’t notice anything unusual. When he’s out, it looks like his internal organs have all been removed – though his skin and flesh is all intact. There is a strange fatty substance at the bottom of the boat.
Saturday 4th April
As we cross the equator, a dark shape is seen in the water, moving beneath the ship. It seems to be miles long. Possibly just different types of water mixing or something.
Tuesday 7th April
The lush green coast of Africa, and the white walls of Fort Jesus in Mombasa, are before us. We have a lot of people to talk to, and places to visit here. First we probably need to find somewhere to stay though once we disembark.
