We started the session with a lot of administrativia, including skill progression, learning while aboard the cruise ship, and taking a look at the tome in our possession. The only one to comprehend some of it was Archie, who completed its study and learned to create voodoo zombies. Great.
Next stop: Sydney.
We arrived in Sydney on the 4th of March, 1925. After securing lodging, we looked up professor Daniel Dodge and presented our letter of recommendation. The professor greeted us with much enthusiasm, eager to open up the journal for study. The relevant part of the journal described the final stage of the expedition into the Australian desert, an attack by aboriginals and some unknown assailants, and the discovery of an ancient city. Upon hearing that we intend to visit ourselves, Dodge decided to join us, eager to secure his academic legacy.
We spent some time in the museums and libraries. Now that both Sanchez and Archie were initiated into the Cthulhu mythos, there were plenty of occasions to roll.
In the Australian Museum, we found a bat shaped pictogram painted in red, brown and black and with triangular pupils. No successful checks. Some Polynesian statues on the other hand looked consistent with the descriptions of the sunken city of R'lyeh, and we could get an approximate location on it.
In the university library we read about songs and legends regarding a lost desert city, built by the gods and vanquished by the wind.
In the national art gallery, a petroglyph showed a dying man, blackened and bloated, surrounded by people with serrated sticks. According to the curator, this represents a bat worshipper cult performing a ritual sacrifice.
So far, nothing really new, but at least everything seems consistent.
After completing the tourist circuit with whatever museums and zoological exhibits left unvisited, we headed down to Port Hedland. Dodge introduced us to Robert Mackenzie, a mining engineer who accompanied MacWhirr on his expedition. He was friendly enough, at least to the upper class people in the party[1], and re-told the story of the expedition and the attack. Again, nothing new, but he was eager to help, and we got a recommended shopping list, vehicles, and people we could hire. Finally, we learned that a couple years back, he was visited by a graying man in his late 50s, called Mr. Howston, who asked to borrow the notes and photographs regarding the expedition, then disappeared with them. Unfortunately professor MacWhirr had died of illness in the meantime, so that was all the information we could get. At least, from academic circles.
We dived into the local nightlife to obtain whatever local rumors were available. Sanchez got thrown out of a bar, and Lucy only got stories about a corrupt politician from a gathering of prostitutes, but Archie and Amos heard about a caravan driver who had supposedly seen the bat god of the aboriginals[2], that the bat cult was led by a white man[3], and a local boy telling the tale of the old man Budai, who keeps his head under his arm, sleeping in a desert city, who would devour the world upon awakening. The last one seemed rather interesting, and we had the name of a guy, so we followed up.
Johnny Bigbush worked at Randolph's Shipping Company, so that's where our road lead. Toddy Randolph was a slimy businessman archetype, only motivated by coin; he had let Johnny go due to drunkenness, and the guy went to visit his relatives somewhere down south. Another dead end. Well, not quite.
Archie struck up a conversation with the young black man working the warehouse, and noticed a crate tagged with the destination: Emmerson Imports, and marked with a strange symbol. Jiggling the crates a bit, Archie managed to knock it down, and we all saw the disturbing statue rolling out. Randolph cursed, I reimbursed him for the damages, and we all rolled sanity.
Now this was a proper lead. We decided on inspecting the crates ourselves in the evening. Randolph and his worked went to the bar for a drink, and Lucy and Amos sat down with them to talk business - only a distraction, enabling Sanchez and Archie to break in.
Archie tried picking the lock on the front door, but failed the pushed roll and broke the lock. They climbed the fence instead, but a fumbled climb check resulted in a slashed artery. A fumbled first aid check meant Archie failed to apply a tourniquet, and was loosing blood fast. He came up with the idea of Sanchez cauterizing the wound with his magic hands, which he did, but necrotized some of the arm, leaving Archie's 3 fingers on his left hand unmoving. This happened across the chain link fence, with Archie inside, Sanchez outside, and blood everywhere.
After that disastrous string of rolls, we had no idea how to solve the situation on the spot. Time to think about it until next session!
[1] That would be professor Sanchez and Lucy.
[2] Useless, as he was on another caravan run and wouldn't be back for months.
[3] Particularly laughable, am I right?
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