On or about January 10, 1934; several of the principal's received an urgent telegraph from one Jackson Elias, an acquaintance of some standing, requesting assistance - but specifics were not divulged.
During the intervening days, attempts were made by some of the principals to learn about the recent "doings" of Mr. Elias, but there was very little to learn.
On the morning of the 15th,
some of the principals met Jackson Elias' ship at the dock, only to
learn that he had disembarked at an earlier port and presumably made
other arrangements to make his way to New York. One assumes that air
transport was involved. That evening, at the time specified by Mr.
Elias' factor, those principals who had received Mr. Elias' summons,
converged upon his hotel - each unaware at this point that of the
others' existences and relationships with Mr. Elias.
Arriving at Mr. Elias' room, these principals were met by a macabre sight as Mr. Elias had met with some gruesome violence - he was quite dead, and his entrails were spread out around his body. In addition, there were several dark primitive looking chaps there, armed with an interesting assortment of tribal weapons, and ransacking the room. After the ensuing shoot-out, the surviving afrikaners made off in a waiting auto, and the principals present took some pains to minimize their involvement in the eyes of the local constabulary.
Later, the with dubious assistance of a federal agent, the principals secured some of the information gathered by the local law enforcement and; put together with information independently acquired; pieced together a reasonable certain picture of what Jackson Elias had been involved in: He had apparently found some type of cult involved in the unfortunate massacre of the Carlyle expedition several years back, and had obviously gotten to close to whatever the truth might have been. Armed with this information, they then set out to learn why someone found it necessary to kill Jackson Elias, and who this someone might be.
In the following days, the principals found themselves involved in the doings of some type of african affair and, taking this as portent, made to contact the proprietor of an african "art" shoppe -- one "Ju-Ju House" by name -- that Mr. Elias had apparently had some dealings with. Upon being stone-walled by the diminutive black man who ran the afore mentioned Ju-Ju House, the principals took it upon themselves to, under the cover of night, break into said establishment to search for "clues". Finding a hidden door to a lower basement level, the party made their way down into the nether locale of the building; encountering a bizarre array of arcane tribal symbols carved into the very stone of the walls themselves. It was in this basement level that the party claims to have encounter some type of zombies, as well as some "other" thing kept in a stone slab covered pit.
Fleeing the Ju-Ju House, the principal proceeded via automobile to make their way out of Harlem and back to more comfortable surrounding. On the way, the encountered a building ablaze with figures exiting it who bore a strong resemblance to the very men who are suspected of killing Mr. Jackson. The burning building was the office and residence of an oriental weapons merchant who services one of the principals had made use of in the past. The reason for the blaze appears to have been as a means of obfuscating the theft of records from this self-same merchant.
On or about January 16, the party, now enlarged by one, and convinced of some type of african cult connection in the recent events in their lives, boarded a derivable and left New York for Africa by way of London - a city which looms heavily in Jackson Elias' research trail was well.
Four days later, in London, they met Edward Gavigan, the current director of the Penhew Foundation - the organization that sponsored the Carlyle expedition. While it was apparent to the party that Gavigan knew something about Elias' activities in London, he denied any and all knowledge and the party chose to let the subject drop.
In addition to Mr. Gavigan, the party also spoke with one Mickey Mahoney while in London. Mr. Manhoney is a grubby Irish journalist who publishes The Scoop, a weekly tabloid. While recently in London, Mr. Elias had visited Mr. Mahoney, promising a story about an evil cult operating in London - he also hinted that the cult might be well connected. Mr. Mahoney never got his story, but he was able to provide the principals with copies of several stories from his paper that had attracted Mr. Elias' interest.
It was while following up on one of these stories that the party learned of Mr. Miles Shipley, a local area artist who paints pictures of a detailed and disturbing nature. Mr. Shipley is purported to be in contact with "other dimensions" in which powerful beings exist, and says he merely renders visible his visions. Upon visiting Mr. Shipley's residence; the party meets the sad, demented man himself, as well as his mother, Bertha Shipley. In the course of the events that took place in the Shipley residence and, in particular, while attempting to open a closet in Mr. Shipley's studio; the party was attacked by Mrs. Shipley in such a ferocious manner that they were left with options but to defend themselves with deadly force - thus learning that Mrs. Shipley was not actually human, and possibly not Mrs. Shipley, but some type of reptilian creature of enormous strength and resiliency.
The ersatz Mrs. Shipley dealt with, and the near catatonic Mr. Shipley secured, the party was able to examine the contents of the closet with had been to desperately defended. What they found inside was a painting, but there was something unusual about it. Having looked upon it, it was found to be impossible to tare ones eyes away from it. Even more unusual, as the painting was more closely examined, the figures in it appeared to move as if alive. Suddenly, as if to punctuate the arcane nature of the painting; Master Ho, the chinaman, suddenly vanished only to appear a moment later in the painting itself. Ho was soon followed by Mr. Manfrengenson, and considerably later Miss Quentin joined them, followed by the deliberate transport of Mr. Rockwell (who had somehow thought to grab many of Mr. Manfrengenson's weapons before following Miss Quentin).
Finding themselves on a small island inhabited by more snakes than one would normally be comfortable sharing a home with, our principal scanned the horizon for signs of a mainland, and swam their way across, discovering an ancient city in the process. Landing a comfortably safe distance from the city, they then made their way overland to the edge of this city and climbed the wall.
Enormous by the standards of of ancient civilizations, the city also seems to have been uninhabited for many, many years. Scouting the city, they soon located a large temple near the center of the city; prominently positioned in such a manner as to suggest that it may also have been the ruling center of the city. They also discovered that some large predator had been recently using the temple as a nest. Further scouting found the party discovering the first person to have been seen since "falling through the painting", a young woman of an obvious primitive (and immodest) nature who fled immediately upon seeing them. Giving chase, Mr. Manfrengenson (and, in a more dignified manner, Miss Quentin) followed the young woman back towards the temple, where they ran head on into what must have been an allosaurus, a beast known to have been extinct for some one hundred thirty million years, attempting to make a meal of the young native woman.
Mr. Manfrengenson and Miss Quentin; joined by Master Ho; brought down the great beast, and, in the process, freed the young native woman, who managed to escape the city while the party was dealing with the ravening beast. Having dealt with the beast, Mr. Manfrengenson then made to track down the young native woman but, as it was getting quite late, was convinced to let her go until the morrow.
Choosing a house in fit condition, the party made camp for the evening and, except for Mr. Rockwell who had volunteered for the early watch, settled in to sleep as the sun set. Waking Master Ho a few hours later, Mr. Rockwell pointed out the multiple moons and the rising "other" sun (rising not more than two hours after the setting of the previous sun), then went to sleep himself.
January 21, one supposes (it is hard to be certain), the party rises with setting of the "other" sun, gathers it's belongings, and heads off in the direction the young native woman had fled. Tracking her for the better part of the day (with a few false starts) the party eventually came upon a fork in the road wherein another, larger party, had joined the path they were following. Tracking this larger party, while doing their best to not lose sight of the young native woman's trail, it became apparent that at some point the woman had joined with the larger party - but probably not of her own volition.
Closing with the larger offending party as the sun began to set, the principals; upon seeing that large reptilian offenders and the cages of prisoners; began making plans to surprise the offenders and rescue the young native woman, along with the other prisoners that the offenders had captured. It was right about this time that the party was ambushed by some type of rear guard set in place by the offenders. The battle was short, brutal, and decisive - the party members regained consciousness in cages mounted on wagons being drawn by apatosauruses, another beast know to have been extinct for some one hundred thirty million years.
Several long days of travel, and one unsuccessful escape attempt by Mr. Manfrengenson, later the party found themselves at the caves that the Satha's city is in - at which point they were thrown into cells in the cave city.
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Taking stock of their surroundings, the principals founs themselves in cells carved directly into the rock in the Satha's cave city. Sturdy wooden doors were in place to insure that they stayed in their respective caves, with Satha guards in the hallway. In addition, they were not all in the same cell. Mr. Brockwell shared a cell with four "natives" and a large Swedish gentleman who had, apparently, made his way into the lands of Zorandar by means other than that taken by Mr. Brockwell and the other principal. Mr. Manfrengenson, Miss Quentin, and Master Ho all found themselves in cells accompanied by other unknow "natives" and the native princess that so facinated Mr. Manfrengenson was in still another cell with natives not of her own tribe. Shortly after they were thrust into their cells, Master Ho; assumed to be the leader of the party; was rudely removed and taken to see the Satha Queen.
While Master Ho was in chambers with the Queen, Mr. Brockwell began to strike up a relationship with the large swedish gentleman (now know to be named Axl Iverson) and convinced him to "test" to strength of the door. Sturdy the door most definitely was, but young Mr. Iverson had the type of frame that Viking of old dreamed of having. After a few test slams into the door (coupled with timing the guard's reaction to them), young Mr. Iverson slammed to door off it's frame and burst into the hall.
As the dust settled, natives poured from the now open cell, directed towards the main cavern by Mr. Brockwell. Attracted by the noise, the Satha guard came rushing down the hall, and was quickly bowled over by the charging Swede. While young Mr. Iverson was occupying the guard, Mr. Brockwell set about opening additional cells, while getting Miss Quentin; who had picked up smatterings of a few of the native dialects; to shout out directives to the natives as to the way out.
Freed from his incarceration, Mr. Manfrengenson made his way to the Swede/Satha scuffle and, by assissting young Mr. Iverson, brought a speedy conclusion to it. The native princess who had so facinatd Mr. Manfrengenson, hearing the sounds of combat in the direction the other natives were running, made off the other way down the hall - only to run into the other guard. Miss Quentin, continuing the effort started by Mr. Rockwell, made her way down the same direction as the princess, and thus was the only one to notice the princess's predicament - at the same time, she spied the party's equipment stored just past the guard station in the hall.
Meanwhile, in the Queen's chamber, Master Ho has been forcibly seated at a stone table across from the Queen (a shrivled up crone of a lizard) and has had a metal torc of some type thrust upon his head. Sitting on the table between he and the Queen was a large crystal with a pale glow to it. As he looked at the crystal he felt a slight stabbing in the back of his head and suddenly found himself somewhere else altogether. Totally featureless, the new landscape around him was a soft white void. Directly in front of him, where the Queen would have been had he still been where he once was, was a huge female Satha - in fact, this was the Queen, or at least her psychic avatar - who promptly attacked him. The blow, while inflicting a great deal of pain, also allowed the Queen to pierce Master Ho's mind and extract a bit of information. Rising to the challenge, Master Ho struck back - or rather, his avatar struck back - and he was amazed to discover that he was actually quite the match for this monsterous lizard. As the two exchanged blows, each was able to see into the others thoughts (it was here that Master Ho learned something of the nature of the avatars - that they are based on will power and self image rather than physical actuality).
The fight was fierce and brutal, but Master Ho; though untrained in this type of combat; accorded himself resplendently - soundly thrashing the Queen. Losing contact violently with her avatar proved to much for the old Queen, who promptly died - but not before Master Ho was able to learn a great deal about what the Sathas were up to.
Master Ho, finding himself now alone in the queen's chambers, grabbed the handiest weapon about him - that being the crystal - and set about to trick the guard into entering the chamber. As the guard entered, Master Ho smashed the jagged end of the crystal into the Satha's chest, ending his life then and there. Reclaiming the crystal, and the guard's weapons, Master Ho then stealthily made his way past the chaos in the main cavern, back to the cell block to discover that his comrades has already seen to their own release.
The party, now back together, with one or two new members, reclaimed their toys and set about finding a way out of the Satha's caverns. Discovering that the cell block cavern was a dead end, they realized that they would have to make their way through the main cavern - and the chaotic combat already in progress. Hit by inspiration, the party formed into a flying 'V' style wedge formation with the native princess safely in the middle, the principals charged through the main cavern, shooting any lizard that came in their direction - only Mr. Manfrengenson was injured during this action, him catching a lucky spear throw in the leg.
Free from the Satha caves, and the Satha's themselves still occupied by the prisoner revolt, the principals left the area of the Satha city as quickly as managable and set off towards the abondoned city they (minus the young Mr. Iverson) had visited previously. Along the way they were shadowed periodically by what appeared to be people riding pterodactyls. On the second night after fleeing the Sathas, Mr. Manfrengenson spied a monsterous pterodactyl swoop down from higher elevations and yank on of the "ridden" pterodactyls out of the very sky - sending it's rider plummeting to the ground.
Unseen by any of the others, an disbelieved by some who have been a party to Mr. Manfrengenson's "incidents", the falling fo the rider would have gone unexplored except for the single-mindedness of Mr. Manfrengenson who set off to find the rider himself. Heading off into the brush, leaving the other to tend to breaking their fasts, Mr. Manfrengenson made his way to where the rider had landed. The body was garbed much more "civilizedly" than the other natives encountered, actualy wearing armour of some type - although it did appear that the man wore a skirt. Mr. Manfrengenson then made his way back to camp and informed the others, several of who then went back with him to examing the body. Romanesque that the conclusion about the man's garb, armour, and weapons.
Meanwhile, Mr. Brockwell, left alone at the camp, discovered that the natives encountered so far were NOT the most primative men in the land. He was attacked by a huge brute of man carrying a large club and throwing rock the size of Mr. Brockwell's head at him. Size and strength can be quite intimidating, but speed and skill will win out. Dispatching the ugly brute with a display of swordsmanship Mr. Brockwell feverantly wish the women had witnessed, he resumed his breakfast and awaiting the return of the others.
Together again, the party continued on it's way, pausing only once to hide from a stampede of dinosaurs, and eventually found themselves back in the abandoned city.
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Feeling relatively safe and secure in one of the houses in the city, the party was able to relax a bit. Of course, it's never a good thing to be too relaxed, so watch rotations were still maintained. It was on the watch shared by the two woman; the princess and Miss Quentin; that the sound of activity was heard outside. Rousting Master Ho from his slumber, the women decided that the princess would go with Master Ho to investigate while Miss Quentin waited, ready to waken the others.
Hearing a noise a block over, the two began to follow and give chase as the noise moved. Sprinting ahead, Master Ho was the first to encounter that which had made the noise - or at least encounter it's fist. Stunned by the power of the blow, Master Ho was unable to dodge the followup which sent him down for count. Catching up as Master Ho went to the ground, the Princess found herself suddenly entangled in some type of net. This realization quickly passed though as whoever had captured her knocked he uncouncious.