You leave the dismal place behind you and begin the long trek back to civilization. Stopping at the Céspedes farm to rest, you are relieved to see young Domingo starting to feel better again. Jackson leaves a few gold trinkets from his share with the family and you proceed back to Puno. After several further days of travel, you find yourself back in Lima.

Jackson helps you with finding buyers for the relics you brought back, and you spend a few days together talking and reminiscing about what happened at the site. Finally, it’s time to say your goodbyes and go your separate ways, but you all agree to keep in touch.

Four years pass….

It is January 1925 and you each receive a telegram from Jackson;

HAVE INFORMATION CONCERING CARLYLE EXPEDITION STOP
NEED HELP FROM MY OLD FRIENDS STOP
MEET 8 PM JANUARY 15 HOTEL CHELSEA NEW YORK STOP

JACKSON ELIAS
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:55, Tue 21 Aug 2018.

In reply to GM (msg # 1):

Art looks at the telegram held in his hand for a moment. After all this time he's surprised to hear from Jackson. To be quite honest, suprised he isn't reading an obituary rather than another summons.
Art looks up at the telegram messenger, straddling his bicycle and staring at him with a frown.
"All right mister, don't tip me then, that's just bloody nice of you innit?" the boy grumbles as he begins to peddle from a standstill.
Art fumbles around his pocket for a threepence , but only finds a shilling. Shrugging, he passes it over to the boy who smiles, but offers no thanks before riding off.
Having spent the last few years working at hospitals and clinics back in England, Art finds himself keen once more to meet with Jackson. Perhaps the others will be there too? That'd be nice. It's been months since he has heard from any of them.

The next day, Art watches off of the deck of a liner setting sail from London port, due to arrive in New York the morning of the 15th.


_{Over the last 4 years, Art has increased his Rifles, Ride, Drive Auto, and History Skills by 5% each}
This message was last edited by the player at 05:49, Tue 21 Aug 2018.

Jackson has kept in touch over the years and also sent you copies of his books;

Skulls Along the River (1910)
Elias’ first book (though he had some individual stories published before this) is an unvarnished and very readable account of Elias’ journey to the headwaters of the Amazon River in search of a legendary tribe of headhunters; the Jivaro-Shuar. While some of the content is shocking, Elias’ skill as a writer and gift for language are clear, as was his ability to gain the trust of the natives, and the book was a solid seller.

Masters of the Black Arts (1912)
An expanded collection of articles written by Elias, this book is an unsystematic compilation of various sorcerers throughout history. Topics included Hecate, Egyptian curses, Albertus Magnus, Kabbalah, Agrippa, Chinese Geomancy, John Dee’s angel communication, von Reichenbach and the Odic force, and the Golden Dawn. While by no means comprehensive, Elias’ strength is his ability to write for a general audience without any sense of condescension. Readers will note his overriding skepticism and disdain for charlatans.

The Way of Terror (1913)
Elias compares the methods by which a number of cults indoctrinate and control their membership. The comparisons reflect a number of core practices common to such groups, including indoctrination, control of food, removal from regular society, etc. The author clearly sets himself in opposition to such practices and vehemently condemns modern movements utilizing them.

The Smoking Heart (1915)
Following up on his work in South America, Elias undertook a number of trips to Central America and the Yucatan in particular. Basing much of his work off of local oral tradition and interviews, the picture he paints of ancient Mayan society is in stark contrast to the utopian astronomer view currently in vogue. His most shocking suggestion is that many local religious practices are holdovers from before the Spanish conquest.

Sons of Death (1918)
This work examines the Thuggee, in history and in modern times. Perhaps Elias’ most controversial work, this book claims that the Thuggee cult was not extinguished by the British during the nineteenth century, but had survived elsewhere (particularly in London and South Africa). During the course of his investigations, Elias claims to have joined a South African branch of the group and presents evidence that the group was still committing ritual murders.

Witch Cults of England (1920)
Elias spent a year in the United Kingdom researching witch trials and interviewing modern practitioners of what he terms as witchcraft; generally solitary practitioners and fragments from the Golden Dawn or like groups. The book itself outlines the history, such as it is, of witchcraft in Great Britain up until the modern day. Elias’ portrayal of witches is sympathetic and he views witch hysteria as the worst sort of mob mentality.

The Black Power (1921)
This is an expanded and revised version of The Way of Terror, incorporating a wider number of cults, particularly ones from Asia and Africa. The work is a clear improvement over the original and is more tightly edited and organized. While Elias still clearly despises those who exploit others via cultic practices, he allows his evidence to persuade readers rather than simply condemning it himself

The Hungry Dead (1923)
Jackson’s latest work exposes the modern-day survival of a Peruvian and Bolivian death cult from the time of the conquistadors. It omits many of the horrifying details that you remember, presenting the cult of the kharisiri as a purely human evil.

All of these books are published by Prospero Press of New York City, and all were edited by owner/editor Jonah Kensington. Kensington is a good friend of Jackson Elias.
This message was last edited by the player at 11:55, Tue 21 Aug 2018.

In reply to Jackson Elias (msg # 3):

In the four years since his ordeal in Peru, Bromley has married and settled into the life befitting a minor aristocrat of his standing. Half-heartedly working on several of his father’s business concerns he is much more contented when indulging in pursuits of pleasure.

The telegram arrives while breakfasting at his London address with his young wife Vivienne. The footman excuses himself when entering the room and diligently hands Bromley the sheet. His eyes widen as he reads, soliciting concern from Vivienne. “Do you remember those friends of mine, from my time in the Americas?  Yes, several of them were at our wedding… It seems that Mister Elias is in a spot of trouble and needs my help.”

At this, Vivienne frowns slightly. Bromley hasn’t told her much of what happened in Peru and has a casual distaste for her husband’s more esoteric taste in literature. She is even more displeased when he states his intention to travel to New York immediately. “But we can’t…” she pleads, “We still have so much to do before we move to the new house.”

With even greater incentive to rally to Jackson’s aid, Bromley insists that he owes this to his old friend.

The remainder of the day is spent in a flurry of organising. The house staff take care of the particulars and secure him a first class ticket to New York leaving the next day. Bromley spends most of his time finalising any urgent business. He telegrams Jackson with his confirmation along with notices of his movements to all the companions in case they received the call as well.

Late the following day he is standing atop the deck of an ocean liner breathing in the bracing sea air.

(Bromley has improved: Accounting, Drive Auto, Library Use and History by 5%)

In his letters to you over the years, Jackson has mentioned that he has taken an interest in the Carlyle Expedition, and out of curiosity you have been reading up on the history for this group of explorers;









This message was last edited by the GM at 17:56, Tue 21 Aug 2018.

The Carlyle Expedition;

Nichonka Bunay
Dr. Robert Huston - Roger Carlyle
Sir Aubrey Penhew - Hypatia Masters – Jack Brady
This message was last edited by the GM at 13:48, Sat 08 Sept 2018.

The first thing Rachel did after Peru was to sell off every piece of artifact she had grabbed on the way out, in an effort to forget about Peru. With Jackson's new book after their Peru trip, business boomed for Rachel, as the interest people took archaeology showed no signs of dying down any time soon. This took her to France, and even China, which was all well and good for her, as any rumors about her husbands' deaths soon winded down with her regular absence in the circles of New York's society.

---------------------

Bam bam!
The crack was threatening to break the wall apart. There was something moving, squirming from beyond the wall.

Bam bam!
Rachel looked around-- she was alone, and she could see the gold line barely holding together the walls.

"You must join your friends and get them to damage the seals further! Go now, or face eternal torment beyond human comprehension!" She could hear Larkin's booming voice in her head. She turned and saw his eyes, boring into her once again, black nothingness that threatened to drown her in them.

Bam bam!

"Miss Katz? Are you up yet?"

Rachel leaped out of bed with a start, her clothes sticking to her back, drenched in sweat as she looked around, taking a second before realizing it had been the same nightmare again.

"I'm up!" Rachel shouted, grabbing her robes off her chair and wrapping them around herself before answering the door. Her maid, Alice, a young woman of sixteen, looked surprise, as if she was just about to knock on her door again.

"I apologize, Miss Katz, you asked me to wake you up at 9. It's... 9:15-- I've been trying to wake you up for awhile now." Alice said, looking over Rachel with concern. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, yes, I am, thank you." Rachel answered, letting the door open as she ran her hand through her hair, allowing her maid to wheel in her breakfast. Books on occult were scattered about, and Rachel quickly kicked them aside before the maid could catch sight of them.

"You've been getting an awful lot of dreams lately, miss, it's those books you keep reading." Alice said, glancing pointedly at a book Rachel hadn't been able to kick away fast enough. She set down a tray on Rachel's bed and poured her coffee.

"A little too early for a lecture, don't you think?" Rachel replied, although there was no sarcasm in her tone.

"Begging your pardon miss," Alice returned as she fished a telegram from her apron and handed it to Rachel.

"It's... from him, isn't it? That writer you went off to Peru with?" Alice asked, sitting down on the edge of Rachel's bed as Rachel looked at the telegram.

"Yes. Jackson Elias. Seems like he's up to his old tricks again." Rachel said, shaking her head as she set the letter down. Still, she could not help but grin. She had kept in touch with the rest of the company she had kept in Peru, post cards, and had even attended Bromley's wedding with Gustav.

"Begging your pardon again, miss-- but-- do you think... do you think he'd sign the copy of
the book you gave me last Christmas? The one he wrote?" Alice said so wistfully, as Rachel chuckled softly in response.

"Oh, I bet he would. Leave it on the table, I'll bring it to him." Rachel smiled as her maid produced the copy from her apron, leaving it on her writing desk before heading out of Rachel's room.

"Ah, Miss Katz, since it was a telegram, I couldn't help but see the date-- I do believe you were invited by Mr. Berkowitz on that day to visit his farm." Alice said, turning back.

"Hmmm? Oh. I'll have to cancel on him then." Rachel said absently, as she took her coffee cup, heading for the phone next to a reading chair she had across the room.

"Oh. He'd be terribly disappointed. He seems quite taken--"

"Alice." Rachel interrupted, raising her eyebrow pointedly at the young girl, as she picked up the receiver and started rotating the phone dials. "It's Elias. Nothing Mr. Berkowitz can show me will ever be as exciting as whatever Elias has."

In reply to Rachel Katz (msg # 7):

Gustav returned from Peru somewhat a changed man, sure he still occationally drinks but the thrill his soul has been searching for has finally been satiated. No more late nights at the speakeasy waiting for the prohibition agents to bust the place up. The Peru trip has changed his life a lot more than he cared to admit. He now has a new passion for the great outdoors and have regular vacations alone in the woods. He also had himself transferred to Red Hook, one of the more criminally infested neighborhoods in New York City. Cases relating to occults also facinated him now ever since his time in Peru and he regularly shares police findings with Ms Katz over dinner whenever she's in the city.

-------

It is 9:15 am and detective Gustav Schmidt is in the briefing room updating the whole red hook precinct on a peculiar case about a man named Robert Suydam.

"So in conclusion, reports of children being kidnapped has been traced near or around properties owned by Mr. Robert Suydam. I know its freezing out there, but we have a job to do. That is all thank you."


As the assembly has been dismissed, the police telephone operator signaled for Gustav that he has a call incoming.

"Good Morning Ms. Katz, how are you doing? I didn't know you are back."

"A telegram? Wait let me check my table."

After a few moments,

"So I expect our little rag tag band will have a little reunion, I wonder how Mr. Murphy is doing right now."

"We have a new development in the case im working on, but there's always time for our friend Mr. Elias."

"I'll pick you up at 6? There's an old Austrian bakery downtown that sells authentic sachertorte I'm sure you'll love. I'll get one for Ms. Alice too. She seems not that fond of me.."

After four years, Gustav has had practice in the great outdoors, improving the following: Natural World, Navigate, Track and Survival
This message was last edited by the player at 01:41, Thu 23 Aug 2018.