"Okay, does anybody know where Zoe went?"

Oswald was not here the last time a teammate mysteriously failed to show up but it sure is a pattern.

Oh No.

"Does anybody know who the last person to talk to Zoe was? I think she was going to work on reading one of the books?"

"I haven't been keeping up with her," he says, and suddenly feels bad about how little total attention he's paid to the rest of the group.

"I saw her a couple days ago I think? Last I heard was, yeah, she was going to work on reading one of the books."

"Should we check over at Zoe's hotel room?"

"Yeah, I think we'd better. Should we split up? Two people going to check and two people staying here, in case she shows up and wonders where the rest of us are?"

As they are getting prepared to leave, Zoe trudges in looking VERY cold and tired.

"There you are! - are you okay?"

Zoe is not appropriately dressed for the weather and shakes her head because her teeth are chattering a lot.

Well at least she's alive and not kidnapped.

"Is there -- fire? Coat?"

"Here, you can have my coat."

Zoe gratefully swaddles herself in Frank's coat and blows on her hands a lot.

Anemone starts making some coffee.

"Thank you."

"What happened?" Oswald asks and only afterward registers is probably tactless considering her state.

"I -- I'm not sure. I was... I don't remember. I was here... I think I had been going to read one of the books? And then I was in the dark, in the cold. It was a clear night and there were so many stars. I was in some park? In Pennsylvania? Thank god they were doing construction there or I probably would have never found my way back. The workers there saw me and took me to the train station. And then I came here."

He frowns. "Was it night when you remember being here last?"

Zoe pauses to think. "I don't think so? I think I came in the morning, after breakfast... Maybe the guards know?"
 
 
 

The guards report that Zoe was here in the morning and then left in a hurry that afternoon.

He looks at the others who actually did the reading. "Did you have some -- schedule -- or divide the books up between you in some way--"

"We each picked four of them but not in a particularly principled way."

Now that Zoe is warming up again she is VERY sleepy. She curls up in a chair.

"Me and Mordred and Zoe each picked a set of books and took notes on them. I think Zoe had done all of hers except for Adrift in a Storm-Tossed Sky? Was that the one? You can take a nap in a bit, sorry - "

"I don't remember any books, sorry. On the train here I thought maybe I had been going to start reading then, since I was supposed to be done with them by today..."

Worrying! "Uh. Do the rest of you know what was in the books you think she'd already read."

"Yeah, I have notes." 

"I think I must have read something... I'm trying to remember but all I'm getting is weird snippets. 'dance across the skim-skein haze'? 'dancing motes'? 'chaos waltz'? There's a lot of... dancing imagery, I don't really get it."

"I guess we should make a note that sometimes almost all memory of the books just vanishes from one's mind."

She jots them down but honestly does not really like the sound of that. "I think... maybe nobody should read that book again right now. The last one on your list, I mean."

Zoe nods sleepily. She looks around the room, yawning. "...is Carrie going to be showing up? It's weird for her to be even later than me."

"..........Carrie didn't make it out of Trammel's mansion."

"She what? But we... we made it out. Where did she go?"

"She was caught on the way in. We were going to try to get her out, but Trammel showed up, and we - retreated."

"She and I were going to go in together. How could she have gotten caught, if I'm here?"

"I don't think she made it. I think you went first? And you were hiding in the shadows, and someone saw her following you but overlooked you - "

That is a really concerning level of out of it! His memory gaps don't also blank out information gained before or after the fact!

"That doesn't sound right, but... everything's so swirly. I keep trying to remember but my thoughts keep dancing around. --Did we at least get Lacie?"

"We did not."

She makes another note that the memory loss is more extensive than just last night and the books.

Zoe has had MUCH too much of a day. She does not like this day. She would be kicking things but she's too tired so instead she is crying about it, and she's angry about crying, but that doesn't seem to stop things.

She wants to be asleep.

"Maybe we should stop the questioning and get going. Let Zoe get some rest on the trip."

It's not a long trip. But she doesn't know how much longer they have to make it, if they don't want to wait until after Christmas. "Okay. It'll be okay, Zoe. Let's just get you to the plane. There're beds on the plane."

Zoe frowns and nods. And then hides inside Frank's coat where maybe people will not be able to see that she is crying.

On the way to the plane they see a newspaper:  

The German cabinet issued twelve new decrees during its final session of the year. Several economic measures were passed as well as one providing a prison term of up to two years for those who "harm the state, its leaders, or the standing of the National Socialist party and its affiliations."

Christ.

Good thing they're not planning to go to Germany because aaah. Although they are planning to go to Italy and that might be pretty bad too.

The plane flight is about two hours; they arrive at Miskatonic University in the early afternoon.

The secretary tells them Francis Hickering is in his office; while they're here, they can also check out Miskatonic's library, which is known for its excellent collection of occult books.

No more books!!!

She feels like she would have been much more excited about that a month ago, honestly. Oh well.

"Who wants to check in with Hickering? I guess - none of us actually had extensive conversations with Henslowe, I think that was Lacie and Zoe... Although I'm really not that convinced that there is a direct connection from Hickering to Henslowe, it just - seemed like it was worth looking into, since it was nearby, you know?"

"I can check in with Hickering, I used to be a student here."

"Gosh, really?"

"Yeah! It's kind of nostalgic being back, honestly."

"I kind of want to talk to him too, if that's all right."

"I don't think Henslowe said much about Hickering. Just hinted that he knew where the box was. But of course the map to it was in the Hickering book on the shelf. Mrs. Henslowe didn't know of Hickering, so most likely they never even met."

"Yeah, I kind of expect that it was just a way of telling us to check the book. But my notes on your books have some other connections to Miskatonic University, so - seems worth poking around, at least."

"Um. I'm going to go to the library if that is okay with everyone? I'm not going to look at books that make you, um, forget things. I just. They have a really good rare book collection?"

"That sounds like a good idea, Mr. Aarons. Can you check if they have anything else by Edward Pickman Derby? Don't read them. Just check what they have. Okay?"

"Okay."

Well all of these options are awkward but he has suddenly noticed how little he knows the group so he's going to follow them the awkward questioning session even if he has nothing to contribute.

Every surface in Francis Hickering's office-- from the floor to the desks to the windowsill-- is covered with books, many of which are visibly Miskatonic University library books with a layer of dust that suggests that they were not returned in a prompt fashion. Papers drift around the floor in a manner that suggests that one could do a very interesting archaeological expedition.

"Hello!" he says. "--Oh, goodness, Mordred. It is absolutely wonderful to see you again! How have you been doing?"

How does one answer that question when one has had three nervous breakdowns in the last two months. "I'm doing alright."

"I would read your articles but I do not believe in knowing about history that happened after the seventeenth century. It stresses the mind. Who are your friends?"

"Mary Anemone Silverstring." And she is now capable of shaking people's hands, although her hands probably still look kind of concerning.

"Oswald Ferrier."

"Anemone is a researcher and collector of the strange, and Oswald is an accountant."

"Absolutely lovely to meet you all." He clears some books and papers off the chairs by shoving them to the floor, and gestures for them to sit. "Is this a social call?"

"We were actually wondering if you had any leads regarding a matter we've been looking into recently. Your name came up. I don't suppose you know a Douglas Henslowe?"

"Oh, yes. Wonderful young man. Had so many questions for me about exotic and occult drugs. Whatever happened to him?"

"...he's in an asylum in Savannah. Got caught up in -- matters involving a Hollywood cult in Los Angeles."

"Oh, that's an absolute shame. He was such a kind fellow. Excellent artist. I say, people I help with their researches have a real tendency to end up in asylums. I rather wonder if I'm cursed."

"It's quite a shame, yes. But he had some unfinished business that he's entrusted us with. Did you know anything about the drugs he was investigating?"

"Nothing at all! It is entirely dissimilar to any drug I have ever researched. I pointed him in the direction of the chemistry department but apparently they couldn't do anything either. Unskilled at anything that isn't explosions, that department."

Oswald does not ask if he has statistics on the number of people he's helped that have ended up in asylums because that question is insane.

"Exotic drugs are not my area of expertise anyway. At present I am focusing on some research in Ethiopia."

" - well that is either quite a coincidence or not a coincidence at all."

"Although I've been considering instead reorienting to some work on the Orkney Islands."

"What does your research into Ethiopia focus on?"

"I've been researching the Obelisk of Axum. Fascinating subject. Unfortunately, I am concerned it will be quite picked over by the time I convince the university to give me funding for an expedition."

He glances with confusion at the local Orkney for a minute but can conclude nothing in any direction.

His surname is also the name of a location; it happens.

"What makes this obelisk of interest to you?"

"The university is absolutely terrible, you know. The crew team gets as much money as it wants! But is there any money for academics? Absolutely not." Francis Hickering is NOT going to be helpful until he is DONE WITH HIS COMPLAINT.

Awkward sympathetic nod.

The rare books collection in the library says otherwise, Mordred does not say, with the patience of a person who has heard this argument many, many dozens of times.

"And those treasure hunters are coming! The Emporium of Bangkok Antiquities they're called. An 'independent research organization.' Pah! They'll melt down all the gold and break apart all the artifacts. No respect for academia whatsoever. Money-grubbing little philistines."

"Bangkok, huh?"

Man what is UP with this place.

Francis Hickering belatedly realizes he was asked a question. "The Obelisk of Axum is one of the stelae of Axum. The stelae were originally erected between the third and fourth century AD. Some are rough-hewn stone blocks three feet in length; others are nearly a hundred feet tall."

Anemone is just going to take out her notes right now and start scribbling.

"The Obelisk of Axum is one of the Seven Kings, the largest stelae in Axum."

Obelisks. Obelisks obelisks obelisks. He read a book about this.

"A fascinating subject! They appear to depict buildings that are ten to thirteen stories tall although of course actual Aksumite buildings were never more than three stories tall."

"We were actually planning to visit Ethiopia immediately after our visit to Miskatonic University. We're investigating another professor who who left to do some excavations in Dallol, about ten years ago."

"That's a rather long expedition, isn't it? Wouldn't he lose his funding?"

"His superiors don't actually seem to believe that he's alive anymore. He's been out of contact with them for some years."

"How do they get the obelisks nearly a hundred feet tall but not the buildings?" This is mostly to himself because it is irrelevant probably.

Francis Hickering is too much of a teacher to ignore this sort of opening. "Excellent question!" Francis says to Oswald. "We have no idea. It is one reason why it's so fascinating!"

Oswald is startled to be addressed and nods abruptly.

Maybe it's not irrelevant. "Have you heard of a thing called the Black Stone? I saw a reference to it in one of the books we've found, but wasn't at all sure what it meant."

"Ah! In Hungary. Yes. I haven't had a chance to research it myself but it is a fascinating monolith, isn't it? Totally indestructible. At least it won't be destroyed by treasure hunters." He sounds satisfied about this fact.

Notes notes notes. "I'm afraid we only have somewhat cursory information on it, do you know anything else about it?"

"Ancient monolith. All manner of fascinating superstitions about it. Anyone who lays a hammer to it will die horribly, it is said. Anyone who sleeps nearby will suffer nightmares for the rest of their life. But as I said, it's not my area."

"I'm sorry, I'm not sure I'm entirely clear on what your area is?"

"Ancient history. Well, I suppose it is ancient history. But I have not taken an interest in it."

"You're interested in the Ethiopian monoliths, rather."

"At the moment, yes. And the legends of the Orkney Islands as well."

"What legends, in particular?" She doesn't think they have a connection there yet but maybe it's related.

"I've only scratched the surface of the ocean myths, mind you. There's material for an entire book there. You'll want to talk to Professor Sims if you're interested in the subject, I've been corresponding with him. There are legends of the finfolk. Sorcerers, half-fish and half-man, with power over storm and sea. Unparalleled swimmers."

"Thank you very much. Where does this Professor Sims live, is he here or at a different university?"

"Oh, he's at Lyness University in the Orkney Islands. Rather far away, unfortunately."

"Yes, I understand. Was there a reason you were interested in these finfolk, in particular? Moreso than other myths?"

"They're very similar to our local legends here in nearby Innsmouth. I was planning to write a paper tracing the spread of the legends with Scottish immigrants."

Mordred feels some sort of way about that but is not sure what sort of way it is. "Huh," he says, doing his very best to sound interested and not freaked out.

"Anyway. I do so ramble on. Do you have any questions?"

"Is there anything else you can tell us about Ethiopia? Maybe a connection between these obelisks and the cult of" not Gol-Goroth ugh "the, uh, Liar from Beyond? Or, or there was another researcher involved, Bartolo Acuna, do you...?"

"Acuna, yes. He's the other archaeologist looting the obelisks. Taking them off to Italy, if you can believe it. As if there is no research benefit from seeing them in their original location! I understand there is a war happening soon but surely they can assign soldiers to guard the Obelisks. This is history! The common inheritance of humanity!"

"We happened to come across a book about the cults in the ancient kingdom of Axum, and their potential spread from there to Europe. Is that something you might know anything about? It was something that the professor who went to Dallol was looking into before he left. I suppose you might have heard of him? A George Ayers?"

"I don't know that the cults spread to Europe. But there were cults that sprang up along the Red Sea Coast in the fifth century BC, and a resurgence in the twelfth century during the Zagwe dynasty. Very interesting cults! Particularly popular among the aristocrats, which is quite unusual for cults."

"Cults of what, in particular?"

"Unfortunately, they were a mystery religion, so much information about their practices was lost. We do know a center of their worship is in Dallol. I hope you find George Ayers's notes and let him publish his paper. I was very interested in his work before he tragically disappeared. He was exploring fascinating territory. I am sure this is what he would have wanted."

"Yes, that's among the things we're looking into. Do you know anything else about the specifics of what he hoped to find there?"

"Unfortunately, I do not. The journals stopped publishing his work much before he disappeared. Dreadful tragedy. Their limited minds simply can't handle groundbreaking work!"

"Quite a pity." Although a lot of it was pretty impossible to read. "Maybe we can find out more. Um - you mentioned something about The Emporium of Bangkok Antiquities? What did you say they were doing here?"

"Allegedly researching the Obelisk for a private anonymous collector."

"Allegedly."

"Actually looting it for sale to the highest bidder. I know their type."

"I see. I - believe that there may be some possibility that the Los Angeles cult we were investigating may be - connected to, or attempting some revival of, whatever they know about this Ethiopian mystery cults? And we've heard that they also have ties to some sort of criminal organization in Bangkok." She is not remotely sure whether that's a wise thing to say, but, uh, she isn't very sure how to put these pieces together, or what else might cause Hickering to give them more useful information.

"Oh! Well, probably someone ought to do something about that."

"We are hoping to."

"Don't know how they'd revive a cult no one knows anything about. I suppose the students do it all the time. Every other day I swear some students are founding a secret society. Druids. The Rosicrucians. The Knights Templar. The Esoteric Order of Dagon."

"Yes. It's possible that the connections are more imagined than real, but I do think that's their aim. If you know anything that they might be looking into for the purposes of such a project - well, we're always thankful for leads."

"Unfortunately, I do not. Ethiopian cults were never my area of research. I know a little about the legends of the obelisks but they are all contradictory." He ticks them off on his fingers. "Some claim that they were raised by the Queen of Sheba when she declared Axum to be the capital of her kingdom. They are “sinkholes of ill fortune”; like giant magnets that collect bad luck. They were the last monuments raised by the heathens before Christ came to Abyssinia. Or they were the first monuments raised by King Ezana and Saint Frumentius after they founded the truly holy church. Rubbing the afterbirth on a monument will grant totemic powers to the child. Or a child who views the obelisks before their first birthday will be granted the sixth sight and be doomed as a witch."

"My impression was that the campus branch of the esoteric order of whatever it was were just Christians who liked to feel secretive, for whatever that's worth -- do you know where we'd look into these legends?"

"The library here has some information, but I'd say the best source is the Axum Ministry of Culture."

"And that'd be in Ethiopia?"

"Yes."

Well, she'll make a note of that. "Thank you very much, Professor. There are a few other things we've run into that we don't know what to make of, do you mind if I go down a list and ask whether you've heard anything about any of them?"

"Certainly."

She flips through her notes. "Nyarlathotep. The Liar from Beyond, probably one of the titles of Nyarlathotep. The Black Man, we think the same. Nephren-Ka. Azathoth. Ahtu. The children of the night. Bal Sagoth. The Thing in the Yellow Mask. Pale Death. The Akousmatikoi Proof. The Black Wind. The Crawling Mist. The Empress in Red. I can give more details if you think something might ring a bell."

"Nyarlathotep and the Liar from Beyond are mentioned occasionally in the Necronomicon, but they were not what I focused on. Nephren Ka is a legendary pharaoh and sorcerer who allegedly ruled for two hundred years; most scholars believe he is fictional. I do not know Ahtu. The Children of the Night are a legendary ethnicity associated with the Black Stone of Hungary. Bal Sagoth is an island quite like Atlantis. I don't know any of the others."

Great, the Nyarlathotep lead is yet another book.

Furious note-taking. "In what sense are the Children of the Night associated with the Black Stone?"

"They allegedly worshiped it, or at it."

"Everything I have on the Children of the Night is about them being in Central America, though there was a connection to the Black Stone. I didn't know it was in Hungary."

Francis Hickering spreads his hands. "Perhaps there are two groups with a similar name."

"Ordinarily I think that would be a safe assumption, but the mention of - do you know where in Hungary this stone is?"

"The village of Stregoicavar in the mountains."

She makes a note of it. "Thank you very much, Professor Hickering."

"You're welcome! Glad to help!"

Meanwhile--

Zoe, not being up to occult conversations just yet, decides to wander around the university campus. She'd try to take in student life, but it's winter break. Maybe there's a place to get a bite to eat, at least.

She finds a small, unlabeled cafeteria. All the food appears to be vegetarian.

Huh, that's unusual. Is it the conspicuously pretending to not be vegetarian sort of thing or is it more of the incidentally vegetarian sort? She pokes around to see if anything looks palatable. And also to see if it's okay for to buy something given she neither studies nor works here.

Incidentally vegetarian; there's a lot of Indian food. The cashier does not seem to object to Zoe paying, either because she's allowed to or because they don't recognize all the students.

Sweet. Zoe gets herself a plate of saag paneer.

Warm food! Warm indoors! The full use of her hands! Well, mostly. They're still a little achey but at least she can move all her fingers.

All the tables are taken, and most nearly full, except for one that has a woman in a flapper dress with a very irritated expression.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?"

"Not at all," the girl says. "You new?"

"Just visiting." She sets down her tray and takes a seat. "I like your dress."

Zoe is not fully back to her usual charming self and comes off as not quite all present.

"Thank you. It has pockets. --I am trying to consider whether I should study for finals."

"What's the alternative?"

"Well, I could not and rely on my raw genius," the girl says. (Upon closer inspection, she appears to be about sixteen.) "But it might be tempting fate to do that if I also never bothered to attend class."

"Have you read the books?"

"Can't read," the girl says. "The words all sort of swim in front of my face. Got a friend who will read books to me."

"Ah, that's a pain." She relates to this problem lately. "Good friend! Are they going to be studying for finals?"

"Yes, obviously. Most people are not nearly as good at things as I am. I'll have to see if I can talk the professor into an oral exam."

"Probably a good idea. Well, depending on the topic. It might be worth it to at least hang out with your friend while they study, even if you don't. If nothing else maybe you help them with something a bit as thanks for all the reading."

"That's true," she says cheerfully. "Keep thinking I should drop out but you can't get a job as a car mechanic if you're a girl. Even though I'm better than everyone else they have doing it."

"Oh, I have a friend who's a mechanic. He might not mind you being a girl, if you're good. I guess his customers might?"

She looks at Zoe hopefully. "Ooh, can you give me an introduction? --I guess my dad would be angry if I dropped out." She says this without much concern.

"Sure. He's in Manhattan though, so not like, right now. But if you're ever in that area, his name's Ralph Haas, and you can tell him Zoe sent you. How much longer do you have left?" Zoe does not really understand how university works.

"Oh, my parents live in New York. --Two years, assuming I manage to convince more professors I should take oral exams. But it is difficult if you don't attend class."

"Yeah, it's easier to convince people of things if they already know who you are. Why not go to class? It seems to me like if you're that good, you could answer all the questions during class and then by the time they wanted you to prove you knew things you could just point to how you said all that stuff during class."

Zoe really does not understand how universities work. She is unclear what it even means to take a class and then not go. But apparently part of it is you still have to take a test.

"I don't want to go to class because they're boring because I already know everything."

"Why take a class if you already know everything?"

"So I can meet a husband and get married."

Bitterness.

"I thought you wanted to be a mechanic?"

"I want to be a mechanic. My father wants me to get married and have babies which will inherit the family fortune. We have somewhat of a conflict on this point. I was supposed to major in art history." She says this with rather the tone one would use to describe a cockroach.

Zoe makes sympathetic noises about having parental conflict, but does not fully understand because her parents are circus performers and she wanted to be a circus performer and they wanted her to be a circus performer and now she is a circus performer.

"What if you went to the professors outside of class to talk to them about how you already know all the things?" Zoe does not know what 'office hours' are so she cannot suggest them.

"That's what I'm going to try."

"Is talking to your professors over lunch a done thing?"

"They're in their offices sometimes."

"I think if I were you I would go be in their offices a lot and talk to them about things that were interesting and show them how I already know all the things. But I guess maybe it's too late for that with these finals."

She thinks about it. "Maybe I could find the ones who aren't stupid and only take classes from them."

"Yeah, and the ones who let you take oral exams. That way you don't have to convince them over and over again. Instead of new ones each time you can just be like 'hey it's me the person who aced that oral exam you let me take last time, can I do another?'"

"Hm. You have smart thoughts, Zoe. --Say, what are you doing here?"

Zoe pauses for a moment to consider how to explain why she is here in an appropriate way.

"My friends and I are trying to stop a drug trafficking murder cult from summoning some sort of evil god that might destroy the world. One of the professors here wrote some books that make us think he might know things that could help, so my friends are talking to him now. I came here to eat instead because last night I woke up in a field in Pennsylvania and I still don't know how I got there, and I decided that on account of that I did not feel up to having long conversations about things like people dying."

Zoe has no idea what is appropriate and normally would maybe try to be more circumspect but she is still very tired and cannot think of a good cover story.

Look, she seems all right. And she seems smart, so if Zoe lets her know up front about the people dying then probably she will probably understand that she should not get involved.

"Huh. You live an interesting life."

"Before that I was a circus performer. It was a lot easier."

"Sounds cool. How do you get into the 'fighting a drug trafficking murder cult' business?"

"Well, one time I fought a ghost, and I guess someone mentioned that to this rich lady whose dad left a bunch of unfinished 'fighting a drug trafficking murder cult' business behind. And she didn't want to do it herself so she's paying me and some other people to do it. The pay is good but I can't recommend it. Apparently two of my friends died a couple days ago? But I can't remember it. It still seems fake but everyone else is very sure of it and honestly nothing seems very real these days."

Zoe does not remember what happened to Lacie, but apparently they did not get her back, so probably she's dead?

"Hm. That's fair. Well, if you ever need someone to join you in the drug-trafficking murder cult business I'd be happy to. I know a lot about explosives. The chemistry department here is weirdly into explosives."

"Huh. Well, maybe if we knew how to explode things, we would have been able to save them? I couldn't say. But thanks for the offer. If I ever really need to explode something I'll come look you up. Until then, probably better to stay in school. Or run away and become a mechanic."

"Reasonable. I'll look your guy up."

Zoe writes down his address for her.

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome. I hope your finals go well, whether you decide to study or not."

Meanwhile--

Okay, Anemone wants to look up, uh, anything about the children of the night or the black stone because she is currently ??? about those things.

It seems like if any library might have info on them it'd be this one.

Everyone should spend the afternoon in the library.

They don't find anything. If the information exists, it might be in the rare book section they don't have access to.

As usual she has no idea how to locate anything in a library.

The Miskatonic Library is broken today.

Anemone is going to fast talk the librarian.

The librarian is not budging. If you are not a researcher with REAL credentials you CANNOT look in the library.

Anemone has him with her! He's an alumnus he is in fact allowed to be here.

Is he allowed to be in the rare book section though. Does he have credentials and a plan for research that he filed with the administration. These books are rare and valuable and they do not let random people off the street at them.

Does he even know which book he is looking for.

Well. Maybe she can come back later with forged credentials and attempt to fast talk a different librarian, but right now they should probably head to Rome.

They stay overnight in Arkham, fly to London, stay overnight in London, fly to Rome, and are there by the morning of the fifteenth.

The bad news is that Bartolo Acuna is in Ethiopia and not his apartment.

Um given that he's a cultist Anemone thinks this is arguably good news.

She is going to break into his apartment.

It is a completely normal and ordinary apartment. 

Huh.

...what if they talk to the university he works for?

Bartolo Acuna teaches at the Sapienza – Università di Roma. They talk to a very unhelpful department secretary who eventually produces Acuna's reports from the 1924 expedition.

September 14, 1924

Director Rossi:

You have asked for a clear accounting of our progress, and although it is tempting to paint a happy face on our experiences in order to reassure you, frankly, I no longer have the stamina for it.

Our progress, in short, is leaden. After our initial success and promising discoveries on the outer walls, our momentum has come to a complete halt. Our supplies have been interrupted time and again, our workers subscribe to an incomprehensible array of holidays on which they will not work, and I am beginning to believe the American, Ayers, is a drug addict. 

In all frankness, it is as though we are cursed by conspiratorial forces acting always beyond our grasp.

That is my accounting of our progress. It is fortunate the Universita is not paying for these efforts.

Yours,

Bartolo Acuna

:(

"It sounds like we should probably follow him to Ethiopia?"

"Assuming we don't want to stop off in Malta while we're around. It's nearby but it sounds scary."

"Wait, what's in Malta?"

"Malta has at least one more outpost of the cult. Also possibly other things but I'm hesitant to poke the cult again this soon, yeah."

We do not want to go to Malta. No more stops. Ethiopia or fucking bust.

"Yeah, I'd just as soon steer clear of them for now."

To Ethiopia! Sorry Frank for all the frequent flying.

They stay over in Rome that night and in the morning do the three-hour trip to Massawa, Ethiopia.

They arrive at an airport about 30 minutes north of Massawa with a single paved runway. The dun-colored terminal blends in with the brown scrub and patchy earth of the wide, flat plains. It's run entirely by Italian colonial forces. There are chartered flights by Ala Littoria (Italian state-owned airline) available, but no civilian service.

As they prepare to leave, they are stopped by the entry inspector.

"Hello," he says, with a thick Italian accent. "You American?"

"We are."

"Why you come to Ethiopia?" He glances at Magnificence. "With monkey."

"We're searching for a friend. An archeologist. He's fallen out of contact with his university."

He looks VERY suspicious of this claim.

"Why you not wait till crisis over?"

"Well, if we wait until the war is over, our friend might be dead before we find him."

"Hmph. American come in, American cause trouble. Don't want any trouble. Especially with monkey."

"We also do not want any trouble. Nor does the monkey."

"We don't want any trouble either, sir. Our friend is American, too. Maybe we can convince him to leave? But we would have to find him, first."

"Monkey always want trouble."

This man LOVES Magnificence and wants to be FRIENDS.

:D

Oh no.

Can someone please grapple the monkey.

She will firmly hold Magnificence's hand.

Look Magnificence. She has a snack.

Her animal handling is Poor but her strength is Strong.

Magnificence wants to take a picture of his friend.

He takes out his camera, which is hidden in a watch, and attempts to photograph the customs inspector.

...It might not be a very good picture.

"Monkey has a watch."

"He likes the ticking sound. Gives him something to focus on when people are talking. Keeps him out of trouble."

"Hm." He seems impressed in spite of himself at this skillful monkey training.

"He's really quite a well-trained monkey, sir. But I like to make things easy for him."

Yes, Anemone is very impressive. Please be impressed with her and drop the monkey charges.

"You taking American friend away from Ethiopia?"

"Yes, sir. If we can find him."

"What you think Il Duce?"

Zoe has no idea about global politics. Is she supposed to like Il Duce or not like him.

Presumably she is supposed to like him? But what if this guy is part of some sort of Ethiopian secessionist movement.

Anemone recognizes that "Il Duce" is how Mussolini is referred to by fascists, and that the Italian entry inspector for a proto-war-zone is probably loyal to the dictatorial government.

"A great leader, sir. The Americans would do well to respect him."

He is just simply keeping his mouth closed.

Zoe is not going to contradict Anemone here unless she is VERY certain. Which she is not.

Smile! Nod!

"Yes. Il Duce make Italy strong."

"A very good quality in a leader, sir. We could learn a thing or two."

"Hm." He stamps their entry papers. "Be safe. Ethiopia dangerous. Even for American."

"Thank you, sir. We will be as safe as we can."

"Thank you very much, sir. We'll be in and out as quickly as we can."

The Italian military presence in Massawa is overbearing, with soldiers and their transport, from cars and trucks to camels, choking the roadways near the port. Many local buildings have been commandeered for use as barracks, with many temporary shelters also having been set up both inside the city limits and outside it.

The architecture is mixed. Ottoman buildings are predominant, but they see some Western-style buildings, including St. Mary’s Cathedral and the Banco d’Italia.

I Hate This.

Nearly all the hotels have been filled with soldiers. The investigators attempt to book a room at the Hotel Internazionale, which caters to Europeans, but discover that the soldiers have raised the prices well above their price range. So they must go to a cheaper hotel.

The Hostel Arido is located on the outskirts of Massawa. The walls are thin boards; the wind whistles through them night and day. The windows have no glass, letting in all manner of biting insects at night.

Do we have... ANY protection against insects. Should we hang something over the window at least.

"Fellas, I have the sense we should have perhaps prepared more extensively for coming here. Maybe hired a local guide."

"Um. I speak Italian? I don't know if that helps?"

"That is absolutely going to help, yeah."

They are slightly less doomed than previously assumed.

Anemone buys a map of the region.

Dallol village is a very small outpost of civilization — if it could even be called such — over the Eritrean border, in Ethiopia proper.

Mersa Fatma is a small port farther down the coast from Massawa. Like Massawa, it’s in Italian Eritrea rather than Ethiopia proper. It’s the next logical stepping-stone to Dallol, the site of the 1924 dig. Dhows travel regularly between Massawa and Mersa Fatma.

There is a railway from Mersa Fatma to Massawa.

The newspapers aimed at Europeans inform them that:

-Benito Mussolini demanded an apology from Abyssinia (independent Ethiopia) over the Welwel incident, a border clash between Italian and Abyssinian troops, calling it a "sudden unprovoked aggression."
-Parliamentary elections were held in Portugal. The National Union was the only party on the ballot and claimed 100% of the vote.

Wow I Hate That

The investigators manage to obtain provisions and desert-related supplies, in spite of them being more expensive because of the Italian military. 

Anemone brought a motorcycle and four military-grade bicycles that are capable of riding on desert sand.

She has her two guns. She has some ammo for them. She has Magnificence. She has her tent because She Thinks They Might Need It. She has some very light stuff like her binoculars and her watch camera and her sewing kit and her flashlight and her small first aid kit. She has her forgery tools. She has a bicycle and motorcycle repair kit. She has quinine. She has a map and a compass. She is leaving behind the books except for the Kebra Nagast, the book on Aksumite Cults, and Unaussprechlichen Kulten. She is taking the warding stone and telling Frank to keep the fire extinguisher and stay with his plane and keep the entire library from burning down if one of the books catches fire. She has fifteen days' supply of water, gasoline, and food.

A rosary for good luck, a notebook, a flashlight, and a pocketwatch camera.

Handgun, rosary for good luck.

Zoe has a pocket knife, a shotgun, ca igarette lighter, pocketbook, handkerchiefs, compact, gloves, first aid stuff, urbex stuff, and a motorcycle.

Lev is not so much with the possessions. He can carry extra water.

They wake up in the morning and take a dhow, which is a kind of ship, to Mersa Fatma. They disembark on the docks.

Mersa Fatma is a small town dominated by two large buildings: to the East, the large looming headquarters and warehouses of the Compagnia Mineraria Coloniale; to the West, an ancient nunnery. Most of the houses in Mersa Fatma are boarded up like no one lives there, and there are many fewer people than the streets seem to be built for.

(News stories of the day: Flooding of the Tiber drove 1,000 residents of Rome from their homes; death of Oemar Said Tjokroaminoto, a famous Indonesian trade unionist.)

Wow uh. Glad we didn't stay in Rome.

Yeah, that sounds bad.

In a different way than she expected Rome to be bad tho.

"So we were going to ask around and see if anyone remembers Ayers, right? But this place is nearly a ghost town."

"I thought we were going to go to Dallol. Iguess we could also ask whether anyone remembers Ayers, but this sounds hard given that Lev is the only one of us who speaks Italian, we don't know who might remember him, and also it was ten years ago."

"We might as well ask around while we're here. The ancient nunnery seems like a better place to start intruding on the locals than the looming headquarters, in any case."

"Yeah i'd rather check out the nunnery." Even though it's PROBABLY evil let's be real. "Less bad than accosting random people on the street."

There is a woman sitting at the front desk. She says something in Italian.

Lev translates. "Hello. Are you travelers?"

"Yes, we are. We're looking for an archaeologist friend of ours. He came here quite a while ago, though, and hasn't written recently, so we're not very sure where to look for him. Last we heard, he was digging for something in Dallol."

Man, Anemone is kind of rolling her eyes at herself for wandering up to random people and being like 'Hi. I am looking for an archaeologist who was probably here idk a decade ago. Do you know anything?' but like what else are they gonna do other than just head straight to Dallol?

Lev translates this, and the nun replies with:

"Well, I'm afraid you won't have much luck. There hasn't been an archaeological dig in Dallol since 1926."

"What happened in 1926?"

"A volcano erupted and destroyed the entire dig."

Honestly, this is already way more information than she was hoping for. Accosting random people with questions about things that happened ten years ago doesn't usually go this well.

He was uncertain about asking around but thank fuck they did.

Thank you, Berhane, for telling us this PROMPTLY and not letting them go FOUR HOURS BOTH WAYS without revealing that the thing they are looking for doesn't exist.

One person in Ethiopia knows how to do their job! (And this isn't even really part of hers!)

Yeah, she thinks this cannot actually be described as doing her job. One person in Ethiopia is helpful above and beyond the call of duty.

"Unfortunately, as I understand it, they all died except for one of the archaeologists."

Lev is making a face as he translates.

"Well that's terrible. - do you know who the survivor was?"

"Bartolo Acuna. I don't know what he's up to now. He was negotiating with the CMC-- they were the ones who supplied the expedition."

His face is becoming even more of a face.

She jots this down. "Thank you. Perhaps we can get in touch with him and learn more about what happened."

"The CMC is -- the company with the warehouses here?"

"Yes. Twenty years ago they mined potash in Mersa Fatma. But five years ago they discovered potash elsewhere, in a place that is less likely to kill white people. No offense. So there is only a small staff remaining."

"That makes sense. Thank you very much for the information."

Sorry Lev. Translating what happened to Ayers cannot be pleasant for him.

YES. HIS LOVER APPARENTLY BURNED TO DEATH IN A VOLCANO, WHICH IS A TERRIBLE DEATH ACTUALLY.

He started kind of tearing up as the conversation got to the volcano, and his face is red by the end of it.

Well, they don't need to have any more of this conversation, then. They've already thanked the person.

When they get out, Lev is taking very very deep breaths and trying very hard not to cry. "He was my dissertation advisor," he says in explanation. "Ayers."

"I'm sorry. It's terrible, and you shouldn't have had to find out like this, now."

His lover burned to death in a volcano and he can't stop thinking about all the other people who DESERVE to burn to death in a volcano like SAMSON TRAMMEL and instead the person who burned to death was GEORGE who, admittedly, hurt kind of a lot of people but Lev loved him and that was the important thing here.

Mordred has a deeply uncomfortable amount of detail on what George Ayers was to Lev and elects to not share it. Instead he's just going to keep an eye on Lev, along with all the other things he's keeping an eye on.

Which is kind of a lot of things but hey it means he's not worrying about his brother or the cult or mouths so that's a plus.

Oswald can reach out and grab his hand. He's not used to spontaneously initiating physical contact but it's not like he's never clung sobbing to Lev in public before.

(He does not voice any of his thoughts because he keeps thinking about the preserved bodies of Pompeii.)

Handholding is nice. There is an uncomfortable amount of modeling he has to do here about who can figure out that he and Oswald are-- the thing they are-- but that can wait until after he is not dealing with fact that his lover BURNED TO DEATH IN LAVA.

"Um. Probably we should go to the CMC? Or. It might be nice if I had a minute."

(He says this with the attitude of someone who expects to be yelled at later about it.)

Zoe gets out a canteen and offers him some water.

"Yeah. We have a minute."

Anemone is honestly very proud of him for asking for something!

"Yeah, let's go find a place to sit for a while."

They can find a place to be for a minute; Mordred will look back over his notes from the conversation with Hickering.

It should be noted as always that Oswald's method of holding hands is more like an iron grip than anything else. He believes in solidity and overkill.

In a low voice, a bit away from Lev, Zoe asks, "So um. I still don't remember a lot. Or maybe I missed some things? What exactly... are we hoping to do here, again? If Ayers is dead, I mean. All I remember is that we thought he might know things, but..."

"I think we still want to find out what exactly he came here for, and how it's connected to the cult. I'm honestly not sure whether we don't still want to go to Dallol, just in case there's some sort of evidence of what they were doing. Don't think Lev should come along, though, if we decide that's necessary. Probably isn't anything there anyway, just - I'd feel stupid if there was and we didn't even try looking for it. We should probably check with the CMC first, though."

"Lev's the only one who can speak the language, though."

"I guess that's true? But there probably isn't even anybody at the Dallol dig, if it was destroyed by a volcano eight years ago. I guess it'd probably be hard to identify a ruined dig site by looking."

"Fair. Do you know what we'd be looking for? Anything from any of your books, or from Hickering, about what Ayers would have been digging up? All my books were about. Uh. Stars. And eyes. And poems."

"One of the books - the one about ziggurats of the Aksumite Empire - talked about monoliths and Hickering mentioned them too."

"So we're looking for... a big rock?"

"An obelisk nearly a hundred feet tall, I don't expect we'll miss it."

"Wow, yeah. That seems like it would, uh, stand out."

She flips through her notebook. "According to Ayers's notes, he thought that Acuna had uncovered an ancient site of worship for a deity that he thought might be the same as the focus of the Los Angeles cult. That sounds potentially important enough that we might want to make the trip to Dallol anyway, even if there might be nothing there now."

"Yeah, if we can find anything that didn't get buried in lava that tells us about that cult, that would be good."

"If there isn't anything there, I guess our next step is probably to track down Acuna; the college in Rome thought that he was investigating the Obelisk of Axum, which Hickering also seemed to think might be related. Or - weird and interesting, anyway."

"Acuna's the one who survived, right? We should definitely try to find him."

"Yeah, he's the one who got away from the dig in 1924. I don't think we have evidence that he's a member of the cult himself, but we should be careful dealing with him anyway. Probably our best lead at this point, though."

"Alright. Did Hickering say anything else about the Obelisk, or cult stuff, or anything like that? I wasn't really all back yet the day you all spoke with him."

He talked about the Orkney Islands, Mordred considers saying, but he's still not actually sure it isn't just a slightly eerie coincidence, unlike the Ethiopia thing there's no actual evidence it's connected.

"Uh, he said it was really weird? That it depicted structures many more stories tall than those known to be built by the ancient Aksumites? And he also said some stuff about another big monolith thing in - Hungary, I think, that might be connected with the Children of the Night, from one of the books we got from Ayers's stash, although those were legends from Mexico, so I'm not entirely sure how they're related, if they are - "

She pages through her notes for a while.

"And he said there was a group of people in Bangkok who were interested in it."

"Bangkok keeps coming up. If the Bangkok drug-cult sect is interested in it, it's gotta be important. They keep showing up any time there's something important. Okay, so, we go to Dallol, we see if there's a huge Obelisk, we look around the Obelisk for -- weird culty stuff? And then we see if we can find Acuna?"

"Oh!" she says, looking up from skimming. "Axum ministry of culture. Hickering said that the Axum ministry of culture might have more information about the obelisk."

"The Obelisk is at Axum, not Dallol, the aim at Dallol is to see if we can figure out what the dig was looking for and to check if there's anything important still there."

"Oh, Axum is a place, not a weird god. Whoops."

"And yeah, the obelisk is a separate thing from Ayers's dig site. Ayers's old dig site is right near here, still, so I think we should probably still check it out before we head off to Axum. Probably we should talk to the CMC first, though?"

"So... we go to the Dallol, see if Ayers' notes help us find anything at the lava-covered dig? And then go to Axum and talk to the ministry of culture and look for an Obelisk, and then we try to find and talk to Acuna? --Right, and the CMC. Which is here and we should go poke around."

"I think so, yeah."

"Yeah, that sounds like a plan." Mordred is still flipping through his notes. "Uh, other things Hickering talked about...... oh, he knew the name Nyarlathotep, it's in something called the Necronomicon. A Pharaoh who allegedly ruled for two hundred years called Nephren Ka. An island similar to Atlantis. At this point I'm writing down anything that comes up next to the things we already know about and I'm starting to wish I had a corkboard and string."

"Nyarlathotep was that word that Winston put on Henslowe's letters, right? Did he say anything about -- wait what? Nephren Ka? Is that like... a really popular Egyptian name or something?"

"I don't... think so? I wouldn't necessarily know if it was but when Anemone said the name he thought of a specific Pharaoh so I'm guessing probably not?"

"Pretty sure it's not a common name. Why, have you heard it somewhere before?"

"It's just weird because I met a guy with that name just like... a week or two ago? Back in New York. Well, met might not be the right word - he used to come to the circus a lot." Like, at shows all over. He was some kinda groupie. You might also know him, actually?"

Oswald notices Zoe seems to be reacting to something in some way and tries to figure out from this alone if she's going to also have a breakdown.

"I never spoke to him before but I ran into him while we were the city and he wanted an autograph. And he said his name was Nephren Ka. He had to spell it out for me and everything. I gave him my picture... I signed it and thanked him for being a fan. I figured Nephren Ka was probably a normal name where he was from."

"Well that's.... moderately concerning."

"It could just be a coincidence," Mordred says, unconvincingly and unconvinced.

"Maybe he's just named after the supposedly immortal pharaoh tied into all the other... weird cult stuff we're nosing around in."

"What, and he shows up right now?"

"Ugh I wish I could remember what else he said. He said some weird stuff."

"Apparently he'd been going to shows for a while, well before Zoe got involved in all this."

"He sticks out of a crowd a bit. Especially when he's there in the midwest same as the city." Zoe is trying to wrack her poor mangled memory. "He... heck. I think he told me I ... shouldn't trust liars? Or something like that? Something about how I should have a shooting act?? I'm sorry, if he said something important I have no idea anymore."

It doesn't make sense for something to do with the cult to have been following Zoe for years beforehand, Mordred tries to tell himself.

Unless that's retrocausal somehow, unless they've always been involved in all this, shut up brain now is not the time to be anxious about Hickering mentioning Scottish immigrants from the Orkney Islands and small towns near Innsmouth --

So he was around before... or was he? (dun dun dun) Oswald does not say because he is all the way over here comforting Lev, even if he is now eavesdropping, and also it would be rude.

But Zoe did suddenly develop a bunch of weird memory stuff.

"Well. We're looking into the cult of the Liar from Beyond, and that doesn't sound innocent to me."

"The cult has a name?? The cult's name is Liars???"

"The cult doesn't have a name but the thing they worship does."

"I mean, we think it's ultimately a cult devoted to the service of something called Nyarlathotep? And the thing they keep calling him is the Liar from Beyond."

"Okay so... this spooky immortal guy who has apparently been following me around for a decade showed up just to tell me to beware of the evil god that's trying to, I don't know, end the world or eat everyone or something???"

Zoe is starting to think that everyone is probably secretly in on the cult stuff. She looks around warily at passersby.

"It's possible that he was somehow trying to warn you. But it's also possible that - Trammel spoke of Nyarlathotep being a pharaoh, and also owned the book that identified Nephren Ka as a pharaoh who was - one of the seven masks? Whatever that means? And, uh - I think those things are probably connected. Or at least that Trammel thought they were."

So Nyarlathotep is known as both Nephren Ka and the Liar from Beyond and some guy named Nephren Ka told Zoe not to trust the Liar--

"I want to say 'this is too weird and confusing' but honestly it's about as weird and confusing as everything else we've learned. Which.... still might be 'too,'"

"Yeah. ...well. I don't like this, but I don't really see what we can do about it, right now, besides - follow up on the stuff we were going to follow up on."

The CMC has seven warehouses and a set of "offices."

The offices seem to be primarily occupied by a dozen half-white half-black children playing while being watched by a much darker-skinned black woman.

Awwww. Kids are great. Hope you don't get eaten by an ancient horror, kids.

Lev asks the woman who the people in charge are, and she directs them to the offices of Federico Acquaronte.

He speaks with Lev for a few minutes, then says in English "We don't often see white people here in Mersa Fatma, what brings you here?"

"We were trying to find information on an archaeologist friend of ours. Apparently his dig was destroyed by a volcano about eight years ago. We'd heard that you might have funded it, and might have some records on what they were doing?"

"Oh, we didn't fund it, thank God. Can you imagine? No, it was funded by some philanthropist from America. Echvar or something like that. We just sold them supplies."

(He looks very bored, and glad for the chance to talk to someone.)

"Oh, I see. Good for you, I guess. Ah - Mr. Aarons was a student of one of the archaeologists, and had been hoping that we would be able to learn more about what he was studying here. If you have any records at all regarding what his mentor may have been working on, we'd be very grateful for more information."

"No, unfortunately, I only handled the business end. I think Eskander, my right-hand man, saw Acuna the other day in Massaua? Perhaps you can speak to him." He rolls his eyes. "Can't imagine why you would want to. Absolute nightmares to work with."

"Oh?"

"Acuna was insane and Ayers was a drug addict."

Gosh that sure is a face Lev is making right now.