It was a cold and snowy day. Herbert called to say Jackson Elias wanted to meet at the Chelsea hotel in room 410 at 8pm. Everyone arranged to meet there early for dinner. On going up to Jacksons room there was a cold draft coming under the door. Jackson did not reply to knocking though movement could be heard inside. Herbert and Dexter went to reception to ask them to open the room. When the manger opened the door he was attacked and killed by a coloured individual wearing some exotic headgear. There was another coloured individual behind, and a white gentleman in the process of climbing out the window. Jackson was lying murdered on the bed.

The coloured man who killed the manager then stepped forward and attacked Herbert and seriously wounded him with a large machette. Lother then drew a pistol and shot him in the head. The white gentleman climbed down the fire escape towards a car waiting below. Addison's gun jammed while trying to shoot him but Dexter shot him twice before he crawled into the car. As the car sped away Dexter shot the wheel causing it to lose control and crash.

The second coloured individual hacked at Lother, inflicting a vicious wound, then turned and attacked Rufus. Herbert regained consciousness long enough to drag Lother away before passing out again. Finally Dexter shot the second coloured individual in the chest, killing him.

The driver of the car had fled, but the gentleman that Dexter shot was dead. In the car Addison found a box of matches and two business cards, one with a name written on the reverse [see here]. In Jacksons room two letters were found, a leaflet advertising a lecture by Prof [see here]. Cowles and a photograph and someone had carved a strange symbol into Jacksons forehead.

A Lt. Martin Poole and two police constables arrived to investigate the gunfire. He said Jackson was the ninth victim to have been found in the last two years with the symbol cut into their foreheads. He had details of six of them. They were:
Walter van Buzzkirk, a private eye.
Rev Elija J Johnson, a minister from Harlem.
Michael Conley, a long shoreman.
Richard Sederichi, a low level gumbar from one of the local criminal gangs.
Roberta Barlow from Harlem.
Adolf Therman.

The group decided to research the photo found in Jacksons room. It was found to have been taken in Shanghi of a boat called the Dark mistress. It was owned by Alfred Penhurst, and was British registered. Rufuso looked up Prof Anthony Cowles and found he was a professor of anthropology in the liberal arts building at New York university. He lived in a bungalow at Pickman between Garrison and West.

The team investigated one of the business cards and found the Penhew foundation was founded by Audbrey Penhew, one of the Carlyle expedition members. It was set up to fund expeditions to Egypt.

Herbert and Dexter flew to Boston to visit Harvard university and speak to Miriam Atwright. She said the book had disappeared under unusual circumstances and there had been a strange smell in the area where it had been stored. She said the information Jackson was looking for could be found in a book called the G'harne fragments which was a collection of papers by Nigel Blackwell, an African explorer. The rest of the team investigated the symbol that had been carved on Jacksons forehead. It was a long day of reading before more was found on the symbol. It was of a cult called the bloody tongue which was descended from a sect driven out of dynastic Egypt. They wore headpieces that the people who attacked Jackson were wearing. It was found there was further reference to the cult in the G'harne fragments, that it was printed by Sir Emory Smith and that there was a copy in the New York library.

The team went to the New York library. They said it would take several days to process membership applications. the team then looked into Emerson Imports. The owner was an Arthur Emerson and they acted as an agent for foreign imports. Silas N'Kwane was from Kenya and his last known address was JuJu house in Harlem, New York. In the afternoon Rufus visited Prof Cowles and got a summary of his lecture [see here].

The team all went to Harlem to find JuJu house. JuJu house was one of a number of residences off a courtyard. There was a coloured man lounging about and smoking. JuJu house was a shop which sold African collectables. The black individual behind the counter identified himself as Silas. Dexter showed him a picture of the symbol that had been cut into Jacksons forehead. He denied any knowledge but Lothar thought he was lying.

Dexter tried to get information about some of the unusual weapons he was selling and whether he had sold any to anyone else. He was cagey and would not let anyone see the contents of his sales ledger. After Dexter spotted a trapdoor hidden under a rug, Lother restrained Silas and tied him up while Dexter opened the trapdoor. Rufus took the ledger and put it in his car for later study.

When Silas refused to tell Lothar where the light was, Lothar started punching him. Lothar is not normally violent but sometimes his experiences in the war affect him. Addison found a lantern under the counter which he lit. As the others descended into the cellar, Lothar found some keys on Silas and used them to lock the shops doors. The stairs descended to a short corridor ending in a stout door. There were some symbols carved in the walls.

The door was locked but one of the keys Lothar found unlocked it. In the room beyond there were unlit torches in holders round the walls and there were many African drums. Two poles were protruding from a wall with restraining straps at the end. A large stone block with carved symbols was in the centre attached to a pulley system in the ceiling. In the opposite wall was a curtain from which a bad smell originated and there what looked to be maggots crawling on the floor.

Lothar and Addison went back up to fetch Silas. When Addison looked out the door he saw two coloured men watching the shop. When they brought Silas down Lothar started threatening to cut him with his machete. When Dexter ungagged him he started uttering unintelligible words. Dexter knocked him unconscious but he curtain was pulled back revealing four walking corpses of black people with the symbol cut into their foreheads. We fled out the door and locked it behind us. Dexter looked through the keyhole and saw one of the corpses untying Silas.

Rufus heard the sound of something breaking above. The trapdoor was lifted and a coloured man started creeping down. Addison shot him, followed by Lothar and Dexter, but he was still alive. Four of them charged down the stairs. Addison shot the first again, finally killing him. Dexter then shot the second. Addison managed to dodge the machete blows. Dexter shot again, killing the second. Addison shot the third in the head and Lother shot the last, leaving him in a puddle of blood.

Lothar put some kerosene in some bottles then lit them. He threw one into the room after Dexter opened the door. It hit Silas setting him alight. Rufus waited at the door as the others went to the curtain. Beyond was the corpses. Lothar also spotted a sceptre, mask and other paraphernalia on shelves. The other bottles were thrown, setting the corpses on fire. Everyone then fled back through the door and Rufus relocked it. The team waited for the fire to burn out.

The objects on the shelves had survived. They found a robe, a set of gloves with lion claws, a book titled Africas dark sects, a wooden mask, a copper coloured bowl (Lother examined it and said it was not actually copper) decorated with runes, a wooden sceptre with Egyptian hieroglyphs and a headband of grey metal. The book was stamped 'property of Harvard university'. Rufus photographed the symbols on the walls and stone before everyone left.

The team went for lunch. Dexter tried on the mask and it melded to his face. The pupils of its eyes turned black. A few seconds later the mask fell off. Dexter said he had suffered a hallucination. He described being on an endless chessboard under a starless sky. A chariot approached, pulled by stallions with manes of fire. The rider was a wiry man with a harpoon. He stopped and extended his arm to Dexter who climbed on. The man asked why he was there and whether he worshipped the outer gods. He said he was Nodens, lord of the great abyss and said he could be called upon once.

After lunch the team went to visit Jacksons publisher, Jonah Kensington. He said Jacksons funeral would be at the seaman's church in Manhattan on the 23rd. He had heard Jackson had visited China, Africa and London. Jackson claimed he had dug up lots of stuff, seen unbelievable things, and discovered a plot of worldwide proportions. The plot had a timetable and he needed to find out more. He was returning to New York on the freighter Phal-arope. Jonah showed a letter he had received from Jackson last year, and some notes Jackson had sent [see here].

The team then went to the medical affairs board to try to get the medical records of the Carlyle expedition. They agreed to viewing Dr Huston's files under supervision but it would take a day to arrange.

The group then drove over to West 57th street to visit Bradley Grey, the solicitor who handled Roger Carlyle's sister Erica's affairs where they requested access to Roger Carlyle's books. Rufus then went to develop the photographs he took earlier while Lother and Dexter went to speak with inspector Poole. They were told the white gentleman who was involved with Jacksons death was called Conway, and they were given his address. He also said they had been consulting with Dr. Mordecai Lemming, a folklorist, about the murders. Herbert started studying the book we found in JuJu house. He found it described vile acts like cannibalism and bestiality in Africa. In the back he found a page titled 'create zombie' with a list of instructions and symbols. There was a bookmarked page about the bloody tongues cult [see here].

The team met for breakfast. Herbert came in clutching the Africa's dark sects book with a tale about someone playing tricks on him, putting him to bed and hiding the book which he found wrapped in vellum and buried in the garden outside the hotel. The page which had been bookmarked had been ripped out. The book had footnotes written in Swahili. A message was received saying the G'harne fragments was now available for viewing at the library.

Herbert and Addison went to the medical centre to look through the records of the Carlyle expedition. [see here].

Rufus went with Dexter to take a look at the G'harne fragments. It was wrapped in vellum. They read through the book [see here for summary] While reading the book Dexter went into shock and started acting strangely like he did not know where he was. Rufus took him to a speakeasy to recover.

Lother went to see Prof Cowles with the photographs Rufus took. He identified the symbols as being from an African tribe called Kikuyu and represented evil. He then met Herbert and Addison in the afternoon and went to see Jacksons publisher to ask him about Dr. Mordecai Lemming, and were given his address. He also had a dossier about Dr Huston and the rest of the expedition members. [see here]

Lothar spent the night in Herberts room. At about 2am he woke to find Herbert clutching the book and sleepwalking. He followed Herbert into the street outside the hotel before waking him. In the morning the Africa's dark sects book was taken to prof Cowles to translate the footnotes. Herbert was reluctant to hand it over.

The team then drove to Conway's abode to search it. Rufus found a machete under the mattress and a package containing some rolled up papers and a bottle labelled potassium bromide. The paper had 'Payment in due Mukunga'.

The group then walked to a speakeasy called fat maybelles where Conway frequently went. Dexter asked the owner about Mukunga. She said he kept to himself. There was a bad juju about him and people were scared of him. She said he was in the basement and the entrance was behind the bar. He came in a few months ago and took over. Addison said to the room 'anyone who does not want a fight should get out now' a group stood up looking menacing but when Dexter glared at them hey sat down again. Lother found a shotgun behind the bar which he gave to Addison.

The team descended into the basement. It was littered with shelves and crates. A pentagram was painted on the floor and there was a hat box containing some headgear worn by the bloody tongues. Herbert heard a noise but when Dexter and Addison went to investigate they saw a rat scurry behind a crate next to the wall. Dexter lit his lighter and saw the crate had a hinge so the side would fold down. Dexter opened the crate and there was a draft of hot air from within. The crate was covering a hole down into the subway. Dexter thought the stone looked like it had been eaten away.

Addison tried climbing down, slipped and fell. Shouts were heard from below and the group slid down after him. There were two of the bloody tongue cultists attacking Addison with machetes. Addison shot the first cultist with the shotgun and Lothar then killed the cultist with a machete. Dexter shot the other cultist before Lothar hacked him to death with his machete.

The group was in a short passage with a subway tunnel at the end. As the group fought a train passed. A tunnel had been burrowed under the subway tracks and Dexter led the group down. The tunnel finally opened out into a cavern. On the floor was painted the same symbol that had been found on Jacksons forehead. On the far side was a curtain. There were three cultists chanting and two of the walking corpses seen previously at the JuJu house. One of the cultists was wearing a feathered robe and chanting "Mighty one I implore you, send a servant to track down those responsible for the attack on JuJu house and the theft of your artefacts."

Dexter opened fire and shot the chanter through the heart then in the head. Lothar shot another cultist, killing him instantly. Rufus and Addison shot the third but only wounded him. Addison then fired again, killing him. Everyone opened fire on one of the walking corpses. Lothar tried throwing a Molotov cocktail at the other but missed. One corpse was stopped by having its limbs shot off. Before the second corpse was stopped, a hideous wailing came from behind the curtain and a grotesque wormlike creature covered in human faces emerged. It charged at Rufus and bit him.

Lothar continued attacking the second corpse, chopping off one of its legs. Herbert pulled back the curtain to reveal another chamber with a roughly hewn pit. Two Badly beaten negros were tied to the walls. Rufus shot the worm but the bullet ricochet off. Herbert released the negros who fled. Dexter picked up a staff dropped by the head cultist and did something with it. An unbelievably huge creature appeared from a portal that appeared in the ceiling. It bit the worm and pulled it into the portal which then vanished. Lothar and Herbert went mad at the sight.

The team limped back up the tunnel to the basement of the speakeasy. They took the subway to Bellevue sanatorium and admitted Lothar and Herbert for treatment.

Rufus, Addison and Dexter attended Jacksons service at the seaman's church in Manhattan then the burial at the Evergreen cemetery in Brooklyn.

The team picked up the translations of the footnotes found in the book 'Africas dark sects'.

Herbert and Lothar recovered after a month in the sanatorium. Rufus spent the month reading the G'hane fragments. The book contained four spells. They were:
Contact Cthonian - Cthonian were a servitor race of a great old one called Cthuhlu. They were also called star spawn.
Contact eldar thing - Elders came from earth's history of 1 billion years ago.
Contact Shudde M'ell - A god. It was rumoured he was worshiped by druids and people who built the city of G’harne. Shudde M'ell was a vast creature capable of causing earthquakes.
Red sign of Shudde M'ell - A spell which causes one or several victims to die horribly.

Dexter read Africas dark sects and learned how to create zombies.

The team visited the solicitor Bradley Grey. He said Erica was willing to be interviewed. They visited her on her Westchester estate outside New York. She explained Sir Aubrey Penhew kept the notes of expedition but were probably lost when the expedition went missing. She suggested talking to Gavagon in Penhew institute in London who might know more. Robert Carlyle's safe contained four books titled The Pnakotic manuscripts, Selections de Libre D'Ivon, People of the Monolith and Life as a god.

Erica agreed to lend the books as long as they were returned to which the group agreed. Back at his hotel, Dexter received a telephone call from Jonah to see how the meeting had gone. When Dexter told him the team was planning on travelling to London he suggested speaking to Micky Mahone and Inspector James Harrington of Scotland yard.

The rest of the day was spent browsing through the books.
Rufus took the Pnakotic Manuscripts home to read
Selections de Libre D'Ivon was taken by Dexter
Herbert looked through People of the Monolith
Lothar tried reading through Life as a god but being German could not understand it and so Addison took it while Lothar went to book passage on a ship called Lauren Tides which was leaving in two days for Southampton, England.
Rufus woke and found his clothes torn, his mirror broken and his living room messed up. The book had driven him temporarily mad. [Summary of the books]

In the morning the team discussed the books. Dexter was called away to do some test flights so would not be able to travel to London. The others caught the ship to Southampton. During the cruse they met Delores when Lothar had a psychotic episode brought on my seeing a bright yellow life jacket. She performed in evening, and was a dreadful singer, but everyone put on a pretence of enjoyment as she is very rich and not someone to upset. She was interested in the occult and was interested in joining the team in their investigations.