Darwin, Australia. Boy, am I ever glad to be somewhere that speaks my language for once, someplace I actually feel like I belong, someplace not as dreary and dirty as Shanghai's streets!
Grey Dragon Island... how it loomed sinister and smoky on the horizon as the sun peered over it like a great red eye, watching us all. It might have been beautiful, a tropical paradise... if we hadn't known better. If we didn't know, or see, what was under its placid surface. If we were naive.
There is never a dull moment in this group, is there? First we encounter cultists worshiping a dark aspect of Chaos Itself, then we encounter bizarre starfish-like beings and ghouls, and now this.
I feel like I've just escaped a car crash right now - dizzy from how fast things are moving and how quickly tides have shifted. But even still, I did not expect to go from being secure in my position at the top of the underground in Shanghai to aboard a "borrowed" ship sailing towards my rival's base of operations, with a group of Communists and four people I barely know.
Still, it's not the craziest thing I've seen or weathered, not by a long shot. It has been a rough night. My sleep is troubled by flashes of the horrors we saw at the Manor... and I was not the only one so affected by that forsaken place, either, not by any stretch of the imagination. I had known these experiences would change me. I did not, however, expect it to change Laurent so... viscerally as well as mentally.
Isn't this about the third or fourth time we've all gotten our asses kidnapped by now? Because I'm beginning to get some serious deja vu here...
More and more often, I am beginning to find myself torn between my lust for adventure and my concern for my safety. There's definitely something not right about Ho Fong, despite how long I've known the man - and this dinner invitation only proves that. Not only that, but accepting it proves we're all either idiots, insane, or both.
You can really tell a lot about a man by their standards of living and tastes in decor. What you can't tell about them - or even avoid - is how vulnerable they are to the truth of the things that lurk just outside the gilded penthouse doors. Case in point, Mr. Xiao Jen-kai. How could I have forgotten one of the most eccentric businessmen I'd ever met?
A lady never reveals her secrets, and I am certainly more reputable a lady than most in my profession. I will admit, I didn't believe the foreigners at first, but hardly would have said that - especially after paying a visit to a certain Mr. Lung, an astrologer by trade...
Friends, we live in a far stranger world than I had given credit for, and Allah's ways are more mysterious and wondrous than I could ever have imagined. There are beings from far before the fall of Adam, the First Creations as I have taken to calling them - and we have met them, firsthand. Not only that, but we have spoken with one of them.
Ah yes, the Purple Flower Temple and the Dragon Dance... I almost forgot to mention that little excursion. I do not think you will blame me for forgetting, not after I tell you what occurred during it.
In Shanghai, they know how to spin lies bigger than anywhere else in the world. Unless, of course, they're not lies. But who trusts some of these people anyway, especially in such a crime-ridden city as this?
I swear I didn't want to get dragged back into this, not when Mah'muhd needs me, but what choice do I have? These people certainly can't wander around Shanghai by themselves, especially when not a single one of them know any Chinese!
This is not how I expected to spend the next few months of my life. If anyone is reading this, presume I am dead, not kidnapped. It is safer for my family that way.
My Dearest Dr. Hildebrand,
Forgive me for hiding what I found from you. There is something wrong in camp, and I am certain you noticed given your privileged surgical position. Dr. Clive has been hiding something from the rest of us... The Black Pharaoh's cronies should be wary. We may have taken a blow, sure, but we're nowhere near finished yet.
I went to bed the other night with a good feeling about tomorrow. I woke up feeling more than a little uneasy...
We started in an ancient city, and ended up camping in the desert beneath the pyramids at Dhashur not far from a Bedouin guide outpost. The Saharan Desert is just full of surprises, isn't it?
We've been doing much better since March, let me tell you - at least remaining in the hospital has done some good for most of us, and I've been able to catch up on my reading as well!
Well, the past few weeks could have all gone better, and I can't imagine how it could possibly get any worse. You know the legend of the Sword of Damocles, always hanging over the king's head by a thread, ready to kill him when it fell? Well, we're all starting to feel like Damocles right about now, and the more we look at that sword above us, the thinner that little thread holding it is starting to look.
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About The Blog
Welcome to Musings 2.0, my personal blog here on WordFlow! Here, you can find out what I'm doing now and where I'm going next, as well as get my thoughts on the Cthulhu Mythos, assorted sundry writing topics, and various scientific topics. Archives
January 2019
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