Game system: Call of Cthulhu 6th ed
Dramatis personae
Carl Blackwater | Foreign correspondent | 31 yrs | Martin
Edward Foxworthy | Big game hunter | 34 yrs | Flan
Slim Shady | Attorney | 46 yrs | Djuro
Walter Wannabi | Explorer| 44 yrs | Flan
Preben van Task | Treasure hunter| 40 yrs | Djuro
Herrman Germain | Spy| 42 yrs | Martin
NPC
Mohammed Al Harbi | Criminal | 23 yrs | NPC
Link to background stories and portraits
Mombasa, Wednesday, March 18th, 1925 | noon
Arriving in Kenya
After disembarking the Karabodjan in the Old Harbour, and ferried by dhow to the Customs House, the investigators are duly questioned, mainly on the grounds of their possession of an unmotivated amount of rifles and handguns. They are however saved by the Kenyan big game hunter, Mr. Foxworthy, who says that the other investigators are his guests on the way to a safari. The customs officer still looks a bit suspicious – after all, what game animals do you hunt with a Mauser Broomhandle? But lacking further proof of malintent, he lets the investigators into the country.
The investigators decide to stay in Mombasa for a few days to investigate some Mombasan clues and check into the rather modern Manor Hotel. As they pause for a cold beverage in the hotel gardens, they notice a man in Indian garb, that they also saw earlier in the harbor. When the man realizes that he has been spotted, he disappears into the busy streets.
Next, the investigators decide to visit the Government House to see if they can pick up any clues there. They are met by Under-Secretary Mr. Royston Whittingdon, who accordingly to a New York news article (Handout #9) entertained the Carlyle Expedition in Collingswood House upon arrival in Mombasa. Unfortunately, Mr. Whittingdon cannot remember anything noteworthy about the occasion, other than what was published, but promises to see if he can find anything out.
Mombasa, Thursday, March 19th, 1925 | morning
Investigating the Singh warehouse
Earlier investigations have implicated that a certain Mr. Ahja Singh of Mombasa was the chief exporter of African goods and artifacts to Ju-Ju House in Harlem, New York. Hence, the investigators decide to pay his Kilindini Harbour warehouse a visit. Armed with bad experiences from all previous warehouse visits, the investigators approach the place with caution. As they enter the warehouse, they are first met by a group of openly hostile warehouse workers of mixed nationalities (Indian, African, Irish, and Arabic) but the foreman is friendly enough and explains that Mr. Singh is away on a business trip to India. The encounter turns ugly when the PCs insist on searching Mr. Singh’s office and the warehouse thugs attack. Too bad for them, the investigators are better armed and more used to brawls and the ensuing punch-up ends with a group of thugs with broken arms and legs and non-lethal wounds. The PCs then force the foreman to open the safe in the office. Inside, they find about 300 USD worth of money (British Pounds, Indian Rupees, and Egyptian Pounds), various invoices along with a ledger written mostly in Hindustani.
Even if none of the investigators read Hindustani, there are enough addresses and names in Roman letters to conclude that Ahja Sing ships to Ho Fong Imports in Shanghai, the Penhew Foundation in London, Omar Shakti in Egypt, Silas N’Kwane (c/o Emerson Imports) in New York, and Randolph Shipping Co in Australia (both Darwin and Port Hedland). There are also multiple entries for a Tandoor Singh in Nairobi. Most of the international shipments are listed as objects of art, but the ones sent to Tandoor Singh are casks or bricks of tea. On the wall behind a large and expensive desk is a portrait of a well-dressed Indian man in his sixties. A brass plate identifies the man as Ahja Singh.
The investigators keep the money and the ledger as they leave…
Back to Government House
Before leaving for the train, the investigators visit Government House and Under-Secretary Royston Whittingdon again, but the man has not come up with any new information.
Train in vain
The train for Nairobi leaves in the evening. Being at the train station in good time for departure, the investigators are booked for 1st class, while Mohammed is seated in 3rd class due to the fact that seating is segregated by class and color.
The train order is: Locomotive->Wood tender->flatcar (open to the elements)->freight car->3rd class car->dining car->1st class car.
The entire journey takes 15 to 18 hours and runs through various types of terrain, but mostly on the wide plains of Africa. From the windows, they see the occasional farm but mostly just wilderness and Africa’s fantastical animal life. The only one who is bored is Kenyan national Edward Foxworthy. Excellent meals are served in several sittings in the dining car. As the train is approaching Nairobi in the night (about 1 hour of travel left), screams of terror and anguish suddenly can be heard from the 3rd class car. Mohammed comes rushing into the 1st class car saying that the car is on fire! But it’s a strange fire – as balls of red and blue fire and the fires are moving towards the 1st class car!
Barbie time!
Looking out the windows, it is evident that these are two strangely colored balls of fire moving towards the investigators. One through the dining car, the other outside the train. The fiery entities seemingly aim to attack only them as they ignore the other passengers. Edward climbs onto the train roof in order to shoot at the things but to no avail. Preben gets severely burned by one of the things. The other PCs try to escape by rushing forward in the train, which is hard in the generally ensuing panic. Reaching the 3rd class car, which is seriously on fire and mostly empty of occupants, the investigators try to put out the fires by throwing water from the dining car at the fires, with varying degrees of success. Slim and Herrman try to reach the cargo car to see if there’s anything of use in there when Slim hears strange chanting from the locked bathroom. Listening extra closely, it’s clear that someone is chanting in there! Without further ado, both men empty their guns through the thin bathroom door, shooting the door to splinters along with the person behind the door (it was point-blank range and both rolled impales and dealt in total 60 hp of damage!).
As soon as the man stopped chanting, the balls of fire veered away and flew into the sky, so the fires must have been his doing. Checking the body, the investigators find no clues about his identity other than that he seems to be of Indian origin, but he wears a pentagonal stone attached to a silver chain around his neck, which Slim takes before they slip back to the dining car, acting all innocent.
The train has now stopped to put all fires out and make necessary repairs. Together with local police, the train conductor sternly chastises the investigators for their carelessness with their cigars and pipes, as the damage is clearly greatest where they were seated. Their names are also noted by the authorities. The dead man in the lavatory is noted down as a robbery gone wrong as all his belongings are gone, but the PCs are not implicated in relation to this.
Despite all the commotion, the train finally rolls into Nairobi train station after some 20 hours of travel.
And here we had to end this rather intense session!
With a Fistful of d20's 