Darkness on Cold

Wednesday, December 11th, 1929

Thursday, December 12th, 1929

    Introduced myself to the remaining associates.  Their cabin looks like a derelict bachelor apartment, messy and nasty.  They introduced themselves as:

• Lawrence Wolf, bush pilot
• Gary Trudeau
• Beauregard LeMans
• Sam Quickhand
• Carter McBain
• Juju (not mentioned in Ashleigh's journal, a creole man or something like that)

    Obviously I needed to get their confidence, which was not likely in this setting.  So I took them for a drink.  Aside from Inuit bars, which they considered dangerous, the only speakeasy they knew was at the hotel they had first stayed at when they came here.  So we went there, and took the private room.  On the way, Lawrence and Gary both complained about having been in a plane crash, and having to hike 400 miles back.

    Once settled down with drinks in hand, and out of the wind and cold so I could keep a cigarette alight, the atmosphere was much better.  Clearly we were all more relaxed.
    Lawrence started the process, still stuck on the subject of the plane crash.  He said they took a plane north and failed to find a good place to land.  They tried to get near Endurance, but had a bad crash-landing in the woods.  All walked away, so I don't know what was so bad about it.
    I asked them why they were flying.
    Gary replied that they were studying caribou migration, and that was the area he and Lawrence work in.  Beauregard became involved because his brother had been on another expedition that Lawrence had been servicing.
    "So what's the attraction of Endurance?" I asked.
    Nothing, apparently, except that it's central to northeast Alaska.
    Then what about the ruffians?
    Gary says that they were investigating a hunting lodge that they found in the woods.
    At this point we had a short discussion about law enforcement in this area.  Their opinion was that enforcement was weak, even in the case of murder and so on.  They didn't seem upset about it, which makes me wonder if the guys are on the take or something -- but they seems straight, and don't have the air of the crooked cops back in the east.
    Where did they see this Mexican statue?
    It was in the home of a trigger-happy guy, who shot at them.  He shot Ju Ju.  He claims they were breaking into his house.
    I observed that they seem to get shot at a lot, and they responded that it was all in the line of duty.
    Gary said that in the shoot-out where Ashleigh croaked, he killed five ruffians, while Ashleigh killed his own assailant, and two other men that were with them died as well.

    At this point I told them they were full of crap.  All the stuff they'd been feeding me was bullshit, plain and simple.  At this they looked shocked, but to their credit they then got serious and gave me the real scoop.

    They were out in the woods and came upon a clearing.  There was a fence around this clearing, and armed men at the gates.  When they went to talk to them, they said it was a private hunting lodge, and their buddies would show them around.  The group were taken to the lodge, and the guys shot them.
    Lawrence was back in camp while this was going on.
    The clearing was one mile by two-thirds of a mile, and there were several outbuildings, but the main item of note was a dirigible hangar.
    They were really investigating local stories of giant beasts chewing up the populace.
    I asked them, half-joking, if they were Feds or something?  They turned that right back at me.  Me, a Fed!  That's a rich one!
    They then offered to take me back there.
    The place was being run by an un-named organization, which also controls the whole town of Endurance.  All the people at the clearing were Inuit, or other native people.
    Lawrence then asked me if I'd heard of Reinhold Blair.  I said I hadn't.  He explained that RB owned the General Store in Endurance.  While he says he's an artist and phtotographer, what he really is, is a front man for the organization.
    Now the General Store guy here in Anchorage -- Walter Armstead -- has a statue he shouldn't have.  The statue is, of course, the one of the Aztec religion.  He just lives in this cabin in town and shouldn't be able to afford such a thing -- it's of a winged serpent, and is solid gold.

    At this point Lawrence wanted to know more about me.  He wants to know if I'm on the level.  So he wants references.  The only thing I could show him was my passport, but he wants confirmation of who I really am and what I'm doing here.  Eventually it was agreed that Beauregard would go to the telegraph office this afternoon, where he'd ask the Boston Police to contact Miss Ashley-Jones to confirm that she knows me, and that the story of why I'm here checks out.  I'm sure Jennifer will back me up.
    Meanwhile, since this hotel is a lot more my style, I'll be staying here instead of the shantytown cabins.  The staff will bring over my trunks, and I'll not have to go back to that dive again.

    With the likelihood that they'd find out if I am for real, we got down to business.
    I asked Lawrence where Armstead lived.  He said it was not far from here, and he could take me there.
    Before we go, we need a list of what they want to know from him:

• Are there supplies going to Endurance?
• Are there unusual supplies going to Endurance?
• Why?  The dirigible base is not owned by the government.

    The story begins in Canada.  There was an expedition of scientists.  Someone died mysteriously -- his dogsled was crushed, and he had a big hole in his chest.  They decided it didn't look like it was done by a bear.  So what caused it?  Eventually they realized that there really is a Gnoph-Keh -- a creature the size of a rhinocerous, furry, with a huge horn and six legs.  It's the earthly minion of a being with a name -- Ithaqua.  They also found that a local tribe had been massacred by another.  The massacred tribe, every generation, would do a ritual to capture and contain the GK for another generation.  Since the tribe was smashed, the group was recruited for the ritual.  Larry was frozen, Decker (who died with Ashleigh) was knocked out -- and Ithaqua turned up.  They did the ritual, fighting off the GK and the chilling haunt of Ithaqua.  With the threat gone, they left.
    Barrow recruited them to find a GK here.  He had a photo of a footprint of Ithaqua, but when they investigated that site they found the evidence had been covered up.  Ithaqua is worshipped by an evil cult.  The footprint site was in the mountains near Endurance, about the same distance from the town as the airship hangar.  The money was good, and they are curious people.  Ashleigh was trying to find out about what they know that they don't know.
    Lawrence's dreams say there's a threat.  At the next winter solstice, a year and ten days from now, a great evil will come into the world.
    Beauregard and Gary had dreams indicating that dirigibles would open a doorway in the north to evil.  Beauregard thinks that's the real threat -- the people with the dirigible.

    I then asked them if they thought the Cult had real power.
    Lawrence replied that yes, they did.  There are stories of the tupelac -- a creature of animated snow, created with a piece of the real creature it resembles.  In Canada they had seen a Gnoph-Keh snow sculpture, but it had not moved.  Beauregard added that the wolves and polar bears that chased them back to Anchorage after the plane crash had turned to snow when killed.
    Lawrence revealed that he has a ritual to send Ithaqua away, and that so does Gary.  Ashleigh knew how to summon Ithaqua -- he was mixed up with the bad guys.

    I asked them if the Cult had the power to do great evil.
    Lawrence said that collectively they did, yes.  Ashleigh had indicated that a team can summon Ithaqua, but that a price must be paid -- they killed the person afterwards.

    They stated that they have taken the law into their own hands and are fighting the Cult.  Lawrence admitted that the flight north was to blow up the dirigible building, in which he believes they succeeded.

    I asked them if the Cult relied on the shopkeepers for supplies.  They pointed out that the Inuit don't need supplying, but that the equipment and the base need outside stuff.

    They added that the Cult members know who they are, and that their lives are in danger.

    I pointed out to them that if they need money for this expedition north that they want to do, they could get it from the Cult.  All they need to do is procure a gold statue, and use it to get the dough.
    During the discussion that followed, Lawrence asked me if I am a lawyer.  I told him, as I do when asked about my work, that I could "neither confirm nor deny" that -- he took that as a yes.
    Unfortunately the cops kept blocking the idea of procuring the statue.  Still, Lawrence did volunteer to melt such a thing down and convert it to gold, which he could sell at the assay office.
    This gave me a chance to start directing the operation.  I asked Lawrence to come up to my room later that afternoon.

    After the meeting broke up, while waiting for my luggage to be delivered, I sent out a telegram and letter indicating the current state of affairs here.

    Later, as had been arranged, Lawrence came to my room.  We discussed their need for money.  We agreed that Armstead could be threatened into retiring and donating to our cause; Lawrence would steal the statue on the way out, leaving me to convince Armstead to retire.

    I had invited the group to dinner at my hotel; Beauregarde, Juju, Lawrence, and Carter McBain (who had been the expedition field manager) took me up on the offer.
    We discussed questioning Armstead.  I pointed out that we could threaten him with being the object of the ritual.  We decided that Beauregarde and Carter would interrogate him, Larry would secure the donation, and I would convince him to retire.
    Since Armstead was known to have a shotgun, and willingness to use it, we would have to surprise him.  We could either break in and wait for him to come home, or we could sneak in tonight while he's asleep.  Beauregarde was emphatic that we should do the latter.
    Dinner was concluded, with the arrangement that they'd come by the hotel and throw a snowball against my window as a sign to meet them in the street.

    At 9pm, Beauregarde, Larry, Carter, and JuJu arrived in the street.  Larry alerted me by throwing a snowball at the window, whereupon I left my room quietly by the fire escape, wearing my trenchcoat.  Both Larry and Carter were sure that they were not followed, so we proceded to Armstead's house.

    Larry stayed back out of the way, planning to join us when we'd secured the house.  Beau hid closer to the house.  I did a careful check to see if there was any sign of anyone awake in the house, and finding none I then went to the front door and unlatched it.  I then signalled and went inside.
    I went to Armstead's bedroom and waited there in case he woke up -- which he did as the others arrived.  I told him to stay still and not to talk -- fortunately he was cooperative.
    While Carter covered Armstead with a rifle, he and Beau escorted him to the living room and sat him in a chair, while JuJu held him down by his shoulders.  Beau found some twine in the kitchen, and used that to secure his hands to the side rails of the chair.
    Larry then arrived.  I checked the exits, then told Walter Armstead to cooperate with these guys.  I moved aside while Beau conducted the initial interrogation.

    What supplies go to Endurance?  Armstead pointed us to the records in another room, which Larry started checking.
    Dirigibles?  What are they?

    Armstead was clearly not cooperating as much as was good for him.  Beau threatened to have Silla possess him.  Armstead didn't seem concerned, so Beau started the ritual.  Armstead started out apprehensive, but unfortunately Beau apparently made an obvious mistake, because Armstead burst out laughing.  Bad move.  I suggested if he didn't want to be laughing through his throat, he should start talking.  He did:

1. The bodies of those killed in the ritual are disposed of in the wilderness somewhere.  Armstead delegates the task to different cult members.
2. The front man in Endurance is an Inuit by the name of Ahzuak.
3. Armstead doesn't know the details of the timescale.
4. The goal is freedom and enlightenment
5. He doesn't know where the "doorway" is -- if anyone does, it's Ahzuak.
6. He ships tools, equipment, building supplies, nails, hardware.
7. He knows of no operations in the rest of the world, not even know about operations in Endurance.
8. He is the head man here, although shamens run their shows -- there are about 10 shamens in town, of which 5 or 6 are at least partly involved.
9. He does not know Ashleigh's name, or who he reported to.  Perhaps we have the wrong guy, he suggests.
10. He expresses shock and denies that there was an initiation involving killing a young lady.

1. The statue (which Larry fetched) was a gift from an archaeologist friend, Simon McGee (Larry hasn't heard of him).  It is of a winged snake.
2. Whatever we do Silla will stomp our asses, but if we made real nice to him, he could put in a good word with Silla.  (JuJu squeezed his shoulder)
3. Ahzuak can be found in Endurance.
4. The next shipment is a small package of hammers and nails ordered a few weeks ago.  It is due to go out next week.
5. Shipments take ten days to reach Endurance.
6. Armstead agreed to give us the statue.
7. He doesn't know what happened to Payne.  Why would the Cult care?
8. There are about 20 or 30 people in the "chorus"; about 100 would be invited to the Silla question and answer rituals, while 20 or 30 would show.
9. He doesn't know about Barrow.
10. He gave us the names of the two who have been following the group here in town.
11. The group was followed because they seemed interesting, and were asking questions about Silla.
12. They had nothing to do with the boat that burned in the harbor, despite the fact that it had a piece of GK on board.
13. There is nobody else in the area actively opposing the Cult.
14. Only those who join the Cult are killed in the ritual, it's their choice whether to join.  They don't make people join.
15. They don't make disappear people who are poking their noses in.

    Beau turned back to Armstead.  He was clearly fed up and starting to get serious.  He confronted Armstead about the killings at the dirigible hangar, and mentioned that the entire hangar and dirigible had met with an accidental fire -- which should improve Armstead's orders for a while...  Armstead was clearly shocked by this, despite his claims that he knew nothing about such an operation.
    Beau continued with another session of grilling him, staying just short of violence to get his answers:

1. Despite his claims to be the head of the cult, Armstead claims to know little about the details of the Cult.  It's a loose organization, with no reporting requirement.
2. Walter Ashleigh was just some random white guy who joined, but Armstead had no special interaction with him -- he just came to a bunch of ceremonies.
3. Armstead claimed ignorance about the dirigble, hangar, doorway and so on.  He now says Silla is trapped, and the goals are to free Silla.
4. For those who died in the rituals, someone was assigned to take the bodies.  It was different folks who did it, but never him.
5. He knows nothing of the gunfight at the dirigible base.
6. He's never heard of Dutton.
7. He admits that they did burn the fishing boat.  They didn't want people making fun of their religion.
8. Reinhold Blair is a cult member who lives in Endurance.  He knows nothing of his history or background, just his name.  (Larry, who had just returned, had never heard of Blair in the dirigible or flying business.)
9. Armstead knows nothing about Barrow or Payne.
10. He gives us four names of active cult members in town -- they are plausibly Inuit names.
11. The cult get their money from private donors.
12. Silla heads the cult.
13. Armstead reports directly to Silla.  They have a meeting, Silla comes, tells them what to do, and they do it.
14. He reiterated that only cult members died at their meetings.

1. The single best way to bring a halt to the Cult is to kill Silla, but he doesn't know how that could be done.
2. He has never seen a GK.
3. If Larry did the Banish Silla spell here, Silla would be banished.
4. Silla was trapped a long time ago, before mankind.
5. The issue of where Silla is trapped is a philosophical rather than physical question.
6. Silla has many physical forms.

    It was now about 1 am, time to break up this gig and have some fun.  I suggested we just leave it at this, and tell the other guys to split while I talk to Armstead about retiring.
    Armstead asks us "You don't want to do the Ritual of Knowledge?"
    Beau asked JJ for suggestions, and JJ said "Don't cast spells whose effect you don't know."
    "Are you sure?" continued Armstead, "You'll get your questions answered, from the guy who knows."
    Larry and Carter carried out the boxes, to take them back to their cabin to examine.

    With the guys gone, it was time for my show.  I fetched a kitchen knife and gave it to him.  I told him to cut himself free and stand up.  He didn't want to, which disappointed me of course.  I wanted to watch him dance.
    I asked him if he was going to give me a good reason to leave.
    He asked me what would be a good reason.
    I told him to come up with it.
    He said he'd answered our questions and given us money, what more did we want?
    "I have some fun in mind," I said truthfully.
    "What?" he asked.
    "Cut yourself free, and we'll see what we can do."
    I guess the guy had a vivid imagination, because he started sawing at the twine, muttering under his breath.
    Damn.  That muttering might be some occult stuff, anyway I hate people muttering in front of me.  So he danced with his hands tied.

    I returned quietly to my hotel room and took care of Tom.
 

Friday, 13th December, 1929

    Tonight there was a headline in tonight's paper saying "HAS THE MOB COME TO ANCHORAGE?"  The story said that Walter Armstead was shot in his home last night by an automatic weapon.  He was tied to a chair.  He was apparently not robbed.  The story contained an interview with a neighbor, who said that they heard automatic fire in the middle of the night, but saw no-one leave the house.

Saturday, 14th December, 1929

    In the morning I read the paper as usual.  There was a report of an attack on the group at the cabin; McBain and Quickhand were dead.  The report also mentioned the dead men had "associates."  I spend the day relaxing, reading magazines, and so on.
 

    To my surprise, Larry came by and announced that he was buying dinner for us all in the private room at the hotel, where the group had now moved in.
    At dinner they told me about the attack.  (Fill in what they told Carrie)  They said they had been shot, and that JJ had been clawed by something that wasn't purely human.  The creature was large, black, bipedal, with wings and claws.
    Larry then told me that he'd hired Pinkerton to find Barrow, and to look into Blair, and that he'd checked with Blair's university (he's expecting a reply on Tuesday).
    Gary assured me that he would do the affadavit for Ashleigh's death, while Beauregard would be copying Walter's journal.
    I started asking them questions:
    Carrie: Who did it and why?
    Larry: People from the aerodrome north and east of here.  Tracks lead into the woods and probably not in town, and therefore know who they are, and therefore going to Endurance would be dangerous.
    Carrie: Retaliation for Armstead, perhaps.  You killed him?
    Larry: No, we don't have automatics.
    C: The cult probably thought you did it.
    L: Well, since he was the cult...  There was a white man with them.
    C: Anyone shoot the beast?  Still around.
    JJ: Knocked me out...
    (nobody here saw what happened)
    C: Why aren't you all dead?
    L: All unconscious, and dead foes were taken.
    C: Why take bodies?
    L: Can identify tribe and where came from
    C: Looks like I'm lucky for you.
    L: Trip to Endurance delayed at least.
    C: Same guys did this that shot Armstead?
    L: Guys who did Armstead had more sophisticated weapons.  No-one uses a tommy gun here, it freezes.  Would have to be a southerner.
    C: Everything is south of here.
    L: Were about 6, plus the winged thing
    C: I'd like to get a look at the winged thing.  If I hear it attack you, I'll stick my head out of the window and look! (I was on the third floor, they were on the second.)
    C: Did you offer to help the police?
    L: Wait until recovered.
    JJ: Why attack us?
    L: Retaliation for Armstead, or blimp hangar.
    JJ: Why not attack again?
    L: Good question.  Why leave us alive?
    JJ: Not know they were alive?  Ran off?  Any evidence we're alive?
    L: Yes, newspaper reported two deaths.  We could "die" from our wounds.  2 other people know...
    C: Who?
    L Miss Molly Brown, and Mr. Dewey (of Dewey, Cheatem, and Howe).
    C: Do these people need to... vanish?
    L: No.  Oh, police know we're alive, and previous landlord.
    C: That's a lot of people.
    JJ: Why staying in town?
    C: Need to hit Endurance.
    JJ: Why go there?
    C: Talk to Blair, Ahzuak.
    L: Maybe leave town for a week.
    C: I'd rather stay here.
    L: Except for servants here, no-one knows you're involved.
    JJ: Why talk to Blair?
    C: Cult person.
    JJ: If Blair or someone he knows, talking won't do any good.  Oh, you mean like Armstead!
    L: Find somewhere out of the way.
    C: <skeptical>

    The night passed quietly.

Sunday, 15th December, 1929

Monday, 16th December, 1929

    I'll be sending out my journal so far this afternoon.  My plans in the short term are that for a while, I'll just stick with my cover.  I'll relax, play tourist, read, and drink -- pretending to enjoy the peace and quiet here as opposed to the hubbub of Boston.