karohemd | [Gaming] The Adventures of Rupert Bulmer, Esq.

When I met Mr. Rogsby for breakfast the next morning, he had already made a list for what was needed. I sent runners to fetch the others so we could pool our requirements (Thomas and Alex were still injured from the fight against the pirates so would be transported on litters). In the end, the expedition would consist of 85 people (bearers, personal gunbearers, a number of well-armed Askari as guards, headmen to keep everyone in check) and literally tons of foods and supplies, tents and everything else that was needed, all in all coming to the princely sum of 100 pounds, half due up front. Thankfully, our finances stretched that far as we had wired for money the day before so everything could be set in motion and we were due to leave on the train to Kalambo, which would be the starting point for our trek to the Rift Valley, which Rogsby thinks is the most likely location for the source of the river described in the book Prof. Carter translated.

As we had some time and Rogsby had delegated the business of getting everything together we had some time to discuss the upcoming journey, first over open savannah, then rockier terrain which would get more difficult the closer we came to the Rift Valley. There would always be the possibility of meeting less friendly tribes and of course, wild animals so we would always have to be on our guard. Rogbsy also told us tales of tribes consisting entirely of werebeasts (humans who would turn into wild animals, mostly big cats) and the evil Black Mountain (which might well turn out to be our destination).
Prof. Carter and Nicholas summarised what they had found in the book we had taken from the evil cultist in the basement of the National Library: It was all about rituals and related tales about people interbreeding with vile undersea creatures, creating "hybrids" which were apparently immortal and looked like some strange mix of human and fish/frog. This brought odd memories from the Isle of Wight back to the surface...
The rest of the day was spent preparing and resting for the dangerous journey ahead.

The train journey to Kalambo took all day and was the most uncomfortable yet but there were some amazing sites of landscapes and the occasional herd of wild animals (sadly the train wouldn't stop for hunting excursions).
Kalambo mostly consists of a military fort and a number of houses as well as a lonely hotel where we spent the last night with a solid roof over our heads.

Early next morning, we set off in a more or less Northern direction into the open savannah. The first day was uneventful, we didn't even get close to anything we could hunt.

The following day, we stopped at a lake infested with crocodiles and Alex spotted smoke in the distance and we detoured into its direction. We eventually reached a coffee plantation (of all places) and it suddenly occured to me that this had to be the rather famous Crest estate. We halted the company and then carried on to the house, just a one storey affair but quite impressive considering this was miles from civilisation. For some reason Prof. Carter thought we were at an opium plantation and there was no way we could persuade him otherwise. Ever since he's started reading those odd books, he's become quite odd.

Arriving at the house, we were hesitantly welcomed by the owner, indeed a Mr Crest, a quiet fellow who also seemed quite sad. We talked about this and that and he asked whether we'd be prepared to leave one of our bearers behind in exchange for a cow as he was a bit short of staff during the start of the harvest season. Rogsby agreed to this and then we were invited inside for a cup of coffee, which was really rather nice. Crest also talked about how he had brought over agricultural techniques from the Western world and was using irrigation to feed the coffee plants. This all sounded quite plausible to me but Alex thought Crest was a sort of dangerous maniac. He and the other had left for a while so I had the opportunity to talk to Crest alone. He wasn't very talkative and would only talk about coffee. When I asked him why he was alone and didn't have any family he said that they "are gone" but wouldn't elaborate. Poor fellow.

When the others returned Alex held a gun to Crest's head and said “What is Djagota? How do you stop it? Will it stop if I shoot you?" Crest pretty much collapsed at that point and wouldn't answer any questions. He was then drugged and tied to a chair so he wouldn't run away or cause any trouble, while we were discussing the situation outside.
Things went back and forth, various people on the plantation were questioned and we eventually came to some sort of conclusion:
There was something in this area that made the land fertile. The foreman talked about Offerings to "Djagota", some sort of (evil) spirit? It turned out Crest had made human sacrifices to appease this dark spirit in exchange for fertility of the land, apparently his family were among the victims and then workers, one a month. No wonder there was a staff shortage. The next sacrifice was due the following moon.

Thomas and Carter had searched the house but not found anything pointing this evil spirit and nobody else on the plantation did or wanted to talk about it. The foreman only mentioned that the evil spirit dwelled in the old well, a "bad place".
Alex was of the opinion that Crest was possessed in some way and should be killed but both Prof. Carter and I protested and we came to the conclusion that it would be best if Crest were sent to Kalambo to be handed over to the authorities. All the workers were sent away as well for their own safety. We told them to return in two days and do with the plantation as they wished.

Meanwhile, it was late afternoon so not enough time for a full investigation but I wanted to at least know where the well was so I took my gunbearer and two Askari to look for it. After marching a while in the direction indicated by the foreman, the grassland gave way to more rocky terrain and a hill in the distance. On top of the slope there was a manmade, ringlike structure, a low wall, rather like a well but rather big, at least 12 feet in diameter. As we came closer, the wind stopped and one of the Askari started muttering to himself and looking quite frightened. Still closer and ... things happened. There were screams and wailings all over and around us and something else. We turned and ran, the Askari was snatched back, I turned around and there was this mass of undulating, writhing limbs and faces, impossible to describe. I managed to run and felt something snap at my shoulder but miss. I ran for my life, I don't think I've run this fast for this long ever, back the way we had come, crashing through the coffee plants until I heard familiar voices shouting. There were my friends who took me back to the house. After a generous glass of gin, I slowly calmed down. I was uninjured but what I had seen had left me shaken. I described what I had seen and urged the others to not pursue this any further as this thing was most certainly beyond the power of our mundane weapons. Alex suggested dynamite but we didn't have any. It was therefore decided to leave things as they were and spend the night at the plantation before carrying on our journey the next morning.
My gunbearer, Dara, had returned as well, sat by the fire and proceeded to slash at his arms with a knife. I ran over and screamed at him to stop but he only babbled in his native language I did not understand. One of the interpreters was fetched and with his help I established that Dara tried to make pennance so he and his family would be spared from the evil spirits. We finally managed to persuade him to stop his cutting by suggesting a cow be sacrificed in his stead. Phew.

There is one last thing I have to report, sadly. Robert saw fit to end Crest's life. He seems to revel in pointless cruelty recently, I hope this won't be to our disadvantage in the future...