Excerpts from the Diary of Miss Alice Gordon, of the Gordon Expedition to St. Damien Island

1.April.1870
As excited as I am about the wonderful library of Kor, I alone cannot translate the entire room. I need the help of the rest of the party. Unfortunately, I am the only woman, and She Who Must Be Obeyed has decreed that no man may enter the library. Perhaps it is because the men of this city are not taught to read or write. While I can appreciate that this is a matriarchal society, I feel that educating only the women is very wrong. It is as bad as my own country’s habit of educating only the men. My father, Professor Gordon, finally convinced She that the men of our party are scholars and nothing more. They can be trusted around the ancient scrolls of this marvelous room. As of today they will finally be allowed into the library. Now I will finally have help so that we may document as much as possible.

7.April.1870
This library is indeed a marvelous discovery. There are historical records go back for 2000 years. Unfortunately, there are some very odd gaps in the records that can’t be explained by anyone. Mr. Pryce has decided to concern himself with these gaps. He is a great one for the continuity of a record, and I can’t blame him. A continuous record paints a much clearer picture of a society than a broken one. One interesting note: nowhere can I find any record of the transition of power from one monarch to the next. Every country that I have studied has some record of one ruler’s death and the rise to power of the next. In fact, that is mostly what is recorded in most ancient societies. When I asked the priestesses, they say that She has ruled the city “…since the beginning of time.” While I cannot believe this to be a true statement, the priestesses are very adamant. Thinking that perhaps the rulers are just a little longer lived then most, I approached the oldest priestess here in the library and spoke with her about days gone by. Besides learning many things about this culture, she told me much about her family, especially her granny. It appears that granny used to tell stories from the days of her youth about She Who Must Be Obeyed. I have no reason to believe that there is any insanity. She was very clear about all the other details of her youth.

Now, I have met this ruler several times and I am not sure what to think. I cannot decide in my own mind if we are dealing with merely a clever woman, or if She is some sort of supernatural creature. Mayhap I will find more as I research and translate the many scrolls of the library.

9.April.1870
Mr. Pryce has made a discovery! While looking through a newer scroll, he found a fragment of a much older piece of papyrus. He showed it to me and then proceeded to begin work on translating it. It appears to be from one of those record gaps. This is most exciting.

9.April.1870 (late)
Mr. Pryce’s discovery is in vain. After he finished translating the papyrus fragment, he tried to ask the priestesses about it. I was in the room and remember feeling this really odd gloom in the air. Funny, almost as if the priestesses all knew that something bad had happened and were wishing it was not so. The oldest priestess took the scrap and told Mr. Pryce to wait while She was consulted. Later, Mr. Pryce was taken before She for a private consultation. He seemed very much dejected on his return. Apparently, She had destroyed the fragment and told Mr. Pryce that it contained dangerous and evil information. At least he still has his translation.

11.April.1870
Disaster has struck! Mr. Pryce is nowhere to be found. When he didn’t come to breakfast, we all assumed that he was studying something. I went to take him a tray, but he just wasn’t there. It isn’t like him to go somewhere without telling anyone first. That and the things he normally takes were left in the room. He never goes anywhere without his carpet bag, just as I always have my satchel of supplies. One never know when they will find something of interest that just must be documented. Oh, and I just realized that all his books and papers are gone. Those are the things he would never have taken with him. Not while we are staying here. They would not have been packed and taken until the whole party was ready to go. I also have not seen his translation of the fragment, and my only hope that he has hidden it. If She knows of it, we will have completely lost any knowledge of his discovery.
The temple guards have searched the entire city with no sign of Mr. Pryce. Pappa then requested an audience with She to ask for further help. She says that her guards have done everything possible—whatever has happened to Mr. Pryce is not her responsibility. Pappa detailed Pym and most of the men from the expedition go back to the encampment to see if Mr. Pryce went there. I asked Pappa if it was a good idea to send Mr. Pym when he had been acting strange. Pappa said he would be all right. Pappa and I continue to look for clues, but we have found nothing.

12.April.1870
What is left of our party has been confined to the temple as prisoners. Early this morning, we were awakened by loud noises, like explosions, in the distance. We feared for our party left in the encampment and wished to know how they fared. We asked permission to go to them, but were told no. About an hour later, there were more of the loud noises. At this point, She summoned Pappa to her chambers. Then a strange thing came over the lip of the crater. It was like a ship, but it sailed through the air instead of the water. I had never imagined such a thing existed. It started fining it’s cannons down into the city. It was very frightening. Suddenly, a terrible storm rose from nowhere and blew the flying ship out of the crater. Several minutes after it vanished there was a monstrous explosion.
Pappa came back from the temple soon after. He looked so horrible that I made him sit and drink some tea. He told me that She had a fountain that showed pictures in the water. He saw the encampment with French soldiers overrunning the camp and taking the diggers hostage. He also saw ships burning as they sank off the coast. She demanded to know why we allowed these evil men to follow us to the island. I didn’t know that anyone knew or cared about our expadition! Pappa also told me that She had seen the flying ship in the fountain. He said that it was She who raised the storm, and that it was She who destroyed the flying ship. She has also decreed that until She understands the meaning of the violence and destruction, we are prisoners of the temple. We are not allowed to go anywhere without an escort. Not even to check on our encampment or to look for Mr. Pryce.
At least the library is not forbidden. I will have a great opportunity to continue translation. Not to mention the study of the Kor language. My grasp on this language improves every day

10.May.1870
We have been under this imprisonment for weeks. Granted, they do not treat us badly. The food is good, the rooms comfortable, and access to the library is not denied. My language skills have improved greatly, and I can now read most of the texts written in the Kor language without much difficulty. It is the news that I miss. I know nothing of the outside world or the members of our party outside the city. There is still no sign of Mr. Pryce. I wonder if anyone at home knows of our troubles.
13.May.1870
We are not forgotten! She summoned Pappa today and told him that more men of our world have come to the island. I hope they are from home and not from France. I do not know why the French chose to invade and take our party hostage. I hope our diggers are all right. Now we must wait to see what this new party will do.

16.May.1870
The new party arrived today, and they are indeed from England. She had them installed in the apartments near ours. There is a wonderful surprise. There are women in this party as well as men. And a child, although I do not know why one would bring a child along on a rescue. Mr. Pym was also with the party. I understand that he has been ill, and is now recovering with his wife. Because he was with the new party, I have reason to hope it is a rescue. The first thing they did after resting and settling in was to ask about the events of our stay. When I told them about Mr. Pryce’s disappearance, they immediately wanted to see his rooms. They went through his things and seemed to find something of interest. Three of them, a Mr. Ramsey, a Mrs. Cuthbert, and a Miss Whitnell, said they wanted to try a magic spell. I have never seen magic performed, and wished to watch. The three requested privacy, though, and were granted it. Shortly after we left Mr. Pryce’s room, a girl called Miss Chigwidgeon came out in one of the native costumes. She was immediately taken back to their apartment by the governess, Miss Sinclaire. Meanwhile, I offered to show the rest of the party the marvelous library of this city, and soon we were in that great room. As I showed the party around, the various members of the group who had been elsewhere joined us. Miss Sinclaire wanted to know about the purple birds here on the island. One of the priestesses found a scroll on the birds and we looked at it for a while. Mr. Ramsey and Mrs. Cuthbert seemed very excited about the clay tablets in the ancient section, but were disappointed to find that there was no mention of ritual magic. I told them I had never seen any mention of magic. A priestess told us that such information was restricted. As we were getting ready to leave the library, She summoned Sir Cosmo (I surmise him to be the party’s leader) and one bodyguard (now I am a bit confused since I thought Mr. Caine was Lt. Wooster’s man). Several members of the group pleaded fatigue, and we went back to our apartments. I chatted with Miss Sinclaire and found about their Hindi lessons. I have gained permission to join the lessons. I have also promised help with any of the languages I know in return. I understand there is also a self defense class and have been invited to join that as well. I did let them know that I do have some skill in fencing, although my sword is back at camp. Miss Whitnell says that I might borrow hers, if I wish, to keep in practice.

17.May.1870
There was a great to-do last night. It was discovered that Lt. Wooster was missing from his room. It reminded me a great deal of Mr. Pryce’s disappearance. This new party has a most amazing dog, however, that found a secret passage. We raced into it pell mell, never thinking we would meet anyone. We were briefly stopped by a lever door connected to a false floor in the hall. It reminded me a bit of traps in the Egyptian tombs to keep people out. Soon after the door, we encountered some guards. The guards asked us what were doing there. Since I am the only one who can speak the language, I offered to pass on a message. There was much argument as to what we should say. Finally they asked me to tell the guards we were out for a stroll. It sounded false even to my ears. The guards told us that we should be back in our rooms. Our group started chattering again, and there were several suggestions that we should knock out the guards. I remembered how much She despised violence and could see how impatient the guards were getting. Finally I told them that one of our party had disappeared and we were led down this hall by a special scenting dog. Several of the group were upset with me for telling their true mission, but they had not seen what She could do to perpetrators of violence. I didn’t want one of Her storms aimed at me. Finally an English speaking priestess showed up. It seems that She was not happy to find that another person had gone missing. Another guard detail would search the city and let us know what they had found. In the mean time, we were to return to our rooms. Now that I think about it, it is odd that were not instantly in trouble for being past a trap door in a secret passage in the middle of the night. How strange. I wonder if we would be able to find the passage again, should we wish to… Well, I must go see that Pappa eats breakfast. He gets so involved with his work that he forgets about meals if I don’t remind him… Oh, yes, when we got up this morning, it was to discover that Lt. Wooster had been recovered. The rumor is that it was from
She’s bedchamber.

17.May.1870 (I think…)
I am sitting and writing in the oddest place. After breakfast this morning, Mr. Ramsey brought the group together and told us that he had found both Mr. Pryce’s journal and the translation of the papyrus fragment. I didn’t catch it all, but there was something about an Egyptian pot sherd that seemed to describe the same thing as Mr. Pryce’s fragment. In his journal, Mr. Pryce said that he was going to go and check out something called the convoluted tombs. At this point there was much discussion about what the group should do next. Several people wanted to take Lt. Wooster (still not feeling well) back to the ship. I and several others knew that we must find Mr. Andrew Pryce. He could be in grave danger. It was decided that we shouldn’t split up, and that we would explore the tomb. We packed all of our belongings, though, so that we could go straight back to the ship when we found Mr. Pryce. We found the cave mouth. It was similar to the city entrance, except that faceless men flanked it. There was also a picture of a maze. I also experienced a frightening shiver. I knew that if it wasn’t for finding Mr. Pryce, nothing would induce me to go in there. The three magic users decided to cast a spell. While we waited, I showed Miss Sinclaire my sewing cotton and asked if we should use it so we wouldn’t get lost. She thought it was a capital idea. Finally we were ready to go. We each grasped a rope so that we wouldn’t get separated. It doesn’t seem to have done much good…

I suppose I dosed off, but I found myself alone with no rope, but still in the possession of my sewing cotton. I tried to follow it, but found two problems: it was wound around Mrs Hardy’s neck and she was dead, (I don’t remember pulling on it. Besides, sewing cotton just isn’t strong enough to use as a strangle cord) and it ended in the middle of a room with only a frayed tail as a clue. I did find Pappa’s glasses, though. I picked them up, knowing him to be nearly blind without them. I continued down the passage trying to find Pappa. Around a corner, Mr. Cleves came running toward me begging me to turn around and follow him. He said that there were dead things attacking. I asked if he had seen Pappa. Mr. Cleves told me that Pappa seemed to be in charge of the monsters. I knew Pappa wouldn’t do anything of the sort, so I ran forward to find him and make sure he was ok. I guess I must have been in the middle of a bizarre waking dream. I am glad to know that I am not the only one, though. It seems several others had their own nightmares. Dr. Wilson seems to have fired two of his rockets at something, and Mr. Cuthbert fired all the bullets of his pistol. We finally found Pappa without his glasses and I returned them. We also found that Sir Cosmo has been dragged off by something. His trail ended in a solid wall, but the rest of the group seems to think that the walls move, so we are waiting for Dr. Wilson to set explosives. I figured I would take the opportunity of the wait to update my record. Nothing like a fresh memory to keep the facts straight.

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