Dreams
and phantoms
Preliminary
draft of report of Major Alfred Powell, Military Attaché to the
British Resident of Perak, formerly of the Duke of Clarence's Own (37th
and 39th) Lancers
The thaumatologic stability of the island fluctuated after the return
of the Fist of Shiva in the form of the mortal vessel, the former
Captain William Forrester.
The first symptom, occuring almost as soon as the Fist returned, were a
number of spectral manifestations. Initially I was aware of only one
aboard Sir Cosmo Cowperthwaite's yacht. A ghost identified by Mrs Voach
as her sister, Mary (born ~1853, deceased 1857) appeared an the aft
rail of the ship, singing a song.
We later learned that at the same moment two additional spirits
manifests upon Sir Spencer Cuthbert's yacht: Mr O'Flaherty's father and
one brother (Michael O'Flaherty, Aaron O'Flaherty, both died 1847),
singing the same song.
At the village of the dwarves, another manifestation appeared, a young
woman who bore a striking resemblance to Mrs Wooster sang the same
song. Mrs Cuthbert reported the conversation implied the ghost was Mrs
Wooster's mother, though Mrs Wooster insisted it was not the case.
The spirits removed Mrs Salmalin and Mrs Voach from our company, as
well as Mr O'Flaherty, Miss Moriarty, Lt. and Mrs Wooster, Sir Spencer,
Mrs Cuthbert, Mrs Frazer, George Moriarty, and Lobsang Lu. They were
all returned to the spots from which they vanished less than three
minutes later, though all claimed to have been gone for many hours.
During their absence, they claim to have witnessed or participated in a
number of significant events, including a battle with a Japanese
nobleman and his retainers, the descruction of a legendary city, and a
battle with a sort of hydra.
They bore signs of an extensive hike through rough country and injuries
from the battle. Mr O'Flaherty's wounds were most severe. He also bore
an obviously enchanted hand mirror. The mirror is adorned on its
reverse with a sun emblem identical to that depicted on the colossus.
Mrs Salmalin reported that it had been given to Mr O'Flaherty by the
sun goddess, Amaterasu, whom they had rescued from the hydra.
They also reported meeting two other ghosts who sang at least a portion
of the same song. One ghost was identified by Miss Moriarty and Mrs
Frazer as one Teddy Lynch (deceased less than a year ago). The other
claimed to be Jack Sparrow (great-great-great grandfather of Captain
Will Sparrow, and notorious pirate of the 1760s and 1770s).
The next symptom was a dream transference. This was more severe than
the one I experienced a few nights previous. I found myself aboard a
ship in what I believe was the year 1856. I found my way through the
Dreamlands to Mrs Cuthbert, who had been transferred to London in the
1840s. We established an anchor line and went out in search of the rest
of the party.
As we were retrieving the lost souls and bringing them back, I
encountered Mr Voach, who had already retrieved his wife, and was
searching for her daughter. After consulting with Mrs Cuthbert, he went
off in a new direction. The two of us, meanwhile, had our hands full
for a while with Mrs Domokos.
Eventually we had everyone except Miss Moriarty, Mrs Frazer, Mrs
Salmalin, and Mr O'Flaherty accounted for. Mrs Cuthbert communicated
with Mr Voach, and learned he had found them, but that they had been
delayed due to encounters with several non-mortal beings.
The places and times each of our companions found themselves appeared
to related to the histories of people we have met in this place.
Mrs Frazer found herself in the company a young mother in London in the
1840s, looking for the father of her child. The woman, who appeared to
be identical to the ghost Mrs Fazer had met in the dwarf village,
succumbed to consumption before the missing father could be found. She
was attended in her dying hours by two women of questionable repute:
Miss Ruth Molloy (currently in the employ of Rev. Parslo-Parslo under
the name of Gribble), and a Mrs Toots (perhaps the notorious theif and
kidnapper Mrs Betty Toots known to have died in prison in 1857).
Mrs Salmalin and Miss Moriarty found themselves in a public house in
Portsmouth in 1855 or 1856, where a Commander David Turner, having
suffered some sort of politically-motivated disgrace, was attempting to
resolve his problems and return to his expecting wife in Bombay, when
he was approached by Count Friedrich von Reckenburg, Major William
Mercer, and Sir Ephraim Sloane about an expedition to the China Sea.
Mrs Frazer, in attempting to locate Mrs Toots and the baby (Daisy
Mercer), found herself in the same Portsmouth public house, and joined
the others in eavesdropping on the conversation. Commander Turner
agreed to join their expedition, upon a promise from Sir Ephraim to
take care of his wife and unborn child. Their attempt to follow the
gentlemen through the dreaming led them to the beach of the island,
apparently the same stretch of beach where they had earlier battled the
Japanese nobleman. Instead of the nobleman, they saw survivors of a
shipwreck make it ashore. Those survivors were Commander Turner, Major
Mercer, and Count von Reckenburg.
Mr Voach located them, explained the situation, and offered to take
them back to their bodies. He allowed them to linger long enough to see
both the Commander and the Count killed by Mercer, who was subsequently
rescued by Sir Ephraim, who arrived on another ship.
On their return, they encountered three non-mortal beings: incarnations
of the Sun, Moon, and Earth, who admonished Mr Voach for running from
his past or responsibilities (it was unclear). Mrs Frazer, Mrs
Salmalin, and Miss Moriarty were subsequently allowed to witness an
event from pre-history, when the Five Horsemen of the Apocalypse were
summoned together by the Sun, Moon, and Earth, and charged with taking
five sacred artifacts: the Sword of Sovereignty, the Shield of
Prophecy, the Star (or Gem) of Victory, the Path of Destiny, and the
Book of Annihilation--and hiding them.
Mr Voach, otherwise known as the Horseman Havoc, took the Path to hide.
War hid the Sword, Famine hid the Star, Pestilence hid the Shield, and
Death hid the Book.
Mr Voach would not tell Mrs Salmalin, et al where he hid the Path,
though he said it hardly mattered since the Path had been found
already. Further questioning revealed that he could show them how
Captain Forrester came to be in possession of the Gem. He took them to
the battlefield of the Kanish Pass, on the North-West Frontier of
India. The expeditionary force had already been destroyed.
Captain Forrester and another officer were being held prisoner in a
nearby fortified temple or monastery. They were being visted by Major
Mercer, who was not a prisoner, but was travelling under the protection
of one of the warlords of Capistan. Mercer told them he had the means
to sneak one of them out of the monastery, but only one. Captain
Forrester killed his cellmate, and accepted the offer.
Mercer extricated Forrester, and took him to another part of the
monastery, where an old priest was waiting with the gem. The priest
explained to Forrester that all he had to do to escape was cut out his
own heart, and accept the gift of Shiva. Forrester initially reacted
with incredulity, but upon being convinced to touch the Gem, apparently
entered into some sort of mystical communion with it or perhaps with
Shiva. In either case, Forrester did cut his own heart out, the Gem
took the place of his heart, and he was transformed into the behemoth
we have subsequently encountered.
As Forrester used his newfound power to destroy the monastery, Mercer
carefully collected the abandoned heart, and left.
Mrs Salmalin and the others next encountered the Compte de Brabant and
a group of other French sorcerers who had journeyed to that moment to
rescue murals that would otherwise have been destroyed with the
monastery. The murals depicted Star being hurled from heaven by Shiva,
being guarded and revered for years by priests, it's powers
occasionally being used by priests to fell armies, and eventually
someone cutting out their heart and becoming the incarnation of Shiva's
Fist.
While taking the three back to their bodies, Mr Voach found Mr
O'Flaherty on a battlefield. They retrieved him and continued toward
the ilsand, though they
lingered with Mr Voach a while reading some books which he had stored
in his
wagon. The sacred texts and mystical books in question, he claims, are
original versions of texts from before the time when he, the Fifth
Horseman, was removed. He further claimed that these books no longer
existed in the mortal world. Mrs Salmalin took extensive notes.
Proceed to More dirty
work
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