14 May 1870, Saturday

~Later~

After the excitement at daybreak, we have had an unremarkable day. The first such since before we left London for the Cape Verde Islands.

After breakfast the ladies of the League met for our usual morning class with Mr Salmalin out on the deck. We then adjourned to Sir Cosmo’s suite for our Hindi practise where Mr Ramsey and Edward joined us. Nothing happened, except that our bodies were reasonably exercised and our minds were pleasantly stretched. Sir Cosmo came round as we were finishing up to ask that the entire League gather in his cabin after dinner.

I spent much of the afternoon closeted with Mr Ramsey working on both the Mystic Arts training I need to be of assistance to the League and the Gaelic I need to understand parts of Great Aunt Hethalyn’s ritual book.

I met up with Mrs Cuthbert in our cabin as we were dressing for dinner. It is simply amazing how much more time I have now that I am wearing the Turkish Trousers all the time. It will be very difficult to go back to wearing dresses again when we return to London. Perhaps I shan’t. The Trousers are so much more suited to the life I now lead.

Thank goodness I’m living with sensible people instead of my family.

Just before dinner Sir Cosmo stopped by with Miss Sinclair, indicating that he had a matter he wished to mention to the three of us. I was stunned to learn that I have been made the backup Executrix of Sir Cosmo’s Estate should something happen to him and Lord Greyminster. Mrs Cuthbert is a further backup should something happen to me. A permanent place has been made for Miss Sinclair as Tutor to Edward for as long her services are needed and a lifetime stipend should once her duties are complete. What trust to place in us!

He had made the arrangements before we left London and in the normal course of events would have asked us first before signing the documents, however, this assignment came up so quickly that he was unable to handle things in the normal way. Fortunately he is in good health, and, if his grandfather is any example, should remain that way for a good long time yet. It is good that he is willing to be prepared, though I would not be surprised if Lord Greyminster outlives us all, as we are approaching an Island that has seen much death and destruction in the past few months, while Lord Greyminster is safe at home in London.

I was able to pull myself together for dinner and make something resembling normal conversation, however, my mind kept drifting back to how changed my life has become since I set out form home for London only two months ago. I still miss and mourn my father and the black I wear reminds me of him every day. The memories are becoming less painful, and I am astonished and grateful that I have gained such good companions and such interesting work.

After dinner we met as Sir Cosmo had promised. The Captain told Sir Cosmo that we should make landfall tomorrow about mid-day. Sir Cosmo proposed that we divide into two teams, one to search the harbor and once to search the Island. Sir Cosmo, Miss Chigwidgeon, Dr Wilson, and Edward will remain aboard the Griffin and use the Salvage Suits to explore the ocean floor to determine if this was once a base of Captain Nemo and if the lost city of Atlantis might indeed be found in these waters was suggested by Professor Aronax in his report on his time as a captive aboard the Nautilus.

The rest of the League will land with Lieutenant Lochsely and his men. We will explore the island and attempt to find any survivors of Professor Gordon’s expedition. To help us prepare for the expedition, Miss Sinclair gave a report of the natural features of the island, the climate and the type of plant life we may expect to encounter.

After the meeting broke up, Mr Ramsey and I spent quite a bit of time going through my Great-Aunt Hethalyn’s supplies and packing a selection of Items for the journey. Magic can be so frustratingly cumbersome and imprecise!

15 May 1870 Sunday

I am writing this while we wait for Sir Cosmo’s party to join us on the Island. I have a few quiet moments after a very busy morning.

I went to services with the men this morning and spent the rest of the time preparing for the landing and ensuring that Lieutenant Lochsely had packed enough provisions should we become separated from the Griffin for longer than we expect. I am excited to be hiking in unfamiliar country again and plan to put to use all the lessons I learned in India with my Hiking Club.

Once loaded we settled in to watch Lochsely’s marines row the boats. Mr Ramsey, Mrs Cuthbert and I were on the same boat and they were astonished to discover that the Island had no Aura. They had never encountered such a thing. And then, as we got closer in, only about 50 feet from shore would be my guess, we passed through a ward or field of some type and the Island and all of its components could be Seen again. It was a very strange experience. I was pleased to note that I was not the only one surprised by it.

Once on the beach we found 11 graves. Graves may not be the precise term for them however, since is was the consensus of Mr Cuthbert (the official leader of the landing party) Miss Sinclair, Mrs Cuthbert, and Mr Ramsey that whoever had been buried there had climbed back out of the graves. Mrs Cuthbert and Mr Ramsey could tell that necromancy had been practised on the graves. I could only tell that the Aura around the graves was disturbing to me.

As a precaution the three of us cast both a spell of Protection on the League and the Marines and an Exorcism spell on the grave site.

Only a few minutes later the earth began to shake and we were forced to make our way inland. I was desperately concerned that a Tsunami might follow in the wake of the ground shaker but my fears were not realised. Nor did we run into any of the Undead during our trek to higher ground.

We did find two Dutch sailors who were the only survivors of a crew that had come out to test some new salvage equipment and had gotten caught in the fighting between the Gordon Expedition and the French ships. Mr Cuthbert acted as our translator and I did wonder if the sinkable boats from my visions belonged to them. They are reluctant to go into much detail. Mr Van Brainrich was relatively unharmed but Mr Van Reed had been injured and needed Mrs Cuthbert’s aid to come back to himself. He is already much better, perhaps we will learn more once we return to the ship.

We are at Mr Pym’s dig site now, and, as I said, waiting for Sir Cosmo, Dr Wilson, Miss Chigwidgeon, and Edward to arrive. There mission under the sea seems to have been somewhat successful and have signalled, via semaphore, for us to wait for their arrival.

In the meantime, Mr Ramsey has found a scrap of paper that Andrew Pryce was using to write a translation down. We have only the translation and not the original artifact. The translation had a drawing at the top with what looks like a circle, a bird, and a plant enclosed in an oval. The words read:

Royal Son of Ra

That which is alive hath known death, and that which is dead yet can never die. For in the circle of the spirit, life is naught and death is naught. Yes, all things live forever though at time they sleep and are forgotten.

There is no such thing as death though (rather?) there be a thing called change

...in seeking him through those great spaces where the planets wander forever.

He who can find spirit and let it breath upon him shall live with her in life.

She, herself, must change and sleep til it be time for her to live again.

Behold, she (her?), lovely as no woman was or is, undying and god (godlike? goddess? holy?). Memory haunts her from age to age. Sorrow swells in her from age to age. Evil has she done and evil shall she do and sorrow shall she know until her (redemption? purification?) comes.

We found little else in the camp. It had been ransacked by the French during the original attack.

I did have some time to research spells to stop the Undead and found one called Turn Oni that I plan to use at our encampment tonight.

I see Sir Cosmo’s party making its way up the hill now.

~Later~

We have made our way quite a ways up the trail and are making camp for the night. Or rather we are sitting a little out of the way while the Marines set up the camp for the night. Mr Cuthbert found an nice spot with some natural defences for our camp. Mrs Cuthbert found a stone that may be part of a very old statue, it has an Aura of something that was shaped and from what we can see, is the very top of a head and an eyebrow ridge. It looks like the statue was buried in volcanic ash a very long time ago. It faces to the north, and if complete (and standing) would be about 50 feet tall.

We had a bit of a scare after that, as Mrs Cuthbert and Mr Ramsey were helping me with my spell. It seems that we accidentally sent Mrs Cuthbert’s spirit off to visit Mars or some such. At any rate she passed into a deep sleep after the spell was cast and Mr Ramsey showed me that her spirit had left her body. We used a different spell to call her back and she said, when she awoke, that her husband, Bertram, and my Great Aunt had led her back. She said Mars was very busy and very pretty with cities and such like. I’m afraid I did not pay very close attention, as I was so concerned for her safety!

Finally, before I lose the light, we have had the oddest experience with feathers. There are some beautiful purple pheasants or peacocks on the Island and their feathers have been turning up everywhere. Mrs Cuthbert even found one in her cabin before we left on the expedition. The last one to turn up was in my book of spells when we were frantically looking for a way to call Mrs Cuthbert back. And there was a fine tail feather holding a place in the book right at the spell we needed. Looking at the feather with my new eyes I could tell that it had been transported by magic but by who or what or for what purpose I have no reason or answer.

16 May 1870, Monday

We are waiting again. Mr Salmalin has spotted a party approaching us from the mountain above and that has put a stop to our tentative plan to explore the cave full of bats underneath us. The bats flew out after we had settled down for the night. That was the last I knew of anything until Dr Wilson fired off his rocket gun in the middle of the night. I woke up just enough to determine that it was not really an emergency (he claimed he had shot a mosquito) and went back to sleep. I am usually such a light sleeper, it must have been all the walking yesterday that allowed me such a deep sleep. Even Mrs Cuthbert’s genteel snores did not awaken me.

~Later~

We have stopped for lunch so I will take a moment to update this record. We are hiking up hill to the Mountain City. We have parted company with Lieutenant Lochsely and his men and are visiting Her city of Kar by invitation of Professor Gordon. He has hinted at complicating factors in his letter to us, and the dialect the native’s speak seems to be some language related to Arabic or Aramaic but not closely enough for us to have much of a conversation with our guides. We have sent a note on a head to Professor Gordon explaining our mission and describing our Company. We have also warned him that the French have arrived.

Our guides are signalling that it is time to press on. I look forward to seeing their City and learning what is around the next corner.
Later

We are taking refreshment in a temple or municipal building in the City. The hike was long and hard and we have just had a tour of this fabulous building and are having a moment to eat and freshen up before we meet “She.”

We have already met Professor Gordon, his daughter Alice, Makuma (a high priestess of the temple), and Zhakahli (a native woman, and the wife Mr Pym spoke of in his delusions). Her greeting to him was passionate and reciprocated so perhaps he remembers more now. We did warn her that he may not remember much about her or his time in the City.

We have been assured that Mrs Hardy and Mr Cleves are also healthy. Apparently all of the Englishmen can leave the city at any time. The sticking point is Mr Andrew Pryce. He is still missing and ‘She” has refused to help or has refused to allow anyone to search for him. It was not really clear from what Professor Gordon said.

Our actions in the next few hours may set the course of Mr Pryce’s fate. I hope that he is not beyond our power to save.

Proceed to 6. A Strange Audience

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