I’m behind on my updates! Expect a bunch of new posts over the course of this week…
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1934: Overnight, in the settlement of Dallol, Ethiopia, Luke Davis finished his initiation as a ritual magician. A strange rat-like FAMILIAR appeared, grinning, inside Dorothy Howard’s hair, as she lay injured on the floor. The creature approached Luke and suckled blood from his finger tip.
With the help of Chantelle Perreault, Luke began the ritual to open a Hyperspace Gate, a portal that can open on any point in space-time that the caster has seen in the past. The Investigators killed OGHAI, their guide, in the process, but were able to escape to Massaua, Eritrea. By a stroke of good fortune, they soon connected with CARLO SALVATORE, the Italian military officer they’d met shortly after arriving in Eritrea. He was able to have Luke’s and Dorothy’s injuries tended, and to set her up in a clinic to receive ongoing medical care.
WEEK OF NOVEMBER 25: The Investigators recuperated in Eritrea for about a week. In that time, Dorothy was visited by JEROME, the Afar dock- worker the group met shortly after arriving in Massaua. He seemed genuinely concerned about Dorothy, but also more serious than he had before. He revealed that he was in the same “army” with LAZARE, who had died in Dallol—and to whom Dorothy had formed a personal attachment. He also knew Dorothy’s real name. He seemed to know that Lazare was dead, but asked Dorothy to give him details. Dorothy passed along her address in New York. Jerome thanked her and wished her well.
EARLY DECEMBER: Back in New York, the Investigators took some time to personally recover from the shocks that experienced in Abyssinia. James “Tick Tock” Cohan found that the Nectar trade seemed to have spread in New York—or at least in the circles in which he moves. Chantelle was invited to Christmas dinner at Dorothy’s family home. She also received word that her mother was making a surprise stop in America and was hoping to connect with her.
Luke spoke by phone with his mentor, RICHARD NEWMANN. Newmann seemed angry with Luke for delving into the research of BARTOLO ACUÑA. They agreed to meet and speak in Arkham, Massachusetts. Dorothy received word that her father, THOMAS HOWRD, had been behaving in an erratic manner. He had approached her mother’s family, while apparently inebriated, and had requested money to supplement his current allowance. Dorothy went to visit Thomas and found him disheveled and confused. His apartment was dirty and untidy. She picked up after him a bit and warned him not to anger her grandfather, REGINALD SPENCER. Her father hugged her, atypically, and they said goodbye.