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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Nebulous" data-source="post: 4224780" data-attributes="member: 31465">Part 2: Port Hedland<img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/port2.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />Port Hedland in 1925 is a dusty, dirty place, bustling with herders and surveyors, gold-hunters and miners and a fair share of prostitutes and houses of ill-repute thrown into the mix. None of the group has ever been to this continent, but at least they speak the same language. Their first order of business is to find Dr. Hans Hazzenbaum (Bridgett’s new character). Hans is expecting these American visitors after Dodge and Cowles alerted him to their eventual arrival.  Hans is very excited about the prospects of an expedition, for it will be an incredible opportunity to study Aboriginal history that he never knew existed.  A city in the desert! Fascinating!So, Hans answers the door to find a surly Chinaman with a priest collar, a grimy Egyptian boy, an old woman in a wheelchair, a tall, impossibly handsome, muscular chap, and a middle-aged gentleman with a slight paunch, dabbing the sweat from his face with a cloth. An eclectic group no doubt, and not quite what he expected.Hans invites them to his study for tea and crumpets, and they discuss in depth the nature of MacWhirr's discovery 5 years ago.  It turns out that there was much more evidence than just the photographic plates that Cowles and Dodge used in their lecture: MacWhirr had taken reams of notes and drawings, more pictures, etc. but something curiously happened not long after his death: another scholar approached Hans (who was in charge of MacWhirr's estate after his untimely death) and wanted to borrow them, perhaps to further his own research. "FOOL that I was," Hans concedes, "I let the man take the materials, all except for a journal and a few photographic plates.  I believe his name was...it was...was it Haw-ston?"This to the investigators sounds suspiciously like “Huston” (and if they had thought to show Hans a photograph of the CARLYLE EXPEDITION in their possession, he would have heatedly confirmed: Yes! That's the thieving bastard!)There was also a diary of MacWhirr that the investigators read, which details attacks by strange entities in the desert that killed their camels and some of his traveling companions, and strange large birds flapping lazily in the sky...<img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/fly.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />It sounds like several years ago Huston stole material from Hans and journeyed out into the desert to find this city. The investigators have no idea why, but it must be of some import to the grand scheme. And if anything, Nyarlathotep is one hell of a grand schemer.Hans invites them to stay in his modest home, although the accommodations are pushed to their limit. He had not expected quite so many guests.  Dr. David Dodge and Professor Cowles (over a 1000 miles away in Sydney) are alerted to the other members of the expedition arriving from Kenya, and David Dodge says that he will be on his way and should arrive within 2 weeks. The investigators attempt to do some psychological analysis with the help of Hans, to see if any of the maladies accrued during their journeys can be alleviated, but it doesn't do much good.[GM Note: And it should be known that Hans Hazzenbaum has NO CLUE about the Mythos, and a nice, healthy Sanity hovering around 80%. The others don't tell him jack-squat.]Their next order of business is to check out the sights and secrets of Port Hedland, which somewhat resembles the Old West in America.  Further south in Cuncudgerie, where they will go next once Dodge arrives, it is even more lawless.  Apparently, gold strikes have caused an explosion of visitors to push into Western Australia, prompting many railways to be blasted to accommodate the growing, greedy population. So the entire mentality of the area is very much like the California Gold Rush of the 1880's.  This is a place for pioneers, vagabonds, and fringers.And their attention is eventually, undoubtedly, irrevocably!, drawn to a certain WAREHOUSE on the docks, Randolph Shipping Co.  According to the ledgers that they have acquired from other countries, cultist items passed through this very place.  And the investigators have a time-proven vendetta against cultist warehouses--Death by fire!But this time they take a wiser, cautionary approach.  Chad Slambody volunteers to get a job as a dock worker at the warehouse, to infiltrate it slowly over the next two weeks and see exactly what goes on there.  So, he applies and meets TODDY RANDOLPH, owner of Randolph Shipping Co.  <img src="http://www.med.unc.edu/~saasha/Masks/toddy.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="" />[GM Note: Man, I love this picture of Toddy, it says everything. Thank you Google!]He is a fat, balding, surly man who stinks of whiskey and sweat, as foul-mouthed and disgusting a man that Chad has ever met, and instantly unlikable.   But Chad is a strapping fellow, and would make an excellent worker, so he's hired for a shilling a day.Yay.</blockquote>

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