The Journal of Cassandra Kane: Her Adventures in the Wild Wild West
Dime Novel: The Fall of Anubis
Real World Date: December 2007
Game World Date: August 1878
Episode Eight
August 8, 1878
Back in Freedom.Mr. Parker introduces us to a new man hired by Mr. Conking. Mr. Murphy O’Nine. He says he’s a bare-knuckled brawler from New York. Catherine is back at the house too.
August 9, 1878
Gabriel shows up at the house looking for me and Marguerite to meet with Mr. Fairfax. He’s back in town and has a map of a warehouse in Shan Fran that the cultist are using as a hideout. The Captain came with us. He talks to us about a plan to attack the cultist who because off the attacks between our two groups on them are looking to try and bring Anabas into this world. Even though their chances may be slim they still want to try and bring him. Their plan is to control him, but because the chances of success aren’t as good anymore they may end up bringing him in and he will have his own free will. Which means he’ll probably head for the “Lost Cave”He said that the cult has the warehouse protected from scrying and was wondering if Marguerite or Aieslyn have a way to break through the divinations and see what is there. The cultist have been able to protect against Fairfax’s scrying – but maybe they can defend us the ladies.They agree and make plans to have us go on a vision quest. Meanwhile Fairfax and his men will be attacking a train that has supplies that were to help the ritual.
Vision:
Flash: Green grass, a field. Union & Rebel soldiers fighting during the day. Then it’s night and they are fighting against the dead that rise at night.
Flash: The Lost Cave. Cleaned up and the old man with the white hair writing math calculations. See him next to a deck of cards.
Flash: The French Quarter in New Orleans. Black man with a hat and a cane and a nice suit walking down the street.
Flash: Standing in water. Men on horses wearing armor attacking men wearing in wode. (Roman Catholics fighting the Celts)
Flash: In a field, feeling warm, a bonfire. A black man all voodoo’d up walking around the bonfire.
Flash: Men in a room. With white wigs and uniforms and a logo (Mason’s)Flash: Darkness. Feeling like something in the darkness. All alone. Really scared.
Flash: James & Horatio – See them getting into a box like machine. A stagecoach of some sort. Horatio carrying a box with all difference runes on it.
Flash: Grimme’s room. He’s at a desk and the hems of his robes are blood covered and he is getting soaked on the robe. A black “thread” is connected from his neck going up into the sky.Aieslyn attacks the “thread” with her parasol. It doesn’t work. He then noticed us and it got ugly!!! He attacks her and kills her. Her soul goes into his hickory stick. Marguerite frenzy’s and just attacks Grimme. We attack him and can’t hurt him. Well I do, and then he tries to hit me and I let the magic wash over me. And then he talked to us saying we failed once again and then changed the vision.
Flash: In the woods, at dammed streambed. Raven shows up and lands near Aieslyn. He says his name in Jonathan and he was here to guide her. We ask if he can fix her and he says no. Our current test is to undam the river. Murphy tries and can’t. I figure out that maybe we should try to clear it out together. Which does work and then we follow the stream. Suddenly Aieslyn wakes up. She some how comes back to life. She said she was in Ireland. She said she saw the warehouse – a summoning circle with lots of men. Anubis comes through and starts laying waste to everyone.The landscape changes and it gets marshy, then bleak and dry and we see a black pyramid in the background. The dread kicks back in. We see a jackal headed man embalming a man on an altar. The man is the white haired old guy from the Lost Cave.I ask the “man” if he is Anubis – he says some call him that. He says we should leave because he is preparing the ritual. Stupidly he is asked about what is in the warehouse and what is in it. He says he can’t tell us unless someone offers themselves up willing. I don’t think it’s a good idea and a lot of the others don’t either but Marguerite offers her self up. She and Anubis disappear.
Flash: He reappears again and says what is in the warehouse is death, destruction and his army that will be brought into the world. And then he prepares to attack us.I blast him with my bolts. I hit him really well it stops him for a second, but then he shakes it off. Reggie shoots him too and then Catherine is able to finish him off. But then the dead old man’s eyes turn green and he says “foolish humans” and is about to attack us. I blast him and he goes down. But then Anubis gets back up. We take Anubis down again and the man gets back up. I cut off Anubis head and I feel deadly magics wash over me twice. Corman knocks down the old man and cuts off his head and then he dies.
Flash: Everything feels weird and swirly. Like going down a drain. Everything is dark and we could see what looks like puppeteer hands pulling strings.We wake up in the basement and Corman isn’t dead (but he has a tattoo on his arm). Marguerite is not there.We go wake up Mr. Parker and tell him what happened. Then we wait for Mr. Fairfax to get back from blowing up the train.
August 11, 1878
Fairfax returns and we tell him what happened. We immediately leave for Shan Fran.We head to Fort Lincoln first then end up on a boat.
August 17, 1878
Arrive in Shan Fran and try to gather Intel.Talk to Mr. Howe (our man in Shan Fran who we were at dinner with when he got attacked by Ninjas) he agrees to have his men keep anyone from interrupting us when the noise starts.Catherine’s contact gets us uniforms of chinamen delivery people.We start fighting all the cultist and jackal men. I bolt down the cultist doing the ritual but of course the ritual had already finished. Anubis comes through and he has a shiny orb in his hand which emits a light and all the dead get up and start attacking again. Murphy O’Nine is scared he said “that is some…he used two very bad words..there”.Reggie shoots at the amulet on Anubis neck destroying it. We all feel a little more lucky. The rest of his bullets bounce off him. Mr. Parker bolts him and his magic can’t get through.Aieslyn starts dancing around and closes down the portal that Anubis came through. Anubis starts charging toward Fairfax’s men. He realizes that his men aren’t with him and he gets angry. Charges through the “leather duster” brigade and busts out of the warehouse heading for the “Lost Cave” – we assume. But it’s 7 days away and we have no way to get there fast enough. He doesn’t have to sleep.I hunch the clock that we saw sitting on the altar in the middle of the summoning circle. It’s one of the items from the Cave.Hunch: I see the old man writing a formula in the air and changing the clock to 9:12 while holding the Hoyle book. He then opens the cave door and walks into a nice room with a desk and two American flags on the wall (the oval office). This formula is now in my head.I hunch the amulet that Anubis wore: I see another formula in hieroglyphs that I think used with Aieslyn’s magic can close the portal and cut his connection. I also see Marguerite. Can’t tell where she is, only that she’s trapped and still connected to him.Reggie goes off and sends a telegram to his men.I tell everyone and have them go get supplies. Fairfax sends some of his men ahead to warn people about Anubis. The rest of his men that survived, the Captain’s men, and the rest of us walk through the door after I write the formula in the air and use the clock and book. The door of the warehouse opens into the Cave and we walk through. Once we get there I close the door and when I reopen it I see the outside of the Cave. But I can’t remember the formula anymore.
August 18-24, 1878
Then I write down the hieroglyphs for Aieslyn to use to shut down the portal. It’s a four-day ritual that Parker, Gabriel, Jebediah, Aieslyn and I take turns doing for 4 days straight.
August 25, 1878
Agents show up and say that Anubis is coming and that they’ve managed to slow him a day by dropping a mountain on him. Aieslyn starts up the last ritual while Anubis marches up. The Captain tries to parlay with him. Corman joins Anubis’ side (cause off the mark on his wrist).Murphy grabs Anubis and puts him in a headlock. Aieslyn walks up to Anubis and dispel the rest of the chain on him, there’s a flash of light and Marguerites unconscious body appears next Anubis. He is still able to call his dust jackals to help – that the Van Helsing’s brigade and the Captain’s men take on those guys. I hit Anubis with several bolts before he finally dies; along with Murphy’s noogies (he bit him on the ear).After the battle is over. Reggie knocks Corman out for 4 hours just to make sure he’s still not dominated. The tattoo is gone.
