[IC] Act One: Los Angeles

Yes! That was it! Ramon Echavarria! That's the fellow! Anyway, I believe he went alone, no graduate students applied for time off to visit the dig. I seem to recall that he sent back reports, though rather perfunctory if you ask me, for a while, but they tapered off after a while. Haven't received any in a while, now you mention them. Should be around here in a file somewhere, but I doubt you'd be interested. Nothing of import to them, mostly weather reports, things like 'dig goes well,' that sort of thing."

He observes the large man's body language and tone of voice.

Dr Walker gets the feeling that Professor MacDunn's demeanour has changed slightly as he discusses Ayers' absence - there's something he's not saying here, and is a little nervous about it.

"Oh, is that so? I'd imagine a radio silence like that must be quite the pain in the neck, for you and the department," he says, trying to sound sympathetic. "Assigning supply teachers for Ayers' lectures... students' dissertations left unsupervised... Lots of loose ends! Makes one wonder if this Ethiopian trip is worth the trouble. And the investment, for that Mexican sponsor... is he well known?"

The professor's body language has subtly changed, and as Dr Walker asks his questions, you can see the man fighting internally before he starts explaining.

"Between the three of us, it's probable that he's either met a sticky end out there, or gone native - which is pretty much the same thing. But without confirmation, he's staying on the rolls here. My budget depends on the numbers of tenured staff, you see, and, well, graduate students are generally capable of teaching his classes. I don't know anything about this Echavarria character, he hasn't invested in any other digs done by my department, I think he was a personal friend of Ayers, to be honest. I can find the details of Ayers' trip if you like though? If you ever find yourselves in Ethiopia, you can track him down." He laughs a little sardonically at this point - as if you're likely to be travelling all over the world in search of such answers!

"If you're after his things, I believe everything from his office was put into storage in one of our old downtown buildings. I can give you the address and a letter to present to have a look through, if you think your papers might be in there."

He writes a quick note, then gives you an address for a downtown location.

"The address and letter is much appreciated, Professor MacDunn. So would the details of Ayers' trip, thank-you," Lillian says in return.

The professor rummages around in several filing cabinets, muttering to himself as he does so, before eventually finding what he's looking for. It's a small dossier, as he said before, the reports sent back by Ayers are brief and reveal nothing, but other documents are more revealing. The dig director was apparently Bartolo Acuna, a Spanish archaeologist, and was based near modern day Dallol, in Ethiopia. Acuna apparently organised the dig, which Ayers asked to join. It began in June of 1924, but Ayers left LA to join in late July 1924, arriving in early August at the Eritrean port of Massaua. This means he wouldn't have been at the massacre site in LA. From Massaua, he travelled by boat to Mersa Fatma, a small industrial town in Eritrea, before getting a train from there into Ethiopia, to a place called Iron Point. Dallol is apparently close to the end of the line there.

All Ayers' funding was provided by Ramon Echavarria.

Gabriel nods at MacDunn as he opens up about the funding angle. "I perfectly understand. Funding is the lifeline that keeps departments open. I would have done the same, in your position."
He tries to give his voice a confidential, reassuring tone.

Then he starts reading with Lillian the travel dossier that MacDunn produced.
"How interesting... Mind if we take some notes? " he says, jotting down dates and details.

"Hmm? Oh, not at all." Professor MacDunn seems a little bemused that anyone would be interested in such mundane matters.

"You have been such great help, Professor. Perhaps your introduction letter to the storage place can shed some light on what Ayers might have left for us."

They will wait for the letter to be finalized and make a note of the address before leaving.

"Hrm? Oh, yes, nothing ventured, nothing gained," MacDunn says, eyes focused on a document he found while searching for your stuff, and with his mind obviously moved on from your conversation already to whatever it contains.

Back downtown, and the afternoon is drawing to a close as you arrive at the old campus buildings downtown. It takes just a few minutes to locate an ancient janitor who mumbles his name (something Polish maybe? Russian? and who doesn't look like he has had the strength to move anything, even a mop, in decades) who takes you shuffling down this corridor, up these stairs (with a quick rest half way up to catch his breath), down that hallway, until he reaches a room marked 203. He produces a large keyring, with at least 50 keys on it, but goes straight to the correct one immediately. He opens the door, grumbling in whatever his native tongue is, and then says "Half hour, then close up." and shuffles off. You reckon that with a good headwind, he might just about reach where he's going to before he has to return to escort you out.

There are boxes and piles in the room, a small room that obviously used to be an office but which is now devoid of furniture. Books are deposited on the floor, some with spines facing out, others facing in, and all are academic works on ancient religions or archaeological treatises on similar cultures. Nothing jumps out at you that's particularly interesting.

It's his papers that might prove to be a goldmine though, if you can work your way through them quickly enough.

"So, this is what happens when one disappears... belongings locked up in a forgotten room..." is what he says, facing the ocean of papers.
But what he thinks is, will this happen to me? Will MY books and papers be forgotten in some vault...

He decides to busy himself on the material, hoping the work will get his mind off darker thoughts.

"Almost feel that we're on the cusp of moving this forwards," Lillian says, as she rifles through the paperwork.

Dr Walker finds a copy of Ayers' itinerary, that matches with what you already know - good to have it confirmed, at least. While he's perusing this, Lillian uncovers an address book, with at least a hundred names in there, including an address for Ramon Echavarria in Highland Park, Los Angeles. You also note that Bartolo Acuna is mentioned in there. There's nothing to identify any of the people in the address book, so whether Acuna is a cultist or just an academic, you have no way of telling from this address book. You don't see any entry for Edgar Job.

Lillian also finds a large promotional poster for a movie, autographed by the star of the film (it reads "Thanks for all your help George! Olivia Clarendon").

"Lillian... come take a look at this," he says pointing at a selection of documents that he has placed on a table.

a selection of notebooks and papers that Ayers scribbled notes on, that make it clear he is - or was - a member of the cult, and one in high standing. It seems he is a true believer in the strange and unnatural creatures you've heard mentioned so far, and his records are mostly concerned with several entities, including Gol-Goroth (which he also refers to as "the Fisher from Outside"),and some entity named as "the Liar from Beyond." Ayers, over time, it seems, has come to the conclusion that Gol-Goroth is some sort of intergalactic buffoon, (if a strange and dangerous one), and that Echavarria was playing his cultists for fools, pretending worship of Gol-Goroth in "public" (by which it is obvious that he means within the cult, not openly to the general public) while worshipping the Liar in private. It also seems clear that Echavarria must have sidelined Ayers to some degree - he mentions taking his initial concerns to Echavarria, and being put off (Echavarria seems to have treated Ayers as a fool along with the other cultists, but Ayers saw through the facade), and Ayers appears not to have known anything about the upcoming ritual that turned into the massacre, as no mention is made of the plans, or at least anything out of the ordinary.