Familiar Friends

Overview

Date: Palm Sunday Eve (March 1921)

Location: Lima, Hotel España, and surrounding areas.

Key Themes: Ancient artefacts, supernatural encounters, and deepening mysteries surrounding Augustus Larkin and his associates.

Key Events and Encounters

Supernatural and Psychological Tensions

Jackson Elias: Haunted by the horrors he's witnessed during wartime. His suspicions about Larkin and De Mendoza grow as folklore aligns with chilling realities.

Folklore: Kharisiri and Apishtaku legends depict vampiric creatures that "suck the life" from their victims.

Ellen Anderson: Affected by madness, she repeatedly quotes "The Tyger" by William Blake and mutters, "Rick is after me." Her connection to the broader events is unclear but troubling.

Artefacts and Folklore

Golden Artefact: A 60cm x 7.5cm x 1cm piece of worked gold appears to be ripped from a larger design. Non-repeating geometric patterns adorn the surface, divided into four distinct sections.

Hotel España

Exterior: Nestled on a narrow street with newly laid pavement, the hotel is a bright blue three-storey building with caged ground-floor windows and a walnut door featuring a dolphin knocker. Streets are littered with trampled palm crosses.

Interior: Yellow-painted lobby with faded blue carpets and vivid green railings. Alternating yellow-and-blue steps lead to upper floors. A bronze bust surrounded by flowers adorns the base of the staircase. A Persian cat named Dante prowls the premises.

Encounters in the Hotel

Mr De Mendoza's Room (Room 13):

• Sparsely furnished but unnaturally cold and dark.
• Found under the mattress: a small, square gold mask (6 inches across), featuring a stylised face with geometric shapes but no eye holes. The reverse is a polished, mirror-like gold surface.
• The room emanates a sickly-sweet smell.

Mr Larkin's Room:

• Chaotic and reeking of sweat and sickness, the room contains scattered clothing, open suitcases, and a bottle with heroin and syringes.
• Larkin bears a black tattoo across his chest - a jagged spiral ending in the image of a clawed figure.
• In pain, he mutters incoherently: "I couldn't stop it... I can't make it stop."
• Suddenly, a powerful entity takes over his voice and forces Ellen and Jacob to forget the day's events, dismissing them as imagination.

Mr De Mendoza: Appears dishevelled but imposing, with loose stitching on his dark suit and missing fabric on his right shoulder. He carries a side sword, distinct from the one previously taken from Professor Sanchez's office.

Ellen's Vision

Whilst interacting with the mirrored artefact found under Mr Dr Mendoza's bed, Ellen experiences a vivid dream:

• A field of red grass under two violet suns.
• A mysterious woman in a red dress with red hair and long nails addresses her, seeming to know Ellen's secrets.
• The woman offers Ellen power and protection in exchange for a favour: return the golden seal to a forgotten temple and recite an incantation.
• Ellen accepts the "gift," feeling warmth and a chilling sensation in her back.

External Threats

Pale Figures: A Jeep filled with pale individuals, including the driver - recognised as the man who fatally stabbed Professor Sanchez. A gaunt woman in a pink dress watches the group, radiating anger.

Police Presence

The group are forced into the jeep and taken to the Gendarmerie Quartel de Marta (police barracks). Upon arrival they refuse to enter the building, and are allowed to stay in their Hotel Rooms but are locked inside