Dear Diary,
Darkness surrounds me as I walk in this small, dank tunnel toward unknown perils. I am here with Mr. Krane and company, walking through a magically created dirt tunnel to find the source of the destructive beings that have been plaguing Saint Louis. I wish that I could say that it has been a pleasant trip underground, but being covered in mud and muck from head to toe is not what I would call "pleasant."
The story behind the current situation that I find myself in is just as odd, if not odder, then my last diary entry. It all started with the captain of the ship the Proud Mary, Mr. Wanna-maker. He is a river boat smuggler, who smuggles between the Union and the Confederacy. Two men have been murdered on his ship, and two more men have gone missing. Mr. Wanna-maker wishes to find the missing men, and to know who murdered his other men because he is of the belief that the missing men did not kill their comrades. The two dead men are Hershal Milferd, a black man, and Clide Falling-horse, an Indian. The two missing men are August Duprey, a black man, and Barnabe Del, an Irishman.
Now, Mr. Wanna-maker explains to us that these are not the first men to go missing on his ship. Charlie Parsons went missing months ago while he was on guard duty, and his body was eventually found in some warehouses along the river front. However, the captain thinks that since Mr. Parsons used to work for Red Johnson, the local river pirate captain, that the pirates found him and did him in.
While looking at the dead bodies of the two crew members, we discover the following facts: (1) Mr. Milferd was killed by a blunt instrument made of obsidian which caved his head in, (2) Mr. Falling-horse came from the Black Foot tribe, (3) the occupants were bodily dragged from their beds, and (4) there was an Indian style necklace found in Mr. Falling-horse's hand with the chain broken, but it is not of the style of the Black Foot tribe. Ms. Whately uses her magic and discovers that the men were killed by tomahawks with obsidian blades.
After our search and inspection of the corpses, we decide to pay a visit to the local rough bar where Red Johnson and his crew are known to frequent. Mr. Slade intimidates one of the pirate gunners into telling us that Red Johnson and his crew were indeed the ones who killed Charlie Parsons. But the man claims that he knows nothing about the recent disappearances and deaths aboard the Proud Mary. Thanks to Mr. Slade's overwhelming menace, we were able to leave the bar without injury or further disruptions.
During the day, while I am asleep, my companions visit the local archeologist, who is a known expert in Indian history and culture. They show him the necklace found with Mr. Falling-horse, and he tells them that he has seen necklaces exactly like that one in the burial mounds near town. Not every mound has a necklace, but a lot of them seem to. He also comments on how the necklace looks a lot newer then the ones he has seen, the tribe having been in existence 800 years ago. Sam Langstun, a Saint Louis resident, came to the archeologist a week ago and showed him an obsidian knife that he claims he found in his basement. Mr. Langstun did not, however, sell the knife to the archeologist, so he had nothing to show my companions.
After visiting the archeologist, my companions decide to pay Mr. Langstun a visit to ask him about the knife he found. They came upon the man's dog, who leads them to the dead body of Mr. Langstun. The corpse is on the floor of his cellar tangled together with the body of a mutated Indian man. The Indian man is stretched out in a very unnatural way, as if he stretched his own body through some kind of super natural ability or magic. Mr. Langstun was strangled by the Indian, but before he died, he shot the mutant three times in the chest. Also, the Indian is wearing the same necklace that we found with Mr. Falling-horse. By assessing the decay of the corpses, they find that the men have been dead for two days, which would mean that Mr. Langstun died the same day as the two crew men on the Proud Mary.
While searching the basement and house for clues, my companions discover a recently dug tunnel, which happens to be pointing in the direction of the Indian burial mounds. They also find a notebook in which Mr. Langstun wrote down some of the other Indian artifacts that he had found in his basement, and a list of possible buyers for the artifacts that would pay a lot more then the local archeologist. Waiting until night fall, I boldly lead the group into the tunnel toward the unknown darkness beyond...
This then brings the story to where I am now, in said tunnel. Before the writing of this diary entry, we encounter two groups of enemies that attempt to stop us from reaching the end of the passage. One group was of the mutated Indians wearing the now familiar necklaces. They are dispatched quickly and easily. The second group, however, I personally found to be far more difficult and disconcerting to deal with. A mud monster is the best way to describe them. As I walked through the passage, the mud seemed to rise up in front of me in a human shaped form which proceeded to attack me. The mud monsters that attacked my companions were eventually taken care of. However, when I tried to grab and claw at the thing in front of me, I only seemed to get my self more and more covered in mud. The creature, not being solid but more liquid like in nature, simply parted before my touch and reformed over my hands and arms. How utterly infuriating and disgusting! Mr. Slade had to help me deal with the thing before it started causing physical harm to me. I can only hope that this is the last that I will be seeing of such creatures for the rest of my existence, but I fear that this will not be the case. We shall soon see what other nasty things lay ahead further down the tunnel...