13/07/2025 – The Great Bundari (2)
Dr Horace Starrett
They finish off their conversation with Mr Kenyatta and depart. As it is not yet lunchtime, they decide to investigate some of the remaining leads just in case. They decide to start by finding Dr Horace Starrett at the local hospital. They find the best local hospital in the European District and Jeziah arranges for some taxis to take them there, hoping that is where the Doctor will be.
They ask for Dr Starrett and are directed to his office. He initially thinks Cassandra has a medical problem, but when she asks about the Carlisle Expedition, he is a little surprised but happy to help. He did the examination of the remains from the massacre of the Expedition. He looks up the old records and recalls them visiting him for medical supplies before they set off into the mountains. He particular remembers the young photographer girl, Miss Masters, who made a generous donation to the church.
He recalls examining some of the bodies that were brought back from the massacre site. They had been torn to shreds, there was very little of their structure left. His notes also say the corpses were months old, but the remains seemed very fresh, like they had only died the day before. He questioned this, but all the bodies were in the same state.
Who was behind the Massacre?
He did not see any members of the expedition, he only saw the bodies of African servants and carriers, either Kikuru or Nandi tribes. Eddy wonders if there are tribal enemies of those tribes who could have been responsible for the attack. He tells them that Kikuru and Nandi do not like each other and he has to separate patients in Swahili Town by tribe, or they start attacking each other. The massacre happened on Nandi land and they were blamed.
Personally though, Dr Starrett does not believe that humans carried out the massacre. The bodies were shredded, by unknown beasts with huge, powerful claws. That, coupled with the strange preservation of the bodies, leads him to think that supernatural forces are responsible, but he could not put that in the official reports.
Government House
They return to the Hotel to have lunch and decide who to visit next. Over lunch, they wonder if all the Carlisle Expedition are still alive, but if that is so, why has Roger or Jack Brady not contacted anyone? Perhaps they are being held at the Mountain of the Black Wind. Cassandra wonders why Hypatia Masters would make a donation to a church if she was a member of the cult.
They still have Neville Jeremy and Roger Cordon to visit. They do not know who Neville Jeremy is, but they know Roger Cordon would be at Government House. They vaguely remember someone at the airport told them to register there after they arrived.
Government House is a grand looking building that flies the British flag. At the reception, Jeziah introduces “Lady” Cassandra Astor and asks to speak to Roger Cordon, the Colonial Under-Secretary. Convinced by Cassandra’s demeanour, they are able to get an appointment with him in 30 mins.
Under-Secretary Cordon
They are shown into the Under-Secretary’s office. He is the epitome of the British colonialism establishment, with a portrait of the King behind his desk. He welcomes them and listens as Cassandra explains she is looking for her fiancé, Roger Carlisle. Mr Cordon remembers the expedition and it was a tragic affair. He remembers they were looking for evidence of an Egyptian Pharaoh who travelled this far south.
They went to places that were not safe and unfortunately fell victim to a rare example of native aggression. They trod on grounds that were of religious importance to the Nandi tribe. He can only tell her that the perpetrators were captured and hanged. Nothing like that has happened since, which suggests that colonial authorities have the matter under control now.
Questioning the Official Story
Cassandra asks why, if they took native guides with them, they would enter the wrong lands. Mr Cordon suggests the Aberdare Forest is huge and perhaps their guides were not that competent. She then asks about the bodies never being identified. Mr Cordon tells her the bodies were so mangled it was hard to tell but all their equipment was there. He has no doubt that the entire expedition was killed.
He tells them that the Nandis confessed to killing the Expedition members. Monty asks how come none of the bodies identified by Doctor Starrett were Caucasian, but he has no answer to that. It was six years ago now and they are trying to put this event behind them. The criminals were dealt swift British justice and Kenya is a safe place to come.
He does not subscribe to conspiracy theories. He had an American speak to him a number of months ago making similar allegations, but the facts are the entire expedition was massacred by Nandis and the perpetrators were caught and hanged.
Monty accuses him of lying. There are plenty of facts that point of the members of the expedition not having been at the massacre site. Mr Cordon quickly denies this and becomes rather irritated. He tells them he has nothing further to say and ends the interview there.
After they leave the office, Cassandra says that while that was not very helpful, she thinks he genuinely believes what he said.
Neville Jeremy
Down at the reception, they ask about Neville Jeremy, who turns out to be a solicitor working in Government House, second floor. They go straight to his office and ask him about Jackson Elias. He remembers the man, who asked a lot of awkward questions especially about the Carlisle Expedition. He seemed to know a lot about obscure cults worshipping strange deities, an interest that Neville shared.
They talked a lot about the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, but Neville does not think they are as important as the Cult of the White Gorilla. Jackson Elias would not accept his believe that the White Gorilla was a more important cult and was convinced that the Bloody Tongue was a dangerous cult in this area, but Neville disagrees. He intends to travel to the Congo to investigate the White Gorilla in a few years, but cannot spare the time at the moment.
Cassandra asks him about the book Dark African Sects by Nigel Blackwell. He has never read it but has spoken to people who have. He asks if they have encountered many cults themselves and tells them cults have existed since Roman times. One of the purposes of the original Inquisition was the hunt down and eliminate cults. He thinks the British Empire should be doing more of that sort of work itself, but it needs evidence and a legal case.
They conclude the interview there and leave Government House. They return to the hotel and have dinner. Cassandra has Jeziah take her copy of Dark African Sects back to Government House and have it passed to Neville Jeremy.
Journey through the Savana
They head back to the Kikuru Central Association in time for their appointment at 6pm. When they arrive, the Association is closed, but an African man is waiting outside. He greets them in broken English, checks Ms Astor is there and he starts to lead them away, on a long walk into Swahili Town. They see for themselves the poor housing conditions in the area. Lots of African people look at them as they pass by. Tiger makes sure everyone is armed and on their guard.
They follow this man through Swahili Town to a garage on the edge of town, which he unlocks. Inside is an old, vintage Rolls Royce Roadster in slightly poor condition. He has them get in, though there are not enough seats. Tiger and Monty have to stand on the foot plate. He then uses a turning handle to start the car and drives them out of Nairobi and into the wilderness, following an old dirty track northwards.
The Roadster chugs along at about 30 mph and they travel for an hour, passing beautiful savanna landscapes. Jeziah asks where they are going, the man simply replies “to see the Great Bundari”. He does not seem to know much English.
Native Village
After an hour they start to approach a native village, which is basically a circle of huts. He parks the car outside the largest hut. A skinny, teenage boy comes out and talks to the man. They have a conversation in Swalihi. The boy does not seem happy about something, but reluctantly agrees in the end.
Their driver introduces the boy as Okumo, who’s English is better. He asks them what they want to talk to the Great Bundari about. Tiger tells him they ask questions and to just let them in, but the boy says if he doesn’t tell him, they won’t be allowed to see him.
No Guns!
He tells them Great Bundari is not here, he is far away, but he can call him back – if they tell him why he should. Tiger continues to arrogantly tell him to just do it and is convinced the boy is lying to him. He pulls out his pistol, but the boy simply dashes away.
Their driver tells Tiger “no, no, no, no gun!” and calls for Okumo to come back.
Cassandra then intervenes and says they will not get what they want using guns. Jeziah backs her up. Tiger demands their driver go find the boy. He then shouts into the hut they are parked outside, demanding whoever is in there should come out. Monty and Cassandra try to get him to reign in his behaviour, pointing a gun at a child. Tiger is furious that the boy had lied to him though.
The driver comes back and tells him to put gun away and Okumo will talk to them. Tiger reluctantly puts his gun away and the boy comes back. He tells Cassandra her friend is silly. He tells her they must do exactly what he says, or they will not be able to speak to Great Bundari. They must swear now to follow all his instructions which they reluctantly do.
Entering the Hut
Okumo tells Tiger he cannot come in the hut and he agrees to stay on watch. The boy tells Tiger they will be in the hut for a long time. He must not come in or they will put their friends in danger. Jeziah tells Tiger he should follow Ms Cassandra’s orders.
The others enter the hut, which has a spiralling outer corridor that circles around the edge of the hut, with fetishes and drawings that are of Africian mystical significance. Cassandra’s Occult knowledge tells her they are wardings and protection. Agatha says the barriers to the Spirit World are weak here, there are a lot of spirits nearby.
In the central, circular room is a large open area, with a spiral pattern drawn in the sand on the floor. At the centre of the pattern sits a very old, skinny looking African man with long hair and beard. He is sat cross-legged and in some sort of trance.
Waking Great Bundari
Okumo has them quietly sit around the edge of the room and starts to sing and chant some kind of native song. The others look on rather confused, but wait. After 10 minutes, Agatha tries to join in the chant that Okumo is using. She says it is to bring the old man’s spirit back from beyond to his body. They must all join in, trying to pick up the words.
Agatha, Cassandra and Jeziah make a serious attempt, while Eddy and Monty make a token effort as they are sceptical, but as time goes by even they join in properly. They find themselves doing this for about an hour, before the old man finally starts to awaken.
Okumo talks to him and they goes over and helps him physically.
Roger Carlisle is Alive
The Great Bundari suddenly tells them in good English that he knows they have come here from overseas and that Cassandra is looking for her love. He can tell her from the Afterlife that her love is not there – he is still alive. Cassandra is both happy and upset at this.
He then tells them their mission is perilous and the Blood Tongue grows arrogant, stealing local people for blood sacrifice to their dark god. He prays continuously to the N’gai, the God of the Mountains, to stave off this evil. He can tell that something important and terrible is going to happen at the Mountain of the Black Wind. People are coming from around the world to Kenya for whatever is going to happen.
Cassandra asks him where Roger is. He tells them he knows spirits across Africa, but no further. Roger is not in Africa but over the sea and far away. She must find him, but there are more important things she must do first. To find out more, she must face the Cult of the Bloody Tongue, at the Mountain of the Black Wind.
The Black Wind
Bundari says the terrible god of the Black Wind is powerful. No native spells work against him. The Black Wind brings famine and death every year. Eddy asks when this happens and he says it happens when the stars are aligned to the dark god.
Monty asks about M’weru. Bundari tells him she is the leader of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue and dwells in the Mountain of the Black Wind. There is another there too, from the Carlisle Expedition, and she bares a terrible burden. He tells them they must go to the Mountain of the Black Wind and stop the cult.
They must use their wits, their weapons and the knowledge they have learn to defeat the cult. He can also provide them with some tokens of protection. He also tells them Okumo will lead them to the Mountain of the Black Wind, much to the anger of the boy. They have an argument in Swahili and it takes a while before Okumo accepts he will have to do this.
A Dangerous Quest
Bundari tells Cassandra none of the members of the Carlisle Expedition are dead. She must find out what has happened to them all. Many of them have fallen into service to darkness and by finding them, she will learn more about their terrible plans and how to defeat them. She must do this, because otherwise something terrible is going to threaten the whole world.
He tells them the Eye of Light and Darkness is the only thing that can chain the Dark God and stop his plans. There is a man, in the Orient, H’san. They must find the wisdom of H’san.
Bundari tells Okumo something in Swahili. The boy goes over to a box and takes out what looks like wooden rattle with hair sticking out of it. He gives it to Cassandra. The old man tells her it is to be used only in the last resort, to save her. She must pull the hair out, shake the rattle many times and repeat a chant, which he teaches her and she writes down phonetically.
Okumo takes a necklace from the box and puts it around his neck under his clothes. Agatha and Cassandra notice the necklace looks a little like a pentagram, but with an eye in the middle. Bundari says this quest will be Okumo’s Rite of Passage that will make him a man. The old man tells the Investigators that he will direct spirits to help them as best he can. This is a dangerous quest – but they must do it and it will give them some of the answers they seek.