Augustus Larkin, 32, unwilling vessel of an ancient evil

Augustus Larkin comes from a moderately wealthy colonial family in Kenya. His father and grandfather made their fortunes building railways. Larkin has failed to follow in their footsteps and is seen as a wastrel by his relations. He still receives a regular allowance from his family, which he uses to fund his travels, but he is no longer in regular contact with any of them.

• Description: A pale, thin white man with greasy blond hair and pale blue eyes. Despite his relative youth, his skin is saggy and he has noticeable bags under his eyes .Larkin’s white linin suit also appears baggy; an indication that he has recently lost a significant amount of weight. He wears expensive cologne in excessive quantities.
  • APP: 45

Links:

• The investigators see articles about Larkin and his planned expedition in the international press.
• The investigators are invited to join Larkin for dinner in Lima.

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru, #AugustusLarkin

Jackson Elias (a.k.a. Jesse Hughes), 41, fearless investigator

Jackson Elias is a writer, specializing in books about strange and violent cults. He started life as an orphan in Stratford, Connecticut, and learned to make his own way early in life. He has no living realatives and no permanent address. Elias is a lifelong skeptic. While he is fascinated by cults with ghoulish belief, he considers their members to be deluded and their evils to be of purely human origin. Faced with incontrovertible proof of the Mythos, his certainty has crumbled.

• Description: An African-American man of average height and build, with short hair and a habitual grin. Tends to wear tweed suits, except when impractical, and usually sports a fedora gat. He smokes a pipe and often gestures with it to emphasize points when talking. He possesses a dark sense of humor and often makes sardonic wisecracks. Behind this veneer, he has a noble and warm nature, prompting him to take risks in protecting people he cares about or those who are unable to look after themselves.
  • APP: 45

Links:

• Elias attends the dinner that Augustus Larkins hosts for the members of his expedition at Bar Cordano.

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru, #America, #Investigator, #JacksonElias

Luis de Mendoza, 402 (appears 33), former conquistador and ageless vampire

One of the original conquistadors who discovered the pyramid in the Andes, Luis de Mendoza has spent the past 370 years as an undead, hunger-driven abomination. Like his fellow kharisiri, he lived in a mindless, bestial state until the fragment of **Nyarlathotep** in Augustus Larkin reawakened his human intelligence. He now serves Larkin unquestioningly, protecting his new master from physical harm, ensuring that those who speak to him do so with respect, and killing anyone who would stand in the way of his master’s plan. Even when he is quiet, his body language is obviously hostile, and he seems to have a special dislike for Jackson Elias.

• Description: A gaunt man with pronounced cheekbones and deep-set, piercing blue eyes. His medium-length brown hair is unkempt and he makes no attempt to style it. His clothing is clean, if old and frayed, and he favors light cotton garments. When traveling countryside, de Mendoza habitually wears a wide-brimmed black hat.
  • APP: 45

Links:

• Accompanies **Larkin** to the meeting with the investigators.

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru, #MythosEntitiy, #LuisdeMendoza

Nayra, 76, wise woman and healer

Nayra is a yatiri—a traditional healer of the Aymara people. While she is popular in most of the community around Puno, some of the more devout Catholics see her as a pagan and disapprove of her beliefs and practices. As well as following her calling as a healer, Nayra has a lively interest in the myths and legends of the area around Lake Titicaca. When Jackson Elias went to Puno in search of information about monsters and cults, a number of locals directed him to speak to Nayra and they became friends. Since helping Elias, Nayra has come to the attention of the Kharisiri. She is keeping a low profile, moving around the area and staying with a variety of friends.

• Description: A stooped, wrinkled old woman with thick white hair and bright, lively eyes. She has a loud, infectious laugh and finds a great many things funny. She has a mischievous sense of humor and makes good-natured jokes at the investigators’ expense.
  • APP: 50

Links:

• **Elias** consults Nayra if the investigators hit a dead end looking for the pyramid.

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru, #Nayra

Professor Nemesio Sánchez, 35, Professor of Archaeology

Augustus Larkin comes from a moderately wealthy colonial family in Kenya. His father and grandfather made their fortunes building railways. Larkin has failed to follow in their footsteps and is seen as a wastrel by his relations. He still receives a regular allowance from his family, which he uses to fund his travels, but he is no longer in regular contact with any of them.

• Description: Slim and dapper, with neatly oiled hair and a well-groomed beard. He wears glasses and is usually dressed in a suit when at the university. He loves to talk, especially about archaeology, history, and anthropology. He will happily spend hours discussing these or any other topics. Nothing excited Prof. Sánchez more than the exchange of knowledge.
  • APP: 65

Links:

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru, #NemesioSanchez

Trinidad Rizo, 19, unwilling vessel of an ancient evil

Rizo has been helping Prof. Sánchez and Elias with their research into the possible destination of Larkin’s expedition. She recently found Final Confession of Gaspar Figueroa in an old box of papers in the library and has set about producing a summary of its rambling narrative. This in turn led her to go looking for the section of gold inlay mentioned in the text, which she believes may also be in storage at the university. Before the investigators could meet her, however, she had been killed by the kharisiri Luis de Mendoza.

• Description: A slightly built, energetic young woman with curly dark hair and an infectious smile. She speaks very quickly, making her difficult to understand (if not completely fluent in Spanish). Her speech is accompanied by equally fast and extravagant hand gestures.

Links:

• Former assistant to Prof. Sánchez, found dead in the basement of the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Peru

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru, #TrinidadRizo

Julio and Domingo Cespedes, 38 and 15, protective father and injured son

Julio is a farmer who, along with his son Domingo, has been traveling for several hours looking for a pregnant alpaca that has wandered off. While searching for some high ground, Domingo was attacked by what Julio now realizes was a pair of kharisiri. He managed to chase the creatures off, but is worried that they will return, possible with more of their kind.

• Description: Julio is a heavy-set man with thick eyebrows and a perpetual scowl; he wears a green woolen jacket and wide-brimmed hat. Domingo is a wiry youth with unkempt dark hair, he has a gaping wound on his chest after being attacked by one of the kharisiri, and his clothes are soaked with blood.

Links:

Tags: #DramatisPersonae, #Peru