• Professor Nathan Smythe-Jones. Lecturer in Anthropology at the Miskatonic University. Middle Aged be-speckled gent who is still hale enough to carry out field work. Though since one of his most recent trips he has become a little withdrawn and pensive
• James 'Crispy' Bacon. A sophomore at the Miskatonic U. From a poor farming family he is the first to attend College, earning his place on a sporting scholarship
• Rory Flannagan. Irish-American, Newspaper Reporter, photographer and amateur sleuth. A veteran of the Great War with some Military Intelligence experiece where he heard stories of occult activites and spiritualism in Germany which have continued to peak his interest ever since

The artefact is a golden wedge with deep inscriptions.  It looks to ba a third of a larger item. The Prof, Rory and I travel to New York in the Profs Buick 2236 Coupe - nice car!  We plan to take in a baseball game - my chance to see Babe Ruth in action for the first time, have a bit of fun in the evening before making our way to the library tomorrow.  The game is fantastic.  In the evening I find a dancehall while the Prof and Rory go in search of a Speakeasy.

Sunday 24rd September 1922

On Sunday we have breakfast, go to church, have lunch then make our way to the library. The professors friend fails to show.  After an hour we leave and head for his address - an apartment on the fourth floor of a brownstone building.

There is no answer to our knocks.  I break the door down and we enter a dingy apartment. The apartment looks as though its been ransacked. The furniture has been hacked at with a blade. There are blood stains on the floor in front of a desk. We search and I find a small stone amulet. The Prof finds a notebook/journal and a ticket for Callao /New York passenger liner and a map of Peru.

The journal shows that  Charles Danvers was investigating black racketeering. He obtained the gold tablet as proof (probably stolen from the New York Institute dig in Peru) but then realised he was being followed and one of his contacts was murdered.

We decide to stay on for another day.

Monday 25th September 1922

The next day the Prof receives a call from his secretary.  Charles Danvers has been in touch requesting contact details.  He leaves a contact number.  The Prof rings it.

Charles tells us the story. Simon LeCloche is the ring leader of the Black Marketers. He was attacked in his apartment by Indians indigenous to South America, not LeCloches men!  Danvers thinks that the gold artefact relates to a lost Incan treasure. We arrange to meet him later.

We arrive at the coffee shop we arranged to meet Danvers at.  He arrives on time but seems wary, constantly looking around. He tells us a few more details. We decide to go to the  New York institute.

I ring the institute and make an appointment to see Alistair Mclaughlin later in the day (Alistair is the Director of the Institute). We spend the time until then researching Alistair and the Institutea

We arrive at the institute for our appointment. I have to fast talk our way past the secretary again. Alistair is a snall soft-spoken man with spectacles.

The institute has been searching for a lost Incan temple to Quilla, the Moon Goddess for some time.  Work at the dig was progressing well until some strange events started to happen and 5 workers plus a professor disappeared.  Work at the site has virtually ceased and the Institute would like someone to investigate. We accept the offer - the Prof is sure he can clear it as a field trip.  If we're successful we'll get $3000 each.  We're advances $300 to buy equipment.

Tuesday  26th September 1922

We read in the papers that the institute has been broken into and the nightwatchmen murdered.  We return to Arkham and begin preparations for our journey.

Time Passes

We set sail for Peru.  We notice that there are Latin types and Canadians on board. I spend my time running round the decks and speaking to the ladies.  That night the cabin is broken into...

Myself and the Prof are sharing a cabin. We are woken by the breaking of the chair we put under the door handle.  Someone enters with a flashlight speaking another language. Bloody foreigners!

The  Prof quickly grabs his gun and fires, but misses.  The foreigners fire but miss.  I grab my gun and shoot, injuring one.  He fires back, grazing me.  The Prof is clearly better with books than guns, he misses.  I shoot again and the villain falls to the ground.  We quickly grab his wallet and some lockpicks before anyone arrives to investigate the commotion.

The Captain is very apologetic and invites us to dinner. We also get another cabin.  When we speak to Rory later he tells us he thinks someone has been in his cabin.

Over the next few days we spot a number of French-speaking people around the ship.  They seem to be quite interested in us. I continue to chat up the ladies, trying to find a suitable partner for the on-board dance competition in a couple of days time.

At night we sleep in shifts given the break-in and suspicious activity.

We decide to track one of the foreigners back to their cabin.  Rory discovers they're in Cabin C10.  We investigate.  C10 is a 4-person suite. Apart form the fact that the foreigners speak Spanish we don't find anything of interest.

The next evening the dance contest is held.  I come second with my partner - not enough time to practice together! That night we are again attacked in  our cabin, this time by savages, wearing ragged clothing.  I shoot one, the Prof shoots another. We capture the third.

The Captain takes the surviving savage into custody.  We find someone on the ship who speaks Spanish.  All the savage will reveal is that they are trying to get hold of the golden artefact the Prof has.

We track down the cabin of one of the attackers - a Phillippe Gonzales. Inside we find a telegram from someone named Canditta who is looking for the artefact and cautions against the  Canadians 'Murphy is Dangerous'.

We decide to hole up in theone cabin, joining Rory and the others. That night we hear someone breaking into out Cabin.  The Prof opens the door and looks down the corridor. He sees more of the savages and opens fire.  He kills two of them.

After the commotion has dies down we retire again.  Later I am on watch with the Prof.  He thinks he hears something but nothing happens.

Peru

We eventually arrive in Peru. We clear customs and are met by our escort - Enriquez Garcia, from the institute.  We leave for Lima and the excavation in the morning.  He tells us something of the unusual happenings at the dig.  One of the workers is now in a local asylum.

It will take 3 days to reach the dig site.  At night we will be camping outside.  It is an uncomfortable journey along rutted tracks in hot weather.  At night it is cold.

During the first nights camp we are again attacked.  I however am in a deep sleep so struggle to come round.  The attackers this time are the French-Canadians.  I get wounded in the firefight that follows but we manage to kill the attackers.

We arrive at the dig on the evening of 11 October.

Thursday 12 October 1922

The ruins sit at the base of a large cliff.  Not much is happening following the disappearance of the Professor who was leading the dig. We search the tent of the missing Professor and find 3 day books. The Professor browses through them.

Oct 9 -Someone has taken the spore samples. I must replace them and soon before another of us vanishes.  Tonight I go to the lower temple to replace them.

Sep 21 - Farnsworth is gone. He entered the temple at dusk.  I can no longer fool myself.  What's happening can't be explained by gas etc.  The things we see in the night are horribly real. I found a sample of phosphorescent spores in the Lower temple and I think this holds the clue to the mystery.

Aug 9 - the Tablets of the Moon disappeared last night, no doubt smuggled out to be sold on the black market.  These cursed thieves must be stopped!

Jul 15 - Must learn if this area is subject to seismic activity given the state of the temple.  Why are we only getting tremors during the night?

I explore the temple.  There is a work room, a store room and a raised platform.  The work room is being used by the expedition to store artefacts. In the North West corner of the room is a stone platform.

The store room  is used to crate artefacts prior to shipping to New York.  There is another raised stone platform in the Northern section of the room.

The main temple is lozenge shaped. Steps lead up to the main platform which holds a shrine.  The roof is open to the moon as there is a light shaft.  On one wall is an old tapestry with a symbol on that matches the one on the amulet we found in New York.  The opening of the light shaft matches the golden artefact, assuming the fragment does form a third of it.  We find a secret door to a small antechamber.  Inside we find another concealed door with steps beyond that lead down.

Friday 13 October 1922

The next day we explore the lower sections of the temple.  We find a collapsed cave.  There is a faint odour.  Passageways lead off.  We explore. We enter a very large cavern.  Fungus grows here, some of which is pulsating.  The Prof strikes one with his machete. The fungus starts to grow out towards the Prof.  Somewhat unsettling.

This place is massive - we decide to leave and return tomorrow with more people.

Saturday 14 October 1922

The next day we return to the great cavern.  It is 2 miles long, a mile wide and half a mile high! Here the fungus glow is powerful enough to impede vision.  The stink of mould and rot is overpowering. Water drips down from the ceiling. In the centre of the cavern is a pool of stagnant water. A number of tunnels lead off from  the cavern.

We approach the pool. Its surface is covered by algae. We can hear a faint buzzing from the East. It gets closer! One of the porters points to a swarm of alien creatures approaching, large, pinkish things with several sets of limbs. I've never seen or heard of anything like them!  We hide.

When the coast is clear we explore one of the passages.  The professor is quite excited by possibility of discovering a new species.  We enter a grotto however it is filled with alien tools and technology as well as 8 of the strange creatures.  The professor lets out a small squeak and runs away!

One of the aliens points a strange device at us. An arc of electricity leaps from the device and strikes one of our porters. The porter spasms in pain.   One of the creatures shoots me. Ow!.  I run away as fast as I can.

Sometime later, back in the camp....

What the....?

I want to go home....!

Martians...?

The professor, somewhat recovered, wanders around the dig.  He notices that the stone platforms in the temple side chambers seem to have been moved.  We discuss the section of the artefact we have and the groups that are seeking it.

Later, the Professor and Rory spot the leader of the natives descending into the temple. They follow. A hidden portal opens up and a number of the alien creatures rise from below. A number of other natives are also present.  They have a prisoner who seems to be destined to become a sacrifice and sure enough a short time later they cut his heart out.

I receive a message fro Enrique,  The leader of the hispanic workers would like to speak to us. I go to see her - she has a tent at the top of a nearby hill.  Her name is Candita.  She's female! She invites me into her tent!

She has one part of the artefact. She says that Le Cloche has the other section.  She believes that if assembles they will reveal the location  of hidden treasure. We talk....

Back at the camp the Prof and Rory wait for the natives to emerge from the temple.  When they do so they challenge them and proceed to gun them down when the natives resist.  Their leader isn't among them.

The Prof and Rory discover the mechanism to open the portal.  They open it - a seemingly bottomless pit with a ramp descending round the outside.  They find some concealed rooms off the ramp.  One has a strange machine in it.

The next morning I leave Canditas tent and go to let the Prof know about our new ally.  I facilitate a meeting and we agree to join forces against Le Cloche. We work out that if the artefact was assembled it would fit over the map of the area in the temple and would then reveal a path.

Le Cloche arrives at the site.  The Prof greets him and gives the signal to attack.  Rory tries to shoot the gas tank on the truck he arrived in. He hits the truck but missess the gas tank.  Le Cloches men mill around in confusion, then charge up the hill towards Canditas camp.  In the ensuing melee I sneak across to the truck, steal the case I find inside and run for cover in the hills.

Turns out the case holds dynamite. I take it.

After the battle we assemble the three fragments and overlay them onto the map.  The map is keyed to the phases of the moon and eventually reveals a location 75 miles away.

Time Passes

Two Weeks Later

We discover another temple, built into the side of a mountain.

Inside is a vast chamber with columns running the entire length of the room.  there is a symbol on the floor.  The columns are carved with disturbing designs.  There are also three statues of tentacled monstrosities

Moving further in we discover another bottomless pit, two platforms and a pathway leading down.  More fungus as well!  For some reason Rory starts to eat it. Yeauch!

I'm lowered nto the pit but it's too deep - I can't get to the bottom.

During the night Candita wakes us - she can hear someone approaching through the tunnels.  Humans plus something much bigger.I throw a stick of dynamite as far as I can down the passage (which isn't very far). Rory does the saem.  We all run outside as fast as we can.

A short while later three tree-like aliens, some humans and some of the flying creatures emerge.  I throw dynamite.  Tnhe first stick turns out to be a dud and fails to explode.  One of the tree-like creatures strikes me. I fall over, dead, though nthe dynamite I'm carrying does go off killing the creature as well.

The Martians win - everyone runs!

The end.

Temple of the Moon - Epilogue

The New York Institure of Archeology and Ancient History shut down their dig in Peru. They pay the investigative team $1000 each and include a bonus of $1000 to be used to go to the family of James "Crispy" Bacon. Candita knowing she has failed to gain vast riches steals the comnpleted amulet and soon you hear rumours of it's sections being sold separately on the black market.

Professor Nathan Smythe Jones and Coach Johnson provide fitting eulogies at the funeral of James "Crispy" Bacon. His great athleticism and teamwork are praised. There are a number of attractive females at the funeral who weep uncontrollably. Other heartbroken young ladies shed a tear on reading the news. His family donate the $2000 to a Bacon memorial dance to be set up in honour of their son.

You all feel slightly reassured (+7 san) that nasty alien creatures can be defeated and that a major black marketeer dealing in stolen art has been thwarted. The Professor feels a whole lot better only occasionally twitching when a buzzing bee is heard nearby. Rory is only slight shaken afterwards but his monophobia remains and he makes sure he has constant companionship. A stay in the sanitorium may be required.

Danvers writes an article in the New York Times about the theft of the tablets, the death of LeCloche and events surrounding it. Details that might disturb the general public are omitted.