The Diary of Dr. Hoffman

[Band2]

Friday, April 4, 1890 – Time unknown
The Tomb

I am not sure of the time. It must still be before noon but I cannot be sure. It seems we are stuck here for a while, so I thought I would update my journal.

We opened the heavy bronze door and entered the room beyond. Across the room was an alcove, and at first we could only see two red eyes peer out of the shadows at us. We prepared for battle until we discovered the eyes were from a giant cat statue in the alcove. The cat statue sat facing the doorway, with two red stones as eyes.

After the initial fright we were able to explore the room. It smelt old, of decay and spices. There was also a scent of death. Mr. Conners soon discovered where that smell came from. The body of one of the quarry workers lay on the ground behind the statue. He was covered in scratches and had a look of horror on his face. Naguib told us he recognized the man as one of the workers who had been missing for the past few days. They had thought he had run off into the desert.

As we were standing over the body we had another fright. With a loud bang the heavy bronze door had swung shut, causing us all to jump. We quickly realized that Ahmed had been holding the door open, but left it to come see the body. When he had the door shut itself. Ahmed went back to the door and tried to open it but could not.

Isaac went to try but could not move the door.

“It’s locked, I think,” was all he said after trying. Ahmed and one of the other Arabs became frantic and threw themselves at the door trying to break it down, but to no avail. We are trapped in the tomb. If we were going to get out we will have to find another way.

After taking a moment to ponder our situation I went back to examining the room. There were ancient hieroglyphs on the walls but I could make no sense of them. There were two niches in the walls which each proved to only have a small sarcophagus. They were shaped like a cat, similar to the one I had seen in Hassan’s shop all those many days ago. After some hesitation, we opened them, fearing they may contain a similar monstrosity as had attacked us in Hassan’s shop, but they proved to be empty.

That left only another heavy bronze door behind the cat statue. Philip determined the door was not locked. So we made plans to open it, but first we arranged ourselves incase something should be on the other side of the door. Weapons ready we braced ourselves, as Isaac opened the door.

I was in the back and could not see much. I heard Isaac exclaim, “What? What is th-” and then stop. Then Ali and Ahmed came running past me. They rushed to the door we had come in through and threw themselves frantically at the door in a wild frenzy. Philip was crouched behind the cat statue in fear, and I hear someone’s rifle clatter to the ground. Someone else, I think Naguib fired his shotgun with
deafening effect in the confined space.

When the gun smoke cleared I could finally see. The door had opened onto a stone wall. There was nothing on the other side of it. However a strange mist had arose and taken the form of a glowing cat. The mist cat threw its head back and meowed. The sound seemed to send a chill through me. My whole body shook but at the same time I seemed to be moving sluggishly. The mist seemed to disappear instantly, but for a long period afterwards I could only move as if heavy weights were shackled to my wrists slowly me.

Eventually the feeling past and we determined that everyone was physically unhurt, however it took us some time to came the nerves of everyone. Once that was done I could consider our current predicament again. It seemed we are still trapped in the room.

[Band2]

Friday, April 4, 1890 – Time unknown
The Tomb

We have faced much peril in this tomb and it has become a tomb for some. Let me relate what has happen since I last wrote.

James suggested we search for hidden exits and led the search. With his sharp observation he spotted a trap door in the floor that had been expertly crafted to blend in with the floor.

Now that we found it, we had to open it. Isaac and a couple of the Arabs had brought crowbars with them and tried to pry the trapdoor open but could not. Meanwhile Mr. Landers and Mr. Conners searched the room for a lever or button that would open the door.

Again it was Mr. Conners who found the way. Using his magnifying glass, he noticed hinges on the jaw on the cat statue. He pulled the jaw downward and there was an audible click and the trap door slowly sprung open. As it did so, the lower jaw of the cat statue snapped shut almost catching James’s hands in its jaws. Luckily he was too quick.

Beneath the trap door was a rusty iron ladder leading down. Isaac led the way down. When I finally reached the bottom we found another tunnel going back deeper into the cliff. Our lanterns barely casting light far down the tunnel, we started on our way.

I am not sure how long we traveled through the underground tunnel. With the darkness and the enclosed space it seemed like an eternity before the next event took us by surprise. Even now I marvel at my morbid choice of words. Took it did, as some of our companions were indeed taken.

As I was not in the front of the group I did not see exactly what happen, but as we were proceeding down the tunnel, suddenly both Isaac and Naguib who were leading our party just disappeared. One moment they were there and suddenly they were gone.

There was a confusion of shouts and exclamations of surprise and then calls out into the darkness to our two missing companions. At first our calls were not answered, but soon we began to hear responses. They were coming from the other side of the walls of the tunnel.

“There must be a hollow space behind these walls,” James exclaimed. It soon became apparent that Isaac was on the right side of the hallway and Naguib was on the left.

They seemed distant at first but James suggested they follow the sound of our voices. As they did so we could hear them coming closer. Suddenly Isaac called out, “I near something. I do not think I am alone.”

We all jumped as from the other side of the tunnel we heard Naguib begin to scream. Naguib’s friends began to pound on the wall and shouted to him in Arabic, but he did not respond and only continued screaming. Philip shouted to Isaac to tell him what was happening and we all urged him to hurry. Naguib’s cries changed from those of fright to those of pain.

Within seconds we could hear Isaac beating at the other side of the tunnel hall. He had reached it but could not find a way to return to our corridor. Sharpe-eyed James, spotted the outline of a hidden door in the wall, however, we could determine no way to open it.

“It must open from your side, Isaac. See if you can find a latch or switch to open the door,” James shouted to him.

“I cannot see anything. It is pitch black in here,” Isaac responded. Isaac had not been carrying a lit lantern when he had disappeared since he needed both hands for his rifle.

“Light your lantern. Quickly,” I shouted to him as Naguib’s screams ended suddenly. I admit that I was more concerned with Isaac’s plight so I barely noticed the reactions of Naguib’s fellow Arabs as the grief and fear from their friend’s death overcame them.

We waited anxiously. Isaac exclaimed, “What was that? Ahh!” Then there were the sounds of a scuffle. Next we heard Isaac said, “Got it.” A few seconds later a gun shot sounded. We waited breathlessly, and then two more guns shots followed.

“Isaac?” I called out tentatively as the silence following the gun shots lengthened.

“Yes. I am here. Where is that secret door?” When Isaac responded I breathed a sigh of relief. James helped direct him to the hidden door and Isaac soon had it open. What had looked like a section of thick stone blocks slid away to reveal Isaac. He was disheveled and breathing heavily. Small set of claw marks on his cheek where the only sign of distress.

“What happened? Are you alright?” I asked.

“Come here. You need to see this.”

Isaac led me into the small passageway to show me the mangled decomposed bodies of two cats. They were just like the one that had attacked us all those many days ago in Hassan’s shop. They had attacked Isaac in the gloom of the small passageway, but luckily he had been able to defeat them. Some of us with weaker determination, shuttered at the thought of facing these monstrous cats alone, in total darkness, but Isaac’s courage was made of steel and he had survived.

When we were ready to move on, we had to leave Naguib behind. We could not find a way into his side of the hidden tunnels, and thus regretfully we had to leave him behind. At first, Ahmed and Ali refused to continue and wanted to return to the entrance. Only after much arguing and pointing out that the way behind us was blocked we finally convinced them to continue. Again Isaac took the lead; this time with Madji beside him.

We followed the tunnel deeper into the bluff, until we came to a staircase. The stairs were small and short, as if made for a people smaller than us. The ceiling was close over head and the stairs were not wide enough for more than one person to climb them at a time.

Proceeding up the stairs slowly, we found they ended in a heavy sealed door. Working together, Isaac and the three Arabs used crowbars to pry the door open. When the door swung open, two separate smells rolled out of the room. One was a sweet perfume-like fragrance, while the other was wet rot.

Inside the room we found a low altar on which was piled tiny white bones. To either side was a stone pillar elaborately carved to look like a cat. Each cat had one eye open and seemed to be watching us no matter where in the room we went. In the center of the room was a low platform, on which rested a coffin-sized tray smeared with a sweet-smelling dried mud. Finally, on the far side of the room was a round well.

We spread out into the room. I examined the altar and the pile of bones, which I was able to identify as the skeletons of small birds and mice.

James called my attention to a heliographic inscription on one of the walls. If only I could have interrupted it, I am sure it would have made our task easier.

After determining there were no other exits from the room, Isaac went to examine the well. He said he could hear water below but could not see the bottom of the well. He decided to tie a lantern to a length of rope and lower it into the well. Doing so, he found the bottom of the well some forty feet down or so. James noticed that the water at the bottom of the well expanded outward from the well shaft suggesting that there was a larger area, maybe a room at the bottom of the well.

With no other way to proceed, Isaac volunteered to climb down the rope into the well. The rest of us waited with baited breath around the well opening, watching as he descended down into the dark. At the bottom, we heard him splash down into the water. I could see the lantern moving this way and that before Isaac called, “It is a tunnel. It goes off for a long way. I cannot see the end from here. The water is about waist deep. I think we can wade through it down the tunnel.”

So with that one by one we started down the rope. I struggled down the rope, all the time certain that my hands would slip and send me plummeting to the bottom. Somehow I made it down, and settled myself into the tepid water.

We started down the tunnel with our lanterns held high. The footing was treacherous as there was much debris that threatened to trip anyone who was too careless.

We had just reach a point from which we could see the end of the passageway ahead, and a set of stairs leading up out of the water, when suddenly the surface of the water began to move. A skull covered in green algae rose slowly out of the water in front of us. Behind us another skeleton rose from the water to block our path back, with water pouring from its gaping mouth. All around us the water seemed alive with skeletal monstrosities, staring at us with empty eye sockets.

The next few minutes were a blur as combat was joined. A skeleton arm reached out of the water near me and tried to grasp me. I pulled away, and when the skeletal head broke the surface of the water I aimed my pistol and fired at point blank rank.

Unfortunately nothing happened. Later, Isaac told me I should not have let my gun get doused by the water, because it would not fire.

As I stared from my useless gun to the leering skull rising from the water for me, Ali rushed passed me blind with fright heading back down the passage way. He had not seen the one behind us and rushed straight into it. At the same time, I heard Isaac firing his rifle at the skeleton in front of us.

Meanwhile, I felt powerless as the skeletal arms reached out for me. But I was saved by Philip. Wielding the snake rod like a club he beat down on the skeleton. Blow after blow rained down on the creature shattering its bones. I found my cane and followed Philip’s example and together we beat the creature down.

I now had a moment to look around at the battle. It seemed like there were four of the monsters. Isaac was locked in battle with the skeletal creature in front of us, using his rifle like a club. Another had grabbed Madji and wounded him badly. James was trying to come to his rescue, beating at the creature with his rapier, while Ahmed seemed frozen in shock at the sight of the monsters.

Philip and I rushed to help Madji. I was able to wrestle him away from the creature while Philip attacked it with his rod. Together he and James were able to finish off the creature, however, Madji was seriously injured. I tried to stanch the bleeding, but my efforts were hampered by the need to keep his head above water.

At about this time, Isaac must have defeated the creature he was battling, because he suddenly rushed past me. I had forgotten about the last of the monsters, the one that had arisen behind us. I turned to look and saw that Ali had run right into the creature’s arms. It had already killed him and was still clawing at his corpse. Isaac rushed at it, with James and Philip close behind. Together they were able to quickly finish it off.

I yelled for Ahmed to help me with Madji but he did not react. Instead he remained frozen with fear. After the others had defeated the last creature I called to them. James came to my aid and together we carried Madji to the stairs. But we were too late. By the time he set him down on the stairs he had already died.

Isaac had collected Ali and confirmed that he was dead as well, further dampening our spirits. Ahmed is a shattered man. I could not get him to answer me. He would only babble to himself in Arabic. He stared with a far off look in his eye and did not seem to notice the rest of us. He had only moved when Philip had dragged him along through the water filled tunnel to the stairs.

Dejectedly we climbed the stairs and entered a room at the top. The room is empty, except for two metal braziers that seemed to still be filled with ancient incense. Here we stopped to rest and decide if we could proceed and how. We knew there was no turning back. Because of the locked entrance, we had to continue if we wanted to find a way out. Even if we could not find an exit, we felt a duty to the world to prevent the evil Sachmet from continuing her rain of terror.

I wonder if Ahmed can continue on. He seemed oblivious to anything. Could we safely leave him here and return for him later or not? It was finally decided that he would be in more danger if we left him alone, so he will come with us, and I will try to keep an eye on him.

Now that we have rested we will continue on.

[Band2]

Saturday, April 5, 1890 – Afternoon
Work Camp

If only we had known how wrong we were about Ahmed.

We left the room through the only other door and entered another strange room. The room was dominated by a large cat statue. It reclined on a dais of two low steps. The cat’s head was slightly tilted, as if listening for something. This was somewhat ironic. There was something about the room that was unnatural. It was almost as if a palpable barrier of some kind blanketed the room in silence. No noise or sound could we make while in the room. The feeling was eerie, so we hurried through the room to the next.
I noticed more hieroglyphics on the wall, but did not want to linger in the unusual silence.

The next room we entered was interesting. In the center of the room was an open sarcophagus. At first we thought we had found the creature’s resting place, but it soon became obvious that this assumption was wrong. From an examination of the other equipment in the room I came to the conclusion that the room was used by ancient priests to prepare the mummy for burial. It was a ceremonial room and must indicate that we were getting very close to the creature’s tomb.

From this room a small corridor lead out to another staircase leading up. We started up unknowing of the danger looming. Halfway up the stairs turned to the right. Isaac in the lead had already past the turn and James who was second was just passing it when we all heard a loud click and then a slow grinding noise. Suddenly the stairs shifted into a diagonal position forming a slide.

Isaac and James had already turned the corner and were able to brace themselves against the wall. Philip’s reflexes are quick and he was able to leap up into the air. By pressing a leg and arm against either wall he was able to brace himself in place without tumbling down the slide. Which is what I would have done unless I had not hastily grabbed Philip around the waist. As I flunk my arms around Philip, I dropped both my revolver and the lantern I was carrying sending them clattering down the slide.

Unfortunately so did Ahmed. In his unaware state he made no reaction to the sudden shift in the stairs. I was closest to him, but I was in no position to take any action that could save him. Poor Ahmed tumbled back down the stairwell. At the bottom we heard a brief scream of pain and then nothing.

Isaac was able to climb the rest of the way up the stairwell, and then lowered a rope down to the rest of us. James used the rope to pull himself upwards, while Mr. Landers and I went down to see about Ahmed. It was gruesome.

He had been killed by large bronze spikes that had sprouted from the ground at the bottom of the stair ramp. Anything tumbling down the ramp would have been sliced to ribbons. I collected my dropped possessions and we joined the others at the top. I informed Isaac and Mr. C what we had seen.

“So it is down to only us now,” Isaac said with grim determination. The rest of us nodded in silent agreement. Without another word we continued on our way.

As we continued down the hallway, I heard the unmistakable sound of gurgling water. Before I could mention it, Mr. Landers did.
“Do you hear that? Its sounds like running water.”

“Hopefully it is not another flooded tunnel. Where is it coming from? Isaac can you see anything ahead?”

“There are some doors ahead. They’re slightly ajar. I think it’s coming from in there,” Isaac responded.

“Wait,” Landers commanded. “I hear something else. Something softer. I think… I think its purring.”

That all gave us a start, for that sound had accompanied the creature in the past. All of us double-checked our weapons a last time and we continued towards the doors.

There were a set of double doors on the left wall of the hallway, which ended a short distance past the doors. Closer now, I could see the doors and noticed they were covered in carvings of cats. Gems studded the carvings, sparkling slightly in our lanterns’ light. This close to the door I could definitely hear the purring Philip had mentioned. Also there was a sour smell coming from the doors. We braced ourselves one more time and then rushed into the room.

I do not know what we were expecting but we were surprised. The purring did indeed come from cats. There were dozens of cats in the large room. Small mangy feral cats.

Directly across from where we entered was another large cat statue on a dais. The statue faced the doors with its mouth open. To either side of the statue were fountains. From one of the fountains still flowed the clotted remains of soured cream. The other fountain sprayed a pale yellow vinegar. The cats were swarmed around drinking from the soured cream fountain and eating from a lump of rotten food. I can admit now that the sight made me sick and I retch uncontrollably.

When I had recovered I was able to take a more thorough look around the room. To the left and right were large niches, each containing a wide low planter filled with dead plants. Directly in front of the cat statue the remains of a large carpet and several cushions had been spread. A thick layer of dust covered it obscuring the colors and patterns.

“Where did all these cats come from? How did they get in here?” Mr. C wondered.

“Maybe there is another way out through there,” I said pointing to an open doorway in the corner the room. The door was crafted to look similar to the surrounding wall, and if it had not been open, I am not sure I would have noticed it.

“Alright, let’s get out of here before this place makes me …” Isaac was interrupted by a load roar that startled us all. A foul graveyard stench assaulted the nostrils, as we saw movement behind the cat statue. There moving around the statue to see us better was a mangy-looking lioness. Its fur hung in strips, with the rotten flesh revealing pale white bones.

James screamed in terror, while Isaac stared dumb-struck at this new monstrosity. I myself felt the fear rising to overcome my will and fought it down. I raised my pistol and fired a number of times at the beast as it moved towards us in a slow disjointed manner.

I saw at least two of my bullets strike the creature’s flesh, but I have no idea if it caused the creature any harm as it did not even pause in it charge. It was about to pounce on Isaac who stood frozen in terror when Mr. Landers rushed forward between the beast and Isaac. Wielding the snake rod, he attacked the creature driving it back away from Isaac.

I had stopped to reload my pistol, but now the two were too close for me to risk firing. So, mustering my courage, I charged forward with my thick cane to aid Philip. We struggled against the undead lioness, hearing the awful sound of the crush of its bones and brittle flesh when we struck home. Both Mr. Landers and I felt the sting of her claws as well when we were too slow to avoid her attack. However, together we were able to overcome the monstrous creature. As we pressed the lioness back, Isaac overcame his fright and joined us, striking the finishing blow with his hunting knife.

We had barely time to catch our breath and insure our wounds were not serious, when a loud slam startled us. A hidden door had been thrown open on the left side of the room. In the doorway stood the hideous creature, Sachmet. Her eyes swept over us with malevolence, while her face was set in a horrible grimace of outrage. This time all thoughts of bravery fled my senses and I collapsed in fear. My companions were equally helpless at the sight of this undead monster.

Sachmet seemed to float across the room towards us. She held a hand out in front of her pointing at the remains of the undead lioness. She spoke but I could not understand her, however, her tone was filled with venom and hatred. I stared into that dried withered face and thought I was seeing my death. Our deaths seemed certain, as we all huddled on the floor before her.

She stopped only a step away from me, suddenly unsure. She cocked her head as if listening for something. Seeing this I strained my ears. The cats in the room were silent now, and all I could hear at first was the gurgling of the fountains. I thought I heard a faint hissing sound.

Sachmet turned quickly to face the large cat statue. My gaze followed hers and I saw the source of the faint noise. A snake was protruding from the statue’s mouth. Reared up, with fangs bared it hissed threateningly. It slithered the rest of the way out of the statue’s mouth and dropped to the floor. Sachmet started towards the snake, but had only taken a couple of steps when another snake appeared from the statue’s mouth. It too dropped to the floor.

The undead creature paused for a moment, indecisive. Before she could make up her mind a third snake appeared. This snake curved back around to rest on top of the cat statue’s head. From there it hissed its anger towards Sachmet.

When a fourth snake appeared, the undead creature took a step back. Two more snakes came out of the statue’s mouth and dropped to the floor. Now the cats in the room began to run away. They disappeared through the open doors of the room as three more snakes came out of the statue.

Sachmet had stood her ground after her first step back, but as the tenth snake appeared she began to back away cautiously. In all thirteen snakes appeared. By the time the last one appeared, Sachmet turned and fled out the way she had come. The snakes slithered across the floor in pursuit of her.

I am not sure how long I lay there paralyzed with fear. I think it was Mr. Conners who first broke through the fear and started shaking the rest of us to bring us back. Once we were all ourselves again, we stood in the center of the room, looking from each other to the empty door which the creature had fled through.

“I know what I must do,” Mr. Landers said.

“What do you mean?” I asked him.

“I know how to put the creature to rest. This,” he said holding up the snake rod, “is a symbol of Set. It was through Set’s power that she was entombed originally. And now it is the key to returning her to her rest. I must place it on her sarcophagus and her power will be destroyed.”

“I feel a small breeze from this doorway,” Isaac said. “I think it leads to another exit.” He was pointing to the doorway that had been open when we first entered the room. He did not add the unspoken statement that we could use it to escape instead of following the creature.

“I will go with you, Philip,” I said.

“If you are going, I cannot let you face this thing without me,” Isaac stated in his stoic manner. Mr. C simply nodded his head and checked that his pistol was fully loaded.

With lanterns held high we started through the doorway. All of us had firearms ready, except for Philip who held the rod of Set out in front of him. We followed a low-ceiling passageway that ended in a pair of heavy doors.

The doors swung open to reveal an oddly shaped room with a high ceiling. The air had a heavy smell of spices.

Just a few paces into the room was an immense bronze statue with the body of a woman and the head of a cat. Bast, the goddess, I identified for my companions.

Some distance behind it was a wide low dais that was ringed by stone statues of cats. The cat statues faced the center of the dais, where a large sarcophagus glinted with silver and gold. Priceless works of art, gilded furniture, fine tapestries, and elaborate pieces of jewelry lay scattered around the room.

Suddenly, I could hear a faint popping noise. A tiny green spark flared near one of the statues that ring the dais, and then quickly it faded.

Peering through the gloom of the room, I could feel my heart began to pound with fright. I noticed that resting on the rim of the opened sarcophagus was an emaciated hand. The fingers started slowly to tremble. The fingers gripped the side of the sarcophagus and pulled itself up. The creature Sachmet turned to face us.

Quicker than I would have thought possible the creature had stood up and out of the sarcophagus and was moving across the room towards us. Fear washed over us like a wave. I heard James cry out and begin firing his pistol in a blind rage at the creature. The noise of the gun shots were deafening, until his gun clicked empty. I could see through the gun smoke that the bullets had no effect on the creature.

I raised my gun and tried to fire but my hand was shaking so badly that none of my shots came anywhere close to the creature. Isaac seemed frozen in place by fear. Only Philip did not seem to have let the horrid sight of this creature affect him.

Philip rushed forward with the snake-headed rod held forth, shouting in a language I could not comprehend. As he drew near her, the creature pulled back. Claws seemed to sprout from her hands and her mouth opened in a hiss, but no sound came out. A moment later the room was filled with the roar of a mighty lion. The sound dropped me to my knees in fear. I just noticed James and Isaac, fear overcoming them rushing from the room.

Through all of this, Philip was unfazed. He strode forward and raised the rod up high. Philip brought the rod down on top of the creature.

What happened next I cannot believe my own eyes, but I shall record what I saw. The rod seemed to come alive and leapt from Philip’s hand. It seemed to have become a real cobra and sang its fangs into the creature, Sachmet. As it did so it seemed to grow! No longer a half meter long it grew to three times that size and lashed its body around the creature. Sachmet seemed to struggle against it, but her beyond-the-grave strength seemed no match for this magic.
Philip collapsed in a heap on the floor as the magical snake and the mummy struggled. The snake seemed to force her back and drove Sachmet back into her sarcophagus. Once it had done so, the snake released her. It rapped itself around the lid and seemed to grow longer in length to some three meters long. As it did the snake forced the lid of the sarcophagus closed, and then coiled its body around the sarcophagus like a chain locking the creature within.

When it was done, the creature turned back into an inanimate object. The change was so subtle that at first I did not notice. The snake was now a golden statue wrapped around the sarcophagus, with its head reared back, fanged mouth opened, as if warning away any who would come near to disturb the occupant of the sarcophagus.

Suddenly, I felt I could move again. I found Philip unconscious but not injured. I could not wake him so I half dragged, half carried him from the room. I found Isaac and James in the outer room and explained briefly what had happened. It seemed like a daze in which Isaac led us through the other doorway. The passage led us to an opening in the cliff. The cave was small and covered with undergrowth, so it was almost invisible from the ground. Struggling with Philip we were able to safely descend the cliff face.

Returning to the workcamp we found it deserted. Here we are resting to recover our strength. Philip has awakened and seems none the worse, though he does not remember much from the last few days.

I am had some discussions with my companions and we have decided to take some necessary steps to insure no one discovers the truth about what has happen here. It was agreed that we cannot take the chance that someone else may stumble across the creature and free her again.

The End

[Band2]

That was the end of the adventure. Was it helpful? I don't know if it inspired anyone or not. But I welcome any comments or questions.

If enough people are interested I could try and continue the journal with the next adventure.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

That was a very interesting read.
The journal format really helps set the Gothic Earth mood.

[Band2]

That was a very interesting read.
The journal format really helps set the Gothic Earth mood.

Thanks. I thought the journal format would help. It does have some limitations though. Such as when they arrived at the work camp and each character set off on their own a lot. Most of what happened was not witnessed by Dr. Hoffman but just reported second hand. If I try it again I may experiment with multipe authors.

[ScS of the Fraternity]

That would be neat.
You can always experiment with different writing styles and with different records. For example, one character may write in abreviations, as if he or she is trying to save space.
Bit characters, for example, may not record their own journals at all - but their journal is part of a book, a telegram, a police report, phychologist's journal, or some other record.
EX:
"Those rats were as big as alsatians, and twice as mean. They damn near dragged ol' Spindly off - but we fought 'em off with fire and steel. After a while, we pried open a stormdrain and climbed out into the street. Quite a sight we made that day - emerging right into a crowded bistro, all covered in muck and you-know-what."
-from "Tales of a Hero", interview with Jim Rook by daughter, Deborah Rook.