MAG 133: Dead Horse

Audio
Transcript
Warnings

Statement of Percy Fawcett, regarding his final expedition into the Amazon.

## Pre-Statement

Daisy and John are in the room together. John wants Daisy's insight on the tape. Daisy stands in the corner, in an attempt to help get her legs right again after being trapped in the coffin.

## Statement

Percy Fawcett says that it is imperative that nobody tells anybody that he is alive. He simply wants to live the rest of life in obscurity and anonymity.

He suggests that the Institute might have heard reports of his disappearance or death, with theories of him being attacked by Kalapolos tribesmen or lacking adequate supplies, but he only wishes that it was that mundane. He had been searching for the Lost City of Z. He had dreamed of it for decades since reading about it.

Percy's first expedition to find the city was alone, save for a few indigenous guides. He thought himself prepared, but the realities of the jungle were more than he could have foreseen. When it finally ended, he named the spot, the furthest they could reach into the jungle, Dead Horse Camp, as it was here when his horse finally died. He retreated in defeat, resolving to return to Dead Horse Camp when he was finally ready.

Five years later, in 1925, Percy believed he would find the Lost City of Z. He was more prepared and crucially, not alone. Accompanying Percy was his son, Jack. Jack requested that his friend, Raleigh Rimmell, was included, and Percy accepted. Percy never liked the look of Raleigh but had never had any reason to doubt his son's judgement. Raleigh suggested that himself, Jack, and Percy continued on from Dead Horse Camp alone, abandoning the animals and locals who agreed to act as guides that travelled with them. Raleigh told his group that if they were going to find what they were looking for, they would have to travel quick. Percy argued that a more methodical search would be better, but after Raleigh's persistence, he relented.

After travelling for a while, the group found a half-buried stone covered in hieroglyphics, like those described by a manuscript that spoke of the Lost City of Z. Raleigh lowered his face down to the stone and then tasted the air around it before taking off into the jungle at a dead run, without a word. Jack and Percy quickly followed behind him. They eventually caught up to him and Percy asked what in God's name Raleigh thought he was doing. Raleigh responded, saying that they were close and he would not let it get away again and that he could smell it. Percy told him that they were looking for a lost city, that it could not run away, but Raleigh just repeated himself, saying he could smell it.

Percy kept a journal, and after this point, his memories become fragmented and his journal entries become more sporadic. The dates no longer made any sense. At some point, he realised that there was no longer any animals around them and that the jungle had become strangely quiet, but he does not know if this was before or after he found a pile of dead birds in Raleigh's tent. Jack had taken over navigation at this point, so Percy had little idea where they were going. There were other animals, but Percy could not see any more than a glimpse of them. They were not normal animals, as they were far too sharp for that, and they were definitely following the group.

They met a second expedition, who donned cold-weather outfits despite the humid heat of the jungle, and Percy seemed to be the only one who was surprised. The leader of the expedition was John Franklin, a famed explorer who trapped in ice and lost in northern Canada, but the expedition had taken place almost 100 years ago. They were briefly a group of fourteen but the animals that were following them attacked. It was only through Percy's paranoia that led to him keeping his revolver close enough to him to survive the attack. There was six of them left afterward. Percy felt like the safest option was to feign the same obsession that had gripped Raleigh and Jack. Although they seemed to have a better grasp of the situation, they did not question Percy too closely if he seemed to share the fervor.

The group ran into Eduard von Toll a few days later, an explorer whose ship disappeared during a search for Sannikov Land. He and his crew were pinning vampires to trees with long iron spikes, as well as two ordinary people, an act which Raleigh approves of. They continued on their way with the group, but supplies had run out days ago. One or two of the crew members began to falter or fall from exhaustion or hunger, but they were simply left behind. The worst part was when Jack talked to Percy about what they would see when they finally found "it", or caught "it", or killed "it". Percy's body finally gave out, and he fell and was left behind. He awoke back at Dead Horse Camp. Some Kalabolos had found him and taken pity on him. After leaving the jungle, he had made sure that no one had known he was alive and that he intended to keep it that way.

Percy knew that whatever Raleigh sought in the jungle, he would never find it, that whatever those people pursued did not exist. The sooner the world forgets them, the better, but Percy wished he did not have to lose his son to learn that lesson.

## Post-Statement

This statement is the closest John has gotten to finding a ritual of The Hunt. Daisy thinks it could have been one. John does not understand why the ritual did not work, even without any outside interference, but Daisy does not think it was about it working. She explains that during a case, her least favourite part was arresting the culprit because it meant that the hunt was over. She does not think that The Hunt would let its ritual end. A part of Gertrude's notes references something called the Everchase.

Basira comes in, asking Daisy why she was not doing her exercises, and Daisy explains that she, Basira, was out. Basira asks her to leave, and after she does, Basira asks John if that was really Daisy. John says that it is, but Basira says that Daisy just seems lost. Basira acknowledges that they have all changed, but she did not realise Daisy would change into someone who cannot look after herself, even without the muscle atrophy. Basira is happy to have Daisy back, but she is dead weight right now, and Basira needs to travel light.

## Trivia

* All explorers mentioned in this episode are real historical figures. Percy Fawcett did disappear in 1925 when searching for the lost city of Z alongside his son Jack and Jack’s friend Raleigh Rimmell.

## Continuity

* **Related Entity:** The Hunt
* The expedition of John Franklin is mentioned in MAG 98 where Rayner attempts to buy documents supposedly from the log books of Franklin's lost ship.
* Zemlya Sannikova, or Sannikov Land, was the non-existent ritual ground for the Great Twisting.
* The vampires are the same hunted by Trevor Herbert and Daisy Tonner.
* Gertrude's notes on the Everchase come from the journal found in her storage shed in MAG113.