The year is 1934, the place is Chicago, Illinois. Three people — a Chicago Police detective (Det. Charlie Slate), an English doctor (Dr. Goodwin) and an American pilot (Tailspin) — are all invited to the Chicago Field Museum by various means. Arriving and meeting a man named Professor Thomas Westmore, they are told that they have been selected because of their specialized skills in different areas to assist in an expedition of some importance. They meet Maiura, a young woman from the Kalapiti tribe of the Amazon, an assistant to Professor Westmore who helps him during his travels with local customs and languages. She is to accompany the group on their journey.

Requesting details before they embark on this ambiguous and possibly dangerous task, the Professor informs them that they will be paid $300 apiece to travel to the Amazon jungle and search out an ancient artifact. Westmore explains that in an age before this one, there was an utopian society of high technology and magic. The society thrived until the appearance of a collective of 5 dark gods who attempted to corrupt the society and murder its people. The humans tried to banish the dark gods through sorcery, and though the process worked it also caused their world to come to an end. The Professor explains that though it has been many years, the dark gods may be rising again and only certain artifacts from the world that came before can help in the fight against them.

Detective Slate is unimpressed by this speech and seems not to believe anything about the utopiate society or these “dark gods.” However, he is eager to find out what is really behind any strange happenings and as such will go along the journey just to prove the Professor wrong.

The Professor continues and says that in the Amazon jungle, in the southeast region of the Puros river, is a small village that may contain one of the artifacts. Spanish missionaries in the late 1800’s had told tales of it, and the Professor displays an aged text. It says “The Indians claim that whoever holds the Eye of Kilquato (a large, yellow gem which is the eye socket of a crocodile statue) has complete dominion over all crocodiles.”

The others also agree to go along, with Maiura as the guide. The Professor says that in addition to the $300 each for a successful expedition, the trip has a budget of $1,000 for supplies. They also have some medical supplies and other items on hand for us to use. He explains that a plane will take us from Chicago to Dallas, and then to Mexico City. From there our pilot (nicknamed “Tailspin”) will have access to a plane to take us to Brazil. There we will board a boat to a small village called Penobi; they have legends of a crocodile god there.