Destroying the idol by Ross Fisher, on Flickr Expenses claim, August 618, Fatu Hiva, Île d'Or. Sum: 50db.
Associated account: Padre François, priest, Temple of Hades mission.
Expenditure: Gunpowder, 5 barrels.
Reason for purchase: demolition, pagan idol.
Please give full details in order to help us expedite your claim: Your eminences,
With the official summons from the governor, the rumours in town, and the results of my own investigations, I determined that the disturbances here merited the further attention of the Order of the Faith.
My mission left Fatu Hiva in July of this year, heading into the interior alongside one of the larger streams. For several days we saw nothing but the accursed jungle that covers this isle.
However, one week after we set out, we came across a disgusting heathen idol. The thing was festooned with pagan fetishes, votive offerings, and shrunken heads. I immediately detailed half the detachment to begin despoiling the site, while the other half was sent back to town to find enough powder to destroy the thing.
They returned two weeks later with the supplies, and we set about preparing the demolition. The miners and soldiers among my conscripts laid the charges, primed the powder, and prepared the fuses. When my people had cleared the area I lit the fuses and retreated into cover.
The five barrels my people procured proved sufficient for destroying the idol. Perhaps now these godless fiends will realise the errors of their ways. Addendum. After the idol was destroyed, we heard distant drumming. The natives among my conscripts fled into the jungle, yelling something about "Al'su". I sent men after them. We found their disembowelled remains the next morning. It was the professional opinion of the soldiers among my ranks that their deaths were at human hands, rather than animals. Such barbarism cannot be tolerated. Your humble servant,
François