GM: Sam Tillis
Players: Adrienne Mueller, Dylan Arena, James Lawton, Sean Nittner, Sarah Terman, Matthew Fisher
System: Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition
Leads and Corrections from last time
- Faraz
- Pyramids (inspecting as well as geography)
- Pnakotus – in Egypt?
- Demon/djinn fighters?
- Omar’s Desk Safe
- Lady Moseley’s emerald. Was it one of the stolen gems? (not, she kept it on her person)
- Cairo Bulletin (local newspaper)
- Correction: Queen Nitocris came 600 years after Nephram Ka (not 600 year ago)
Opening
Despite bring in the winter months, the sun of Egypt beats down and a constant wind from the northwest leaves everything bone dry. The streets and alleys of Cairo are full of shadows.
Following up from her earlier inquiries, Lady Evangeline learned about Felic Falzone, a Maltese financier, as well as the Cairo Bulletin as potential sources of information.
Our investigators convened in the Shephard’s Hotel an decided to investigate the following:
- Iris and Amos to look for Djinn warriors
- Evangeline and Colby would meet with Felic Falzone
- Catherine and Francois would visit Dr. Kalfour
But first, the emerald!
Before everyone headed out for their investigations Catherine approached Lady Evangeline very dismayed that she was not able to recover Reggie’s emerald in Port Said. She was greatly relived when Evangeline told her that the emerald was safety kept on her person!
Catherine reflected on (but only alluded to) the ten year she spend with Reggie in another timeline and told Evangeline how close she had become to her son. She wondered if there was a memento of his that she could carry.
Graciously, Evangeline summoned her servant to bring and old photo of Reginald that she gifted to Catherine. Curious how the young woman had become so enamored with her son in such a short time.
Iris and Amos
The siblings found Hakim, our local guide, and asked him of stories of the djinn. He spoke in the way kids do about scary storied told by friends and family. Some part of him knew that there were ancient evils that move across the desert and tempt people. As the stories got more recent they include more elements of nationalistic pride, but they kept the core themes. Some of these stories included the the Sakin Al-Rimal, people who live in the desert in ways that are antithetical to humanity, and of the Hulema, holy men who protect people from these ancient evils. Something they used to do with swords, they now do with prayers.
He suggested the visit the Mosque of Ibn Tulin, but that he would not go with them there personally (in his youth he had to steal to get by, and they might still hold a grudge).
Evangeline and Colby
Lady Evangline scheduled a meeting with Felic Falzone and at the appointed time they were invited into a posh, very European and smoke-filled, office. Felic welcomed them, introduced himself as a financier and land developer, and asked what he could fo for them. The Morseley name is know well enough that he understood who we was talking to.
Evangline tried to size him up, to see what kind of business person he was. Colby tried to size him up, ready to stab him with a knife if he didn’t appear to be human. The two VERY different sides of our motley group.
Falzone said he was interested in turning Lady Morseley’s money into more money, but Colby quickly asked about the competitive landscape in Cairo.
Falzone lamented that Cairo is perpetually on the precipice of of history and modernity. People want the new (and that’s what he offers, mostly in the form of construction projects) but many people in power like the old ways (which have kept them in power). He revealed that his nemesis is Omar Al-Shakti, a man with old money that he uses to constantly thwart Falzone. What’s work, it seems that every endeavor Al-Shakti takes turns to gold. Falozne has tried to counter Al-Shakti by buying property he was interested in. Omar wanted a hospital and an asylum that was in the Mosque of Ibn Tulin, but Falzone beat him to it. Little good that did him. The purchase was a financial failure, but it still felt good to thwart his foe. The cheered to “progress over primitivism.”
[Cultural sensitivity note. I’m never expecting 1925 CoC to be particular culturally sensitive, but I’ll admit that when we were in England and New York the sense of western colonialism wasn’t felt as sharply as it was in Cairo. Yes, I know Al-Shakti is a powerful sorcerer and we’re leveraging every means we can to stop him from ending the world, but this whole conversation just dripped of the kind of colonialist mindset that feels that everything should be made available to white people and that if indigenous people try to keep it from them, they are primitives who must be corrected for their own good. It’s our own choice to work with Falzone, and I think we’d continue to do it as long as it helps us stop Al-Shakti, but I hope at he end of this we can buy back or somehow reclaim the Mosque for the priest who live and work there can also own it. In the larger scheme of things I know that won’t move the needle, but I think it would be a good thing to do.]
Catherine and Francois
We returned to the Egypt Museum to visit Dr. Kalfour and found that he was still alive. Huzzah!
When Catherine entered the room he was startled and his eyes flicked towards the doorway. Apparently she is “weird” enough for him to notice, but not to be blocked by the wards…for now.
Once introductions, Catherine wasted little time before asking him about the sunken Temple of Pnakotus and all of her theories of why it is more likely to be in Egypt than in Greece!
Dr. Kalfour seemed interested but was sad to say that the information which probably would have helped the most was lost in the Library of Alexandria, burned down by unknown forces.
With Francois’ approving nod, Catherine told Kalfour about her reading of the Pnakotic Manuscripts, which caused him to reflexively make a Voorish warding sign of protection. After some back and forth Catherine agreed to leave the text with him for a few days to study and see if he could confirm her theories and get any sense of where the temple might be buried.
We also asked about the “cat” that we saw on Al-Shakti’s lap. He produced a medieval bestiary that talked about a similar creature. Kalfour commented “People have imagined demons in many forms. Many of those similar to a cat.” The text had a story…
The true nature revealed when it stood on it’s hind legs, but by then it was too late. It’s great tongue already had us. Our swords could not penetrate it’s hide.
In Ancient Greek it was called Alrious, but unfortunately passed down the line that just means “cat”.
Kalfour said that a demon like this is usually a servitor, the result of a pact with a greater entity.
Finally we asked about Queen Nitocris and and her three gems. He told us there are tales of sorcerers who invest power into gems. If one wanted to wield her power, obtaining her items of jewelry would be one way to do this. In terms of finding her lost mummy and whether she would have been buried with or without those items of power, he could not say.
We thanked him for his time, he warned us not to lose ourselves in this investigation, and in a moment of postcognition, Catherine saw Kalfour’s past and his future, and the time between.
Convergence at Ibn Tulin
Following Hakim’s lead Iris an Amos visited the Mosque of Ibn Tulin. The could see how it has taken on some new functions as a hospital and asylum to heal would physical and metaphysical as the tour guide said.
Their guide, a holy man himself, said that this place was a sacred one, even if it was no longer a place of worship. Thing both scholarly and religious are studied here for the betterment of humanity. Eventually however, he could sense that they were not simple tourists and ask them directly what they sought.
When the told him we are fighting the Sakim Al-Rimal he nodded gravely, took them to his VERY secured office and introduced himself “I am Ahmed al-Dhahab. Tell me about your fight with the sand dwellers.”
Iris and Amos tried to impress upon him the importance of our mission but he seemed unperturbed. “We’ve been defending against this foe for 1000 years. There will be no great ritual. If you want to help us, you can help but not stirring up trouble.”
“It’s too late for that” Amos countered and told him Warren Bessart’s account of the ritual the followed the Carlyle Expedition. Even that, however did not phase him.
“Yes, the stirred a great evil…but it still lies dormant, as it shall continue to do.
At this point Evangeline and Colby, who had learned of the Mosque from Falzone, arrived and were taken to the same very secure office. They shared that Omar Al-Shakti, a man we believe to be a powerful sorcerer tried to buy the mosque, but it was purchased by Falzone instead.
“Our nation bleed under the yoke in English invaders and we sell artifacts and bits of ourselves to appease them.” He was not happy that Flazone owned the mosque, but was somewhat relieved that Al-Shakti did not!
As they discussed the ritual further he said that what they did would require a great deal of energy, beyond that which a human soul could provide. He wanted to know if Omar had such a power source. We told him that we believe he is trying to gain the gems of Queen Nitocris and would have them all soon.
Ahmed laughed at the impossibly of that because “We have the girdle of Nitoricis and we keep it very safe!”
He led the four through more locked doors, down deeper below the mosque to a room with six Ulema all sitting in a circle facing outward, cross legged, and with sharp bladed scimitars on their laps. One of them, who spoke was Nessim Efti. Everyone could see his made was made of the finest Damascus steel, but Amos alone could tell it was made in the dreaming! Nessim told them that their purpose was to guard the girdle (which we all presumed was in the chest that they surrounded!
They were led back up to Ahmed office and were joined by Catherine and Francois…who also wanted to see that girdle. After much charm, solemn offers to lose her head if she tried anything surreptitious, and showing the bestiary that showed swords having not effect on the demon, Catherine finally convinced Ahmed to take her back down (alone this time) to touch the girdle and see if she could fathom it’s future.
This took a long time. [In the rules for precognition that Sam created, it said certain drugs and mental states might offer a bonus die… and I went for that]. Catherine spent hours learning from the monks to meditate and slow her heart rate down to a resting 50 beats per second. She was not going to try and glimpse the future until she could be prepared as possible. By the time she finally opened her mind to the Yith, all she could hear was the sound of seven hearts beating.
Trouble Outside
Meanwhile, Francois and Colby set about scouting the area and they found two of Omar’s minions who were surveilling the mosque. After a few taunts and verbal jabs, the settled into watching the space together, telling the men that Catherine was inside, learning what she could on Omar’s behalf. LIES!!!
216,000 Heartbeats
Catherine’s mind opened and she experienced not one, but three futures [thank you extreme success].
In the first, the girdle was taken from this place, reunited with the other two gems and the mummy of queen Nitocris. A ritual performed by a 100 people culminated in the wrappings falling away and the body of Nitocris rising.
In the second, Catherine saw the room she was in with the bodies of the Ulema torn asunder by a creature of the shadow that tore through the roof of the building but seemed to come not form the street above, but from inside a cave…or perhaps a tomb.
In the third, she saw a future where all of her companions tried and failed to destroy the girdle using alchemical concoctions. They simply lacked the tools to make it possible.
Catherine bolted out of her vision with a start [amazingly she only lost one sanity point, but that still caused an involuntary reaction] and Nessim’s blade was a hairs breadth away from her neck “What did you see?”
What to do?
When the vision was revealed, we quickly got to thinking, what could we do to stop this horrible future that was only three days (216,000 at 50 beats/second) in the future. Like a metronome Catherine could not stop hearing the sound of her own beating heart. Here were some ideas we discussed both internally and with Ahmed al-Dhahab and Nessim Efti.
- Nobody knows where the mummy of Queen Nitocris ended up. It was moved form pyramid to pyramid to keep it safe, but the trail was lost.
- Falzone might know Al-Shakti’s other interests and his other excursions to the pyramids.
- We talked about many other possible actions we could take. Creating a fake gem to fool them. Taking the gem and running ,etc.
In the end we had no plan, only fragments of ideas, however the holy men had made a decision. They would stay to continue guarding the girdle, but if their swords would not aid them, perhaps one of them would aid us. Nessim presented the Sword of Achmala (aka the Sword of Dreaming) and said that this blade would pierce the flesh of a demon.
Getting Omar off are trail by telling the truth?
Colby returned to the very secure office and told us about Omar’s men waiting outside. In order to prevent them from seeing all of us, or from being tipped off that we knew their plan, we agreed that Catherine and Colby would return and tell them what we found…or at least some of what we found.
In the meantime however, Francois had to hold their attention all by himself. It was an uncomfortable few minutes alone with them. Thankfully no violence or further suspicion ensued, and when Catherine and Colby returned they played the convincing part of ex-Penhew foundation cultists trying to prove their worth to Omar rather than be relegated to entry level adepts.
We retuned to the Sheppard’s hotel and made attempts to prepare for what was to come…
Is she okay?
In private, Evangeline turned to her sister-in-law Iris and asked “Is what Catherine said true? Is she mad?”
They talked a bit, consoled each other some, and Evangeline has a new sense of what Catherine might have meant when she said she felt like she knew Reggie for a very long time.
Gearing up
Hearing from Jimmy that he didn’t want to be defenseless if something happened, Colby sent Hakim to get him a knife. A big one.
Evangeline sent her man Winston to take Reggie’s emerald and set it in a silver chain.
Catherine examined the Yith artifacts further and determined that the basic function of all the devices was the ability to draw and generate power. She spend all night trying (and failing) to come up with a chemical concoction that could destroy the gems and then turned her efforts towards understanding the artifacts. Could she build something out of them that could be used as weapon? Possibly!
Amos read “Life as a God” (surely a safe task) and followed the story of the authors who joined the Black Pharaoh. Amos believed the author found a path described in the book..and that if Amos could just replicate it, he might also have some greater understanding of Nephram Ka’s power and how to stop it. He tied to find the angles in the hotel but they were all wrong and Catherine was unable to stop him from nearly cutting of his own hand to get the blood needed to make the etchings on the wall to see the path [kids ar home, don’t loose a bunch of sanity while you’re holding the sword of dreaming…it’s bad news!]. The hotel was NOT pleased.
Amos also realized something as he hurt himself very badly. Had he chosen to pour some of his own spiritual energy [i.e. magic points] into the attack, he could have inflicted even MORE harm than he had. Good to know when fighting demon cats! Anyways…
Falzone’s Leads
Evangeline and Iris returned to Falzone to ask about other property Al-Shakti has bought. Several of the locations burned to the ground mysteriously. He also bout parts of nearby towns (al-Tabin). Finally, the majority of his wealth comes from cotton fields bought by his family in 1860.
Digging deeper Falzone admitted that he had tried (and failed) to buy off his men, but he did notice that they were ill equipped (old rifles rather than more modern models).
Finally he didn’t think he could get the cops to help on any kind of “raid” but he might be able to get the to look the other way.
Train to Giza
Francois and Colby board a tram to Giza and within an hour they got to behold the majesty of the pyramids firsthand! Breathtaking!
The decided to continue their story of working for Penhew. Colby as an expert in archeology, and Francois as a cultist of the Black Pharoah.
As soon as they arrived local archaeologies were happy to tell the embarrassing story of the Clive expedition who lost as mummy and ran off to Memphis to lick their wounds.
Since they were there, they decided to have a look at the tomb for themselves. Most notably there was no “good” way into the tomb. The Clive expedition had blown a hole in the outside to find a secret chamber…that clearly once held a sarcophagus. Inspecting the chamber more they found glyphs amongst the hieroglyphs that they recognized as part of a gate spell. Something, maybe the same something that Catherine saw in her vision, had opened a gate here and taken the mummy!
They were told that a local guide Janwillem Aart van Heuvelen was with them, but he was no dirking his sorrows away. Following their noses they discovered Janwillem in the back of a shop sleeping off last night’s excesses. His small room was filled with cats who seemed to follow him unerringly.
Francois and Colby offered to take him out for a drink (which he gladly accepted) in exchange for information about the excavation. He told the story of finding it and then being blamed for it’s disappearance. As he talked more cats began to form up outside the bar, appearing unusually interested in human affairs.
After Colby and Francois gleaned all the could from Janwillem, the got back on the tram to Cairo, but noticed that two cats followed them. To loose the cats they got off at an earlier stop, paid some kids to catch the cats in bags, and the got back on the train. Cats, man!
Theory Crafting
- Omar is using a servitor (another one) to snatch things through gates, that must require a ritual of it’s own.
- Catherine believes the other side of the gate was some underground space that looked like it could be inside a pyramid (and we’ve also heard that the shifting sands of Egypt prevent people from making basements, so it’s either that or a naturally occurring cave, which we haven’t heard of).
- We have two more days until the ritual that will kill all the Ulema and take the girdle. We have just over a week before Queen Nitorcris is raised.
- Asking Hakim, who as a network of friends that pay heed to the comings and goings of important people, the have seen Omar make trips out to Giza… which includes three pyramids and a half unearthed Sphynx!
- Could we interrupt the ritual? Could we create a fake gem for him to steal? Could we turn the Clive Expedition against our enemy? We’ll have to find out next time.
How to Approach the Clive Expedition
Should we encounter the Clive Expedition, here’s my suggested argument to convince them that they need to stop Omar.
- You didn’t lose the mummy, it was taken from you. Al-Shakti used a gate to snatch it when you weren’t looking!
- He’s going to use the same gate spell to obtain the girdle of Nitocris and raise the Queen himself.
- If he does this, all of our work will be for not. The machine destroyed and the Pale Viper plans with it!
