Masks of Nyarlathotep 16

Saturday, 7th March

We are in Cairo. It’s only about the tenth the size of London, but with a population of over 800,000 it’s still a biggish city. We are staying in the Shepheard Hotel, one of those designed to cater to Westerners.

That evening, we spend most of the time at the Long Bar discussing what it is we want to achieve here, whilst waiting way too long to be served (it is called the Long Bar for a reason).

We have a number of people to try and contact or find out about:

• Omar Al-Shakti at Gezira Mohammed. This is apparently a small town a few miles outside of Cairo. He seems to be a dodgy person, so he is on our ‘investigate’ rather than ‘talk to’ list.
• Faraz Najjar, in the Street of Jackals. He seems to be selling artefacts to the Carlyle Expedition.
• Warren Besart, who seemed to be the go-between for Najjar and Roger Carlyle.
• Sarahi Fashik, owner of a London spice shop, seems to have connections here. She would be another ‘investigate but don’t talk to’ person of interest.

We might want to see whether there is anything about either of the expeditions (Carlyle and Clyde), the Penhew Foundation or the digs at Memphis and Darshur.

Sunday, 8th March

We decide to start by going to the Museum of Antiquities, since it probably won’t involve people trying to kill us. It is just a short walk from the hotel, and our dragoman Saleem Naziz is able to show us the way.

At the museum we meet Dr Ali Karfour, curator of early antiquities, who is giving a talk about the early Egyptian dynasties to some tourists. After he has finished, I ask about the ‘outsiders’ who ended the 3rd dynasty whom he had mentioned. He seems to take this as an ‘interesting question’ and introduces himself to us, and I to him. He tells us that according to legend a man known as Nephren-Ka was leader of the outsiders, and was a powerful sorcerer who brought madness and death. He came from an ancient city in the deserts of Arabia.

The city was Irem “The City of Pillars”, I know this is well documented in the ‘Al-Azif’ – the Necronomicon. According to the few records they have, Nephren-Ka revived the worship of foul gods. He became known as the Black Pharaoh. The Black Pharaoh was driven out of Egypt and into the swamps of Sudan.

When I mention that I’ve read about the Black Pharaoh, purely as a side hobby since it’s obviously all nonsense, he seems to be pleased that I am a “student of the esoteric”, and invites me to go and view some scrolls that they have.

Apparently the court of Nephen-Ka was worshipping a being known as Nyarlathotep.

Apparently another American was enquiring about this towards the end of last year – Jackson Elias. He enquires how he is, and we have to let him know that he is dead. Monty rather unsubtly describes how Jackson was murdered and shows some photos. Dr Karfour recognises the style as that of the Bloody Tongue, the descendants of the cult of the Black Pharaoh.

A pyramid was built to contain Nephren-Ka’s body at Meidum. However the pyramid collapsed, and a second had to be used at Dahshur, which is known as the ‘Bent Pyramid’. The Red Pyramid at Dahshur, is said to guard Dahshur in case Nephren-Ka rises from the dead.

He tells us about the Black Pharaoh, and how bad and evil the gods he worshipped. He possessed a huge beast, which the Sphinx at Giza was a small representation. The voice of Nephren-Ka caused a black wind that would kill people. Queen Nitocris did some rituals at the Sphinx. She was a 6th dynasty ruler of Egypt who followed and worshipped Nyarlathotep.

There is the Cult of the Bloody Tongue in Kenya, and there is the Brotherhood, who claim to want an independent Egypt, but are worshippers of Nyarlathotep. The Brotherhood is connected to Sarahi Fashik

The Clyde Expedition were digging at Giza, and they found a secret room in the smallest of the great pyramids. This contained a treasure of scrolls and an alabaster sarcophagus. Unfortunately, the sarcophagus and two of the guards vanished in less than 30 minutes. He doesn’t know how or why it was stolen.

I ask him about the Penhew Foundations. They follow paranoid secrecy, and bizarre incidents. Many suicides, deaths and madness. If we want to know more, then he suggests that we speak to Janwilliem Van Heuvelen, a dutch archaeologist who was working on the Clyde Expedition. He fell out with Dr Clyde after they ‘lost’ the sarcophagus – probably of Queen Nitocris.

Clayton comes up with the crazy idea that Madam Sarahi Fashik is Queen Nitocris

About the Carlyle Expedition, he had discussed it with Sir Aubrey regarding the Black Pharaoh. However, last time Sir Aubrey was here, he refused to speak to Dr Karfour. He seemed aloof, younger, malicious compared to their previous meetings.

Clayton shows him Jackson’s letter which contains ramblings and strange pictograms, which we’ve never been able to interpret. With his help, we guess that it may be partly astronomical, and a couple of the symbols seem related to an eclipse. Some of the other points may be the belt of Orion. There is a total solar eclipse in January next year, visible in various parts of Africa. Could this be relatd?

He suggests that we talk to Nigel Wassif, proprietor of the Cairo Bulletin. He might have more information on the expedition and what went happened.

When the museum closes at 4:30, we invite Dr Karfour to have dinner with us. He says that we’d need all sorts of languages to decipher the scrolls in the museum, so he’d be happy to help us translate things if we need it. I have a little bit of knowledge of Hieroglyphics, but no Coptic, Greek or other languages.

He thinks the Carlyle expedition found something at Dahshur.

On the way back to the hotel, I notice that the Moon is almost full tonight.

Monday, 9th March

We head to the Cairo Bulletin, to meet with Nigel Wassif.

We ask about the Clyde Expedition, and the missing sarcophagus. The authorities have been upset, so Wassif has been limited in what he’s been allowed to publish. However, he is willing to talk privately to us about what he knows.

But Nigel is willing to tell us about the stuff that the authorities don’t want them to publish.

• They were excavating at Giza
• They unearthed the body of an unknown woman, possibly Queen Nitocris.
• The mummy and sarcophagus vanished before any research could be conducted.
• There was only one entrance to the secret chamber, and the place was guarded, so it was a surprise that someone managed to steel it. The sarcophagus was several tonnes.
• The expedition personnel have had a falling out. Dr Clyde fired Dr Heuvellen, who he claimed was incompetent and a drunkard. Dr Heuvelen couldn’t afford a ticket home, so is still here in Cairo.
• The expedition has gone to Memphis now.

We also find a newspaper cutting that mentions that the shop of Faraz Najjar was burned down 6 years ago, though it doesn’t say what happened to Najjar. There was mention of a fiery demon being seen by locals, but that was probably fanciful imagination. I hope.

That afternoon, we head to the Street of Jackals. It is in part of the Old City, where the streets are narrow. Getting to the street, we find a burned out pile of rubble. Surprisingly Najjar’s shop hasn’t been rebuilt in the last six years. The locals are muttering as they pass, invoking the name of God as they pass according to our Dragoman Saleem Naziz.

There is a young street urchin who says that demons burned down the place, and that the owner had been badly burned. Nobody dug through the ruins of the shop after the big sky demon burned it down. He offers to guide us to where he is. The guide is Mammood. He leads us down various side alleys and eventually to the grand market.

He points out a curiosity shop in the market. I give him a shilling for his time. He then claims he hasn’t been paid to Clayton, who gives him a silver dollar. I think we have an assistant for the rest of our stay here.

We go into the store, which is full of low quality merchandise. The proprietor greets us, but keeps to the shadows. Looking carefully, it seems he is trying to hide the fact that his face has burns and scars on it. I mention to him that the last address we had for him was on Jackal Street. He looks shocked, and insists it was an accident. I ask whether it was anything to do with the Carlyle expedition, and he asks us to leave, seeming scared.

I say that we are trying to stop the bad stuff that the Carlyle Expedition was doing, and I offer to buy something for an overpriced amount. He is still scared, but agrees to meet us at a nearby Mosque later.

I seem to have obtained a small ornament of camels, a pyramid and an obelisk.

Later, after prayers, we meet at the grounds of the Mosque with Faraz. He states that Roger Carlyle was a bad and foul man. Faraz trusted Besart, who introduced Faraz to Roger. Against his better judgement, Faraz found many things for Roger, who specifically wanted to know about the Black Pharaoh. He had a lot of money, and didn’t care how much he spent.

Besart purchased a scroll, that was supposed to detail the entrance to a hidden room in the pyramid where the Black Pharaoh was entombed. Amongst the other items he obtained, there was a bust of the Black Pharaoh, a drum with strange symbols, and a crown of the Black Pharaoh which was a circlet set with a gem which was said to be key with the Pharaoh’s Triumph over Death.

Faraz wishes he hadn’t obtained and sold these items, but he had been tempted by Carlyle’s money. One of his contacts had ‘acquired’ these items. It was Omar Al-Shakti who he got the items from. Omar is an even more evil man who has eyes and ears everywhere. Faraz thinks that Omar’s people stole the sarcophagus.

The Brotherhood (minions of Sarahi Fashik) is seeking something from the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. There is a woman called Nuri, who Faraz got most of his information from. She lived in El Wasta. Sarahi is a foul worm that sucks at the teat of Omar Al-Shakti.

Tuesday 10th March

The Cairo Chronicle has a headline has a headline of “Terrible Collapse at Mosque”. According to one eye witness a giant ‘bat’ fell on the Mosque. Faraz Najjar was amongst the dead. The police claim it was illegal construction at the back of the Mosque which simply collapsed.

Next on our list is Janwilliem Van Heuvelen. Mammood is outside the hotel, so we pay him to help find Janwilliem for us. He thinks he knows the person we are talking about, and says he is working for a tailor and has lots of cats.