Masks of Nyarlathotep 18
It is time for our monthly Call of Cthulhu game of Masks of Nyarlathotep. We are still in Cairo, and have just dealt with a number of cultists trying to prevent us from returning some scrolls to a temple of Bast. My character, Mrs Evelyn Wooldridge, had a little ‘episode’ on top of a build roof when she shot some unnatural winged crocodile beast. She is now using her rifle as a crutch for her sanity.
The fact that Bast does actually seem to be a real concept – or at least something very strange is happening with the local cats which is difficult to explain through mundane means. The sanity loss is actually useful – it allows me to play the character as if she is coming to accept that the supernatural stuff that is going on is real rather than just coincidence or her imagination.
This session is another opportunity for a fight. As before, we used miniatures. I have some CONGO figures from Wargames Foundry, as well as some ‘Pulp Adventurers’ from the same same. My War Gods of Ægyptus figures also make for good ‘monsters’.
Note that we are using the “Pulp Cthulhu” rules, so combat is a bit less deadly than it would be normally, which allows us to be more ‘action orientated’ than would otherwise be sensible.
Tuesday 10th March
I am standing on the roof of a building, my friend rifle in my hand. There is a decomposing corpse of a ‘thing’ down on the street. A lioness is up on the roof as well, standing at the edge of the building and looking down at the creature. She gives a roar, and bounds off across the roof tops, followed by the other cats. I’m not sure what happened, but any doubts I had that the world is a much more complicated and terrifying place than I originally imagined are pretty much gone.
I head back down to the street, where my companions are gathering together. We follow the child Mahmoud towards where we need to return the scrolls of Bast. He seems somewhat attached to me, since I saved his life earlier. Clayton offers me something strong to drink, which I gladly accept. I’m not tired, but might be a bit emotional.
There is a sound of whistles behind us, as we head further into the city before the local authorities can catch us. We reach some narrow streets in an old and crumbly part of the city. It looks Roman, maybe earlier. We follow steps down into a tunnel, which lead through plain stone arches. It opens up into a domed room, with niches around the room. Each niche is filled with a cat.
Opposite the entrance is a statue of a woman in Egyptian garb, seated on a throne and sporting a cat’s head.
Neris steps out from the shadows, and we pass her the scrolls. She thanks us, and gives us a small blue glazed statuette of the larger statue of Bast. She also gives us a pendant on a collar, which represents a token of the goddess’s regard.
She says that we might need the blue statuette. When there are many, the dwellers in the sand, the children, then call upon the lady and she will send aid.
I’m not sure what she means by that. We ask about the big flying thing.
The big thing was the Enemy. There was a Caller, which serves the Black Pharaoh. There are many Callers, they shout into the darkness. The dark god is looking for something…
When the new gods came, they destroyed many foul things. Those that couldn’t be destroyed were guarded, and the Pharaoh will be looking for them. The old witch – Queen Netocris – is also around. However, she probably has not been brought back to life.
This means that she is not the woman that we met in London. So much for Clayton’s theories.
We had back to the hotel and have a drink. I go to bed feeling somewhat light headed. At some point someone seems to have taken my rifle away from me. Probably a good idea given my state of mind, but I’m going to need a bigger one.
Wednesday 11th March
We have a relaxing day at the museum, and have a chat with Dr Ali Karfour. We talk about the Ibn Tulun Mosque, which is currently being used as a hospital and a retirement home for Islamic scholars. We were told by Faraz that the minions of the Omar Al Shakti were looking for something there.
Dr Karfour writes a letter to the Mosque, to request that we are given access. Since it’s currently actually a hospital, I will be able to go in.
After that, we head to an expedition outfitters. After my experiences last night, I have a strong desire to be able to defend myself. I get myself a garter holster in which to hold a .22 deringer. I also pick up a .38 automatic to stick in my handbag, and a .30 lever action carbine for emergencies. The first two I can carry around, but the third will have to stay in my hotel room.
We pay Mahmoud to go around and ask questions for us about the Mosque and about any strange foreigners. He returns in the evening, with news that lots of strangers have been trying to get into Ibn Tulun. They are mostly being kept away though by elderly guards armed with swords. They also seem to be stopping people leaving as well. The guards aren’t anything new though.
There is a French foreigner who Mahmoud has found in the Street of Scorpions in the Red Door. The French man is hiding in a clothes shop.
We remember that there is an old wise woman named Nuri whose son worked for the Clive Expedition in El Wasta, who we send Mahmoud to find.
Thursday 12th March
The Nazir of Ibn Tulun Ahed Al-Dhahabi is willing to talk to us, after Dr Karfour kindly put in a request for us. We head to the Mosque, and meet the Nazir in a building next to it.
Clayton is very open and honest with him, and tells of the followers of the Black Pharaoh. The Nazir seems to believe us, and says that there have been attempted thievery of items here, by those wearing an inverted ankh symbol.
An old guy with a sword, Nessim Eft,i comes in. He says that Allah destroyed the Black Pharaoh, though we say that his followers don’t seem to believe that. He says that the Carlyle Expedition disturbed something really bad. Clayton mentioned Nyarlathotep, but is told never to speak that name again.
Monty asks what they are guarding which the cult tried to steal. They say it is a girdle that can be used for unholy evil. Scholars say that it was designed to bring back an evil to life. They have tried to destroy it, but that hasn’t worked. They take us to a grand iron door, behind which is a set of stairs going down. They offer to let one of us down to take a look, and I am volunteered.
So I go down the stairs alone with a group of strange old men. We reach another locked iron door, and beyond that is a bare room with a small chest in the centre. Around it are praying six elderly men armed with scimitars.
They say that “Shut off from the world, we wait for death and a chance to prove the temper of our faith.”
They show me the girdle, which is pretty, but doesn’t seem or feel particularly ‘evil’. It is placed back inside the chest, and we head back upstairs, and the doors are locked behind us.
At this point, the door to the outside is kicked open, and a couple of cultists burst in. My colleagues immediately pull out their pistols and shoot them down. This is followed by a crash out in the courtyard.
I grab the rifles from the two bodies outside in the street, whilst the others go to check the courtyard. The Nazir heads back downstairs to call on the swordsmen, though since doors need to be unlocked, this takes some time.
I give a rifle to Monty, and run out into the courtyard. It is full of screaming and running patients, and there is some chanting coming from over by the main gate. I try to climb up on top of the hospital roof to get a clear view, but can’t lift myself up. Clayton sees what I’m doing, and climbs up himself, leaving me down on the ground. How gentlemanly.
‘Things’ start coming up out of the sand. Crocodile-like people, who start laying into those around them.
Luckily, I still have the blue statuette of Bast in my handbag, so I pull it out and beseech Lady Bast for aid against these things coming out of the sand. I even promise to scratch her belly if she helps us. However, this doesn’t seem to do anything.
There is more shooting, and some cultists fall. With no sign of Bast, I grab a chair and try to climb up onto the roof.
However, the cultists are closing in, and the big scaly things are too many. Lefty kills one, and it turns to sand and collapses to the floor. But I don’t see that we can do much against these, so yell to everyone to fall back. I head to the street, and I see Neris the cultist of Bast walking down the street towards me.
She smiles and leaps – turning into a lioness as she bounds over my head and into the Mosque.
The old blokes finally make it up the stairs and out into the courtyard. One of them shouts something in Arabic, and one of the sand crocodiles seems to scream in pain. The other charges one of the cultists, and chops him in two.
I head back inside, moving around to the other side of the hospital whilst a cat clings to my head. I see that Monty is in a hand to hand brawl with the sorcerer, so I take a random shot at the sorcerer, which goes wide. As well as Monty fighting the sorcerer, a large winged crocodile is fighting one of the elder swordsmen, whilst a lioness is snapping at its tail. The other cultists are down now.
Monty continues to punch the sorcerer. I take a shot, and miss. Clayton runs up and shoots at the sorcerer, but his gun jams. Meanwhile, the lioness, Lefty and an old guy fight the winged crocodile. Lefty shoots the winged thing in the head, and it falls to the ground.
The sorcerer and Monty continue to fight. Monty slaps him, and the sorcerer stumbles backwards, which gives me a clear shot. I shoot the sorcerer in the chest, and he falls over. The lioness that was Neris bounds out of sight, and we try to close the doors to the courtyard to prevent any more patients from running away. But for now, we seem to be safe.
