11/06/2023 – Dark Gods (6)
Time to Leave
Dr Clive looks confused at Cassandra, not understanding why she is angry. He thanks them for their visit and says it is time to go. He gets Winfield to bring in two rough-looking, Egyptian gang leaders carrying swords, to escort them out of the camp. Alex notices one of them is wearing an upside down ankh.
As they leave, they catch up with their two armed soldier body-guards. As they leave, Winfield asks where they are from and how long they are staying. Alex gives him a vague reply. Winfield mutters under his breath and gives them an unpleasant look as they leave.
They cross the sand back to the road. Cassandra does not want to use a camel to go back to the river, insisting that they hire a car. It takes Mahmood a while to find one, but in the end they get back to the boat using two hired cars.
The boat takes them north back to Cairo, where they walk the last mile to the hotel. They have a late dinner and recover in the cool of the hotel from an exhausting day.
Tiger at the Mosque
Tiger, meanwhile, has been bored all day at the mosque, sitting watching the antics of some of the inpatients, managed by nurses and orderlies. There is no sign of anything suspicious. There are so many people walking by the building all the time during the day and he comes to doubt that an attack would happen in the daytime.
He returns to the hotel before the rest return and sits at the bar.
Catch Up Over Dinner
When Cassandra and the rest return, Tiger joins them for dinner. They chat about what they saw, but reserve the more occult nature of things for a private chat without Van Heuvelen after dinner. Jeziah sends him off to the bar with some money.
Tiger thanks the two soldiers and sends them off with a tip. They were very disappointed that they did not get a chance to use their powerful weapons.
Zalkador does a reading about Dr Clive and his intentions. The cards suggest that he is a magician / wiseman of some kind, he works for “Gavigan” or the leader of the Black Pharaoh cult and that there is Queen involved. Dr Clive is quite powerful and dangerous and he intervened to block his reading at the dig.
They discuss looking into the license of the Clive Expedition and if they could possibly revoke one. They try Van Heuvelen but by that time he is hopelessly drunk. He slurs an answer about the office of the Ministry of Culture.
Back to the Mosque
Tiger points out the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is important the Cult will be coming for the Girdle there. Zalkador says he wants to do a reading there, if it can be arranged without the Muslim clerics knowing.
Zalkador, Tiger and Alex head there and try to do a reading as close as possible to the back where the Girdle is located. While they sneak around the back, Alex makes a noise. The others hide when a nurse comes out to investigate. Alex feigns looking for food from a bin and the nurse shoos him away.
Once she has gone, they resume their sneaking until they reach the outside of the back of the Mosque. Zalkador takes out his cards and learns that the Queen is associated with the Girdle, the Egyptian “Gavigan” figure will be coming for it very soon.
Zalkador has been trying to keep touching his tentacle-headed statue, but since it touched the “eye” stone, its special effect appears to have stopped. In fact, it seems needy, like it is now “hungry”.
Warning the Clerics
Alex remembers that in England, the Cult worked on the phases of the moon, doing its rituals at the dark, new moon. That looks like it will happening within the next few days, so he assumes the attack has to happen by then, as they will need the item for their ritual. They return to the hotel and update Jeziah and Cassandra. They discuss what to do now. Tiger will contact those mercenary soldiers again.
They hire an interpreter, despite the late hour and go back to the Mosque, warning the clerics that an attack by the Brotherhood in imminent. They mention Omar al-Shakti, though the clerics point out he is a powerful man and they should be careful about pointing fingers at him. They are sceptical about the warning, but promise to tell their leader in the morning.
Thursday, 14 March 1935
Back to the Egyptian Museum
After breakfast, Alex uses an almanac to determine the next new moon is three days from today.
Zalkador proposes going to see the helpful old man at the Egyptian Museum. Tiger says he is a cultist but Zalkador points out his Ankh was not inverted. Zalkador, Alex and tiger take a rubbing from the broken stone they got from the woman in Al Wasa, then meet up with Mahmood and head to the Egyptian Museum.
They find Dr Ali Kafour in his little alcove in front of the vault of rare and occult items. Zalkador tells them about a strange stone they have been told about and shows him the rubbing. He takes them into the vault and looks it up in ancient book written in Arabic.
The Eye of Light and Darkness
He concludes it is part of “The Eye of Light and Darkness.” On one side is an Ankh the right way up, the other side is an inverted Ankh, with the eye of Horus joining them. An ancient and power ward or enchantment designed to repel evil. Dr Kafour reads more about the Eye and says to create one of these enchantment involves a long and complex ritual. It also requires some sort of sacrifice by those involved and the text suggests not to do it alone.
The stone appears to have been broken off from its housing, which is disturbing. Dr Kafour tells them if they find the actual stone they should bring it to him, as he may be able to identify from the stone approximately where it came from. Zalkador suggests it may date back to the time of the Carlisle Expedition and may have been around Dahshur.
A Reading for Dr Kafour
Zalkador thanks him for his help and offers to do a Tarot reading for him. Dr Kafour is amused and asks him which occult tradition it comes from, mentioning the Golden Dawn and other things that Zalkador does not understand. He is clearly very knowledgeable. Dr Kafour allows him to do the reading, but he is mostly just amused by it. He points out the cards can be bought in a number of shops in Paris and shows off, attempting to interpret the cards himself, as he knows a little about them.
The cards tell Zalkador Dr Kafour is a wise magician, but not in the same way as Dr Clive. He is not associated with the Brotherhood. The Doctor smiles when the cards say he is a magician and plays with the Ankh around his neck.
Tiger watches suspiciously, still convinced the Egyptian is an enemy. Alex mentions that he has seen people wearing upside down Ankhs, including some people at the Clive Expedition, were wearing symbols like that. Dr Kafour tells them they are bad people and should be avoided. He also says the Carlisle Expedition meddled with dark powers and it cost them their lives.
Nyarlathotep
The Old Egyptian then takes Zalkadors hand and studies it for a while. He then suddenly lets go and says Zalkador has been tainted. His amused demeanour drains away and he begins to take his guests more seriously. He asks then why they are here. Zalkador tells them they are looking to find out what happened to the Carlisle Expedition and that none of their bodies have been found. They have encountered a number of dark and unnatural things during this investigation.
He tells them those who wear the upside down Ankh are members of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh, a terrible cult that is a stain on the character of Egypt. Zalkador tells him they have a branch in London, too. He tells them the Black Pharaoh is a dark god from beyond the stars, whose true name is Nyarlathotep (nee-yar-lat-hotep), according to some of the rare texts he has read. This god seeks to destroy all of humanity. As he speaks that name, an odd feeling sweeps over everyone and the lamp flutters. Everyone feels like someone has walked over their grave.
Dark Powers
They talk about Queen Nitocris and Dr Kafour tells them that she worshiped the Black Pharaoh while she was in power, maybe she is a high priest of this god. Since the naming of the dark god, Alex has become more and more disturbed that the shadows and the walls are closing in on him. He begins to panic and demands to be let out of the vault.
Dr Kafour lets them out of the vault. He tells Zalkador if he finds the stone, he should put it back where it came from. He also warns Zalkador his soul is in danger. Zalkador then shows him the tentacle-faced statue while the others are not looking. Dr Kafour is aghast and tells him to throw it away, smash it or throw it in the sea. It is a statue of Cthulhu, another dark being, one of the “Great Old Ones” who sleeps under the waves. “That is not dead that can eternal lie.” The Great Old Ones once ruled the world but sleep now until the stars are right. They are dangerous and terrible.