The Masks of Nyarlathotep: Egypt part 2

The Diary of Dr Eliza Jamieson

Friday October 3^rd: afternoon

After doing the touristy thing at the Red Pyramid, including taking lots of cheesy pictures, we decide to try our luck by attempting to gain access to the Bent Pyramid. On approach we noticed four guards are stationed just in front of the North entry and Sgt Hussein informs us that they are in their winter uniforms and not police.

Drawing up in front we quickly disembark and the soldiers initially appear to show little interest in us, but as we begin to circle the Bent Pyramid one soldier moves to observe us. I note that the soldier is carrying his rifle slung over his shoulder. (This may be because the Egyptian tourist board don’t really want them shooting up tourists as that would be bad for the economy).

We circle the Pyramid slowly in a counter-clockwise direction while still maintaining our role as tourists and the soldier meets us on the western side. We note that both the main entry on the Northern flank and the Western entry are sealed by heavy metal doors. The Bent Pyramid, it seems, has two entry points with a crawl way linking the two, which is rather hard going and I understand that it takes some effort to make the translation, hence they insist upon a certain level of fitness before you are allowed to attempt to use it.

Note: the Western door is significantly higher than the Northern entry and this is the one we really want to gain access to as this is the one Sgt Hussein saw Doctor Clive using when he was last here. However it should be noted that the Northern entrance is the one usually used for tourists.

With this in mind I decide to take a bit of a risk and make my own way up to the Western door. As I do so however the soldier reacts to my actions. Not by drawing his weapon, I might add, but by calling to me to stop. So I continue the pretence by standing my ground and stating that all I wish to do is take a few photographs of the interior but I am informed that this will not be possible as the Pyramid is presently closed to the public for essential maintenance due to a near accident involving an American tourist.

I pout as if disappointed but to be honest had not expected it to be that easy to gain access. I then begin to clamber down from the pyramid, with some assistance from Mr Zwaiter even though I really didn’t need it. However it helps cement the illusion that we are tourists so I am willing to play along. It is quite clear that we need to find some other way to gain access.

We are at an impasse so we decide to make our way back to Cairo and meet up with Edward who had chosen not to accompany us on the trip to the Red Pyramid. We also need to check in with MI13 as we have some questions that would require further investigation, not least of which is discovering if there is any link between the Cult of the Black Pharaoh and either the ‘Cult of the Bloody Tongue’ or the ‘God of the Black Winds’.

Upon arrival at the embassy, however, we discover that the information we had requested from Miss Carlisle has arrived and this opened up some new avenues in our investigation. Doctor Houston’s records provide us not only with an insight into Mr Carlisle’s mindset but also a partial name for the mysterious voodoo woman.

Reading the notes it appeared that it was in one of Mr Carlisle’s early sessions that he first began enthusing about the dream first reported to us by Miss Carlisle (see previous entry), and Doctor Houston’s notes record not only figures with non-human heads but figures clearly beyond human form, all orbiting a large golden sphere (possibly a sun) and then goes on to describe a great shape emerging from the void in the form of a huge asymmetric triangle with a voice which is heard stating ‘And become with me a God’ followed by the spectacle of the millions of shapes and humanoid forms rushing into the triangle and vanishing all in the moments before Mr Carlisle awakens.

According to Doctor Houston’s notes, in this regard Mr Carlisle apparently appeared to believe that was a ‘genuine calling’ but in saying this Doctor Houston also declared that Mr Carlisle appeared slightly ambivalent and declared that this may be systematic to his mental weakness which was the reason why he could be so easily lead astray.

As the sessions continued Doctor Houston believed he was losing control in regard to Mr Carlisle’s mental condition because he became more and more obsessed with someone he referred to as his Goddess and it soon became clear that Doctor Houston believed this woman had more sway over Mr Carlisle than he. (This goddess he refers to is in fact the Voodoo woman and her name is recorded in Doctor Houston’s notes as both Anastasia and Mweru).

Reading further, Doctor Houston’s notes state that during the session on 19^th May Mr Carlisle turned the tables on his analyst, extending what Doctor Houston describes as an ‘invitation’ that appeared to be obligatory for he threatened to expose Doctor Houston’s involvement in something Doctor Houston’s notes refer to as the ‘Bosch Incident’.

Apparently there appeared to be no reference in regard to what this so called ‘Bosch Incident’ anywhere else in Doctor Houston’s notes but it is clearly important enough to Doctor Houston that he does not feel he is able turn down Mr Carlisle’s invite. So it may be relevant to the case to discover what this pertains to.

With this new knowledge to hand we have two more avenues of inquiry and they are: who exactly is/was this Goddess/Anastasia/Mweru person (I am not holding out much hope in regard to this as its unclear if this is a forename or a surname); how was she able to exert the power she had over Mr Carlisle and, finally, as stated above we need to discover Doctor Houston’s involvement in this so called ‘Bosch Incident’ as he appears to have been somewhat concerned that this should not become public knowledge.

So we asked if MI13 could look into both the Bosch Incident and to see if they could acquire any more information in regard to Mr Carlisle’s mysterious Voodoo goddess/Anastasia/Mweru.

Note: I search for ‘Bosch Incident’ on my laptop but only find links to an assassination attempt in the Dominican Republic back in 1966 and an incident involving the bombing of a DC8 flying from Barbados to Jamaica in 1976. As both incidents occurred before Mr Carlisle was even born it appears extremely unlikely that they have any bearing in this case and therefore are just red herrings.

It is now a matter of waiting as we have a few hours to kill while we wait to see if any of our seedlings bare fruit. I use this time to check all of the equipment I have brought with me and re-read through the manual on the operation of the satellite phone just in case we need it.

Meanwhile Daniel declares that he is going out on another of his solo hunts ostensibly to look for cats, or at least that was what he told Edward but upon his return I note that he appears a little down so I assume that he has still not found what he was looking for. Whatever he is searching for it is apparently very important to him but he has not confided in me as to what it could be so I remain deeply suspicious in regard to his motives and while I do not put my suspicions into my official report it will be helpful if he explains his actions.

Edward, Robert and I in the meantime remain inside the hotel. After a nice dinner together I once again hit the gym to work of some of the calories before retiring at half past nine. Edward and Daniel have arranged an appointment with Professor Khafour the next morning and I still hope to be able to tag along even though Edward has informed me that I am not invited. However I state that I too have a few questions Professor Khafour may be able to answer in regard to our investigations.

Mr Zwaiter and Sgt Hussein, it should be noted, are still not officially part of MI13 so as yet not privy to our plans, hence they were not included in this discussion and went back to their own homes promising to meet up with us the next day.

Saturday October 4^th

Sgt Hussein and Mr Zwaiter are true to their word and meet us the following day just after breakfast, bringing a reply to one of our earlier inquiries into possible relationships between the ‘Cult of the Black Pharaoh’ and either the ‘God of the Black Winds’ or the ‘Cult of the Bloody Tongue’. The MI13 report is rather brief in this regard and states that according to their research into all available data, while each of these groups in question has a power base in North Africa they appear to display no visible relationships. I feel somewhat disappointed by this as once again a promising lead has just led us to another blind alley, hopefully our other two leads will play out.

Maybe Professor Khafour will be able give us some leads. I have finally been able to convince Edward to let me come along even though he is still somewhat reluctant. Edward states that he has informed Professor Khafour that it would just be him and Daniel attending and he was unsure how he would take my presence.

Anyway that is now a moot point as we leave Sgt Hussein and Mr Zwaiter talking to Robert and head for our appointment with Professor Khafour at the Museum. Once there Edward finds a member of staff and informs them he has arrived for his appointment. From there we are escorted to Professor Khafour’s office and asked to wait. Fortunately we do not have to wait long.

When he arrives we noticed that Professor Khafour is accompanied by a young woman of Egyptian extraction. This woman is approximately three inches shorter than me, reasonably attractive and dressed in Egyptian style, her boss however was dressed just as Edward had described earlier, in other words in European style but with a stereotypical fez.

Edward does the introductions in the traditional manner, introducing Daniel first, then me. I notice that he uses my codename ‘Salome’ during my introduction and that he also informs Professor Khafour that both Daniel and I have worked with ‘Solomon’ previously.

Professor Khafour then introduces his own companion as his protégé Miss Fatima El-Ahmed, who is apparently an archaeologist of Egyptian extraction. He goes on to say that he hopes that we will allow her to work closely with the team as she has skills that may prove useful during our investigations, to whit he claims Miss El-Ahmed is able to contact the dead, which he hoped would allow us access to some of the victims in this case. I am somewhat sceptical about this as the ‘medium’ profession is noted as being a haven of charlatans and scoundrels but we agree to his request.

Once the introductions are over Professor Khafour invites us into his office and once we are settled he asks how he can assist.

This is where Edward allows me to take the lead and while my initial question is fairly innocent it is planned to be a lead in and is essentially just to get the official record as to why Sneferu had essentially built a colossal monument such as the Red Pyramid when it appears he had no intention of using it, as there is no evidence of a large outer sarcophagus within the Pharaoh’s chamber.

Miss El-Ahmed pipes-in asking had I never heard of grave robbers and I admit I had but in doing so state that had there been grave robbers there would at least have been some evidence of a sarcophagus but there was nothing other than a few scratches on the floor.

Professor Khafour, I notice, is nodding as he assesses the question before stating that there isn’t any official record regarding its purpose and further states that Sneferu was apparently buried within the Bent Pyramid. Reading between the lines I suspect Professor Khafour has his own opinions so I press on and ask my initial follow-up question, what purpose he felt the Red Pyramid had been built?

I notice that Professor Khafour appears to open up following this question as he believes the story behind the Red Pyramid links directly to Nephren-Ka the so-called Black Pharaoh whom many archaeologists do not believe existed. However Professor Khafour apparently believes he did and that it was Sneferu who finally brought an end to Nephren-Ka’s rule with the aid of a priest named Kagemni. Furthermore, after Nephren-Ka’s death they imprisoned his mortal remains in the so-called Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum. For Professor Khafour believes they were unable to destroy his mortal remains due to some enchantment.

Apparently he is a little unclear about what exactly happened at the Collapsed Pyramid but one thing is for sure: a pyramids is essentially a large heap with corners and is therefore extremely stable yet this one still collapsed. As an example of the stability of a pyramid there are records showing that a Mamluk king tried for nigh on twelve years to destroy the Great Pyramid and failed miserably, so what on earth actually happened at Meidum to make the collapsed pyramid fall down?

It is not actually clear if the Collapsed Pyramid collapsed during Sneferu’s reign or during that of his son Khufu but the remains of Nephren-Ka were apparently moved to the Bent Pyramid after the collapse. The Bent Pyramid was apparently designed by Kagemni who had been given the position of Vizier in Sneferu’s court after assisting in overthrow of Nephren-Ka and this was the same position he had held previously in Huni’s court. Professor Khafour believes the Red Pyramid was an essential part of this design and that it was built to watch over the Bent Pyramid.

Vizier Kagemni is seen by Professor Khafour as a Merlinesque type character for he is of the opinion that Kagemni served under Huni, Sneferu and Khufu and that he was well-versed in the mystical arts.

Professor Khafour thought that it was vital he put Nephren-Ka’s rule into context: apparently he usurped the usual Egyptian pantheon of gods and transferred Egypt to the worship of the Elder Gods and Great Old Ones and primary amongst these was Nyarlothotep, who was believed to be an aspect of Djehuti (or to the Greeks as Thoth and to the Children of Light as the Archangel Gabriel).

It was believed the Black Pharaoh had many worshippers who lived beneath the desert, and were described as non-human. (Mind you, in Nephren-Ka’s time anyone not born of Egyptian was described as non-human, apparently if you died outside of Egypt then you were lost and hence barred from re-birth).

Nephren-Ka apparently controlled a huge creature of some kind of which the Great Sphinx is a depiction. Apparently the Black Pharaoh was also believed to have cheated death in some way and the cult that bears his name believe he will return with there aid.

During the meeting Edward actually lets slip that we too have encountered an aspect of Nyarlothotep while in the Dreamlands and this appears to shock Professor Khafour somewhat. But judging from Miss El-Ahmed’s reaction she appears to be aware of the Dreamlands. However I felt this was equivalent of a major gaff on Edward’s part and seems to me to be like an ‘elephant in the room’.

Professor Khafour states that he also believes in the existence of Queen Nitiqreti and that she reigned right at the end of the sixth dynasty. Professor Khafour believes that she came to power after the assassination of her brother (Pepi II) and it is rumoured that when they caught the assassins she ordered they be drowned before they could questioned and reveal who had requested the assassination. There is some suspicion that Nitiqreti herself may have been the instigator.

During her reign she apparently attempted to resurrect a lot of the changes instigated by the Black Pharaoh and these included the re-birth of ‘The Cult of the Black Pharaoh’. However her views were too extreme and resulted in a popular uprising and the overthrow of her reign. However as with Nephren-Ka, Nitekriti’s mortal remains proved difficult to destroy and were hidden away, apparently in a secret chamber within the Great Pyramid, if the rumours are true.

Apparently Professor Khafour was not informed until much later about what they had found in the fourth chamber or of its significance in regard to the Queen’s Chamber. Apparently experienced diggers were being kept away and they appeared to be relying on strong backs and foreign diggers who had brought in to do the delicate work and this apparently did not sit well with the Egyptian community.

We also ask Professor Khafour about the Bent Pyramid, we tell him what had happened when we visited and that we had so far been unable to gain access due to the presence of the military. Professor Khafour confirms what the soldier had said, however, and it appears that the closure has nothing to do with this case as it has been closed nearly a year following an incident with an American tourist. I ask if is it normal for the military to be involved and he feels this was quite normal.

I also remark that Doctor Clive had been permitted access and this too appears quite normal. Professor Khafour then tells us that he will attempt to gain us access, which could be very useful to gain an insight and not only to the Bent Pyramid but also to the view that something underhand is going on.

As the meeting is now over we thank Professor Khafour for his assistance and depart to meet up with Sgt Hussein, Mr Zwaiter and Robert. As Miss El-Ahmed is now accompanying us in the informal sense we need to assign her a codename and this is ‘Ibis’.

Together again, we assimilate information we have discovered and they too have discovered the identity of the grey haired man Sgt Hussein had observed talking to Doctor Clive. It appeared he was called Rifaat Abaza, an Egyptian businessman who is known to have a number of shady contacts and enough political clout to be able to avoid the rules governing the movement of artefacts.

We then discuss how we intend to proceed with our investigation. Edward and Daniel declare they wish to go to Ulthar in the Dreamlands (but are not overly clear why) so their night is settled.

Meanwhile our new companion appears to want to exercise her ability as a ‘medium’ and thereby advance one of our dead leads. We had thought there was no way to continue upon this path due to the fact the lead in question involves someone no longer in the land of the living. To this end Mr Zwaiter was asked if he could locate of the mortal remains of Sawalha, Fajir and Besart.

Mr Zwaiter chose to start with Mr Besart and to this end contacted the French Embassy which is apparently based on the rather unfortunately named Avenue Sharl De Gool. This would probably be the easiest one to gain access to, as he would probably have been buried in one of the European cemeteries. According to both Miss El-Ahmed and Mr Zwaiter Egyptian graveyards actually have people living in the tombs, creating squatter colonies which could create complications if we attempt to exhume the bodies.

As it turns out, Mr Besart is buried in one of the modern Christian cemeteries in the Northern quarter of the city and it appears there are no squatter colonies based there. Mr Zwaiter and Sgt Hussein actually go and visit the cemetery in question and discover the exact location during the afternoon, hence making it easier to find in the dark. I don’t know what story Mr Zwaiter used to gain this information and to be brutally honest I didn’t really want to know anything more than necessary about this apparent grave robbing expedition.

Someone suggests we use Geoffrey Baxter’s necromantic mask to question the dead but this to me seems foolhardy. It was not safe to use it in the Royal Berkshire, but to use it in an actual graveyard appears to me to be suicidal. I’m not exactly sure how the mask works and the last thing we want to do is create a bridge between the real world and the spirit world.

Robert meanwhile states that he has the intention to climb the Red Pyramid as he feels the need to investigate the capstone. Apparently he had cast a ‘detect magic’ spell when we had been within the Pharaoh’s chamber and had detected nothing. Because he suspects, like me, that the Red Pyramid was a kind of mystic stop sign, that there must be something up on top. I ask if I can accompany him and he is only too happy to accept. When Mr Zwaiter asks why we are doing this I reply rather unsubtly that it is preferable to grave robbing. (Got to remember here, I am of Scottish descent and a member of the medical profession so the grave robbing has serious Burke and Hare connotations).

Even though it will be more of a scramble than a climb, Robert and I ensure we have all the proper climbing equipment, including low light goggles. I also prepare a small medical pack for myself. After dark we drive out to the Red Pyramid, turn off the lights about a mile short and used the lowlight goggles for the last mile.

Upon arrival we park to the northwest of the Red Pyramid so that we will not be seen from the Bent Pyramid. (Note: we had already decided to make our ascent on the western flank as this would be where we will hopefully be least visible.)

The climb is fairly uneventful with Robert taking the lead. My job is to bring up the rear and collect the pitons. However I did suffer a slight wardrobe malfunction by splitting my trousers during the climb.

Once at the top Robert once again casts his detect magic spell and finds there to be a residue around the capstone indicating there had been an enchantment here at some stage but that it had somehow been turned off. This seems a little suspicious so we decide to investigate further and find that the capstone as well as having a slightly pinkish tinge bore some unusual markings on its surface. We also find recent fracture marks on the side facing the Bent Pyramid that appears to indicate at least part of the capstone had been removed quiet recently.

As there is nothing further we can achieve here we climb down. Once down we cross-check our equipment to ensure we have left nothing behind and then we head back to Cairo. As before, we leave the lights off until well away. Once we get back at the hotel I remove my shirt and tie it around my waist to cover my embarrassment while we make our way back through reception (I am still wearing my short-sleeved body glove) as I feel is it was slightly less of a social faux pas to have bare arms.

To save us having to explain things more than once we delay pooling the information we have gathered until the following morning.

Sunday October 5^th

We contact Professor Khafour the following morning to inform him of our discovery of the damaged capstone on the Red Pyramid and even though there is no evidence implicating anyone in the theft Professor Khafoor suspects that the damage may have been instigated by members of the Carlisle Expedition.

We then meet up with Sgt Hussein, Mr Zwaiter and Miss El-Ahmed and are pleasantly surprised to find they are not in prison, so it can safely be assumed that their activities from the previous night were not observed.

Sgt Hussein then gives his report of what occurred. Due to the earlier scouting mission they were successful in getting to Mr Besart’s grave unobserved and he and Mr Zwaiter had then proceeded to exhume the body while Miss El-Ahmed kept watch.

Once they had cleared and opened the coffin they observed that the body was in a rather sorry state, mostly due to the mode of his death. They had then changed positions as Mr Zwaiter and Sgt Hussein climbed out of the hole and Miss El-Ahmed climbed in.

Sgt Hussein then observed Miss El-Ahmed employ some form of blood ritual, after which a spiritual form rose from the grave which he assumed was Mr Besart’s ghost. Mr Zwaiter’s report confirms Sgt Hussein’s observations.

Miss El-Ahmed then takes up the report as it appeared that Mr Besart had a relationship with the Carlisle Expedition beyond being Mr Carlisle’s agent. Initially he had been employed by Mr Carlisle to acquire certain items and send said items to Mr Carlisle in the United States. Apparently these items all related to the Black Pharaoh but other than that he knew very little. One thing is for sure, however, these were all ancient artefacts and their rules indicate that items such as these should not be exported so he obviously had some shady contacts.

Mr Besart also supplied much of the mundane equipment required by the Carlisle Expedition upon their arrival in Egypt and this was essentially his singular role once the expedition had started. During his duties, however, Mr Besart believed that someone felt he knew too much about the true motives involved in the dig.

The Carlisle Expedition appeared to be heavily involved with the Bent Pyramid and that one of the group, namely Mr Brady, was not in the inner circle. One day Mr Brady came to see Mr Besart, reporting that Mr Carlisle, Doctor Houston, Miss Masters, Sir Aubrey Penhew and the African woman, had apparently entered the Bent Pyramid and had simply disappeared.

Mr Besart, Mr Brady and the diggers searched the whole area extensively but no trace of the rest of the Expedition could be found. Somewhat shaken by this Mr Besart and Mr Brady got very drunk.

Then just as mysteriously all the missing expedition members re-emerged from the Bent Pyramid as if nothing had happened but Mr Besart appeared convinced that they all had changed.

Shortly after this incident at the Bent Pyramid, Mr Besart was contacted by a female digger, Ayesha, and her son, Ahmed. Apparently it was rumoured that this Ayesha was a priestess of some kind but this was not confirmed and he was also unclear as to which god she was supposed to be a priestess of. Ayesha informed Mr Besart that the Expedition members had been lost to something she named the ‘Messenger of the Black Wind’ and that were he to seek proof of what they had become then he should make his way to the Collapsed Pyramid at Meidum during the dark of the moon.

Apparently Mr Besart felt he needed to seek this proof and travelled to the Collapsed Pyramid at the next dark of the moon. There he saw a heinous ritual. The primaries appeared to be Mr Carlisle, Sir Aubrey Penhew, Miss Masters, Dr Houston and the Black Voodoo Woman and they were accompanied by some one hundred cultists.

As Besart continued to watch twelve sacrificial victims were brought out from the Collapsed Pyramid and staked out on the sand. Then a large number of skeletal figures with bulging eyes arose from the sand and each one joined in with the ritual.

Finally as the ritual reached its crescendo a huge monster loomed out of the darkness. According to Mr Besart the monster was the size of an elephant (but judging from its actions I believe the creature was considerably larger than that). It had five heads and was also covered in fur. The creature apparently came upon the sacrificial offerings and swallowed each victim whole.

Mr Besart claimed that he fainted at the sight of this, and when he awoke he spent some time walking in the desert and during his trek he came upon an area populated by rank after rank of Dark Sphinx like creatures all waiting to be released upon an unsuspecting world.

This completely unhinged Mr Besart’s mind and he declared that he was driven mad by the mere sight of this waiting throng. Finally someone found him and gave him refuge. This was Ayesha and her son, Ahmed. They took Mr Besart back to their home in Al Wasta and Ayesha took care of him.

That is until the day when six men appeared bearing sticks with hooks on the end. Ahmed was fortunate to be away working when the men came, otherwise I suspect he would have suffered a similar fate to Mr Besart.

The men proceeded to beat severely on both Mr Besart and Ayesha and it appeared that they were searching for something which they believed Ayesha had in her possession. Despite the savagery of the beating however Ayesha refused to divulge the location of the item. When they were found later by Ahmed both Ayesha and Mr Besart were at death’s door but while Mr Besart slipped through Ayesha apparently recovered by force of will and the aid of her neighbours.

Apparently Mr Besart wishes vengeance upon the men who brought about his end and upon all who follow the Cult of the Black Pharaoh. However it should be noted that there appears to be no reference to Mr Brady after their heavy drinking session. (Question: what happened to Mr Brady?)

This is very interesting and gives us some more leads to follow, one of which involves finding Ayesha. We also discover for the first time that Mr Carlisle’s mysterious Voodoo woman is also a member of the expedition. I also note the mention of the Master of the Black Winds which appears to me to be a tenuous link to the God of the Black Winds.

Daniel and Edward reveal that during their trip into the Dreamlands they had travelled to the Temple of the Elder Gods in Ulthar and here Edward was taught how to augur. Daniel meanwhile continued to play his cards close to his chest and did not reveal why he had travelled to Ulthar so we can only surmise that he was visiting with Bast. I felt they had very little to add to the investigation at this time.

Our next mission is to travel to Al Wasta, to hopefully find and talk to Ayesha and investigate the Collapsed Pyramid. Unfortunately we do not have a last name and both Ayesha and Ahmed are fairly common names so our search may be fruitless. However the woman is likely to still be badly disfigured following the beating she sustained and this may be all we need. Our only hope of discovering where she resides, however, appears to reside in how well our native language speakers can interact with the old men who sit and smoke. Miss El-Ahmed, Edward, Daniel and I are each exempted from this part of the investigation for varied reasons. In the end it takes several hours before we are lucky enough to find someone to point us in the right direction.

The location in question is a small shanty with a corrugated roof at the edge of town. We drive to within a hundred yards before debussing and, while the rest of us waited by the car, Mr Zwaiter and Miss El-Ahmed approach the shack and knock on the rickety door, apparently getting no reply. This is an unforeseen issue and we are considering how to proceed when I notice that the old man who had directed us is talking to a younger man and gesturing in our direction. Judging by the younger man’s body language I suspect that the younger man is somewhat annoyed as he storms towards our position. I also assume this is the son, Ahmed.

Ahmed accosts the team and even though I am unable to understand the words it was clear he wishes us gone. Mr Zwaiter attempts to calm him and in doing so I clearly hear the name Besart being banded about during their very heated discussion. It should be noted that Mr Zwaiter’s attempts to calm Ahmed down only appear to enrage Ahmed further.

As we are all distracted by the argument we all fail to observe the door to the shack open and an old woman emerge until we hear a strange wail from the direction of the shack. We all turn to see the figure that has emerged and even I have to admit the mere sight of Ayesha’s injuries make me feel sick to the pit of my stomach.

Ayesha is clearly of advanced years and it is equally clear that she must have incredible fortitude to have survived what was done to her. Both of her legs were clearly been badly broken in several places and have not been set correctly so her every step must be agony and it is also clear that both of her arms end in truncated bandaged stumps. Most of her lower jaw is also missing and what we can see of her skin bears heavy scarring. It also becomes clear that Ayesha cannot form normal words and can only make sounds which her son appears to be able to translate clearly through practice. As a doctor I feel I should do something in regard to her injuries but fully realise this would solely be for my own benefit as it is clear that with her advanced years and poor health she would very likely not survive the surgery required.

With Ayesha’s appearance her son ceases his arguments and attempts instead to shepherd his mother back to the shack but Ayesha resists his attempts, making more of the strange wails and beating upon him with her stumps. Finally Ayesha convinces Ahmed to stop trying to force her back inside and to go and acquire something from nearby. Ahmed nods and steps past his mother to pick up a hoe-type tool that is resting against the wall of the shack. He advises us to remain were we are and walks off into the desert.

After Ahmed has gone Ayesha steps back into the shack and re-emerges with a piece of jewellery from the clutter inside. She returns with it draped over one of her stumps and offers the jewellery to Mr Zwaiter. He initially refuses to take the item from her but she persists and finally he takes it.

The jewellery she offers to him is an opal pendant on a silver chain and it is quite beautiful. The stone is a green fire-opal surrounded by a circlet of jet all set with silver. This item is clearly ancient and probably worth more than all of her other possessions put together and she just gave it away to a relative stranger.

Robert decides to try and cast detect magic on the pendant only to find that he also picks up the whistle and mask carried by Edward and myself. This detects that the pendant is not only magical but that it is also free of any taint, unlike the mask and the whistle. Mr Zwaiter notes there is some engraving that looks like it could be hieroglyphs on the rear of the pendant but before we can examine it further Ahmed returns carrying an item wrapped in cloth.

Ahmed unwraps the package to reveal an irregular pinkish stone with the symbol of an eye etched onto its surface. Robert and I both feel that we recognise the source of this stone. It seems similar to the remains of the capstone we saw on the Red Pyramid and when Ahmed hands it over he appears to be glad to be rid of it.

Ahmed also recognises the pendant Ayesha has presented to Mr Zwaiter and he seems surprised that his mother has chosen to give it to us, stating that the amulet is supposed to give the bearer protection, but it had not done so for his mother. However Ahmed hopes that we may be luckier and it may bring us good fortune. To be honest, the wounds inflicted upon Ayesha were made by the hands of evil men and unfortunately magical amulets appear to have very little control over the actions of man.

Ahmed then wishes us luck in our exploits but insists his mother is tired and asks us to take our leave. However, before we leave Miss El-Ahmed asks what they are doing for money and Ahmed states that he now had a job as a guide, so she further asks him about the Collapsed Pyramid to see if he can give us a tour. He says that indeed he could guide us but with the proviso that he would not be asked to go anywhere near that accursed place during the dark of the moon and he advises us to do likewise. Knowing what Miss El-Ahmed had conveyed from her discussion with Mr Besart’s spirit we find this to be sound advice.

I offer to get Ahmed some painkillers for his mother but Ahmed does not appear to be interested as he appears convinced his mother has only been hanging on to life in hope that someone would come to complete what she has started.

To save time we decide to visit the Collapsed Pyramid on our way back to Cairo in hope of picking up some clues as to the nature of the ritual that occurred here, and likely continues every dark of the moon. With this in mind we park on the road as close as possible and began to make our way on foot to the Collapsed Pyramid.

I am surprised to find it is a lot larger than I had expected and none of us actually notice when Edward returns to the car. We soon realise that he was not with us, he later informed us that he had done this because he had sensed a presence here very similar to the one he had encountered at Silbury Hill however on this occasion the presence felt much more intrusive.

When he spots that Edward has returned to the car Mr Zwaiter goes to join him while Robert, Sgt Hussein, Miss El-Ahmed and I continue onto the Collapsed Pyramid. I note that the core that remains is still in excess of two hundred feet high and that the sides are considerably steeper than any of the other pyramids.

As we navigate our way around the base, however, I notice that Robert appears to be more interested in studying the sand than the pyramid itself. When I ask Robert about this he states he is looking for blood or any other sign to indicate the rituals that the spirit of Mr Besart had described, but I suspect that whatever evidence the cult left behind would have swallowed up by the desert and I tell him this and Robert somewhat reluctantly appears to accept my assumption.

Robert then begins looking at the pyramid with an eye to scaling its heights. However, I am not confident that such a climb could achieve much as I suspect the capstone must have been removed most likely at or around the time when the pyramid first collapsed.

My view in regard to attempting to climb this pyramid were balanced between the possible risk to both life and limb involved in such a hard climb, opposed to the lack of potential evidence involved in this final goal. To be honest this is the sort of climb you would only attempt if you were a serious action junkie. The sort of person who when asked why did they climb something replies ‘because it’s there’.

After being in close proximity to the pyramid I too begin to sense the wrongness about this place that Edward had already experienced – and I should note here that I am not usually sensitive to this sort of energy in any way. But on this occasion I clearly feel something and the experience is hard to describe as it is equivalent of having an itch you just can’t scratch, or of just being dirty. Whatever the case I want to leave this place, take a long hot shower to eradicate whatever this feeling is and never come back. I also notice that while Robert and Sgt Hussein appeared unaffected Miss El-Ahmed appears to be suffering the same experience as I.

In my opinion this pyramid is built over a gateway similar to the one under Silbury Hill to form a plug very much like a cork in a champagne bottle. But for some reason it failed. Either they got the ritual wrong or there was just too much power here to control. (Mind you, I don’t think it helped that they chose to put Nyarlathotep’s blue-eyed boy inside the pyramid).

Which leaves us with a dilemma because as I see it there are only two ways to plug this gateway and one of those involves large amounts of concrete and explosives (which I don’t think the Egyptian government would agree to) and the other involves the building of a completely new pyramid, which is just impractical. However, in saying this it must be noted that this gateway has been open for approximately five thousand years and has not created any major issues as of yet so we may be able to just leave it as it is.

After leaving the Collapsed Pyramid we made our way back to Cairo were both Miss El-Ahmed and I have urgent appointments with hot showers (individually I might add).

Once back in Cairo, Mr Zwaiter contacts his office to find that the information in regards to the location of Mr Najir’s final resting place has come through. It appears that Mr Najir was buried in Bab-al-Wazir cemetery. Unfortunately this implies to me that we should not attempt to try and gain access to the body other than by legal means. Anyway it has been a long day and we need to have a talk with Professor Khafour to see if he can give us a translation on the Hieroglyphs Mr Zwaiter discovered on the amulet. (Note: I can’t read Hieroglyphs so had not thought to examine then personally at this stage.)

Monday October 6^th

We all meet up at breakfast and decide that this time it would be best if we all go to see Professor Khafour as it is clear that whatever he says is going affect everyone. Once again, getting an audience is the least of our problems. However as there are now eight of us Professor Khafour’s office is a little bit too small so he takes us to one of the conference rooms. Once there we inform Professor Khafour of our discoveries from the previous day and show him both the stone and the amulet we have recovered from Ayesha.

Professor Khafour starts his examination of the markings on the adverse side of the amulet but appears unable to translate what they say. While he insists Egyptian hieroglyphs are one of the oldest methods of writing the ones on this amulet are not Egyptian in origin and, while closely related, are much older, something akin to a much older first cousin.

To show this he uses the display equipment in the conference room to project the markings onto a screen were he then proceeds to show us the markers implying the different origin. As he does this however something triggers in my mind and the markings begin to make sense to me. Professor Khafour is just stating that it may take time to translate the true meaning of these symbols when I inform him that I can translate them as I have a working knowledge of Tsath Yo.

This appears to shock a number of the people in the room, Professor Khafour included, as this is quite a rare language at best. (To be honest, the amount of people Professor Khafour has probably encountered with a working knowledge of this language can be counted on the fingers of one hand and probably none of them look like me.)

Note: Tsath Yo is the language of the Hyperborean civilisation thought to exist in the vicinity of modern day Greenland. It is probably linked to the ancient Atlantis myths. It is said that the Hyperboreans were very advanced and refugees from Hyperborea’s fall may have spawned other civilisations, including the Egyptians.

When they realise that I may be able to read these symbols they all step back and let me take the lead from here, and I inform everyone that if I understand the markings correctly, which I think I do, this amulet appears to have a dual function. One of these functions is activated by a word of power that must be in Hyperborean, a language not heard aloud for thousands of years, which could be an issue because if Tsath Yo is like Latin in any way it could all depend on emphasising certain portions of words rather than the word as a whole.

The other function appears to be the warding Ahmed mentioned, targeted against some form of unidentified flying creature. The amulet clearly requires further study before we can realise its full potential so we continue with our investigation into the pink stone.

Judging by the stone’s colour I feel that we can hazard a guess that the stone is part of the Red Pyramid’s missing capstone. But there appears to be more to it than that for after examining the stone Professor Khafour excuses himself returning a few minutes later bearing a heavy tome. Apparently the markings on the stone appear to display something Professor Khafour identifies as the ‘Eye of Light and Darkness’ a symbol that can apparently weaken the power and influence of not only Great Old Ones but also of many other Outer World Gods.

As the Carlisle Expedition was based at the Bent Pyramid, Professor Khafour suspects that this is clear evidence that they were involved in the removal of this stone from the Red Pyramid and that Ayesha and her son stole it from them, and it was most likely this item that the men with the clubs were looking for.

Professor Khafour then informs us that he has been able to clear us for access to the Bent Pyramid but the access will be via the main entry on the Northern flank and he insists that Miss El-Ahmed must be included in the party.