As the smoke dissipated from the makeshift bonfire created by a pile of mummified ghoul corpses (for yes, that is what they are), the investigators pondered their next move. Who are we talking about here?
Use of Architecture, which allowed them to judge the slope of the land down towards the river Nile, plus the fact that the stairs led even further down into the earth, brought the deduction from Roade that the doors might lead to a chamber beneath the level of the Nile, possibly the chamber that Nitocris used to drown the priests who assassinated her brother.
The investigators decided - prudently - to head down the south passage. It was dark, but they could see some braziers near the entrance. Topless lit one with his torch, and immediately all the braziers in the corridor burst into flame as one (Stability checks). Down each wall of the passage were dozens more ghoul mummies in niches. The adventurers advanced cautiously.
Roade, being a thief and with points in Architecture, spotted a concealed door on the west wall some 50 metres down the passage. He spent some time examining it and a Locksmith roll allowed him to find the secret catch that let him open the door.
Inside was a large square room occupied by a huge sarcophagus made of black stone, with the carving of a man wearing a jackal mask on it. What attracted the attention of the investigators were the murals, which showed Menthuophis and Nitocris ruling Egypt with their evil ghoul priests, and the ritual that Topless recalled while under hypnosis. Also shown is the drowning of the priests of Osiris by Nitocris.
Most disturbing was the painting of Nitocris emerging from the body of a figure in 1920s garb, that looked a whole lot like Topless (loss of Stability AND Sanity here).
On the sarcophagus itself were carved, in ancient Egyptian: "Anankaresh, Beloved Slave of Anubis, Slave of Nitocris."
At this point the door to the tomb was darkened as another mummy entered. This one seemed to be wearing armour and was carrying a big knife in one hand and a whip in the other. It started screaming imprecations in Egyptian at Topless, which again he understood perfectly. Its whip snaked out and caught the dilettante around the neck. The mummy started dragging Topless towards it.
Roade tried unsuccessfully to chop through the whip while Topless fought against the mummy's superhuman strength. His boots slid across the dusty floor of the tomb as the mummy held its knife ready and began chanting. Thrope recognised this as some kind of summoning spell. He shot at the mummy and hit it in the head, but it did not stop chanting.
Roade continued attacking the whip but found it had some kind of chain embedded inside the leather. Thrope now threw his weight against the lid of the sarcophagus and shouted to Roade to help him. Together they shoved the great lid aside.
Topless could see a flickering blue image taking form across the mummy, which he recognised as the features of his dead wife Nitocris. She seemed to be smiling evilly. He opened fire with his .45 Webley and blew the mummy's head off (the last of his Firearms points). It collapsed at his feet and he seized the dagger. He went to the entrance to check to see if there was any more trouble coming, and spotted yet another mummy coming to life in the corridor outside (Sense Trouble check). He quickly threw his weight against the door to close it before the mummy could reach him.
Looking down into the sarcophagus, Thrope saw not the mummy of a priest but that of a woman. Blue light seemed to flicker across the mummy. Grabbing Roade's bayonet, the Irishman jumped into the sarcophagus and began hacking the mummy to pieces. There was a violent flash of blue light and a tremendous explosion, throwing him bodily backwards. The mummy disintegrated into fine ash and in the distance they thought they could half hear a woman's enraged scream, as if from across a great gulf of time.
Thrope dusted himself off and climbed out of the sarcophagus again. The trio listened at the door but could not hear anything. Opening the door, they found an inanimate mummy sprawled at their feet. There was no further movement. The compulsion that Topless had been feeling was gone.
The investigators limped out of the tomb and back into the sunshine, Topless still clutching the dagger, which bore no signs of rust and which he realised was an enchanted dagger, dedicated to Yog Sothoth, according to the Egyptian writing on it.On the horizon they saw Professor Morrison approaching with Mubarak and a posse of labourers from the Giza plateau...
- Pearce Topless, former British army officer and Great War veteran, Arrogant, now a Dilettante and seemingly the reincarnation of the Pharaoh Meren Ra/Menthuophis
- Humphrey Roade, former British army private, ambulance driver, thief, drug smuggler, now working as Topless' valet
- Filian Thrope, Irish alienist, pioneer in past life regression, over in Egypt to meet with German alienist and pioneer in psychology, Doctor Freund.
Once again, Topless still found an almost irresistable pull working upon him, calling him back into the tomb. Once again he persuaded his colleagues to follow him back into the yawning morass, past the burned corpses of the ghouls.
The trio decided to look at the steps that led down to the west, where a door with hieroglyphics stood. Topless found he could read the writing easily. It said:
"By the will of Nitocris, great wife of Menthuophis, King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Osiris is drowned by the Nile. Disturb him at your peril."
Use of Architecture, which allowed them to judge the slope of the land down towards the river Nile, plus the fact that the stairs led even further down into the earth, brought the deduction from Roade that the doors might lead to a chamber beneath the level of the Nile, possibly the chamber that Nitocris used to drown the priests who assassinated her brother.
The investigators decided - prudently - to head down the south passage. It was dark, but they could see some braziers near the entrance. Topless lit one with his torch, and immediately all the braziers in the corridor burst into flame as one (Stability checks). Down each wall of the passage were dozens more ghoul mummies in niches. The adventurers advanced cautiously.
Roade, being a thief and with points in Architecture, spotted a concealed door on the west wall some 50 metres down the passage. He spent some time examining it and a Locksmith roll allowed him to find the secret catch that let him open the door.
 |
| What lies within? |
Most disturbing was the painting of Nitocris emerging from the body of a figure in 1920s garb, that looked a whole lot like Topless (loss of Stability AND Sanity here).
On the sarcophagus itself were carved, in ancient Egyptian: "Anankaresh, Beloved Slave of Anubis, Slave of Nitocris."
At this point the door to the tomb was darkened as another mummy entered. This one seemed to be wearing armour and was carrying a big knife in one hand and a whip in the other. It started screaming imprecations in Egyptian at Topless, which again he understood perfectly. Its whip snaked out and caught the dilettante around the neck. The mummy started dragging Topless towards it.
 |
| "I live Egypt, I live!" |
Roade tried unsuccessfully to chop through the whip while Topless fought against the mummy's superhuman strength. His boots slid across the dusty floor of the tomb as the mummy held its knife ready and began chanting. Thrope recognised this as some kind of summoning spell. He shot at the mummy and hit it in the head, but it did not stop chanting.
Roade continued attacking the whip but found it had some kind of chain embedded inside the leather. Thrope now threw his weight against the lid of the sarcophagus and shouted to Roade to help him. Together they shoved the great lid aside.
 |
| Slave to Nitocris |
Topless could see a flickering blue image taking form across the mummy, which he recognised as the features of his dead wife Nitocris. She seemed to be smiling evilly. He opened fire with his .45 Webley and blew the mummy's head off (the last of his Firearms points). It collapsed at his feet and he seized the dagger. He went to the entrance to check to see if there was any more trouble coming, and spotted yet another mummy coming to life in the corridor outside (Sense Trouble check). He quickly threw his weight against the door to close it before the mummy could reach him.
Looking down into the sarcophagus, Thrope saw not the mummy of a priest but that of a woman. Blue light seemed to flicker across the mummy. Grabbing Roade's bayonet, the Irishman jumped into the sarcophagus and began hacking the mummy to pieces. There was a violent flash of blue light and a tremendous explosion, throwing him bodily backwards. The mummy disintegrated into fine ash and in the distance they thought they could half hear a woman's enraged scream, as if from across a great gulf of time.
Thrope dusted himself off and climbed out of the sarcophagus again. The trio listened at the door but could not hear anything. Opening the door, they found an inanimate mummy sprawled at their feet. There was no further movement. The compulsion that Topless had been feeling was gone.
The investigators limped out of the tomb and back into the sunshine, Topless still clutching the dagger, which bore no signs of rust and which he realised was an enchanted dagger, dedicated to Yog Sothoth, according to the Egyptian writing on it.On the horizon they saw Professor Morrison approaching with Mubarak and a posse of labourers from the Giza plateau...
THE END
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