RolePlay onLine RPoL Logo

, welcome to Masks of Nyarlathotep (Chaosium Call of Cthulhu)

06:26, 19th March 2024 (GMT+0)

Clues and Reference Thread.

Posted by The KeeperFor group 0
The Keeper
GM, 6 posts
Tony Stroppa
Thu 22 Sep 2011
at 06:22
  • msg #1

Clues and Reference Thread

Investigators:

Not having read the adventure yet, I won't be able to give you much more than what you learned in the previous game. What I know from reading the clues in the prior "Masks" game, I'll list in point form:

1) Jackson Elias was murdered after following the trail of the missing Carlyle expedition in Africa.

2) In Jackson's room there is a matchbook from Shanghai, China. Also, a photo of a yacht in a river surrounded by Chinese junks. The name on the stern is partially visible ("DAR...").

3) Jackson's Kenya papers mentions flying creatures in Africa. One of you (either Fulty or a professorial type) met with an Arkham University professor/author who wrote about bat-winged Gods in Australia, a similarity that Jackson presumably thought was important.

4) Although the CID Inspector is convinced the Egyptian Murders are cult-related, he didn't say anything about the Bloody-Tongue's calling-card symbol and instead says the Black Brotherhood is suspected (but didn't say how). It could be the typical police tactic of witholding key evidence from the public.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:42, Thu 22 Sept 2011.
Cynthia Jane Holloway
player, 2 posts
Dilettante
Globetrotting Free Spirit
Thu 22 Sep 2011
at 06:22
  • msg #2

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

Just a quick review, now that I can actually read the documents :)

Roger Carlyle went to Egypt searching for Solomon's treasure. Their party included Jack Brady, Dr. Huston a Jungian-school analyst serving (misleading?) Carlyle, Sir Aubrey Penhew of the Penhew Foundation, and Hypatia Matthews. They also apparently picked up some African vamp (M'Weru) who broke Carlyle's heart and ran away with all of their money. The Carlyle expedition moved on to Kenya. Sir Penhew reported in the papers that they went there just to take a break from things. Then the Carlyle party totally got murdered. There was a show trial, some negroes were hanged. No actual evidence or Caucasian bodies were ever found. Carlyle's sister followed up and found nothing new.

Then our friend Jackson Elias followed the route, looking for information on Carlyle and decided the trial was wrong. Apparently also one of the Carlyle people, Jack Brady, has been seen alive since. I think maybe Elias is dead, because our picture of him shows that he's pretty, well, dead.

Some guy, Johnstone Kamau, says Carlyle & co. were killed by the "Bloody Tongue Cult", who worship some bad god.

I can't read NP22 at all, so if someone else has deciphered that, go for it.

There's some guy, Faraz Najir on the Street of Jackals in the Old Quarter who sold stuff to Carlyle. I'm guessing this guy is not in London.

This is all stuff from the google docs. It took me about three read-throughs to figure out this much, and I may have missed details, so please share corrections.

Since then, our party broke into the Ju-ju house, owing to their having an overdue library book. They're also attached to the Bloody Tongue Cult. Everyone here takes library books way too seriously, so there was a bunch of killing involved (and I gather that, ultimately, we still haven't found the book).

In London, the cult runs under the Cult of the Black Pharoah. We're also missing a library book here, so we're totally figuring it's the cult. They're hunting and killing Egyptians. Egyptians hang out at the Blue Pyramid Club, so I guess we'll hang out there too. There's some guy, Tewfik al-Sayad, who maybe knows something, but is totally unreliable. Also, one guy shouted 'Hotep!' when he was killed (although how they know that isn't clear. I mean, how do we know he wasn't shouting 'hold it!' or just 'hotblargh' as all his guts fall out? Anyway ...)

Director Gavigan, who assumed control of the Penhew Foundation after Penhew disappeared, isn't very much help and seems downright bovvered by our poking. He was surprised to hear Brady is still alive. He's associated with al-Sayad somehow, but I forgot the details.

Other news ... Miles Shipley is drawing disturbed art. We checked it out and bought some paintings. One is a terrible ceremony before an unfamiliar mountain in Africa. He made a metal frame for Aleister Crowley matching in pattern to a mirror frame we found in Al-Sayad's house. He also has a painting he refuses to show us. Molly "Mongo" disappeared after visiting his house.


There's a monster hanging around the Valley of Derwent.


I believe that's it? Anything I'm missing?
This message was last edited by the player at 17:56, Wed 09 Sept 2015.
The Keeper
GM, 34 posts
Tony Stroppa
Fri 30 Sep 2011
at 22:09
  • msg #3

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

Map showing Park Lane Hotel and the Blue Pyramid Club in Soho:

http://g.co/maps/7k7aq

Hmm... Google maps includes the options for short URLs, but RpOL doesn't like them! Please see below:

http://maps.google.com/maps?ms...amp;z=15&vpsrc=6

Tony
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:56, Fri 30 Sept 2011.
Howard Lampton
player, 8 posts
Freelance Correspondant
Occult Specialist
Fri 30 Sep 2011
at 22:30
  • msg #4

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

Having finished reading Life as a God Lampton tells everyone that it's the early 19th century diary of an English artist named Montgomery Crompton, who claims to have been a priest in the cult of the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. However, Crompton seems to have been slipping into delusional madness and documents many different heinous crimes quite gleefully.

So the cult has been extant in London for at least a hundred years.
Cynthia Jane Holloway
player, 9 posts
Dilettante
Globetrotting Free Spirit
Sat 1 Oct 2011
at 01:09
  • msg #5

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

I was under the impression that the Cult in England preferred individuals of African descent. Does he describe how many non-Africans are among the club's members at the time? Does he describe his art at all, or make any connections between the two? Any reason to suspect this individual is similar to the one drawing mad paintings currently?
The Keeper
GM, 40 posts
Tony Stroppa
Sun 2 Oct 2011
at 21:20
  • msg #6

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

See the following link for map:

Link back to this game

Tony
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:38, Sun 02 Oct 2011.
Howard Lampton
player, 9 posts
Freelance Correspondant
Occult Specialist
Sun 2 Oct 2011
at 22:36
  • msg #7

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

In reply to Cynthia Jane Holloway (msg #5):

Additional details Lampton has disclosed from Life as a God:

Crompton specifically mentions Arabs, but there is no reference to "sub-Saharan" Africans. There are three names mentioned of fellow cultists. Ahmose, Darius, and Navarre, none of them African or Kenyan. Of course, one or all could be pseudonyms or aliases.

There is no mention whatsoever of the Cult of the Bloody Tongue and no sketches of any sigil or symbol. There is mention of a ritual murder weapon, a club with a single spike.

There are similarities between Crompton’s sketches in the diary and photos of Miles Shipley’s disturbed art.

Near the end, before his writing becomes totally illegible, he seems to be describing some kind of throne room for his God:




This message was last edited by the GM at 22:45, Sun 02 Oct 2011.
The Keeper
GM, 66 posts
Tony Stroppa
Wed 5 Oct 2011
at 05:03
  • msg #8

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

Players,

I posted the following notes in the old game. The GM never answered then so I am supplying some answers now.

1) Fulty met with a professor at Arkham who gave a lecture on Australian cults, There is mention of a Bat Cult in Australia. possibly related to the "Creatures with great wings..." that "...are said to come down from the Mountain of the Black Winds and carry off people." Sounds similar, if widely geographically separated. Not really a dead end but something that may fit the bigger picture later on.

2) The "God of the Black Winds" is unknown in African folklore. "Elias cites in particular "Sam Mariga rr-sta"." Is rr-sta short for "railroad station"? Can Library research (maps of Kenya) clear this up?

Unable to elaborate at this time.

3) Is it possible M'Weru was a cultist? Whichever, she met Carlyle in Egypt, then persuaded or lured the group back to Kenya for her purposes? Did M'Weru disappear before or after they got to Kenya?

Carlyle's sister Erica said M'Weru looked and carried herself like "a priestess". Erica believed "that Negro woman" drove her brother to the brink of madness.

4) Why was Tewfik al-Sayad interviewed by police? Does he own the Blue Pyramid Club? He does have a connection to the Penhew Foundation, which is not incriminating in and of itself.

Tewfik was not a person of interest, and although he was said to know several of the victims nothing seems to have come of this. He was employed by the Penhew Foundation to guide them in Egypt some years ago.

5) What is the significance of "My Life as a God" from the diary of Montgomery Crompton?

Describes the Brotherhood of the Dark Pharaoh in fair detail, at least of a century ago. Included is their ritual weapon, the club with a single spike.

6) Was the symbol carved into Jackson's forehead identified?

Yes, it belonged to the Cult of the Bloody Tongue. It is not mentioned nor is there a picture of it in Life as a God.

7) There is a photo of a river in China and a partial boat name "DAR..."), and a matchbook from Shanghai. Where are these locations? What is the boat?

Research showed that Penhew's motor-yacht, the Dark Princess, was recorded as being in Shanghai, China. The photo of the boat was taken there.
This message was last edited by the GM at 07:13, Fri 05 July 2013.
The Keeper
GM, 69 posts
Tony Stroppa
Thu 6 Oct 2011
at 11:30
  • msg #9

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

The Pnakotic Manuscripts - English translation - 20 Weeks Study

Selections De Livre D'Ivon - French commentary on a Latin text - 20 Weeks Study. Very confusing and muddled, an earlier reader left a marginal note in Medieval French suggesting he believed it to be written by someone named Eibon long before the rise of the Pharaohs. It describes part of his travels and exploits in unknown lands (possibly in dreams) and the blasphemous beings and monstrous gods that live there.

People of the Monolith - English Book (Bound in something unnatural; Cthulhu Mythos Roll needed when handling.) - 1 Week Study. A long and rambling poem written by Englishman Justin Geoffrey. From "People of the Monolith":

They say foul things of Old Times still lurk
In dark forgotten corners of the world.
And Gates still gape to loose, on certain nights.
Shapes pent in Hell.


The Monolith is a primordial black stone somewhere in the mountains of Hungary, and the bestial People worship the monolith with sacrifices. Geoffrey was committed to a madhouse shortly after the poem was written and he is still alive.

Life as a God - English book (Bound in Human Skin) - 1 Week Study. Describes an Englishman's descent into madness over a hundred years ago as he becomes a Priest in the Brotherhood of the Dark Pharaoh. Located somewhere in the UK, unknown exactly where. Egyptian motifs seem prevalent, no mention of sub-Saharan Africans or Africa.


Study Times:

Howard Lampton: 3 weeks study on Pnakotic Manuscripts. Has read People of the Monolith, Life as a God.

Cynthia Holloway: Has read Selections de Libre d'Ivonis. Not the complete work.

Dr. Weston: Has read both People of the Monolith and Life as a God. 3 more weeks of study on another tome.
This message was last edited by the GM at 08:43, Fri 07 Oct 2011.
Cynthia Jane Holloway
player, 20 posts
Dilettante
Globetrotting Free Spirit
Fri 7 Oct 2011
at 08:37
  • msg #10

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

Keeper's note: This is a partial repost from the old game, Cynthia's brief to Falcon when he showed up. Some few corrections and clarifications have been added. The group was familiar with the author Jackson Elias, and they found him murdered in his room in the Chelsea Hotel in NYC. Elias was tracking down the infamous and ill-fated, Carlyle Expedition, and believed Carlyle was still alive.

Cynthia is a bit uncertain about this aeroplane business, but puts that aside for now.

"I'm not sure if you're familiar with the Carlyle expedition, a few years ago. We're on their trail, because Jackson Elias was following their trail from here to London to Cairo and then to Kenya.

The clues we've gathered suggest that Carlyle encountered something ... terrible in Kenya, and their disappearance is linked to a group called the Bloody Tongue cult. The cult seems to have daughter chapters spread out across the world, under different titles. We encountered one in New York. The Bloody Tongue is based in Kenya.

"We aren't sure where Carlyle is now. Hopefully at the end of this madcap scenario, we'll find Carlyle. Elias left us his notes and some odds and ends, like letters, a photograph and matchbook.

"Locally we're told there's another cult which has been systematically hunting and killing Egyptians. We suspect the Black Pharoah cult, an offshoot of the Bloody Tongue cult. I believe our intent is to begin sorting that out tonight. We also spoke with Mr. Gavigan of the Penhew Foundation, Sir Penhew being one of the specialists on Carlyle's original message. We came away with the distinct impression that Mr. Gavigan is withholding information, although for what purpose we could not say. Unfortunately, without more to go on, we will have to let that sleeping dog lie. Once we've sorted out this Black Pharoah business, hopefully we'll have better insight into this situation before we move to our next location.

"I'm not currently aware of being targeted by any threat. Perhaps Jonas has some more recent information than we do. I believe Mr. Webley there recounted feeling physically threatened, although he has some ... other issues of his own he needs to address. Still, investigating a mass murderer is hardly the safest profession, so an additional set of trained and trustworthy hands are well appreciated.

"I should also tell you, Mr. Falcon, this is strictly volunteer. We are each pursuing this for our own purposes. Should you elect to accompany us, it is at your own expense and your own discretion."

This message was last edited by the GM at 08:54, Fri 07 Oct 2011.
Imran Singh
player, 22 posts
Decorated Ex-Soldier
Loyal Sikh Manservant
Fri 7 Oct 2011
at 10:14
  • msg #11

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

I'm not certain which of the current characters were actually at the scene of Elias's murder. Just Cynthia and Singh and Webley, I believe. (Now that Dr. Weston's been retconned as going over for the funeral, yes?)
The Keeper
GM, 79 posts
Tony Stroppa
Fri 7 Oct 2011
at 11:49
  • msg #12

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

In reply to Imran Singh (msg #11):

I'm not sure it's important who exactly was there. That's a good chunk of the group right there even without Dr. Weston having been there. Cynthia is telling this to Falcon, which makes sense, she was there. His death allowed you to collect clues and see the distinctive sigil carved in his forehead:




Tony
This message was last edited by the GM at 12:26, Fri 07 Oct 2011.
Cynthia Jane Holloway
player, 21 posts
Dilettante
Globetrotting Free Spirit
Fri 7 Oct 2011
at 14:24
  • msg #13

Re: Clues and Reference Thread

Our image of the yacht matches the 'Dark Mistress' belonging to Alfred Penhew, likely related or a psuedonym for Sir Aubrey Penhew, and was tracked down to the Whangpoo rivier, leading through Shanghai.
Sign In