Re: Chapter 2.2: Winter of Our Discontent [01/30/1925]
Rosalie spent no small amount of time deciphering the scroll, using several different resources available to her to ensure she had the right translation. What she found puzzled her greatly. While her experience with Egyptology and the practices of various ancient peoples had exposed her to a variety of religious believes and rituals of the occult, she was far too practical a young woman to truly believe in magic. Perhaps the things they had seen of late had blurred the lines of her logical nature a smidgen, but not to such a degree that she'd started believing in spells.
The cuneiform was far more challenging, but the results were puzzling there as well. The text referred to the mirror and she found several references to such an artifact throughout history. Could it be the same one? The possibility excited her as she jotted down the details in her journal. Of course, she didn't really know what to think of the tales of the mirror, but if it was as old as her references indicated, it would be a great find and a way to further her career.
Mindful of Millicent's need to speak privately with her Uncle, she returned to their private cubicle only when she'd decided they'd had plenty of time to converse. Arms stuffed with books, she rejoined them, bright eyes indicating her excitement.
"I had quite a bit of good luck in the library. They had exactly what I needed to work out these translations!" She was more than little proud that she'd been able to find what she needed without her uncle's help. As always, solving a puzzle gave her a sense of satisfaction. "Though what I translated is quite odd, in my opinion." Spreading out her materials, she began to outline what she'd discovered of both the scroll and the mirror, showing them the oddities that lay in each.
OOC
22:23, Today: Rosalie Elias rolled 3 using 1d100 with rolls of 3. Occult (27).
Scroll:
Rosalie quickly learns that the scroll contains a magical spell, Body Warping of Gorgoroth. It allows the caster to change his or her physical form. The caster must invoke Nyarlathotep and repeat the phrases of the spell for 1d6+4 minutes while expending 6 magic points and an additional magic point for each point of SIZ to be gained or lost in the body warping. This spell also costs 2d6 Sanity points and 1 point of POW each time cast. Only one alteration per casting is possible, and the effect is permanent until the spell is recast to change back again. This spell cannot be cast on another being.
The sorcerer can change to any shape and appearance though retaining personal abilities. This form must be fleshly, though it can appear to be of stone, wood, a rug, etc. Once changed into a new shape, the caster has the mobility of that shape. The caster's STR, CON, INT, POW, and DEX never change. If emulating a person, the sorcerer's APP becomes that of the individual emulated. The caster can take on only the form of what he or she knows.
Cuneiform:
The first part of the inscription identified the entity to whom the Mirror was dedicated— “en-en ___ Gal (The Mirror {or Wrath} of the Great ___ )” but the symbol where the God or King’s name should go has been chiselled out. The cuneiform inscription continues that the Mirror was made in Lagash and is a gift from King (Lu-Gal) Bur-ra Bu-ri-ia-a (“Servant of the Lord of Thunder and the Lands”) to his “brother”, King of Egypt, Ne-ne-fe-ka-____; (this has no meaning in Sumerian and is probably a phonetic transcription of the Egyptian Ne-Nefer-Ka-____; The symbol which should represent the patron god of this pharaoh is likewise destroyed). “When the King my Brother wishes to view his enemy, anoint the mirror with Ub-raan. When he wishes to strike his enemy, anoint the mirror with Ga-bé-se-gal. Let there be no misunderstanding between us.”
Obra’an/Ub-ra-an: {Sumerian: “The sound of the drum of heaven”: ub—drum; ra—to strike, bang; an—sky, heaven}
Gabeshegal/Ga-bé-se-gal: {Sumerian: “The milk sacred to/from the shrine of the great howling/buzzing one”: ga—milk; bé—buzz or howl; se—shrine, sacred, dedicated to a god; gal—great, supreme}
You believe this is an artifact of significant importance, and significant fame will accrue to the archaeologist who publishes a paper describing it.
The only references to the Mirror occur after Napoleon’s invasion of Egypt in 1798. You locate an anecdote about an occultist operating in Paris during the Second Restoration, from a biography of the occultist Collin de Plancy:
One fellow made a small fortune claiming to have a mirror which allowed him to espy the boudoirs of Paris’ most beautiful ladies. The mirror, a dull grey affair curiously stamped with Hebrew symbols, was said to have been recovered from an Egyptian tomb plundered during Napoleon’s excursions there a generation previous. Anointing its metal with foul-smelling Eastern unguents, the mystic gained all sorts of rewards for his services. He came to a bad end, after agreeing to kill, by magic, the husband of a wealthy patron. When her agents arrived at his chambers to demand satisfaction, the reprobate had fled, magic mirror in tow. His body was found in a Genoese brothel a few weeks later, his heart clawed out as if by a wolf.