The Nairobi Notes of Jackson Elias

Sheets of plain paper, each covered on one side only with Jackson’ neat printing, and paper-clipped together into sets by Jonah Kensington. They are reasonably well organized, and seem in many ways complete, yet are remarkable for the absence of conclusions, connections, and clearly defined themes. The hand is strong and bold.

Set One of the Nairobi notes sets forth the offices, officials, and tribes which Jackson visited, searching for material concerning cults and cult rituals. Jackson mentions Roger Corydon, the Colonial Undersecretary for Internal Affairs; however, he notes that nothing conclusive was learned, though Jackson discounts the official version of the Carlyle massacre.

Set Two describes Jackson's trip to the massacre site. He notes particularly that the earth there is completely barren, and that all the tribes of the region avoid the place, saying it is cursed by the God of the Black Winds, whose home is the mountain top.

Set Three is an interview with a Johnstone Kenyatta, who says that the Carlyle murders may have been performed by the cult of the Bloody Tongue. He says that the cult reputedly is based in the mountains, and that its high priestess is a part of the Mountain of the Black Winds. Jackson is politely skeptical, but Kenyatta insists upon the point. In quotes, Jackson records that regional tribes fear and hate the Bloody Tongue, that tribal magic is of no protection against the cult, and that the cult’s god is not of Africa.

Set Four follows up on the Kenyatta interview. Jackson confirms from several good sources that the Bloody Tongue exists, though he finds no first-hand evidence of it. Tales include children stolen for sacrifice. Creatures with great wings are said to come down from the Mountain of the Black Winds to carry off people. The cult worships a god unknown to folklorists, one fitting no traditional African pattern. Jackson lists Sam Mariga, Neville Jermyn, Dr. Starret, Lt. Selkirk, and Col. Endicot as people he questioned.

Set Five is a single sheet reminding Jackson that the Cairo-based portion of the Carlyle itinerary must be examined carefully. He believes that the reason which prompted Carlyle’s Kenyan side trip is on the Nile.

Set Six is a long interview with Lt. Mark Selkirk, leader of the men who actually found the remains of the Carlyle Expedition. Importantly, Selkirk says that the bodies were remarkably undecayed for the length of time which they lay in the open - almost as if decay itself wouldn’t come near the place.” Secondly, the men had been torn apart, as if by animals, though what sorts of animals would pull apart bodies so systematically he could not guess. “Unimaginable. Inexplicable.” Selkirk agrees that the Nandis may have had something to do with the episode, but suspects that the charges against the ringleaders were trumped-up. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” he says cynically. Finally, Selkirk confirms that no Caucasians were found among the dead—only corpses of the Kenyan bearers were scattered across the barren plain.

Set Seven is another single sheet. Jackson ran into ‘Nails’ Nelson at the Victoria Bar in Nairobi. Nelson had been a mercenary for the Italians on the Somali-Abyssinian border, and had escaped into Kenya after double-crossing his employers. Nelson claimed to have seen Jack Brady alive in Hong Kong, less than two years before Jackson was in Kenya and long after the Kenyan court declared that Brady and the rest of the expedition were dead. Brady was friendly, though guarded and taciturn. Nelson didn’t press the conversation. From this report Jackson deduced that other members of the expedition might still live.

Set Eight discusses a possible structure for the Carlyle book, but is mostly featureless, with entries like “tell what happened” and “explain why.”
This message was last edited by the GM at 11:48, Sat 25 Aug 2018.

Africa’s Dark Sects
English, by Nigel Blackwell, 1920. Sextodecimo, blue pasteboard covers with marbled endpapers and blue-stained page edges.
Written by explorer Nigel Blackwell during his travels across Africa, the book is an odd mix of travelogue and expose of the ritual practices of a variety of African cults. Although the notes of his travels were obviously turned into a book, no publisher is listed on the title page, and Blackwell is impossible to track down. Some believe the book may have been written under a pseudonym, but there are no candidates as to the real author if that is the case. Only 13 copies are known to exist—the authorities managed to burn the rest.

Amongst the Stones
English, by Justin Geoffrey, 1918. Handwritten, containing poems, bound in the skin of an unknown animal.
Although several of the verses contained within this slim volume are identical to those which appear in Geoffrey’s later published work, some are earlier versions which see heavy revision prior to their official publication by Erebus Press, Monmouth, Illinois. Others are unique to this manuscript.

Life As A God
English, by Montgomery Crompton, c.1810. Duodecimo, handwritten, bound in human skin.
The only copy of a diary by English artist Crompton, who came to Egypt in 1805 and became a minor priest of an Egyptian cult. Crompton was insane by the time he wrote this diary, meaning that much of it is incoherent.

The Pnakotic Manuscripts
English, author and translator unknown, 15th century.Quarto, embossed red leather binding of a later date than the contained manuscript.
Five bound manuscript versions (partial copies of a greater work, now lost) of this book are catalogued in Europe and America, at least one of which resides at Miskatonic University; another is rumored to be held by the New York Public Library. The precursor volume, the Pnakotica, was written in classical Greek, and contained stories of Hyperborea, Atlantis, and Jupiter.

Sélections de Livre D’Ivon
French commentary on Latin original by Gaspar du Nord, c.13th century. Octavo, handwritten manuscript, bound in decaying blue calfskin.
Supposedly copied by du Nord from an earlier Greek manuscript. Only 13 specimens, partial or complete, are now known to exist. A variation of the Liber Ivonis, the book contains many treatises on practical magic, although its focus is more towards the worship of a deity called “Tsathoggua.”

This is what you found in Room 410;

Letter: addressed to Roger Carlyle from Warren Besart. The text is in a neat, precise hand.



Business card: for one Edward Gavigan, elegantly engraved



Matchbook: from the Stumbling Tiger Bar in Shanghai



Photograph: blurry and grainy. It shows a large steam- or diesel-powered yacht beyond some Chinese boats (“junks”). Part of the name of the yacht is visible: the first three letters are “DAR.” In the dim background is a building with a large tower.



Business card: for Emerson Imports, printed on ordinary stock. Jackson has written the name “Silas N’Kwane” on the back of the card.



Typewritten letter: without envelope, from Miriam Atwright, a Harvard University librarian, addressed to Jackson in care of his publishers



Small sheet of paper: It is an ordinary handbill, to be posted publicly or passed out on the street, advertising Prof. Cowles’ guest lecture at New York University.



Jackson Elias’ forehead: symbol cut into the skin, similar to the tattoo found on Larkin.


This message was last edited by the GM at 18:35, Wed 12 Dec 2018.

The room contains a variety of materials for invoking magic (chalk, candles, a few vials of blood, dried human skin, and so on), as well as dubious tomes containing spells. Next to the desk is a comfortable study area, with seating for small meetings. Two boxes (nearer to the desk) contain a three-day supply of tinned food and water, as well as candles and matches, changes of clothes, and similar emergency supplies. Other notable items found in the room are described below.

A desk drawer contains a .32 revolver and a box of bullets, a couple of false passports, and a number of bundles of used five- and ten-pound notes totaling 2000 pounds ($10,000). Beneath the desk is a stout metal box containing various receipts for goods and services, including deliveries to Henson Manufacturing in Derby for wood and coal, iron ingots, copper wiring, and an expensive cast iron safe. Underneath the pile of receipts, a business card for Empire Spices is wedged into one of the box’s corners.

A small gallery of art consisting of ancient icons, statues, and wall art is displayed here; these pieces depict various Mythos deities and creatures in their blasphemous glory. The pieces of wall art are hung on masonry and stucco surfaces, screwed to the original stone walls. Most are obviously Egyptian or proto-Sumerian, dating back to the Twenty-Second Dynasty, although one piece, a small statuette of a pharaoh-like figure whose face is obscured by a mass of intricately carved squirming tentacles, dates to the late Third Dynasty. Some of the artwork depicts;

A dark winged thing, seemingly both leprous and scaly.
• A winged hulking beast, with dragon-like tail and a fang-ringed jaw.
• A group of prowling human-seeming beings, whose eyes are far too big upon disfigured faces.
• Many red-orange colored bursts of color or light that are gathering around a tall dark humanoid, who appears to be on fire.

Several wooden crates are stacked about; all but two are open and empty. A tall, closed crate is stenciled “Ho Fang Import/Export, 15 Kaoyang Street, Shanghai, China,” in both English and Chinese. In smaller letters are the words “Attention Honourable Ho Fang.”

Within a fine walnut bookcase are several glass protected shelves of books and scrolls, as well as a small stone jar tucked away between the tomes. Volumes in German, French, Russian, Latin, and Spanish are recognizable, while two are in English. There are 15 scrolls in total, all very old.

Most of the tomes are simply insane treaties praising various outlandish gods or talking about the most abstruse theological questions, such as the correct season for
contemplating discourse with strange hierarchies of powers. There are two Mythos tomes: Ye Booke of Comunicacions with ye Angel Dzyon, and the G'Harne fragments.

Of the 15 scrolls, ten are poems of praise to various entities, including the Bloated Woman, Sand Bat, the Bloody Tongue, and the Lord of the Woods, among others. All are, of course, different nomenclature for Nyarlathotep. Three are in Arabic, four in Latin, two in Medieval French, and one in Old English. These poems have been collected from around the world and describe differing ceremonies and prayers, many of which come directly from cult rituals.

The remaining five scrolls, written in different languages, seemlingly contain one spell each.

• Greek: Treat with Sky Devil of Typhon
• Egyptian hieroglyphs: Call Messenger of Apep
• Arabic: Compel Nasnas
• Arabic: Atarsamain’s Bane
• Arabic: Whispers of Shaitan
This message was last edited by the player at 22:44, Sun 16 Dec 2018.

While there are many clues pointing towards Egypt, the most logical reason to go to Cairo—though hardly the most compelling—is that both Roger Carlyle and Jackson Elias did, which suggests its importance. As you have already visited the Penhew Foundation, and Zahra Shafik’s apartment, you have (hopefully) noticed the connections there to all things Egyptian.

The interview with Edward Gavigan confirms Carlyle’s visit to the country with Sir Aubrey. An article in a book at the Penhew Foundation hints at the existence of the Black Pharaoh, while a telegram from Dr. Henry Clive points to the Foundation’s most recent expedition to Egypt. Gavigan’s ledger contains details of shipments made by the Penhew Foundation to Egypt, as well as many other critical locations. There is also Dr. Robert Huston’s notes of his consultations with Roger Carlyle, as well as an incriminating letter from Omar al-Shakti, requesting the return of a valuable artifact.

However, by far the best single reason you to go to Cairo is the letter from Warren Besart to Roger Carlyle, which Jackson Elias somehow obtained and which you found on Elias’ corpse in his grim New York hotel room.








This message was last edited by the GM at 19:57, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

Old Cairo is itself a story-book and a dream—labyrinths of narrow alleys redolent of aromatic secrets; Arabesque balconies and oriels nearly meeting above the cobbled streets; maelstroms of Oriental traffic with strange cries, cracking whips, rattling carts, jingling money, and braying donkeys; kaleidoscopes of polychrome robes, veils, turbans, and tarbushes; water-carriers and dervishes, dogs and cats, soothsayers and barbers; and over all the whining of blind beggars crouched in alcoves, and the sonorous chanting of muezzins from minarets limned delicately against a sky of deep, unchanging blue...

The opening of the tomb of Tutankhamun in November 1922, and the breathtaking beauty of the treasures within, sparks a wave of Egyptomania that washes over the entire world. Egyptian jewelry is worn by flappers and dowagers alike; men wear tarbouches (the Arabic equivalent of the fez) to work on Wall Street, and smoking hashish from sheesha water pipes becomes a fashionable pastime.

Cairo profits from the attention of the rest of the world, and tourists in search of the wonders of Egypt fill its hotels and bazaars. The greatest city in Africa, and one of the great cities in the world, by the mid-1920s Cairo’s population has risen to 850,000 (one in ten of whom are foreigners). It is the capital of the oldest continuously identifiable culture in the world, with the dynasties of north and south Egypt stretching back to 3100 BCE, 5,000 years before the investigators set foot on the desert sands. Guarded effortlessly by the desert and the sea, the heritage of Egypt is unparalleled in its architectural achievement, cultural sophistication, and its general stability. Only China is able to rival its cultural heritage.

EGYPT IN 1925
The 1920s are a time of turmoil for Egypt, with frequent riots and political killings. A British protectorate for about 40 years, Egypt regains most of its internal independence in 1922 following the 1919 revolution led by Saad Zaghloul. However, the British reserve four areas of discretionary powers concerning imperial communications (including the Suez Canal), the Sudan, the defense of Egypt and the Canal, and the protection of foreign interests and of minorities. Such reservations are far removed from full independence, and resistance to the British presence, in the form of civil unrest, is ongoing throughout the period. Tourists visiting Cairo in the 1920s find themselves in the middle of a powder keg of political intrigue, with members of rival political parties literally fighting each other in the streets. British garrisons remain at the Suez Canal, and armed British intervention within Egypt is a normal occurrence. This continual interference prompts general resentment toward foreigners, regardless of their nationality.

One particularly sensitive area is the movement of ancient artifacts and treasure out of Egypt by foreign archaeologists. In consequence, the Egyptian national government strictly polices such activity. Tourists will not receive much help from the Egyptian authorities when it comes to the removal of items from the land of the Nile; surreptitious removal is a criminal offense, and applicable charges (including “damage of antiquities”) will be pressed if caught, resulting in up to a year in prison if found guilty. The British may decide to intervene if such charges seem unfounded, but do nothing to aid common criminals.

The United States’ ambassador and consuls don’t do much besides weighing the facts presented in court, or writing courteous letters on the plaintiff ’s behalf. Little better can be expected from the representatives of other nations with resident consuls in Egypt. However, it is possible to obtain a license for the shipping of antiquities from the Egyptian Museum, if the authorities can be convinced that the items in question are of minor historical interest. As can be expected, there is a thriving black market trade in such licenses, be they forgeries or carefully “adapted” genuine articles.

Cairo
Amid all the political chaos, there remains the allure of Cairo itself. This is, after all, the city of the Arabian Nights, with a storyteller on every corner and jugglers and snake charmers aplenty to distract the unwary. Ezbekiya Gardens is a park of about 20 acres. It is a major center within the city, and forms the hub of European expatriate life in Cairo. Many of the city’s finest restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs are located around Ezbekiya. The main post office is on its south side, the American consulate on the north. On the west side are most of the European-style hotels in the city, including the world-famous Shepheard’s, and to the east are financial institutions, such as the stock exchange. Still further east there are some excellent shops to be found, but these soon peter out where the so-called “New Quarter” meets the Old City.

Within the Old City are the narrow, winding alleys and crowded marketplaces so stereotypically Middle Eastern. Perhaps the most famous bazaar (besides the Khan el-Khalili) is the Muski, a thriving market where everything from silks to fine jewelry, spices to rugs—and if you know where to look, black market weapons, including guns—can be found. The true heart of Cairo, the Old City also contains most of the classic Arabic architecture, though average homes and shops are simple two to four-story, flat-roofed buildings made from whitewashed mud brick and tile. Largely built during the Middle Ages, the streets are shadowed by the overhanging upper stories of their buildings, and visitors must beware of wastewater casually flung from the upper levels in the poorest areas.

Along the east bank of the Nile, in the district known as Kasr el-Dubara, the Garden City, are most of the governmental buildings and palaces of the nobility, as well as fancy detached residences and expensive flats. Not far south of the Kasr el-Nil Bridge is the British Consulate General, often referred to as “the Residency.” On the other side of the bridge lies Gezira Island, home to the private Sporting Club set up by the British military in 1882.

South of the Old City, beyond the Citadel of Saladin perched on its rocky outcrop, lies the windswept wilderness of the City of the Dead, where only rock, sand, tombs, and mausoleums exist. Investigators may want to explore such an eerie and dread place, though there is little there of interest as far as their current quest is concerned.

Affluence and Poverty
Most of Cairo is shockingly poor, and beggars abound. Some are con artists but many genuinely suffer from an array of physical deformities, including missing arms, legs, and noses, as well as twisted spines. Tourists with medical training can easily diagnose rickets and advanced cases of syphilis as they move through such poor neighborhoods. Schistosomiasis, a water-borne parasitic disease that often causes a swollen belly, is endemic. Beggars see a lot, though, and are easier to find than the police. Street people can give directions and other information if the investigators speak even a little Arabic and are generous with their piastres. Not too much, though, as openly flashing large amounts of cash in the streets marks you out as a potential target for pick-pocketing or robbery.

Getting About in Cairo
Other than a few thoroughfares, Cairo’s streets, particularly in the Old City, are notoriously narrow, crowded, obstructed, and otherwise inaccessible to carriages and motorcars. Apart from pack animals transporting goods, most of Cairo’s traffic is on foot, although an excellent tram network connects many parts of the city. A tourist tramway also bridges the Nile and ends at the Giza pyramids, which lie to the west of the city.

Religion
The dominant religion of Egypt is Islam. Coptic Christians also exist in some numbers, although they are in the minority. Tourists may unwittingly commit offenses against local customs or beliefs through ignorance, such as neglecting to remove their shoes when entering a mosque or ignoring the etiquette of not speaking of worldly matters in such places. Rude tourists tromping about and shouting questions not only risk being corrected, but also being physically removed by justifiably upset Muslims.

The Weather
The heat in Cairo is greatest June to August, with daily highs well over 37 c for months at a time. There is little respite from the sweltering temperatures, even at night. Winter months tend to be cooler, but any rainfall is erratic and negligible, with little more than an inch (2.5 cm) a year, usually in March or October. In the desert, khamsin (dust storms) occur from March to June.

Dining in Cairo
The Ezbekiya, or New Quarter, of Cairo is the hub of European life. The hotel and entertainment district here are the necessaries of life for the traveler abroad. Cairo in the 1920's is the equal of any European city in the quality of its restaurants, cafes, and theaters. Most of these are to be found in the Ezbekiya. There are many in Cairo who simply do not exist in public until after dark, and spend the night moving from one fine restaurant to another, finishing up at a dance until dawn. The young and frivolous wear the latest Paris and London fashions, drink the most expensive cocktails, and take opium and hashish.

HOTEL RESTAURANTS
These are the most common places to dine while in Cairo. The quality of the food is directly related to the quality of the hotel. In many cases the cost of accommodation includes the evening meal, although wines, cocktails and after dinner drinks are extra. Hotel restaurants are good places to meet patrons of the hotel. Dining alone or in small groups may result in sharing a table with other guests if so inclined. All of the best hotels hold dinner dances and concerts during the season, many featuring internationally renowned artists. These evening dances are frequented by gigolos and expensive prostitutes. Dress is formal, and dances begin at dusk and continue well into the early morning.

GROPPI'S
This is the place to be seen in the 1920's in Cairo. Groppi's is a luxurious catering establishment, founded in Cairo around the turn of the century by an Alexandrian Swiss family. Originally housed in a single location (Groppi's) at 11 Sharia Manakh, a second establishment opens in 1924, on Suliman Pasha Square (Midan Suliman) and is named Groppi's Comer House. In addition to fine food, both shops also sell fine china and glassware and silverware. Their primary stock in trade during the day are afternoon teas, aperitifs, confectionery, patisserie and delicatessen style food. At night they serve fine cuisine in the French and British tradition. At the rear of the new restaurant, a garden surrounds a rotunda with a stained glass ceiling. Concerts are held here three times a week during the season, with dinner and supper dances on the other four nights. Dances and concerts were also held at the original restaurant until late 1924, when they were replaced by a string quartet playing nightly.

OTHER RESTAURANTS
Celestino: 4 Sharia Alfi Bey, behind Shepheard's Hotel. Excellent European food and wine, dancing nightly.

Flasch: above Celestino. A more lively dining and party experience, popular with the under thirties. Flasch has private rooms available for meetings.

Ritz: 14 Sharia Tawfiq. An expensive restaurant, with the cost to dine defined by the place's reputation rather than its food.

El-Hati: Sharia Alfi Bey. The best "native" restaurant in Cairo, serving local delicacies in a way that European palates can tolerate. Silver service and modem decor clash with traditional Arab food, which is best eaten with the fingers while seated on the floor.

Luna Park, Parisiana, Suisse, and Brasserie du Nil: all also in Sharia Alfi Bey.

BARS AND EUROPEAN CAFES
New Bar; Mahmussa Bar, and Cafe Khedivial: all in Opera Square. Fine wines, beers and spirits mingle with thick cigar and cigarette smoke. Food available in private booths, mainly European style.

Opera Bar: Opera Square. Drinks only. Popular with the British military.
Many other cafes in the European style crowd the sae'ets in the Ezbekiya district.




This message was last edited by the GM at 21:22, Fri 01 Feb 2019.

The Carlyle Expedition;

Nichonka Bunay
Dr. Robert Huston - Roger Carlyle
Sir Aubrey Penhew - Hypatia Masters – Jack Brady

Equipment required for each member of a safari

• 10’×8’ double-roof ridge tent
• Bag, Hold-all, padlocked
• Bag, round-bottomed
• Blankets, camel-hair
• Boxes, air-tight
• Chair, deck
• Chair, folding
• Cot
• Ground sheet
• Hammock, canvas
• Lamp, petrol
• Lantern, candle
• Mosquito net
• Pillow, small hair
• Towels, bath
• Towels, face
• Wash-basin, enameled
• Water bottles

Group Equipment
• Cooking pot per 5 porters
• Cotton shelter-tent per 5 porters
• Dining table
• Dining tent
• Hammer
• Hatchet
• Kitchen fly
• Kitchenware
• Rope
• Tableware
• Water filter

Clothing, Men
• Boots, leather
• Boots, mosquito (knee-high)
• Coat, khaki
• Handkerchiefs
• Helmet, pith
• Overcoat
• Pajamas
• Raincoat
• Shirt, flannel
• Shoes, camp (moccasins)
• Shorts, khaki
• Socks, extra thick wool
• Socks, heavy
• Sweater, wool
• Underwear, silk

Clothing, Women's
• Trousers, khaki
• Middies, khaki (loose blouse w. sailor collar)
• Underwear, silk or cotton
• Boots
• Gaiters, canvas
• Hat, soft-brimmed

Personal Equipment
• Compass
• Corkscrew
• Field glasses
• Flint & Steel
• Hunting knife
• Matches
• Pocket knife
• Screwdriver
• Tin-opener
• Tobacco
• Watch

The G’harne Fragments

A slim, unadorned, pasteboard-bound work in medium sixteenmo; 4 ½” wide by 5 ¾” high; 128 pages. The title is printed on both the pasteboard cover (a pale cream, with black ink) and the spine, with the author’s name (Sir Amery WendySmith) printed below the title. No publisher is listed nor is a date of publication given. The production quality and style suggest a small university press or that the author paid for publication himself; the finished product is of inexpensive materials. There are numerous illustrations depicting some sort of cipher or artificial language consisting of haphazardly arranged dots and a scattering of astronomical charts. A handwritten dedication on the title page says “Many thanks for your advice and aid, W-S.” Scattered throughout the text are a few passages underlined in meticulous pencil lines.

The G’Harne Fragments provides a supposed translation of inscriptions first discovered by British explorer Sir Howard Windrop in a hitherto unknown ruined city in Africa, referred to as “G’harne” by the author. Expanding on Windrop’s earlier translation, Wendy-Smith, claims that the text contains the fragmentary records of a pre-historic, (perhaps even non-human) civilization. Included in the text is an incomplete catalog of the various cities of this unknown civilization (including G’harne) as well as discussions of the cities of other increasingly fanciful civilizations and races.

Sanity Loss: 1D10

Cthulhu Mythos: +3/+7 percentiles

Mythos Rating: 30

Study: 12 weeks

Spells: Contact Chthonian, Contact Elder Thing, Contact Shudde M’ell, Red Sign of Shudde M’ell.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:02, Mon 04 Nov 2019.

Leather bound manuscript, 18”×11½” (medium folio), slightly damaged with some foxing and
occasionally irregularly sized pages. No title or author is given on the cover but a frontispiece identifies it as Ye Booke of Comunicacions with ye Angel Dzyon. The manuscript contains text in archaic English and an unknown set of symbols as well as marginal notes in what appears to be Greek.

This book is a loosely organized collection of what can be described, for lack of a better term, as séances between an unnamed medium and an “angelic spirit” identified in the text as Dzyon (or sometimes as Dzyan). The sessions are supposed to transcribe the wisdom of Cehuti, an archangel (?), and are composed of a mixture of divine prehistory, angelic law and magic, confounding cabalistic discussions, and suggestive discussions of how certain humans may be elevated to divinity. The papers that form the text seem to have been collected and organized along specific themes and not chronologically. Some of the portions in the non-English symbols appear to be
written contemporaneously with the regular writing but not in the same hand.

The work itself is confused and sometimes self contradictory. While portions of the English text seem to be translations of the two types of ciphers used, other portions are left untranslated. Certain sections, particularly those dealing with
incantations, are heavily annotated in Greek.

• Sanity Loss: 1D6
• Cthulhu Mythos: +3/+6 percentiles
• Mythos Rating: 27
• Study: 14 weeks
• Spells: Call Forth Childe of the Woode, Call Forth Wind Spirit, Call Forth the Unseen Walker, Consult the Wisdom of the Void

The Pnakotic Manuscripts

English, author and translator unknown, 15th century. Quarto, embossed red leather binding of a later date than the contained manuscript.

Five bound manuscript versions (partial copies of a greater work, now lost) of this book are catalogued in Europe and America, at least one of which resides at Miskatonic University; another is rumored to be held by the New York Public Library. The precursor volume, the Pnakotica, was written in classical Greek, and contained stories of Hyperborea, Atlantis, and Jupiter. That book may trace its origins to the pre-human crinoids who seeded life on Earth.

Although most serious Mythos scholars accredit the original works on which the Manuscripts are based to the elder things, there are those who insist the authors were the Great Race of Yith and that the book is named for the archives in which it was stored in the Western Desert of Australia.

Sanity Loss: 1D8 automatically

Cthulhu Mythos: +3% initially. +7% after 45 week's study

Mythos Rating: 30% chance of containing relevant Mythos information after 45 week's study

Spells: Contact Winged One

One: a bat cult once existed among the Aboriginal peoples of Australia. It was known across the continent, and the god of the cult was known as the Father of All Bats. Adherents believed that by making human sacrifices to their god, they themselves would become worthy enough that the Father of All Bats would appear to them. Once he was enticed to appear, the god would conquer all men. Sacrifices were run through a gauntlet of worshippers who struck the victims with clubs embedded with the sharp teeth of bats. The teeth were coated with a fast-acting poison, somehow derived from fermented bat droppings. The victims apparently went mad before they died. Leaders of the cult reputedly could take the forms of bat-winged snakes, enabling them to steal sacrifices from across the land. Cowles believes that this cult became dormant or extinct hundreds of years ago. Its former existence is the reason that he became interested in Jackson Elias’ books about present-day cults.

Two: an Aboriginal song cycle mentions a place where enormous beings gathered, somewhere in the west of Australia. The songs say that these gods, who were not at all like men, built great sleeping walls and dug great caves. But living winds blew down the gods and overthrew them, destroying their camp. When this happened, the way was open for the Father of All Bats, who cam into the land, and grew strong.

Three: a set of four overexposed glass slides. Each shows a few sweating men standing beside enormous blocks of stone, pitted and eroded but clearly dressed and formed for architectural purposes. Dim carvings seem to decorate some. Billows of sand are everywhere. Cowles says that the discoverer, one Arthur MacWhirr of Port Hedland, Australia, kept a diary in which he recorded several attacks on the party by Aboriginals. MacWhirr reportedly records deaths to victims from hundreds of small punctures, reminiscent of the earlier bat cult.

Four: Cowles tells a tale he collected from near the Arafura Sea, in northern Australia. In it Sand Bat, or Father of All Bats, has a battle of wits with Rainbow Snake, the Aboriginal deification of water and the patron of life. Rainbow Snake succeeds in tricking and trapping Sand Bat and his clan in the depths of a watery place from which Sand Bat can only complain, and is unable to return to trouble the people.
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:15, Sun 10 Nov 2019.