Letters, Books, Notes Etc.

[Supercape]

Letter from Sir Winston-Smythe to Captain Burton

The letter is in in neat hand, with instructions to be opened in Cairo.

Spoiler:

Sir,
I write with a hand that is both reluctant and resolute. By now you are well on the way to the heart of the dark continent. I write to elucidate; for I Suspect, nay, know, it is darker than you conceive or anticipate.

For many years now, I have heard disturbing tales. If heard in isolation, I would pass this of as feverish fancy, brought on by tropical disease; or mayhap the distortions of thought and judgement brought on by the prejudices of the English educated mind that might unduly incline the dull of intellect to an unpalatable view of our African cousins. At worst, I might consider such tales as isolated horrors, of the occasional degenerate and ignoble savage.

But I fear a pattern is emergent. Not enough for the pale comfort of certainty, but rather the kind of gnawing concern that preys on a man, twists his thoughts and plagues his sleep. Alas, I wish I had never read the unwholesome pages of the Necronomicon; I will not speak of the words, for wide and deep are its horrors, and I urge you never to succumb to the urge to peruse its text as I did. But of this I will say, the tales I hear from deepest Africa resound with the words of the mad Arab.

Enough. I will not plague your mind further. But I would ask this of you; that these rumours be determined, the foundation and truth examined. I pray that I am but a mad old man whose wit is decaying, and though that would be a most disagreeable affair, it would still be preferable to the alternative. If such unnameable horror is truly alive, and not merely fancy of imagination, then it should not be disturbed – for it has slept in the deepest recesses of Africa, and should not be awoken!

Enough! I would not sap your will further. Fortune smile upon you, and be stout of heart!

[Supercape]

The Sidhom Fragments

Author: Fariq Sidhom, 1793-1799 (estimated)

Language: Arabic (Poorly written, needs Arabic Skill roll to understand)

Appearance: A bound book of half faded and incomplete pages, many of which are missing, the Sidhom fragments are hard to piece together and often rambling and confused. It is more a collection of notes than a book. Great care must be taken with the parchment.

Notes: The Sidhom documents are essentially are collection of rambling and inconsistent essays from the insane alchemist and apothecary Fariq Sidhom. It has fallen to his great grandson, Fareed Sidhom, who has made some annotations (mainly in Arabic, some in English) and tried, as best he could, to organise and properly bind the fragments, although they hardly follow any cohesive structure.

Effects:

(Available to look at when read or skimmed)

Spoiler:

Sanity Loss 1D4 (Half if skimmed), Cthullu Mythos +2, Spells: “The power and alchemy of Ancient Embalming” (Dust of Sulemain).

As per rulebook, this spell creates a grey-green powder that has the ability to harm unnatural beings (1D20 Hit points per sprinkling). It requires frankinsense, sulfur, and saltpeter (all reasonably available), but most akwardly, the dust from an Egyptian Mummy at least 2000 years old!

Contents:

Spoiler:

The Fragments of Sidhom are rambling and mad, although they do contain some clues. It is also, at times, beautifully poetic. Making sense of it all is quite straining. There are dotted references to the Great Old Ones who dream beyond time and space, and the serpent people who preceded humankind on earth. There are also references to the ancient Egyptians, and their sorceries and cults.

There is cryptic reference to: “The Toad King of C’toku…who lives and dies eternal through the ages. Spawn of Tsathoggua and unspeakable fornication, both father and son and maiden…” which seems to be the prime and major obsession of Sidhom.

There is one particular note, an incantation passed down from the Sorcerer Kotep, entombed in one of the great pyramids in a secret vault. The incantation takes several minutes to recite in what, presumably, is Ancient Egyptian. The notes of Sidhom indicate how this should proceed phonetically. The Incantation apparently reanimates, or sets free, Kotep (the meaning is not clear). The book also states that Kotep was entombed in a secret place? inside one of the great pyramids (and gives it location)

[Supercape]

The Kotep Stones

Author: The Egyptian Sorcerer Kotep (Age uncertain)

Language: Egyptian Heiroglyphics

Appearance: Large slabs of stone with intricate engravings in Egyptian Heiroglyphics. There are five such tablets, all in remarkable condition.

Notes: The tablets are heavy; each needing a STR of 5 to drag, or STR of 10 to carry.

Captain Burton has made some rubbing's of the tablets which are of inferior quality but much easier to carry around!

Effects:

Spoiler:

Sanity Loss 1D6 (Half if Skimmed), Cthullu Mythos +2, Spells: Parting of the Desert Sands (Parting Sands), Song of Holy Ra (Voice of Ra), Divine Inspiration (Chant of Thoth), Finding of the hidden doors to beyond (Find Gate), Preparation of magick powder (Dust of Sulemain)

Contents:

Spoiler:

Probably incomplete, the Stones of Kotep are a list of rituals and spells that the sorcerer Kotep knew; or at least those he cared to put down. The tablets mention Nyarlothotep as the "Black Priest" who taught him. There are various other musings on the process of mummification, wards, and possession but not in complete form