The Lure of the Nile, BRP, 1920's
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:59 am
Would there be any interest in a Call of Cthulhu game taking place in Egypt during the 1920's? I have several ideas, for plots involving PC archaeologists, or those supporting some type of expedition into Egypt.
The 20's are an exciting time in the history of Egypt. Archeology is at an all time high, taking off with the discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. Few people in America and Britain are unaffected by the glamour and romance of the ancient pharoahs and their civilization . Political unrest and turmoil are abundant as well, with Egypt in transistion from British rule and self government. Cairo is a powder keg of political intrigue with members of rival factions sometimes rioting and fighting on the streets, making it unsafe for foreigners at times.
I plan on trying to post once a day, though I know between work and family there will be times when I post less regularly than I'd like. Still, I intend to keep the plot and action moving along so that the game won't wither on the vine.
I plan on having you work the characters so that they have a past history of dealings with each other, as I find that tends to work better than having them meet for the first time in game play.
We will start them off in Cairo, so as to give a wide range of possibilities, but the expedition/dig or whatnot will probably be somewhere farther up the Nile, perhaps Luxor or Aswan.
I have recruited one character from another website who has yet to register, he'll be playing an Egyptian guide/outfitter/foreman, so that role is pretty much taken.
Quote
Ok, my character is up at <http://www.paxdraconis.com/Rahim.html>
Quick summary of his background: His name is Rahim al'Salaam and he's a native of Cairo, born to a prostitue who often serviced the British military officers overseeing the colony. (He'll tell you she was a nurse if he thinks you won't know better. He'll also tell you that his father was Brig. General Thomas Brighton, who died in the Great War.) As a child, he went to school during the hours his mother slept and was left to his own devices in the evenings. He spent a lot of time hanging out the in the markets and as he became a teen, started skipping out on school to be there. This worked fine until he was repeatedly caught stealing from the shops. He spent a couple of years in a prison/school for juvenile offenders. Fortunately, his mother pulled a few strings over pillow talk and got him into the colonial military, where his connections in the marketplace and the local people made him an invaluable logistics officers (at least, once the military had completed enough of his education to qualify him). He left the military as soon as he could (he's fond of saying "Discipline is a disease") but was perfectly positioned as a general fixer for archaeological and safari-type expeditions from Europe, being capable of handling maps, negotiations and local laborers with as much ease as snobbish aristocrats. Meanwhile, his mother, having grown too old for prostitution, has become a fortune teller. Also, he's got a decent credit rating, which should represent the fact that merchants, etc. know that he's good for any supplies he should need, since he usually buys on behalf of wealthy patrons. He himself has little money and doesn't manage his own finances nearly as well as he does other people's. Also, I think I have a good excuse for familiarity with the area, from Wikipedia's entry on the Aswan Dam: "The British began construction of the first dam in 1899 and it was completed in 1902. ... The initial design was soon found to be inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two phases, 19071912 and 19291933."
I'm not sure exactly what our starting date is, but I see Rahim as being in his 30's and out of the military for quite a few years, which would make it plausible that he was part of a military detachment to protect/assist the second phase of construction in 1907-1912. Let's say he was born in 1891, so that he joined the military at 18 in 1909, spent a year in training and at an initial post with the Cairo garrison, then transferred to Aswan from 1910-12 to finish construction. In 1912, he returned to Cairo and spent a year or two with a detachment conducting a military map survey of the Nile (to be sure that the dam hadn't significantly changed the river's course or depth). He would then leave the service in 1913 at the end of his four-year term of service, at the age of 22.
Given two years spent acquiring goods for the military, plus his natural inclination to just hang out as far from authority as possible, that should be sufficient time to make some good contacts, a few friends and an irate girlfriend who really believed he was going to come back and marry her after he got out of the service.
End quote
Of course I don't expect that much background from a potential player, but it's nice if your up to it. I'm realy looking for some scientific type to lead/head up the dig, archeologists, anthropologists, history professors and perhaps even some graduate students assisting them. All types of characters will be looked at though.
Thanks
Saladin
The 20's are an exciting time in the history of Egypt. Archeology is at an all time high, taking off with the discovery of Tutankhamen's Tomb by Howard Carter in 1922. Few people in America and Britain are unaffected by the glamour and romance of the ancient pharoahs and their civilization . Political unrest and turmoil are abundant as well, with Egypt in transistion from British rule and self government. Cairo is a powder keg of political intrigue with members of rival factions sometimes rioting and fighting on the streets, making it unsafe for foreigners at times.
I plan on trying to post once a day, though I know between work and family there will be times when I post less regularly than I'd like. Still, I intend to keep the plot and action moving along so that the game won't wither on the vine.
I plan on having you work the characters so that they have a past history of dealings with each other, as I find that tends to work better than having them meet for the first time in game play.
We will start them off in Cairo, so as to give a wide range of possibilities, but the expedition/dig or whatnot will probably be somewhere farther up the Nile, perhaps Luxor or Aswan.
I have recruited one character from another website who has yet to register, he'll be playing an Egyptian guide/outfitter/foreman, so that role is pretty much taken.
Quote
Ok, my character is up at <http://www.paxdraconis.com/Rahim.html>
Quick summary of his background: His name is Rahim al'Salaam and he's a native of Cairo, born to a prostitue who often serviced the British military officers overseeing the colony. (He'll tell you she was a nurse if he thinks you won't know better. He'll also tell you that his father was Brig. General Thomas Brighton, who died in the Great War.) As a child, he went to school during the hours his mother slept and was left to his own devices in the evenings. He spent a lot of time hanging out the in the markets and as he became a teen, started skipping out on school to be there. This worked fine until he was repeatedly caught stealing from the shops. He spent a couple of years in a prison/school for juvenile offenders. Fortunately, his mother pulled a few strings over pillow talk and got him into the colonial military, where his connections in the marketplace and the local people made him an invaluable logistics officers (at least, once the military had completed enough of his education to qualify him). He left the military as soon as he could (he's fond of saying "Discipline is a disease") but was perfectly positioned as a general fixer for archaeological and safari-type expeditions from Europe, being capable of handling maps, negotiations and local laborers with as much ease as snobbish aristocrats. Meanwhile, his mother, having grown too old for prostitution, has become a fortune teller. Also, he's got a decent credit rating, which should represent the fact that merchants, etc. know that he's good for any supplies he should need, since he usually buys on behalf of wealthy patrons. He himself has little money and doesn't manage his own finances nearly as well as he does other people's. Also, I think I have a good excuse for familiarity with the area, from Wikipedia's entry on the Aswan Dam: "The British began construction of the first dam in 1899 and it was completed in 1902. ... The initial design was soon found to be inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two phases, 19071912 and 19291933."
I'm not sure exactly what our starting date is, but I see Rahim as being in his 30's and out of the military for quite a few years, which would make it plausible that he was part of a military detachment to protect/assist the second phase of construction in 1907-1912. Let's say he was born in 1891, so that he joined the military at 18 in 1909, spent a year in training and at an initial post with the Cairo garrison, then transferred to Aswan from 1910-12 to finish construction. In 1912, he returned to Cairo and spent a year or two with a detachment conducting a military map survey of the Nile (to be sure that the dam hadn't significantly changed the river's course or depth). He would then leave the service in 1913 at the end of his four-year term of service, at the age of 22.
Given two years spent acquiring goods for the military, plus his natural inclination to just hang out as far from authority as possible, that should be sufficient time to make some good contacts, a few friends and an irate girlfriend who really believed he was going to come back and marry her after he got out of the service.
End quote
Of course I don't expect that much background from a potential player, but it's nice if your up to it. I'm realy looking for some scientific type to lead/head up the dig, archeologists, anthropologists, history professors and perhaps even some graduate students assisting them. All types of characters will be looked at though.
Thanks
Saladin