Strange Goings On at the Pherivar Awai Oasis

Dr Alaska Wayrshiwent (Saint Judas College, University of Euphoria, Missitucky, USA)

Diary last entry:

 “18^th September 1894:  Pherivar Awai Oasis, Egypt. Something wasn’t right about the Old Kingdom exiled noble’s tomb we visited this afternoon. Whatever it was, it was troubling me for the rest of the day. I had noticed something subconsciously, something was very wrong about the tomb, not just its unusual construction or even the unusual hieroglyph that I sketched.  So I determined that I had to find out what it was. After dinner and the usual evening pleasantries, when everyone retired for the night, I convinced my compatriots to quietly slip away from the camp and return to the tomb under cover of darkness to look for clues. Together we would enter the mastaba and solve the mystery of Noveribrite, the scorpion inscribed where his name should be and of his strangely constructed tomb.”

The diary, kept in a neat hand with some sketches was found on the body of a Tuareg warrior killed by Egyptian police during a raid on Siwa Oasis in 1916.  It belonged to Professor Mildew Staines who disappeared in the Sand Sea on his 1884 expedition.  Following extensive study and reconnaissance by aircraft a likely site has, after 20 years, been identified far out in the Sand Sea.  The site is remote and appears to have no surface water supply though there is a clump of Date Palms but no sign of the oasis.  Though in 20 years the landscape will have gone through many changes.  You flew out a week ago with a few colleagues and discovered a virtually intact Mataba (mentioned in the text) and a small temple part buried in the sand.  Both are remarkably intact despite being incredibly ancient.  Your Lockheed Electra has been ferrying supplies and some diggers out to the site. 

The first dig clearing the sand has been remarkably easy.  The diggers have uncovered the buildings and some ruins quite easily as if the whole place had been buried quite recently.  One of the finds was a pot bearing the same relief that is mentioned in the diary.  The investigation of the mastaba has shown that it is a single chamber, now empty, but otherwise intact.  The entrance has been well worn as if by the passage of many people and there are signs that the inscriptions and hieroglyphics have been restored at frequent intervals.  One inscription relates to the building of the temple and the transportation of the contents to the temple vault on the orders of the “Dark One”.  The image used for the Dark One is that of Sutekh, the god of the desert, storms, violence and disorder.

You have decided to try to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Mildew Staines and the treasures of the mastaba – the temple looks like it may be a good starting point as there are no recorded studies of it.  Fame and fortune await!

Dr Alaska carries a whip - +1 in first round of melee, also traps opponents hand D6 4+ for disarming or -1 melee to opponent.

Helen Highwater is a nurse.  Adds +1 to bandaging.

Hum-Natir – Once Dr Mildew Staines

Egypt 1884, you, Dr Mildew Staines, and your father-in-law Professor Avery Wiseman, a famous archaeologist, were searching for the lost tomb of Princess Isitnosandiye, the High Priestess of the god Sutekh.  Extensive studies led you to Luxor at the time of the discovery of the Karnak Necropolis in 1886.  The Professor found an inscription that he kept secret and that led to his first contact with Yeraw Feertohmi, the entity also known as “The Dark One”.  The Professor founded the Cult of Sutekh in 1887.  After the professor found that he was the ideal medium for communicating with the voice from beyond the grave he took on the role of leader and you became the first “Hum-Natir”.  The voice eventually sent you, the professor and your wife, Souette Staines, into the desert to the Pherivar Awai Oasis.  There you discovered the temple and mastaba and killed all of your bearers and diggers on the orders of the Dark One.  Over time the Professor became more and more engrossed in the arcane studies and eventually made a pact with Sutekh to raise Princess Isitnosandiye from her tomb under the temple.

The Cult of Sutekh is a union of Fanatical Cultists and Evil Supernatural Creatures – hell bent on locating the reincarnated spirit of Princess Isitnosandiye and returning her to her rightful place as High Priestess of the Religion of Sutekh.  There are few who are even aware of the Cults existence, and those who talk of it openly are quickly disposed of. The Cult of Sutekh relies on secrecy, and actively recruits its membership from the wealthy and the decadent – with promises of long life, even more wealth and power.  You have all benefited from this and have not aged a bit since 1890!  Though the professor has become absorbed and spends much of his time dressed in his ceremonial robes meditating on his obsidian throne.

A week ago a party of westerners arrived by plane and seem to be set upon excavating the whole area.  So far you have stayed concealed in the vaults below the temple.  But the time is coming for the ritual.  You must kill them all. 

Souette carries a mace -1 in melee but +2 strike.

Sons of Set may be summoned by a ritual needing 5 clear moves uninterrupted, the attendance of Dr Mildew Staines and Souette in ritual costume (2 moves to change in vaults)  Each turn after 6 increases the chance of summoning the Typhon (Sons of Set) 1^st D6-4, 2^nd D6-3, 3^rd D6-2, 4^th D6-1, 5^th D6.  A second summoning takes another 2 moves of ritual chanting.

Capitaine Henri Ettaquarotte – French Foreign Legion

You lost your left arm in action in Morocco three years ago, stopping your career in its tracks.  The compensation for your loss was promotion to Captain.  Not enough.  Not enough at all.  You have heard of fabulous Ancient Egyptian treasure buried at the oasis of Pherivar Awai and it would make a nice retirement fund!   It is supposed to be guarded by evil spirits.  But the local Berbers are prone to superstition.

 have been sent out to investigate reports of suspicious aircraft activity in the area of Pheriva Awai Oasis.  Yesterday you saw a silver twin engined aircraft land on the desert.  Just as you were getting close you r patrol vehicle broke down.  A spring broke as you crossed a wadi.  You have left 2 men with the vehicle to make  a repair and you have continued on foot to the oasis.  Perhaps it is the nefarious English trying to extend the boundaries into Chad?  

The boundaries are always in dispute between Egypt, Sudan, Chad and other provinces.  The Oasis is seasonal and only appears when the rains in the mountains reach their peak and the underground river floods the Oasis pool.  For the rest of the year the water does not reach the surface. 

The area is avoided by the Tuareg a most unusual habit by these Lords of the Desert who say that they can go anywhere. 

 Louis (red Fez) carries First Aid Kit

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Pherivar Awai Oasis Introduction

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