ENTRY 26 - THE PYRAMIDS
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Trusted confidante,
We have made progress
in our endeavors this week; things here are
still well, and we believe
that we've not been noticed yet, but we've
gained some interesting
information I thought it prudent to pass on.
First, we have decided
to keep our artifacts in a self-storage unit in
the hopes of keeping
them safe; I will arrange to have information
about it passed on to
you.
Yesterday, A. and S.
went to the now-infamous pyramid at Giza, and
managed to persuade
the guard to let them have a look at the room. As
advertised, there were
no scrape-marks or any other signs of a
sarcophagus being dragged
out. More disturbing, though, was the lack
of hieroglyphics. I'm
not sure how much you know about the practices
of Ancient Egypt, but
almost without exception, the Book of the Dead
was written on burial
chamber walls. This was because they believed
that the dead needed
instructions to guide them safely into the next
world. That they didn't
inscribe them on the walls in this burial
chamber.....
Altogether more disturbing,
S. and A. noticed a familiar Elder Sign
above the exit to the
room. It looks, as I believe I've described
before, like this:
<sketch of sign>
As I also believe I've
mentioned before, it is meant to keep magical
creatures of some sort
('demons') from passing through whatever barrier
it protects. Our friends
estimated it to be quite old; it was carved
into the stone of the
wall.
On the outside of the
wall (where Clyve and his team made the opening
to the burial chamber),
the part of the Book of the Dean with spells
for crossing the river
were carved.
While they were at Giza,
V., K. and I went to the Cairo Bulletin. I
gave my last name as
Smith, and asked to see archives for a research
project on archaeology
teams and methods. I spoke with a very nice
gentleman, Nigil Wasseif,
and he let me look through the archives. I
was, of course, after
information about the Carlyle expedition, but
took pains to hide the
exclusivity of my interest. I discovered some
new things:
- They arrived
in May of 1919, of course. The Bulletin mentioned
that they were interested in 3rd Dynasty Egypt. They started at
Giza, then went to Saqqara, and then to Dashur.
- The rumor
columns hinted at a 'secret purpose' to their
expedition, and there were several rumors of 'amazing finds', but
nothing became more public than that.
- In July
of 1919, they unexpectedly decided to move to
Mombasa. Roger Carlyle was rumored sick, and Sir Aubrey made
public statements that the summer had proven too hot for the
group, and that the Nile flooding would cover some of their sites
soon.
- In one
of the later issues, a photo of Hypatia Masters was
shown. It was a July issue, but a calendar on the wall behind
Miss Masters read May. I asked Master Wasseif about it, and he
said that he remembered her being quite ill, and Sir Aubrey
asking him not to mention that fact in the papers.
Later that evening, while
A. was doing more research in the Egypt
Museum, the rest of
us went to Memphis to try and gain information
about the Clyve expedition.
It seems clear to us now that they're tied
up in this. Given the
source of their funding, the mysterious
disappearance of a sarcophagus,
the Elder Sign... it's all just too
coincidental.
The Clyve encampment
is past one of the outlying temples at Memphis,
against one side of
a very low hill. There is no brush or any other
kind of cover for quite
a distance around the camp. There is barbed
wire and armed guards
posted all around the perimeter. Occasionally,
trucks will go in and
out, but of course the gates are more heavily
guarded. K. made a tactical
assessment from the top of one of the
temples; it was her
opinion that though the camp is very vulnerable
from the air, it would
be 'most difficult' to get inside the camp. She
indicated that it was
of a quality she associated with The Great War.
While K. was performing
her reconnaissance, V. and I pretended to be
American tourists and
chatted up the junk vendors. They cautioned us
to stay away from the
camp, saying that the people at the camp were
unfriendly and did not
like questions. They seemed to be earnest, and
not just because they
wanted our money.
While we were gone, our
contact in Cairo stopped by and gave A. some
information about Faraz
Najir- the local superstition is that a demon
caused his shop to burn
down. Our friend was not sure if he was still
alive, and is still
checking for us. We all feel that he is our
strongest lead in Cairo.
Some next steps for us
are to try and get some of the guards to talk;
Clyve definitely seems
suspicious. We plan an overnight observation of
the camp, as well as
continuing our other efforts here.
Some random information that might prove useful:
- A. is
working on obtaining passes to the scientific clubs here,
which will hopefully aid our research efforts.
- The names of the Clyve Expedition members:
Martin Winfield (whom we all disliked intensely upon sight)
Agatha Broadmore (a woman in her 60's)
James Gardiner (a young man)
Johan Sprecht (who can sight-read hieroglyphics- most
unusual)
With this, I will sign
off. We are only slightly less confused than we
were before, but at
least we are all in good health.