Gomez's Masks of Nyarlathotep Evidence Thread

I am going to post clues and physcial evidence found by my players in my PBP Masks of Nyarlathotep game here for easy access. Enjoy!




Charles Whitford, William T. Llewellyn-Phelps, Miriam LeGou, E.G. Shellenback


Telegraph From Jackson Elias to Father O'Malley


World Wide Telegraph Service
Hudson Terminal, 30 Church Street
New York, USA

HAVE INFORMATION CONCERNING CARLYLE EXPEDITION STOP NEED RELIABLE INVESTIGATIVE TEAM STOP ARRIVE JANUARY 15 STOP
SIGNED JACKSON ELIAS

*****

First, is a picture of the members of the Carlyle Expedition itself.



And then a set of newspaper clippings that tells their tragic tale.

BIG APPLE DATELINE
Roger Carlyle, the playboy whom everybody knows - or knows about! - is quietly leaving New Yawk tomarrow to check out the tombs of Egypt! You've seen the cuties ROGER has found in the nightspots-who can doubt he'll dig up someone - er, something - equally fabulous from the Egyptian sands?
New York Pillar-Riposte, April 4, 1919

CARLYLE EXPEDITION EMBARKS FOR ENGLAND
Led by fabulously wealthy playboy Roger Carlyle, the Carlyle expedition departed this morning for Southampton aboard the crack British steamship Imperial Standard. Contrary to earlier reports, the expedition will perform researches in London under the auspices of the Penhew Foundation before continuing to Egypt next month. Readers may recall the enormous party which Mr. Carlyle, now 24, gave at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on reaching his majority. Since then, scandals and indelicate behaviour have become Carlyle's trademark, but he never has become tarnished in the eyes of Manhattanites. Members of the expedition have been reluctant to reveal their purpose in Egypt. Other Expedition Members Renowned Egyptologist Sir Aubrey Penhew is assistant leader of the team, and in charge of excavations. Dr. Robert Huston, a fashionable Freudian psychologist, accomplanies the expedition to pursue parallel researches into ancient pictographs. Miss Hypatia Masters, linked in the past to Carlyle, will act as photographer and archivist. Mr. Jack Brady, intimate to Mr. Carlyle, accompanies the group as general factotum. Additional members may be secured while in London.
New York Pillar-Riposte, April 5, 1919

CARLYLE DEPARTS EGYPT
CAIRO(AP) - Sir Aubrey Penhew, temporary spokesman for the Carlyle expedition, indicated Monday that the leaders are taking ship to East Africa for a 'well earned rest'.
Sir Aubrey debunked rumors that the expedition had discovered clues to the legendary wealth of the lost mines of King Solomon, maintaining that the party was going on safari "in respite from our sandy labors."
Roger Carlyle, wealthy New York leader of the expedition, was unavailable for comment, still suffereing from his recent heatstroke.
Discussing that unfortunate incident, local experts declared Egypt entirely too hot for Anglo-Saxons at this time of year, and suggested that the young American had not been well-served by his democratic enthusiasm, rumored to have led him to personally wield pick and shovel.
New York Pillar-Riposte, July 3, 1919

IMPORTANT VISITORS
MOMBASA (Reuters) - Leading members of an American archaeological expedition arrived here on holiday from digs in Egypt's Nile Valley.
Our Under-Secretary, Mr. Royston Whittingdon, held a welcoming dinner for them at Collingswood House, where the wit of Sir Aubrey Penhew, expedition co-leader, was much in evidence.
Accompanying Sir Aubrey are two Americans, youthful financier Roger Carlyle, and medical doctor Robert Huston. The party leaves inland tomarrow, for Nairobi and hunting.
New York Pillar-Riposte, July 24, 1919

CARLYLE EXPEDITION FEARED LOST
MOMBASA (Reuters) - Uplands police representatives today asked for public assistance concerning the disappearance of the Carlyle expedition. No word of the party has been received in two months.
The group includes wealthy American playboy Roger Carlyle and three other American citizens, as well as respected Egyptologist Sir Aubrey Penhew of the United Kingdom.
The expedition left Nairobi on August 3, ostensibly on camera safari, but rumor insisted they were actually after legendary biblical treasures.
Carlyle and his party reportedly intended to explore portions of the Great Rift Valley, to the northwest of Nairobi.
New York Pillar-Riposte, Oct 15, 1919

ERICA CARLYLE ARRIVES IN AFRICA
MOMBASA (Reuters) - In response to clues, Miss Erica Carlyle, sister to the American leader of the lost Carlyle expedition, arrived in port today aboard the Egyptian vessel Fount of Life.
Several Kikuyu villager reports recently have been received concerning the putative massacre of unnamed whites near Aberdare Forest. Miss Carlyle declared her intention to find her brother, regardless of the effort needed. She brought with her the nucleus of a large expedition.
Detailing agents to coordinate supply and other activities with Colony representatives, Miss Carlyle and the remainder of her party depart for Nairobi tomarrow. Her companion, Mrs. Victoria Post, indirectly emphasized Miss Carlyle's purposefulness by recounting the rigors of the voyage aboard the Semite ship.
New York Pillar-Riposte, March 11, 1920

CARLYLE MASSACRE CONFIRMED
NAIROBI (Reuters) - The massacre of the long-missing Carlyle expedition was confirmed today by district police representatives. Roger Carlyle, New Yorks rollicking playboy, is among the missing.
Authorities blame hostile Nandi tribesmen for the shocking murders. Remains of at least two dozen expedition members and bearers are thought found in several concealed grave sites.
Erica Carlyle, Roger Carlyle's sister and apparent heiress to the family fortune, led the dangerous search for her brother and his party. She credited Kikuyu tribesmen for the discovery, although police actually found the site.
Among other expedition members believed lost are Sir Aubrey Penhew, noted Egyptologist; New York socialite Hypatia Masters, and Dr. Robert Huston. Many bearers also are reported dead.
New York Pillar-Riposte, May 24, 1920

MURDERERS HANGED
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Five Nandi tribesmen, convicted ringleaders of the vicious Carlyle Expedition massacre, were executed this morning after a short, expertly-conducted trial.
To the end, the tribesmen steadfastly refused to reveal where they had hidden the bodies of the white leaders of the expedition. Mr. Harvis, acting for the Colony, cleverly implied throughout the trial that the massacre was racial in motivation, and that the fair-skinned victims were taken to a secret location, there to suffer the most savage treatment.
Miss Erica Carlyle, defeated in her efforts to rescue her brother, left several weeks ago, but is surely comforted by the triumph of justice.
New York Pillar-Riposte, June 19,1920

You were also able to find some information on the Carlyle Expedition members themselves.

Roger Carlyle
Playboy dilletante and leader of the Carlyle Expedition. He attended a number of excellent universities over three years (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Miskatonic, Cornell and USC), though his career in each was rather short. His parents died in an automobile crash a few years later. His sister appears to have handled most of the family affairs. He appears to have fallen under the influence of an African woman with the nom de plume of Nichonka Bunay

Sir Aubrey Penhew
Assistant leader of the Carlyle Expedition and in charge of excavations. Colonel in the British army during the war and retired in 1916 because of injury. Can trace family back to William the Conqueror. Graduated with honours in classics from Oxford. Spent several years in Egypt, surveying and performing exploratory excavations amid the then little known wonders up river, to the First Contaract and beyond. Sir Aubrey is credited with founding several important branches of Egyptology, and with several important archaeological discoveries, particular in Dhashur. The Penhew Foundation, set-up by Sir Aubrey, has underwritten many important researches at home and abroad. He has tile to several stately homes, as well as mansions in London, the Cotswolds, Monaco, and Alexandria, and town houses in Paris, Rome and Athens. He is without family or heirs (other than the foundation). He has a biography.

Dr Robert Huston
Freudian psychologist accompanying the Carlyle Expedition to pursue researches into ancient pictographs. There is some talk of him being involved in various sects when young. Graduated with honours from John Hopkins. After three years he left his circulatory-ailments practice and his wife, and went to Vienna to study first under Freud and then under Jung. He was one of the first Americans to take up this field, which dealt so much with sexual behaviour. His elegant manners and sardonic wit, as well as his salacious and dangerous past, made him much in demand when he returned to NYC. His practise made him very wealthy. Roger Carlyle was a patient, and he joined the expedition to continue his treatment. After he was declared dead his records were turned over to the Medical Affairs Board of the State of New York – controversy about this has reached the newspapers.

Hypatia Masters
Photographer and archivist for the Carlyle Expedition. Has been romantically connected with Roger Carlyle. Heiress to the Masters armament fortune. She attended Swiss and French schools. She has earned very good reviews for a number of photographic shows she has put on. There is talk in the gossip columns of an affair with a Catholic Marxist (Raoul Luis) at City College of New York.

Jack Brady
General factotum for the Carlyle Expedition. Intimate to Roger Carlyle. Served in the marines in China and on the Western Front and earned a bronze star. Roger Carlyle provided him with the best defence possible against a murder charge in California and he was acquitted on several technicalities. He was then rarely separated from Carlyle, acting sometimes as his bodyguard

Evidence found in Jackson Elias' Hotel Room.



Symbol Carved in Jackson's Forehead





Matchbox






A Letter

Cairo, Egypt
3 January, 1919

Dear Mr. Carlyle:

I am informed that you seek certain knowledge of our land and can perhaps aid you in this. In my possession are singular curios which I most happily believe of interest. These I willingly send for your consideration, if a price can be agreed upon. Naturally they are ancient and must command a goodly sum. I will arrange matters to your satisfaction when your agent calls at my shop, in the Street of the Jackals in the Old Quarter.


Until then I remain your most humble servant,


Faraz Najir

Erica Carlyle


Miriam's Trance at Ricco's speakeasy

Miss Carlyle opens her purse and takes a silver monogramed cigarette case out and hands it to Miriam. "This has been in my family for generations." Takin g the case, Miriam holds it and begins to go into her "trance". But something strange happens. Staring at the case, Miriam feels herself being pulled into it...falling into it.....her vision beings to narrow down to a tunnel focused on the cigarette case. Then everything goes black.....Seconds pass, years pass, and suddenly Miriam finds herself seated in a large room with lots of bookcases on the walls. Two people are arguing, a young man and a woman. The woman is Erica Carlyle though younger.

Man "...why don't you leave me alone. I know what I am doing.."

Erica "What your doing is ruining the family finances. You cannot keep spending money like it grew on trees."

Man "We...I have plenty of money. Don't worry about it. And stop harping at me. My head is killing me." He puts his hands up to his head.

Erica "Are you still having those nightmares? Have you talked to Dr. Huson yet. I think he can help you. Personally if you stopped spending so much time with that Negro Woman the better. Staying out all night, the drinking, reading those strange books, and I have heard worst. I looked at one of those books and it scared me to death."

Man "Leave her out of this and leave me alone, it's my life, and I am in control of the family finances. Don't you forget it. I am going to bed...."

There is a sudden tearing sound and your back, sitting at the table in the speakeasy. Everyone at the table is staring at you with shocked looks on their faces. Erica Carlyle looks frightened and angry. "I will not take this kind of abuse from the likes of you. John, get the car, we are leaving." With that she and her group get up to leave.

.....

"Charles," Miriam whispers urgently, "I need you to tell me exactly what happened and what I said. Because I don't remember any of it!"

Charles looks at Miriam with a conserned expression. "Well, I had moved over by the table to evesdrop on your conversation. After you were handed the cigarette case, you became all stiff and then you began to speak in a man's voice, deep and with foreign like acent. Humm let me try and remember the words exactly.

"Through the tainted blood of the Carlyle house has evil used to begin a new cycle of death and destruction. The seed of the blind, voiceless, mindless one has been sowed. The return of the giants of old is near. They will crush the cities of man and rise the great cities of power from the sea to rule again. Your brothers actions have started these event to come to pass. Woe be to mankind. Weep for your future."

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Lt. Poole of the New York Police




Jonah Kensington, owner and chief editor of Propero House

Letters and Notes of Jackson Elias aquired at Prospero House.

August 8, 1924
Nairobi

Dear Jonah,
Big news! There is a possibility that not all the members of the Carlyle Expedition died. I have a lead. Though the authorities here deny the cult angle, the natives sing a different tune. You wouldn't believe the stories! Some juicy notes coming your way! This one may make us all rich!

Blood and Kisses,
J.

P.S. I'll need some advance money to follow this up. More later.

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Seven sets of neatly handwritten notes, in a strong, bold hand. They are all datelined Nairobi. They are well-organized, but lacking in conclusions, connections, and clearly defined themes.

SET ONE sets forth the offices, officials, and tribes Elias visited, searching for material concerning cults and cult rituals. Nothing conclusive, though Jackson discounts the official version of the Carlyle massacre.

SET TWO describes his trip to the massacre site. He notes particularly that the earth there is completely barren, and that tribes of the area avoid the place, saying it is cursed by the God of the Black Winds, whose home is a 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 is reputedly based in the mountains, and that its high priestess is a part of the Mountain of the Black Winds. Elias is skeptical. Elias records, in quotes, 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 Elias confirms from several sources that the Bloody Tongue cult exists, but finds no firsthand evidence of it. Tales include children stolen for sacrifice. Creatures with great wings are said to come down from the Mountain of Black Winds to carry off people. The cult worships a god unknown to folklorists, one fitting no traditional African pattern. In particular, Jackson cites "Sam Mariga, rr-sta."

SET FIVE is a single sheet reminding Elias that the Cairo 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 transcript of an interview with Lt. Mark Selkirk, leader of the men who actually found the remains of the Carlyle expedition. Selkirk says that the bodies were remarkably undecayed for the length of time in which they lay out in the open. Secondly, the bodies had been torn apart, as if by animals, though what sorts of animals would pull apart bodies so systematically he could not guess. 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. "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 along the plain.

SET SEVEN is another single sheet. Elias ran into Nails Nelson at the Victoria Bar in Nairobi. Nelson had been a mercenary for the Italians on the Somali-Abyssinian border, but escaped into Kenya after doublecrossing his employers. Nelson claimed to have seen Jack Brady alive in March of 1923, in Hong Kong. Brady was friendly, though guarded and taciturn, and Nelson didn't press the conversation. From this Elias deduced that other members of the Carlyle party might be alive.

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"many names, many forms,
but all the same and toward one end--
Need Help--
Too big, too ghastly.
These dreams--dreams like Carlyle's?--
Check that psychoanalyst's files--
all of them survived!
They'll open the gate. Why? --
so the power and danger is
real. They--
many threads beginning--
The books are in Carlyle's safe--
Coming for me. Will the ocean
protect?--
Ho ho no quitters now. Must tell
and make readers Believe. Should
I scream for them? Let's
scream together---"

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Name and Address of Exporter to the Ju-Ju House.

Ahja Singh
135-B Moi Avenue
Mombasa, Kenya

Miriam's notes after meeting Mr. Kensington at Prospero House

Other people to talk to or investigate from the Carlyle Expedition - Nichonka Bunay (black poetess, further information, connection to occult or places abroad), Sir Aubrey Penhew (read his biography), Dr. Robert Hudson (get files from Medical Affairs Board of the State of New York in regards to Robert Carlyle, Raoul Luis (Catholic Marxist at City College of New York, connected with photographer Hypatia Masters), Check to see if Jack Brady is alive.

Death cult symbol - could it be the Bloody Tongue cult Jackson was researching? Could they be behind the murders of the Carlyle expedition as well as the murders here in New York?

Sam Mariga, rr-sta - Man in Kenya that confirmed the existance of the Bloody Tongue, further inquires?

Perhaps the location of the shop on the Street of Jackals (Faraz Najir) contains the reason why Robert Carlyle made his side trip to Kenya. After visiting Cario is when he made his descision to go to Kenya. Jackson made a note to examine the Carlyle's Cario itinerary. Faraz indicated he had curios and artifacts for Carlyle.

Penhew Foundation - Edward Gavigan, director. Inquire about Carlyle expedition.

Stumbling Tiger Bar - 10 Lantern St. "Shanghai Fun & Friends" What does this mean?

Dark Mistress - Last voyage, did the Carlyle expedition travel on her?

JuJu House - Could we attempt to get that knife that resembled the murder weapon? It could be important.

Jackson's nervousness in his call to Jibril right after his meeting to talk about African goods, could a final piece of some puzzle have fallen into place then?

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Dr. Huston's Files

CARLYLE, ROGER VANE WORTHINGTON
First Meeting: Jan. 11, 1918
Reference: Erica Carlyle
Closest Relative: Erica Carlyle
At his sister's insistence, Mr. Roger Carlyle visited me this morning. He deprecates the importance of his state of mind, but concedes that he has had some trouble sleeping due to a recurring dream in which he hears a distant voice calling his name. (interestingly the voice uses Mr. Carlyle's second given name, Vane, by which Mr. Carlyle admits he always thinks of himself.) Carlyle moves towards the voice, and has to struggle through a web-like mist in which the caller is understood to stand.

The caller is a man - tall, gaunt, dark. An inverted ankh blazes in his forehead. Following the Egyptian theme (C. has no conscious interest in things Egyptian, he says), the man extends his hands to C., his palms hold upward. Pictured on his left palm C. discovers his own face, on the right palm C. sees an unusual, asymmetric pyramid.

The caller then brings his hands together, and C. feels himself float off the ground into space. He halts before an assemblage of monstrous figures, f igures of humans with animal limbs, with fangs and talons, or no particular shape at all. All of them circle a pulsating ball of yellow energy, which C. recognizes as another aspect of the calling man. The ball draws him in; he become part of it, and sees through eyes not his own. A great triangle appears in the void, asymmetric in the same fashion as the vision of the pyramid. C. then hears the caller say, "And become with me a god." As millions of odd shapes and forms rush into the triangle, C. wakes.

C. does not consider this dream a nightmare, although it upsets his sleep. He says that he revels in it and that it is a genuine calling, although my strong impression is that he is of two minds about it. This schizophrenic attitude seems to characterize much of his life....

September 18, 1918. He calls her M'Weru, Anastasia, and My Priestess. He is quite obsessive about her, as well he might be - exterior devotion is certainly one way to ease the tension of megalomaniacal contradictions. She is certainly a rival to my authority....

December 3, 1918. If I do not go C. threatens exposure. If I do go, all pretense of analysis surely will be lost. What then will be my role?


................

Miriam finds a folder marked Carlyle, Erica. It appears that Huston only saw her a few times and charges a outlandish $90 consulation fee for each. It says that Huston believed that Erica was troubled by her relations with her brother but that she had a remarkably fine character.

...............

Jibril comes across some of Huston's own personal notes. One letter states that Huston had made up his mind to break off an affair with a Miss Imelda Bosch. Later writings note that Miss Bosch had committed suicide a few weeks before the Carlyle Expedition left for London.

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