TOPIC: Horror on the Orient Express - All Rotations

1893

Monday 06 November 1893

Prof. Harold ‘Harry’ Worth, age 40, (prof archaeology, middle-east) worked with Julius Smith.
Capt. Roderick Barrington ‘Bart’, British Army officer. Age 39.
Dr, Jean-Louis Roche (medical doctor, French, works at St. Bartholomew’s London).
Dr. Kasim Polat (Turkish.Ottoman historian). Age 31. Lives with wife and children in Basra, Turkey.
George Banks, rumoured to be Harry Worth’s son. Worth vehemently denies this.
All characters are members of the Oriental Club, Soho. All connected in some way through work, friendship and the club. They all know (and some work with) Prof. Julius Smith.

They begin at Oriental Club. Receive a note from Julius Smith, they must come quickly to 5 Durward Street, Whitechapel (formerly Buck’s Row). No.5 Durward Street is a boarding house run by landlady Mrs. Grimm. She admits us a Smith ushers us upstairs to a small, bad smelling, room. Police Doctor Neils Hobbs is present. There is man on bed – very swarthy, sick, withered, old (looks ancient), near death, wears a fez. Has been bound to the bed. Man is actually very young; a student of Smith’s middle-east contemporary Prof. Damir (in Constantinople), named Matthew Pook.

Smith explains: a top-hatted, silver-maned (hair and whiskers) man rented the room from Mrs. Grimm and then signalled a group of fez-wearing men to carry Pook to the room. Top hat man left, but fez-men stayed. Other tenants began to complain of strange noises and shadows on the stairs. Whole building shook one day prompting fez-men to run out (never to come back) and Mrs Grimm sent for police. Police found nowt wrong and considered the sick old man to be diseased. They left; nothing for them to do here, but Police did summon Smith to house (Pook called out Smith’s name).

Smith realises the old man is Pook. Roche touched Pook’s fez and became nauseous (lost magic points too). We notice small glyphs moving on fez. Glyphs are like ancient hieroglyphs of a strange language. Low audible unfathomable whispers are heard when listened closely to, emanating from beneath the fez. Pook dies and his fez rolls away. He has a ring of raw flesh around his head. Worth touches it and becomes nauseous.

Barrington uses a broken table leg to lift the fez up. Pook rises as a vicious undead creature with long barbed tongue.Worth loses his mind and lashes out wildly – at anyone. Barrington shoots it twice put creature is unphased. Need to bludgeon it. Barrington badly wounded but won’t leave the crazed Worth to face creature alone. Harry Worth mortally wounded. Creature bludgeoned to death with table leg. Worth dies.

Barrington tries to destroy fez in fire, but fire goes out in explosion of supernatural force. Fez is unscathed.

13 November 1893
Julius Smith has received three telegrams from Prof Damir in Constantinople: Nov 6, Damir’s student, Matthew Pook is shadowing a man named Menkhap, a dangerous cultist. He has a terrible item called the Blood Red Fez.Nov 10, Pook following Menkhap to London. Pook is going to try and steal the Fez. Nov 13.Bring fez to Constantinople. Send with trusted allies. Damir will meet allies at Cirkeci Station, Constantinople.

Smith once fell afoul of a group in Middle-East lead by a man named Salim Makryat and won’t return to Constantinople. He asks us to take the fez to Prof. Damir. An associate of Smith’s, the Austrian Baron von Hoffer will sponsor our journey. We travel on board the Orient Express. Leaves Paris in two days – Weds 15th Nov.

Before we depart for France: Returned to 5 Durward Street. Interviewed Mrs Grimm. Top-hatted man was tall, pale, English looking and sounding. He gave his name as Mr. Leeds. We believe this still could be Menkhap (leader of fez-men). Searched the room (Pook’s room). Found three items of interest: 1. Found crumpled paper with glyphs like those seen on the fez including two partial phrase translations written in English (who wrote this?): “Rising from the past”; and. “Dominion over all”. 2. Notepad with feint impression. Rubbed to reveal a Shoreditch address . 3. Ticket stubs for ferry crossings (nine in all) from Constantinople to Princes' Islands, all during the previous month – October 1893; (island is 12 miles south of Constantinople in Sea of Marmara).

13 November continued..
1. Article. London Times. Murder of Joshua Devore, age 70, collector of fezzes, at his home 3 Blithering Lane, Rotherhithe, London. Break in at his home. Bludgeoned to death. No fezzes stolen. Glass cabinet containing rare books and manuscripts related to fezzes was smashed. Inspector Kendall of Scotland Yard is investigating the case.

Following our leads…
2. Shoreditch. Slum area. Address found by rubbing notepad at ‘Pook’s room’ in Durward Street. An apartment. Gun-toting cockney geezers with attitude refuse to open door. We leave after slipping a contact address at Durward St under their door but they don’t make contact.

3. Rotherhithe. 3 Blithering Lane. Murder scene of Devore. Visited after dark. Copper guards front. Banks slips in through rear entrance of cottage. In desk, finds a letter to Devore from a Mr. Leeds (no address). Leeds offers £100 to buy a book in Devore’s collection named The Whispering Fez. Letter dated two weeks ago (end of October). Also find a ledger entry showing that Devore recently purchased The Whispering Fez for £25 from an auction house.

Tuesday 14 November 1893
1. Lambeth. Pook’s modest apartment. Bribe caretaker to gain admittance. Found journal. Several interesting excerpts, including fact that Menkaph is to return to Constantinople soon aboard Orient Express. Pook records his plan to steal Blood Red Fez from Menkaph whilst Menkaph visits a fez collector in Rotherhithe.

2. Polat finds book ‘Apocrypha of the Fez’ at London University library.
- Blood Red Fez is old, perhaps dates back to Ancient Greece.
- Fez may bestow immortality, granted by dark gods. Its secrets require dark magic and the spilling of the blood of a prince.
- Wearing the fez is calamitous to mind and soul. Only those skilled in dark arts can hope to survive wearing it. To halt its terrible purpose it is necessary to consult The Whispering Fez.

We have the fez. Menkaph has the book.

The Evening of 14 November 1893
Talking with Smith, and perusing his personal library, on the eve of our departure for the Orient express we learn:
1. Princes’ Islands. There are 9 accessible islands and 1 island that is forbidden by Turkish govt. Amongst the 4 largest islands are religious communities, naval colleges, hotels and cafes for tourists and more. They are so-called because Byzantine and Ottoman princes have been exiled to the islands. Ferry ticket stubs we discovered are all to the largest island.
2. Professor Damir. Anthropologist. Mid 50’s.Works in London, Greece and Turkey. Has written about cults and religions. Smith showed us a photo so we’ll recognise him.
3. Baron von Hofler. Austrian nobility. Known for aiding those with interests in the occult. Knows why we travel and what we possess. Is paying for our travel expenses. Will board the Orient Express at Vienna. Smith trusts him.

Wednesday 15 November 1893
Depart Victoria Station. Steamer to Calais. Train to Paris for our connection. The Orient Express departs Paris 10.26 p.m. Polat and Barrington share a berth and have a locked trunk within which is a hat box containing the Blood Red Fez. Banks and Roche share the adjacent berth.

Late evening. In salon car we meet Mr Mortimer Leeds, a grey-suited man we later learn to be Bently Burnham, a feared London crime boss (whose voice we recognise as the cockney gangster behind the door at the Shoreditch address). And a huge fez-wearing Turk named Kapok completes an unwholesome trio. Next morning we hear Kapok address Leeds as Menkaph.
Leeds knows who we are, makes polite small talk and drains magic points from Barrington just by shaking hands.

Some other passengers:
Miss McGregor (journalist) and Miss Minski (Russian)
Count Rudolph Razamovsky (Russian)
Mrs Elizabth Meyers and Mr Scott Meyers (not come out of cabin since boarding train) – honeymooners
Ederov (Russian) sharing cabin with Kapok
Pytor Trebovsky
Henri, the young conductor looks after passengers in their carriages.

Last week's highlight.

Barrington confronts Leeds over the visibly upset woman with who he is dining. Barrington enters into dialogue with Leeds in a manner that can only be described as a pissing competition in which Barrington definitely has the least impressive manhood.

Thursday 16 November
3.43 a.m. Arrive Strasbourg.
6.46 a.m. Arrive Stuttgart. Grey-suited man gets off train. Does not rejoin.
10.21 a.m. Arrive Munich.
18.00 pm arrive Vienna

Breakfast. Miss McGregor sits with another young woman. A middle-aged man (not seen previous evening) sits with huge Turk. Distinguished looking Russian couple sit together (Male is Count Rudolph Razamovski, and woman who Polat witnessed previous evening entering and leaving different compartments/berths). Leeds sits with a visibly upset woman. We later learn upset woman is Mrs Meyers, upset because her husband is missing. They boarded the train together at Paris.

Leeds is wearing a fez identical to the one we have. There are now two Blood Red Fez on this train.

Barrington confronts Leeds over the upset woman. Barrington enters into dialogue best described as a pissing competition in which he definitely has the least impressive manhood.

Barrington learns from Henri that grey-suited man was Bentley Burnham. Banks has a bout of hysteria induced by fear at learning the identity of the grey-suited man. Burnham is not a man to be trifled with.

Searched Leeds’ cabin. Letter (in English) “All of the pleasures of the harem shall be yours”.

Elizabeth Myers admits us to her cabin. Scott Myers lies on bed, gravely ill, a bold red fez on his head (now three fezes on train). Leeds befriended the Myers and placed fez on Scott.

We ascertain Russians have no allegiance to cult.

Arrived Vienna 5.50 p.m. Baron von Hofler boards. Not the philanthropist we expected. He’s an odious, impatient little man who sponsored us purely as minions to gain knowledge of the cult for him. He’s very disappointed in our lack of progress. Wants action. Wants fez and Whispering Fez.

Went back to Meyers’ cabin again and find the book “Whispering Fez” under Scott’s pillow. We are immediately attacked by shadow creatures wearing a likeness to Scott Meyers. We defeat them using light. On leaving the Meyers’ cabin we are faced with Leeds (Menkaph), Kapok and another Turkish thug in a blood red fez (that’s four blood red fezes on train now – ours, Leed’s, one on Meyers and one on this thug). We beat Kapok and thug with the help of a Russian – Leeds escapes. He is carried away by a winged creature, smiling at us as he goes. Banks suffers another bout of hysteria seeing the winged beast and Polat suffers psychotic temporary blindness.

Henri the conductor smoothes things over at next border control. We remain unconnected to the murders of the two turks (we have taken the thug’s blood red fez and now possess two plus the one Meyers wears). Dr Kasim Polat casts Arrest Fez Decline to help Meyers survive.

Friday 17 November 1893
Travel through Balkans.
Polat reads the Whispering Fez: Ancient Persian for the most part. The end of the book is written in the same ancient glyphs as seen on the fezes themselves. Polat learns from the Persian: Wearing the Blood Red Fez can call forth outer gods and grant immortality. The controller of the blood red fez can create copies by placing a fez on another wearer and sacrificing that wearer. Weak minded wearers become thralls to the controller. One who wears a fez and resists becoming a thrall may challenge the controller for control himself. The Blood Red Fez is the Gate and the Key. If the blood of a prince is present, the fez may call forth that which waits outside.

Saturday 18 November 1893
10.43 a.m, arrive Constantinople at Cirkeci station. Leaving the train we learn that Baron von Holfer was murdered in the night (stabbed). We hurry away. We have the Meyers with us. We are met by a young man and woman – Toprak Damir and his sister Rana Damir, children of Professor Damir. The prof could not meet us himself, he was attacked at the family home last night and suffered a minor knife wound. A younger son, Baras was kidnapped by the intruders.

Damir family home, Galata, Constantinople
Met professor and his wife Saleem. Baras is missing, kidnapped in the night by intruders. Damir agrees to take in and care for Elizabeth and Scott Meyers. A ‘ransom note’ has been left by the intruders. They will release Baras if three conditions are met: 1. They want all blood red fezes in our possession, 2. The Whispering Fez, and 3. For the ‘westerners’ to leave and go home. Demands are to be met at midnight tomorrow at Kasim Pasha docks. –We have three blood red fezes (Pook fez, third thug fez on the train, and Meyers wears one (which we cannot remove).

We ask Damir what he knows about about Menkaph: Menkaph is English, real name Mortimer Leeds. Worked with a man named Salim Mekryat and witnessed a terrible entity called the Skinless One. They joined a cult named ‘Brothers of the Skin’, before Leeds later left to form his own cult named Children of the Blood Red Fez. But Leeds was not its leader he formed it beneath the leadership of a former harem girl named Nisra whom Leeds serves. Nisra convinced Leeds to follow a short path to power. Nisra, daughter of fate, is the true power behind the cult. She was once an apprentice of a man known as ‘The French Man’ who lives in a mansion in Staboul near to the Sultan’s Palace.

We will try to find where Baras is being held. Damir will try and translate the glyphs section of the Whispering Fez. Damir gives us the name of a trusted captain at the docks whom we can hire with his boat if necessary – Nine-Fingered Abdullah.

We learn about the Franch man: Duc Jean Floressas des Essientes. His residence is one of grandeur. We are openly admitted and welcomed. The Duc is happy to greet and provide information. We get the impression he finds altogether beneath him but amusing too and so has no problem telling us as much as he is willing: Nisra was a former pupil of his art until she was persuaded by that charlatan Menkaph to join Menkaph’s new cult. Nisra assumed power, Menkaph her servant. Nisra cultivated a wayward and easily disillusioned prince named Ramzan. Menkaph’s power comes from Nisra and his study of books. They have set their cult up on The Island of the Doomed Prince – the tenth (and forbidden) of the Princes Islands – where princes have been sent in exile for centuries. Nisra has a bodyguard - a black eunuch.

Damir spends twelve hours translating parts of the ancient glyphs of the Whispering Fez. The Blood Red Fez can be destroyed. To do so, someone must wear a fez and challenge for control. Challenge involves a battle of wills. A spell is learned: Destroy the Fez. Once control is won the destroy spell can be cast by the new controller and all blood red fezes will be no more. To wear a fez, issue challenge and wrest control and cast the destroy spell all comes a great personal expense for the challenger.