Food Poisoning!

My dear Ada, I’d love to see you so much, but I’ve got food poisoning, so as you can imagine, it’ll have to be next time – though I am interested in this mummy business.

Not sure Ada appreciates this excuse, but given his burns and the state of his eyes, Meical prefers to avoid an even greater emotional shock.

Mummies, then. The group, accompanied by James, Ducky and Grace, head to the Egyptian pavilion. They’re greeted by an overexcited Ardeth – the gods are back!

The mummies often seem to utter the name of Set, which is surprising. Set was not the most popular of the gods. Grace notes that this god is often associated with the Ministry. Furthermore, Ducky notes that the mummies seem to take a particular interest in Meical. Coincidence?!?

Perhaps not, as they call him ‘master’. Admittedly, no one apart from him speaks Ancient Egyptian, and he manages, more or less, to explain that they react to the first person who speaks to them. Nevertheless, their obedience is strange; they agree to jump on the spot.

Well, it’s all well and good, but now we’ve got to clean all this up. The Hecata are experts in this sort of thing, and are preparing a ritual. They ask Meical to provide the fetters. And once the artefacts are in place, chants ring out through the pavilion and… a giant Serpent of shadow and blood appears and attacks the ritualists. The mummies become violent, their eyes turning serpentine – curiously, just like Meical’s.

To avoid confrontation, the coterie leaves the pavilion, except for Meical, who calms his mummies. He calls the Ministry, which organises an extraction.

Balthazar, via Ducky, arranges to meet Meical at the manor this evening for a debriefing.

There is still the matter of Ardeth, who wants to make the front pages of newspapers around the world: ‘The Gods are back!’ Kill him? Lock him up? We need a solution that won’t cause a stir in Edinburgh. He is Egyptian, holds a high-ranking post in Cairo, and is well known at the exhibition. Dr Fenwick, when consulted, suggests erasing the witnesses’ memories. It’s a more humane and discreet solution. Ardeth will have forgotten the incident and will think the mummies have been moved to the museum for maintenance. The cost will still come later, but at least that’s sorted.

The debriefing at the manor. Balthazar is sharp-tongued. He wants answers. And Meical, having been briefed by Lucrezia, produces an old book (more like a pile of papyri) which speaks of a prophecy, an astral alignment, and the return to Egypt of lost spirits. The documents appear to be authentic. But they do not explain the eyes. That’s down to the shadow jackal. Meical’s connection to Egypt has certainly played a part in this curse. But with the help of greater experts, this mystery will be solved. Even if it means a trip to the Valley of the Kings. Well, it’ll do for now, but we’ll be careful, and it would be good to be able to analyse the mummies. Of course, no problem – we’ll organise that for next week.

In a room of the museum closed to the public, Balthazar is able to examine the mummies. He realises that the spirits inhabiting them are powerful and bear no resemblance to the other Egyptian spirits he has encountered so far. The spirits were summoned from a distance on the day the disturbance was felt. And that means a very powerful necromancer is in town. But why? If it were a Hecata, he would know. What’s more, their essence seems to resonate with that of Meical. And Meical is not a necromancer – or if he is, he has concealed his true nature well. We must keep an eye on him, be on our guard, and not let it become common knowledge that a completely unknown danger is lurking in the city’s streets. So we won’t mention it to the Prince.

Otherwise, there’s a new gang in town and they’re not hiding it. Violent acts. Protection rackets. Destruction of property. And apparently the British army is turning a blind eye. When analysing the targets, the Toreador clan is often amongst the victims. There’s supposedly a boss, but no one’s ever seen him. A headless knight… hang on, didn’t the Marquess lose his head recently? Yes, but he’s dead. There’s a necromancer in town. Yes, but a dead vampire is still dead. OK, but then who could take up his mantle? Perhaps his child, Esmé Wallace. No one knows where she is.

Right, it’s time to kick their arses. By analysing their actions, we can identify three potential targets.

We’re going to give them the welcome they deserve!