Enemies on the Horizon-Episode 1: Abduction!

Episode One: Abduction!

When the heroes emerge from the work tent to check on Miss Doyle, they spot two hulking Bedouin dressed in dark robes. One hauls the photographer’s still struggling body out of the tent, his huge hand clasping a cloth over her mouth and nose. The other spots the characters and whips out a machine gun! The heroes must quickly dive for cover before he lays down a cover fire with military efficiency. The momentary attack gives the two Bedouin time to disappear amidst the camp tents and nearby rocks, though the heroes can give chase and attempt to shoot them. The Bedouin retaliate with ruthless cunning, firing the machine gun only when advantageous in keeping the characters’ heads down, and otherwise using the cover of the vast Sakkara necropolis to their advantage. Once the commotion has died down and they realize the Bedouin abductors have escaped, the heroes can examine Miss Doyle’s photography tent and the surrounding encampment for clues about the identity of her assailants and their motives. Anyone making a Regular Spot Hidden check spots several interesting items:

• Chloroform: A mostly empty or evaporated bottle of chloroform sits in the sand near the tent entrance. The label indicates it was manufactured by a British medical company, though the bilingual English and Arabic text indicates it was probably used in an Egyptian hospital. Bedouin in North Africa do not have access to nor rarely use such medical chemicals.
• Boot Prints: Examining the abductors’ boot prints around the encampment (assuming they weren’t obliterated in the fray Regular Luck check) and leading off into the necropolis show they were well supplied with military grade footgear.
• Doyle’s Journal: Examining Doyle’s tent reveals her journal, pen, and sketchbook sprawled on the floor with the rest of her belongings, probably kicked around during the abduction struggle. The photographer’s notebook contains written descriptions of the hieroglyphics and illustrations she’s examined referenced to pages in her nearby sketchbook (in which she’s rendered detailed areas of the tomb’s wall decorations). Anyone with any familiarity with the tomb (particularly archaeological staff) spots an odd page of notes that doesn’t correspond with any page in the sketchbook. Unlike most other pages, which include written hieroglyphics side-by-side with their tentative translations, this page only includes the ancient signs with no English notes. To read the message a character must make a Regular hieroglyphics roll or similar check to read ancient languages.

  Pharaoh beware!
  Your enemies lurk nearby waiting to strike your kingdom.
  Set waits on the 240 horizon from your throne.
  You must drive your chariots 340
  To meet him on the Battlefield of the West.
  Flames will reveal your path.

  When translated, the numerical notations in the hieroglyphic message seem extremely awkward; those familiar with Egyptology or the ancient language realize they’re entirely inappropriate for the inscription. Anyone making a Hard INT roll, Hard Track, Regluar Navigate or similar intellectual test guesses that the numbers relate to navigational directions: “240 horizon from your throne” probably indicates a heading of 240 degrees from the capital, Cairo, and “chariots 340” possibly indicates the miles. The reference to “flames” revealing the path seems odd; however, should anyone hold the journal page near an open flame or hot lantern, secret writing emerges from the paper showing a rough map of the area, with a dotted line leading south-southwest from Cairo to a point near the Great Sand Sea between the wells at Ain Dalla and Siwa Oasis, the exact course mentioned in the hieroglyphic text!

In fact Miss Doyle was not abducted by Bedouin, but by two Nazi agents disguised as the desert dwellers to conceal their true identity. The charming British photographer actually serves as a spy for the Inter-Services Liaison Department (the cover agency for MI6 in Egypt). The Nazi spies are spiriting her away to a secret supply depot near the border with Libya where they can interrogate her about her knowledge of planned Axis military activity in Egypt. After some discussion the heroes realize they must go after her; no civilized gentleman could allow such assault and let the abductors get away, and Miss Doyle had the key to the grate guarding the tomb shaft (and dutifully locked it before she walked into the ambush). Give players encouraging the immediate chase some minor bonus they can use in the coming episodes related to their chivalry and heroic spirit.

Vera gets kidsnapped. Mystery to find out what happened and whre they are going.