Session 20: The Enemy of My Enemy Is Kinda Helpful

The stench of dark magic and foul deeds hung heavy in the air as Madame Zorba and her companions arrived in Constantinople. They were greeted by Professor Demir’s children, Toprak and Rana, who bore dire news. The professor had been stabbed by cultists from the Children of the Blood Red Fez, the very same who sought the cursed Whispering Fez. To make matters worse, they had kidnapped Demir’s youngest son, Barlas.

Time was of the essence. Not only did they need to rescue the boy, but midnight approached swiftly, the hour when Scott Myers was destined to transform into a ghoulish creature without intervention. Demir offered to decipher the final portion of the Whispering Fez while the investigators attempted the rescue at the Kasim Pasha docks. He suggested seeking aid from a rival of the cult known only as “the Frenchman.”

Madame Zorba, feeling the dark power of the Fez coursing through her veins, drained energy from Myers to fuel her own abilities. She confided in Viola Sutcliffe, sharing her fears that her fate was now inextricably tied to the cursed artifact. Per Oskarson, ever the skeptic, insisted on safeguarding the Whispering Fez himself, while Clyde volunteered to remain with Demir during the translation.

Armed with a letter of introduction from Demir, the investigators hastened to the Frenchman’s palatial estate near the Sultan’s Palace. They were greeted by a servant and escorted to a balcony where the heavy-set man lounged, smoking a hookah. Madame Zorba introduced herself and her associates, explaining their urgent need for assistance against the Children of the Blood Red Fez.

The Frenchman’s interest was piqued by the mention of the tomes and the Fez itself. He examined Zorba’s Fez closely, chuckling at her misfortune of being tricked into wearing it. The investigators appealed to his ego and offered him a chance to cause mischief to his enemies, as well as a copy of part of the Whispering Fez tome to examine. The Frenchman agreed to a fair exchange of information.

He revealed that his former student, Nisra, now styled herself as the “Daughter of Fate” and had been persuaded by Menkaph to seek the Blood Red Fez as a shortcut to power. She had cultivated a relationship with Ramazan, an exiled prince and distant cousin of the Sultan, who despite his syphilis and idiocy, harbored great ambitions. Nisra had set herself up on a hidden tenth island in the Prince’s Islands chain with a group of followers, likely in possession of multiple Fezzes.

The investigators debated their options for confronting Nisra’s followers, who heavily outnumbered them. They considered causing chaos on the island to prevent the cultists from showing up at the docks or attempting a covert rescue mission. Transportation to the island posed another challenge, as it required a boat to reach its shores.

Returning to Demir’s house, they found the professor hard at work translating, while Clyde had been diligently taking notes. They informed Demir of his son’s probable location and the daunting number of cultists likely present. Clinton suggested procuring dynamite and kerosene to even the odds.

Demir revealed that only those intimately familiar with the sea would know of a tenth island, as only nine were commonly known. He suggested his friend, a fisherman named Abdullah, might possess this knowledge and have a boat to take them there.

As the clock ticked ever closer to midnight, the investigators gathered their materials and set out to convince “Nine-Fingered” Abdullah to guide them to the hidden island. The fate of young Barlas, and perhaps the world itself, hung in the balance as they embarked on this perilous rescue mission, the cursed Fez whispering its dark secrets all the while.