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The Mummy Hunt

Archivist note: This article is from an older recovered archive and might be obsolete or in need of updating.

Most recent revision is shown below, by Galactic Baroque.


The R. F. Burton Public Library opened in early October of 2008 with an exhibit of artifacts brought from Egypt from an expedition of the late husband of Canolli Capalini. She recounts the event here:

The library stood, an air of expectancy about it as I greeted the first guests that arrived; As more people arrived, I directed them to the second floor to see the artifacts I had recently obtained and that were tied to the newer events of the unfortunate freighter. Ms. Ghilayne Andrew, my cousin, mingled with the crowd through informal introductions, explaining some of the pieces and the find itself. Towards 5:30, I began herding people down to the first floor for the introduction and the following lecture.

I gave a formal introduction, thanked everyone for attending and offered thanks to those individuals without whom the library could not have been achieved, notably: Mr. Elihu Leominster, Miss Serafina Puchkina and Sir JJ Drinkwater of Caledon.
A full transcript of the evening’s lecture can be obtained upon request. Simply send me a message and I will forward a copy of my cousin’s notes.

Directly after the lecture, amidst the scattered applause, someone shouted Fire.. smoke billowed down the stairs as people began to panick. Miss Mara Razor and Mrs. Breezy Dagger took charge of the evacuation, reminding people to be orderly even as I was more concerned with just getting people out. Several people though, Doctor Obolensky being one of them, ran towards the stairs… apparently concerned about the state of the artifacts and whether or not any could be saved in the case of fire.
After a few minutes of mass confusion, Mr. Ivniciis Wemyss began to shout there was no fire.. the smoke being caused by oily rags left smouldering upon the stairs. As we began to investigate, Doctor Obolensky realized his dirigible had been stolen, having been moored outside the library.. Ms. Andrew began inspecting the collection to make sure nothing was amiss when Mr. Jongo Balczo issued the most chilling statement: “My god..The coffin is open!”.
The ruby and the mummy had both been stolen, the oily rags an obvious diversion while we were all downstairs attending the lecture. There is no evidence, but it is apparent the thief stole Doctor Obolensky’s zepplin as a getaway convenience. A Bow Street Officer was shortly on the scene and everyone graciously answered Officer Trudeau’s questions and were more than happy to help with the initial investigation.

The ruby itself is priceless, but the mummy is invaluable. I appeal to whomever stole the ruby, please return the mummy as it is worth more for scientific study.

As for the rumors of patrons seeing the mummy walk outside the library.. Nonsence and poppycock. The over eager imaginations combined with stressed nerves and heightened adrenaline creating mass hysteria conjuring a suggested theme. Even with these tragic events, there are no curses over the library.. Merely the sad example of greed ruining an otherwise lovely event.

I would like to formally thank everyone who attended last night and made the opening such a success, including my lovely cousins, Ms. Ghilayne Andrew and Ms. Kembri Tomsen. I am warmed by the support the library received during the terrible events that unfolded last evening.

””’Mr. Tenk, the city clockwinder, was listening from the roof and recalls seeing a cat faced man run out from the building onto the roof and escape in a nearby airship. Rumors of a mummy on the rampage were met with skepticism, as in this reply by Sylvie Franizzi””’

Indeed, it was a lovely evening..right up until the fire, the theft, and the rampant mummy. The building is a work of art and I highly recommend anyone who was absent for the event last night go see it!

However, I would also like to thank Miss Capalini for reminding us all that we do, in fact, live in an age of science; of reason; of logic. All this talk of cursed mummies loitering about by Ruby’s Pub is utter nonsense! The “creature” in question could just as easily been a human in disguise. Just because something covered in rags comes shuffling toward you with it’s arms outstretched does not necessarily mean that it’s a true mummy. In fact, if my own dear mother were alive today she would probably say that she sees that every morning when my father gets out of bed!

We need to look at this logically. If, in fact, the stealing of the ruby was the catalyst for the erstwhile alive gentleman to leave his place of rest, then why did the fellow wait a good twenty minutes before showing himself? And how did he make it from the second floor of the library out into the street without a single person seeing him? A dirty great mummy shuffling about, surely someone would’ve noticed something! Unless, of course, he decided to hide behind one of the bookshleves and took the lift when no one was looking! And, quite frankly, this answers to me the question of why the body was taken in the first place. It could very well have been a ruse. Merely a set-up for some miscreant in a mummy costume to appear and scare us all out of our wits, maybe with the intention that we would all become too frightened to pursue the investigation. Or perhaps he just likes a laugh. Until we catch the scoundrel I suppose we won’t know.

Now, I apologize I know this is an annoyingly long post but I really felt the need to speak my mind on this matter. Let us put our faith in science, reason, and Bow Street to put this matter to rest, so to speak, and return to Miss Capalini and her cousins what is rightfully theirs.

A double hunt followed, one for the cat faced burgular, and the other to obtain photographic evidence of a mummy that was allegedly wandering around the city moaning for the return of his ruby. A 2500 linden prize was offered for a the best photograph:

In regards to the theft at the library and the disappearance of the mummy’s body:

We are a community of scientific thinkers.. so tonight I am shocked that so many would purport to have seen a walking “mummy”. The insistence of such even after the possibility of mass hysteria, confusion from fumes from the smoke bombs, etcetera have prompted me to ask for proof.

2500 Linden prize to the person that can provide me with the best picture of the “mummy” *rolls her eyes* determined by myself. Please post all such pictures here with a brief explanation of such. Winner shall be announced October 15th, 6pm SLT.

Happy Hunting.

Elleon Bergamasco sighted it outside her shop…

AHA! Tho you are a DEAR friend Miss Capalini, I am shocked that you would not believe SO many of your friends and cohorts regarding what they have witnessed with their very own eyes! AND furthermore, I WAS RUN OVER by the very mummy today while standing outside my Oddments shop (currently under reorganization for the fall season, but masquerade ball gowns now for sale!) AND TO prove it, here is a shot of the mummy, and WORDS it was moaning!!! Bizarrely, he had just finished jumping on the cavorite cushions… perhaps he just stumbled…
I did try to warn the populace, as you can see in the picture, but I don’t think it was after anyone in particular…. it was just moaning something about Ruby (tho whether it meant the stone or the pub… I dare not guess)
SEE for yourself, my dear friend! And I would like an apology in full (or at least one of those cute poufy footstools)

ARM yourselves! Someone please Saaaaave us!

** faints

Which was met with skepticism my Capalini…

My Dear Miss Bergamasco, I do believe that the townspeople “think” they saw something.. and indeed they very well might have, however, whether or not it was a supposed mummy is still to be foreseen. The conventions of science and logic follow Occam’s Razor.. That despite appearances, whatever is the simplest explanation is usually the most correct. As to your run in with the mummy, why.. it’s quite apparent someone is playing a dreadful trick. Those rags look to be oily and that could have possibly been the “stink” which you smelled.. Perhaps another patron who feels a mummy should be walking about, or one of the urchin’s..

And also Miss Heinrichs…

Actually, I was just in the library again, checking on the exhibit (as I likely will do every chance I get), and noticed something interesting. The lid of the inner, golden sarcophagus is lying outside the outer sarcophagus–it is, in fact, behind the lid of that outer sarcophagus.

To me, that speaks of normal human work. After all, if a “mummy” had opened the sarcophagi to escape, would not the lid of the inner sarcophagus be on the inside, nestled within the lid of the outer sarcophagus? Or, at worst, lying in front of the outer sarcophagus, where it would be pushed? Why would such an entity move it so far from its accustomed place?

I think someone is trying to play us for fools…

””’But many other citizens claimed to have seen the mummy, like Orchid McMillan…””’

Sanus had warned me he’d seen the mummy, and to not be afraid of it if I saw it as well. Of course, that did not ease my nerves as I heard a mysterious sound while resting in my home. I stupidly ran outside to find the source of the sound and there stood the mummy, right before me.

The mummy’s face is simply terrifying!

””’Mr. Holmes…””’
While I was munching an apple pie in the living room of 211b today (don’t tell ADA the house maid!) , I heard this odd fellow limping along the street, searching for the ruby frantically.

I happened to have my box camera by the window (no, I’m not photographing our neighbors *cough*) and with one hand holding the pie fork, the other working with the camera mechanics and my mind doing incredible deductions at the same time I managed few shots out of our living room window.

Mummies, eh?
I do believe he is just some criminal fellow who had a meeting with a roll of toilet paper.

Viv Trafalgar:

My friends, I was kept away from Babbage on the important evening in question and yet – and YET?

I have seen its outcome in all its hellish wrappings! As I was paying my tier near the Keelhaul Chandlery, I was accosted by the Mummy itself!

Now all who know me well are familiar with my natural calm in times of stress. I took photos while distracting the mummy with questions.

“What is wrong?” I asked. “mmmrraooowwwweee!’ it responded, completely irrationally, I might add.

“Are you lost?” I added? “nnwessetwredddd!” It might have said, although I was busy with my camera at the time.

“Can I help you?” I asked. “Are you missing something?” I added, as I am something of a Quick Thinker in a pinch.

“RRUUUUUUBBBYYYYY!” it moaned, terribly. And then disappeared.

I give you photos in order to show how close I came to the danger that seemingly walks among us. Far from histrionics, I bring you pixels. And documentation.

””’Jasper Kiergarten:””’

I saw this creature from the roof of my store menacing dear Sera and Gatsby. Gatsby was holding it off with his pepper box, but I thought my Mosin-Nagant might better deal with the situation. we managed to chase it off.

Serafina Puchkina

Thanks to the able assistance of Mr. Kiergarten, Mr. Szuster was able to chase the mummy away. I unfortunately had left my weaponry at home and was without firepower. Although the two men hit the mummy several times, their bullets had no apparent effect.

I kept calm and tried to tell the mummy that we did not have the missing ruby, but that, too, had no effect.

Wonder what will stop this undead creature from roaming our streets? We must find who stole the ruby and return the ruby to its rightful place.

Myrtil Igalty:

I finally saw the Mummy (yay!) and as I heard all the nice stories about her, I wasn’t so scared since I knew she was just looking for her ruby and meant no harm to the innocent ones (and I’m one of those, I assure you).

She appeared in a store in the Port just while I was with Ravan helping a lady choosing a dress and I first froze and had a hard time finding my (borrowed) camera, but that was just cause of the surprise and actually the Mummy did stick around for some time. She was moaning “ruuuuuuubyyy” and I proposed her to help her find it and that I had a raft to take her there if she wanted.

I am not sure whether the idea pleased her or not since I couldn’t really read her face’s expression, but I took a photo.

Then Jimmy arrived and the Mummy went wandering on the pier, next to the sea. I won’t say for sure, but maybe she really would have liked to climb on my raft to go look for her ruby…
Then she ran towards the Gaslight Emporium and Jimmy and I followed her there to go propose our help again.

We called her and she walked towards us and then she stopped right in front of Jimmy and stood there, very close to him, but without touching him…

I could get a close photo of the Mummy’s face, and it looks like she really likes Jimmy… Her face is soft and almost smiling, contrary to other times when she’s yelling after her ruby around. Maybe Jimmy reminds her of a son or little brother she had when she was young…

Loki Eliot saw it too:

I SAW IT, i did not believe it at first but today IT JUMPED AT ME!!. I was putting up a new rope so i could get ontop the Absinthe Cafe, when all of a sudden… RUUUUUUBBYYYYYYYY. I tunr around an EEPP a full blown blinkin Mummy with rotton teeth. Anyway i quickly scrambled up me rope only to find i aint tied it properly, so i just fell on its head, which must have annoyed it as it then chased me down the street!
it was then Mr Holmes and Wotson appeared and assisted in distracting it from me. Last i saw it appeared to be crying on Mr Wotsons chest.

Woston – “There, there, the nasty urchin has gone now…. no ones gonna fall on your head now”

And Myrtil again:

Well the Mummy isn’t hunting us down. He is just looking for his ruby and he is quite civilised actually… Well… almost at least.
Tonight, I was busy upstairs in my bakery and I heard the door opening, so I ran downstairs to greet the customer and quickly stopped.
There, sitting at a table in my bakery, was the Mummy himself… drinking some tea.

I coughed, said “hm, hello?” and he answered me his usual reply “Ruuuuuuubyyyyyyyy”.
So I explained I didn’t have it and enquired wether he liked my tea or not, and I was pleased to hear him answer “niiiiiiiice teeeeeeaaaa”.
I think he talked about some kind of tea he must be used to, but I didn’t really understand the exact name.
Then I asked if he wanted to eat something and he answered something I don’t remember and also “dates”. But I don’t have those things in my bakery.. So I offered him a slice of cherrypie. I thought that would cheer him up since it was red, like the ruby he was looking for.

How wrong I was… When he found out what I gave him wasn’t the ruby, even if it had its colour, the Mummy went mad and threw my pie and plate away, I still have some clean up to do…
Then, Jimmy arrived, and the Mummy talked again about his ruby and started opening the door to leave. At that moment, I was talking with Jimmy about leading the Mummy to Clockspire Cove and let him deal with the ruby thief once there. And right after, the Mummy yelled “Cloooooooockspiiiiiiire”!
Jimmy and I followed him outside, to the Port, where we met Miss Breezy, Mr Sanus and Miss Orchid. Then we lost him… But I have in the idea he was heading to Clockspire Cove…

and Gordon Soliel:

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! I found Mr. Mummy again, and he was apparently chasing Mr. Merricks! He gave us quite a scare, chasing him around screaming about the ruby. Here’s a picture of the mummy, right after Mr. Merricks fell into the water, and right before I hit him with my wrench.

Spider Sopwith had a tussle with it:

In regards to needing a bath I can assure you that the bandaged blighter did indeed find itself in the canal last night.
I spotted the creepy creature a few times last night, and although my memory is somewhat lacking I could swear I saw him in the company of others at one point? Anyway in one fateful instance the scoundrel noticed me! I backed away…he edged forward…I backed away further and unwittingly found I had walked backwards straight into the canal.
Anyway dispite this unhappy accident I comforted myself that this might be a good thing as I thought it unlikely the blighter would be able to swim.
The next thing I knew I was engaged in a death wrestle with the mummy at the bottom of the canal until it finally released his grip, floated to the surface and made off along the canal side leaving a dripping trail of babbage canal water behind it.
Just as I was getting over my cold There I was, left with my uniform as sodden as a spunge :(
Still I expect the wash may have done us both some good.

As did Gatsby Szuster:

The mummy is indeed an un-dead! Last evening Miss Puchkina and I where having a drink in my study when she yelled out to me “Mummy!.” I looked out my window and indeed there was the mummy on my sidewalk. I armed myself quickly with a rifle and had Serafina lock herself in the attic. I burst forth from my house and met the mummy on my lawn. I proceeded to open fire upon him; having learned from our first meeting that you could not reason with him.

My bullets had no affect on him. Bit’s and piece of mummy where being blown away but they had no affect. I ended up trying to fight him off hand to hand. Just when I thought I gained the upper hand he knocked me over and ran into my home! I ran after him and was cornered in my study. He began to turn over my book cases looking for the ruby. When just as I thought I was defeated I pulled out my rosary and he ran off.

I then noticed he was running over to Ms Writer’s home, knowing she was there alone, and not as well armed as me, I ran after him shouting “Mummy! Mummy!” I arrived just as he was trying to choke Ms Writer and again open fired hoping to draw his unholy grip from her. It had no affect. Running out of options I drew my sword and threatened to chop of his limbs when he finally ran off.

This attack taught me a few things though. One is that most weapons have no affect on him and only serve to chase him off at best. Second I think his goal is to terrorize and not kill any of us. He had a chance to kill me in my study and could have harmed Ms Writer much more than he did. Finally, I wholly believe that once we find this Ruby he can return to his rest.

Viv Tragalgar saw it a second time:

Oh Horrors! While cleaning up from the Curses! Salon (pins everywhere! egads), I was engaged in conversation with Miss Breezy Carver, and Mr. Sanus Kanarik. We were all quite saddened to note that the Mummy had missed the Salon entirely – which may have been due to the time change, or to the historic lack of reliability of the Ra-dial timepiece.

No matter, we thought; his loss.

And yet? There he was, howling with rage, some four hours after the Salon. I can only imagine his frustration over the loss of opportunity to meet more Babbagers and charm them with his winning ways, as well as the missed opportunity to tell his side of the story. Needless to say, he’d been invited personally. Perhaps the Nile mail boat got lost. Yes, indeed. Upon his late arrival, he was very angry and seemed to hold Miss Carver and myself accountable for his complete lack of punctuality. He launched himself at us (or at the champagne and cake, hard to tell).

Miss Carver is notably well armed, as is Mr. Kanarik. Mr. Thursday also arrived in haste and threw a powerful spell in some esoteric Latin (we are an educated bunch!). With their help, we beat the mummy’s multiple attempts to take the Salon stage and told him “No! You must wait until next month!”

After some time, I was able to brush mummy-dust from my clothing and re-set my hair-pins. Mr. Thursday and Mr. Kanarik were discussing the reasons the mummy still walks among us, and the true power of the ruby it seeks, when I retired for the evening.

My thanks to all involved for their quick response! Except, of course, for Mr. Serpente, who was several hours too late, and less than witty.

Orchid and Rip also:

Ahmet appears to be turning angrier and angrier with each day that passes without his ruby. I was chatting with Miss Chernov and Mr. Wirefly when the mummy snuck around a corner and lunged at us! Mr. Wirefly quickly pulled his sword, but Ahmet quickly wrestled it from him and pushed him into the canal! Luckily, Mr. Wirefly was quick on his feet to get back out of the canal, as Ahmet had turned on us women. I suppose it would be a good idea at this point to start shopping for something I may use in self defense, should the need arise.

Skusting chased it:

I have finally seen him. I had been in Ruby’s in the wee hours, threading the latest film into the projector (Phantom of the Opera), when I heard a dreadful wailing out on the street. I moved closer to the door and observed the mummy (man or undead spirit?) making his way towards the docks at Miss Serifina’s. I walked out of Ruby’s in time to see him dive in and begin to swim. I hauled my long disused pedal zeppelin from storage and followed at a safe distance from the air. All the way to Clockspire Cove. I watched him climb the rocks and ascend the platforms to the giant clock. He tried to get inside but could not. I kept my distance and managed to get theses shots as the sun was rising.

Red and Mayor Sprocket:

“Finally i saw the sodding mummy! Mr. Sprocket and i encountered him outside my factory in Wheatstone…he made some aggresive moves…i even offered to hug the poor dear…he declined! [makes a face] then Mr. Sprocket took out his gun and shot him…alas, it didn’t do much…..”

“Yes there in the photograph, you actually see gun number two… Gun number one was pulled from my hand by the mummy and tossed into the Canal!”

He seemed to like Holmes’ violin:

Poor Mr. Ahmet, I feel I bit sorry for him.
He must be exhausted from all the hopless searching. (I know the feeling, as I search things for my living.)
Most curious thing happened a moment ago.
This morning I was practicing the piece “Fishes” is our living room (mostly because Watson was off to work and I had a chance to play without him wincing in the background) when suddenly the door opened and there was our bandaged friend!

My playing seemed to sooth him in a strange way, and he did not act aggressive towards me.
He did however find the wrappings I had taken from him eariler from my chemistry table and took them. Well, I have no use for them anymore in either case.

Skusting and Breezy saw it while working late at night:

Breezy had been hooking up the gas lines to her seasonal gaslamps, in preparartion for the upcoming ball, and I had been working in the study, when our husky, Quinn, started barking like mad. He bolted to the top of the Grand Stairway and we went to see what was wrong. There it was. The Babbage mummy, in all its shredded glory. Quinn held back, and we drew our blades. It lunged a couple of times, screamed for its ruby, then took a dive into the canal and bothered us no more.

We want this thing dealt with and out of our hair. Throughout this entire ordeal, we have seen no one from Bow Street investigating the theft of the ruby or disappearance of the mummy from the library. This creature has found PIermont Landing. The citizens are nervous and armed. Enough already. Babbage has enough to worry about with the return of Jason Moriarty.

Elleon Bergamasco attempted to set a box trap baited with rum for the mummy after he was seen near her boarding house:

Alas after stalking the mummy Ahmet Serpente for days, I finally found him today again near my shop. Launching my clever mummy kissing trap, I waited breathlessly for him to spring it! Sadly… my first attempt at pretending not to see him failed, so I tried a more direct approach. Apparently, unlike most men, the mummy is impervious to false promises and did not believe me when I said the ruby he sought was inside the box. Nor is he lured by rum…. So, all ye would be mummy snoggers out there… this particular method of deception doesn’t work. I do believe Mr Serpentine IS getting tired tho, he actually laid down on the sidewalk at the edge of the sea, as if he is ready to give up….

Sgain I say, DRAT! I do think he owes me a little kiss as well, considering one of my tennants has fled in fear of all the Mummy sightings (room now available, 75 prims for $250L a week, Mechanix Arms, Port Babbage! Steam heat coming soon)

The winning photo was submitted by Jimmy Brannagh.

Congratulations to Jimmy Branagh for his most .. up looking photo of the mummy. It was an inventive shot and one that had the most reaction from everyone.

Congratulations to everyone who participated and I hope I brought a bit of fun in my roleplay… It was a splendid cooperative effort on everyone’s part. Thank you all so much for helping me in my first little play. :) Everyone took such wonderful pictures.. from serious, to creepy, to downright delightful.

Thank you so much for making New Babbage what it is.

 

 

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