A cleverly-devised pulp adventure created by the HPLHS, based on a chance remark in a Lovecraft letter, combined with a relatively obscure site in the Libyan Desert just west of the great Qattara Depression in western modern Egypt, the Siwa Oasis. The place was rather less obscure in ancient times (the Romans knew it as Ammonium), and a route across the northern desert still passes through it that originated far earlier. The props with the physical DART production define Siwa well, and the leading character of Count De Prorok, a fictionalised, genuine explorer and treasure-hunter. The large, beautifully-drawn, map of Siwa, reproduced from a 1929 original, is a particular delight. While the tale starts a little slowly, that allows it to build nicely in stages of discovery to the final climax, providing much useful atmosphere concerning the dangers of desert travel and the political realities in the region during the later 1920s and 1930s. Parts of the latter stages of the action become a little confused, and bear repeated, careful listening to straighten out more - although perhaps it’s better not to peer too closely at sanity-threatening Things Lovecraftian! All-in-all, a fine addition to the DART repertoire.
