1894 Empty Quarter expedition

The 1894 Empty Quarter expedition was a scientific expedition led by Lorenzo Cabot. The goal was the discovery and excavation of ancient civilizations hidden beneath the Rub' al Khali desert on the Arabian Peninsula. The expedition was successful in locating the Ubar civilization, but the discoveries unearthed would have a profound effect on Lorenzo Cabot's psyche, who would bury this discovery after experimenting with an ancient artifact, a headpiece, that he would wear.
==Background==
Long dismissed as a quack due to his seemingly wild theories about a progenitor civilization that predated humanity, Lorenzo Cabot decided to finance an expedition to the Empty Quarter on the Arabian Peninsula, to prove his theory by locating the ancient city beneath the sands. After securing the necessary paperwork, including Omani permits obtained through the Department of State, a reserve of local currency for bribes, and experts to aid him in his mission, the expedition set off from Cape Cod on February 8th, 1894, aboard SS Wakeful. Emogene and Wilhelmina saw him off, but Jack, his son, refused to. He would later come to regret that decision. 
==Events==
The expedition launched and enjoyed fine weather while crossing the Atlantic to Lisbon, Portugal, in order to collect Metternich and his electrical sensing equipment at Lisbon, which would greatly reduce the amount of time spent on locating the ruins, by weeks or even months. By February 21st, the Wakeful entered the western Mediterranean, eventually arriving at Suez in the Khedivate of Egypt (an autonomous vassal of the Ottoman Empire). Lorenzo elected to hire an experienced Egyptian team to take with him into the Empty Quarter, completing preparations by March 5th, when the Wakeful departed Suez. On March 14th, the ship arrived in Salalah, Oman, unloading at a feverish pace to complete excavations before the summer heat. Everything was ready on March 16th, when Lorenzo's expedition set out into the interior of the peninsula. To Lorenzo, the impenetrable desert and the secrets it hid felt like a welcome change from the endless delays and paper-shuffling bureaucrats.
The expedition arrived in the Empty Quarter on March 29th. Lorenzo interpreted superstitious grumbling from his local guide as a good omen and immediately began scanning the area with Metternich the following day. Despite problems caused by the ever-present dust, the two obtained a favorable reading and began excavations on March 31st. Intense excavation produced the first results on April 3rd. Late in the afternoon, diggers struck worked stone, on the edge of a large circular structure. The guide's anxiety flared, proving Lorenzo's wisdom in hiring Egyptian workers. Three days of intense work uncovered several fragmentary inscriptions, with runes that matched the ancient texts. The entire site was part of what appeared to be a monumental plaza, and Lorenzo became convinced that he found the legendary Ubar.
They were forced to abandon the site twelve days later, when a massive sandstorm hit the area on April 18th. The entire expedition was forced to huddle in tents in the lee of one of the large outcroppings, amidst pitch-black darkness even during the morning hours. The storm lasted for four days, demoralizing the working crews (primarily on account of the guide's tales of curses and forbidden secrets). Even the phlegmatic Metternich began to show signs of cracking under the strain. By the end of the storm, the cleared area was buried under several feet of new sand. The guide disappeared in the night, unsettling the workers, but Lorenzo was determined to press on.
Over the next two weeks, the expedition uncovered stone and rubble that Lorenzo believed belonged to the Great Temple. Although much of what they located was destroyed, Lorenzo continued his work against the worsening weather and workmen's attitudes. Even Metternich began to suggest putting work off until the winter, but Lorenzo would hear nothing of it. His determination paid off when they uncovered an intact tomb beneath the ruins of the Great Temple on May 13th. A week-long work to clear a shaft beneath the Great Temple culminated in the discovery of a mass of cyclopean stone blocks sealing a tunnel leading into a dark, secluded chamber. It took them three days to clear a passage using pickaxes, but ultimately they broke through into the darkness. It was seemingly a burial crypt, with a dusty sarcophagus at the end of the chamber. Lorenzo and Metternich ordered the workers to open the sarcophagus.
Metternich nearly suffered a heart attack, Lorenzo collapsed to the ground, while the workers helping them fled outright. All of the artifacts inside the sarcophagus were older than human civilization itself and clearly not made by human hands. Lorenzo removed a single artifact, a crown, then ordered the tomb sealed up to prevent looting (greed frequently bests fear) and prepare its contents for cataloging the following day. As he sat in his tent, pondering the crown and what was to come, he made a fatal mistake. He put the crown on his head. The crown immediately fused with his nervous system and revealed that the city of Ubar was not called as such, the building they excavated was not a temple, and the sealed chamber not a crypt. Bent on harnessing the secrets provided by the crown and bringing his family into the fold, he ordered the entire site buried the following day, against Metternich's protests, ensuring the secrets of the city remained safe with him until he was ready.Lorenzo Cabot's journal
==Aftermath==
Lorenzo did not publish his findings and never made another expedition to Ubar despite his initial plans.The Sole Survivor: "You said your father found a lost city?"Jack Cabot: " "(Jack Cabot's dialogue) The experimentation with the crown was the primary reason. He inadvertently caused it to fuse with his nervous system by extended use. In return, he gained various seemingly paranormal powers and became increasingly irrational and violent, developing intense paranoia and a tendency for homicidal rage. After a crime streak that would have inevitably put him on death row, he was finally apprehended. Rather than face the death penalty, the Cabots used their influence to have him committed.The Sole Survivor: "What would he have done if he'd gotten free?"Jack Cabot: " "(Jack Cabot's dialogue)
Lorenzo was confined indefinitely at the Parsons State Insane Asylum in 1898,The Sole Survivor: "How long have you been locked up in here?"Lorenzo Cabot: " "(Lorenzo Cabot's dialogue) to contain him while Jack began researching potential cures for his father's condition.The Sole Survivor: "You should know what we're going to be dealing with."Jack Cabot: " "(Jack Cabot's dialogue) In the process, he discovered that the artifact had introduced anomalies into his blood, which were responsible for Lorenzo's enhances strength, resistance to most kinds of physical damage, and combining with telekinesis abilities tied to the artifact itself. Lorenzo was not only insane, but also incredibly powerful. The dampening field kept Lorenzo isolated for nearly four centuries, as Jack tried to come up with a cure for his father's condition.The Sole Survivor: "So this serum does more than halt aging?"Jack Cabot: " Hold on. Weren't you off looking for Emogene? Did you find her?"(Jack Cabot's dialogue)The Sole Survivor: "Exactly what abilities does he have?"Jack Cabot: "Enhanced strength. Unusual resistance to most kinds of physical damage. Oh, and a kind of local telekinesis, which appears to be projected by the artifact itself. That's why I've built a dampening field into his cell. Which is why we really need to stop these intruders before they turn it off."(Jack Cabot's dialogue) The only benefit for the Cabots was that Lorenzo's anomalies became the basis of a longevity serum that prolonged all of their lives, allowing them to maintain their wealth and abilities through the Great War and beyond.The Sole Survivor: "Where do you get this serum from?"Wilhelmina Cabot: ""Jack Cabot: "In the course of my attempts to cure him, I discovered that the artifact had introduced... anomalies into his blood. So, the source of his insanity is also the basis of the treatments that have prolonged all our lives. The irony isn't lost on me. But if he were to escape from Parsons, I would lose my father forever. I will not allow that to happen. Not to mention that the artifact has made him paranoid, homicidally violent, and endowed with extraordinary abilities."(Wilhelmina and Jack Cabot's dialogue) 
==Behind the scenes==
* The expedition shares its leitmotifs with the works of H.P. Lovecraft, especially The Nameless City, and develops story elements that lay at the foundation of the Dunwich Building and Dunwich Borers. 
==References==
Category:Events