Brood of the Witch-Queen · Chapter
The Mask of Set explained
During a carnival at a Cairo hotel garden, Robert Cairn pursues a woman in a yashmak through the festive crowd.
What happens
During a carnival at a Cairo hotel garden, Robert Cairn pursues a woman in a yashmak through the festive crowd. A sudden khamsin wind sweeps in, causing panic as scorpions appear and the garden empties. Cairn alone sees a figure in a crocodile mask—the mask of Set—advancing toward the hotel. Sime dismisses the vision, suggesting it was an Afreet.
Themes in this chapter
The Occult and Ancient Egypt
The appearance of the crocodile-masked figure as the god Set, and the carnival's Ancient Egyptian costumes, evoke occult and supernatural elements tied to Egypt.
Appearance vs. Reality
The festive carnival masks a sinister turn as the khamsin strikes and a terrifying figure appears, blurring the line between revelry and menace.
Characters to notice
- Robert Cairn
Participates in the carnival chase, witnesses the scorpion and the masked figure, and is unsettled by the khamsin.
- Dr. Sime
Accompanies Cairn at the carnival, pursues two of the yashmak ladies, and later dismisses Cairn's sighting of the masked figure.
Key passages
“Above the palm trees swept the jewelled vault of Egypt's sky, and set amid the clustering leaves gleamed little red electric lamps; fairy lanterns outlined the winding paths and paper Japanese lamps hung dancing in long rows, whilst in the centre of the enchanted garden a fountain spurned diamond spray high in the air, to fall back coolly plashing into the marble home of the golden carp.”
The night sky over Cairo was brilliant with stars, and the hotel garden was decorated with red electric lights, paper lanterns, and a fountain that shot water into a marble pool filled with golden carp.
Establishes the enchanting carnival setting before the storm.
“Then, proclaimed by a furious lashing of the fronds above, burst the wind in all its fury. It seemed to beat down into the garden in waves of heat. Huge leaves began to fall from the tree tops and the mast-like trunks bent before the fury from the desert.”
Suddenly, a violent hot wind from the desert lashed the palm trees, tearing off leaves and bending the trunks, as the garden was engulfed in a dusty haze.
Describes the sudden onset of the khamsin wind.
“As if embodying the fear that in a few short minutes had emptied the garden, out beneath the waving lanterns, the flying debris, the whirling dust, pacing sombrely from shadow to light, and to shadow again, advancing towards the hotel steps, came the figure of one sandalled, and wearing the short white tunic of Ancient Egypt. His arms were bare, and he carried a long staff; but rising hideously upon his shoulders was a crocodile-mask, which seemed to grin—the mask of Set, Set the Destroyer, God of the underworld.”
Amid the chaos, a solitary figure in an ancient Egyptian tunic and sandals, carrying a staff and wearing a terrifying crocodile mask representing the god Set, walked slowly toward the hotel steps.
Highlights the eerie appearance of the masked figure.