Tutankhcolman & the Norwich Shroud

The Shroud of Norwich is soon to return to its rightful place – bunged in a cupboard far from the prying eyes of history. Few know of the relic and its association with ‘The Old Ones ’ known to the simple folk of Norwich as the Coel Men (literally translated as ‘The Ancestors’). It is said they are the last of the line of Coel (opinions divide if this was indeed the venerable king of rhyme and legend often mis-spelt Cole. Some think Co-El was from another planet entirely, a dying world, and may have been the brother of No-El Edmonds, both scions of the House of El).
Whilst making war on the Romans, the Coel formed an alliance with the Northern Wicca and it is from this line which the Norwich Colmans descend. For whatever reason they were certainly long lived, but being desirous of even longer life, through their arts devised a powder that when a body was covered with it kept them alive even beyond the grave. The process left a waste product,a yellowish powder that was then sold to the masses as a desirable condiment.

After several centuries, more and more powder was required to preserve them as the living dead. The Colman patriarch sought other methods to ward off death. Initial talks with a Confederate soldier, the notorious voodoun necromancer, Saunders came to nothing when it became clear that his secret blend of herbs and spices created mindless, brain-eating monsters (it was this that was responsible for the Kentucky Derby Zombie Massacre of 1878)

Napoleon’s attempt to raise an army of the dead in the Nile kingdom had captured the popular imagination and ever since there had been a steady stream of amateur Victorian necromancers all keen to learn the secrets of eternal life and avail themselves of a bit of jewellery or pottery. In the murky backstreets of Cairo, Colman purchased a shroud inscribed with the spells against death itself. Saunders was not to be outdone, posing as a rival, he travelled under the pseudonym Colonel Mustard. A clash was inevitable, and the two saucerors fought a running battle which left most of downtown Cairo covered in a fine yellow powder. Neither could claim victory but importantly for humanity when the dust cleared,the shroud lay in two pieces, one remained in Cairo, the other taken to Norwich castle and thankfully forgotten. Until now