Wandering among ten thousand tombs - Game Thread

[Tibbius]

Rules
Heroes of the Two Lands - Barbarians of Lemuria for Mythic Egypt


Characters

Spoiler: (dojango) Tarkasan, the Outland Driver

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Tarkasan grew up in the Mittani heartland, near Washukanni. He lived in the king's household, the son of an honored retainer. When he was grown, he served as a charioteer in the wars against the Hattusans and the rebel Assyrians. King Tushratta sent him as a bodyguard for his daughter Tadukhipa when she was sent to marry Amenhotep III. After Amenhotep III died, Tadukhipa was married to his son, Amenhotep IV. Over the past few years, Amenhotep IV has become entranced with his new consort, Neferiti, and their new religion, leaving Tadukhipa and her entourage to scheme and plot in relative exile in their quarters. Tarkasan has been out collecting information for his mistress on the state of her adopted realm, and on the missives coming from their native home.


Strength: 1
Agility: 2
Appeal: 0
Mind: 1

Ka: 8

Combat: He is a balanced warrior, capable of using the spear and the bow and the shield.
Initiative: 1
Unarmed: 0
Ranged: 1
Melee: 2

Careers:
Charioteer: 2. A veteran of several campaigns.
Hunter: 1. Trainer and driver of horses. A regular participant in the hunts of the nobles.
Courtier: 1. He has served at the king's table back in Mittani, and lived as an honored guest of both Amenhotep III and Amenhotep IV.
Musician: 0. A favored pastime of the idle members of the court, a fine way to pass the time.

Favor: Bannerman of Onuris: He has carried the banner of Tushratta and Amenhotep at the forefront of battle; none can deny his lion-hearted courage.
Favor: Blessed of Astarte: In Memphis, a great new temple to Astarte is a-building, under the auspices of Tadukhipa. But as of late, construction has slowed down, and Tarkasan has been trying to organize its re-starting.
Spite: Dislike of Ipy's power: He distrusts those who would use her power to distort the natural order of things.

Languages:
Mittani
Akkadian
"Middle Egyptian"

Trappings:
Suit of Medium Armor, Spear & Shield, Bow and arrows. Chariot & team of horses. Fine clothes befitting his rank, a position in the court of the royal consort Tadukhipa.

Friends:
Huy, son of the Commander of Chariots, a fine warrior in his own right.
Ammalli, Priestess of Astarte in Memphis, he is working with her on the temple there.
Nena, daughter of one of the high-ranking priests. She is Tarkasan's wife. She has given Tarkasan two fine children.
Nyamu, the hunter. He travelled downriver from the mountain kingdoms some time ago, and serves as one of the huntsmen to the court.

Spoiler: (Captain Cap) Shaimose, the Sage from Merimda

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Attributes:
- Strength 0
- Agility 1
- Mind 3
- Appeal 0

Careers:
- Hunter 2
- Merchant 0
- Physician 2
- Astronomer 0

Combat Abilities:
- Initiative 0
- Unarmed 2
- Weapon -1
- Ranged 2

Caste rank: 3
Ka: 4 + 0 + 3 + 3 = 10

Favors and Spites:
- Serket, bonus to venom related tasks (resisting, recognizing, treating, extracting, attacking with poisoned weapons)
- Neith, bonus to archery tasks
- Imhotep, bonus to physician tasks
- Apis, malus to heavy strength tasks (pushing, pulling or lifting heavy weights, breaking, bending or forcing solid structures or constraints, wrestling)
- Ihy, malus to music related tasks (playing, singing, composing, dancing)

Backstory:
Shaimose was born in a small village north of Merimda, where he was trained in his family's hunting traditions since a very young age; however, it didn't take long for the child to show a potential above his humble origins, as his keen intelligence and perception manifested in various situations.
During those juvenile years, the goddesses Serket and Neith took a liking to such a resourceful boy, who often ventured in the wilderness, even alone, to observe nature and satisfy his insatiable curiosity: Serket protected him from the venom of scorpions and snakes, while Neith assisted him in the use of the bow, his favorite weapon. On the other hand, the god Apis was rather annoyed by the boy's shrewdness and elusiveness, which often let him avoid more direct and muscular approaches to difficulties, and cursed him accordingly.
As the time passed, Shaimose got more and more eager to explore new places and see new landscapes, especially after meeting traders at the market with goods from around the Black Land, and eventually left home for an apprenticeship with a seasoned merchant.
In his travels, the young man got better at defending himself, learned to read and write, but most importantly he embarked on a path particularly dear to the god who most of all followed him: his deep interest in nature and physiology led him to the study of medicine, surgery and pharmacology, with great satisfaction of the wise Imhotep.
After becoming a physician, Shaimose had the opportunity to access knowledge confined to the upper echelons of society and delved into the fields of astronomy, meteorology and advanced math, such was the extent of his curiosity; however, this side of his personality often made him overlook more social activities, as he always preferred studying and learning about the natural world to attending festivals and gatherings, and this saddened the god Ihy, along with Shaimose's disinterest for music.

Equipment:
- bow and arrows
- throwing knife
- light armor
- physician instruments, remedies and vials

Properties:
- servants
- sanctuary in Memphis

Spoiler: (Ramsus) Neis, the Priest of Ishtar

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Attributes
- Strength 1
- Agility 1
- Mind 1
- Appeal 1

Careers
- Priest 2
- Captain/Charioteer 1
- Entertainer 1
- Servant 0

Combat Abilities
- Initiative 1
- Unarmed -1
- Weapon -1
- Ranged 3

Caste rank: 3
Ka: 4 + 1 + 1 + 3 = 9

Favors and Spites
- Ishtar, bonus for charm & seduction tasks
- Isis, bonus for Heka tasks
- Neith, bonus for ranged attacks
- Neith, malus for marching long distances
- Hatmehit, malus for fishing tasks

Equipment
Javelins (d6)
Light Armor
Large Shield (not typically in use)

Backstory: Neis was born of an affair between a priestess of Neith and a priest of Isis. The priest's wife however was a courtier to the High Priestess of Hatmehit. When her mother died in childbirth and her father's wife would not allow her to be accepted into their household, she was placed in the care of the temple of Ishtar to be raised as a servant.
And so she was for a time, though the priests and priestesses found they had a fondness for her. Eventually she was given more opportunities, largely in the form of challenges or tests that they used to determine how beyond her originally intended station the gods wanted her to rise. They felt this was the fairest way given the fact that on both sides of her parentage she otherwise would have been born to a higher station and the temple oracle's abnormally unspecific words about her when they asked for insight, only stating that she had been taken in by Ishtar. Which was a rather confusing response to them since that was clearly already the case since she was being raised in the temple of Ishtar.
As she grew they eventually understood why the oracle was so vague. She certainly had talent. Talent seemed to be almost exactly in line for what you would expect of someone trying to embody the image of Ishtar. An unusual breadth of talent, though not the kind of focused strong talent as you would normally expect for someone you would call "talented". And just as oddly, it did not encompass all things like you would expect of such a character if they were part of a story.
Truly the most notable thing about her was how much attention she had been given from the gods. For in the cases her abilities were notable, they were just as much positive as negative. She couldn't reliably hit a foe in front of her face, but could spear a man from across the field of battle with more ease than that which should could march over to retrieve it. And it became a running joke with the soldiers to tell new recruits to have her teach them to fish as even a man who had never seen a river before would fair better than her.
After proving herself in battle, she was finally (formally) trained as a priestess. And though she is just as good in this role as any other, the High Priest and the other priests and priestesses are often unsure of where her place is or if this is what she is meant to be or just another role along her path and so keep assigning her new tasks. Sometimes in the form of asking her what she thinks she should be doing and agreeing with whatever she comes up with as if she had insightfully understood their wishes, where really they just found her suggestion as good as anything else.

Spoiler: (gryffydd65) Anki Thicklimbs

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9 ka
Str 3
Agility 2
Mind 0
Appeal -1
Charioteer 3
Foot soldier 1
Hunter 0
Sailor 0
Initiative 1
Unarmed 0
Weapons 2
Ranged 2
Favor Anhur chariote driving
Spite Nefertum No luck when dealing with females
Bow 20 arrows
Medium armor
Khopesh sword
Spear

Male mid thirties, Anki grew up along the Nile River, manning a boat down to the Mediterranean Sea and back. He spent much of that time hunting for gazelles and selling the meat to others. When he was old enough to carry a spear he was enlisted into the foot soldiers where he quickly became a favorite of the general and made a charioteer.

[Tibbius]

Wandering among ten thousand tombs
It is the time of Kingpriest Akhenaten. Rumors say that he will raise a new city far upriver from Saqqara, the dreaming city of tombs and temples, and Menefer, the eternal city of white walls. Rumors say that the new city will be Akhetaten - “Sun City” - and that it will have grand new temples raised by workers from upriver, downriver, sunrise and sunset. Rumors say that Kingpriest is angry at all the priests and gods of all the Two Lands.

Yesterday at noon you arrived in the bustling great city of Menefer, and by sunset you had crossed the river on a ferry to rest in Saqqara, where you had business with the priests of Osiris. You rested in the public gardens, wrapped tight in your blankets under the clear purple night lit by the heatless glow of Iah and Hathor's Girdle. You had planned to attend the temple at sunrise, according to the customary rites. But in the middle of the night there was commotion out among the tombs, around the temple site: torches and shouting. Morning found disheveled priests of Osiris disconsolate and cold in the gardens, begging for breakfast from your supplies. Kingpriest's soldiers had expelled the priests from the temple!

It was the custom of the times that people from Menefer and the surrounding nomes would bury their loved ones in the lesser tombs of Saqqara, under the comforting shadows of the ancient pyramids. Also custom to visit the tomb at the anniversary of death. By mid-day, those who had gone out to the tombs at dawn were coming back to Saqqara, terrified. The honored dead were risen from their sleep and wandering among ten thousand tombs.

Spoiler: Questions:

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• what business did each of you have with the priests of Osiris?
• did you know each other before arriving in Saqqara?
• what do you think of the priests being expelled?
• what do you think about the risen dead?

Discuss in character.

[dojango]

Tarkasan had woken up in the morning after an uneasy night's sleep. He had come here to search for work-crews to direct towards the temple of Astarte that was a-building in Memphis. However, the commotion outside, the priests turned out of their temples, made it seem that his task was doomed to failure. It worried him. To see the proud brought so low. An upsetting of the natural order of things. If the kingpriest didn't fear the gods, what might that mean for him? He was a guest at the king's table, so to speak, and his rank and privileges could be withdrawn as easily as those of the priests were. But if such thinking troubled him, more worrying was the tales of the risen dead. There was devilish sorcery at work, either that of the kingpriest of these exiled priests making trouble. He might not understand priestly matters, but something risen could be laid low again. Looking around, he saw a few familiar faces from the capital. The veteran charioteer, Anki, whose martial skill perhaps eclipsed his own. He had ridden along with him before, at training. The strange physician, Shaimose, who would join the hunting parties of the nobles. And the young priestess, Neis, who would ride along with the chariots. He turned to the low-born soldier, Anki. "Gather your weapons. This troubles me, and I would see it with my own eyes before reporting back to Memphis."

[Captain Cap]

It should have been an ordinary trip for Shaimose, with him visiting some place to do some research (he had heard that the priests of Saqqara were in possession of an interesting tome about the dead), but the events unraveled were far from ordinary: first, the priests expulsion from the temple, ''Guess they can't provide me with the tome anymore,'' then the news of the dead walking among the livings. ''Maybe last night I shouldn't have made that joke about the turmoil at the tombs.''
The situation was grim for sure, but Shaimose couldn't help feeling excitation over such an extraordinary happening, much more baffling than its very cause; as a man of reason, he was perfectly aware that correlation doesn't imply causation, but if the gods were angry, the priests mistreatment definitely played a role: Akhenaten's boundless arrogance finally came back to bite him, too bad he probably wasn't going to be the only one to suffer the consequences of his inconsiderate actions.
Whatever the truth was, the affair merited investigation; luckily for Shaimose, an old acquaintance of his was there too, Tarkasan the Driver, a competent individual.''Tarkasan, my friend, is this by any chance a special kind of hunt organized by the king?''

[Ramsus]

Neis had come here to meet with the priests of Osiris to do her part in arranging an alliance between the priests of all the faiths to prevent just the kind of thing that had happened to them. Unfortunately the Kingpriest was acting more boldly and rashly than they had expected. Hearing about the dead rising in protest just convinced Neis for sure that this was the right direction.
Unfortunately this was now a situation with a lot of attention on it. She would have to delay a meeting with the priests and pretend to act in the interests of the Kingpriest for now.

She'd also had some person business, a creative (and likely costly) use of Heka she had been hoping to get some assistance with. But it seemed that that would perhaps have to wait a bit. Though hopefully not too long if she was going to wind up in battle against masses of the risen dead.

Then she noticed Tarkasan call for Anki, both warriors she had given Ishtar's blessing before. She did not recognize the other man who approached Tarkasan though. Still this was a good group to blend in with. She walked over to Tarkasan with a smile. "Ah, it is you afterall Tarkasan! Did I hear you call for Anki Thicklimbs just now? What a fortuitous thing to meet you both off the battlefield. And who is your friend? He does not have the air of a soldier about him."

[dojango]

The physician's question blindsides Tarkasan for a few moments. "A... hunt? What strange powers would the kingpriest have to call up the dead for us to hunt? Or to call up us for the dead to hunt?" He shakes his head at the notion. Four heroes, no matter how brave, would surely be overwhelmed and left for dead in such a bizarre scenario. "Neis, this is one of the court physicians, Shaimose. Shaimose, this is Neis, a priestess of the goddess Astarte, the morning star."

[Tibbius]

To the west, among the tombs, the hot white light of the noon sun glimmered in clouds of yellow dust that hovered around the bases of the pyramids and above the roofs of the mastabas. Even at a mile's distance, the four acquaintances discerned movement.

Among the huts and two-story apartments of the little town that supported the temple complex and housed the workers who built the tombs and carved the decorations, local citizens gathered in clusters, talking animatedly and gesturing toward the tombs. A throng of tomb-tourists were gathered down by the bank of the River, waiting for a ferry. They all seemed bewildered by the dozens of white-robed priests who were gathered near the public garden.

The priests conferred and sent a young well-shaven representative toward Tarkasan, Shaimose, Anki, and Neis. He raised his hand palm forward and bowed his head as he approached. "Good day, sister," he addressed Neis. "I see by your jewelry that you are a servant of Ishtar. You find us dismayed in Saqqara. Akhenaten's goons have thrown us from the Osiris Temple. From where do you come?"

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: OoC - Combat rules

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I decided to implement some combat options.

Spoiler: OoC - Heka rules

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I also made some changes to rules for use of Heka.

Which - to be clear - the italicized portions will not be applicable to this game.

[Ramsus]

Spoiler

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Where is a reasonable place for Neis to come from? Dojango's comments have confused me a little. Though even without that I still wouldn't know where I suppose.

Edit: I'm a little annoyed you changed the rules on Heka use after we'd made our characters and started the game. It actually invalidates part of the post I made before since I noted wanting to do a third circle thing... which I now just can't do.
Also pretty sure I'm not the only person you nerfed without warning by doing that.

I don't feel like making combat more complex was necessary.

[dojango]

Spoiler

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Ah, yes. Whether or not Astarte and Ishtar are different goddesses with similar characteristics or the same goddesses seen through the lens of different cultures is a difficult question. So at first I called Ishtar a foreign goddess because Ishtar/Innana is the Sumerian/Babylonian fertility & war goddess while Astarte is the Phoenician & Hurrian fertility & war goddess. But then I remembered Tarkasan doesn't have access to wikipedia, so he'd probably just assume they were the same and so I switched it. Astarte has a temple in Memphis as well, that was built during the reign of Amonhotep III (this guy's predecessor) so my backstory is that he's been helping them find workers after the kingpriest swiped them all.

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: OoC

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Ok - let's revert the Heka rules to anyone with a Priest career can use any circle.

The combat options are ... optional. At a player's request. I don't plan to have any NPCs make use of them because I don't want to be bothered. If any player wants to use them, I will make the effort to keep track of modifiers to NPC rolls affecting that player's character. Otherwise, just ignore them.

Neis easily could be from Menefer, or from the island now called Philae. There was a temple of Isis there and before Isis it could have been Ishtar.

[Ramsus]

Spoiler

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@dojango: Before you edited your post (which I didn't see you did until just now), you'd noted Ishtar as "foreign" which was confusing since.... she was on the list of egyptian gods Tibbius provided.

@Tibbus: Ok thanks. (Also I forgot those were priest-only options to begin with.)
As far as the combat, ok that makes sense. If someone requested something I can't really complain you added it.

When you say "Menefer" do you mean the part on the map that's labeled "mn nfr"? (Just east of Memphis.)

[Tibbius]

Spoiler: OoC

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@Ramsus

Ishtar's interesting among the Egyptian deities. She's originally from Babylon and Sumer, their supreme deity. The Egyptians adopt her as a lesser goddess of war, love, and sex about fifteen hundred years before game time, she becomes a bigger deal about seven hundred years after game time.

Menefer is just the old Egyptian name for what the Greeks called Memphis about a thousand years after the time of this game.

[Ramsus]

Spoiler

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Ah ok then. That location makes sense to me.

[Tibbius]

Accepting Neis' gesture over her shoulder and quiet reply "Over the River," the priest smiled. "Oh Menefer, the white walled splendor," he said. "Many of your temple came here in their slumber. I am afraid that now they walk among the tombs." He gestured to the shining limestone ridge and to the yellow sand that lightly blanketed the distant tombs upon it. A slow procession of lurching figures approached the town from the tombs.

[Ramsus]

Spoiler

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When you say they're approaching, how far away are we talking? Minutes? Hours? Days?

[gryffydd65]

Anki Anki had made the trek to Menefer to pay homage to his Uncle, as the eldest son , it fell to him every year as his father could no longer make the trip. He was to make it to the tomb along with everyone who had relatives. But the news disturbed him, the dead moving about. His only consolation was his old friends, the priestess he didn't know and he always found himself tongue tied around women not related. He gathered his armor and weapons having slept with only a light blanket. He waited to be addressed by the representative eager to find out what he and the others could do.

[dojango]

Tarkasan stared incredulously at the approaching figures. "You say the dead walk amongst the tombs? Where is the nomarch? Why are the constables not here? Are you not guardians of the tombs? What do the auguries tell you? Very well. I will talk to the nomarch. You beseech the gods for guidance. Let us meet back in town. Anki, come with me. Master Shamoise, Miss Neis. Perhaps you should accompany us?" he says, with impatience towards the priest's representative. With that, he finishes buckling on his armor and girds his loins, and then strides off towards the nomarch's residence.

[Tibbius]

The young priest clenched his hands together. "The nomarch may be arguing with the captain of Kingpriest's soldiers," he said, "or he may be drunk. Or maybe both. I am too junior to read auguries, and anyway the sacrificial altar stands in the temple wherefrom we were displaced. I think the constables are busy keeping order by the ferry." He pointed toward the throng a mile distant along the river bank, where a noise of discontent clamored. "I think the High Priest has been arrested. Maybe he is with the nomarch?"

Meanwhile the slow parade of shuffling figures closer crept from the ridge of tombs a half mile from town.

[Captain Cap]

Spoiler

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Can we give an estimate of their pace?

[Ramsus]

"Very well, I suppose we'll check on the nomarch then." Neis replies with a shrug, it being evident on her face that she thinks this is a bad situation that's almost certainly going to get worse.

[Tibbius]

"Well," said the junior priest, "you'll find him where you came from." He pointed across the river valley to the white walled city Menefer, up on the bluffs above the soft ground of the farmlands. "They say he doesn't leave the lesser palace often." The two palaces of Menefer seemed small in comparison to the city itself, and one smaller than the other. The bigger was the ancient seat of Kingpriests; the lesser was the nomarch's.

Tarkasan had spent his time in Menefer at Kingpriest's court in service of the princess, and had never had a reason to enter the nomarch's palace, though he had heard and even seen from the outside that it was in need of repairs. He was not sure why Kingpriest tolerated the nomarch's debauched approach to governance. It was said that before making any important decision, the nomarch would sip wine to the honor of each god whom he could think of. There were countless gods.

Neis likewise knew little of the nomarch. She had heard he occasionally visited the temple, but had performance problems possibly due to his constant intoxication. He was childless and wifeless, contrary to Ma'at for those of his age. She was not sure why the priests of Ptah had not made a move to replace him.

Anki and Shaimose knew nothing about the nomarch aside from the rumors that the junior priest had just unfolded. Shaimose, in any case, was focused more on the cloud of dust that hung over the procession coming from the tombs. Watching their shuffling progress, he estimated about half an hour before they reached the busy village of Saqqara. They already were passing the Osiris Temple ... if his eyes could be believed, some had broken from the front of the parade and were entering there.

[dojango]

"Dark sorcery is afoot." He spat on the ground. "Once those raiders reach the town there will be panic. We should go to the town and rally the militia to keep them at bay. From there we can send word back to the high priests in Memphis and they can beseech the gods for aid. You priests, will you come with us, or stay here?"

[Captain Cap]

Shaimose joined the discussion, ''The dead will get here in half an hour at most, so we must use our time efficiently: while I'd love to meet the nomarch, a priest and a noble courtier like you, Tarkasan, are surely enough to deal with him; on the other hand, someone needs to properly assess the situation and the nature of these ... moving corpses.'' The physician turned to the taciturn soldier, ''If the rumors I've heard are true, you Anki are one of the best charioteers in the Black Land: with a pair of horses, we could safely approach the horde and come back in a couple of minutes ...'' he stopped to reflect, an idea in his mind, ''and ... does any of you have a rope?''

[Ramsus]

She shakes her head on the subject of rope. She'd brought her own chariot and horses, but no rope. Looking at her chariot and Tarkasan's and said, "At least we'll be able to get there with haste, if you can make up your mind about where we're going."

[dojango]

"It may be too risky to split up. If you think this is necessary, Shaimose, we will do it. They will find out in the village soon enough."

[gryffydd65]

Anki smiled at the compliment, I will drive and access the situation, who will join me?

[Captain Cap]

''I'll gladly be your passenger, Anki,'' Shaimose could barely contain the excitement for the extraordinary experience ahead of them. ''It's going to be risky, that's for sure, but a better insight into the threat is too valuable; moreover, the dead seem to be rather slow, and even if the magic that permeates them makes it possible for their decaying limbs to sprint, they won't catch up with a speeding chariot.''

[Tibbius]

Decided on their next action, the heroes set about gathering their hobbled horses and hitching them to the chariots, which rested on their poles.

Spoiler: Task rolls

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Anki Charioteer 3 Mind 0 Favored for chariots TN 9 - (3d6)[2][4][6](12)+3
Neis Charioteer 1 Mind 1 TN 9 - (2d6)[4][1](5)+2
Tarkasan Charioteer 2 Mind 1 TN 9 - (3d6)[2][4][2](8)+3

... please narrate your own results.

[gryffydd65]

Anki grabbed the reins and whipped the horse into a trot gathering speed as he left the others. Hold on Shaimoses and keep your eyes open.