Introduction

The Gods.

The Great God RA has left us. Tired of the squabbling of his children, the lesser gods, and his people, the mortals, he has retired to a higher place to contemplate what might be. RA himself no longer involves himself in the day to day dealings of the gods or the mortals, but a part of him remains, watching, returning each day as the Sun to keep an eye on things. At night though he rests and those things that might fear RA’s burning gaze venture forth.

The Pantheon used in this game is: Atum/RA, Geb, Isis, Nut, Osiris, Nephthys, Seth, Shu, and Tefnut as the major gods. Anubis, Bast, Bes, Hapi, Hathor, Horus, Khonsu, Monthu, Nefertem, Neith, Ptah, Renenutet, Sekhmet, Serket, Seshat, Sobek, Thoth and Upuat as the lesser gods. (27 gods in all, 3x3x3) There are plenty of other candidates for inclusion if you wanted over the classical three kingdoms. Egyptian mythology was very dynamic and adaptive.

There are plenty of sources for what happened next on the web, the following is a very quick synopsis of the story line to set up this world’s scenario.

The two brothers Osiris and Seth (or Set) vied for dominance of the divine court, with Osiris winning. Seth plotted to kill his brother, and twice managed to do so, the last time carving Osiris body into 14 parts and scattering them across the world. Each time however Isis restored her husband back to life. Osiris then confronted Seth and banished him from the Court. Seth has since then wandered the burning deserts and fermented rebellion amongst the other gods and plots to slay his brother yet again.

In Aegyptvs the gods are real, and can have a real world effect. They are forbidden to actually physically appear on the mortal plane, but they can affect the broader elements such as the weather. They can also appear in the form of an Avatar, a mortal possessed by a part of a divine being and manifesting some, but not all, of their powers.

The Recent History Of Aegyptvs.

Until the time when Seth was banished, the kingdom of Aegyptvs was one, the Pharaoh ruling from the White Walled City of Memphis in the Lower Kingdom. Only occasional external threats posed any disruption to the Kingdom. Kushite fanatics from the south, Numidian and Libyan raiders from the west, Phoenician pirates from the north east. Occasionally an invader might come from the kingdoms to the north east but the desert and power of the kingdom had been enough to counter these.

Fifty years ago Seth began his plans to over throw Osiris and ordered his priesthood to move to the city of Thebes in the Upper Kingdom. Here they undermined the local government and eventually managed to get a governor who was a faithful servant of Seth. At this time he rebelled from the Pharaoh in Memphis and installed himself as a new Pharaoh under the protection of Seth. The old kingdom was effectively split in two between the two major cities of Memphis and Thebes.

The Pharaoh in the north at the time was a weak ruler, and rather than raise an army and smash the upstart he allowed advisors to sway his thoughts and attempted to negotiate the situation. This only strengthened the rebels position and allowed him to secure control of many of the upper cities. To make matters worse several more independently minded governors between the two Pharaohs seized the chance to declare themselves free of the control of either ruler.

Since then the situation has stalemated into a status quo. Neither side has been willing to commit to an expensive war of invasion that would involve defeating the larger free cities between the two nations, and then the opponents army itself. Surprise is almost impossible. To make matters worse the split nation has attracted increased activity from historical enemies, Kush in the south and the Phoenicians in the north.

In the mean time new enemies have emerged to the far north that may soon be a problem. The warlike states of the Hittites and the Horse Princes of the Mitanni have arisen and are quickly expanding their borders. Hopefully they will expand into each other before they become an issue for Aegyptvs.

The Current State Of Affairs.

Ramases VII rules in the north from his capital in Memphis. A generation of weak advisers, undermined by Sethian gold, has resulted in a weak and corrupt bureaucracy, unable to and unwilling to challenge the southern breakaway state, let alone the rebel cities. The Pharaoh is middle aged and reportedly of ill health. He also has only 2 daughters, no male heirs.

Rakmanaset II, The Iron Pharaoh, rules in Thebes, terrorising his people through his ruthless and dark theocracy. No one dares to challenge the avatar of Seth or his dark priests. He has begun to build an army and has made the decision to invade the north. He has sent emissaries to the Hittites and the Mitanni to open contacts with them in the hope they may be of some use. He also sends gold to the Libyans and the Numidians to incite them to raid the north. The only thing he may not be able to control is the Kushites to his south, but they are currently shattered and fighting an internal war.

The Rebel Cities: Amarna, Asyut and Abydos, along with the lesser cities nearby, continue to claim neutrality, but even they can see the writing on the wall. They have begun looking at the possibility of forming a Middle Kingdom to thwart any threat from the two major states. The chances of this happening however depend very strongly on the Dwarves of Atard and Gworn joining with the other cities in a united front. This isn’t very likely at this stage.

The Dwarven Cities Of Atard And Gworn.

The dwarves have always lived mostly apart from the humans, and mostly in their two great cities of Atard and Gworn. Protected from the ebb and flow of politics on the Nile due to their location, they have remained in peace for over 1000 years. They have dug deeper and deeper into the rock and created cities that are the stuff of legends, even if they aren’t all that appealing to the human senses. Closely aligned and respectful of the Pharaohs of the past they have always been free to decide their own fate.

In the current situation they have strongly maintained their position of neutrality, although underneath they oppose Seth and his Iron Pharaoh. Approaches from the rebel cities are heard but the chances of the dwarves being drawn into a war with two other kingdoms are small.

The Elves And The Ashrak.

The elves have always been small in their numbers and with no central body or home city that stands as the leadership of their race. Elves are loosely scattered over most of Aegyptvs and the surrounding lands and pose no threat militarily. What they do have is influence, elves are not only a very long lived race, they are a very rich race, both in gold and knowledge and influence. Every court of every land has a few elves present as advisors. Every major city has a small but powerful group of elvish merchants. And everywhere people tend to listen to the words of the elves.

The Ashrak are nomads of the deserts and wildlands, shunned by most humans as barbarians and savages. They dislike cities and the close proximity they require, instead seeking the open lands and the wind and sky, free to be whatever they chose to be. What they are good at however is war. Ashrak mercenary companies are much sort after by people who want the best soldiers money can buy. They are notoriously loyal but also notoriously brutal. Because of this they are feared and admired, depending on which end of their attention you are at. Normally the Ashrak are small in numbers, the vast majority of their people remaining out in the desert lands. The looming scent of war however has drawn larger numbers of them into the Nile kingdoms, numbers that might influence the result of battle.

The Surrounding Peoples.

Aegyptvs is surrounded by hostile peoples who envy the fertile lands and the constant source of clean water that is the Nile. To the south are the Kush, a race of humans who worship a single god (monotheistic) called Garm. The followers of Garm want only wealth and worldly possessions, greed is good. They are fanatical about it and every hundred years they tend to sweep north out of their lands and into the Upper Kingdom, looting and pillaging as they go. Most of the other times they are fighting internal wars amongst themselves.

To the west are the desert races of the Numidians and the Libyans. The Numidians survive in the deep desert and worship a form of Isis and believe in the mythical Unseen Valley of Isis and its promises of paradise on earth. The Libyans reside more along the coastal areas. Both races are hardened nomadic tribal peoples, well adapted to the desert and its challenges. They have no central government or binding identity, at best minor warlords achieve short periods of dominance of some portions of the peoples and lead them to raid Aegyptvs for pillage.

To the east is Arabia and another tribal nomadic desert race, the Arabs. These people are very spread out and rarely pose a threat to the kingdom of the Nile. They are however a good source of exotic trade goods from further east.

North east are the lands of the Phoenicians, actually more the cities of the Phoenicians. The Phoenicians are a maritime people, expert sailors and supreme traders. They arrived from unknown lands some 500 years ago and invaded all along the coastline of the Great Sea. Where they landed within the kingdom of the nile they were resisted and retreated back to their ships. Elsewhere they stayed and founded great cities. Carthage, Tyre, Sidon, Tripoli and Biblos are all Phoenician cities. The Phoenicians are a rich people and their cities reflect this. Since their initial landings they have rarely taken any interest in war unless there was an easy profit to be made. The Phoenicians have no single king, each city is ruled by a local lord. When required however the cities will all support each other.

The Distant Kingdoms.

The Hitties: a warrior race who appeared from central modern day Turkey. The Hittites have conquered as they expanded and now control an empire of considerable size. They presently reach down to the city of Ugarit, which they conquered some 5 years ago. Since then they have come into contact with the Horse Princes and an uneasy détente has resulted. The Hittites have discovered the secret of working iron, something only the dwarves used to be able to do. This has given them a strong technological advantage over their enemies who still use bronze.

Horse Princes of the Mitanni: another warrior race descended from the horse nomads of the asian steppes. They swept into the region (Mesopotamia) some 50 years ago and captured and founded several cities, particularly Aleppo and Carchemish. The Horse Princes are not a unified nation, consisting of several princes each ruling a city or region. They come together for defence and attack purposes. They are famed horsemen, but to a large extent still continue using the chariot as the favoured means of battle for the nobility. They do have cavalry forces, and particularly have a fair quantity of Scythian horse archers in their service.

Lydia: a greek state based around the capital of Lydia. One of the early kings of Lydia was the legendary Midas (of the Midas touch), and because of this Lydia is very rich in gold. Lydia has a powerful military machine, including a noble cavalry arm with armoured horses, but they are not overly expansionistic. This could change with the right King of course.

Crete: another greek based civilisation (although one could argue that the Greeks are Cretan based). Cretan civilisation is highly evolved and their scholars are amongst the best in the known worlds. Their capital, Knossos, is a marvel to behold and the Great Maze of the Minotaur is legendary.

Greeks (Ionians): on the mainland of Greece are three growing city states, Sparta, Athens and Thebes. At this time in the history they are nothing like what they eventually become, but they are a source of good infantry.

Syracuse: this city state was built by Greeks and for the most part can be considered to be greek, but they have absorbed a fair amount of local, Carthaginian and Roman culture to become a true cosmopolitan city. They trade heavily with Carthage and the two cities prosper because of it.

Babylon: a rising power in the far east is the city of Babylon, sitting between the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris River. It is famous for its Hanging Gardens. Babylonians are excellent archers and powerful chariots.

Assyria: another rising power in the east, based around the cities of Azzur and Ninevah. The Assyrians are a very aggressive race and their god Ashur is a powerful wargod.

The Eye Lords: also called the Slaver Lords, these monstrosities are based around their City of the Eye, but many of them have founded smaller enclaves, such as on Cyprus and the Slaver cities of Famagusta and Episkopi. Eye Lords are totally inhuman. They are a giant mollusc with a huge central eye,and tentacles, living in a giant oyster shell. The are mostly immobile and require access to sea water to survive, but some of them manage to move around quite a bit. All Eye Lords are powerful arcane casters. Eye Lords are able to dominate the minds of humans if given enough time and turn them into obedient slaves, hence their reputation.

People And Places Of Interest.

The Great Pyramid of Ra: legend says that RA built the first pyramid as a place he could rest at when on the mortal plane. Since he has removed himself the pyramid remains unused. Nobody has seen the Great Pyramid, but everyone knows it is out there, far into the desert, somewhere. And it is full of treasures.

The Unseen Valley of Isis: paradise on earth is what Isis was said to have created, but only for the truly devoted. A valley of perfect weather, unlimited water and supremely fertile soil. They only problem is that nobody has seen it for quite some time, not since the gods left the physical world. Legends says there is a key however for whomever is able to find it.

The Drahg: a race of dragon headed humanoids who live around the Drahg Mord, a large volcano to the far south west. The Drahg are fire based creatures and abhor water, it is said that lava runs in their veins rather than blood. They worship RA alone.

The Ssra: a race of snake people, some say the first creations of Seth. They are evil personified. They have a city out in the desert to the south west. The Ssra are large creatures, when fully matured they are 3-4 times the size of a man, and it is said they are able to swallow a man whole. They are also feared arcane casters and priests of Seth.

Sarat: a free city of refuge for slaves on the run.

The 6 sacred oasis of the Sahara – Siwa, Natrun, Bahariya, Dakhla, Kharga and Dunqul.

The Cities of the Levant: running north up the coast from Aegyptvs are a string of mostly Phoenician cities, beginning with Gaza and ending with Ugarit. Of these Tyre and Sidon are the largest and most powerful. With the exception of Ugarit, which is now controlled by the Hittites, each of the cities is a free state with a local ruler.

The Desert.

The desert is everywhere, even whilst standing in the waters of the Nile itself the sands of the desert will blow in on the wind to remind you of its all pervading presence.

On the map the areas coloured yellow are all desert areas, or more to the point, areas of little water. Deserts come in many forms, from sandy dunes to rocky mountains, but they all have one thing in common - a lack of water - and (in this region) severe heat during the day.

A few races have evolved, or learned, to survive in the desert. The Ashrak spend most of their life in the desert and are well suited to it. Other peoples, Numidians, Libyans, Nubians and Arabs have learned to live with the desert, adopting nomadic life styles. The average Aegyptian however would quickly perish in the hostile environment. Special rules for the desert are included later, but it is strongly suggested that all characters take some Survival skill.

The desert is not meant to be an overwhelming hurdle for players, particularly as they will be adventuring into it quite regularly. It is however a tool the GM can use to remind the players of the world they are living in, and the types of characters that are most suited for it. Good role playing will dictate that your characters should have some skill with handling the desert and the heat. Although I will include rules for somewhat random effects of the desert a GM should feel free to use them or NOT use them as the situation and story warrants.

One area that can be often be deliberately overlooked is transporting water. If the story doesn’t require the detail of whether the players have enough camels to carry all that water then don’t do it. If the players make reasonable efforts to provide themselves with food and water then let it go in the interests of playability. If you want them to die of dehydration, well that is another matter…