Mediterranean JeffStorm


It was a cold night in the desert. Ra's light had not touched the sands in some hours, and they had begun to feel the chill of death; a death that can only come after twilight. The 12 Hours of Night are Apep's domain, he who would swallow the sun and consume all the earth. Every night, by cosmic law, Ra had to descend into the earth to fight the Devourer of Worlds, and every dawn, he would emerge victorious.

But during the night, he could not aid those in Khemet, the Black Land, or any in the surrounding valleys. So it was that the messenger, without Ra's light for guidance, missed the signs to turn to the east, and stumbled, wearily and shivering, into a narrow chasm. Too late did he see that it was a cul-de -sac. Despair took him as the sound of jackals were heard in the distance, behind him.

Yet, it was not the jackals he feared.

Turning, he looked towards the entrance of the gorge he had wandered into. Seeing nothing, he went towards it, hand on the leather-wrapped grip of his khopesh.

'Amon protect me. Ra guide me. Horus defend me. Bast protect me.' Mumbled words between chattering teeth. Prayers of a faithful servant of the Gods--but he was not blessed this night. Another deity had seen to that.

As the courier stepped out of the mouth of the serpentine gouge in the cliffside, he sensed that he was not alone. With a numb sense of terror, he turned to his left. There stood a figure, like a man, that moved unlike a man. His two friends he had last seen with this man-thing, two friends who had trained in the arts of the blade, and who were holding such implements as they yelled at him to run. Two friends, he now knew, whose lifeblood had since soaked into the dry grains of the desert sand.

'You are alone now,' said the man-thing, in a sibilant voice, pregnant with menace. 'Pray as you will- -it will not sssave you from the 12 Hoursss of Night.'

A shaking voice, barely a whisper now--'Osiris protect me...' The man-thing, clad only in a breechclout, reached its hand to its hip... 'Anubis, guide me to the halls of the just...' A terrible squishing, ripping sound of flesh being peeled away from an unnatural body... 'Isis, bless me with the kiss of life...' From within the thigh, a blade--curved slightly, forked at the end, like a serpent's tongue... 'Hapi, bless me with the waters of life...' The form, coming closer, and the knife, seeming to writhe, ever so slightly, fresh fluid dripping from it like spittle... 'Hathor, allow me to dine in your halls...' A tongue, flicking out between unnaturally sharp teeth, smiling horribly... 'Ra, prote ...'

Golden eyes, slitted and shining like some serpentine god, had matched gaze with its mammallian prey. The man-thing moved hypnotically, flexible in a way that something of its size and shape could not...- should not-...be able to.

A curved blade with a leather-wrapped grip fell to the ground from a shaking hand. The messenger could not move a muscle, besides to shake in fear, like a mouse beneath the gaze of an asp.

A quick motion, almost too fast to see. The gray sand, lit only by a waning moon, was stained black. The body of the messenger hit the sand like a fallen stone, head at an unnatural angle, with a river of blood bridging the gap between chin and sternum. A second slash completed the job. From somewhere, the man-thing retrieved a bag, into which went the head of its victim, joining that of its two friends. In a day or two, they would be dried out, and the flesh would be scraped off. The mound of skulls would grow by three.
The body, it left, to be covered and forgotten by the sands--after, of course, the jackals had their fill.

One thousand leagues below the surface of the cold desert sands, the soul of the messenger found his two kin, and joined them in their screaming torment. As if to taunt his prayers, a spark of light could be seen. It appeared to be a million miles away--the sun-barge of Ra had already passed through this Hour of the Night. Dawn soon, above, and dusk below; and the demons would feast upon the ka's of the fallen.


The year: about 730 B.C.
The location: The lands within and surrounding the Medditerranean Sea

So far in the game:
Our characters met in Egypt and travelled to Thebes. Dahman needed to quest for his god Marduk about the return of the Evil Dragon Queen Goddess who is rumored to return to these lands. Sanura and Guns also travelled for religeous reasons - the Nile is drying up and it is believed that Set, the snake God has something to do with it. Menthes was sent to protect herand her cat. Zabibi was hired to bring camels to the King of Thebes. Once they arrived on the other side of the Mediterranean, they met with Canus who was hired to protect the camels so they would arrive safely in Thebes. The first night together, the party bore witness to a great plague that hit the inhabitants here in Greece. After assuring their own health, they moved onward, only to find Rats! Finally in Thebes, the party made their way to the Oracle at Delphi. After climing the steep path and before seeing her, the party was met with Thesselonians dressed in Spartain armor. They were given orders to kill us all, but we beat them to the punch. Now, given the opportunity, the party got to meet with the Oracle. She was inside of a volcanic cavern that stunk of sulfur, but was incredibly helpful to our quests - well, most of them. We learned that the King of Thebes is a nut case, we learned that The Great Serpent, the Great Betrayer and The Dragon Queen are all working together somehow. We have the potential to stop their destructive plans, but it's not guaranteed. There's a man who is controlling the rats who gains his power from the Dragon Queen. It is the power alone that he seeks. Lucky Sanura got a riddle to solve from the Oracle that she still needs to figure out. It took the party nearly 4 days travel to get back to Thebes where they met with Rat Dude! We were all about to leave when he shows up and sends 4 giant scarabs after us! AAAAAAH!
And that's where we left off....


Greece


Canus, ex-Spartain

Egypt


Sanura, Priestess of Bast
Guns Kluts, Follower of Bast and has 2 personalities
Menthes, bodyguard to Sanura

Babylon


Dahman, Paladin of Marduk

Romans


Nubians


Assyrians


Lybians


Persians


Palestinians


Bedouin Nomads


Zabibi, camel jockey

Hittites


Sumerians


Phoenecians


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