Chapter Four: Pagan Monuments (Birbah)

Egypt is famous for its many monuments, and as a local proverb avers, for every place there is a treasure.

The Seekers' Guild (Al-Matalibeen)

For centuries out of mind, brave explorers have been recovering riches from the monuments of Egypt. Many adventurers, too old or too wealthy to risk their lives seeking new plunder, encourage others to take to the trade. They write books, which are so popular they are available in most towns, or train apprentices, who always pay in advance. Even untrained men, made desperate by personal circumstances, try their hand at grave robbing; it's often fatal or futile, but there's always the chance that fate will smile. In some areas, digging for treasure is a popular sport, considered a plague by those who seek to preserve monuments.

Hundreds of years ago, during a time of drought or war, Egypt's impoverished rulers formalized this industry. Every person who wishes to ransack tombs must belong to the Guild of Seekers. Membership is purchased with an annual fee and a slice of the recovered treasure. This is currently 20% of all valuables found.

Membership has many benefits. Members have access to the guildhall in Cairo. It has an extensive library of seeker texts, which describe methods of disabling tomb defenses, give charms to ward off curses, give rote translations of important hieroglyphs, and describe common decoys and hiding places. This knowledge is covered by the Profession: Seeker Ability. Other texts, covering Area Lore, suggest locations, both cleared out (and thus ready for new residents) and not thoroughly looted. Older members of the guild train younger ones in useful skills. Members of repute can recruit teams of specialists to attempt noteworthy sites that have defeated earlier attempts at robbery. The guild is led by an emir, appointed by the sultan, often from among the most powerful of his councilors. Characters who regularly contribute money to the royal treasury have the ear of the emir, giving comparatively humble people access to the sultan's inner circle. They may also be selected as agents when the emir, or his allies, need tasks performed.

In high-fantasy sagas, the seekers have additional resources. Members may hire magic items recovered from tombs. The guild has supernatural allies, or even mystical members.

Yes Really: A Guild of Adventurers

Medieval Egyptians had an adventurers' guild, with a guildhall and licenses. They had a library of scrolls listing sites for members to loot, and books describing the beasts and traps found within. They trained each other, exchanged rumors about local sites, and constructed parties of specialists. Players new to Ars Magica, but familiar with other fantasy games may find the Guildhall of the Seekers a familiar environment from which to explore Mythic Africa. Old hands at the game may enjoy a refreshing change of pace.

Gourneh: Village of the Tomb Robbers

Many people take up tomb robbing outside the guild system. Poorer people, for example, cannot usually afford the annual fee before they begin prospecting. Others simply do not wish to pay 20% of their finds to the sultan. This supports a black market, which intertwines with the legitimate trade to ship artifacts out of the country, often by sale to wealthy pilgrims.

The finest tomb thieves come from a village called Gourneh, which is at Luxor. Its residents have been looting tombs since ancient times, when they were building them by day and emptying them at night. Older Gournehs train their grandchildren in excavation, tunneling, bargaining and disarming traps. They are not often skilled at combat, but can usually hire mercenaries to face guardians. When these mercenaries die, as they often do, it's considered a sign of skill to recover their corpses, and steal back the money already paid.

The families of Gourneh often infiltrate legitimate expeditions to tombs, seeking hire as laborers. A Gourneh summons his family if the tomb's excavation is complete and it is likely to be left unattended. The Gournehs consider themselves good Muslims, and so they do not kill tomb guards, but they may distract them from their duty, or drug their food. Gourneh families are extremely loyal to each other, and to their community as a whole, and could make interesting allies for a group of magi wealthy enough to keep their minds off theft.

Story Seeds For Treasure Hunters

Since every place has a treasure, every Egyptian knows there's gold to be had near treasure hunters.

Conman

A rich man seeks out the covenant for aid. A poor man of his acquaintance came to him with a handful of small gold amulets. The poor man told the rich one that he had uncovered a treasure, but needed money to purchase supplies and hire laborers to excavate it. The rich man gave the poor one a great deal of money, in exchange for half the treasure. The poor man has since disappeared.
The rich man is too embarrassed to go to the authorities, and asks the player characters to return his stolen money. The rich man has social status, and might make a useful ally, pawn, or front man, if aided.

The Destructive Jest

An enemy of the player characters has forged an ancient document which says a treasure is hidden under the covenant. Gangs of people try to sneak into the covenant to dig in the cellars. Neighbors begin tunneling under the buildings. Mobs form and try to storm the gates. Random people strike the walls of the covenant with picks as they walk past, in the hopes of striking a hollow in which gold lies. This particular trick has been used many times, and is famous in the country's ruling class, so its difficult to work out who is responsible for it. Perhaps the player characters can seek out the forger?

Government Agent

When digging for treasure, a government agent must be present. These clerks are not themselves always adventurers. In this story seed, a clerk who is unpopular with a nobleman is assigned to the characters when they visit a tomb known to be dangerous. Can they keep the terrified, unskilled man safe while they navigate the horrors of the tomb?

Monastery or Mosque

The characters have found an ancient scroll, which describes the location of a temple which they have not seen listed anywhere else. This increases the odds that it has not been disturbed. Like many temples, however, this one has been built over by either a monastery or a mosque. If the player characters approach the modern keepers of the site, either

they are welcomed, because the supernatural beings of the temple are still occasionally troublesome, and the modern inhabitants would like them destroyed.

they are banned from the site, and the player characters must find ways to sneak into the area, tunnel from neighboring buildings, or discredit the current keeper of the site, so that a more malleable one replaces him.

Naqeeb Al-Matalibeen (The Chairman of the Matalibeen)

The chairman of the Seekers Guild is elected by its members, subject to the approval of the emir. The player characters, if famous adventurers, are useful allies for any candidate for the role. Although elections are generally civil, sometimes the candidates attempt to thin the field with assassination. The members of the guild have access to strange poisons, ancient magic items, and can use their training in trap disarmament to construct devices that deal death. A player character who becomes chairman has access to all of the resources of the guild, provided he can keep the emir ignorant of his activities. A player character covenant that secretly rules the Guild of Adventurers is a potential saga seed.

Roman Notes

It is believed by many Egyptians that the Romans hid treasures before their armies withdrew from Egypt. They expected to return, retake the country, and recover their treasures, so they took detailed notes about the locations of their caches. They also carried away many Coptic, Greek and Chaldean books concerning the location of treasures. The Romans stored these books in the safest place they could imagine: the cathedral of Constantinople.
In 1204, this building was sacked by crusaders. Most of the Arabs who know this believe the notes were stolen by the Franks. They are sure that, eventually, the people who now possess the books will try to use them. Common people might aid the new owners, in the hope of keeping some of the treasure. Officials want to steal the books, for the good of the realm, and to save the thief from dangers he cannot comprehend.
Characters using magic to make gold might be imagined the keepers of the stolen Roman books. This attracts great support from the peasant and merchant class, but offends noblemen.

The Treasure of Qarun

Qarun was a wealthy man from Moses's time. He was so rich that he built a treasure house, which was so magnificent that he required a train of powerful slaves just to carry its keys. God, finding the pride of the man repulsive, pushed the treasure house deep into the sands. It has never been rediscovered.
This treasure is often spoken of by seekers. It is, from their perspective, perfect. It was buried, but not on the instructions of its owner. Its defenses are likely weak compared to those protecting dead kings. The location of the keys is recorded somewhere in the library. Player characters with some clue as to the location of this treasure find many young seekers eager to help, and many cynical older seekers who chased the treasure while young. God repeated the trick with the treasure house of the pharaoh of Moses. It, similarly, has never been found, even though its precise location is known. This may indicate the presence of a Divine regio.

Clusters of Tombs

Various Egyptian dynasties were buried in different places along the length of Egypt. The exact chronology of the tombs is a little mystifying to even learned Egyptians. It is considered pious to learn this history, and some of the older Coptic monks may have untangled it entirely.

The Structure of Tombs

The afterlife of the Egyptians is the Field of Reeds, a part of the Magic Realm where the ghosts (ka) of the Egyptian dead dwell in great comfort. Unlike Christian people who go to their Heaven and dwell eternally in bliss, a ghost that travels to the Field of Reeds cannot remain there indefinitely. It is required to return to the mortal world at least once a year for nourishment, during which time it reminds itself who it used to be through the offerings and inscriptions left behind in the tomb. A ghost that does not do this risks losing its memories and becoming a mut, or else fading away entirely. Each tomb, then, is a machine designed to maintain the integrity of the ghost. Most tombs rest within Magic auras (see insert), which facilitates the passage to and from the Field of Reeds.

Each tomb, at its least elaborate, has two rooms, housing three essential parts. These are: the mortuary chapel, which is where offerings to feed the ghost are left by its descendants; the serdab, which is the home of the ghost on Earth; and the sepulcher, where the body is kept. In the simplest tombs, the serdab is included in either the sepulcher or the chapel. The chapel is designed for mortal access, but the other two elements are defended by barriers, wards, traps and guardians.

Mortuary Chapel

At least once a year, the ghost is required to return to the mortal realm and partake of mortal food, to restore its strength in the Field of Reeds, so a small room at the front of most tombs is set aside for this purpose. This is the only room which is easily entered by mortals. These are usually priests or descendants, who bring offerings for the sustenance of the dead. The spirit of the dead person enters this room, after the visitors have gone, to consume the spiritual energy of their offerings.

In later tombs, a desire for greater security for the grave goods altered the chapel's form. In some tombs it is merely a niche at the entry, with an offering table. The niche stands in front of a symbolic door, which cannot be opened. In others, the chapel is detached from the tomb.

The chapel always includes a statue of the tomb's inhabitant. A popular depiction is of the person, standing upright, walking out of a false door, into the chapel. In other chapels the dead person is seated in state. This is a convenience for the ghost: when the supplicants leave, it can animate that particular statue, as consuming the spiritual sustenance it requires is easier in material form.

In later tombs, a couple of changes occurred which made life easier for the descendants. A method was discovered of feeding ghosts using representations of food. Initially these were placed as statues in the chapel, then later they were represented by paintings in the sepulcher, where they were less likely to be disturbed by tomb robbers. A method of simplifying prayers to the dead was also devised. In early tombs, descendants would give sacrifices to gods on the basis that the gods would pass on some portion of the sacrifice to the ancestor. In later tombs, stelae were placed outside the tomb, commanding gods to provide certain, often exorbitant, provisions for the dead. These were triggered when passers-by read them.

A Note on Tombs

Sagas vary in their tone, so this chapter presents a guide for the construction of simple, realistic tombs, and for the labyrinthine necropolises of treasure seeker manuals. Troupes may include tombs of various types within a single saga. Assume the simpler tombs were constructed earlier, when the technologies of tomb defense were less developed, as the resting places of less wealthy individuals, or after Egypt had suffered a long drought.

Serdab

The second room is a private space for the dead person's spirit to inhabit. The serdab is often buried in the masonry of the tomb, with no passage of human size permitting access. It is filled with grave goods. These include either real objects or representations of everything the dead person needs in the afterlife. Except in early serdabs, made before this technology was developed, the walls of this area are covered with depictions of useful things. An Egyptian ghost can manifest, as part of its ethereal form, any item found in its grave goods or depicted on its tomb walls, provided they have not been stolen or defaced. These items can, at the ghost's discretion, affect mortals. After the idea of depiction became popular, it was taken to extremes. Many walls show fields full of agricultural laborers, growing food and drink for their dead master.

Stele

The serdab also contains a doorway (a stele) to Duat, the afterlife which contains the Field of Reeds. The stele is a vestige, usually aligned to the Form of Mentem. The stele takes the form of a linteled door facing west. Generally the stele is merely the representation of a door; the ghost walks through it in a spiritual rather than physical sense. In some tombs, the stelae are tiny representations, because the ghost does not need to physically enter and so their size does not matter. In the very early tombs, this is instead a narrow passage, a few inches wide, punched through the western wall of the tomb from the serdab outward.

In early tombs the stele is unadorned. In slightly later tombs the name of the person appears on the stele, perhaps to prevent ghosts using each other's stelae to steal grave goods. Over time the decoration became more complicated. Late stelae include the name and biography of the dead person, and hints for them about how to live in the afterlife. These hints sometimes include spells, or, at least, incantations that the creatures of the Field of Reeds accept as binding them to act in certain ways.

Guardians of Graveyards

Some creatures guard an entire graveyard, not a specific tomb. Characters are less likely to meet these beings than the guardians of the particular tomb they are attempting to enter. The use of powerful magic in the graveyard may draw them to the entrance of the tomb in which the player characters are active, to ambush the characters as they emerge.

Canocephalus Decapitators

These are the spirits which dissuade most people from tomb robbing. Decapitators are more active at night, and often appear in pairs.
Faerie Might: 25 (Animal)
Characteristics: Cun +5, Per +3*, Pre 0, Com n/a, Str +7, Sta Tireless, Dex +2, Qik +3
Size: +2
Virtues and Flaws: Greater Powers x2 (Chilling Laugh or Howl, Damaging Effect, Decapitate), Huge; Feast of the Dead (recovers 2 Might when it inflicts a Heavy Wound or greater), Hybrid Form, Improved Initiative x2 *; Incognizant, Traditional Ward (Removal of the medallions – see accompanying story hook).
\* Included in statistics given below.
Personality Traits: Hates defilers +5
Reputations: Homicidally Territorial 5 (General)
Combat:
2 knives**: Init +5, Attack +11, Defense +8, Damage +12***
Bite: Init +7, Attack +8, Defense +7, Damage +8***
\* If a pack of these creatures gather to defend a graveyard they fight as a trained group.
\** These knives are large enough to use the statistics for shortswords, for smaller characters, but are still a Brawling weapon in the hands of the huge guardians of graveyards.
\*** Does not include +5 for Damaging Effect.
Soak: +6 (Light Egyptian armor – boots, pectoral, greaves)
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–7), –3 (8–14), –5 (15–21), Incapacitated (22–28), Dead (29+)
Pretenses*: Athletics 5 (chasing), Awareness 5 (intruders), Brawl 5 (knives), Hunt 5 (in graveyards)
\*See Realms of Power: Faerie or just use equivalent Abilities.
Powers:
Chilling Howl: 4 points, Init +1, Corpus: Completely paralyses characters who hear the creature's war cry. Some report the cry sounds like the howl of a wolf, others that it sounds like the mocking laughter of the hyena, others that it sounds like the chitter of a setbeast. (Base 5, +2 Voice, +2 Sun, +2 Group)
Damaging Effect, 2 points, Init –2, By weapon. Causes all of the creature's weapons to become exceptionally sharp for the next two minutes. Damage +5. (Base 5, +1 Part, +1 Diameter) Base is lower than Hermetic level, as per Realms of Power: Faerie page 58.
Decapitate, 4 points, Init –2, Corpus: Cleanly removes the head of a victim struck in combat. (Base 40 (instant death) +1 Touch, 5 levels on cost)

Guardians of Graveyards (Cont'd)

Equipment: Knives of obsidian or alchemically-toughened bronze. Armor or clothes in the Egyptian style, jewelry.
Vis: 5 pawns in the skull of a dog or hyena, found after the body disintegrates at death.
Appearance: This is a medieval interpretation of seals showing the god Anubis. Imagine a fit warrior, with the head of a jackal and a savage expression, surrounded by the corpses of his decapitated enemies.

Story Seed: Medallion Removal

Many of the statues in each graveyard have medallions around their necks. Each medallion shows one of these creatures surrounded by bound and decapitated victims. Seals with the same design are also found on tomb doors, and other architectural features. The absence of these seals almost entirely prevents attack by the decapitators, while skulking around at night in graveyards is substantially more dangerous near these medallions. A character wanting to rob a tomb may visit the graveyard during the day, when the decapitators are less active, and try to remove or deface these medallions, without the humans who watch over the graveyard discovering their vandalism.

Great Guardian of the Tombs

Each of the great Egyptian necropolises has a protective spirit, which is extremely powerful but rarely intervenes. Magi using spells in the graveyard might draw a guardian from its sleep. The most powerful is the guardian for Gizeh, called the Father of Dread. This great effigy of Harmarchis, Horus at Dawn, is called the Sphinx by Greek scholars. The statue faces the opposite direction to that reported by Herodotus, but no-one recalls when it changed position, or why. Between the statue's forepaws is a small Divine aura, which appeared when Mary laid the infant Christ in the shadows here, as they rested. It may be this Divine aura which has locked the Father of Dread in place. It no longer grants predictions to the common person, or moves to give warnings of grave worldly events, but it has found a subtle way to continue protecting the tombs.
The Father of Dread is not designed as a player character.

The Father of Dread

Faerie Might: 65 (Animal)
Characteristics: Cun +3, Per +2, Pre –3, Com –3, Str +26, Sta +3, Dex +2, Qik –9
Size: +10 (75 feet tall)
Virtues and Flaws: Ferocity, Huge, Immune to Fire, Sovereign Ward (The Divine), Hybrid Form, Personal Power (Extend Glamour), Time of Power (adds 10 Might while the Sun touches the horizon); Incognizant.
Personality Traits: Ferocity +5, Guardian of the dead +5
Reputations: Almost forgotten god 2 (scholars)
Combat:
2 Large Claws: Init –9, Attack +17*, Defense +4*, Damage +27
Bite: Init –9, Attack +14*, Defense +1*, Damage +24
\* Does not include Ferocity bonus.
Soak: +8
Wound Penalties*: –1 (1–21), –3 (22–32), –5 (33–43), Incapacitated (44–54), Dead (55+)
\* Adjusted for stone body and size.
Pretenses*: Athletics 5 (pouncing), Awareness 5 (victims), Brawl 9 (claws), Hunt (people) 5
\* See Realms of Power: Faerie or just use Abilities.
Powers:
Chilling Howl: 4 points, Init –13, Animal: Completely paralyzes characters who hear the creature's hunting roar. It sounds like a tremendous lion, whose roar is so deep it rattles the bones. (Base 5, +2 Voice, +2 Sun, +2 Group)
Spirit Away: variable points, n/a, Vim: Spirit Away is a special power described in detail in Chapter 2 of Realms of Power: Faerie. It allows a creature to sweep mortals into Faerie. As characters transgress sacred spaces, or moral boundaries, they become easier to remove from the world. The Father of Dread uses this power to draw mortals into Faerie. Its lands look much like Giza at dawn. It then hunts its victims and eats them. Remember that in Faerie the creature has +10 Might.
Extend Glamour: 0 points, constant, Mentem. This creature is a God of Dawn, and when in Faerie it can cause it to be dawn whenever it wishes, at which time it has an added 10 Might. The creature knows many magical effects end at dawn, and uses cascading dawns to strip magical defenses from its enemies. As the Sun bobs up and down at the horizon, magi must either allow their Parmae Magicae to fail, or spend every round performing the ritual that maintains the shield. It also means that the creature knows where its quarry is. This power needs to penetrate magical defenses, but the creature's Might is so great that few can resist it.
Vis: 13, the skull of a pharaoh built into the Father of Dread.
Appearance: The Father of Dread used to act in the world by possessing the great statue that guards the tombs at Giza; an immense statue of a lion with the head of a human complete with headdress. It has a less weather-worn appearance in Faerie. It also has a ceremonial beard, which has been lost from the mundane statue.

The Mut: The Enemies From The West

The ghosts of the Ancient Egyptians differ a little from those of modern Europeans.
Magic Might: 6 (Mentem)
Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre 0, Com 0, Str +1, Sta +1*, Dex 0, Qik +1
\* Tireless
Size: 0, but immaterial
Season: Summer
Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit, Lesser Power (Ghost Touch), Cautious with Profession; Magical Monster
Magic Qualities and Inferiorities: Greater power: Possession, Lesser powers (Cause Mastitis, Eidolon, Dream Manipulation).
Personality Traits: Vary, but include Ghost +3 and Jealous of the Living of at least +2
Combat:
One of
Brawl: Init +1, Attack +5, Defense +6, Damage +3
or
Agricultural or craft tool*: Init +2, Attack +8, Defense +6, Damage +6
\* The ghost's weapon reappears in its hand whenever needed.
Soak: +1, when material. Some soldier ghosts wear armor.

Guardians of Graveyards (Cont'd)

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: Brawl 6 (club) or Great Weapon 6 (large rural implement) or Single Weapon 5 (spear) and Thrown weapon 3 (throwing stick – treat as a stone), Area Lore: grave site 4 (stories about the dead), Athletics 4 (running), Awareness 4 (living things), Profession: varies 6 (varies)
Powers:
Cause Mastitis, 2 points, Init –3, Corpus: Prevents mothers from generating milk for their babies.
(ReCo 3: (cause the symptoms of a minor illness without the underlying illness. Art & Academe, page 57) +1 touch, +2 Sun. Lesser Power. As per Realms of Power: Magic, page 102)
Dream Manipulation, 1 point, Init +1, Mentem: Allows the mut to enter the dreams of a victim. The mut cannot create instant changes, but can make the dream more ominous, and add frightening elements. (Based on the weaker form of the Envisioning power in Realms of Power: The Infernal, page 32.)
Ghost Touch, Variable cost, Init equal to (Qik – Might spent), Terram: Moves objects not held by another or fastened down. For 1 point, five pounds may be moved, with each additional point doubling this limit. If the item is hurled, the mut uses its Thrown Weapon Ability, and damage is +5 per point spent. If the mut has a Martial Ability, it may fight using this power. Determine its combat totals using its Abilities and Characteristics. Physical attacks with this power must Penetrate Magic Resistance. The power lasts until the mut discards the object. (Focus power, ReTe25, Realms of Power: Magic page 102.)
Lesser Eidolon, 3 points, Init –5, Imaginem: Creates an immaterial, illusionary form, allowing the ghost to interact with mortals. The form lasts until the spirit has no further use for it. Mut appear as translucent versions of the "best" version of the person they once were. For men, particularly, this can make them look a little unusual, as they have a wise face filled with age, but great abdominal muscles, like a twenty year old. CrIm15 (Base 2, +1 Touch, +2 Conc, +2 move at command+, 1 intricacy), Lesser Power. (As per Realms of Power: Magic, page 102, redesigned as a Lesser Power.)
Possession, 1 or more points, Init +3, Mentem: If this power penetrates, the victim is possessed by the mut and is under its direct control. Any attempt to force the victim to act contrary to her nature, or to use any of the host's own magical powers requires the mut to spend Might. A supernatural power (including spell-casting) requires 1 Might point per magnitude to produce. A questionable action that is contrary to the nature of the host requires the mut to exceed the possessed being's Personality Trait roll on a stress die + Might points spent. The storyguide may give a modifier to the Personality Trait roll based on the nature of the command (see the Entrancement power, ArM5, page 65, for suggestions). Both Might costs must be met if the use of a supernatural power is also contrary to the victim's nature. If the mut is in direct control of its host's actions, the host acquires the mut's Magic Resistance, but is also affected by wards that would normally exclude the host. If the host is acting under her own free will, then she does not benefit from the mut's Magic Resistance, but may also walk through wards with impunity. (Power originally appeared in Realms of Power: Faerie, page 71.)
Equipment: Clothes, grave goods
Vis: 2 pawns Mentem, prized possession
Appearance: The mut appear as the ghostly doubles of humans, translucent, but colored.
The mut are believed to be spirits unable to pass on, stuck in the world due to something done incorrectly during their interment, or due to a piece of unfinished business. They are thus akin to shades (Realms of Power: Magic page 115). Unlike ka, the mut do not remember who they are, nor can they travel to the Field of Reeds. Lacking tombs, they are forced to wander the mundane world. They are jealous of the living, and seek to harm them, particularly pregnant women and newborn children. Mut, for example, can cause mastitis. They are capable of possession, moving objects, and causing nightmares. Their focus on nursing mothers is rather faerie-like, so some of these creatures are likely faerie impostors, but malevolence toward newborns may reflect the value that children had in Ancient Egyptian society. A man without family was far more likely to be forgotten, which was the most permanent sort of death.
Some sorcerers used the mut to attack their enemies. As an example, tying the hair of a victim to the hair of a dead man and then both to the body of a hawk could cause nightmares, possession and insanity. The dead hawk makes this working difficult to dispel using Egyptian incantations, as it is a sign of Horus, the warrior god of light and goodness. The ancient spell to dismiss a mut to the Afterlife is called The Making of an Akh, which forces the mut to the Magic Realm. It is odd for a banishing spell, in that, given sufficient time, a past mut could return to his family as an akh, and aid them.

Mut Story Seeds

An archmage unwilling to travel far from his concerns in Italy offers to pay anyone who can capture a mut for him. If the player characters lack the ability to create spells or item which can capture a mut, he may be persuaded to lend them a mirror which can capture ghosts. He has a theory that the Faerie and Magic realms had not separated when the mut were made, which is why they seem so faerie-like in some respects. How can the player characters make sure they capture a mut, and not a more recent ghost, or faerie impostor?
If characters are themselves necromancers, they may notice something odd about the mut: they are never black, like ghosts described by Roman and Greek sources, or white, like those now seen in Mythic Europe. House Criamon says the shift from black to white ghosts occurred when the Axis Magica was moved to the Cave of Twisting Shadows, and cite as evidence that the ghosts which predate Criamon there are all black. If this is a true explanation, then what spiritual cataclysm drained all of the color out of ghosts in the Classical world? Perhaps the mut of an ancient sorcerer might know.

Statues

Egyptian ghosts in the mundane world prefer to be incarnate. While material they may maintain their tombs, consume offerings, and project their presence from the grave. This allows the ghost to magically smite those who have wronged it. The ghost can animate its body, but this is incalculably precious and is sealed in the sepulcher, to avoid damage. A ghost instead animates a statue.

Egyptian ghosts find it difficult to animate statues which do not resonate with them emotionally as good likenesses of their dead body. Many physical flaws are, therefore, carried by the representations. Most famously, the serdab statues of a courtier with the Dwarf Flaw all have the height of his living form, and reproduce his crippled foot. Although they may have older faces, most of the statues of men have rippling abdominal muscles, like those of a warrior in his twenties. Women are generally depicted as rather younger than men, and they seem, with a couple of notable exceptions, to be attractive.

Multiple statues are present so that if one is damaged, the ghost has spares. Tomb robbers often smash statues. Defacement prevents a ghost animating a statue from ambushing the thieves, and deanimates those already possessed, so it is a simple precaution to shatter every statue discovered with a mallet. There's also a treasure-seeking motive for this vandalism. Many common statues are held together with copper dovetail clamps which are valuable. Some statues are hollow, and treasures are hidden in their cavities.

Family tombs may contain statues of a man, his wife, their servants, and sometimes their animals. The statues of the servants are usually smaller than life size, because they were not, when made, intended to be animated in the real world. These servants are ushabtis, literally 'answerers', and their job is to take the nobleman's turn when he is called to labor in the Fields of Reeds. These wicked little dolls can, however, be animated in the real world, and sent forth on the business of their master. They also explain why the mechanical traps in tombs never seem to break down through lack of maintenance. Family pets often have statues, although they usually have fewer duplicates than the humans.

Sometimes the serdab and the chapel communicate via a small tunnel, perhaps a few inches across. This is to allow incense and sound to travel from the chapel to the serdab. This does not appear in treasure hunting guides, because it is of little value to mundane thieves. Hermetic magi, able to change shape, or use Intellego magic, may make use of this architectural quirk, if they notice it.

Sepulcher

The burial chamber or sepulcher stores the body, and is for the refreshment of the traveling soul (called the "ba"), much as the serdab is for the re-invigoration of the ghost (or "ka"). Ancient Egyptian myths claimed that the ba regularly left the heavenly boat of the sun god and instead visited the body to recharge itself, perhaps as often as nightly. The body is carefully prepared to retain its appearance, so that the ba can recognize it. The corpse is treated with various alchemical techniques, bound with talismans, and encased in coffins. On the inside of these coffins, or the walls of the sepulcher, are mystical words of power which assist the ba on the arduous adventure into the afterlife. Hermetic magic, perhaps because of the Limit of the Soul, cannot sense the ba, or make use of the many spells designed to allow the ba safe passage on its nightly journeys.

According to these coffin texts, the ba makes many journeys in search of the khu. The khu is the spark of animating Divine presence that flees the body at death. The ba is judged on the weight of its sins. It travels through fearful places, to the abode of the Solar gods, and explores there, facing further obstacles. Some people, aided by their talismans and coffin texts, overcome these Mystagogic ordeals. When the ba finds the khu, it carries it back to the ka and the body. The ka, ba, and khu merge into a new being called an akh, and drain the body of mystical power. More information on akhu is given later in this chapter.

The body is highly prized by grave robbers, because it is preserved using mummia. This almost magical bitumen is treasured for its medicinal properties in Egyptian Alchemy. This is described in more detail later.

Changes In Tomb Design Over Time

Over Egypt's long history, many different structures have been used to inter the dead. The earliest graves were covered with a vast tumulus of soil or sand. This left the warlord ordering the tomb with the difficult decision of whether to be buried in a town, where people could keep an eye on his tomb, or far out in the desert, where fewer people would be tempted to buy a shovel. In later tombs this tumulus was replaced with a platform (or mastaba) of limestone blocks, containing rooms. In the case of the pyramids, the limestone blocks which form the pyramid were jacketed in smooth stone, so that it was difficult to find the door. In some cases the jacket was of granite, so that even exploratory digging (with stone and bronze tools) would take so long that the thief was likely to be caught, even if he knew where the entrance was.

After the priests of Egypt found ways to offer an afterlife to noblemen as well as kings, and during periods of drought or foreign invasion, smaller, cheaper tombs were needed. There are two main types of lesser tomb. The simplest is made of black clay bricks, and is a small mastaba with a pyramidion (little pyramid) on top of it, which contains a single chamber for the sepulcher, and a niche for the serdab. This sometimes has an exterior chapel, or a perimeter wall.

Tombs, Temples, and Auras

Ancient tombs often have Magic auras because of the preternatural tether that forms from their ancient use and because they tend to be built in places of natural beauty (Realms of Power: Magic, pages 8–10). The stele within the tomb's serdab is a vestige to the Magic Realm with a level equal to the Magic aura within the tomb. This vestige allows the tomb's ka to travel to and from the Field of Reeds (for more information on vestiges and travel to and from the Magic Realm, see Realms of Power: Magic pages 20–24). If the mummified corpse of the ghost is still present intact in its tomb, then this acts as an Arcane Connection to the mundane world and its home in the Field of Reeds, granting a Familiarity Bonus to the Vestige Travel Total of 15. Mortals wishing to use the vestige gain no such advantage.
Ancient temples (other than the mortuary chapels found in tombs) may have Faerie auras because of their association with pagan worship. Since most temples are long abandoned by their congregations, these Faerie auras are often weak if they still exist at all.

As another alternative to building a pyramid, many tombs were cut into the sides of limestone cliffs. This is a laborious process, so the serdab was often combined either with the chapel, as a sort of niche in which statues of the dead sat in state, or with the sepulcher. In rock cut tombs, the preferred design was to have the sepulcher directly below the chapel, connected by a long shaft that could be filled with rubble. This design was sometimes adjusted, however, to suit the seam of limestone being quarried, or to avoid breaking in to adjoining tombs.

Story Hook: Following the Dead

There is a secret valley, filled with rock-cut tombs, which lies close to Alexandria. To hide the location of these tombs, the mortuary chapel of each was placed near the banks of the Nile. The ghosts of the dead regularly ride to their chapels, to gather supplies from among the offerings, or to scrounge from the garbage in the street if their chapels are destroyed or unattended. Characters with Second Sight may be able to follow the ghosts back to their tombs, but if they are spotted while doing this, the ghosts will attack – their spectral weapons entirely solid on the Paths of the Dead.

Treasures

In Mythic Europe, there are two contradictory sets of beliefs about tomb contents, and each is attested with evidence by seekers, allowing troupes to vary tomb contents between stories. The first is that tombs are filled with gold, jewels, and valuable medicines. Other seekers suggest that this is true only of early tombs, and that later people merely buried representations of treasures. These, although valuable, are not worth as much as might be imagined by a tomb's excavator. An early pharaoh might be buried with a throne of solid gold, but his later successor might have been buried with a wooden chair covered with sheets of gold leaf, since the representation becomes the real thing in the Field of Reeds. Three classes of treasures are never replaced with representations, and so can dependably be found in many tombs: writing, personal possessions, and items that preserve the body.

Story Seed: Ramaseum

Most Egyptian ghosts cannot possess statues which are far larger than the person was in life, because they do not feel, to the ghost, like accurate representations. Rameses II, the pharaoh of the Bible, built some enormous images of himself to decorate his tomb. Rameses, who was an epitome of Pride, saw himself as a world-striding colossus. He might, therefore, be able to animate the vast images that adorn the Ramaseum. Other pharaohs, who share his Personality Flaw, might also be able to manifest in through huge statues.

Carving Equipment

In a very few tombs, the most valuable goods left for ghosts are carving tools. These allow the ghost to make representations of objects, and these representations become real, for the ghost's purposes. A ghost who needs a chariot, for example, but was not buried with one, can simply carve a small model of a chariot, and it becomes part of his grave goods.
A ghost with carving tools is a difficult foe to face. Given a little time, the spirit can create reinforcements to thwart grave robbers. For example, simply carving a rough representation of archers into a nearby wall allows the ghost to summon faerie reinforcements.
The carvings don't need to be terribly accurate in later tombs, so the ghost can create a new object by drawing it in a single round. In earlier tombs, the carving needs to closely approximate known representations for the object, which slows the ghost so that each new object requires five minutes. It is noted by the seekers that in some of the earliest tombs, the ghost needs to make a miniature statue of the object, and this may require half an hour. In many tombs, the inhabitant has a little servitor statue who uses the carving tools on his behalf.
Ghosts can eat food they create with these tools, and it allows them to avoid the fate of unfed spirits like the mut. These creatures travel the roads, scrounging food which humans have owned, but thrown away, thereby giving them, spiritually, to the next finder. Spirits forced to scrounge hate to be demeaned in this way, and may seek out humans to plague with ill-luck until they offer libations.

Mystical writings are representations of greater things, such as invocations to gods. They cannot be replaced with simplified versions. When the ba needs to invoke the protection of spirits against the Great Serpents of the Hours, it needs the actual words, not a picture of a scroll. Imhotep, who invented medicine and architecture, took every scroll he owned to the grave, and his grave has never been found.

Favorite items are buried with their owners. A nobleman who wants his favorite chariot in the Afterlife is buried with that exact chariot, not a generic model of a chariot crafted by his goldsmith. This extends to many personal items but, oddly, no actual crown of Egypt has ever been found, in any tomb. Its appearance is known only from paintings and statues.

The items which protect the body need to be real: they can't be representations. Gold doesn't rust, so it is used to make some of the coffins which contain the mummy. The talismans that protect the mummy are made of valuable materials and create mystical wards. The medicines that preserve the flesh are extractable and reusable. Extra medicine is often stored in tombs, presumably so that the ka can perform maintenance on the body.

The Field of Reeds

The Field of Reeds is located within the Magic Realm. Described by sources as the ka of the Nile Delta, the Field of Reeds consists of numerous islands, each one the paradise of a different ka. These kau rule as they did in life, attended by the servants who accompanied them into death. Each island has a stele, a copy of the one in the ghost's tomb. A ghost could travel to a different island and use the stele there to enter the mundane world at a different tomb, but this is considered a gross breach of etiquette.
The Field of Reeds is ruled by Wesir (the Egyptian name for Osiris), a powerful Daimon who is a powerful ally of the Black. It was his ordeals that provided the formula for other ka to follow, and he is revered as the originator of this form of immortality, and possibly the first human ever to undergo apotheosis and become a Daimon. He has made the path available to others in the hope of recruiting more friends of the Black.
Euhemerized stories of Wesir may have been the origin of the Osiris myth, or else the stories of that Faerie god may have instead inspired Wesir; none really know which came first. Either way, there is a copy of the Field of Reeds in the Faerie Realm ruled over by the god Osiris and populated by faerie ka.

Defenses

Tombs filled with grave goods are obviously tempting to thieves, and so the ancient architects lavished care on the defense of each tomb's contents.

Physical Barriers

The simplest way of keeping non-magical thieves out of tombs is to bar their way. Iron was rare in ancient Egypt, so passageways within tombs are often barred with rubble. In wealthier tombs, granite blocks bar passageways. These are so large and hard that treasure hunting manuals advise patiently quarrying through the limestone that surrounds them. Pits, placed not as traps but simply to deter entrance, are common. Some passages, particularly those sloping downward, were filled with a mixture of sand and lime, then soaked with water. This mixture sets into a loose cement, which is time consuming to break apart even with iron tools.

Architectural Trickery

Architects can make robbing a tomb more difficult with little flourishes of design. As described earlier, some tombs have jackets of stone which hide the entrances. Many tombs contain unfinished chambers, which are designed to convince the tomb robber to stop looking for treasure in this particular place. Tombs with false chambers usually have a section of false wall or floor, behind which a sealed passage leads to the functional rooms of the tomb.

Mechanical Traps

Ancient mechanisms are made with exceptional cunning and skill. Treasure-seeker manuals often discuss the cunning devices used by the ancients, and give instructions for making these machines safe. Ancient devices made of bronze and clockwork power traps that reload projectiles, reset between victims, move large objects, and respond to pressure plates or hidden levers. These mechanisms may be hidden in the walls, floors or ceilings of tombs, or may be contained in an ark or statue in the room where the trap lies. Destruction of the mechanism can cause a trap to seize in its current position. Spells that detect metal can help pinpoint the mechanism's location, allowing magi, or strong characters with mining tools, to break through the intervening stonework.

Traps serve a different purpose in Egyptian tombs stories than in many other role-playing games: they give player characters a chance to show how skilled and powerful they are, by overcoming the obstacle in interesting ways.

As an example, a maga and her retinue are proceeding cautiously along a passageway in a tomb. The lead character, a grog, breaks through a layer of plaster over a pit, and begins to fall. Each player needs to frame an interesting thing for his character to do, and each rolls only for that thing.

The player with the grog says "I notice the sound of the plaster cracking and then vault clear to the other side" or "I hear the sound and smash the tip of my sword so hard into the wall that I can hang off it" or "I do a flip backward so I can grab the solid edge of the pit, that I just stepped off onto the weak area."

The player of the companion standing behind the grog says "I throw myself flat on the ground and reach out for him if he falls. I hold him up until other people can haul us in. My heavy armor should stop him pulling me into the pit with him, right?" or "I run at him and catch him in a tackle which sends us both sprawling to the other side of the pit" or "I grab him and make sure I'm under him when we hit bottom, because I'm really tough, and he's a weedy little guy."

In each of these cases, the player suggests to the troupe what the appropriate roll is and if the troupe finds it plausible, the storyguide provides an Ease Factor for the roll. Each trap is assigned a base Ease Factor, indicating the complexity of its construction. The storyguide should feel free to adjust these base Ease Factors by three, six, or more points either way for each character in turn, depending upon the difficulty of the attempted action. The table on page 7 of Ars Magica Fifth Edition can be used as a guide. A maga using magic to respond to a trap must use a Fast-Cast spell; the success of her actions is not affected by the trap's Ease Factor but adjudicated normally. One magus might turn the falling grog into a bat so that he flies free, another may fill the pit with human hair, to provide a cushioning surface, and so on.

The actions are resolved in order of Quickness, but with the character actually in danger always being treated as fastest, and the trap always going last. Quick characters can therefore affect or even interfere with the actions of slower ones. If a conflict between character actions takes place, then an Action Priority Roll might be appropriate (each character rolls Quickness + an appropriate Ability; the one with the highest total acts first; fast-casting magi use Finesse in this roll). Those characters affected by the trap who failed their rolls and were not assisted by the other characters then suffer the consequences of the trap's mechanism.

Examples of traps and their Ease Factors are given later in this section.

Puzzles

Some tombs contain rooms which can only be passed by completing a puzzle. These are a sort of complicated locking mechanism, mixed with a trap. In Ancient Egypt, the leisured class was small, and the literate class even smaller. Puzzles based on board game movements excluded those who did not have the leisure to master boardgames. Those based on touching the right hieroglyphs in sequence limited access to literate people who knew the codeword, and a memory prompt in the form of a sign or riddle is often found somewhere before the lock.

Minigame

If you think your troupe is interested, have them play a historical game to pass through a puzzle room. If they like combat, have the player characters take a place on the board and fight the pieces they take, or that attempt to take them. If the player characters use magic, let them cheat.

The most popular board game for puzzles in Egyptian tombs was called senet and is no longer played in Mythic Africa. Treasure seekers occasionally overcome locks with blind luck, and a dedicated magus might collect these accounts and determine the rules. Alternatively, some ancient Egyptian ghosts know the game. Many treasure hunters report backgammon-themed rooms, although people familiar with the history of this game question their presence. Some suggest these have been placed in tombs by faeries.

Puzzle rooms often force the entrant to cross the room before attempting the test. The architect can plan all kinds of horrible things for the thief if the test is failed. Hermetic magi can subvert the traps in such rooms, for example by performing the test using Rego magic, while standing outside the entry door.

Magical Defenses

The combat magic of the ancient Egyptians was poor. Moses and the finest magi of the court of the richest of the pharaohs performed a sort of primitive certamen, which is recorded in the Bible. Each performed their mostly flashy Ritual spells, and challenged the rival to copy the effects. The most powerful spell effects created by the Egyptians are weak by the standards of the spirit masters of modern Arabia, and seem simple enough, in many cases, for Hermetic apprentices to replicate them.

There are rare exceptions, a scant handful for the thousands of years of Egyptian power. In particular, their ability to create lasting enchantments in the form of curses, talismans, and wards was exceptional in some cases. These were created using a lost form of magical craftwork described in Chapter 5, and can be studied as a source of insight by characters wishing to restore or adapt this art. It is unusual for the magical defenses of tombs to have been entrusted to one-use objects such as seals or temporary amulets. For the most part, Egyptian curses, talismans, and wards should be designed using the rules for Hermetic magic items, but some might be more suited to Learned Magic (in Hedge Magic Revised Edition) with the provisos noted in the next chapter regarding magical craftwork. Egyptian enchanters always used opulent materials. This countered their weaker ability to force magic into material objects.

Curses

Curses are a special variety of tomb enchantments (see later). Most tombs have at least one curse, and some may have many multi-clause maledictions that promise a number of horrible fates to anyone who defiles the tomb. These curses were designed and enchanted by lector priests using long-forgotten magic. A curse is written, usually in hieroglyphs but sometimes in Demotic, in a prominent location.

All curses have two parts: a condition and one or more excoriations. The condition lists the circumstances by which targets will incur the curse. Typical formulae include the following:

"As for him who shall destroy this inscription..."

"They that break the seal of this tomb..."

"As for anyone who shall enter this tomb in their impurity..."

"They that disturb the rest of this pharaoh..."

How literal these conditions should be taken is up to the storyguide: what precisely constitutes disturbing a corpse's rest? What type of purity is required to avoid the curse?

The excoriation is the magical part of the curse, describing the penalty that will be incurred if the warning is ignored. Examples are given later in this section.

Examples

Ka of a Tomb Robber

A reworking of the Rogue (ArM5 page 23).
Magic Might: 15 (Mentem)
Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre 0, Com +1, Str –1, Sta 0, Dex +4, Qik +4
Size: 0
Virtues and Flaws: Magic Spirit, Magical Monster; Great Dexterity, Great Quickness, Improved Characteristics (x2), Light Touch, Perfect Balance, Puissant Legerdemain, Puissant Stealth; Avaricious (Major), Dark Secret; Ability Block (Illiterate), Compulsion.
Personality Traits: Avaricious +3, Defend the Tomb +3, Daring +2, Sociable +2
Magical Qualities: Increased Damage x2, Improved Powers, Lesser Powers x2, Personal Powers
Combat:
Fist: Init +4, Attack +7, Defense +7, Damage +5*
\* Includes +6 Increased Damage.
Soak: 0
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: As per ArM5, page 23. Includes Legerdemain 5 (picking pockets) and Stealth 5 (being quiet).
Powers:
Possess statue, 0 points, Init +3, Terram: Allows the ghost to take a statue of itself as a body. ReTe 25. Personal Power (25 levels, –3 Might cost, +2 Init from Improved Powers)
Thief after death, 1 point, Init 0, Terram: Allows the thief to carry material objects in his hands (Base 3, +1 Touch, +1 Conc) Lesser Power (10 levels, –1 Might cost)
Strangler, 0 points, Init 0, Corpus: Allows the thief to wrap his hands around the neck of a victim and choke him. This causes the loss of a Fatigue level. PeCo 15 (Base 10, +1 Touch) Lesser Power (15 levels, –3 Might cost, +1 Init)
Equipment: None of note
Vis: 3 pawns, Mentem, hand.
Appearance: The ghost of a young tomb robber, killed by the guardians of the dead.
After the thief's death, the tomb's owner humiliated him further by carving a diminutive soapstone ushabti, and forcing the thief to animate it. While possessing the ushabti, his statistics are:
Characteristics: Str –9, Qik +8
Size: –4
Magical Qualities: Increased Damage (x2)
Combat:
Fist: Init +8, Attack +7, Defense +11, Damage –2*
\* Includes +6 Increased Damage.
Soak: +15 (soft stone)
Wound Penalties: –1 (1), –3 (2), –5 (3), Incapacitated (4), Dead (5+)

Animated Statue of a Minor Palace Guard

A reworking of the Grizzled Veteran (ArM5 page 21). The ghost remains in constant possession of the statue.
Magic Might: 10 (Mentem)
Characteristics: Int 0, Per +1, Pre –1, Com –1, Str 0, Sta +1, Dex +2, Qik +2
Size: 0
Virtues and Flaws: Magic Thing; Magical Monster; Warrior, Weakness (talking back to superiors).
Magical Qualities: Improved Initiative x2, Improved Attack x2, Improved Damage x4, Personal Powers x2
Personality Traits: Defend the Tomb +3, Loyal +3, Cheeky +2, Brave +1.
Combat:
Axe* and Large Shield: Init +1**, Attack +17**, Defense +14, Damage +12**.
Kick: Init –1*, Attack +8*, Defense +5, Damage +11**.
\* In play the Storyguide would describe this as something more Egyptian, like a kopesh (curved sword) and a large hide shield.
\** Includes Increased Initiative, Attack and Damage.
Soak: +21 (hardened bronze statue)
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)
Abilities: As per ArM5, page 21. Adjust unsuitable entries, like Order of Hermes Lore.
Powers:
Possess statue, 0 points, Init 0, Terram: ReTe30. Personal Powers x2 (30 levels, –3 Might cost, +1 Init)
Equipment: Axe, breastplate (the Egyptians didn't use full scale armor)
Vis: 2 pawns, Mentem, axe.
Appearance: The ghost of an older soldier, possessing a statue with his face.

Talismans

A talisman, in this sense, is a small magic item which is triggered by a predicted action. For example, if a person opens a door and steps through it, the talisman on the lintel pours fire on their head. Talismans quite often control the gross elements rather than more subtle manipulations of emotions or luck.

Ancient Egyptian people did not have general Magic Resistance; only creatures did. This is reflected in the design of many talismans, which, if designed to affect humans, have no Penetration bonus. This allows even young Hermetic magi to ignore them, although too lax an attitude can lead to the loss of grogs, companions, and valuable equipment.

Ancient Egyptian magicians designed their talismans so that they could be temporarily deactivated. This allowed the talismans to be safely installed in tombs, as the magicians were not, themselves, able to resist the powers of the talismans they created. Each talisman is usually rendered inert until sunset when struck by a particular spell effect. A magus who takes a talisman into a laboratory can discover which spell effect allows passage either by trial and error, or by investigation equivalent to discovering the triggers of a magical item (ArM5, page 100).

Talismans often act as traps, in which case they can be resolved using the narrative rules described earlier. The base Ease Factor for bypassing a magical trap is equal to (6 + the magnitude of its effect). Example talismans are provided later.

Possess Statue (Minor Power)

3 points, Init Qik–3, Terram or Herbam
This power allows a ghost to step into a statue and animate it at Range: Personal; it cannot animate multiple statues with this power simultaneously. The Improved Powers Magic Quality is often taken to reduce Might cost to zero. Note that the physical attacks of an animated statue have to Penetrate the Magic Resistance of any opponents struck.
Wooden Statue: ReHe 25 (Base 10, +2 Sun, +1 constant effect)
Stone Statue: ReTe 25 (Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 affect stone, +1 constant effect, +2 intricacy)
Metal Statue: ReTe 30 (Base 3, +2 Sun, +2 affect metal, +1 constant effect, +2 intricacy)

Wards

The most popular wards in Egypt are those that hide tombs from sight, or subtly nudge people away from them. As with many other Egyptian talismans, these wards usually have a method of temporary deactivation. These methods are a popular subject for books by treasure hunters. The formula is generally that to find a ruin, you must stand at a specified place, perhaps at a specified time, and do a specified thing. So, "Be standing on this particular rock at dawn, while wearing a headdress of red feathers" is possible. Egyptian Wards are more likely to have Penetration Totals than other talismans, as they are often directed against spiritual beings.

The strongest wards are not so simply avoided. The books that describe bypassing these Wards are Initiation Scripts for Mystery Virtues. These Virtues occasionally allow a character access only to a single site. More commonly, they provide a mystical advantage which could be used on many hidden sites, but neglect to mention this is the case. For example, some of these scripts grant the Second Sight Virtue and describe how to find and cross regio boundaries. Others provide magical resistance against Egyptian talismans made of a certain substance, or by a certain school of practitioners.

Wards can sometimes be avoided or overcome, much like talismans or mechanical traps. A ward is not actively trying to harm or entrap interlopers, just repel them. There may be a scant few seconds to act before a ward turns sand into glass to create a seal on the tomb, or else a concealing illusion may be imperfect, and various tricks might reveal its presence. In such cases, the ward should be defeated using the narrative rules mentioned earlier. The base Ease Factor for such actions is (9 + the magnitude of effect). Example wards are provided later.

Creatures of The Tombs

Egyptian graves have many varieties of defender. Some are the guardians of cemeteries, mentioned earlier in this chapter, or are creatures bound to the tombs by talismans. These creatures are usually faeries, created or summoned by long-dead lector priests and feeding still on the vitality of the stories that surround them. Tombs may also be occupied by ghosts or kau, which belong to the Magic Realm. Each tomb has a principal ka, the person for whom the tomb was built. It may also be populated by the ghosts of those who were buried with the tomb owner, in order to guard his precious corpse or serve him in the Field of Reeds.

Ka, Egyptian Ghosts

Realms of Power: Magic contains detailed rules to create a wide variety of magical creatures. Rather than repeat them here, this section includes kits which you can use to alter other characters, for example those from ArM5, to make them suit Egyptian stories.

Muslim writers in period saw the ka as a ghostly double of the body. In play, this means that characters encounter particularly resilient, well-resourced, and dangerous ghosts who have easy access to the Magic Realm, quite unlike the specters, apparitions, or shades of the West. Ka look slightly different from medieval European ghosts: they are transparent but fully colored, with increasing opacity as their Might increases.

Quick Ghost Conversion Notes

Take a mortal character, such as a grog or companion described in ArM5.

Give the character a Magic Might score of between 5 and 25, depending on how challenging you want the encounter to be, and how many times you want the spirit to be able to use its powers.

All Characteristics remain the same as in life, although the character cannot fail Fatigue rolls now.

Remove all of the Virtues or Flaws based on social role, or the character's body. It does not matter if the Virtues and Flaws no longer balance. Most will take on the Magical Monster Major Social Status Flaw, although some could be Magical Friends (a Minor Social Status Flaw).

Add the Magic Spirit Virtue. This represents the character's spiritual nature and powers, ability to sense strong spiritual forces, and the eerie, magical air that makes Gifted magi untrustworthy.

All Abilities remain the same, although many will be practically useless.

Ghosts are intangible and cannot be harmed by material things like weapons or fire. Against magic, its Protection and Soak totals work normally. Ghosts are vulnerable to Mentem magic.

Add a Personality Trait of +3 tied to some piece of mortal business, like "defending the tomb."

Many ancient Egyptian ghosts can possess statues of themselves (see insert). If a ghost possesses a statue, see the details later for Animated Statue.

Few Egyptian ghosts have the ability to take material form (through the Donning the Corporeal Veil Power, which costs 5 points and allows the ghost to take material form until it releases its materiality; the ghost's personal equipment also becomes material).

Add any new power you like. Base it on Hermetic spells, and assume it costs 1 temporary Might per 5 spell levels to use, or 1 Might per 10 levels for powers which only affect the ghost. The power has an Initiative of (Qik – magnitude/2).

Add vis, usually Mentem, equal to the Might score divided by 5.

Quick Animated Statue Conversion Notes

Take a mortal character, like a grog or companion described in ArM5.

Give the statue a Magic Might score of between 5 and 25, depending on how challenging you want the encounter to be, and how many times you want the spirit to be able to use its powers. A ghost possessing a statue has the same Might as when disembodied.

All Characteristics remain the same as in life, although the character cannot fail Fatigue rolls now.

It is rare for Egyptian ghosts to be able to possess statues which are not life-sized, but if it has occurred, adjust the Strength and Quickness of the character and the derived combat statistics. Characters lose 2 Strength and gain 1 Quickness per Size lost, or conversely gain 2 Strength and lose 1 Quickness per Size gained.

Remove all of the Virtues or Flaws based on social role. Replace with the Magical Monster Major Social Status Flaw.

Add the Magic Thing Virtue. This makes the character aware of its spiritual nature and powers, and able to sense strong spiritual force.

All Abilities remain the same, although many will be practically useless.

The creature's Wound levels are suitable for a creature of the same Size, but the creature's Soak is high, to simulate the difficulty of damaging things not merely clad in armor, but made of the same substances as armor. Wood grants +9 Soak. Ceramic, soft stone, or soft metal grants +15 Soak. Hard stone grants +18 Soak. Hard metal grants +21 Soak. These might seem high, but this is not the same as armor; statues are solid. A statue gains no Protection from wearing armor, unless that armor is harder than the substance from which the statue is made.

To destroy the face of a statue, forcing a ghost from it, requires the attacking character to announce that he is trying to do so, and then inflict a Medium Wound on the statue.

The damage of the statue's weapons is reduced by the materials from which it is made. Many wooden statues are equipped with real bronze weapons. Alchemically hardened bronze is as dangerous as steel. Weapons made of stone or bronze have a –1 damage penalty. Weapons which usually have striking surfaces of metal, but are instead made of gilded wood have a –2 damage penalty.

A Brawling statue has unadjusted damage if it is using a brawling weapon, like a gauntlet or dagger, but fists and kicks do +1 damage for wood or stone statues, and +2 damage for metal statues.

Add any new power you like. Base it on Hermetic spells, and assume it costs 1 temporary Might per 5 spell levels to use, or 1 Might per 10 levels for powers which only affect the statue. The power has an Initiative of (Qik – magnitude/2).

Many supernatural creatures have Qualities (which are things like Virtues, but they don't balance Flaws) which improve combat statistics. Boost the character's combat statistics sufficiently to make it formidable enough for its role in the story.

Add vis, usually the form of the statue's material, equal to the Might score divided by 5.

Al-jazari, what Hermetic magi would call automatons, can also be generated using these rules. Take any monster and simply rework its physical features. Automatons do not have Might scores.

Detailed Design for Royal Pharaonic Ghosts

The ghosts of Egyptian royalty differ from each other due to the different origins and life experiences of, and death rituals performed on each ghost.

Blood Virtues

Many different families ruled Egypt over the centuries, and these had various relationships with the Realms expressed in their blood. The commonest story is that the Faerie god to which the dynasty was dedicated invested the body of the pharaoh while he conceived his heir, which grants the child the Blood of the Old Gods Virtue. Anyone descended from a pharaoh who was not, at that time, filled with the spirit of a Faerie god instead gained a Minor version of the Virtue. The last dynasty of all, the Ptolemies, constructed their own god instead, named Serapis, who was a supernatural ally but not an ancestor.

New Virtue: Blood of the Old Gods

Major or Minor Supernatural Virtue
As a Minor Virtue, this is a variety of Faerie Blood. This Virtue also grants the character a Sympathy Trait of +1. As a Major Virtue, this is a variety of Strong Faerie Blood with the same benefit. A Sympathy Trait can replace the character's speciality on any applicable Ability roll, but doing so always makes the roll a stress roll. Any botches when using Sympathy Traits give the character Warping Points equal to the number of zeros. A Sympathy Trait can be raised with experience as if it were an Ability, and has a maximum value equal to the character's Warping Score +1 (for the Minor Virtue) or +2 (for the Major Virtue). At character creation, the player can choose a Warping Score for her character and raise the Sympathy Trait up to its maximum using experience points acquired from her age.
Scions of pharaohs most often had a Sympathy Trait of Royalty. Other dynasties had links to specific gods, and had Sympathy Traits applicable to their purview (warfare, scholarship, healing, and so forth).

Powers of the Pharaoh in Life

A pharaoh whose rule was just by Egyptian standards kept the world in balance so that the floods came, food was plentiful, and people lived well. A pharaoh might make people richer or poorer simply by ruling that it should be so. All pharaohs were thought able to command spirits, but in many cases this was power at one remove: the pharaoh asked his divine patron to punish the spirit if it did not obey.

As wealthy men of great influence, many pharaohs were able to fulfill Mystery quests, and had access to unique sources of training. Any particular pharaonic ghost might have an odd power based on a life experience. Sometimes biographers like Herodotus indicate what these powers were. For example, one of the pharaohs apparently had the ability to slow the passage of time, so that those in his company aged less quickly than other people, and spells did not reach their Duration at the normal rate.

The death rituals offered to Egyptians varied over time, and with social status. The death rituals and coffin texts were of greater length for people with greater wealth and status. This allows their ghosts to undergo Transformation after death (Realms of Power: Magic page 52), which allows greater Might and a wider variety of powers. Tombs were occasionally stocked with vis for the very purpose of feeding Transformation.

The Akh

The Akh is the final stage in the spiritual development of the most powerful of the Egyptian dead, formed from the fusion of the ba, ka, and khu. The akh is a Daimon, described in more detail in The Mysteries: Revised Edition (pages 82–86). In brief, a Daimon is an indestructible spiritual being that interacts with the world by projecting an Aspect into it. Although the Aspect may change or die, the Daimon it embodies remains unharmed, and, for the most part, unchanged. Aspects are self-sustaining and do not require food or prayer to survive. Becoming an akh can take centuries. Imhotep, the inventor of architecture and medicine, is thought to have taken two thousand years to complete the process, but this is not typical: the greater the final Magic Might, the longer it takes. Once the transformation to akh has been achieved there is no further need for a tomb to be maintained, although some akhu enjoy the access between worlds that it offers.

Each akh is unique and has powers which reflect the virtues of life, and the Mysteries of a particular path through the Egyptian underworld. Many can take an animal shape. All texts affirm that all akhu can have children, although this might cause their offspring to have Mythic or Magical Blood. Akhu tend to have virtuous Personality Traits, since part of the transformation process requires being judged by Thoth, and those with hearts weighed down with evil are fed to the Devourer of Souls. As intended by Wesir, those who follow his path and achieve the status of an akh become potential recruits for the Black, although none are forced to take up the fight against the Red.

Akhu may be created using the rules for Magic Spirits given in Realms of Power: Magic. Assume a Magic Might Score of 20 for noblemen who have the simplest coffin texts, up to 60 for the greatest pharaohs who were the children of gods and were personally guided through the afterlife by a potent parent. Akhu do not have or need cults of mundane worshipers like modern apotheosized humans. Instead, the name of the dead person is placed at the chapel entrance and on significant monuments. The akh slowly gains power as these are read. All akhu have, in the centuries since the last one was buried, taken this process as far as possible, so they are designed as Winter creatures. Akhu may still be summoned by name, or by using relics, as described for apotheosized humans in Realms of Power: Magic.

Story Seeds: Famous Missing Tombs

There are two tombs, in particular, that Hermetic wizards wish to find. They are arguably the first and last of the distinctive, Egyptian kind.

The Tomb of Imhotep, probably at Saqqara

Imhotep was a priest of Thoth, who lived in the reign of Djoser, the first king to have a pyramid. Imhotep himself is said to have invented architecture, but what this means is that he developed many of the features now common in architecture, to allow such a large building to be constructed. The column and lintel, for example, are based on his designs. His healers were trained in a temple of Thoth called the House of Life, and descriptions of this temple are the first accounts of a library of magical books. Other, similar, temples followed. No House of Life has ever been uncovered. Similarly, the tomb of Imhotep, which is mentioned in classical sources, has not been traced.

Finding the Tomb of Imhotep would answer one of the great philosophical questions within the Order: is modern magic more powerful than ancient magic? Some magi think Bonisagus was a genius who built his theory on the foundations of the magical traditions who predated the Order. All of the Original Research the Order has done, they conclude, make its magic more potent than that which came before. Others counter that the world in general is in a state of decline, and that there were golden ages of magic before the current era. They point out that much original research is actually the incorporation of artifacts of ancient wisdom into Hermetic Theory. The defenses of Imhotep's tomb and the writings it contains will either prove his magic superior or inferior, ending the dispute.

Imhotep's tomb has not been found. Coptic magicians believe this is because he has spent considerable effort in ensuring no trace of it remains. Some Hermetic magi believe that Imhotep was also Asclepius and Hermes Trismegistus, and hope research into these aliases will yield clues to the tomb. Others dispute this identification.

Example Akh: Sethos

Sethos was an early king of Egypt. He antagonized the warrior caste by taking the crop lands they had been given as personal demesnes away from them. When his kingdom was invaded, the warriors refused to muster, so Sethos led an army of peasants and shopkeepers against his enemies. The gods favored him, and the night before the battle a plague of mice poured silently through the camp of the sleeping enemy, eating their bowstrings and provisions, and fouling or spilling their water. Sethos defeated the enemy, and then had statues of himself raised. These statues show him holding a mouse, and are inscribed: "Let him who looks on me learn to fear the gods." His life is described in Herodotus's History.
In Mythic Europe, Sethos travels and studies as suits his whim. He knows full well that the days of Pharaonic Egypt have passed, but he maintains the dignity and virtue of his former status. He often pretends to be a Coptic priest. He is a foe of those who despoil monuments other than tombs, but prefers not to fight his enemies directly. He is subtle, skilled at spying, absolutely convincing, has the patience of an immortal, and is able to manufacture natural-seeming obstacles and problems for his foes. He is also interesting as an ally or parent.

Example Akh: Sethos (Cont'd)

Magic Might: 50 (Mentem)
Characteristics: Int +5, Per +5, Pre +3, Com +4, Str +2, Sta +1, Dex +2, Qik +2
Confidence Score: 5 (5 points)
Virtues and Flaws: Magic Human; Daimon; Transformed Spirit, Wealthy, Inspirational, Self-Confident, Well-Traveled
Magical Qualities: Focus Powers (Lord of the Black* (x2), Lord of the Red (x2)), Greater Power (Aid of the Gods), Greater Virtue (Way of the Black*), Greater Virtue (Not Monstrous)**, Improved Attack (Mace) x2, Improved Damage (Mace) x2, Improved Initiative (Mace, x2), Minor Virtues (Faerie Sympathy x2, Gentle Air, Great Communication (x2), Great Perception (x2), Great Intelligence (x2), Improved Characteristics (x8), Perfect Eye for Antiquities***, Puissant Charm, Puissant Leadership, Social Contacts (x2, Coptic priests, Criminals), Tomb Regio Network****, Tough*****), Personal Powers (Immateriality, Invisibility, Soundless Motion)

* The Black, in this sense, is the fertile land either side of the Nile.

** Most Magic Humans are Monstrous, but Sethos isn't because preserving his human appearance is part of the point of the mummification ritual. This is treated as a Major Virtue.

*** A Virtue introduced in City and Guild, page 109. Sethos always knows precisely what an antiquity is, if it is genuine, and how much it is worth.

**** Can enter the Field of Reeds through the stele in any tomb, and depart it from any tomb. Can also enter the Field of Reeds through some places sacred to the Osirian Trinity.

***** Akh, like Egyptian gods, have bones made, literally, out of iron

Personality Traits: Akh +5, Dislikes warriors +3, Curious +2
Reputations: Obscure Early King 2 (Local)
Combat:
Mace and Shield: Init +9*, Attack +12*, Defense +11, Damage +16
Bow: Init +1, Attack +8, Defense +4, Damage +8
\* Includes +6 Improved Initiative, +4 Improved Attack and +6 Improved Damage. Sethos generally carries the mace he manifests with hooked invisibly on his belt
Soak: 8 +3 (Tough) Egyptians usually do not wear armor, but Sethos is immune to heat and fatigue, and likes annoying warriors, so he wears a full set of heavy armor when he feels like it.
Fatigue Levels: Supernaturally Tireless (innate to Aspects)
Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dispelled (21+)
Abilities: Ancient Egyptian 5 (orders), Arabic 5 (to common people), Area Lore: Egypt 3 (Delta region), Artes Liberales 3 (hieroglyphs), Athletics 3 (noble sports), Awareness 5 (names), Bargain 3 (criminals), Bow 3 (short bow), Brawl 3 (defensive), Carouse 3 (noblemen), Charm 5+2 (common people), Coptic 5 (to priests), Dominion Lore 3 (Coptic), Etiquette 3 (religious), Faerie Lore 5 (Egyptian deities), Folk Ken 4 (Egyptians), Guile 5 (people who think he is a priest), Infernal Lore 3 (Egyptian), Intrigue 5 (noblemen), Leadership 5+2 (commoners), Legerdemain 3 (forgery), Magic Lore 5 (Daimons), Penetration 5 (Animal), Profession: kingship 5 (ceremonies), Ride 3 (charioteering), Single Weapon 5 (Mace), Stealth 3 (burglary), Swim 2 (pretending to need to breathe).
Powers:
Aid of the Gods, 5 points, Init –3, Animal: Creates a swarm of mice, under Sethos's complete control. Base 15, +2 Sun, +2 Group (60 000 mice), +1 control (as a Rego requisite), +2 mice can become immaterial to ignore barriers (as Muto Mentem Requisites)
Immateriality, 4 points, Init –2, Corpus: Makes Sethos immaterial until sunrise or nightfall. Costs 40 spell levels. (Base 30, +2 Sun)
Invisibility, 1 point, Init –0, Corpus: A personal version of Veil of Invisibility as per ArM5 page 146. Costs 15 spell levels. (Base 4, +2 Sun, +1 for moving image, 5 extra levels spent to reduce cost)
Lord of the Black, variable points, Init –8, Aquam: Duplicates any of a range of non-ritual Creo or Rego spells pertaining to the Magic of the Black, at a cost of 1 Might per Hermetic magnitude. The Magic of the Black includes fresh water, rain, the fertility of living earth, and thematically related things.
Lord of the Red, variable points, Init –8, Aquam: Duplicates any of a range of non-ritual Creo or Rego spells pertaining to the Magic of the Red, at a cost of 1 Might per Hermetic magnitude. The Magic of the Red affects infertile Terram, desiccating winds, and similar thematic things.
Silent Motion, 0 points, constant, Imaginem: Allows the character to move noiselessly. Costs 10 spell levels. (Base 3, +2 Sun, +1 constant, 5 extra levels spent to reduce cost)
Equipment: Palace in Field of Reeds, mace, robes, vast amounts of money.
Vis: 10 pawns Rego, in small mouse statuette found implausibly within the brain.
Appearance: A middle-aged man, free of all infirmities. Sethos tours the world as a human, because he finds it interesting, and to make this easier he adopts the dress of nearby human cultures. He often pretends to be a priest, because he prefers to be a person of status and dislikes warriors.
The character as expressed by these statistics is an Aspect. This means that any change short of death is reversed mystically within a day, and even if the character dies, a new Aspect can be generated. Although he now has Magic Human as his background, Sethos was originally a priest, then a king, and so has many Abilities usually restricted to those with appropriate Virtues. The Wealthy Virtue usually makes a character wealthy compared to the rest of his social class, and makes the character spend one season a year on his business. In this case, it just means Sethos has more money than most kings, and he has no particular need to maintain his business except as a sort of hobby.
Sethos's symbol is the mouse, and occasionally this Daimon has manifested itself in mouse Aspect. The mouse Aspect still has 50 Might, but channels many more of its Qualities into combat. It then hides within the swarm created by the Aid of the Gods Power, and becomes a tiny, cute whirlwind of embarrassing death.

Tombs As Lairs for the Cult of Dedun

A tomb may become a significant part of a saga containing an important presence of the Cult of Dedun (see later). Temple Priests and Undying Ones use ancient tombs as both homes and temples to Dedun. These tombs are the font of their power, acquired during their Initiation into the rank of temple priest, and the home to their ghoulish court. On holy days once per month, adherents gather at the temple to offer worship to the god of the dead. You may wish to detail a tomb's resources when a player character first embarks on Initiation to the rank of temple priest; alternatively, an Undying One could be a villain or important ally of the player characters, and determining the game statistics for the tomb are a useful way of knowing what resources he may draw upon.

The Tomb of Marcus Antonius, probably near Alexandria

The final queen of Egypt was Cleopatra. Players are likely only familiar with the Roman accounts of this ruler. Mythic Egyptians believe these were lies spread by her political and military foes. Their own tales suggest she was a just and wise ruler, that she held salons for the wisest men in her country and was acknowledged their peer in debates, and that she wrote a book of alchemy which collated much of the wisdom of her predecessors, and included her own contributions to the art of medicine. Her body was stolen, and placed in her tomb, but none can find it.

Cleopatra had at least two tombs prepared, but none of them have ever been found. Her final resting place is described later in this chapter, but her intended tomb was far closer to Alexandria. Her wish was to be buried next to her Roman lover Marcus Antonius, a plan which was forestalled by the Roman invasion of Egypt and her subsequent suicide in captivity. The Romans never could find Antonius's Tomb, despite concerted searching and the assistance of thousands of witnesses who watched his funeral procession, or helped construct the building.

Cleopatra's resting places are of interest to Hermetic wizards for several reasons. Cleopatra's Book is reputed to be the apex of the alchemical arts, and no Egyptian library acknowledges owning a copy. Further, some magi suggest that the fire at the Great Library was used as cover to hide many books from the invading Romans. This includes not only the books of the Great Library of Alexandria, a priceless treasure in themselves, but also the 200,000 books of its rival, the Library of Pergamon. Antonius took these by force and gave them to his beloved as a wedding present.

Cleopatra is the youngest possible Akh, and so might not have completed the process. Her ka may seek Hermetic aid, removing obstacles to her ba's spiritual journey, which makes her well disposed toward magi. If she is available, she's a remarkably skilled communicator, and this may make her a peerless teacher or Egyptian mysteries. Her death companion, Marcus Antonius, is the only Roman known to have undergone Egyptian burial rituals. He was familiar with the Order of Mercury while acting as governor of Italy on behalf of Julius Caesar, and so may have some useful insights into their magic. Caesarion, the son of Cleopatra and Antonius, might be the progenitor of a secret society centered around Egyptian rites.

Designing Tombs and Mortuaries

This section presents a method for designing ancient tombs using Boons, Hooks, and Build Points as if it were a covenant. It is not necessary to determine the statistics for a tomb unless it is going to be an ongoing part of a saga, although the following sections may still be useful for planning expeditions into the tombs of the ancient dead.

Basic Tomb Features

Tombs are typically marked with an ancient monument, pyramids being very popular in certain eras of both Egyptian and Nubian history. However, pyramids are not the only form of monument; the emperors of Kush built rock-cut tombs into mountainsides (such as Dju Wa'ab), their successors built massive grave mounds, and Christian kings had impressive marble palaces built in their honor. The sites are often further enhanced by statues, temples, columns, and other monuments.

These ancient monuments form preternatural tethers that cause the formation of a Magic aura (Realms of Power: Magic, pages 8–10). For every century that a grave site (which could be a series of pyramids, or a number of individual tombs) was in use, it generates a tether score of 1, up to a maximum of 5. The Magic aura is equal to the tether score, but auras can be higher than the preternatural tether score through impressive natural features. The Magic aura is often lower than the tether score might suggest if the monuments have decayed substantially following centuries of neglect.

Each tomb can have up to 10 points of Hooks, which can be used to purchase Boons.

Tomb of a major monarch: base Magic aura of 5, and 500 build points
Tomb of a royal consort or minor monarch: base Magic aura of 4, and 250 build points
Tomb of a lesser royal or high priest: base Magic aura of 3, and 100 build points
Tomb of a non-royal dignitary: base Magic aura of 3, and 50 build points

Example Wards

Several methods were used to keep people away from tombs.

Nothing But Sky and Sand

Pen 0, constant effect Muto Imaginem 39 R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Str
The structure targeted by this effect appears to be a sand-dune in all respects. This ward has an Ease Factor of 17 to avoid; for example, to spot an anomalous shadow, or calculate the precise position of the stars that will reveal the temple.
(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +3 Structure; +3 environmental trigger, +1 2/day)

Turn the Interloper

Pen 0, unlimited/day Rego Corpus 30
Anyone triggering this effect is spun 180 degrees so that she faces in the opposite direction. This effect is usually triggered whenever someone tries to pass through a doorway. This ward has an Ease Factor of 15 to avoid; for example, a character might try to brace himself to avoid being turned around.
(Base 10, +2 Voice; +10 unlimited uses per day)

A Sovereign Ward Against Robbers

Pen 0, constant effect Rego Corpus 49
The structure targeted by this effect is warded against human beings. They find it nigh-impossible to enter, and cannot damage it from outside. The ward has an Ease Factor of 19 to overcome; for example, a character might try to force her way through the ward, or throw a stone to dislodge the amulet suspected of producing the effect.
(Base 15, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +3 Structure; +3 environmental trigger, +1 2/day)

Resources

Tombs may have the following resources. Unless stated otherwise, the costs can be found in Chapter 6 of Ars Magica Fifth Edition.

Curses

Curses are a special variety of enchantment created by lector priests. Most tombs have at least one curse, and some may have many multi-clause maledictions that promise a number of horrible fates to anyone who defiles the tomb. These were created using magical craftwork described in Chapter 5.

A curse's excoriation should be described as a Hermetic enchantment within the following guidelines. Most curses are Range: Touch and Target: Room. Each curse is triggered when the condition is broken. The condition can describe situations that could not normally be triggers of effects in Hermetic devices without further magic; for example, the trigger could require the target to be ritually pure, but the enchantment need not have an effect that determines purity. An excoriation is also triggered if someone tries to destroy the text of the curse. Once a curse has been triggered a number of times equal to its uses per day, the text can be safely destroyed to prevent anyone else from being affected. Most curses are designed with just one use per day. Excoriations may be designed with Penetration Totals in the usual manner for enchantments, but this is rare — these were intended to protect against mundane rather than magical intruders.

Some excoriations cannot be duplicated with Hermetic Magic, and these should instead be treated as the Greater or Lesser Malediction Flaw. Curses of this variety have a Special Duration (which adds no magnitudes to the level): they are permanent but may be dispelled with appropriate magic. Maledictions can be of any appropriate Technique or Form, and have a base level of 10 for a Lesser Malediction, and level 30 for a Greater Malediction. To add insult to injury, those under a Malediction suffer Warping.

Not all curses are actually effective. It costs no Build Points to have a dire curse written on one's tomb that has no magical force. Furthermore, some individuals (or their duplicitous architects) may have saved costs by having a lector priest write a false curse instead of a real one (see Hollow Promise of a Swift Death in the nearby insert).

A curse costs two Build Points for every five levels of effects.

Example Curses

The following are examples of real curses found in Egyptian tombs. Levels of effects are included here for the purposes of breaking the curses, as well as determining Build Points.

A Crocodile Shall Be Against Him in Water, a Snake on Land

ReAn 45; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Special, T: Room: This Greater Malediction causes the afflicted to be dogged by a crocodile or a venomous snake until the curse is broken. If he spends more than one night in a location close to water, a large crocodile arrives there. If he spends more than one night in a location far from water, a venomous snake turns up. Apart from the manner of its arrival, the creature acts as a normal member of its kind. If the creature is killed, another will arrive. (Base 30, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

He Shall Be Destroyed by Sekhmet

CrIg 25; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Room: The targets of this curse are targeted by arrows of fire, much like those of the goddess Sekhmet. Each afflicted individual is automatically hit, and suffers +15 damage (Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

He Shall Capsize and Drown at Sea

ReAq 45; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Special, T: Room: This Greater Malediction causes any boat on which the afflicted set foot to sink. Furthermore, whenever they are in more than a foot's depth of water, they are unable to keep their heads above the surface, and begin to drown. (Base 30, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

He Shall Have No Successors

PeCo 35; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Special, T: Room: Those affected have their organs of generation destroyed, leaving them incapable of sexual intercourse or procreation. Other interpretations of this curse could drive off apprentices or proteges as a Lesser Malediction. (Base 20, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

He Shall Meet Death by a Disease that No Doctor can Diagnose

PeCo 35; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Mom, T: Room: This curse strikes the victims with a major disease (inflicting a Disease Penalty of –5). Mundane medicine cannot help with Disease Recovery rolls; only magical aid is effective. (Base 20, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

He Shall Not Reach his Home, nor Embrace his Children

CrMe 25; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Special, T: Room: This Lesser Malediction is the equivalent of the No Sense of Direction Flaw, guaranteeing that those afflicted will get lost. In the desert, this can be a death sentence. (Base 10, +1 Touch, +2 Room)

I Shall Cast the Fear of Myself into Him

CrMe 25; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Room: All those affected are filled with an overwhelming dread of the tomb itself or the deceased occupant, and must flee immediately from its vicinity. (Base 4, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 Room)

I Shall Wring his Neck Like a Bird

PeCo 55; 1/day, Pen 0; R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Room: Everyone afflicted by the curse feels spectral hands crushing their throat and cutting off their air. Everyone immediately starts to choke. Use the rules for deprivation of air (ArM5, page 180) until the curse is canceled or everyone is dead. An unaffected person can attempt a surgical intervention, making a hole further down the neck allowing the character to breathe. This requires a Dexterity + Chirurgy stress roll against an Ease Factor of 9, and inflicts the Mute Flaw whether it succeeds or fails. If the surgical intervention roll is botched, the patient dies. If a person can escape from the affected room and make a successful Deprivation roll, then the curse is broken. (Base 30, +1 Touch, +2 Sun, +2 Room)

The Hollow Promise of a Swift Death

CrVi 9; constant effect, Pen 0; R: Per, D: Sun, T: Ind: This is not a curse, instead it is an enchantment made to look like a dire curse to magical detection. This effect appears to be a curse of 30th level to any magical detection, although it can be designed at other levels; every magnitude higher or lower of the base effect appears to be a spell of two magnitudes higher or lower, respectively (Base 3 (taint something with magic), +2 Sun; +3 environmental trigger, +1 2/day)

Enchanted Items (Talismans and Wards)

Enchantments other than curses found in tombs usually take the form of talismans or wards. These cost two Build Points for every five levels of effects. Note that anything left in a strong Magic aura will accrue Warping; the aura may have faded since, but the enchantments remain Warped.

Although magical traps may be designed as if they were Hermetic effects to get an idea of the Build Points, Hermetic magic was not actually used in their construction, and they need not have the same features or restrictions. Specifically, most talismans can be bypassed or avoided; for example it is possible to dodge out of the way of a blast of fire generated by a Destroying Uraeus (see Example Talismans); whereas if this was a Hermetic enchantment that would not be the case. Similarly, the illusion created by the Nothing But Sky and Sand ward (see Example Wards) might be incomplete from a certain viewpoint, or might not react appropriately if sprinkled with water. As mentioned earlier, the Ease Factor to overcome a magical trap through mundane means should begin at a base of (6+magnitude) for a talisman that imprisons or harms, and (9+magnitude) for a ward that repels or obscures. Characters whose Magic Resistance is equal or greater than the Penetration of an enchantment may overcome the challenge automatically.

Library

Tombs rarely contain actual books, although some might have a stash of ancient scrolls carefully preserved in sealed jars that have withstood the ravages of time. The inside of most tombs is covered with inscriptions, however, often painted in vibrant colors that may have faded with time. These texts are usually scribed in Ancient Egyptian or Demotic (depending on their age) and may use hieroglyphs or the hieratic script.

The subject of these texts is often a history of the deceased, represented by an Area Lore or Organization Lore depending on the occupant. However, ancient priests often provided their kings with spells that they would need in the next life, and so there may be details of Magic Lore or relevant Supernatural Abilities.

Specialists

A Temple Priest of Dedun or an Undying One who lives in a tomb may have altar priests or adherents of the cult at their beck and call. These cost build points just like any other specialist. However, a tomb can have more unusual inhabitants, such as walking cadavers as tomb guardians, or the ghosts of long-dead viziers who offer advice from beyond the grave. If these characters are not intended to be player characters, then they should be purchased as specialists. Tomb guardians usually cost Build Points equal to their highest Martial Ability or Brawl, as applicable. Ghosts can be specialists or teachers, and cost Build Points appropriately.

Example Talismans

Many talismans merely injure or entrap, but a few magical effects are famous with seekers, as they are surprisingly common.

Apedemak's Strength

Muto (Rego) Terram 40 (16 Build Points) Pen 0, unlimited uses per day R: Per, D: Conc, T: Ind
Animates an immense statue of a lion. The statue obeys to the best of its ability a single verbal command of whoever activated it; it has since been Warped from being left in a strong Magic aura, and now requires a Communication + Leadership roll against an Ease Factor of 9 to prevent it from carrying out the last order it was given many hundreds of years ago — attack anyone who crosses the tomb's threshold. It is dogged and nigh indestructible, but an unskilled fighter. See earlier for details of tomb guardians. While it can be fought as normal, as an obstacle or trap, this enchantment has a base Ease Factor of 14. For example, characters trying to hide or run away from the tomb guardian roll against this number.
The guideline used is based on the making the target statue into highly unnatural stone, with a Rego requisite to permit it to move.
(Base 5, +1 Conc, +1 affect stone, +1 size, +1 requisite; +5 maintains concentration, +10 unlimited uses)

The Destroying Uraeus

Creo Ignem 20 (8 Build Points) Pen 0, 24/day
R: Voice, D: Mom, T: Ind
This statue of a rearing cobra spews a jet of fire on anyone passing in front of it without intoning the name of the tomb's recipient. The flames engulf one person, and inflict +10 damage. As a trap, the Destroying Uraeus has a base Ease Factor of 10 to avoid; for example, to dive out of the way.
(Base 5, +2 Voice; +5 24/day)

On The Presentation of Face of Lost Companions

Creo (Intellego) Imaginem 15 (6 Build Points)
Pen 0, 1/day
R: Touch, D: Conc, T: Ind
This enchantment is commonly activated following the triggering of a fatal trap. It creates an illusion of an ochre-red version of the deceased individual's face, coming out of a wall near to the trap. One widely-known version has the image shout in an ancient language, which if translated means: "Such is the fate of those who disturb the kings in their homes!" This talisman is designed to scare rather than injure, and need not be defended against.
More sinister enchantments might instead enslave the trapped person's ghost as a tomb-guardian.
(Base 2, +1 Touch, +1 Conc, +1 legible words and moving image, +1 requisite to perceive the face; +5 maintain concentration)

On Lowering the Waters

Rego Aquam 28 (12 Build Points) Pen 16, 1/day
R: Touch, D: Sun, T: Ind
Many tombs contain magical water which acts as a living thing, straining to drown intruders. This unnatural liquid is generated by a talisman, but is effectively a water elemental, as described in Realms of Power: Magic. This talisman controls a Might 15 water elemental using the guideline given in Chapter 8 of that book; when triggered, it commands the dormant elemental to attack. The talisman has an Ease Factor of 12 if characters attempt to avoid its effects; for example, trick the elemental into accepting a new command.
(Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Sun; +8 Penetration 16)

Example Traps

More, or less, dangerous versions of any of these traps are described in treasure seeker manuals. In each trap listed here, an example of how it may be overcome is described, but characters can easily come up with their own.

Labyrinth

Build Cost 4
The tomb contains a confusing maze of branching tunnels, empty rooms, and identical passages. Retracing one's steps is easy (Intelligence + Concentration against an Ease Factor of 6), but takes three times as long as the time taken to penetrate the labyrinth.

Prison Room

Build Cost 7
A chamber with no other exits, often containing treasures or inscriptions. Upon entering, there is a delay as the mechanism engages, and characters have a chance to hear the workings on a Perception + Awareness roll against an Ease Factor of 6. If no one succeeds this roll, the door drops, sealing the characters in. The door is far too heavy to lift by mundane means. Needless to say, any treasures are painted wood and inscriptions nonsensical (or taunting).

Rock Fall

Build Cost 9
Rockfall traps do impact damage, which is described on page 181 of ArM5. The damage a character suffers varies with the weight of material which lands upon them.
A section of ceiling collapses to allow several boulders to roll out and fall on those climbing the slope. Characters jumping free should make a Quickness + Athletics – Encumbrance stress roll against an Ease Factor 9, or suffer +10 damage from a tumbling boulder.
Larger rockfalls, with higher Build costs, are common.
An avalanche that covers the character with stones does +24 Damage, and may cause suffocation (see page 180 of the core book for Air Deprivation rules).
A group of rocks that, in total, weigh more than the character do +21 damage
A group of rocks that, in total, weigh about the same as a character do +18 damage.
For smaller rockfalls, a rule of thumb is +1 damage per 10 pounds of rocks.
This damage may be increased, by making the falling objects more dangerous than rocks (spiked metal balls, for example) or decreased, by making the falling objects softer (sand, the bones of earlier treasure hunters, the bodies of the characters left to guard the horses).

Medicinal Powders

Build Cost 12
The ancient Egyptians were well versed in alchemical and medicinal powders and pastes. This trap consists of an exceptionally finely powdered poison in a room or corridor sealed by a door. The movement of air caused by opening the door swirls the dust into the air, and the movement of the characters creates drafts that spread it further. The touch of this powder sears the skin and inflicts a disfiguring Medium Wound unless a Stamina roll against an Ease Factor of 9 is successful. Other powders could inflict different wounds, inflict Fatigue levels through choking or vomiting, inflict temporary blindness or paralysis, or even be highly flammable.

Projectiles

Build cost varies
If a character triggers a projectile trap, and does not escape it via player character actions in that combat round, then calculate Damage as (Stress die + Weapon Damage Modifier from page 177 of the core rules), which the character may soak. A character may be targeted by multiple projectiles (roll for each projectile and add the results) or by machines which throw with astonishing force (+1 to +5 damage, by human Strength equivalence). Many projectiles are poisoned (See page 180 in ArM5).

Head Wires

Build Cost: 15
Thin wires strung across a passageway at neck height. These are generally very difficult to see (Perception + Awareness against an Ease Factor of 15), and inflict +9 damage on anyone walking into them; most armor does not provide its Protection against this damage. Head wires are particularly dangerous when combined with other traps: for example, an easily spotted pit which must be jumped over, with head wires strung on the other side so that the victim jumps into them. In this situation, the damage is increased to +18, and this combination trap has a Build Cost of 21.

Dead Drop

Build Cost 18
A character has a chance to spot the trigger, a slightly less-worn paving stone; this requires a Perception + Awareness roll against an Ease Factor of 12. Failure opens a gaping hole beneath the unfortunate's feet onto a ten pace drop to a stone surface (+30 damage).

Pits

Build cost varies
A character who hits the ground in a pit suffers falling damage (as per page 181 of ArM5). Further, if the floor of the pit is designed to cause extra harm, then add the closest Weapon Damage modifier to the Damage modifier is added to the falling damage before Soak.
For example, a character falls into a 20 feet deep pit lined with sharpened stakes. The Damage Total is stress die + 20 (for the fall) +5 (the stakes are treated as short spears). This is resisted with a roll of stress die + Soak total. Storyguides wanting pits which are more dangerous may add to the Damage as a sort of Attack advantage, reflecting the architect knowing exactly where the character would fall.

Traps

A tomb is often built with a variety of traps intended to guard the contents against interlopers and robbers. A tomb may also have magical protections, but these are bought as Enchanted Items (see earlier). Most mechanical traps require manual resetting; some are designed to operate just once.

Feature	Build Point Cost
Non-damaging, delay or scare tactics	3
Minor injury (maximum +10 damage), or imprisonment	6
Serious injury (maximum +15 damage)	9
Often fatal (at least +20 damage)	12

Traps can be avoided in a number of different ways: spotting the pressure plate before triggering it; leaping out of the way of the swinging blade; figuring out the puzzle of which bricks to press; resisting the venomous needle; and so on. Each character has an opportunity to react to the challenge presented by the trap, as discussed earlier. The ease of avoiding a trap modifies the Build Point cost.

Details	Build Point Modifier
Simple to avoid (Ease Factor 3)	0
Easy to avoid (Ease Factor 6)	+1
Average to avoid (Ease Factor 9)	+3
Hard to avoid (Ease Factor 12)	+6
Very hard to avoid (Ease Factor 15)	+9

Vis

In an undisturbed tomb, vis might have been left with other grave goods, for the deceased to use in the next world; this is especially true if the honored dead was a magician in life. Vis is useful for an akh, since it can ameliorate the penalty for high Might scores on Study Totals for Transformation. Vis as a grave good should be paid for as a vis stock if the tomb subsequently becomes the home of a character.

Tombs may also be sources of vis, particularly those that have a supernatural aura of some description. Corpus is the most common flavor of vis found in tombs, although any Art is possible.

Hooks and Boons

Most of the Hooks and Boons in Ars Magica Fifth Edition (pages 72 – 74) and in Covenants (pages 6 – 27) are suitable for a tomb, although some may require interpretation by the troupe. A tomb with the Wealth Boon is one with all its grave goods still intact; this Boon may be Unknown if the treasure room remains undiscovered by its inhabitants. In Nubia, all tombs should purchase the Seclusion Boon due to the superstitious avoidance of all things to do with the dead.

Example: The Tomb of Queen Cleopatra

The tomb of the most famous of Egypt's queens, Cleopatra VII Thea Philopator, who was the last pharaoh of Egypt. She believed herself to be a reincarnation of the goddess Isis, and lived in opulence as her court indulged her in this delusion. She raised the ire of Rome by allying with Marcus Antonius in opposition to Caesar's heir Octavian Augustus. Following her legendary death by the venom of a sacred asp, Cleopatra's body was prepared for burial in the same manner as her illustrious ancestors.

Treasure hunters have sought high and low for the tomb and many plundered pyramids have been claimed to have belonged to the doomed queen. Cleopatra famously surrounded herself with fabulous wealth, and her court was a place of magic and wonder; these riches were never recovered by the conquering Romans, and are believed to have been buried with her.

In reality, everyone has been looking in the wrong place; Cleopatra was interred, not in a pyramid, but in a walled compound at Taposiris Magna, an isolated bay west of Alexandria and far from any trade routes. An enchantment keeps the tomb from being discovered by the casual visitor (see later). There are only a handful of individuals who know of its location; one is a jinniyya called Nahrou, whose Magic Might protected her from the concealing enchantment.

Means of Avoiding Traps

Traps, regardless of their type, impose their effects last in the combat round. All characters therefore have the opportunity to react to the trap, as described earlier. Some traps do not cause damage in the same round they trigger: for example a room that begins to fill with water may give the characters several minutes in which to find ways of saving themselves, as the water level rises.

Perception Checks and Traps

A Perception + Awareness roll may allow a character to be aware that a trap is in place without triggering it. This allows the character multiple combat rounds in which to overcome the trap. For example, if the character becomes aware that there is a crossbow behind a tapestry, she can take as much time as she likes coming up with ways to prevent it hurting anyone. It also allows magi to use formulaic or ritual magic to disable the trap.
The Ease Factor for spotting a trigger to avoid the trap is modified by the lighting conditions. The Ease Factors for Awareness rolls presented here assume torches and lanterns. Characters able to supply perfect lighting conditions (such as through a spell) decrease the Ease Factor by 3; those using a single flame such as a candle should add 3 to the Ease Factor. Characters foolish enough to risk tombs in near darkness — such as from a distant light or open door — have a +6 increase to such Ease Factors.

Evading Traps

Characters using the optional Combat rules in the Lords of Men supplement may prefer to use the Evasion Combat Statistic, described on page 125, to determine if characters dodge attacks from traps. To do this, assume the trap's Attack total is stress die + Intelligence of the trap setter + Profession of the trap setter. Traps that involve weapon-like components also add the Attack modifier of a similar weapon.

The Garden

Fifteen foot high walls enclose an opulent temple to Isis. An impressive pylon gate is the only entrance; it is decorated with images of Isis, along with cows, cats, lionesses, vultures, and hippopotamuses, representing the Egyptian goddesses. Within the walls is a lush garden of both edible and medicinal herbs.

Dates and bananas grow in the garden along with smaller amounts of other fruits; these, and the insects they attract, are enough to feed several families of mongooses that call the regio home. Over the centuries, Warping has caused occasional members of these families to become Magic Animals, and these now rule the rival clans like royals.

The pool in the center of the temple complex is the entrance to a Faerie regio of level 3. Once a year on the eve of the anniversary of Cleopatra's death (12 August), hordes of asps emerge from the regio entrance and spill forth into the temple grounds, each with a small Faerie Might. These do battle with the families of mongooses which dwell within the compound. The bodies that are left behind provide the temple with one of its sources of vis, but these are usually consumed rapidly by the few magical mongooses for the purpose of Transformation.

Anyone intending to remain here for any time might seek a permanent solution to the annual inundation by venomous snakes; however, the regio can only easily be accessed on that one night every year. At other times, a Regio Sight roll against an Ease Factor of 23 is required (ArM5, page 189). What is inside the regio is left for the storyguide to develop.

The Temple

The temple stands opposite the entrance across a lush garden. Its roof is supported by columns carved to resemble handmaidens. There are four different faces represented on these statues, each one repeated many times. Inside, the temple walls are covered with inscriptions in Koine Greek and Ancient Egyptian detailing spells of midwifery and healing. Some of these inscriptions can be studied as texts on the Arts of Learned Magicians; they are not precisely the same Arts, and the Quality given is that available to a 13th century magician. The temple contains two mighty statues of the lioness-headed goddess Sekhmet, bows drawn. If the name of Cleopatra is not intoned the statues shoot upon anyone in the temple, loosing a fiery arrow each per round.

Four handmaidens, all dedicated priestesses of Isis, sacrificed their lives to guard Cleopatra in the afterlife. Their ghosts haunt the temple, and their faces adorn its statues. Each one was a powerful sorceress in life and retains some of this power after death. One is skilled in spells of healing, another in lifeshriveling and destructive magic. The third has the power of transmutation and transformation; the last is expert with spells of enchantment and control.

The Tomb

The underground tomb is reached through an inclined passage entered through the temple. The first section levels off so that its ceiling is level with the ground; this region is trapped with a soporific poison (see later). The turn in the corridor is also trapped, but this pit is only triggered on the way out (again, see later). The tomb, directly underneath the statue of Isis in the temple above, is blocked by a door sealed with a curse. Inside, Cleopatra's body lies draped with a fine net made of pure gold. This is inside a painted wooden coffin carved to resemble the great queen, which in turn is inside a golden sarcophagus, which is itself within a stone sepulcher. The body is surrounded by the statues of four goddesses, with the heads of a vulture, a lioness, a crocodile, and an asp.

There is a hidden entrance on the rear wall of the tomb that leads to a short corridor and a second door. Above this door is another curse. Inside is uncountable wealth, the treasury of Ptolemaic Egypt, buried with its last pharaoh. This wealth represents a legendary source of income, over ten thousand Mythic Pounds worth of gold, gemstones, and ivory. This chamber is trapped, potentially burying this fabulous wealth under tons of sand just after the characters get a view of it.

Details of Cleopatra's Tomb

Magic aura: 6

Boons: Wealth (Resources, Major); Aura (Site, Minor), Edifice (Fortifications, Minor), Seclusion (Site, Minor), Vivid Environment (Site, Minor)

Hooks: Regio (Site, Major); Crumbling (Fortifications, Minor); Guardians (Surroundings, Minor), Legendary Site (Surroundings, Minor), Dwindling Resources (Resources, Minor)

Resources: Curses (38 Build Points). Enchantments (76 Build Points). Library: Inscription detailing the later history of Roman Egypt (summa on Area Lore: Egypt in Koine Greek, Level 5, Quality 9), inscription on medicinal herbs (tractatus on Medicine in Demotic, Quality 10), inscription on healing spells (tractatus on Learned Magician Form of Salutem in Demotic, Quality 11), inscription on magical wards (summa on the Learned Magician Technique of Tueor in Demotic, Level 10, Quality 7), eight inscribed formulae for pharmaceutical theriacs (in Demotic, 5 Build Points each, see Art & Academe page 77), inscribed creation myth of ancient Egyptians (tractatus on Faerie Lore in Demotic, Quality 7), diaries of the queen's handmaidens written on crumbling papyrus roll (three tractatus on Charm, Etiquette, and Intrigue in Koine Greek of Quality 5) (141 Build Points). Specialists: Four ghostly priestesses (each has the equivalent of one Hermetic Technique at a score of 20); five mongoose 'monarchs' (Leadership 5) (105 Build Points). Traps (45 Build Points). Vis Sources: 5 pawns of Animal per year (in bodies of slain asps), 2 pawns of Aquam per year (from pool in oasis), 3 pawns of Herbam per year (from exotic fruit), 1 pawn of Ignem per year (shard of pottery exposed to a Destroying Uraeus), 3 pawns of Terram per year (an item worth at least 10 Mythic Pounds that is left within the treasure chamber for at least a year) (70 Build Points). Vis Stocks: 10 pawns of Creo (in various unguents, pastes, and medicines), 5 pawns of Imaginem (in cosmetics and perfumes), 30 pawns of Terram (golden objects in treasure room) (9 Build Points)

484 Build Points total

Curses:

Those Romans who shall seek to disturb my rest and defame my name, they shall be inflicted by boils. They shall sicken and medicine will give them no succor. They shall have no issue. A combination curse with three excoriations. It is triggered by anyone speaking Latin in the burial chamber. The curse of boils leaves its victims hideous but causes no actual harm (PeCo 20 effect; Pen 0, 1/day; Base 5, +1 Touch, +2 Room); The sickening effect is a Lesser Malediction equivalent to the Fragile Constitution Flaw (PeCo 25); the curse of barrenness is the same as that mentioned earlier (PeCo 35) (32 Build Points)

As for anyone who shall break this seal, I shall cast the fear of myself into him. See earlier for details. This curse is written on a clay seal on the queen's treasure chamber (6 Build Points)

Enchantments:

The Shrouded Oasis: The walls of the compound of Cleopatra's tomb are enchanted with a ward identical to The Shrouded Glen (ArM5, page 152). Anyone researching a breakthrough in the enchantment of Hermetic Ritual effects can derive insight from this enchantment. This effect has a zero Penetration, so it is only good for repelling mundane treasure hunters. Non Hermetic effect (50 levels) (Ease Factor 19, 20 Build Points)

Two Statues of Sekhmet (enchantment as per Destroying Uraeuses, earlier) (Ease Factor 10, 16 Build Points)

The Djet: This twenty-foot-tall statue of the god Osiris is made of thirty individual pieces of green stone that cunningly fit together. If burning incense is placed within its hand, it will answer one question posed by the operator. The statue will only ever answer one question from each individual, and the questioner must be personally curious about the answer — it will not answer a question posed on behalf of another. Its knowledge seems unrivaled, but it only actually knows the answer if it is known to someone who is dead (this excludes all questions about the future), answering randomly if it does not know the answer. The statue is currently disassembled and scattered throughout the complex and it takes a certain amount of skill to fit it back together; furthermore, one piece is missing, and its whereabouts unknown. Instructions on its use are helpfully inscribed — in hieroglyphs — on the statue itself. Non Hermetic effect (100 levels) (40 Build Points)

Traps:

A section of the corridor is closed off by two heavy stone doors. When opened, there is a faint floral smell, and dust can be seen whirling in eddies in the shafts of sunlight let in from above. Within moments, the pharmaceutical powder reaches critical levels, and everyone still within the room must make a Stamina roll against an Ease Factor of 9 or collapse into unconsciousness. The amount by which the roll was failed determines the number of minutes the character is unconscious. A horde of mongooses swarms through the ground level holes, and start to consume the bodies of the fallen; they are immune to the poison. The swarm initially inflicts a Light Wound to each person; this is increased in severity one step every two minutes. (Ease Factor 9, 12 Build Points)

There is a covered pit trap just before the door to the burial chamber. However, this trap is initially safe to walk on (and does not even appear to be a trap), but doing so sets a mechanism into motion that releases the pin holding the pivot of the trap's cover in place. This arming process takes about a minute from the point that the trap is triggered. Characters returning from the burial chamber are liable to fall for the trap, especially since they will not be expecting a trap here, having not encountered it on the way in. A character might hear the mechanism arming itself, requiring a Perception + Awareness roll, although this is very quiet and adds 3 to the base Ease Factor. Leaping off the pit cover as it pivots requires a Dexterity + Athletics – Encumbrance roll, if the character is moving cautiously on the return journey. Those fleeing from the fear curse in the burial chamber might find this much harder to avoid. The pit is twelve feet deep and lined with spikes; they must Soak +12 damage from the fall and +8 damage from each of up to four spikes. (roll a simple die: 1 – 2 = miss all spikes; 3 – 4 = penetrated by 1 spike; 5 – 6 = penetrated by 2 spikes; 7 – 8 = penetrated by 3 spikes; 9 – 10 = penetrated by 4 spikes). (treated as two traps; one inflicts a serious injury, the other a minor injury; Ease Factor 12, 21 Build Points)

The treasure chamber is booby-trapped; anyone stepping on the threshold will cause several tons of sand to flood in from the roof, burying the treasure. The purpose of the trap is to leave the treasure inaccessible and the flow of sand is fast, but can be outrun by those who have not yet entered the treasure chamber. A Perception + Awareness roll is needed to spot the trigger. (Ease Factor 15, 12 Build Points)

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See Also

Chapter Four: Pagan Monuments (Birbah)

The Seekers' Guild (Al-Matalibeen)

Yes Really: A Guild of Adventurers

Gourneh: Village of the Tomb Robbers

Story Seeds For Treasure Hunters

Conman

The Destructive Jest

Government Agent

Monastery or Mosque

Naqeeb Al-Matalibeen (The Chairman of the Matalibeen)

Roman Notes

The Treasure of Qarun

Clusters of Tombs

The Structure of Tombs

Mortuary Chapel

A Note on Tombs

Serdab

Stele

Guardians of Graveyards

Canocephalus Decapitators

Guardians of Graveyards (Cont'd)

Story Seed: Medallion Removal

Great Guardian of the Tombs

The Father of Dread

The Mut: The Enemies From The West

Guardians of Graveyards (Cont'd)

Mut Story Seeds

Statues

Sepulcher

Changes In Tomb Design Over Time

Tombs, Temples, and Auras

Story Hook: Following the Dead

Treasures

Story Seed: Ramaseum

Carving Equipment

The Field of Reeds

Defenses

Physical Barriers

Architectural Trickery

Mechanical Traps

Puzzles

Minigame

Magical Defenses

Curses

Examples

Ka of a Tomb Robber

Animated Statue of a Minor Palace Guard

Talismans

Possess Statue (Minor Power)

Wards

Creatures of The Tombs

Ka, Egyptian Ghosts

Quick Ghost Conversion Notes

Quick Animated Statue Conversion Notes

Detailed Design for Royal Pharaonic Ghosts

Blood Virtues

New Virtue: Blood of the Old Gods

Powers of the Pharaoh in Life

The Akh

Story Seeds: Famous Missing Tombs

The Tomb of Imhotep, probably at Saqqara

Example Akh: Sethos

Example Akh: Sethos (Cont'd)

Tombs As Lairs for the Cult of Dedun

The Tomb of Marcus Antonius, probably near Alexandria

Designing Tombs and Mortuaries

Basic Tomb Features

Example Wards

Nothing But Sky and Sand

Turn the Interloper

A Sovereign Ward Against Robbers

Resources

Curses

Example Curses

A Crocodile Shall Be Against Him in Water, a Snake on Land

He Shall Be Destroyed by Sekhmet

He Shall Capsize and Drown at Sea

He Shall Have No Successors

He Shall Meet Death by a Disease that No Doctor can Diagnose