Speaking With the Dead
For many millennia, my spirit has watched over the Sea of Sand, I have learned a great many things, and few have the wisdom to heed my warnings. Long have I watched you, and your part in this story, now let me tell you a tale of how this dark chain of events began…
This sad story begins with a story about a young girl named Meret-Hetef. A native of An-Khara, Meret was a curious child with a quick intellect and a gift for putting seemingly disparate pieces of information together. Even as a young girl, she always knew that her destiny lay with the priesthood of Osiris.
When Meret was 17, tragedy struck her family. Her parents died suddenly of a wasting disease, leaving the young girl alone and heart-broken. Soon after, she began to make errors in judgment, drinking excessively and staying out past curfew. Shortly thereafter, she was expelled from the Osirian priesthood for violations of their strict rules.
Bitter and despondent, Meret wandered the streets until she found out about a year-long expedition being sent into the deep desert on an archeological dig. Thrilled with an opportunity to start over, she immediately signed up for the expedition. Using her skills and knowledge, Meret soon proved to be an asset on the expedition, and her knowledge and intuition were a great help to its leaders. She made several valuable discoveries as the team excavated several ancient ruins in the desert sands.
In a moment that would change her life forever, Meret uncovered a stone scarab engraved with arcane formulas developed by a researcher over 3,000 years in the past. Powerful emotions stirred within her at the sight of the piece of ancient Shorafi history resting in her hands, and of the knowledge that could have been lost forever now brought to light.
She brought the scarab to a sage who deciphered the hieroglyphics. It was then, she first learned of the Cult of the Forgotten Pharoah; an organization dedicated to resurrecting Hakotep, the greatest of the ancient Pharaohs of Shorafa. She also learned the history of the thrice-divided soul, and the power of immortality which it bestowed. Meret became obsessed with the idea on obtaining eternal life. She sought out the cult, and soon joined its ranks.
Over the next ten years, Meret and her fellow cultists scoured desert ruins for more artifacts which would lead to the location of the three hidden relics. Along the way, she grew ever more powerful and ruthless. Sadly, her path to evil began the day she plunged a dagger into an unsuspecting member of the Sacrosanct Order, a rival organization whose members were sworn to stop her cult from achieving its goal.
Because of her skill and determination, Meret soon rose through the ranks to become the leader of the cult of the Forgotten Pharaoh. Her greatest achievement was the discovery of the Heart of Hakotep, located here—deep within the crypts below the Sightless Sphinx. Many of her team were killed, but Meret was able to recover the artifact from its hidden crypt.
By this time, her years of experience gave Meret a confidence in her own abilities that sometimes led her to make reckless decisions. She grew bolder and failed to take every necessary precaution. When Meret laid eyes the Heart of Hakotep, wonder and curiosity overwhelmed her. Without thinking, she picked up the relic and her soul was instantly lost, possessed by a fragment of the soul of the Sky Pharaoh.
At this point, Meret own consciousness was merged with that of the malevolent spirit of Hakotep. Believing she was acting upon her own initiative, Meret set up the headquarters of the Cult at the Sightless Sphinx and set in motion the series of events which has brought you here today.
She ordered her fellow cult-member, Nebta-Khufre, to infiltrate the Sacrosanct Order. Once there, he became lovers with Seti, one of its members. Thru her, Nebta learned of the locations of the other two artifacts; Hakotep’s sceptre; buried under the Spire of Agzhad and his Mask; located somewhere in the ruins of Tanif.
Meret herself led the team who recovered the Sceptre from the spire in An-Khara, while Nebta was to secure the Mask. But as you know, he betrayed her and decided to keep the Mask for himself!
You see, to those greedy for power, these artifacts can have a powerful pull. Only your good nature prevented the Mask from utterly possessing you too. Meret-Hetef herself ordered my corpse stolen and brought here, so she could raise my spirit and interrogate me about the secrets of Hakotep’s pyramid. But her pride blinded her to my warnings about its dangers….
Now, you may be wondering how did this ominous chain of events come about? Well, the origins of that story trace back nearly 5,000 years, to the reign of Hakotep I; the Sky-Pharaoh. I was a mortal man back then, and in my lifetime, was considered the greatest architect of the empire.
As a young man, I was brought into the service of the Pharaoh and ordered to oversee construction of a series of massive monuments dedicated to his glory. I oversaw the construction of the great pyramid, as well as the Khepsutanem, a series of earthworks which used magical energy to power the pyramid's “flying” abilities, which you will understand today as plane-shifting.
I was loyal to my leader and oversaw the construction, I always believed the purpose of the Khepsutanem was only to hide the pyramid from grave robbers and to prevent anyone from desecrating the tomb of my beloved Pharaoh. Alas, I was a fool, for I underestimated Hakotep’s weaknesses, especially when it came to his wife. Neferuset.
When he first met her, Neferuset was a nineteen-year-old, dark-eyed beauty of noble blood, who had already earned a dangerous reputation as a powerful, but dangerous sorceress who used dark magic. Out of a sense of fear and caution, I, along with all of Hakotep’s closest and most-trusted advisers, spoke out against the match.
The Pharaoh refused to listen, and despite the objections from the Shorafi Royal Court, wed his young bride in a grand ceremony. As testament to his love for her, Hakotep never took another wife during his entire reign. But despite their close bond, Hakotep's advisors continued to distrust the Queen, and soon after the marriage, they began to fear her as well.
Those fears seem to have been well-founded, for within a few years, many of Hakotep’s closest advisers suffered mysterious deaths from disease, strange accidents, or even outright assassinations. I was saved presumably because I spent my entire life out here, overseeing the construction of the pyramid and its surrounding structures.
Over the years, the Queen became increasingly unstable, shown by her obsession with the “Dark Tapestry” between the stars in the night sky and the magical, alien creatures she believed dwelt there.
The increasing erratic behavior of both Hakotep and Neferuset led to much instability and political chaos at the royal court in Tanif. The Queen also retained a strange order of priestesses who assisted her in her dark magics.
In his final years, Hakotep became afflicted with a recurring disease of astonishing virulence and died in the year 1677/3. Upon his death, Nefuseret took her own life by drinking serpent venom and both were laid to rest in the massive pyramid which I had been built for them.
In the days after the death of the Pharaoh and his queen, his personal guard; the Akhumen, murdered all his generals, hundreds of servants and slaves, and forced me to take poison. All of our spirits were then permanently bound to him. My physical body had died, but my spirit watched in horror as events spiraled out of control.
It was only then that the Queen’s true desires became apparent. Her loyal priestesses had initiated a strange ritual to bring back both she and Hakotep from the dead, where they would rise up as unholy demonic beings who would rule over the desert for eternity.
At the last moment, a loyal priestess named Myrashna took action to save the realm from Nefuseret’s evil plan. She ordered the Sacrosanct Order to steal the thrice divided soul of Hakotep to prevent the undead ritual from being completed. In doing so, so broke her sacred oath to protect the Pharaoh’s remains, but also prevented an epic catastrophe. The three parts of his soul were hidden away; one was placed here in the Sphinx, one under the Spire of Agzhad, and the one you possess was placed within the city of Tanif.
Alas, we come to our present calamity. The Pharaoh’s evil spirit has lain dormant for millennia waiting for an opportunity to arise. That foolish Meret-Hetef unknowingly granted him his wish. She thought she was acting to achieve her own immortality, but she was nothing more than a pawn of a dead pharaoh!
Now, if you wish to save yourselves and the rest of the peoples of Corwyn you must act to stop Hakotep and his wife. You must place the thrice divided soul inside his sarcophagus within his pyramid and allow his corrupted soul eternal rest. Only then will his dark powers be ended.
Even now, his plans are beginning. The world outside is no longer how you remember it when you entered this place. Time is of the essence!
Questions
Chisisek looks at you sadly, "the task set before you is daunting. Do you have any last questions of me, before you depart on your quest?"
- Where is Hakotep's tomb now?
- What is the Khepsutanem?
- How can we reach Hakotep's tomb?
- What are these Sekrepheres you spoke of?
- In what order must we activate the Sekrepheres to focus the Sun Disk plaza on Hakotep's Tomb?
- How do we activate the Sun Disk once the Sekrepheres are activated?
- The spirit turns and looks directly at Serach, "You, my young friend, are quite lucky that Meret found the first piece of the thrice divided soul, for it was the first relic which made the link between the the holder and that of the malevolent spirit of Hakotep. the other two relics were mere extensions. so, you were never in danger of losing your soul."
Chisisek Instructions
1. you must use the Icon in the Lantern Vault to awaken the energies that power the complex
2. Anoint the 11 Obelisks in order to awaken the elemental spirits individually
3. Focus the awakened elementals in Monument Vault
4. Obtain the five-pointed star key from Istamabet in the Pyramid of the Five Pointed Sun
5. Obtain the Pharaoh's Key from the Guardian Vault
6. Insert both Keys into the Sun Disk to lower the forcefield around Hakotep's Pyramid
Shorafi / Common Names
Aeromantic Infandibulum: the elemental energy that powers complex
Sekrepheres: eleven obelisks containing a trapped elemental spirit
Tekramenet: Lantern Vault
Sekraphrenet: Monument Vault
Akhumenet: Guardian Vault
