Dm's notes:
desert descriptions
A landscape of sand, flat, harsh sunlight, cacti, tumbleweeds, dust devils, cracked land, crumbing rock, sandstone, canyons, wind-worn rock formations, tracks, dead grasses, vibrant desert blooms (after rainfall), flash flooding, dry creek…
Sounds
Wind (whistling, howling, piping, tearing, weaving, winding, gusting), birds cawing, flapping, squawking, the fluttering shift of feasting birds, screeching eagles, the sound of one’s own steps, heavy silence, baying wild dogs..
Smells arid air, dust, one’s own sweat and body odor, dry baked earth, carrion
Tastes
grit, dust, dry mouth & tongue, warm flat canteen water, copper taste in mouth, bitter taste of insects for eating, stringy wild game (hares, rats) the tough saltiness of hardtack, biscuits or jerky, an insatible thirst or hunger
Touch
Torrid heat, sweat, cutting wind, cracked lips, freezing cold (night) hard packed ground, rocks, gritty sand, shivering, swiping away dirt and sweat, pain from split lips and dehydration, numbness in legs, heat/pain from sun stroke, clothes…
The cruel sun beat down, it's one malevolent eye unblinking, and the sky was it's co-conspirator with not even a wisp of cloud to soften the harsh rays. The lizards took shelter in the shadows of the rocks where the sand was not hot enough to roast them, but there was no shade large enough for us. Each step sunk into the searing sand, the air was thick and hazy, each breath like drowning in larva.
Three days have passed, and it is morning on the trackless desert. The huge, golden sun rose over the edge of the barren world, and its rays fell on a lonely camel train that was already on the move.
Away to the west the sun was sinking into a violet sea of light. There lay the mighty desert, brown, barren, desolate—the desert with its dreaded sand storms and grating winds. The desert at twilight was a vast undulating sea, punctuated by the shadowy silhouettes of cactus, like great ghost ships upon the sandy waves.
The desert of Israel is covered in rolling hills. Wind stirs up the wispy sand and the sun’s never ending rays beat down on you mercilessly. Salty sweat rolls off your nose and stings your eyes. Your clothing is overwhelmingly hot and sticky. The stiff, dry desert breeze blows sand into your eyes and makes your hair stiff with salt. Your tongue feels as if it’s coated in fur and your lips are chapped and dry. You long for crystal, cold water.
The white buildings are rectangular and protrude proudly from the desert sands. You enter the maze of buildings on a chestnut colored horse. Stalls crowd the market place and dark-skinned children play. The Egyptians greet you with dazzling smiles, hoping you will buy their wares. Their stalls are covered with magnificently bright cloth. They sell browned fish, hard bread, shimmering jewels, shining metals, crisp, pristine linen, and juicy figs. A dancer, dressed in a gauzy white tunic, twirls in the streets and the crowd tosses golden coins to her. You hand a golden coin to a merchant, missing a front tooth. He smiles and weighs it on a scale before handing you a honey roll. The roll is pure white and coated in sticky, sweet honey. You take a bite, savoring the fluffy
The arid and sunburnt barren lands lie before you; the eternal desert stretching a thousand miles. The intense sun blazes down on this harsh yet amazingly beautiful wilderness of red rocks, the incredible feeling of being the only person with a heart beating within miles sets in.
The landscape never changes, it stays the same; no wind, no rain, just stale raw air. Inconceivable formations of canyons and immense rock structures set in the distance, circling the desert comparable to a tremendous bare stadium with red rocky stands that you know exist, but out of your reach. Every time your eyes wander back to study the distant rocky landscape it seems as if it were merely a projection onto the horizon. It almost feels unreal.
Marketplace
A lost child wailed for his mother, a man frantically searched for his missing dog, shopkeepers screamed out offers on the top of their voices to attract customers and customers desperately tried to bargain for the best possible prices. This was the Eto public market, a place which was always drowning in the sea of people. Not a single empty place could be spotted between the stalls. Some held a hand against their forehead to shield themselves from the sun, others fanned themselves with cloth or silk.
The sun mercilessly shone down upon the market. Beads of sweat glistened on everyone's forehead and many faces turned red due to the sweltering heat. The salty odour of sweat mingled with the nose tingling aroma of spices and the sweet smell of flowers rose wafted above the entire marketplace. All of these smells mixed together and gave the market a rather unique scent, which hung in the air from early morning to late evening.
PUZZLES
The Pharaoh tells his two sons to race their camels to a distant city to see who will inherit his kingdom. The one whose camel is slower wins. After wandering aimlessly for days, the brothers ask a wise man for guidance. Upon receiving the advice, they jump on the camels and race to the city as fast as they can.
What did the wise man say to them?
Answer: switch camels
Problem
You work in a factory that boxes apples and oranges to ship around the world. One day, the labeling machine goes haywire and incorrectly labels the crates of fruit.
Your coworker decides to play a game. He pulls up three crates of fruit and tells you that one of them has apples in it, one has oranges in it, and the last one has both apples and oranges in it. You can see that one of the crates is labeled "A" for apples, another is labeled "O" for oranges, and the third is labeled "A+O" for both apples and oranges. Your coworker reminds you that all three crates are incorrectly labeled.
You get to pick one crate, and your coworker will pull a fruit out of it and show you what it is. You get to do this only one time. How can you determine—without a doubt—which crate has apples, which one has oranges, and which one has both?
answer
The only way to be absolutely certain you will know which crates contain which fruits is if you ask your coworker to pull a fruit out of the crate that is labeled "A+O" to show to you. You know the crate is incorrectly labeled, so it doesn't have both apples and oranges in it. So if he pulls an apple out of the "A+O" crate, it has apples in it. If he pulls an orange out, it has oranges.
Let's say he pulls an apple out of the "A+O" crate, so you know it has apples in it. Now you know that the crate labeled "O" doesn't have just apples in it, because the "A+O" crate is the one with just apples in it, and you know the "O" crate doesn't have just oranges in it, because it is incorrectly labeled. So the "O" crate must have both apples and oranges in it, which leaves the "A" crate with just oranges.
A dealer bought an article for $7, sold it for $8, bought it back for $9, and sold it for $10. How much profit did he make
answer $2
When you have me, you want to share me.
When you share me, you no longer have me.
answer is SECRET.
EXCERPT FROM THE SCROLLS OF INQUIRY
Inquisitor: Why did the Sacrosanct Order enter Hakotep's tomb?
Prisoner: Mercy! May the gods pity me!
Inquisitor: Why did the Sacrosanct Order enter Hakotep's tomb?
Prisoner: To take the Pharaoh's heart and death mask.
Inquisitor: Why?
Prisoner: I cannot! Death is better than the punishment I'll receive.
Prisoner subjected to further flaying for approximately one hour and subsequently revived after passing out.
Inquisitor: Why did the Sacrosanct Order steal the Pharaoh's heart and mask?
Prisoner: [unintelligible] Please, no more!
Inquisitor: Why? Answer!
Prisoner: It was believed the Pharaoh's soul, his ib and ka, were contained within them. Please, gods have mercy!
Inquisitor: Why did the order want the Pharaoh's ib and ka?
Prisoner: No, I cannot!
Inquisitor: Why did they divide his soul?
Prisoner: No more! Have pity!
Prisoner subjected to the Trial of Seventy-Seven Scarabs.
Questioning resumed.
Inquisitor: Why did the order steal the Pharaoh's ib and ka?
Prisoner: We hoped to learn the secrets of the Shory from his soul.
Inquisitor: Did you succeed?
Prisoner: No, no! May the gods pity us for our hubris! Inquisitor: Where is the Pharaoh's heart? Where is the mask? Prisoner: No, no, please! I'll tell you! The heart was taken to Sothis, hidden beneath Azghaad's Spire. Inquisitor: And the mask?
Prisoner: A shrine. A shrine to Nethys in Wati, where none would ever find it. No more, I beg you!
Questioning continued fr three mare days without further
confessions until subject expired. Subject interred for future questioning, if needed.
PLAYER HANDOUT
obsessed with the mystery ofthe Sky Pharaoh. One extract fom Khnenti's journal reads, "The Mask of the Forgotten Pharaoh is said to contain a portion ofHakotep's soul, his ka, which gives the mask its magical abilities."
If The PCs have not yet learned the powers ofthe Mask ofthe Forgotten Pharaoh (see Pathfnder Adventure Path #So 62), they can fnd details on its abilities here. Khnenti seems to have set out upon some sort ofquest to unravel these mysteries. There is also brief mention of the Sacrosanct Order of the Blue Feather hoping to commune with the Sky Pharaoh to learn his "darkest secrets," but with ambiguous results.
kp 10: Research in the Secret Archive (area D10) finally reveals the Scrolls oflnquiry. The scrolls are cumbersome and difficult to read, and most of the confessions recorded upon them are of no use to the PCs' research. One transcript, however, does contain some useful information
The PCs discover a collection of architectural plans detailing a series of tomb designs of incredible complexity. Each plan is labeled with a double hieroglyph ofan owl inside a house. A character who can read Ancient Osiriani or succeeds at a DC 20 Linguistics check realizes that this hieroglyph is the "signature" of the architect, a person named Chisisek. A successfl DC 30 Knowledge (engineering) or Knowledge (local) check identifes Chisisek as a well-known architect fom the First Age of Osirion. There is also a note mentioning a meeting between Chisisek and the Sky Pharaoh, but nothing more in this archive.
Following up on Khnenti's research on Hakotep, the PCs learn that the priest carried out frther study in an archive ofthe Great Library called the Vault of Hidden Wisdom (area E). The location of the Vault is secret, but worthy scholars can fnd the entrance by casting their eyes fom the summit of the Tower of Ra's Glory at dawn on midsummer's day.
Descriptions
A raised, oval platform beneath a canopy of delicate golden feathers stands in the center of the room. Silk pillows and linen sheets lie in a crumpled heap upon the platform, and four silver orbs float at each corner of the bed, filling the room with soft light. The ceiling is painted with vivid murals of fearsome, blank faced, six-legged sphinxes striding through the desert, crushing giant scorpions, devouring humanoids, and rutting with a staggering variety of creatures both mortal and demonic. A half-completed painting on the far wall depicts a winged pyramid flying over a city
You have been a thorn in the side of my faithful for too long. This ends here and now. You will give the mask to me and prostrate yourselves at my feet. The Forgotten Pharaoh
will be forgotten no more! I live and breathe and shall not lie down again!"
When the Forgotten Pharaoh dies,
Hakotep's ib abandons Serethet's body. The masked cult
leader falls silently to the ground, the life drained from
her body. Her golden funerary mask tumbles from her
face, revealing her ordinary human features frozen in
an expression that's equally defiant and terrified. From
her open mouth slips a glowing, ethereal winged heart
that soars up toward the ceiling and passes through it,
vanishing from sight.
If one of the PCs is wearing the Mask of the Forgotten
Pharaoh containing Hakotep's ka, that character feels a
slight mental "tugging" as the winged heart soars away, as
if something within the mask wants to join the heart in its
flight. A PC who succeeds at a DC 25 Knowledge (religion)
check can identify the spectral winged heart as an ib, a
piece of the soul in ancient Osirian tradition. Embodied
in the heart, the ib was considered an individual's seat of
emotion, thought, will, and intention. The PCs cannot
interfere with the ib in any way; it is a representation of an
intangible concept, not a physical item.
