tradução Mummy The Curse

8/10/2019 traduo Mummy The Curse

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The Wall 169

Mr. Wodehouse,As instructed, we resumed our debrief of the subject. She seems weaker, now, less confident, as though she

were being deprived of food and water (she is not) or suffering some internal malady. I offered her the services ofmy medic, but she has thus far refused (and with a gracious smile). The subject responds to your queries regarding

catalysts and prices with the following account:By the pinnacle of empires ascent, the necromancers art had plateaued. The six great guilds, each formed of seveninfluential guildhouses, had grown into the envy of the inhabited world. But all the gold in the empire couldnt fill thevoid gaping in the necromancers dark hearts; all the wondrous relics they could create wouldnt be enough to push theirart to the like of the gods. And thats why they searched for a game changer. Thats when they sought a catalyst.

The accounts differ as to the form and character of this catalyst, this magical skeleton key she says they needed;the necromancers themselves were cagey with information, of course, but she says that they went hunting for

something deep in the western Sahara and that whatever they found was important enough to leave a garrisonthere and return for more Priests and supplies. She says she heard one version that spoke of their quarry as a

seamless block of black stone, and another account that says it was the body of a dead god, but she believes it was aplace of power.

Like an oasis? I asked.Like a mouth, she said, a mouth dug deep in the sand, its lips open to the sky, with a gullet of sweet Sekhemand the holiest of stomachs in wait below.

Her words.Whatever it was they found buried in the deep desert, they used its power to fuel the two greatest spells the mortal world had

ever seen. The first was their precious rite of return, now a reality. Each guildmaster-priest called on his newly advanceddesert magic to perform the rite on every servant he thought suitable to the task, resulting in the creation of hundreds of

mummies loyal to each guild, and within their numbers, each member forcibly loyal to his or her individual creator. The secondspell was also, as it turns out, part of the price you were talking about. She says:

The gods of this scorpion empire were mighty largely because they had no true names over which others could gain power; e.g.,they called the Nameless Lion Re in sacred texts, but that is only the name that the Great Lion wants them to call It. The

name is what is granted at a things birth, and what is ultimately taken away when a thing is put to rest. To be nameless is tobe eternal, so to be on equal footing with their gods, the Priests of Duat had to possess the same power. But the price of thesetwo great will-workingsto cheat death and to be namelesswas an offering of comparable sacrifice and an offering of comparablebetrayal. The Shaniatu sacrificed thousands during the rite that swallowed Irem and delivered it whole unto Duat.

Sir, you need to know that at this point, she is visibly in distress. Pale-faced, with clammy hands and a sickly look toher. If I didnt know better, I would say shes aged since we first brought her inby as much as 10 years. And the fact thatshes been divulging copious amounts of information about these Arisen to us effectively reveals her to be antagonistic to

them. If youll forgive my ignorance, doesnt all of that suggest that she might make a potential ally? Sir?- A.

No,squadleader,itdoesnot.Itmakesherourcompetition. Wehopethatsclear.Assuch,herdiscomfortisoflittleconsequencetousand,therefore,ofnonetoyou.Getbackinthere,andaskher

howmuchtheseArisenknowoftheirownoriginsandcondition.Howdeepdoestheritespatterningoverwritetheirownmemoriesandinstincts?Also,whatofthisbetrayal?

Respondsoonest.


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The Scroll of Ages172

energies of the Rite of Return serve to anchor his spirit tothe living world, like a set of mystical nails driven into thestuff of his being. This creates a potent but volatile conduitbetween the Earth and the Underworld, a swirling vortexpart mystery, part magic, and part memorythat wends itsway, tunnel-like, through the shadowscape of Neter-Khertet.

All the mummy has to do is follow this path back to hisbody, and he is again arisen.

This journey is, of course, the heart of the matter therub and the problem. Dying is a harrowing experience forany creature, and doubly harrowing for an Arisen whosesoul is torn prematurely from its sahu before its purpose canbe fulfilled. Not even grim experience and painful repetitionwill offer hope of alleviating this distress and disorientation,as each death cycle is differentnot merely from one Arisento another, but from one death to another.

That said, two chief components remain consistentthroughout a mummys various death cycles. The first ofthese is the presence of Anpu, who yet fills his eternal role asferryman for the Arisen soul even during these strange periods

of turmoil and doubt. The second component is the mummysown past, which literally comes back to haunt him as he makeshis way back to life. Whatever form a given death cycle takes,these two elements will always figure in somehow.

For Storytellers, the adjudication of a death cycle is largelya narrative matter. Outside of plots and events related tothe Arisens summoned purpose, much ofMummyrevolvesaround the twin themes of memory and self-discovery, andthe death cycle is both encapsulation and manifestation ofthat idea. Its an opportunity to challenge both player andcharacter, and as often as not, to unearth some importantor revealing aspect of the mummys past or present.System: Structurally, the death cycle is an interludea

scene the Storyteller runs for the player of the deceased.

Depending on the needs of the group and the story, thisinterlude could last two or even three scenes, but since mostmerets dont die in unison (short of those rare occasionswhen theyre all caught standing at ground zero for thedetonation of a pretty brutal explosion), the interlude islikely to leave one or more players out of the action for aslong as it lasts. Whats most important is that the narratedsequence accomplishes its intended purpose for the deceased.Sometimes, this can be achieved by having the other playersroleplay their characters as figments of themselves withinthe confines of the deceaseds dreamscape, but only if andwhen their appearance within his death cycle would makenarrative and thematic sense at the time.

Whatever the player composition, the typical interlude

breaks down into two parts (which neednt be equal inlength or scope): First, the disembodied soul must groundhimself within the tumult, to get his bearings enough tofollow the beacon (or sound, or star, or other signatory) thatleads to Anpu, who awaits him further on. Once theyre faceto face, Anpu shows the supplicant the way back to himself,occasionally with an added element of mystery or revelationalong the way (though its recommended that Anpu neverspeak aloud); the passing of a torch is common. Part two is

where the scene is tailored more specifically to the characterand story of the deceased. He might find himself back in atomb he abandoned long ago, or in the domicile of a formerlover or ally or even in Irem itself. The point is for him toface something about himself or his past that hed forgotten,dismissed, or buried intentionally so he could move on.

During (or at the end of) the first part, the Storyteller willcall for a single Memory roll. She notes the result of this roll,but it has no other bearing on the scene or the souls progress.At the end of the second part, the player rolls Memory again,but this time, he modifies the roll according to the previousrolls result: If he achieved an exceptional success, he addstwo dice to the roll. If the first roll was a success, he adds onedie. If he failed the first roll, he subtracts one die.

If the second Memory roll is a success, the mummytakes what he learned from the sequence and returns tohis body (or organ), where he loses a dot of Sekhem in theprocess of resurrecting his remains. If his player garneredexceptional success on the second roll, the Arisen returnsas per a success, but gets a chance to avoid losing the

Sekhem to resurrection: His player makes a Descent Roll,and only if thatroll succeeds does the mummy lose the dotof Sekhem. (His player cant spend Willpower to subtractdice, however.) If the player fails the second Memory roll,the Risen loses the dot of Sekhem and his player mustmake a Descent Roll (potentially losing the character twodots of Sekhem to resurrection). If the second Memory rollfails dramatically, the mummy loses two dots of Sekhemautomatically, with no chance for a Descent Roll. TheStoryteller is encouraged to describe the feeling of losingtwo dots of Sekhem in narrative terms, as the shades ofNeter-Khertet and his own crumbling awareness conspireto strip him of his vital life force; he arises weary andbattered, as though barely surviving his death cycle.

APOTHEOSISThe other sentient denizens of the World of Darkness

human beings and the restless deadboth have beliefsystems centered around moving on from their current lotin life (or death). In mortals, this takes the shape of a myriadof cultures perspectives on enlightenment, whether one isgraduating from supplicant to priest or attaining the sacredrank of bodhisattva. Among the disembodied, of course,this takes the form of one passing on to Heaven, reachingNirvana, etc. For the Arisen, who are in effect the linkbetween the living and the dead, things are no different.

Although the mummy equivalent of this belief, called

Apotheosis, still remains unpopular among the Arisen, it hasnonetheless penetrated the bubble of their community after sixlong millennia. The official position of not one, but every guildon the subject is generally unfavorable, and thats certainlyreflective of the baseline opinion among the Deathless. Yet,that comes as little surprise, considering how much is workingagainst them when it comes to simply entertaining the idea, letalone committing to it enough to alter their purpose just to bein accordance with it.


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Apotheosis 173

The Arisen soul enters immortality steeped in thereligious cosmology of lost Irem, and having looked uponthe faces of the Judges themselves, it finds little reasonto doubt the official dogma. Beyond this, each mummycommitted himself willfully to enduring the trials ofeternity; his soul had the chance to submit itself to shameful

oblivion, but choseto accept its burden. Further still, theRite itself takes a toll, its programmed malice working todrown out all independent thought. And yet, despite all ofit, there remains an inmost tug deep within each and everyDeathless soul, one that goads and urges it to just stop; toclose eyes and to cease breath and ascend.

THE LADDER OF SETThe term apotheosis is a relatively recent convention

among the Arisen, adapted more for scholarly use andpursuit (and with a certain, added metagame value amongplayers). Indeed, the guilds adopted it largely because itsorigins are Greek, rather than ancient or predynasticEgyptian, and therefore of a comfortable intellectual

distance to the default posture of the Arisen mind. Theoriginal term for this allegedly idle pursuit, and the wordthat those who are truly interested in it tend to use withone another, is the Mentaar(the Ascent).

One of the seminal gospels of the Iremite religious epicrevolved around the tale of how Azar, Lord of Duat andpatron god of the Nameless Empire, found his way to theSky Above the Sky:

When the time came for Azar to make at lastthe Ascent, he journeyed to the top of thetallest mountain, that he might gain admission

to the heavens. Yet, the distance betweenthe earth and the floor of the Light Land just

outstretched his reach, and Azar fell todespair. Then sun broke through the clouds,

and beyond that rift, he caught a twinkle inthe eye of Ptah, the Nameless Bull, who, on ashaft of golden light, sent down a ladder of

the finest craft. Descending to earth with theladder came the god Re, the Nameless Lion,

and on the ladders other side, the goddess

Esit, the Nameless Falcon. The two heldthe ladder sturdy upon the earth, that Azarcould make his ascent. Their task complete,the Three returned to the Light Land and

bade Sutek, the Nameless Serpent and Lordof Dust and Storm, descend to earth and

become the eternal guardian of the perfectladder of Ptah.

This, people of the Black Land, is why weplace the effigy of the ladder in the tomb,

why we remind the gods of their duty toshepherd us to the blessed afterlife. This is

why we learn the words in life that we mustspeak to the ladder in death:

I pay homage to thee, O divine ladder!Homage to thee, O ladder of Sutek!

Stand thou upright, O divine ladder, wherebyAzar came forth to the Light Land.

For I am thy son, I am Azar of old, and thou

shall give to me the ladder of Sutek.

I need plow no earth, nor collect any

offering, for that which I see and hear shallfeed me and nourish me when I appear in the

Light Land by the ladder of Sutek.

I have gathered together my bones, I have

collected my flesh, and I shall go quickly tothe Light Land by the two fingers of great

Sutek, god of the ladder!

Amulet of the Two Fingers

While the Arisen pursuit of the Ladder of Set maybe metaphorical and metaphysical in nature (asno one honestly believes theres an actual ladderpoking out of a mountaintop somewhere), the sameisnt true of the myths most infamous byproduct:the Amulet of the Two Fingers.

So named because it represents the two fingersindex and mediusused by Sutek to hoist Azar up intoheaven, the Amulet of the Two Fingers has becomeequal parts urban legend and holy grail amongst asizable segment of the Arisen, composed largelyof amulet enthusiasts and all those interested in thehistory and/or metaphysics of Apotheosis. Whatbegan as a quiet but persistent rumor among theantiquarians of the Maa-Kep developed over time intoa full-on underground debate among those concerned.

And why? Because some believe that not only is theamulet real, it is also the oldest relic on Earth. Someamong the priests maintain that the amulet is two of

Suteks actualfingers and therefore no amulet at all,but a vessel of the shell. Those looking into Apotheosisbelieve that the amulet exists, in a true relic form, butthat its importance lies not in its age, but in the factthat, just as Suteks two fingers were the key to Azarsascent, so too is the amulet the key to Apotheosis.


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Mountains in the SkyWhen a person dies and the soul leaves the land

of the living, the departed doesnt just instantlyappear in Duat. The soul must first Go Westward.The ancient Egyptians believed that two massivemountains bookended the Earthly realm to the eastand west: Bakhu, the Eastern Gate; and Manu, the

Western Gate. Upon arriving at either mountain, onefinds ones self standing before a wonder the Iremitescalled an akhet (meaning sky gate)a soul portal.Only by stepping through one of these akhet might asoul cross from one realm to another.

When one of the Arisen dies because he hasserved his purpose and is ready to retire once moreto the repose of henet, he remembers nothing beyondlaying himself back in his sarcophagus and closinghis eyes. When a mummy dies mid-Descent, however,his purpose yet unfulfilled, he opens his eyes to findhimself in Neter-Kherteta bleak shadowscape thatacts as the byway between life and death, between theEarth and Duat. Only by finding his way back through

the akhet will his soul return to inhabit his remains inthe real world. This process is known as a death cycle(see next page).

When a mummy finds himself stuck within Neter-Khertet without having first died, its because he foundor temporarily created an akhet in the living worldand stepped through it. What the Arisen call the Neter-Khertet is known to many of its spectral inhabitants asliving in Twilight. When the mummy looks around inthis Twilight, he sees a shade-filled overlay of the livingworld above it; everything that exists there is here aswell, plus a few things that arent. No matter his real-world environs, when hes outside in Neter-Khertet,

he always espies the dim outlineseach backlit by aglow of burnished goldof two mountains in the sky,together marking his eastern and western horizons.Barring a cruel intervention of Fate, a mummy whotravels far enough in either direction will eventuallycome upon an akhet that will let him step back into theliving world.

The Scroll of Ages174

This tale is an important part of the Iremite cosmologicalview, illustrating the origin and general methodology ofthe model the Arisen tend to follow as it pertains to theMentaar. Anglicization has had its effect here, too, withthe concept being known contemporarily as the Ladder ofSet and the other key figures presumed to be pre-dynastic

incarnations of Osiris, Ptah, Ra, and Isis. Certain guilds incertain regions even encourage the Ennead model (for avariety of reasons), some going so far as to adopt the Greek

names even among themselves and their cults. Whateverthe Arisen call it, the Ladder of Set is the spiritual constructthat, in effect, comprises the Ascent.

THE HERETICOnce there was a worker in the house of Duatborn,

acculturated, indoctrinated, and finally killed, like all therest. This worker slept away the years in the dusky repose ofhenet, arising now and then to serve the will of his masterand, presumably, the godsjust like all the rest. And likethe others, he sailed the river of time on a barge madeout of loyalty and buoyed by dark magic. Then somethinghappened. The worker awoke. And everything changed.

As one of the shadow-decreed, this worker had longmaintained an academic interest in Apotheosis, butonly insofar as it held appeal on its metaphysical orphilosophical grounds. Then something occurred to ignitea spark, to drive some faith into the philosophers purpose,and he set out to not only understand Apotheosis, but toknowit. And depending on whom one asks and what they

want to be true, at some point within the last century, hissoul accomplished that goal. One of the Arisena formerresident of Irem of the Pillarshas effectively finished hisAscent, becoming the first and only mummy to completethe process of Apotheosis.

Needless to say, the guilds at large respond to any opendiscussion of this enlightened mummy with a combinationof blithe dismissals, stern rebukes, and in certain regions,veiled threats. Nobody knows this persons name (as heeffectively reclaimed it during Apotheosis), but severalArisen have either confessed to or are said to be receivingunsolicited communications from an individual who speaks asthough he is ascended. Faced with mounting evidence of thisbeings existence, the guildmasters at large acknowledge the

same chiefly by referring to him in all matters as the Heretic.

SYSTEMSSo, Apotheosis is not, in fact, the millennial pipe dream

most Arisen would claim (or even like) it to be. Yet, if itisnt all just a dangling carrot, forever barely out of reach,then how does it work?The process can be likened to theway certain mortal ascetics break through the barriers ofthe fleshy and the material in order to touch the divine,whether its by fasting or sweating out the spiritual toxinsimposed upon the pure-form soul by a quintessentiallyrotten or debased world. For the Arisen, the process is justas arduous and occasionally confusing as it is for the living,and it takes a lot longer to accomplish (for now, anyway;

its perfectly rational to assume that the more mummiesfind Apotheosis, the more will try, and the faster theyll beable to achieve it).Memory: One of the central tenets of Apotheosis, even

in its most intellectualized form, is the reclamation of theself. A soul cant hope to know ascendance, or even truth onsome level, until the soul knows itself(at a bare minimum).Two core game mechanics revolve around this notion, andone of them is the Morality traitin this case, Memory.


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Apotheosis 175

As to rating, its sensible to assume that a soul neednt hitMemory 10 before being willing and capable of enteringApotheosis; most human beings dont have Morality 10souls (and many would have even lower Memory ratings,if it was a mortal trait), so assume that getting back to atleast Memory 7 is a good minimum.

Pillars: The second game element pertaining to thecentral tenet of Apotheosis is the Pillars system, whichis a literal reflection of a souls progress along the path ofreclaiming itself fully. In that regard, it makes little sensefor a mummy to be Ascent-ready if his Pillars are still low.Thematically, a character should have all Pillars at 5 beforeApotheosis can truly be a reality, but if you, as Storyteller,are looking to tell a story that ramps the characters up toApotheosis more quicklyone that wouldnt benefit fromstarting out with the characters already ascendedthenconsider the optional rule that the Arisen only needto have their Defining Pillar at 5 and their Ren at 5 toqualify (or, in the case of the Serpent-Headed, their Renand their Ba or Sheut at 5).

Sekhem: In many ways, Sekhem is the bane of a mummysexistence. The principle reason for this, of course, is thathis existence is defined by Sekhem. The Rite of Returnempowers his soul to cross the veil and reclaim its formervessel, and it generates the soul-suit that is his sahu. Itsalso what drives his purpose, and therefore drives his mindaway from thoughts of the Mentaar. Thus, the only way toeven begin the climb is to shed almost all Sekhem: TheRite itself is what the mummy must sweat out in orderto successfully wrest control over it for himself. Once themummys soul is reconstituted fully (with the relevantratings in both Memory and Pillars), he must make onefinal Descent and stay alive long enough to see it drag himdown to Sekhem 1. Only in his darkest hour, just at the

cusp of being carried once more to Duat, can he ascend.Benefits: The Mentaar is nothing less than a souls

complete reclamation of itself. It remains infused with thepower of the Rite, but now that power is much more firmlyat the souls command. No longer is the soul tethered byheavy chains to the throne of its master in Duat. The link isbroken, the soul takes flight. The Rites entire paradigm isinverted, and as a result, the souls new default state of being

is life. Aside from the incalculable benefit of returnedself-determination, three game elements immediately comeinto play upon completion of Apotheosis. The first is thatthe Arisen soul can finally move Sekhem from one vesselto another (as opposed to just locating and/or consumingit). In short, ascended Arisen can create relics, given

time. The second chief benefit of Apotheosis is that thesoul effectively reclaims its True Name and all associatedelements of identity. In short, the ascended are functionallyinvisible to the mystical world. The final and perhapsgreatest benefit is that the Chinese wall imposed uponthe soul by the Rite is brought crashing down, flooding itwith long-buried memories of its unlife in Duat.Drawbacks: Seeing as how Sekhem is a measurement

of a mummys overall potency, spending all of ones timeat Sekhem 1 is bound to take the top off the buzz a little.Once a soul has completed Apotheosis, it can no longeraccess any Utterances or relic powers that require aSekhem rating higher than 1. However, it can still accessAffinities and first-tier Utterances (and will have plenty of

Pillars with which to fuel same) and can still take part inunison castings (explored in an upcoming supplement).The difference is, now the mummy uses his Morality Trait(Memory) in place of his actual Sekhem rating for mostgame purposes. So, the Arisen can still fuel his Attributeswith Pillars, and can still join a chorus, but he will now usehis Memory rating to determine the efficiency of his efforts(or resistance to others efforts). And now, if his Memoryever drops, so too does his potency.

Having no Sekhem to devote to it, an ascended mummycannot sacrifice Sekhem to heal grievous wounds to his sahu,but he can still do so with Willpower and Pillars, as muchas he likes within a scene, until one or both run out. Lastly,the mummy no longer gets the free pass of having his Rite-

assisted soul funneled to the living world so easily. Every timethe soul dies or enters the henet, it must endure a death cycle,and with each passing death, the likelihood that his soul simplywill not return the next time grows. In addition, maintaining ahigh Memory rating remains a priority even after the Ascent,clearly, and losing a dot of Memory stands a chance of sendingthe ascended soul into an immediatedeath cycle. No one saidenlightenment was easy.

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