People

There are a number of different peoples found in the Nile Valley.

The Copts are the aboriginal people of Egypt, descended from the builders of the pyramids. Physically, they share physiognomy with other Semitic races such as the Jews and Syrians, tending toward dark hair and eyes, and olive complexions, although they find paler skins more aesthetically pleasing, and some use white pigments and bleaches to lighten their skin. Red hair is a sign of bad luck.

Egypt was conquered by the Umayyad Caliphate in 639, and the native population was gradually converted to Islam over the successive centuries. Today, the Muslim population in Egypt is a blend of converted native Copts and Arab settlers from the east.

The Nubian people are descended from a tribe called the Nobatae who entered the Nile Valley about the time of the collapse of the Empire of Kush. They are a black-skinned Christian people who have borrowed heavily from Greek culture. The Nubians have a unique treaty with Muslim Egypt that keeps them safe from the threat of invasion in return for a yearly payment of slaves.

The Ethiopians are related to the Nubians, and share a similar appearance, although culturally they are quite different. They have lived in the region since the dawn of time; the ancestors of the current Empire traded with the ancient Greek city-states, with Pharaonic Egypt, and with the Empire of Kush.

The Mythic Aithiopes (singular Aithiops) should not be confused with the Ethiopians, although they are clearly related to them, and to the Nubians. There are numerous tribes of Mythic Aithiopes scattered to the southeast of Nubia and east of Ethiopia, where they eke a living from the fetid swamps and dry grasslands. The sad truth is that these people are regularly raided by organized Egyptian and Nubian expeditions in search of slaves and livestock. The Aithiopes' tribelands provide most of the slaves sold in Qus and Cairo; from there they are distributed throughout the Ayyubid Caliphate.

In the Nubian Desert live a race of Magic Humans called the Blemmyae, who have no

Perhaps confusing to the modern reader used to maps oriented with north in the upper quadrant, the terms 'upper' and 'lower' when applied to the nations along the Nile refer to to the direction of its flow. Thus Lower Egypt is the most northerly region about the Nile Delta, Upper Egypt is centered around Qus, although in ancient times Upper Egypt extended deep into Nubia. Lower Nubia is now considered to start at the first cataract and end at the third, and Upper Nubia extends south as far as the Abyssinian Highlands.

heads but rather faces in their chests. The five tribes of Blemmyae are vital to the economies of both Nubia and Egypt, as only they know the location of the gold deposits in the desert that made Egypt so rich in ancient times.

South of the Ethiopian Empire are several sultanates inhabited by colonists from Yemen, across the Red Sea.

The following languages are spoken in this region. Most characters should take the appropriate dialect as a specialty but Educated or well-traveled speakers will have tried hard to rid themselves of their dialect and may have standard specialties (see ArM5, page 66).

Amharic (Agaw, Amhara, Tigray) Arabic (Masri, Khaliji, Maghrebi) Beja (no dialects) Coptic (Boharic, Sahidic) Nubian (Alwa, Dongolawi, Kenzi, Mahasi) Oromigna Romaic Greek (Nubian) Tamazight (Siwi) Tigrinya (Dahlak) Various tribal tongues of the Mythic Aithiopians

Languages of Egypt

Arabic is the principle tongue of Egypt, in the local dialect of Masri, or Egyptian Arabic. The Maghrebi dialect is used by travelers from North Africa, and the Khaliji dialect is used in the Arabian Peninsula. Arabic has its own script which is shared between all dialects.

Coptic is the descendent of Demotic (see later), and is the language of the aboriginal Egyptians. The language has been in decline since the Muslim conquest of Egypt, although up until a century ago it was the spoken language of the native population outside the capital. The Boharic dialect of Coptic is the form spoken in Lower Egypt, the Sahidic dialect of Upper Egypt having entirely died out except among the Nubian clergy (see later). Coptic uses a script derived from the Greek alphabet with the addition of letters from Demotic.

The Siwi dialect of Tamazight (the language spoken by Berber tribes) is native to the Siwa Oasis.

Deserts present a range of hazards that must be overcome if characters are to travel safely within them.

The sun burns hot in the deserts, meaning that characters need to take precautions against heat and sunstroke. This includes covering their skin to avoid sunburn and carrying adequate supplies of water to stave off dehydration. The Deprivation check time for lack of water is reduced in the deserts to 4 hours, while the sunlight does +1 non-combat damage if skin is left exposed (see ArM5, pages 180–181).

Another (usually natural) hazard of the ergs is dry quicksands, which can swallow a man and his mount in seconds. If a character steps on one of these, he begins to sink immediately and is pulled under within two rounds. Death from suffocation follows if he is not rescued (again, see ArM5, pages 180–181). A character who is caught in an area of dry quicksand may make a Strength or Quickness stress roll against an Ease Factor of 9 in the first round to leap or pull himself free before he sinks a significant distance, with a botch indicating that his arms are trapped in the following round. Thereafter it is up to his companions to help him escape its clutches, though if his arms are free he may assist in the second round, reducing any further Ease Factors that he may have to roll against by 3. Thereafter he has been pulled under and is not able to help.

Characters also must be wary of brigands, who prey on caravans crossing the deserts. They are likely to avoid a caravan that is clearly well guarded, but this depends on how desperate they are for goods to support themselves.

Sandstorms and dust storms may suffocate travelers or even strip the flesh from their bones. These may be natural, created by the magic of malevolent sorcerers, or the manifestations of elemental jinn. Some may even be witches in disguise.

Various other desert jinn and demons seek to harm unwary travelers. In some cases they may use powers that affect the mind or conjure illusions, presenting travelers with visions of lush, palm-filled oases where they may quench their thirsts. A character may only realize that she has been deceived when she takes her first long draught of water, only to find her mouth full of sand.

The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is distinct from and in schism with both the Eastern Orthodox and the Roman churches. It is monophysite in belief, holding that following the Incarnation, Christ has just one nature which is either divine or a synthesis of divine and human. The opposing position (dyophysitism), held by the Roman and Eastern Churches, is that Christ maintained two natures, one divine and one human, after the Incarnation.

The Coptic Church was founded by Saint Mark the Evangelist in the first century after Christ. The see of Alexandria had a strong influence on the development of Christianity as a whole, being the birthplace of the monastic tradition, and its catechetical school produced many important scholars, not least Origen, who is called "the father of theology." At the Council of Chalcedon in 451 the dyophysite position was adopted as doctrine, and was accepted by the sees of Rome, Constantinople, and Antioch, but rejected by the see of Alexandria. The Coptic Church thereby entered into schism with the "Chalcedonian" congregations. They elected their own patriarch of Alexandria in opposition to the Melkite or Imperial patriarch elected by the see of Constantinople. Naturally, the Melkite patriarch had the support of the Byzantine governors of Egypt, and the Coptic Church was persecuted as heretical, and its followers driven underground. Upon the Muslim conquest of Egypt the Melkite Church was driven out along with the Greek rulers, and the Coptic Church experienced a minor renaissance. Despite gradual conversion from Christianity to Islam in the six centuries since the invasion, the Coptic people and the Coptic Church are still a significant presence in Egypt.

The Nubian Church is in full communion with the Coptic Church, and receives appointment to its bishoprics from Alexandria. The Kingdom of Makuria was originally converted to Christianity by Melkite missionaries; while the church in Makuria is now part of the Coptic hierarchy, there is still a significant Melkite minority in Makuria that practices the Greek rite under authority from the Patriarch of Constantinople.

The Ethiopian Church is monophysite in belief, but is not part of the Coptic congregation.

The language of the three Nubian kingdoms is Nubian, descended from the language of the ancient Nobatae. Mahasi, Dongolawi, and Alwa are the dialects spoken in Nobatia, Makuria, and Alodia respectively, whereas Kenzi is spoken by the Banu al Kanz. Mahasi is on the verge of separating into a separate language, and those who know this dialect have a larger penalty than usual when talking to speakers of the other Nubian dialects. Nubian uses the Coptic alphabetic script, but extended to include sounds not used by Coptic.

Familiarity with Masri Arabic is common in Nobatia, which trades extensively with Egypt.

Religious documents are mostly written Nubian Greek, a dialect considered barbaric by most native Greek speakers. The indigenous clergy use Greek for the liturgy as well, although the numerous Egyptian clergymen and monks use the Sahidic dialect of Coptic.

Languages of Ethiopia

The three highland kingdoms of Ethiopia speak Amharic, descended from the language of the Ge'ez with a Semitic base. Agaw, Amhara, and Tigray are the dialects of the Agaw and Shewa, Bet Amhara, and parts of Medri Bahri along the escarpment, respectively. Tigrinya is spoken by the lowlands people of Medri Bahri, with a distinct dialect in the Dahlak Archipelago. The Oromigna language is a Nubian-derived language also used in the southern sultanates of Ethiopia and the pagan tribes toward the Torrid Zone. Amharic, Tigrinya, and Oromigna are all written using the Ge'ez script (see later).

Khaliji Arabic (the dialect spoken in Arabia) is spoken by merchants in Medri Bahri, who trade extensively in the Red Sea, Yemen, and throughout the southern sultanates of Adal, Ifat, Hadiya, and Dewaro. It uses the standard Arabic script.

Other Languages

Beja, spoken by the Blemmyae, is the only extant descendent of Meroitic (see later). The Blemmyae have no written form of their language, and therefore cannot translate the script on Kushitic monuments.

The slaves captured from the southern regions of Nubia speak a number of different languages; each tribe should be considered to speak a different language, although the core vocabulary is similar, and someone who knows one language can make himself understood in any of the others. Slaves are discouraged from speaking their own language, and tend to be taught Arabic by Nubian slavers in order to increase their value in Egypt.

Languages Penalty to both speakers
Same language, different dialects	–1
Mahasi and any other Nubian dialect	–2
Oromigna and any Nubian dialect	–2
Amharic and Ge'ez	–2
Beja and Meroitic	–2
Ancient Egyptian and Demotic	–2
Demotic and Coptic	–2
any two Aithiopean languages	–2

Dead Languages

Ancient Egyptian Demotic Meroitic Ge'ez

Ancient Egyptian is the language of the pyramid-builders. Over the long history of the Egyptian people this language gradually changed; these versions would be considered different dialects if enough about them was known. It was written using hieroglyphs and later hieratic, a cursive alphabet deriving from them. Eventually Ancient Egyptian evolved into Demotic, which was used up until Roman times. This language used the Demotic alphabet, derived from hieratic. The Demotic language gave rise to Coptic, and is still understood by scholars today.

Meroitic is the language of Kush; it is en-

In truth, Ethiopia is awash in dialects, subdialects, and variants of spoken languages. In the 18th century, one linguist noted over fifty distinct spoken languages spread across the country. Rather than attempt to simulate this rich and immense diversity, which would result an excessive amount of experience points spent on Living Languages, we have chosen to consolidate the situation and use only the most widely used languages. No disrespect is intended and more dialects could be added if your troupe desires.

tirely unrelated to either the Ancient Egyptian that preceded it, or the Nubian that followed it. It was written using two scripts, a hieroglyphic and an alphabetic script, although there are few left alive today who know either of these, even if they speak Meroitic.

Ge'ez is the forebear of Amharic. It is the ancient language of Axum and still used in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church's liturgy. Ge'ez and Ethiopia's current languages are written in a unique script of two hundred characters which represent syllables and compound sounds rather than individual letters.

Akh: a new soul formed from the fusion of the ba, ka, and khu. Akhu are Daimons that dwell in the Magic Realm.

Ba: the traveling soul of a dead person, constantly in search of the khu.

Baqt: agreement between Muslim Egypt and Christian Nubia that keeps the latter safe from attempts at conquest.

Cataract: a wide waterfall of the Nile. These are not navigable, although some can be negotiated via portage of boats across land.

Domestikos: One of thirteen kings who pay fealty to the megabasilikos.

Field of Reeds: a paradise within the Magic Realm where ka live out their days.

Ka: the ghost of a deceased person that travels between the mundane world and the Field of Reeds.

Kentake: the mother of a Kushitic king or qore, who shares power with her son.

Khu: the Divine soul that flees the body at the time of death.

Megabasilikos: 'Great King', overall ruler of Makuria and Nobatia.

Mut: the ghost of a person with unfinished business, equivalent to a shade.

Qore: a Kushitic king; the term is still used in Alodia.

Sahir: magician who works through the summoning of jinn. They are members of the Order of Solomon; for more details see The Cradle and the Crescent, Chapter 3.

Serdab: part of an Egyptian tomb which the dead person's ghost inhabits when in the mundane world.

Ushabti: a statue carved to represent a person or animal that will serve a dead person in the afterlife. Egyptian ghosts can possess these statues.

Wadi: a seasonal stream or river.