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

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.

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 the 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 points, 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 statu-

ette 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.

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

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.

these aliases will yield clues to the tomb. Others dispute this identification.