Mummy the Curse 2e

100 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Step One: Concept Choose your character’s concept and pick three Aspirations. Step Two: Attributes Prioritize categories and spend 5/4/3 dots by category. Step Three: Skills Prioritize categories and spend 11/7/4 dots by category. Step Four: Skill Specialties Choose three Skill Specialties. Step Five: Add Arisen Template Choose decree, guild, Judge, Balance and Burden, Touchstone, Pillars, Affinities, and Utterances. Choose favored Attribute. Step Six: Merits Add ten dots of Merits, plus an additional dot in Cult and Tomb. Step Seven: Advantages Willpower is equal to Resolve + Composure. Memory is 3. Size is 5. Health is Size + Stamina. Speed is 5 + Strength + Dexterity. Defense is the lower of Dexterity and Wits, plus Athletics. Initiative is Dexterity + Composure. Sekhem begins at 10. Step Eight: Experience Spend 10 Experiences, using the Experience Costs table. Affinities and Utterances Start with your decree’s bonus Affinity, one of your guild Affinities, and one Soul Affinity from your defining Pillar. Pick one additional Soul Affinity you qualify for. Start with two Utterances and Dreams of Dead Gods Experience Costs Trait Experience Attribute 4 Skill 2 Skill Specialty 1 Merit 1 Lost Willpower Dot 1 Affinity 4 Utterance 4 Defining Pillar 2 Other Pillar 3 Memory 3 (Reminisce Experience Only) CHARACTER CREATION QUICK REFERENCE SHEET Arisen Template Decree Defining Pillar Favored Attributes Bonus Affinity Ashem Sheut Composure and Stamina Jackal’s Shade Deshret Ba Resolve and Wits Soaring Falcon Kheru Ab Presence and Strength Lion’s Pride Nesrem Ka Resolve and Stamina Guardian Bull Usheb Ren Intelligence and Manipulation Serpent’s Tongue Guilds Guild Vessel Guild Affinities Maa-Kep Amulets Affable Aid, Amulet of the Envoy, Nexus of the Soul Mesen-Nebu Regia Almsman’s Tithe, Divine Flesh, Hone the Soul Sesha-Hebsu Texts Eyes of Justice, Loremaster’s Guile, Master of the Written Word Su-Menent Uter Blazing Zeal, Fated Soul, Flesh-Culled Secrets Tef-Aabhi Effigies Guardian Statue, Nest of Dolls, Model Lifeweb

Example of Character Creation 101 as primary. With the detective work carried out by his host, he chooses Mental as secondary, leaving Social as tertiary. Next, he assigns his Attribute dots. He intends for Amenhotep to be tough and handy with a weapon so he puts two of his five primary attribute dots into Dexterity and two into Stamina. The final dot goes into Strength. This leaves him with Strength 2, Dexterity 3 and Stamina 3. The four secondary dots are allocated with two in Wits and one each in Resolve and Intelligence, giving him Intelligence 2, Wits 3 and Resolve 2. Finally, he puts two of his tertiary dots into Composure and the final dot into Manipulation, leaving him with Presence 1, Manipulation 2 and Composure 3. STEP THREE: SKILLS Gordon now decides on the priorities of his Skills. He examines which Skills fit into which category and considers which he wants his character to have. He puts a mark next to each skill on the sheet in which he wants to place at least one dot. Working down the sheet, he marks Academics, Investigation, Politics, Athletics, Brawl, Drive, Firearms, Stealth, Weaponry, Empathy, Intimidation, Persuasion, Streetwise, and Subterfuge. Going over that list, he decides that Physical Skills will be his primary, then Social then Mental. With each of his six choices having a dot already assigned, Gordon has five from his eleven dots left to place in his Physical primary Skills. He allocates his remaining dots to end up with Athletics 2, Brawl 2, Drive 2, Firearms 3, Stealth 1, Weaponry 1. He spends his seven secondary dots in Social Skills to have Empathy 1, Intimidation 2, Persuasion 1, Streetwise 2 and Subterfuge 1. Finally, he allocates his four tertiary dots into Mental Skills to arrive at Academics 1, Investigation 2, Politics 1. STEP FOUR: SPECIALTIES Gordon looks over the Skills allocated to his character. Amenhotep is beginning to take shape into a fully realized character in this story. He uses the outline he has created so far to begin imagining this hard-nosed Hong Kong detective suddenly supercharged with the stern, Deathless will of Amenhotep. He is the bloodhound of his meret and the front line in any encounter. Honing further, he spends his three Skill Specialties in Investigation (Detail Oriented), Firearms (Pistols) and Intimidation (Threatening). STEP FIVE: ADD ARISEN TEMPLATE First, Gordon decides on the Balance and Burden for his character. Gordon sees Amenhotep as a fierce follower of

102 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy laws, even when they’re unjust, and chooses Resilient as his Balance, with Stagnant as his Burden. He won’t budge on most matters, but this has led to his clinging on to calcified views. Gordon elects to not select a Touchstone at this stage of his character’s existence. While this puts the mummy at risk of struggling to gain Memory, he’s keen to roleplay the forging of a new Touchstone in the upcoming chronicle. Gordon now turns to the descriptions of the Judges and discusses with Amanda as to which best suits the Concept he formed. She advises him to choose the decree of Nesrem (Ka) and the Judge Am-Khaibit, the Eater of Shadows. With those choices made, Gordon decides to place Amenhotep in the Maa-Kep guild, noting their favored vessel of amulets. Assigning his Pillars, Gordon places three dots in his defining Pillar of Ka. To keep the character well rounded, he spends four more dots in making sure each other Pillar has at least one dot. He then throws another dot each into Ab and Sheut, giving him two dots in each. Choosing his Affinities, Gordon records the Maa-Kep Affinity of Affable Aid, his decree Affinity of Guardian Bull, and picks Dominating Might as his first Soul Affinity. Finally, he looks for a suitable Affinity to round out his character and chooses Soulsight. He may choose two Utterances. He decides on Awaken the Dead and Gift of the Golden Ankh. He also notes down the Dreams of the Dead Gods Utterance as standard for all Arisen. STEP SIX: ADD MERITS Gordon reads the Merits starting on p. XX. He starts with an automatic dot in Tomb and Cult. Gordon doesn’t see his mummy as having an elaborate Tomb, so he only spends one dot on it. He spends two dots on Cult to represent the servants that brought the heart of Amenhotep to Hong Kong. He spends three dots on Guild Paragon, as Amenhotep is a respected member of the Maa-Kep. This leaves him with four dots, which he allocates between Contacts and Resources, to reflect Feng’s — the cop whose body he now inhabits — former life, income, and connections among the police force. STEP SEVEN: ADVANTAGES Together, Amanda and Gordon run through the list of Advantages to ensure they’re recorded accurately: Gordon begins by recording Amenhotep’s standard Memory 3 and Size 5. Having just reawakened in a new body, his Sekhem is 10 (unless the Storyteller deems it lower by means of an unusual awakening). With Dexterity and Wits both at 3 and Athletics at 2, his starting Defense is 5. Noting his Size of 5 and Stamina of 3 he records his starting Health at 8. Adding his Resolve and Composure he notes his Willpower at 5. His Dexterity of 3 and Composure of 2 set Amenhotep’s Initiative at 5. His Strength of 2 and Dexterity of 3, plus the species factor of 5, set his Speed at 10. STEP EIGHT: EXPERIENCE Amanda informs Gordon that his character has ten Experiences to start off with. He notes that Skills cost 2 points per dot and decides to spend 4 points increasing his Investigation skill to 4, leaving him with 6. He then does the same with Intimidation and adds a dot into Firearms, as those are the Skills he has Specialties in and gives him a better synergy for the character’s high level of ability in those areas. STEP NINE: RETURN TO LIFE With Amenhotep safely transplanted into his new body, Gordon is ready to begin his new, eternal life of service to his chosen Judge of Duat. Amanda goes through a “session zero” with him in which they go over the reasons for Amenhotep’s arrival in this new place and together they set up the character to be Gordon’s chosen vessel in exploring the world of Mummy: The Curse. BALANCE A mummy gains a Willpower point any time they overcome a challenge to affirm their Balance. They regain all lost Willpower when overcoming something incredibly risky or philosophically challenging to their Balance. Here are some examples of Balances you could use, or create your own based on these ideas. Each includes a description and sample actions that could cause a Mummy to recover Willpower. Courageous Courageous mummies dive headfirst into danger or difficulty of any kind. They’re willing to bravely stand before any dire threat. Single Willpower: Don’t back down in the face of something terribly dangerous. All Willpower: Purposefully throw yourself into danger that will most likely lead to death or defeat. Devoted A devoted mummy has chosen who and what they are loyal to and never falters. They follow these people, ideas, or institutions to their death.

Balance 103 Single Willpower: You learn something terrible about someone you’re devoted to but you stick with them anyway. All Willpower: An institution you’re devoted to betrays you but you still fulfill its goals. Diligent Diligent mummies have specificity in their actions. They are careful, precise, and take their time. Their hard work results in grand perfection. Single Willpower: You take your time in creating the perfect plan and because all details were sorted nothing goes wrong. All Willpower: You’re able to remember a small detail that no-one else can remember, saving you all from certain doom. Faithful Faithful mummies are full of not only spiritual faith but also faith that things happen as they are meant to. A faithful mummy is always on the right path, and can never be led astray from their beliefs. Single Willpower: Something happens that shakes your beliefs but you stand your ground. All Willpower: A devastating mistake you’ve made makes you question your beliefs but you return to them after much internal anguish. Generous A generous mummy is always willing to give of themselves to others. They believe what they own is what everyone owns, and are ready to give everything away. Single Willpower: You’ve just given away all your money and you need to buy something for the next scene. All Willpower: You’ve been tricked into giving a valued possession to an enemy and you don’t try to get it back. Introspective Introspective mummies know themselves incredibly well. This gives them an inner strength that they call on in times of need. Single Willpower: Some time alone allows you to come up with a solution to the group’s problem. All Willpower: Meditation in an incredibly chaotic environment gives you an insight nobody else notices. Just A just mummy notices the injustice of the world more than others, and finds ways to restore it. They believe in acting in just ways, culturally, spiritually, and socially. Single Willpower: Stand up for someone being treated unjustly at great risk of harm to yourself. All Willpower: Stand up for a group being treated unjustly at great risk to you, your friends, and the group. Noble A noble mummy is filled with idealistic intent; a nobility not in riches but in action. They believe in following higher principles in all they do. Single Willpower: Adhere to your beliefs even though it puts you in danger. All Willpower: Adhere to your beliefs even though it puts someone you love in danger. Peaceful Peaceful mummies mean to extend ideas and actions of peace before those of disharmony. They seek to inspire peace in others by being peaceful themselves. Single Willpower: You’re injured by someone who attacks you violently because you chose to be peaceful in action. All Willpower: You inspire an enemy to be peaceful instead of violent. Resilient A resilient mummy has been made strong by experiencing difficulty beyond measure. Not much shakes them, and the things most people find terrible they’re able to roll off their shoulders. Single Willpower: You’re able to comfort someone after a horrific experience you both had. All Willpower: You’re able to do something nobody else in your group can because it horrifies them too much. Righteous A righteous mummy believes in a right and a wrong, and is always striving to do the right thing according to their ideologies. Their morality drives their good actions. Single Willpower: You’re able to accomplish something by doing it the righteous way, even though the morally gray way is easier. All Willpower: You do something that is so righteous an entire town creates a memorial in your honor. Trustworthy A trustworthy mummy exudes a feeling of trust to those around them. Others can rely on them to keep secrets, follow through on promises, and keep things safe. Single Willpower: Protect another, who trusts you, under duress. All Willpower: Go through extreme hardship to fulfill a promise to another.

104 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Truthful Truthful mummies find it very hard to lie, they are honest to a fault; truthfulness is the more virtuous act. Single Willpower: Telling the truth causes you to get deeper into trouble. All Willpower: Telling the truth reveals something that an enemy immediately uses against you or someone you love. BURDEN Mummies have experienced truly horrific events that echo in their subconscious through time, regardless of what body and consciousness they find themselves in. Every time a mummy gives into a Burden, they regain one Willpower. When they become lost in their Burden for several scenes to their detriment, they regain all Willpower. Accusing An accusing mummy is eager to blame all around them for what’s wrong in their life. Everybody is guilty but them. Single Willpower: Lash out at someone about something neutral they just did. All Willpower: Blame everyone around you for something that is clearly your fault. Careless A careless mummy takes actions without thought or discipline since caring would hurt too much. They care not for themselves or those around them. Single Willpower: Act without care for yourself or others. All Willpower: Hurt someone through your careless actions and do not try to make repairs. Chaotic A chaotic mummy is dangerously unpredictable so as to cope with their chaotic circumstances. They lash out at everyone around them and make risky nonsensical choices. Single Willpower: Behave in a way that unpredictably harms someone else. All Willpower: Your unpredictability causes you severe physical damage. Cruel A cruel mummy takes pleasure in hurting others. Often what they’re angry about inside themselves is what they take out on others. Single Willpower: Say unkind things to a stranger. All Willpower: Say unkind things to a friend. Dominant A dominant mummy is mimicking behaviors of the oppressors they feel echoing through the centuries. They must subdue those around them because they are superior. Single Willpower: Lord your power over someone. All Willpower: Lord your power over someone you love. Forgetful A forgetful mummy cannot retain memory as easily anymore as a side effect of their Rite of Return. They forget key things at important moments. Single Willpower: You’ve forgotten a small but important detail, someone’s name or occupation. All Willpower: You’ve forgotten something intrinsic about someone you care about. Fragile A fragile mummy wallows in the weakness of their condition. They cannot accept their fragile state, and it only reinforces their own helplessness. Single Willpower: Do not take action at a pivotal moment. All Willpower: Convinced you’ll be hurt; don’t help someone when they need it. Hysterical A hysterical mummy is upset to the point where they’ve lost control of all emotions. They’re eager to take things out on those around them. Single Willpower: Lash out with any emotion you’re feeling just then. All Willpower: Blame your feelings on someone close by — gaslighting them. Isolated An isolated mummy has separated themselves from their community and everyone they care about for fear of sharing their burden. They cannot connect. Single Willpower: Distance yourself from those around you. All Willpower: Isolate yourself from an important scene. Rageful A mummy in a rage no longer contains or manages their immense anger. They lash out at those around them, and if they’re lucky they channel it into an enemy. Single Willpower: Indulge in an anger-filled outrage. All Willpower: Take your anger out on someone you care about.

Merits 105 Resentful A resentful mummy is incapable of forgiveness, especially inside themselves. They hold a hard grudge against someone for something they’ve recently done, projecting this feeling onto everyone around them. Single Willpower: You’re unable to forgive someone a small slight against you. All Willpower: You decide to hold a grudge that will last a long time after an action someone takes against you. Selfish Selfish mummies no longer see or care for those around them because their burden is so great. They go deep inside and the world is full of enemies. Single Willpower: Do something outrageous for yourself regardless of the hurt it causes someone else. All Willpower: Purposefully abandon someone in a time of need. Stagnant A stagnant mummy has an inability to adapt to their current surroundings. They become overwhelmed with the changing world, and become stagnant. Single Willpower: Refuse to adapt to a small change that would improve your life. All Willpower: Refuse to adapt to a huge change that would improve the lives of those around you. MERITS This section details a number of Merits, starting with those restricted to the Arisen themselves. General Merits, available to both Arisen and mortal characters, start on p. XX. Where a Merit has a listed prerequisite, a character must possess those traits at the listed dot ratings or higher to purchase the Merit. SANCTITY OF MERITS Many Merits reflect impermanent elements of your character, particularly in the case of the timeless Arisen. Allies may perish, resources squandered, and prestige be forgotten. Unlike Attributes or Skills, it’s quite possible for a character to lose their Merits during the process of play. The Experiences spent on those Merits, however, remain. If your character loses Merit dots for any reason, you can replace them with other appropriate Merit dots at the end of the chapter. For example, if your character had a dot of Contacts among the journalist community but, due to the passage of the years at the beginning of a new Descent, her old acquaintances have now died or retired, you can reallocate that dot of Contacts to another Merit. With Storyteller permission, you can reimburse a Merit that no longer makes sense for your character with the Experiences originally paid for it. This is not an option to exploit temporary Merits then cash them back out again in the short term; use it only for a Merit that has genuinely run its course in the narrative. Cults are central to the power of the Arisen, the key means through which the Deathless defeats the march of time and returns again and again. Every Arisen possesses the sorcerous power, the Dreams of Dead Gods Utterance, and can therefore recreate a new Cult Merit even should her existing cult be utterly destroyed during her death cycle. MERIT TAGS In addition to their dot cost, some Merits have additional tags denoting additional rules. These tags are: • Cult: These Merits are purchased and used by a cult or an individual character. • Cult Only: These Merits may only be purchased and used by a cult. • Style: These Merits provide a unique advantage at each dot level. Characters gain all benefits at their dot level or below. TIMELESS MERITS These Merits are only available to mummies and other immortal entities. Artisan’s Aptitude (•••) Prerequisite: Specialty in a guild’s relics. Effect: Your character’s talent with their guild’s favored relics is legendary. When spending Willpower to increase a dice pool involving these relics, they also gain an exceptional success on three successes instead of five. Balanced (•••) Effect: Your character’s heart is light as a feather. She revels in her eternal existence, juggling the needs of her personal identity and her duties to her Judge with ease. The character possesses two Balances, and may use either one to recover Willpower. The frequency of replenishing Willpower through Balance remains unchanged. Once per chapter, when fulfilling both Balances within a single scene, the character gains a Pillar point of her choice. Blue Lotus Pillar (•••) Prerequisite: Defining Pillar ••••• Effect: Your character’s defining Pillar is particularly potent, enhancing the unique Affinity of their decree.

106 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Ashem: When Disembodied, the Jackal benefits from a single Manifestation or Numen, fueled by their Pillars. Deshret: The Falcon may also apply the benefits of their gift to mundane rolls that directly fulfill their own Aspirations. Kheru: When absorbing the emotions of others, the Lion may also absorb a Willpower point, even if it brings them over their usual maximum. Nesrem: The armor provided when the Bull seals the flesh increases by 1, and by spending a Willpower point, they may give this protection to their Touchstone for a scene with a touch. Usheb: While the Serpent retains the Informed Condition, they may spend a point of Willpower to use its benefit when unleashing an Utterance targeting the character instead of a Skill. Cult (• to •••••) Effect: Your character is revered and loyally served by a cult, either as a god or a representative of higher powers. This cult acts as their hands in the world while they slumber, tending to their tomb and furthering their interests in the mummy’s absence. The initial dot of Cult allows a player to create a cult (p. XX), including the custom Scorpion Cult Initiation Merit possessed by cult members. Each additional dot purchased increases the size and influence of the cult, boosting either their Reach or Grasp by 1. The cult’s Dominance rating grants the character a bonus to Social rolls when dealing with members of their own guild, capped at +5. Multiple Arisen may pool their points in this Merit to increase the size and influence of their shared cult. However, Reach and Grasp may only be increased beyond 5 with Cult Experiences, and requires a higher Dominance rating. Dead Celebrity (• to •••) Effect: At one time, your character was somebody famous, but everyone knows they’re dead now. The identity reflected by this Merit was famous or infamous at one time, as per the Fame Merit. In the current age, the impression left by that identity continues to influence people. Whenever someone notices the resemblance to the celebrity, the character gains a bonus equal to their dots in this Merit on Social rolls relevant to the character’s impression of the celebrity. A beloved performer may gain this benefit on Expression or Socialize rolls, while a feared tyrant may benefit on Intimidation rolls. Substitute Fame for this Merit when playing while the identity was “alive” and famous, such as during flashbacks. Drawback: Your character draws the scrutiny of conspiracy theorists obsessed with uncovering your secrets and baring them to the world. This Merit has no effect in times before their identity was famous. Dead Flesh (•• or ••••) Effect: Your character’s sahu endures long after most would have crumbled. Whenever your character suffers aggravated damage from upgraded lethal damage, they or their allies may spend two turns tending to the wound to downgrade one point of aggravated damage suffered within the current scene to lethal. Tending the wound involves reattaching lost limbs and wrapping them to hold them in place. A mummy may only do this twice per scene, taking no other actions during the process. The four dot version of the Merit allows them to treat wounds caused by sources of immediate aggravated damage, although it requires a Pillar point and flesh from another body to replace that which was lost. Endless Potency (• to •••••) Prerequisite: Endless The immortal channels her Sekhem into inborn ability. When purchasing this Merit, choose an Attribute. By spending a dot of Sekhem, the character increases that Attribute by the Merit’s dot value, including derived traits, for the remainder of the scene. Activating this Merit can take her above her normal Attribute dot limit (usually 5). Invested immortals may spend Pillars to activate this Merit instead of Sekhem. This may be used once per Attribute per scene. Notes: You may take this Merit multiple times, each purchase representing a different Attribute. Enigma (• to •••••) Prerequisite: No Fame Effect: Fate conspires to hide your character’s existence from the scrutiny of others. Books burn as mysterious flames erupt, carvings fade or crumble, and computer files become corrupted. Mundane actions to investigate or track your character suffer a −2 penalty, and the scope of the investigation requires additional Clues equal to your dots in this Merit. If the character actively seeks to cover their tracks, any Clues uncovered on a failed roll are tainted instead of incomplete. Attempts to perceive a mummy hiding or moving stealthily are unaffected. A mummy’s cult is unhindered, instead gaining bonus dice equal to the dots in this Merit to locate their sovereign. Fount of Vitality (••••) Prerequisite: No Pillar at 0 (mummies), Sekhem ••• or invested Pillars (immortals) Effect: The Sekhem flowing through your character’s soul bolsters their flesh against injury. Sealing the flesh lasts for two additional turns for mummies. By spending a point of Willpower and maintaining physical contact, the Arisen may seal the flesh of their invested cultist instead of their own. The mummy loses their Defense and may not seal their own flesh while aiding their cultist in this manner. The cultist loses a point of Willpower for each turn the effect is maintained.

Merits 107 Barring unique effects from their particular form of immortality, the Endless suffer damage as mortals do, but the character with this Merit recovers from injuries as quickly as the Deathless. Funerary Text (• to •••••) Effect: Whether as an inscribed amulet, a painstakingly copied scroll, or hieroglyphics etched into the walls, your character’s tomb is equipped with a record of the Trials of Duat. Whenever your character enters henet within their tomb, they gaze upon this text, carrying its wisdom with them. The player may ask a number of yes or no questions, such as the examples below, over the course of their Trials equal to their dots in this Merit, which must be answered truthfully. • Is this person a fiend in disguise? • Are they lying to me? • Is my compassion being tested here? • Is this detail significant? Guild Paragon (•••) Effect: Your character’s skills are indispensable to your guild. With the expenditure of a Willpower point, they stretch their talents to preternatural levels. • Maa-Kep: When functioning as a secondary actor in a teamwork action, the character gains 8-again on their roll. If the primary actor gains an exceptional success, the Dapifer regains a point of Willpower. • Mesen-Nebu: By handling an object for a turn, the Alchemist identifies its composition and any value or properties the materials might provide, giving them a +2 bonus on rolls to repair or damage the item. They may shape the materials into a curio, which may be used as soft leverage. If accepted, the recipient also gains the Inspired Condition. • Sesha-Hebsu: When the Diplomat mediates a dispute between two Arisen, or amongst members of their cult, any Social rolls count as an exceptional success on three successes. If the mediation succeeds, the character’s impression level advances one stage for both parties. • Su-Menent: By touching anything dead, the Necromancer may render it immune to the ravages of time and natural decay for the remainder of the story. Such a cadaver gives a +2 bonus to any attempts to glean information from it. • Tef-Aabhi: The Geomancer recognizes whenever they enter the Lifeweb of a tomb, sacred architecture, or naturally occurring places of mystical power. Provided the area isn’t cursed or unholy, they may carefully alter the surroundings to create the Hallowed Ground Tilt. The Tilt persists for one day per hour spent. Interstitial Lives (• or ••) Effect: At one dot, Fate links your mummy to another of the Deathless, whether friend, rival, or enemy. Whenever the linked mummy arises, your character awakens at the same Sekhem level without a purpose to direct them, receiving instead a vision of the linked mummy. Players may choose to link to their character’s meret bond instead of an individual Arisen, awakening whenever any member arises. At two dots, the link also serves as an anchor for the character’s fleeting memories, giving a +2 bonus to breaking point and Memory rolls incurred in their presence. Overburdened (•••) Effect: Endless years and duties to the Judges weigh heavily on your character. He bears two Burdens, and may labor under either one when regaining Willpower. Once per chapter, the mummy may regain a Pillar point of their choice by enduring both Burdens in a single scene. Relic Sensitivity (••) Effect: Your character is more sensitive to the presence of relics than their peers. Endless with this Merit are capable of benefiting from kepher like mummies, while the Arisen gain a +2 bonus on such rolls. Resonant Lifetime (•••) Effect: One of your character’s Descents has left its mark on his soul and informed his identity. No matter how many lifetimes your character lives, that one Descent remains as crystal clear as his last. This is never their mortal life in Irem. A mummy may not purchase this Merit more than once, but when assuming the body of a mortal cultist, they may choose to replace the remembered lifetime with that of the cultist. Resplendent Soul (•••) Prerequisite: Affected Pillar ••• (mummies), Sekhem •• (immortals) Effect: One of the Pillars of your soul shines brightly. This Merit may only be taken once. Mummies receive a secondary defining Pillar. While this provides none of the benefits of the associated decree, they recover spent points more easily. Whenever they fully replenish their defining Pillar by affirming their decree, they also replenish a point of this Pillar. An immortal’s Sekhem refines one of their soul’s Pillars into a palpable manifestation. The immortal has a single

108 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Pillar rated at one dot, which they may utilize like the Arisen. Lacking a decree, they may only replenish this Pillar through vestiges and meditation using their Composure as a dice pool. Additional Pillars require investment from the Arisen. Supernatural Resistance (• to •••••, Supernatural Merit) Prerequisite: Endless or Sadikh Immortality has left its mark on your character, making her aware of the supernatural’s effects on the world and attuning her to the flow of Sekhem in all things. This Merit acts as a Supernatural Tolerance trait, which stacks with their Sekhem rating when resisting other powers, but not during a Clash of Wills. Tenacious Eternity (••••) Effect: All immortals are Endless, but for unknown reasons, your curse is more lenient than that suffered by others of your kind. Blood Bather: Your character may choose to change the Bath, Blood, or Preparation component of their bathing ritual to match what’s currently available. Only one component may be altered during the performance of the ritual. By spending a point of Willpower, the alteration to the ritual becomes permanent. Body Thief: Within a stolen body, your character benefits from 1/1 Armor. Eternal: Your character’s anchor gains +2 Durability. Reborn: All attempts to supernaturally remove or alter your character’s memories suffer a −3 penalty. Sadikh: As long as your character upholds their Arisen master’s orders, they may resist the lure of the false life indefinitely. Tomb (Special) Effect: A mummy’s tomb provides a bastion against the outside world and the inexorable march of eternity. A place of security, a mummy may center herself and rest when the weight of ages grows too great to bear. The first dot applies to Geometry, but each additional dot may be applied to Geometry, Peril, or Provisions (p. XX). Geometry is limited to five dots in total, but Peril and Provisions may both be increased beyond that point. A meret may pool their dots for a shared tomb if they wish. GENERAL MERITS Unless specified otherwise, these Merits may be taken by any character. Allies (• to •••••, Cult) Effect: Allies help your character. They might be friends, employees, associates, or people your character has blackmailed. Each instance of this Merit represents one type of ally. This could be an organization, a society, a clique, or an individual. You can take this Merit multiple times to represent different Allies. Your character might have Allies (Cornell College) ••, Allies (Grand Egyptian Museum) •••, and Allies (Shore Porters Society) •. Each dot represents a level of influence in the group. One dot constitutes small favors and passing influence. Three offers considerable influence, such as the police overlooking a misdemeanor charge. Five dots stretches the limits of the organization’s influence with its leaders putting their own influence on the line for the character. This could include things such as massive insider trading or fouling up a felony investigation. No matter the request, it must be something that organization could accomplish. The Storyteller assigns a rating between one and five to any favor asked. A character can ask for favors that add up to her Allies rating without penalty in one chapter. If she extends her influence beyond that, the player rolls Manipulation + Persuasion + Allies, with a penalty equal to the favor’s rating. If the roll is successful, the group does as requested. Failed or successful, the character loses a dot of Allies (Sanctity of Merits still applies). On a dramatic failure, the organization resents her and seeks retribution. On an exceptional success, she doesn’t lose the dot. One additional favor a character can ask of her Allies is to block another character’s Allies, Contacts, Mentor, Retainer, or Status (if she knows the character possesses the relevant Merit). The favor’s rating is equal to the Merit dots blocked. As before, no roll is necessary unless the target’s Merit exceeds the character’s Allies. If the block succeeds, the target cannot use the blocked Merit during the same chapter. Alternate Identity (•, ••, or •••) Effect: Your character has established an alternate mundane identity. The level of this Merit determines the amount of scrutiny it can withstand. At one dot, the identity is superficial and unofficial. For example, your character uses an alias with a simple costume and adopts an accent. He hasn’t established the necessary paperwork to even approach a bureaucratic background check, let alone pass. At two dots, he’s supported his identity with paperwork and identification. It’s not liable to stand up to extensive research, but it turns away private investigators and internet hobbyists. At three dots, the identity passes thorough inspection. The identity has been deeply entrenched in relevant databases, with subtle flourishes and details to make it seem real even to trained professionals. Additionally, the Merit reflects time the character has spent honing his persona. At one or two dots, he gains a one-die bonus to all Subterfuge rolls to defend the identity. At three dots, he gains +2 instead.

Merits 109 You can purchase this Merit multiple times, each time representing an additional identity. Anonymity (• to •••••) Prerequisite: Cannot have Fame. Effect: Your character lives off the grid. Perhaps her cult failed to maintain proper paperwork in anticipation of her return, leaving her with no legal identity. This means she must make purchases with cash or falsified credit cards. She avoids any official authoritative influence in her affairs. Any attempts to find her by paper trail suffer a one-die penalty per dot purchased in this Merit. Drawbacks: Your character cannot purchase the Fame Merit. This also may limit Status purchases, if the character cannot provide sufficient identification for the roles she wishes to take. Area of Expertise (•) Prerequisite: Resolve •• and one Skill Specialty Effect: Your character is uncommonly specialized in one area. Choose a Specialty to assign to this Merit. Forgo the +1 bonus afforded by a Specialty, in exchange for a +2. Common Sense (•••) Effect: Your character has an exceptionally sound and rational mind. With a moment’s thought, she can weigh potential courses of action and outcomes. Once per session as an instant action, you may ask the Storyteller one of the following questions about a task at hand or course of action. Roll Wits + Composure. If you succeed, the Storyteller must answer to the best of her ability. If you fail, you get no answer. With an exceptional success, you can ask an additional question. With dramatic failure, the Storyteller can give you a piece of false advice. If you follow that “intuition” regardless of risk, take a Beat. • What is the worst choice? • What do I stand to lose here? • What’s the safest choice? • Am I chasing a worthless lead? Contacts (•, Cult) Effect: Contacts provide your character with information. Each instance of this Merit represents a sphere or organization with which the character can garner information. Contacts do not provide services, only information. This may be faceto-face, via email, by telephone, or even through a séance. Garnering information via Contacts requires a Manipulation + Social Skill roll, depending on the method

110 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy the character uses, and the relationship between the characters. The Storyteller should give a bonus or penalty, dependent on how relevant the information is to that particular Contact, whether accessing the information is dangerous, and if the character has maintained good relations or done favors for the Contact. These modifiers should range from −3 to +3 in most cases. If successful, the Contact provides the information. You may purchase this Merit multiple times to reflect different sources. Danger Sense (••) Effect: You gain a +2 modifier on reflexive Wits + Composure rolls for your character to detect an impending ambush. Your character’s reflexes are honed to the point where nothing is shocking. Demolisher (• to •••) Prerequisites: Strength or Intelligence ••• Effect: Your character has an innate feel for the weak points in objects. When damaging an object, she ignores one point of the object’s Durability per dot in this Merit. Devotees (•••, Cult Only) Effect: Your followers are particularly devoted to their Doctrines. Increase the cult’s Fidelity track by 1. Direction Sense (•) Effect: Your character has an innate sense of direction, and is always aware of her location in space. She always knows which cardinal direction she faces, and never suffers penalties to navigate or find her way in the mundane world. Eidetic Memory (••) Prerequisite: Not an Arisen. Effect: Your character recalls events and details with pinpoint accuracy. You do not have to make rolls for your character to remember past experiences. When making Intelligence + Composure (or relevant Skill) rolls to recall minute facts from swaths of information, take a +2 bonus. Encyclopedic Knowledge (••) Effect: Choose a Skill. Due to an immersion in academia, pop culture, or a hobby obsession, your character has collected limitless factoids about the topic, even if she has no dots in the Skill. You can make an Intelligence + Wits roll any time your character is dealing with her area of interest. On a successful roll, the Storyteller must give a relevant fact or detail about the issue at hand. Your character knows this fact, but you must explain within the scope of your character’s background why she knows it. For example, for Encyclopedic Knowledge (Academics): “Yeah, there were 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. There were also many other warriors. I was among them.” Mummies unable to explain how they know such things often find the trivia surfacing in their minds without warning. Etiquette (• to •••••; Style) Prerequisites: Composure •••, Socialize •• Effect: Your character knows her way around society, customs, and traditions. More importantly, she can use this talent to make or break reputations. This Merit applies to any social interactions where etiquette, style, poise, and reputation carry weight, and uses the Social Maneuvering rules on p. XX. Bless His Heart (•): Your character always considers her words well. No matter how vile, the things she says come off as defensible and respectful. When a character engages yours in a Social interaction, you may opt to use your character’s Socialize score instead of the lower of her Resolve and Composure to determine her starting Doors. Losing Your Religion (••): When your character lets loose and insults someone, she leaves mouths agape. When tearing down a target verbally, use 8-again, and take a two-die bonus to the roll. Afterward, move the interaction one step down on the impressions chart. In High Cotton (•••): Your character cultivates standing and respect, and carries it like a knight wears armor. You may apply one relevant Status or Fame Merit to rolls contesting Social interactions. Other Merits may apply with Storyteller permission. Half-Cocked (••••): Your character is always prepared. On the other hand, others are not. In a new Social interaction, if the impression is good, excellent, or perfect, ignore the subject’s Resolve and Composure on the first roll. Grace Under Fire (•••••): While your character may not always win, she never looks bad. If a character opens all her Doors, and you opt to offer an alternative, his player chooses three Conditions. You choose which one your character receives. Fame (• to •••) Effect: Your character is recognized within a certain sphere, for a certain skill, or because of some past action or stroke of luck. This can mean favors and attention, but it can also mean negative attention and scrutiny. When choosing the Merit, define for what your character is known. One dot reflects local recognition or reputation within a confined subculture. Two dots results in regional recognition by a wide swath of people. Three dots results in worldwide recognition by anyone who might have been exposed to the source of the fame. Each dot adds a die to any Social rolls among those your character’s celebrity impresses.

Merits 111 Drawback: Rolls to find or identify the character in the mundane world enjoy a one-die bonus per dot of the Merit. If the character has Alternate Identity, she can mitigate this drawback. A character with Fame cannot have the Anonymity or Enigma Merits. Fanatical (••, Cult Only) Effect: Nothing sways your cult from the higher cause they have pledged their lives and souls to upholding. When they act, they build momentum to push ever further, conquering all obstacles in their way. Whenever they take a cult action beyond the limits of their Dominance, they gain a +2 bonus to Reach and Grasp for the action. Drawback: Progress is an addictive experience, and in the absence of direct guidance, the cult acts to fulfill their impression of their sovereign’s will, leading inexorably towards schisms over interpretations or strategies. Whenever they take a cult action beyond the limits of their Dominance, they also suffer an additional point of bashing damage to Fidelity. Fast Reflexes (• to •••) Prerequisite: Wits ••• or Dexterity ••• Effect: Gain +1 Initiative per dot. Fast-Talking (• to •••••; Style) Prerequisites: Manipulation •••, Subterfuge •• Effect: Your character talks circles around listeners. She speaks a mile a minute and often leaves her targets reeling, but nodding in agreement. Always Be Closing (•): With the right leading phrases, your character directs a mark to say what she wants, when she wants. This trips the mark into vulnerable positions. When a mark contests or resists your character’s Social interactions, apply a –1 to his Resolve or Composure. Jargon (••): Your character confuses her mark using complex terminology. You may apply one relevant Specialty to any Social roll you make, even if the Specialty isn’t tied to the Skill in use. Devil’s Advocacy (•••): Your character often poses arguments she doesn’t agree with, challenging a mark’s position and keeping him from advancing discussion. You can reroll one failed Subterfuge roll per scene. Salting (••••): Your character positions herself so that a mark pursues a non-issue or something unimportant to her. When your character opens a Door using conversation (Persuasion, Subterfuge, Empathy, etc.), you may spend a Willpower point to immediately open another Door. Patron’s Privilege (•••••): Your character takes advantage of her mark’s greed or zeal. When the mark does particularly well, it’s because your character was there to set him up and to subsequently tear him down. If a target regains Willpower from his Vice or similar trait while your character is present, you may immediately roll Manipulation + Subterfuge to open a Door, regardless of the interval or impression level. Fighting Finesse (••) Prerequisites: Dexterity •••, a Specialty in Weaponry or Brawl Effect: Choose a Specialty in Weaponry or Brawl when you purchase this Merit. Your character’s extensive training in that particular weapon or style has allowed them to benefit more from their alacrity and agility than their strength. You may substitute your character’s Dexterity for her Strength when making rolls with that Specialty. You can purchase this Merit multiple times to gain its benefit with multiple Specialties. Fixer (••) Prerequisites: Contacts ••, Wits ••• Effect: Your character is “people who knows people”. She can not only get in touch with the right people to do a job, but she can get them at the best possible prices. When hiring a service (p. XX), reduce the Availability score of the service by one dot. Fleet of Foot (• to •••) Prerequisite: Athletics •• Effect: Gain +1 Speed per dot, and anyone pursuing your character suffers a −1 per dot to any foot chase rolls. Giant (•••) Effect: At Size 6, your character is massive and gains +1 Health. She’s well over six feet tall, and crowds part when she approaches. Normally this is only available at character creation, but bizarre curses could cause it as well. Drawback: Buying clothing is a nightmare. Fitting into small spaces is difficult at best. Indomitable (••) Prerequisite: Resolve ••• Your character possesses an iron will. The powers of the supernatural have little bearing on her behavior. She can stand up to a vampire’s mind control, a witch’s charms, or a ghost’s gifts of fright. Any time a supernatural creature uses a power to influence your character’s thoughts or emotions, add two dice to the dice pool to contest it. If the roll is resisted, instead subtract two dice from the monster’s dice pool. Note that this only affects mental influence and manipulation from a supernatural origin. A vampire with a remarkable Manipulation + Persuasion score is just as likely to convince your character to do something using mundane tricks.

112 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Inspiring (•••) Prerequisites: Presence ••• Effect: Your character’s passion inspires those around her to greatness. With a few words, she can redouble a group’s confidence or move them to action. Make a Presence + Expression roll. A small group of listeners levies a −1 penalty, a small crowd a −2, and a large crowd a −3. Listeners gain the Inspired Condition. The character may not use this Merit on herself. Interdisciplinary Specialty (•) Prerequisites: Skill at ••• or higher with a Specialty Effect: Choose a Specialty that your character possesses when you purchase this Merit. You can apply the +1 from that Specialty on any Skill with at least one dot, provided it’s justifiable within the scope of the fiction. For example, a doctor with a Medicine Specialty in Anatomy may be able to use it when targeting a specific body part with Weaponry, but could not with a general strike. Iron Stamina (• to •••) Prerequisites: Stamina ••• or Resolve ••• Effect: Each dot eliminates a negative modifier (on a onefor-one basis) when resisting the effects of fatigue or injury. For example: A character with Iron Stamina •• can ignore up to a −2 modifier brought on by fatigue. The Merit also counteracts the effects of wound penalties. So, if all of your character’s Health boxes are filled (which normally imposes a −3 penalty to his actions) and he has Iron Stamina •, reduce those penalties to −2. This Merit cannot be used to gain positive modifiers for actions, only to cancel out negative ones. Language (•) Effect: Your character is skilled with an additional language, beyond her native tongue. Your character can speak, read, and write in that language. Choose a new language each time you buy this Merit. Mummies, possessing an unnatural aptitude for language acquisition, choose two languages. Library (• to •••, Cult) Effect: Your character has access to a plethora of information about a given topic. When purchasing this Merit, choose a Mental Skill. The Library covers that purview. On any extended roll involving the Skill in question, add the dots in this Merit. You can purchase this Merit multiple times to reflect different Skills. Mentor (• to •••••) Effect: Your character has a teacher providing advice and guidance, acting on your character’s behalf, often in the background, and sometimes without your character’s knowledge. While Mentors can be highly competent, they want something in return for their services. The dot rating determines the Mentor’s capabilities, and to what extent he aids your character. When establishing a Mentor, determine what the Mentor wants from your character. This should be personally important to him, and it should reflect the dot rating chosen. A onedot Mentor might be incapable of dealing with modern society, and want to live vicariously through your character. This might mean coming to him and telling stories of her exploits. A five-dot Mentor would want something astronomical, such as an oath to procure an ancient, cursed artifact that may or may not exist, to prevent a prophesized death. Choose three Skills the Mentor possesses. You can substitute Resources for one of these Skills. Once per session, the character may ask her Mentor for a favor. The favor must involve one of those Skills, or be within the scope of his Resources. The Mentor commits the favor (often asking for a commensurate favor in return), and if a roll is required, the Mentor is automatically considered to have successes equal to his dot rating. Alternately, you may ask the Storyteller to have the Mentor act on your character’s behalf, without her knowing or initiating the request. Observance (••, Cult Only) Effect: The cult engages in a particular rite every month at their sovereign’s tomb, reaffirming their dedication and strengthening their interpersonal bonds. Cultists participating in these rites gain the Inspired Condition, and gain a +1 bonus to cult actions attempted within a number of days equal to the cult’s Dominance. Mummies observing or participating in their cult’s observance regain a point of spent Willpower. Parkour (• to •••••, Style) Prerequisites: Dexterity •••, Athletics •• Effect: Your character is a trained and proficient free runner. Free running is the art of moving fluidly through urban environments with complex leaps, bounds, running tricks, and vaults. This is the type of sport popularized in modern action films, where characters are unhindered by fences, walls, construction equipment, cars, or anything else the city puts in their way. Flow (•): Your character reacts instinctively to any obstacles with leaps, jumps, and scaling techniques. When in a foot chase, subtract your Parkour from the successes needed to pursue or evade. Also, ignore environmental penalties to Athletics rolls equal to your Parkour rating.

Merits 113 Cat Leap (••): Your character falls with outstanding grace. When using a Dexterity + Athletics roll to mitigate damage from falling, your character gains one automatic success. Additionally, add your Parkour rating to the threshold of damage that can be removed through this roll. Parkour does not mitigate damage from a terminal-velocity fall. Wall Run (•••): When climbing, your character runs upward for some distance before having to traditionally climb. Without rolling, your character scales 10 feet + five feet per dot of Athletics as an instant action, rather than the normal 10 feet. Expert Traceur (••••): Parkour is second nature for your character. By spending a Willpower point, you may designate one Athletics roll to run, jump, or climb as a rote action (reroll all failed dice once). On any turn during which you use this ability, you may not apply your character’s Defense to oncoming attacks. Freeflow (•••••): Your character’s Parkour is now muscle memory. She can move without thinking, in a Zenlike state. The character must successfully meditate (p. XX) to establish Freeflow. Once established, your character is capable of taking Athletics actions reflexively once per turn. By spending a point of Willpower on an Athletics roll in a foot chase, gain three successes instead of three dice. Professional Training (• to •••••) Effect: Your character has extensive training in a particular profession, which offers distinct advantages in a handful of fields. When choosing this Merit, choose or create a Profession for your character. Mark the two Asset Skills on your character sheet. The advantages of Professional Training relate directly to those Asset Skills. Networking (•): At the first level of Professional Training, your character builds connections within her chosen field. Take two dots of Contacts relating to that field. Continuing Education (••): With the repeated efforts in her field of choice, your character tends toward greater successes. When making a roll with her Asset Skills, she benefits from the 9-again quality. Breadth of Knowledge (•••): Due to her advancement in her field, she’s picked up a number of particular bits of information and skill unique to her work. Choose a third Asset Skill, and take two Specialties in your character’s Asset Skills. On-the-Job Training (••••): With the resources at her disposal, your character has access to extensive educational tools and mentorship. Take a Skill dot in an Asset Skill. Whenever you purchase a new Asset Skill dot, take a Beat. The Routine (•••••): With such extensive experience in her field, she has honed her Asset Skills to a fine edge, and she’s almost guaranteed at least a marginal success. Before rolling, spend a Willpower point to apply the rote action quality to an Asset Skill. This allows you to reroll all the failed dice on the first roll. Example: Penebui of the Mesen-Nebu has Professional Training (Alchemist) ••. Her player marks Crafts and Science as her Asset Skills and assigns Chemists and Librarians as her Contacts. Upon achieving the third dot, Penebui adds Occult as a third Asset Skill and adds Occult (Alchemy) and Science (Metallurgy) as her Specialties. Pusher (•) Prerequisite: Persuasion •• Effect: Your character tempts and bribes as second nature. Any time a mark in a Social interaction accepts his soft leverage (p. XX), improve his Impression as if he’d satisfied her Vice as well as moving the Impression up on the chart as usual. Relic (• to •••••) Effect: Your character bears one or more relics (p. XX), with combined total ratings equal to the dots in this Merit. Renowned Artisan (•••) Prerequisite: Crafts ••• with relevant Specialty Effect: Your character is a master artisan of the crafts favored by their guild or that of their Arisen master. Once per chapter, you may reroll a mundane Crafts action related to the guild’s work, keeping the higher result. You also gain a +1 bonus to Social rolls interacting with members of this guild. Resources (• to •••••, Cult) Effect: This Merit reflects your character’s disposable income. She might live in an upscale condo, but if her income is tied up, she might have little money to throw around. Characters are assumed to have basic necessities without Resources. The dot rating determines the relative amount of disposable funding the character has available. One dot is a little spending money here and there. Two dots is a comfortable, middle-class wage. Three is a nicer, upper-middle-class life. Four is moderately wealthy. Five is filthy rich. Every item has an Availability rating (p. XX). Once per chapter, your character can procure an item at her Resources level or lower, without issue. Obtaining an item one Availability above her Resources reduces her effective Resources by one dot for a full month, since she has to rapidly liquidate funds. She can procure items two Availability below her Resources without limit (within reason). For example, a character with Resources •••• can procure as many Availability •• disposable cellphones as she needs. Retainer (• to •••••, Cult) Effect: Your character has an assistant, sycophant, servant, or follower on whom she can rely. Establish who this companion is and how she acquired him. Whether through

114 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy a simple paycheck, because he owes your character his life, or whatever other reason, your character has a hold on him. A Retainer is more reliable than a Mentor and more loyal than an Ally. On the other hand, a Retainer is a lone person, less capable and influential than the broader Merits. The Merit’s dot rating reflects the Retainer’s relative competency. A one-dot Retainer is mildly useful, mostly for reliably taking on menial tasks. Sometimes you don’t need to be wowed; you just need to get a thing from point A to point B. A three-dot Retainer is a professional in his field, someone capable in his line of work. A five-dot Retainer is one of the best in his class. If a Retainer needs to make a roll, and it’s within his field, double the dot rating of the Merit and use it as a dice pool. For anything else, use the dot rating as a dice pool. You can purchase this Merit multiple times to represent multiple Retainers. Ritualistic Cult (•, Cult Only) Effect: The cult maintains a regular schedule of rituals and observances. These rites, performed in the Lifeweb of the mummy’s tomb, soothe and empower the Arisen soul. When meditating to regain Pillars during the cult’s rites, the mummy adds the cult’s Dominance to their roll. Safe Place (• to •••••, Cult) Effect: Your character has somewhere besides her tomb she can go where she can feel secure. While she may have enemies that could attack her there, she’s prepared and has the upper hand. The dot rating reflects the security of the place. Equipment represents the actual location, the luxury, and the size. A one-dot Safe Place could simply be out of sight, out of mind, or feature minor security systems. A five-dot could have a security crew, infrared scanners at every entrance, or trained dogs. Each place can be an apartment, a mansion, or a hidey-hole. A Safe Place gives all owners an Initiative bonus equal to the total Merit dots while inside. Any efforts to breach the Safe Place suffer a penalty equal to the Merit dots invested. If the character desires, the Safe Place includes traps that cause intruders lethal damage equal to the Merit dots, or bashing damage equal to twice the Merit’s dots. The traps may be avoided with a Dexterity + Larceny roll, penalized by the Safe Place rating. Each instance of this Merit reflects a different place. Sandglass (••) Effect: The Sekhem flowing through your character’s soul has sharpened your perception of time. When encountering unusual disruptions in time, such as mirages, time splinters, or supernatural powers altering the temporal flow, your character perceives the distortion through a unique sensation. One feels extreme thirst, while another feels the grit of sand beneath their fingernails. This sense doesn’t tell the character the nature of the disruption, but a successful Wits + Composure roll can lead them to the effect. Characters with this Merit may attempt to Feel the Flow like mummies, using Wits + Composure as their dice pool and substituting Willpower dots for Sekhem or Willpower points for Pillar costs. Mummies with this Merit add their Wits and gain an exceptional success on three successes instead of five when Feeling the Flow. Scapegoats (•, Cult Only) Effect: By shifting blame to others, the cult maintains its integrity. Once per story, instead of punishing or banishing the guilty during a mutiny, they may focus the cult on a new target by assigning a new cult action. This clears only two points of Fidelity damage, but maintains Reach and Grasp. Scorpion Cult Initiation (• to •••••, Cult Only) Scorpion Cult Initiation reflects membership in cults dedicated to an Arisen or the Judges, and thus a valid character target for the Rite of Investment. The dot rating dictates standing: one dot is an initiate or lay cultist, two is a full and respected member, three is a priest or cultic enforcer, four is a decision-making leader, and five is the hierophant or cult leader. In addition to standing, a Scorpion Cult Initiation Merit offers benefits at each level of influence. The following is a sample “standard” Cult Initiation, but the benefits of membership varies widely depending on the nature and makeup of the cult: Initiate (•): Initiates are instructed in lore of the Judge the Arisen serves and the particulars of Iremite faith, or shepherded towards being the eyes and arms of the cult and recognizing the secret ways of doing things. They gain either a specialty in Iremite Religion for Academics or a Bureaucracy specialty in Politics. Cultist (••): Full cult members must learn to speak, read, and write in Iremic. They gain the Language Merit (Iremic) free of charge. Cultists at this level are immune to Sybaris, so long as they faithfully follow the Doctrine of the cult. Wab (•••): Even the lowest priests, the wab, command significant cult resources. Spend two dots between Contacts, Allies, Resources, or Retainers to reflect this. Additionally, cult tasks personally overseen by a priest add a +3 modifier to rolls to generate Effort. Hem-Netjer (••••): Sybaris does not touch the truly loyal. On the other hand, long exposure to miracles robs them of their mystery. The hem-netjer (“servant of the god”) gains the Witness (•••) Merit. Unlike the temporary protection to Sybaris afforded those who are full members, this Merit persists past excommunication.

Merits 115 Tepi (•••••): Glory reflected still shines brightly, the hierophant is privy to many secrets of the mummy’s guild. The cult’s tepi (“first”) may use relics of the mummy’s guild without suffering a drawback, as if they were the mummy. Secretive (•••, Cult Only) Effect: With rituals performed in masks or darkened rooms, the cult maintains strict anonymity among its members. Cultists are only privy to the identities of cultists of equal or lower rank in Scorpion Cult Initiation. Investigating an individual cultist’s connection to the cult or its activities requires additional Clues equal to their rank in Scorpion Cult Initiation. Small-Framed (••) Effect: Your character is diminutive. He’s not even five feet tall, and it’s easy to walk into him without noticing. At Size 4, he has one fewer Health box, but gains +2 to any rolls to hide or go unnoticed. This bonus might apply any time being smaller would be an advantage, such as crawling through smaller spaces. Normally this is only available at character creation, but unnatural sorceries could cause it as well. Drawbacks: In addition to the lower Health, some people might overlook your character or not take him seriously. Specialized Cultists (•, Cult Only) Effect: The cult is well-trained in a single Skill. Whenever they assist their mummy in tasks reliant upon it, the mummy gains the 9-again effect on their roll. This Merit may only be taken once. Storied (•, Cult Only) Effect: The very idea of your cult is ludicrous, and anyone attempting to shed light upon their secretive activities becomes a laughingstock. Any rolls to discredit the cult’s enemies gain a +1 bonus. Staff (• to •••••, Cult) Effect: Your character has a crew of workers or assistants at her disposal. They may be housekeepers, designers, research assistants, animators, cheap thugs, or whatever else makes sense. For every dot in this Merit, choose one type of assistant, and one Skill. At any reasonable time, her staff can take actions using that Skill, automatically garnering a single success on minor, mundane activities. You may have employees without requiring the Staff Merit; Staff simply adds a mechanical advantage for those groups.

116 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Status (• to •••••, Cult) Effect: Your character has standing, membership, authority, control over, or respect from a group or organization. This can reflect official standing, or merely informal respect. No matter the source, your character enjoys certain privileges within that structure. Status only allows advantages within the confines of the group reflected in the Merit. Status (Organized Crime) won’t help if your character wants an official, concealed-carry firearms permit, for example. Status provides two major advantages. First, your character applies her Status to any Social roll with those over whom she has authority or sway. Second, she has access to group facilities, resources, and funding. Depending on the group, red tape, requisitioning processes and particular resources available could limit this. Each instance of this Merit reflects standing in a different group or organization. Each affords its own unique benefits. As you increase your dot ratings, your character rises in prominence in the relevant group. Drawback: Status requires upkeep, and often, regular duties. If your character does not uphold these duties, she may lose the Status. The dots are not accessible until the character re-establishes her standing. In our Organized Crime example, your character may be expected to pay protection money, offer tribute to a higher authority, or undertake felonious activities. Striking Looks (• or ••) Effect: Your character is stunning, alarming, commanding, repulsive, threatening, charming, or otherwise worthy of attention. Determine how your character looks and how people react to that. For one dot, your character gets +1 on any Social rolls that his looks would influence. For two dots, it’s +2. Depending on the particulars, this might influence Expression, Intimidation, Persuasion, Subterfuge, or other rolls. Drawback: Attention is a double-edged sword. Any rolls to spot, notice, or remember your character gain the same dice bonus. Sometimes, your character draws unwanted attention in social situations potentially causing further complications. Sympathetic (••) Effect: Your character has a pitiful face, a well-honed sob story, or is otherwise really good at letting others get close. At the beginning of a Social maneuvering attempt (p. XX), you may accept a Condition, such as Leveraged or Swooned, to immediately eliminate two of the subject’s Doors. Syncretic (•, Cult Only) Effect: The cult’s beliefs are a harmonized amalgam of Irem’s lore and the teachings of a local belief system. When working alongside other cults or followers of the local belief system, the cult gains a +2 bonus to cult actions. Trained Observer (• or •••) Prerequisite: Wits or Composure ••• Effect: Your character spent years in the field, catching tiny details and digging for secrets. She might not have a better chance of finding things, but she has a better chance of finding important things. Any time you make a Perception roll (usually Wits + Composure), you benefit from the 9-again quality. With the three-dot version, you get 8-again. True Friend (•••) Effect: Your character has a true friend. While that friend may have specific functions covered by other Merits (Allies, Contacts, etc.), True Friend represents a deeper, truly trusting relationship that cannot be breached. Unless your character does something egregious to cause it, her True Friend will not betray her. The Storyteller cannot kill a True Friend as part of a plot without your express permission. Any rolls to influence a True Friend against your character suffer a −5 dice penalty. Once per story, your character regains one spent Willpower by having a meaningful interaction with her True Friend. A mummy always recognizes their True Friend upon arising, leaving them untouched by their wrath. With a successful Presence + Empathy roll, penalized by the Arisen’s defining Pillar, the True Friend can even pull the mummy from this mindless state. Vestige (• to •••••) Effect: The character possesses one or more Vestiges (p. XX), with combined total ratings equal to the dots in this Merit. Vestiges purchased through this Merit may resonate with the character’s Anchors, if the player wishes. Vice-Ridden (••, Cult) Effect: Your character is notoriously depraved, possessing two Vices. Once per scene, he may regain one Willpower by indulging whichever one he chooses. Virtuous (••, Cult) Effect: Your character strives for excellence, possessing two Virtues. The limitations of how many times she may refresh Willpower using a Virtue remain the same, but she may regain it from either one. Wayward Cult (•••, Cult Only) Effect: The cult has been misled about the nature of their mummy and the Judges. Whenever the cult seeks to block another cult, they gain a +2 bonus to Reach and Grasp. Wayward cults also lack a Judge’s Doctrine, though by sacrificing a dot of Dominance, they may claim a third Doctrine of their mummy’s choice.

Merits 117 Drawback: When first recognizing a mummy leading another cult, the first action from the rival cult inflicts aggravated rather than lethal damage to Fidelity. Further actions by this rival cult inflict lethal damage as normal. Without a Judge’s Doctrine, a cult only gains Cult Beats from the other two, though the mummy freely reigns over them as he sees fit. If a third Doctrine is ever claimed, the mummy suffers a Descent roll for his arrogance every time the cult gains a Beat from the stolen Doctrine. SUPERNATURAL MERITS These Merits require that the character remain human (non-supernatural). These Merits disappear if the character becomes a vampire, ghoul, mage, or any other supernatural character type. Per the Sanctity of Merits (see p. XX), these Merit dots can be reallocated. Accursed Harbinger (•••) Effect: Something about your character’s soul makes it difficult for curses to find purchase. Whenever he would acquire a passive curse, such as by touching a cursed relic, reflexively roll Resolve + Composure. If successful, the curse remains passive, infecting the next valid target he touches instead of the character. He may only have one curse held at bay at any given time, and any additional curses affect him normally. This Merit provides no protection against curses actively directed at the character. Clairvoyance (•••) Effect: Your character can project her senses to another location. She sees, hears, smells, and otherwise experiences the other place as if she were there. This ability requires a point of Willpower to activate, successful meditation, and a Wits + Occult roll. Suggested Modifiers: Has an object important to the place (+1), never been there (−3), scrying for a person and not a place (−3), scrying for non-specific location (−4), spent significant time there (+2), touching someone with a strong connection to the place (+1) Drawback: When choosing this ability, determine how your character is able to scry. It may be through a crystal ball, through a drug-induced trance, with esoteric computer models, or any other reasonable method. She cannot scry without that tool or methodology. Cursed (••) Effect: Your character has run afoul of fate. Whether due to a relic’s curse, a dying mummy’s malediction, dark rites, or other mysterious means, he’s been cursed. Most importantly, he’s aware of the curse. When taking this Merit, define the limitations of the curse. Usually, it’s expressed in the form of a single statement, such as, “On the eve of your twenty-seventh birthday, you will feast upon your doom.” It’s important to work out the details with the Storyteller. The curse must take effect within the scope of the planned chronicle. While he knows how he’ll die, this is a liberating experience. He’s confident of the method of his death, so nothing else fazes him. Gain a +2 on any Resolve + Composure roll to face fear or self-doubt. Any time he takes lethal damage in his last three health boxes, take an additional Beat. Forbidden Rites (• to •••••, Cult) Prerequisite: Library (Occult) ••, Ritual Sorcerer, Sorcerous Knowledge • Effect: Your character has collected details on more rites than he could possibly hope to learn, but with time, effort, and sacrifice, they may still be attempted. Each dot in this Merit is associated with a Closed Rite the character has not learned. Attempting to enact these rites from the available resources is more costly and prone to failure. Performing the ritual requires a Pillar point, a human sacrifice, or a fiend’s assistance in addition to any other requirements, and any rolls to perform it suffer a −2 penalty. Cults may take this Merit, but require a sorcerer with the other prerequisites to lead them in Closed Rites. With such a sorcerer, the cult may engage in any of the Closed Rites known as a cult action. Grave Robber (•••••) Effect: Your character’s talent for stealing from the dead is such that his touch doesn’t rouse mummies from their slumber. Even stealing a relic from the tomb’s Lifeweb gives him a twohour head start before the mummy arises, tainting a mummy’s initial Clue when seeking the pilfered relic through kepher. Drawback: If the grave robber steals more than one relic from the same tomb at a time, the mummy arises with the Relentless Condition. Laying on Hands (•••) Your character’s faith or force of devotion becomes a wholesome force that heals the sick and mends injuries. However, she takes some of those injuries upon herself by proxy. Effect: By spending a Willpower point, touching the sick or wounded, and rolling Presence + Empathy, your character may heal them. Every success heals two points of bashing damage, or one level of lethal damage. Three successes allows for a single point of aggravated damage. Drawback: For every two points of damage healed (rounded up), your character suffers a single point of the same type of damage. Additionally, your character may heal diseases and

118 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy other ailments. The Storyteller assigns a target number of successes between one (the common cold) and ten (flesh-eating bacteria). This takes an extended action, and the character suffers a minor version of the illness. Lineal Inheritor (•••) Effect: Whether raised in the cult or growing up without knowledge of your origins, one of your character’s parents was indispensable to a Scorpion Cult. You inherited their invested Pillar following their demise, gaining the advantages of being an invested cultist. This Pillar may not be drawn away until the mummy or their cult performs the Rite of Investment on the character. If invested, they may hold one additional Pillar point beyond their usual limit. Drawback: The dreams of the cult always lead them toward you, which may also draw the attention of their allies and enemies. If the mummy’s sahu was destroyed, the cult is steadfast in their efforts to seize their sovereign’s future body. Medium (•••) Prerequisite: Empathy •• Effect: Your character hears the words and moans of the dead. If he takes the time to parse their words, he can interact with them verbally. Your character has more than just a knack for knowing when ephemeral beings are lurking nearby; he can reach out and make contact with them. By conducting a ritual, meditating, or otherwise preparing to commune with the unseen, and succeeding at a Wits + Occult roll, he temporarily increases the relevant Condition one step along the progression from nothing, to Anchor, Resonance, or Infrastructure, to Open, and finally to Controlled (see p. XX for more on Conditions as they relate to spirits). The effect lasts until he spends a Willpower point, but if an Influence has been used to progress the Condition further, doing so only reduces it by one step. Drawback: Speaking with ghosts can be a blessing, but your character cannot turn the sense off, any more than he can turn off his hearing. The character hears the words of the dead any time they’re present. Once per game session, usually in a time of extreme stress, the Storyteller may deliver a disturbing message to your character from the other side. You must succeed in a Resolve + Composure roll or gain either the Shaken or Spooked Condition. Omen Sensitivity (•••) Effect: Your character sees signs and patterns in everything. From the way the leaves fall, to the spray of antifreeze when his radiator pops, to the ratios of circumference on the shell he picked up on the sidewalk, everything has meaning. With some consideration, he can interpret these meanings. This would be far better if he could turn it off. Everything is important. Everything could mean the end of the world, the deaths of his friends, or other tragedies. If he misses an omen, it might be the wrong one. Once per game session, you can make a Wits + Occult roll for your character to interpret an omen in his surroundings. For every success, ask the Storyteller a yes or no question about your character’s life, his surroundings, a task at hand, or the world at large. The Storyteller must answer these questions truthfully. Drawback: His ability becomes an obsession. Each time he reads a portent, he gains the Obsession or Spooked Condition. Psychokinesis (••• or •••••) Effect: Your character has a psychic ability to manipulate the forces of the universe. Every type of Psychokinetic is different. For example, your character might have Pyrokinesis, Cryokinesis, or Electrokinesis, the control of fire, cold, or electricity, respectively. This is not an exhaustive list. He can intensify, shape, and douse his particular area of ability. With the three-dot version, some of the given force must be present for him to manipulate. With the five-dot version, he can manifest it from nothingness. Spend a point of Willpower to activate Psychokinesis, and roll Resolve + Occult. Each success allows a degree of manipulation; choose one of the following options below. If you intend to cause harm with the roll, subtract the victim’s Resolve from the Resolve + Occult roll. If characters should be harmed without a direct attack, for example, if they run through a patch of flame, the three-dot version of the Merit causes one lethal damage, and the five-dot version causes two. The Storyteller may rule that larger manifestations may cause more, if the situation calls for it. • Increase or decrease the Size of the manifestation by 1. • Move the manifestation a number of yards equal to your character’s Willpower dots times 2. • Shape the force into a specific form. This may require an Intelligence + Crafts roll to form it into a detailed or intricate shape. • Attack a victim with the force. Allocate any number of the rolled successes to cause harm. With the threedot Merit, Psychokinesis is a weapon causing one lethal damage. Psychokinesis is considered a two lethal weapon with the five-dot version. • Use the force creatively. This is up to the situation and the force in question. For example, an Electrokinetic may use his ability to power an electronic device briefly or to jumpstart a stalled automobile.

Merits 119 • Manifest his force. This only works with the five-dot version. It manifests a Size 1 patch of the force. It may spread or be enlarged with further successes. Drawback: Whenever your character depletes his last Willpower point, the Storyteller can call on his abilities to manifest spontaneously. Resist this with a Resolve + Composure roll, with a −2 penalty if his chosen force is prominently featured nearby. For example, the penalty applies if a Pyrokinetic is locked in a factory with a hot forge. This tends to happen during wildly inconvenient moments, and in ways that usually cause more trouble than they solve. With these wild manifestations, use of Psychokinesis does not cost Willpower. Psychometry (•••) Effect: Psychometry is the psychic ability to read impressions left on physical objects. Your character can feel the emotional resonance left on an item, or can perceive important events tied to a location with this ability. The ability automatically hones in on the most emotionally intense moment tied to the item. Spend a Willpower point to activate Psychometry. The successes scored on a Wits + Occult roll determine the clarity of the visions. For each success, you may ask a single yes or no question of the Storyteller, or one of the following questions. For questions pertaining to specific characters, if your character hasn’t met the person in question, the Storyteller may simply describe them. • What’s the strongest emotion here? • Who remembers this moment the most? • Am I missing something in this scene? • Where was this object during the event? • What breaking point caused the event? Suggested Modifiers: Character has read impressions from this item before (−2), important event happened more than one day ago (−1), more than one week ago (−2), more than one month ago (−3), more than one year ago (−5), item was used in a violent crime (+2), item is only vaguely tied to the event (−2), spirits pertaining to the event are nearby (+3) Drawback: Once per chapter, the Storyteller can force a Psychometry vision any time an important place is visited, or an important item is touched. This doesn’t require a roll or a Willpower point to activate. The Storyteller can give any information pertaining to the event in question. Additionally, the Storyteller can impose one Condition relevant to the event.

120 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Ritual Sorcerer (•••) Your character has studied the magical secrets of the world, knows of rituals to evoke them, and, with time and effort, can learn them. Prerequisite: Any Mental Attribute •••, Occult ••• with relevant Specialty. Effect: The Merit grants Sorcerous Rite slots equal to the character’s Resolve. You may fill one slot with either an Open Rite Mastery (p. XX) or a Closed Rite (p. XX). Other slots are “open”, waiting to be filled with rites the character encounters during play. Filling a slot costs nothing, but a sorcerer can’t swap a known rite for a new one. Sorcerers may not invent their own rites without the Sorcerous Knowledge Merit. Sorcerous Knowledge (• to •••••) Prerequisite: Ritual Sorcerer Effect: Your character intensifies her study of hidden rituals and secret names, acquiring new slots beyond those granted by her Resolve. The slot may be filled with an Open Rite Mastery or Closed Rite. With the Storyteller’s permission, you may invent a new Closed Rite to fill this slot. Slots gained through this Merit are automatically filled, since they represent specific studies. A sorcerer may never have more dots in this Merit than dots in Occult. Sorcerous Prodigy (•••) Prerequisite: Ritual Sorcerer, Sorcerous Knowledge •• Effect: Your character learns and masters Open Rites with ease. When filling a Sorcerous Rite slot with an Open Rite Mastery, each slot may hold two Open Rites. Closed Rites still require an entire slot for each one. Telekinesis (• to •••••) Effect: Your character has a psychic ability to manipulate the physical world with her mind. This means lifting, pushing, and pulling objects. Fine manipulation is beyond the scope of Telekinesis. By spending a Willpower point, she can activate Telekinesis for the scene. Her dots in this Merit determine her mind’s effective Strength for the purpose of lifting and otherwise influencing her environment. A Telekinetic can use her abilities to cause harm by lashing out at threats. Each such “attack” costs a point of Willpower. The dice pool to attack is Telekinesis + Occult, penalized by the opponent’s Stamina. The attack causes bashing damage. Alternatively, it can be used to grapple, with the Merit dots representing the Strength score of the psychic. Any overpowering maneuvers require additional Willpower points. Drawback: Any time your character suffers injury or intense stimuli, the Storyteller may call for a Resolve + Composure roll to resist activating Telekinesis at an inopportune time. If the Storyteller calls for this roll and it fails, the character activates Telekinesis in a quick, impressive display of the power. That use of Telekinesis is free. The player can choose to automatically fail the Resolve + Composure roll and take a Beat. Telepathy (••• or •••••) Effect: Your character can hear surface thoughts and read minds. With the five-dot version of this Merit, he can broadcast simple messages to others’ minds. He hears these thoughts as if they were spoken, which means they can sometimes be distracting. He can only hear thoughts at the range he can normal conversation, regardless of any ambient noise (so a telepath can hear the thoughts of someone next to him at a loud concert, even though he can’t actually hear the subject talk, but cannot hear the thoughts of someone a football field away under quiet conditions). Spend a point of Willpower to activate Telepathy, and roll Wits + Empathy, minus the subject’s Resolve if the subject is unwilling. If successful, the subject’s player must tell you the foremost thought on the character’s mind. Additional successes allow you to ask the subject’s player additional questions from the following list. The questions can be asked at any time within the same scene. With the five-dot version, every success offers a single phrase the subject hears as if your character said it. As before, these phrases can be communicated at any time during the same scene. • What does your character want right now? • What does your character fear most right now? • What is your character hiding? • What does your character want mine to do? • What does your character know about [relevant topic at hand]? • What turns your character on right now? • What’s something shameful or embarrassing about your character? Drawback: Sometimes your character hears things he probably shouldn’t. Once per chapter, the Storyteller can give your character a message of terrible things to come. Perhaps he overhears the mad, internal ramblings of a cultist in a crowd. Maybe he hears a plot to hijack a plane. Maybe, just maybe, he hears the incoherent thoughts of the God-Machine. These heard thoughts never just occur. They always happen when your character has something else, something important and pressing going on. When this happens, the Storyteller gives you a Condition such as Spooked or Shaken.

Cult Creation 121 Thief of Fate (•••) Effect: Your character is a magnet for fortune and fate. When she’s close to someone, she unintentionally steals their good fortune. If she touches someone, this Merit takes effect unless she spends a point of Willpower to curb the effect for a scene. In the same day, any failures the subject makes are considered dramatic failures. If she’s used this Merit at any time in a given day, she gains four dice any time she spends Willpower to increase a dice pool. Drawback: Once a victim of this Merit suffers a dramatic failure, he hears your character’s name in the back of his mind. This may inspire scrutiny. Unseen Sense (••) Effect: Your character has a “sixth sense” for a type of supernatural creature, chosen when you buy the Merit. For example, you may choose Unseen Sense: Vampires, or Unseen Sense: Fairies. The sense manifests differently for everyone. Her hair stands on end, she becomes physically ill, or perhaps she has a cold chill. Regardless, she knows that something isn’t right when she is in the immediate proximity of the appropriate supernatural being. Once per chapter, the player can accept the Spooked Condition (p. XX), in exchange for which the character can pinpoint where the feeling is coming from. If the target is using a power that specifically cloaks its supernatural nature, however, this does not work (though the Condition remains until resolved as usual). Witness (•••) Effect: While mummies debate whether the existence of Witnesses indicates the reincarnation of loved ones lost long ago or souls of unusual qualities, your character only knows a creeping sense of apprehensive wonder and illusive glimpses of events never experienced in this life. Your character instinctively recognizes when she is in the presence of the Deathless, the Lifeless, or the Endless as though possessing the Unseen Sense Merit. She also doesn’t suffer the usual effects of Sybaris. Any time she would gain the Sybaris Condition, she instead experiences visions or dreams of times long passed or yet to come, gaining the Obsession Condition related to helping, hindering, or learning about the mummy encountered. CULT CREATION At the beginning of a Mummy: The Curse chronicle, a meret has at least one cult. This section is a step-by-step process for creating a cult. If the meret has more than one, use this process for every cult the meret has. STEP ONE: CULT ARCHETYPE Determine the archetype of the cult. A cult has one of three archetypes: CONSPIRACIES Conspiracies emphasize secrecy, organizing into easily detachable cells and communicating through encrypted channels. They often disguise themselves with the trappings of organized crime, underground political groups, and modern-day conspiracy theory. Its actions are often illegal or simply distasteful to society at large. Conspiracy cultists join in hopes of gaining an advantage over other people. ENTERPRISES Enterprises emphasize utility, organizing into corporations or non-profit groups. They operate in the open, employing outsiders and maintaining relationships with the public. Its actions are often legal, or at least tolerated by the public. Enterprise cultists join either because they believe in the cult’s disguised cause, or just to receive a hefty paycheck. TRIBES Tribes emphasize authority, organizing into rigidly hierarchal systems directly controlled by its mummy. They may disguise themselves as religions, but every Tribal cult knows exactly who they are serving, even if they don’t know every detail. Its actions span the spectrum of legality and are always tinged in Irem’s lost religion. Tribal cultists join to become a part of something bigger, to see a sliver of truth behind their mundane lives. Archetypes • Select an Archetype: Conspiracy, Enterprise, or Tribe. STEP TWO: DOCTRINES, VIRTUE, AND VICE Doctrines are the uniting ideals and goals that keep the cult together through the ages. They are the foundation of the cult, the ways the culture and morality of the Nameless Empire remain alive. Faithful cults always have one Doctrine that is an order directly from the mummy’s Judge (p. XX). Everyone at the table should agree to a cult’s Doctrines. Additionally, determine a Virtue and Vice for the cult, representing the overall nature of its cultists. Doctrines • Choose Three: Determine three Doctrines for your cult. One Doctrine is the Judge’s Doctrine, and must be appropriate to the Judge the cult serves. Doctrines must be actively worded, such as “We never harm those we deem innocent,” or “Outsiders must fear our might.” Wayward Cults (p. XX) have no Judge’s Doctrine, but begin play with only two Doctrines.

122 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Virtue and Vice • Choose Virtue and Vice: Determine the cult’s Virtue and Vice. STEP THREE: ATTRIBUTES Cults use two Attributes: Reach and Grasp. These Attributes represent the methods cults use to achieve their objectives, and how effective they are at using them. REACH Reach measures the cult’s spread throughout the world, and its ability to use legal channels of manipulation. GRASP Grasp measures the cult’s ruthlessness, and its ability to use illegal channels of manipulation. Attributes • Base Competency: The cult starts with one dot in Reach and Grasp for free. • Conspiracy’s Cunning: A Conspiracy starts with +2 Grasp. • Efficient Enterprise: An Enterprise starts with +2 Reach. • Tribal Totality: A Tribe starts with +1 Reach and +1 Grasp. • Additional Dots: When taking dots in the Cult Merit (p. XX), each new dot may be added to Reach or Grasp as desired. A single new dot in Cult cannot be applied to both Reach and Grasp at once. STEP FOUR: MERITS (P. XX) Cult Merits may represent either the quality and abilities of a single important cult member or the collective quality and abilities of the whole cult. A cult’s Resources could either represent the overall profit of a successful fiscal year or the deep pockets of a high priest. Everyone should agree on whether a Merit represents a cultist or the whole cult. All cults grant Scorpion Cult Initiation (p. XX) to its members. Assume that most cultists actively aware that they are serving a cult have at least one or two dots in the Merit. Merits • Cult Merits: Choose seven dots worth of Merits. Chosen Merits must have the Cult or Cult Only tag. STEP FIVE: ADVANTAGES Cults have two Advantages: Dominance, which represents the level of both material and supernatural power a cult wields; and Fidelity, which represents the cult’s faith and morale. Advantages: • Dominance: 1 • Fidelity: 5 + Lowest of Reach or Grasp. PILLARS The Arisen used their powerful souls to withstand the Judge’s tests and return to the world of the living. Mummies harness the Sekhem within their souls using the five Pillars they contain: Ab (Heart), Ba (Spirit), Ka (Essence), Ren (Name), and Sheut (Shadow). Effects of Pillars • Rating: Pillars are rated from 1-5 dots. Pillars have a maximum rating of 5, regardless of current Sekhem rating. • Pillar Points: Mummies may spend a number of points per turn determined by their current Sekhem rating (p. XX). USING PILLARS Pillars enhance a mummy’s natural talents and empower their incredible Utterances through Pillar points. Spending Pillar Points • Physical Attribute Boost: Once per scene, spending Pillar points raises Physical Attributes by a number of Cult Experience Costs Spend the following amounts of experience to improve the cult. Attribute: 6 Experiences Merit: 1 Experience Dominance: 5 Experiences* *Dominance may only be increased with Cult Beats.

Pillars 123 dots determined by a mummy’s current Sekhem rating (p. XX). If a mummy has Physical Attribute 6+ at Sekhem 5 or below, Physical Attribute increases are calculated with a starting Trait dot rating of 5. Effect lasts until the end of the scene. • Favored Attribute Boost: Once per scene, spending Pillar points from a mummy’s defining Pillar raises her decree’s favored Attributes (p. XX) on a one-for-one basis. If a mummy has Favored Attribute 6+ at Sekhem 5 or below, favored Attribute increases are calculated with a starting Trait dot rating of 5. Effect lasts until the end of the scene. • Seal the Flesh: Once per scene, a player may spend a point from any Pillar to heal a mummy’s body. The mummy heals 3 points of bashing and 1 point of lethal damage per turn, for a number of turns equal to the Pillar’s rating. The mummy cannot die until the effect ends, even if the effect is unable to heal her wounds. The player may only spend one point per Pillar for this effect. • Utterances: Spending the required amount and type of Pillar points activates an Utterance. • Vessels: Spending one Pillar point from any Pillar activates a vessel (p. XX). • Corpse Form: Spending a Pillar point reveals the mummy’s sahu for a number of turns equal to the Pillar’s rating, unless an Affinity or Utterance conceals it. This is a trigger for Sybaris (p. XX). RECOVERING PILLARS A mummy’s powers exhaust the soul, but the Arisen have ways to refresh it. Recovering Pillar Points • Affirming Decree: A mummy has two signature methods of regaining Pillar points as determined by her decree (p. XX). • Invested Cultists: A mummy may reflexively draw Pillar points from Invested cultists (p. XX). Drawn Pillar points may be placed in their corresponding Pillar to a maximum of the Pillar’s current rating. • Lifeweb: As long as a Tomb has at least one Relic attached to its Lifeweb (p. XX), a mummy receives their Tomb’s Geometry in Pillar points at the start of a chapter. • Meditation: Once per chapter, a mummy may spend a scene in meditation, taking refuge in her memories and sense of self. The mummy’s player rolls her Memory as a dice pool, and each success provides one Pillar point of the player’s choice. Willpower cannot be used on this roll. If the mummy meditates in her tomb, add its Geometry rating (p. XX) to the dice pool. • Vestiges: Cannibalizing Vestiges (p. XX) provides 1 Pillar point per dot. AFFINITIES The Arisen are filled to the brim with Sekhem. Each is so soaked in this radiant life essence as to become a vessel of fortune and power, and gains powerful Affinities that reflect the holy energy of the Pillars of her soul. The Arisen do not believe this empowerment is an accident; the magic of the Rite of Return shapes each mummy to serve as a channel in this way, thus laying the foundations of each Affinity through its sorcery. USING AFFINITIES Many Affinities are innate and instinctive, girding the Arisen with good luck, preternatural skill, or simple but potent magics that work at the mummy’s slightest will. The Arisen do not need to actively invoke such Affinities; the blessings are always present, always working to aid the mummy and coax the threads of Fate to her favor. Some Affinities have effects requiring the expenditure of Willpower points to activate; these magics require a little more focus and intent on the part of the Arisen. A mummy can spend any number of Willpower points on activating Affinities each turn without counting towards the usual one Willpower point per turn limitation. GAINING AFFINITIES A mummy manifests new Affinities naturally, usually without conscious effort. As her Pillars grow stronger and her soul waxes in righteousness, so does the power of the Rite of Return shape itself around her being, drawing forth new Affinities. Until faced with an appropriate situation in which a mummy instinctively uses a new Affinity, she does not know that she has gained one. Affinities often have prerequisites pertaining to decree, guild, or Pillar. A mummy can only acquire an Affinity for which she meets the prerequisites.

124 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy SOUL AFFINITIES Soul Affinities well up from the power of the mummy’s own Pillars. An Arisen must have at least one dot in a particular Pillar to be able to use Soul Affinities associated with it. ALL Entombed Glory By spending one point of Willpower, the mummy adds the rating of her defining Pillar to her effective Sekhem rating while within her tomb for the remainder of the scene. This cannot raise effective Sekhem higher than 10, and does not prevent consequences should the Arisen’s actual Sekhem drop to 0. God King’s Scepter The mummy is tightly bound to her cult, beyond the usual threads of Fate and magic. She treats all dice pools that would solely target members of her cult as Blessed Actions. She benefits from the Affinity for any kind of action — attempts to inspire or terrify her followers, punishment or attacks, the invocation of magic or the practice of medical treatment, etc. — but if the dice pool would also affect any characters who are not members of her cult, she loses the bonus. AB Bestial Majesty Natural animals see the mummy as a master and they do not attack her under any circumstances. Nor do they pay heed to her presence unless she invites them to do so. The same is true of any of her cultists in her immediate presence. She adds her Ab rating to her Animal Ken rolls, and she may spend a point of Willpower to give an animal a short, single-sentence command which it understands and attempts to carry out to the best of its ability, or suffers the Berserk Condition for the remainder of the scene. Blessed Soul By spending a point of Willpower, the mummy’s player makes one of her Social dice pools a Blessed Action. This Affinity’s effect applies to all further dice pools involving the same Social skill for the remainder of the scene. Crown of Wadjet The Arisen bears a mantle of regal grandeur, her will enacted with utter authority. She adds her Ab to Socialize dice pools and to the permanent Fidelity of her cult. When she interacts with a mortal organization, bureaucracy, or administrative process in its official capacity, she may spend a Willpower point to ensure the interaction resolves swiftly in her favor if possible, Fate greasing the wheels to take a tenth of the usual time to complete. This does not cover up blatantly illegal or bizarre elements of a request or interaction, but renders everyone in the process eager to please and quick to make exceptions in the Arisen’s favor. It cannot be used on the cults of other Arisen. Death Mask When the corpse form of the Arisen’s true sahu would be revealed for any reason, she may choose to suppress the effect and maintain her normal appearance. If caused by unleashing an Epic Utterance, it costs her a Willpower point to do so. Furthermore, the Arisen may choose whether or not she causes Sybaris when making direct physical contact with someone, and she does not suffer the Social penalties caused by the first and second tier Sybaris Conditions. Divine Countenance The Arisen can reinforce her Social Attributes by spending Pillars in the same way as she can with her Physical Attributes. She achieves an exceptional success on any roll using a reinforced Social Attribute with three successes rather than five. Soulsight By adding her Ab rating to Empathy dice pools, the Arisen can sense if someone within sight is Invested with Pillar points, has suffered soul loss, what stage of soul loss they may be at, or if they are possessed. She may spend a further Willpower point to sense the Virtue and Integrity rating of a single target, or equivalent traits, and any mental or spiritual Conditions that affect them. Advanced Actions Whether due to Fate or other circumstances, sometimes the outcome of an action seems in- evitable. When taking an Advanced Action, the player rolls the dice pool twice. A Blessed Action keeps the best result of the two, while a Blighted Action keeps the worst. Whenever other dice effects are in place, resolve Advanced Actions first. A Blessed Action with the rote quality keeps the best result of two rolls and then rerolls the failed dice on that roll. If a roll would be both a Blessed and Blighted Action, the two effects cancel each other out and it becomes a normal roll.

Soul Affinities 125 Voice of Conscience The Arisen’s voice rings true with an appeal to the righteous heart of those who hear her, compelling them to action. The mummy adds her Ab rating to Social dice pools and social maneuvering rolls that appeal to or invoke a target’s Virtue. If successful with such a social maneuver, she may also spend a Willpower point to open all remaining Doors. BA Auspicious Mastery By spending a Willpower point, the mummy’s player makes one of her Mental dice pools a Blessed Action. This Affinity’s effect applies to all further dice pools involving the same Mental skill for the remainder of the scene. Beast Companion In each incarnation, the Arisen is accompanied by a favored animal. She chooses a beast companion simply by touching it, which binds it to her in loyalty; it remains such until its death, whereupon the mummy may choose a new animal. The chosen animal possesses normal characteristics for its kind, with the following additions: • The animal is immune to Sybaris and utterly loyal to the Arisen. It cannot be turned against her, commanded or magically bound by another character, or chosen by a different Arisen with this Affinity. When acting to execute her instructions or protect her, the animal’s dice rolls are Blessed Actions. The Arisen can choose to exempt the animal from the effects of any of her Utterances. • The Arisen can communicate telepathically with the animal over any distance, and can reflexively ride the senses of the companion to see what it sees, hear what it hears, etc. She may still benefit from any Affinities that augment her own perception when doing so. • The Arisen and the animal are always perfectly aware of one another’s relative location and distance. A Spending a Willpower point summons the animal immediately to the Arisen’s location, appearing from round a corner, emerging from the shadows, or otherwise adding itself to the scene in a manner appropriate to its species. • When the Arisen spends Pillar points to reinforce her Attributes, she may choose to apply the same bonuses to the animal’s Attributes as well. Furthermore, if the Arisen can see the animal, she may treat it as the origin point for her own Utterances. • The animal has the damage resistance and healing rate of the Arisen, and gains additional Health levels equal to the Arisen’s Ba rating. Chariot of Judgment The Arisen touches a transport vehicle — whether a literal chariot or a modern design such a motorbike, car, yacht, helicopter, or the like — and spends a point of Willpower to designate it as her chosen steed. This binds the vehicle to her, empowering it until it is destroyed or she chooses a new vehicle. The vehicle gains the following traits: • The vehicle only operates at the will of the Arisen, although she may choose to have someone else pilot it for her. It is completely unresponsive to would-be thieves or hijackers. The Arisen may choose to exempt the vehicles from the effects of any of her Utterances; she may pilot a helicopter through a screaming hurricane she conjured up without any difficulty at all. • The vehicle adds the Arisen’s Ba to its Durability and to its dice pools to maneuver or pilot. Guided by Fate, the vehicle may move at full Speed through any area where there is physically space for it to pass without any risk of collisions that the pilot does not wish; the Arisen’s transport weaves among hurtling mortal traffic without danger. • The vehicle adds the Arisen’s Ba to the amount of damage it deals when ramming or striking, and reduces the amount of damage the vehicle itself takes from such acts by the same. • The vehicle does not normally degrade, rust, or otherwise require maintenance or fuel, and heals lost Structure at a rate of one point per hour. The Arisen may spend a point of Willpower to summon the vehicle to her current location; it collapses into scrap at its current location, and reassembles itself out of the environment in the Arisen’s presence over the course of a turn. Falcon Soul Aloft The Arisen can jump her full Speed in yards both horizontally and vertically, even from a standing start. She has perfect balance, and never falls or slips due to her own error even on the most treacherous of footings; if pushed or subjected to supernatural effects, she still ignores environmental penalties on dice pools for balancing. Unless she wishes it to, her weight does not cause anything she steps on to break or trigger; she can run along a narrow wire or tap dance across landmines without danger. Finally, she reduces the damage she takes

126 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy from falling by her Ba rating, and extends this benefit to any person or object she holds. Soul Infusion The Arisen can tap into the driving will of another’s soul, transferring Willpower between them. She may use this Affinity on another character simply by touching them for a turn; if they’re unwilling, she must establish a grapple first. Each turn, the Arisen may reflexively drain a point of Willpower from the target; if they are willing, she then gains an additional Willpower point for every two full points drained in this way. She may donate her Willpower points in the same way, granting the target one point for every two full points she loses — or for every one point if donating Willpower to one of her cultists. Draining a character’s last Willpower point in this way, or attempting to drain a point when the target has none left, renders them comatose for the mummy’s Ba rating in hours. Any given character can only gain up to 10 points of Willpower through Soul Infusion per day. Swift As The Sun The Arisen retains her Defense against ranged attacks, including firearms. She doubles her Speed at will, and may triple it for a scene by spending a Willpower point. The Arisen may also spend a Willpower point to treat an Instant action that is neither an attack nor an Utterance as a Reflexive action instead. Wisdom of the Ancients The Arisen reinforces her Mental Attributes by spending Pillars in the same way as she does for her Physical Attributes. She achieves an exceptional success on any roll using a reinforced Mental Attribute with three successes rather than five. KA Anointed Prowess By spending a Willpower point, the mummy’s player makes one of her Physical dice pools a Blessed Action. This Affinity’s effect then applies to all further dice pools involving the same Physical skill for the remainder of the scene. Dominating Might The Arisen adds her Ka to her Initiative, to the armor piercing rating of her melee attacks, and to her Strength for the purposes of lifting, moving, or damaging objects; when

Soul Affinities 127 damaging objects, she also ignores up to her Ka in Durability. When the mummy strikes a target with a melee attack, she may spend a point of Willpower to inflict the Knocked Down Tilt on them. Enduring Flesh The Arisen adds her Ka to her Athletics rolls (apart from attacks), ignores up to her Ka rating in aggravated damage caused by fire each scene, and always reduces aggravated damage inflicted on her by supernatural sources by her Ka rating (to a minimum of 1). Furthermore, she is unaffected by extreme environments and suffers neither damage nor penalties from naturally-caused Environmental Tilts. Guardian Wrath The Arisen’s unarmed attacks deal lethal damage, and their damage modifier increases by her Ka rating. Once per scene, when she deals damage with a melee attack of any kind, she may spend a point of Willpower to also inflict the Arm Wrack, Blinded, or Leg Wrack Tilt on the victim. Living Monolith The Arisen always ignores wound penalties, and she gains additional permanent health levels equal to her Ka rating. Her cultists also ignore wound penalties while in her immediate presence. Retributive Curse As a reflexive action, the Arisen spends a Willpower point to curse a character she can see so that their next dice roll before the end of the scene becomes a Blighted Action. If used immediately after a target inflicts an injury on the Arisen via an attack or supernatural power, there is no Willpower cost. While the Arisen is meditating, unconscious, or dead, any dice pools to steal or harm her body become Blighted Actions. Whenever the mummy dies, any character or characters directly responsible for the death suffer the Cursed Condition. Towering Perspective The Arisen views the world from atop the pharaoh’s pyramid of power. As an intimidating tyrant, she sees bonds of allegiance and possesses an iron grasp over petty notions such as free will or perspective. She adds her Ka rating to her Intimidation and Politics rolls, and by spending a Willpower point senses the highest-rated Allies, Contacts, and Status Merits of a single target she can see. Furthermore, she can spend a Willpower point to increase her apparent Size for the remainder of the scene by up to twice her Ka rating. This Size change is magical, wrought by warped perspectives, and does not change her Health — but otherwise has full effect, allowing her to reach higher or climb over obstacles she might have struggled with before. To viewers, she does not seem to grow, but instead the perspective of the world around her shifts painfully to allow for her stature. REN Amanuensis The mummy adds her Ren rating to her Academics and Expression rolls. She understands any mortal language she encounters, speaking and writing the language of any person or text present. This extends to technical or professional formats, such as coding languages. By spending a Willpower point, she may also extend it to occult or magic languages, such as that of spirits, for the remainder of the scene. The Arisen’s cultists also benefit from the language comprehension, if she so desires. Blessed Panoply The Arisen’s tomb and possessions neither rot, suffer from the passage of time, nor degrade from regular use, and she can will herself and any objects she touches to become pristine and clean with a moment’s thought. She can improvise tools from even the simplest of objects, even if all she has to work with are sticks or scraps, and never suffers penalties for using improvised weapons or tools. She gains the 9-again quality on any dice pools using tools of any kind — whether attack rolls with weapons, Drive rolls with a vehicle, or extended actions crafting objects. Her clothes and armor offer an additional point of armor even if they would usually grant none at all. All dice rolls to damage, curse, or supernaturally ruin the Arisen’s tomb or possessions become Blighted Actions, unless perpetrated with the Arisen’s permission. Enlightened Senses Possessed of spiritually enlightened senses, the Arisen experiences existence through the lens of intensified sensation. She adds her Ren rating to her perception rolls, Craft rolls, and Investigation rolls, and reduces range and concealment penalties when firing a weapon by the same amount. She is never surprised by an ambush or surprise attack. Finally, she both perceives and physically interacts with beings in the Twlight spiritual frequency, and can harm them with her unarmed attacks. Familiar Face By spending a Willpower point, the Arisen improves her Impression level with a single mortal by a number of steps equal to her Ren rating for the remainder of the scene, making her seem more friendly and familiar. If used on a character with whom the Arisen has no meaningful preexisting relationship, the target believes the Arisen to be an old acquaintance of positive nature, with a good history together that the target has trouble recalling just at this moment.

128 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Godsight The Arisen’s blessed sight adds her Ren rating to her Occult rolls, and immediately reveals to her the Sekhem rating of any Arisen, Timeless, or Judge avatar in sight. By spending a Willpower point, the Arisen gains the ability to perceive supernatural beings and effects for the remainder of the scene, and adds her Ren rating to Clash of Wills dice pools to penetrate supernatural obfuscation, concealment, illusion, or misdirection. Radiant Life Force The Arisen’s very name blazes with radiant life energy. She adds her Ren rating to her Medicine rolls, and her touch immediately stabilizes incapacitated characters from bleeding out. The natural healing rates of living beings present in the scene progress twice as fast as normal; the Arisen’s own cultists also heal an additional point of bashing damage per turn while in her presence, if she chooses to permit it. Finally, the mummy may spend a Willpower point as an instant action to end a single mental or spiritual Condition affecting her. Ending a Condition in this way does not earn a Beat for resolution. Soul Threads The Arisen may spend a Willpower point to forge magical connections to any characters of her choice she can see throughout the remainder of the scene. As long as the soul thread remains, she is aware of the target’s exact location relative to herself, their general condition — including whether they suffer damage or physical Conditions or Tilts — and their general emotional state. She always knows whether the character is aware of her own presence in a scene, and adds her Ren rating to dice pools to avoid the character’s notice. The Arisen also adds her Ren rating to dice pools to reach the location of a threaded character, including working her way past obstacles, avoiding security, or finding a viable path. Once forged, a soul thread remains until the end of the story or until the Arisen chooses to end it; she can maintain a number of soul threads at a time equal to twice her Ren rating. SHEUT Ancient Horror Unveiling The Arisen’s mastery over her Sybaris renders it both subtle and potent. If she desires, she inflicts her Sheut rating as a penalty on rolls to resist Sybaris. By spending a Willpower point, the mummy chooses a single character who can see her, and reveal her monstrous nature to their gaze alone. The victim sees her corpse form for the rest of the scene, and suffers from Sybaris. If the victim fails to resist it, the Arisen may choose to inflict either the Madness or Frightened Conditions upon them. By Steps Unseen The Arisen may always attempt to hide, no matter the circumstances, and adds her Sheut to her Stealth for such dice pools. By spending a Willpower point, the mummy teleports up to her Sheut × 10 yards as an instant action, moving to a destination within sight or that she has been to previously. The destination must be unobserved by another sapient being, else she simply dissolves into black smoke and shadow. Deathsight The Arisen’s deathly attunement allows her to detect whether someone is dead, undead, or has surpassed their natural lifespan at a glance. She perceives and may physically interact with beings in the Twilight frequency of Neter-Khertet — including harming them with her unarmed attacks. She adds her Sheut to her Defense against the attacks of all such undead and Timeless beings other than Arisen. By spending a Willpower point, she senses the Vice, Integrity rating, and Sheut rating of a single character she sees, or equivalent traits the target may possess. Grip of Death The Arisen’s grasp is murderously potent. Her unarmed attacks deal lethal damage. In addition to causing damage as normal, adding her Sheut rating to dice pools establishes or continues a grapple. Victims caught in a grapple with the Arisen are supernaturally silenced, unable to vocalize any sound, and the mummy inflicts her Sheut rating as a penalty on perception rolls to notice the mummy or her victim while in this state. She can also apply this penalty to perception rolls when in a non-violent grapple such as an embrace, bodily shielding someone, etc. Finally, the mummy can rise to her feet from prone as a Reflexive action, even if struck with the Knocked Down Tilt. If she does so when prone in a grapple, she also brings her grappled victim up as well. Opener of the Way The Arisen adds her Sheut rating to Larceny and Survival rolls, and her actions never causes mundane traps or alarms to trigger unless she so desires. Spending a Willpower point causes any door, lock, or barrier she touches to unlock and open. If necessary, mechanical or electric parts activate to allow this action, even if they lack power. She may also use this power to open supernatural gateways into other realms of existence, such as a door to the Underworld. However, this Affinity does not give the mummy the ability to sense such otherworldly portals by itself. Scorpion Veins The Arisen is immune to poisons and diseases, both mundane and supernatural, as are any of her cultists in her immediate presence. As an Instant action, she may deal herself

Soul Affinities 129 one point of lethal damage to extract a single dose of venom from her flesh, enough to coat a weapon for one strike or poison a single item of food. This thin ichor is a poison with Toxicity equal to the Arisen’s Sheut, inflicting the moderate Poisoned Tilt in combat. Delivered via contact, ingestion, or injury, she may also choose to exempt her cultists from its effects. By spending a Willpower point when touching another character, the Arisen may draw poison out of them. The target immediately reduces the Toxicity of any poisons affecting them by the Arisen’s Sheut rating, completely neutralizing any that reach Toxicity 0. Voice of Temptation The Arisen’s voice resounds with the alluring call to indulge one’s worst excesses, drawing forth the venom of sin to the surface of those who hear her. The mummy adds her Sheut rating to Social dice pools and social maneuvering rolls appealing to or invoking a target’s Vice. If successful with such a social maneuver, she may also spend a Willpower point to open all remaining Doors. GUILD AFFINITIES Certain Affinities are unique to the guilds and kept secret within their ancient tradition. Arisen automatically choose one of these Affinities during character creation, with the only prerequisite being their membership of the associated guild. Like other Affinities, new Guild Affinities manifest naturally and form part of the mummy’s passive abilities. MAA-KEP AFFINITIES Affable Aid The mummy’s bearing and noble mien are the unmistakable hallmarks of their guild. They carry themselves with the guile and craft of the subtle manipulator. Their words easily find their way into the hearts and minds of their friends, foes, and marks alike, leaving an ineffable impression that rarely fades. The mummy adds 2 dice to Empathy, Persuasion, and Socialize dice pools. Once she has succeeded on a roll with any of these skills against a particular target, all subsequent rolls with any of these skills against that character gain the 8-again quality for the remainder of the scene. Amulet of the Envoy The mummy speaks as an envoy with the wisdom and authority of her guild. She can craft a magical amulet over the course of a scene, which acts as a conduit for her power. If worn by the Arisen or one of her Inheritors or Sadikh, it grants a 2 dice bonus to all Streetwise and Subterfuge rolls, and radiates warmth when the bearer is within 50 yards of Arisen of other guilds — even if they are disguised with magic or glamours. As an envoy, the bearer is protected; anyone who wishes to attack them must spend a Willpower point the first time they do so in a scene. The wearer may spend a Willpower point to inflict the Mute Condition on a character they can see, once per scene. The Condition ends when the wearer or the victim leave each others’ presence, or the wearer grants the victim permission to speak again. If the mummy creates a new amulet, the existing one loses its power. Nexus of the Soul The mummy acts as the hub and nexus of his cult and this Affinity always allows her Inheritors to act as his eyes and ears. The Arisen is always precisely aware of the location of Inheritor cultists relative to herself and their exact condition, including whether they are wounded or distressed. Furthermore, she may communicate with them mind-to-mind, transmitting her thoughts to one or more cultists as she desires and receiving their responses in clear conversation. By spending a Willpower point, she can ride the senses of an Inheritor cultist for a scene, perceiving what they see without losing her own awareness. MESEN-NEBU AFFINITIES Divine Flesh This Affinity allows the mummy to transmute her very flesh to an embodiment of the perfection her guild desires. The mummy’s skin is always considered to have an armor rating of 1, stacking with armor worn. She may spend a Willpower point to make her skin burnished or tarnished metal, increasing the armor rating to 2 for the remainder of the scene. Any damage she suffers from fire reduces by 2, and she takes no damage at all from electricity or lightning. However, the awful majesty of this transformation invokes Sybaris in mortals witnessing it. Hone the Soul Mastering the art of performing internal transformations in herself and her cultists, the mummy temporarily increases their prowess in required fields. Once per scene, the mummy chooses two dots from Skills she or one of her cultists possesses, and replaces them in one or two alternative Skills on the same character until the end of the scene. A Skill cannot be raised above 5 dots in this way. Almsman’s Tithe The mummy reaps the benefits of perfecting her cult and investing the strength of her Pillars in them. Whenever the mummy wishes, they can drain two Willpower points from an Inheritor and convert it into a Pillar point of any type, providing the conversion doesn’t lead to the Arisen exceeding their maximum Pillars or the Inheritor dropping below 0 Willpower.

130 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy The Inheritor can be any distance from the mummy when this Affinity is activated; all the mummy has to do is utter their name. When the Willpower drain occurs, the Inheritor gains the Broken (Persistent) Condition (see p. XX). SESHA-HEBSU AFFINITIES Eyes of Justice The mummy’s sight cuts through deceit. She adds two dice to perception and Investigation rolls. She identifies vessels with a glance, appearing in her vision with a corona of burnished gold to her vision. She knows the dot rating of any such relic or vestige she sees. In the case of relic texts, she also learns the vessel’s story, power, and curse. If she spends a Willpower point, for the remainder of the scene she can identify the nature of Lifeless or Timeless on sight, and furthermore knows whether anyone she sees has killed a mortal or sent a Deathless into death cycle — and whether this act specifically took place since the last sunset. Master of the Written Word With this Affinity, the Arisen enchants her writings with the magic of Irem. She may cause any text she creates to immediately fade and become invisible upon completion, choosing an act or ritual — usually a specific gesture or password — that a reader must perform within a yard of the text, either allowing that character alone to perceive the words or making them reappear for everyone. She may also choose to render her writings comprehensible to any reader, regardless of if they know the language she creates it in. By spending a Willpower point, she can instill any statement she writes and genuinely believes to be true with urgency and sincerity. Supernatural beings sense the sincerity of the statement, while a mortal reading the words must succeed on a Resolve + Composure roll or else be compelled to follow any warnings contained therein for the remainder of the scene (such as “Danger ahead, do not proceed”). Finally, she can spend a Willpower point as an Instant action to copy a written work, reproducing its content in a suitable receptacle she touches. This works on digitally stored texts as well as conventionally printed ones, and can copy works onto blank paper, stone, metal, data storage, or other appropriate formats. Loremaster’s Guile The mummy adds 2 dice to her Academics, Politics, and Science rolls. When the Arisen examines any sample of writing, film, or other media, she senses whether it is real or a forgery, whether it contains any codes, and whether the creator was sincere and honestly believed in any assertions or claims it makes. If the creator was deceived or simply wrong in their assertion, the Arisen still senses it as authentic, but she can pick out any lies or intentional misinformation. She may then spend a Willpower point to crack any codes or reveal any enigmas embedded in the media. SU-MENENT AFFINITIES Fated Soul The Arisen feels an overwhelming duty of care to the souls of those she encounters, and her own soul stands strong. She adds 2 dice to Medicine and Occult rolls and to any dice pools to resist magic or supernatural powers that might afflict her. She is also entirely immune to any source of fear. Flesh-Culled Secrets The Shepherds, more than any other guild, revere the ghosts of the departed, and the Arisen may exert some influence over the dead. She senses the location of human and animal remains present in the scene, and by spending a Willpower point compels earth, stone, or metal to yield them; bones rise up from the soil, or bricks crumble away to reveal a hidden skeleton beyond them. With a glance, she can tell how a corpse or remains died, including the kind of murder weapon used if they were killed, and accurately assesses their characteristics at time of death such as height, weight, sex, whether they were healthy or diseased, etc. By spending a Willpower point, she also learns their name and something of their emotions during their final days of life. If one of her cultists, she witnesses the last minute of the deceased’s live and the moment of their death as if from their eyes. Finally, she can sense whether the ghost of a corpse she touches still lingers in the world. Blazing Zeal The unshakable faith of this Arisen is a shining light to her followers and a terrifying sight to her foes. While present in the scene with her, the Arisen’s cultists are immune to fear and add 2 dice when rolling to resist supernatural effects or to stay conscious from their injuries. The mummy’s Inheritors and ghost cultists always benefit from these effects even when apart from her. As an Instant action, the mummy may intone a curse in Iremic and spend a Willpower point to force all mortals gazing upon her to flee for turns equal to her defining Pillar rating. TEF-AABHI AFFINITIES Model Lifeweb The mummy is sensitive to the flow of Sekhem surrounding her, making her highly proficient in manipulating its flow. She adds 2 dice to Craft and Expression rolls, and automatically detects any hidden alcoves, doors, spaces, or traps present in her immediate vicinity. She does not automatically sense hidden or concealed characters, but her normal perception

Utterances 131 rolls detects even those hiding their presence via supernatural means. By spending a Willpower point when touching an object, the Arisen senses the object’s intended purpose and gains an image of the object’s creator. If the object is a vessel, she instead gains an image of its last bearer, and may track them as if they were the vessel itself via kepher (see p. XX) for as long as she retains hold of it. Guardian Statue The mummy can craft a small protective statuette in the image of another character. Crafting the statuette takes a scene, requires appropriate materials, and costs the Arisen a single Willpower point to enchant it in the process. While the character has the statuette of them on their person, the next time they suffer damage from an attack, all harm from the blow glances off and is diverted into the figurine instead, immediately destroying it. The Arisen can empower a number of guardian statuettes of up to her defining Pillar rating at any one time. Nest of Dolls As if clay dolls arranged by her hand, the Arisen treats her Inheritors and Sadikh as extensions of her will. Such characters gain the 8-again quality on teamwork rolls when helping each other or the Arisen, and treat such rolls as Blessed Actions when the purpose is the creation of art or structure. Costing a Willpower point, she may as an instant action cause two of her Inheritors or Sadikh to swap locations with each other one. They may only carry immediate personal possessions with them (e.g. a weapon or some small tools, but not a heavy backpack), and a given character can only be translocated once per scene in this way. UTTERANCES Utterances are sacraments hidden within the signs of the world, rituals folded into the earth and sea and sky during the act of creation. Sekhem washes over them and through them, awaiting only the expression of an immortal soul to unleash a miracle; and they can only be described as miraculous. Utterances are rarely subtle, rarely mistaken for anything other than an act of divinity. With access to these sacraments encoded within the Rite of Return, the Arisen are forevermore able to unfold the world, striding as did the gods in the beginning. Yet they cannot do so with complete freedom. Indeed, Utterances are a glittering lure for the Arisen. Only the

132 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy cycles of Descent and repose provide the means to access the mightiest expressions of their Utterance. When Memory rises and Sekhem drops, the Arisen lose the ability to unleash the energies of creation with their Pillars. LEARNING UTTERANCES Utterances are learned not from sacred texts and fragments of elder magics but from careful study of humanity and heka flows (and, sometimes, from the someone else’s hard work of thousands of years ago preserved in sacred texts and fragments of elder magics). The secret miracles hidden inside the world during its earliest epoch can only be determined by rigorous study and magical experimentation. System: The mummy enters into an investigation (see p. XX) with a Scope defined by the highest Pillar rating of the Utterance she’s trying to learn. Each roll has an interval of one chapter, and may be rolled not only as a continuous investigation, but as a flash of insight following a dramatic event that gives clarity to the mummy’s search. As the mummy’s successes cross each Tier of Utterance’s requirements, they learn the Tier and may unleash it at will. STRUCTURE AND COST Each Utterance comprises three tiers of power. Each tier may be used by any mummy with the requisite Sekhem rating to unleash a tier. Utterances have Pillar ratings described in their effects, which always use three different Pillars. An Utterance may use Ab for the first tier, Sheut for the second, and Ba for the final tier, for example. If a mummy doesn’t meet a tier’s Pillar minimum, she may still use the tier, but without the additional Pillar effect described in the tier. Pillar requirements always follow two patterns — 1, 2, 4, or 1, 3, 5, with the latter being slightly stronger, more efficacious, or more spectacular Utterances. These also comprise the Utterance levels that a mummy may unleash as determined by her Sekhem rating. In most cases, unleashing an Utterance is an instant action. Some tiers may be unleashed reflexively, while others may only be unleashed in specific conditions. Mummies must spend one Pillar of any type to unleash an Utterance’s first tier. The second and third tiers require a Pillar point of any type and one point of the specific Pillar cited in the Utterance. SPECIAL RULES Early Termination: The Arisen can reflexively terminate any single unleashing by expending one Willpower point. If an Utterance states a secondary or alternate condition to terminate the Utterance, give that condition priority over this rule. Sybaris: Utterances invoke Sybaris in mortal viewers on the turn the Arisen unleashes the power, unless they have the Subtle keyword. Words Beyond Sound: Mummies can have their tongues ripped out, be exposed to the scouring sands of Mars, or have their mouths filled with molten lead — their soul speaks the words of the Utterance, and not with anything as profane as breath. Utterances may be unleashed regardless of environmental conditions, the Mute Condition, the Grip of Death Affinity, or any other silencing effect. Unique Expression: While Utterances are miracles folded into the world, they are each unique, and every Arisen’s expression of an Utterance is different. One Arisen’s Wrathful Desert Power may generate luminous golden grains of sand from the Caribbean, while her fellow guildmate’s is the jetblack volcanic sand of Hawaii. UTTERANCE KEYWORDS Curse: If a mummy is forced into death cycle as a result of another’s actions, whether direct or indirect, he may curse his killer with this tier of the Utterance. This unleashing costs no Pillars, but otherwise follows normal rules for unleashing, save that the mummy may select multiple targets if they shared the deed of slaying the Arisen, unless the curse affects an entire area rather than individuals. Only one Utterance may be unleashed by a death cycle. Epic: Unleashing these Utterances blasts away the illusion of life surrounding the mummy’s sahu for the remainder of the scene, as well as emanating Sekhem across a vast area (Sekhem rating in miles across). Anyone succeeding at a Wits + Occult + Sekhem roll can identify the target and effects of the Utterance. Potency: These Utterances are particularly efficacious and difficult to resist. Subtract Potency from any benefits conferred by Supernatural Resistance. For example, a tier with Potency 1 used against a vampire with Blood Potency 3 would only let the vampire add two dice to resist the unleashing. Mummies are unaffected by Potency, a consequence of sharing similar magics. Subtle: Unleashing the Utterance neither reveals the mummy’s sahu nor imposes Sybaris. CLASH OF WILLS When two mummies bring their powers to bear against one another, it’s not always clear which ability trumps another. Likewise, an Utterance may have effects that oppose the effects of a werewolf’s Gift or a mage’s spells. When the effects of supernatural abilities clash in this way, it’s a Clash of Wills. Each player involved rolls his character’s Sekhem + rating in the appropriate Pillar, using the defining Pillar if the

Utterances 133 appropriate Pillar is unclear. Whoever scores the most successes wins; his power takes effect as normal while the conflicting effects fail. Ties reroll until one player has accrued more successes than all others. A character only spends a Willpower point on the Clash roll if he and his opponents are physically present, and he is aware that abilities are in conflict, which may require magic. Other supernatural creatures have their own dice pools for Clashes, detailed in their respective books. Long-lasting effects add a level of supernatural endurance, per the following table. Modifier Duration +1 Effect would last a day +2 Effect would last a week +3 Effect would last a month +4 Effect would last a year AWAKEN THE DEAD Tier 1: Ba • (Subtle); Tier 2: Sheut ••• (Curse); Tier 3: Ren ••••• Tier 1 Although they are known as Deathless, the hands of a mummy can reach the dead as well as the living. By infusing a vessel with a flicker of Irem’s undying light, the Arisen animates a corpse’s decayed mind and the fragmented memories held within it for the remainder of the scene. The mummy may ask the corpse as many questions as they wish on one subject of their choice, receiving the information as moments of the deceased creature’s memory. The corpse can only give information it knew while alive. Ba: With a Ba Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the Arisen may question the corpse about any number of subjects with which it was familiar in life. Tier 2 Calling to a departed spirit is a mere parlor trick for the Arisen unleashing this tier. She suffuses the vessel with something darker and alien to its original function. Reaching into the depths of her own shadow, the Deathless invests the corpse with a shard of its energy, causing it to rise and serve its master’s every whim. Without instruction, the Lifeless creature exists only to destroy and attacks any living thing it encounters other than the Arisen’s cultists, unless ordered otherwise. While limited in scope, these animated thralls serve as useful labor for tasks unsuitable for more fragile and valued cult members or as relentless killers, set to hunt down Irem’s enemies. Sheut: An Arisen with a Sheut Pillar rating of 3 or higher may raise a number of thralls up to their rating in this Pillar with each unleashing. They can also spend a Willpower point to renew the Health of a single thrall to full, reinvigorating the crumbling vessel with their undying will. As a death curse, all bodies within one mile rise up as undirected, uncontrolled thralls. Tier 3 The purest expression of the power of the Arisen is to call another soul from the grave, defying nature and the progress of linear time to perform an act of resurrection. The Arisen touches the remains or ghost of a dead human or animal and calls their name aloud. The target immediately returns to life with all wounds healed; a corpse restores its vital essence, while a ghost regains the physical form possessed before its demise. The mummy may choose to wrap the resurrected character in traditional funerary linens or don whatever clothes they wore at the moment of their death. The character is truly alive and possesses all their memories and capabilities, but even this miracle can only deny the grasp of death for so long. After one full story, the character crumbles to dust and dies for good. A character cannot be resurrected by this Utterance a second time. The Tone is Pharaoh Rivers of blood, swarms of vermin, thunderstorms of hail and fire; look to the Ten Plagues of Egypt and see the might of Sekhem unleashed. If Affinities are subtle emanations of the immortal fivefold soul, Utterances are the unsubtle hammer of the gods. They are miracles, without question – manifest signs unable to be explained by science or nature, transgressions against natural law to express the mummy’s dominance and the futility of resistance. They are not meant to be explained, and are not explainable — the deep and abiding waves of Sybaris wracking an urban populace stymie any attempts to hunt the mummy down or find an appropriate natural rationalization. Life returns to normal afterwards, though heavier with languor. The memory of revelation is often trau- matic, so the thoughts and deeds of mortals strive to avoid remembrance of how a strange and for- eign religion invaded their day-to-day.

134 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Lifeless Thrall The second tier of Awaken the Dead animates human or animal corpses. A human corpse has the following statistics and powers: Attributes: Strength 7, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5; Presence 1, Manipulation 1, Composure 2; Intelligence 1, Wits 1, Resolve 2 Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3 Willpower: 4 Initiative: 4 Defense: 3 Speed: 14 Size: 5 Health: 10 Crumbling: Thralls cannot heal damage normally, slowly turning to dust from the strain of their own ani- mation. They suffer 1 point of bashing damage each full day they spend outside the mummy’s own tomb. When destroyed, the thrall collapses to dust. Taste the Living: Thralls hunger for living flesh and can bite without establishing a grapple. Their jaws have a damage modifier of 1 and inflict lethal damage. Although the thrall permanently suffers this hunger’s grip, any meat devoured simply sloughs through their rotten stomach, leaving a trail of bloody viscera in the thrall’s wake. As One: The thrall cannot be reasoned with and understands only commands given to it by its creator or by the Arisen’s Inheritors, if she chooses to grant that authority to them. If commanded to speak, it speaks only the words instructed in a rasping, grating whisper. Thralls are immune to any form of mind control or influence save their master’s command. The Arisen treats her thralls as cultists for the purposes of her oth- er supernatural powers. Living Vibration: Thralls sense when living creatures are near with a +3 bonus on perception rolls (for a total of 6 dice), unaffected by cover, concealment, or even the Blinded Tilt. Lifeless Vigor: Animated by a single purpose, the thrall wields the full, unfettered strength of the undead. They don’t sleep or become fatigued, and require no air, food, or drink. They cannot be poisoned, ignore wound penalties, never fall unconscious, and have the Arisen’s damage resistance. If unleashed in conjunction with the second tier, the individual rises as a thrall, but with the full Mental and Social Attributes, Skills, and communicative capabilities of the deceased. They suffer the hunger and decay of the body with complete awareness, but can utilize their own ingenuity and command other thralls when fulfilling their master’s commands. Ren: Those resurrected by Arisen with a Ren Pillar rating of 5 survive until injury or natural causes end their life. They still cannot be resurrected by this Utterance a second time. BLESSED IS THE GOD-KING Tier 1: Ren • (Subtle); Tier 2: Ab ••• (Subtle); Tier 3: Defining ••••• (Epic) Tier 1 To the Arisen, Fate is both master and slave. Surrendering to and demanding from the twisted paths of Fate, the mummy draws forth a potent blessing. Invoking the Utterance grants the Arisen the rote quality on a single dice pool based on Attributes or Skills of the player’s choosing. However, the player may choose to apply the rote quality after she rolls the dice and sees the result of that initial roll. This tier of the Utterance cannot be unleashed more than once per scene, but once unleashed the blessing remains until it is used or the end of the story, whichever comes first. Ren: With a Ren Pillar rating at 1 or higher, the Arisen can unleash this Utterance up to twice per scene. Tier 2 As the vessel of Fate, the Arisen is a conduit for its blessings and bestows them upon the righteous and the worthy. The mummy may unleash this tier to impart good fortune upon a mortal who can see her. Whenever that character would spend Willpower to enhance a dice pool, it becomes a Blessed Action. This blessing remains until the end of the story. If the mortal is one of the mummy’s cultists, the dice pool also gains the 8-again trait, and achieves an exceptional success on three successes instead of five.

Utterances 135 Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the Arisen may choose to bestow the blessing on every mortal character who can see her, although if she does so, each blessed character only benefits from the effects on the first dice pool they spend Willpower to enhance. Tier 3 By unleashing this Utterance, the Arisen draws on the power of her Judge to unleash true divine power through her form, becoming an avatar of Judge and gods for the remainder of the scene. This transformation empowers the Arisen with the following benefits: • The Arisen physically transforms, increasing her Size and all of her Attributes by 2, which may raise them above 5. Either her head transforms into the animal associated with her decree, or her body metamorphoses into a representation of her Judge. • She is treated as having Sekhem 10 for the purposes of reinforcing Attributes with Pillars and inflicting Sybaris on witnesses of her divine form. • She may manifest a divine weapon, such as a khopesh or flail, as a reflexive action. The weapon has no Initiative penalty, a damage rating of 3L, and the 8-again quality. • Taking a hostile act against the Arisen requires a character to first spend a Willpower point. After paying this price once, they are freely able to act against the mummy for the remainder of the scene. • The Arisen may choose to immediately end the Utterance upon suffering damage from any source, reducing the amount of damage suffered to one point. This does not alter the severity of that point of damage; lethal damage remains lethal, etc. The Arisen may also extend this empowerment to all Inheritors that are present in the scene and who are invested with her defining Pillar. They undergo a lesser form of the transformation, increasing their Size and all Attributes by 1, manifesting a divine weapon, and gaining the damage resistance of an Arisen. The Arisen may choose one of her Soul Affinities linked to her defining Pillar, allowing the Inheritors to benefit from it as if they possessed it while transformed. Defining Pillar: The Arisen gains an additional benefit from this tier if her defining Pillar rating is five. • If the Arisen’s defining Pillar is Ab, she treats her impression for social maneuvers as Perfect. • If the Arisen’s defining Pillar is Ba, she treats her Initiative score as one higher than the highest Initiative rolled for any character in the scene, and may apply her Defense against attacks that would usually deny it. • If the Arisen’s defining Pillar is Ka, she regenerates a single point of lethal or bashing damage from her health track each round. • If the Arisen’s defining Pillar is Ren, she reduces the cost of a single Utterance each round by one Pillar point. • If the Arisen’s defining Pillar is Sheut, any character injured by her divine weapon also suffers the grave Sick Tilt, and she gains partial concealment against all attacks. DREAMS OF DEAD GODS Tier 1: Ba • (Curse); Tier 2: Ka •• (Curse, Potency 2); Tier 3: Ab •••• (Subtle) Tier 1 The timeless power of the Judges of Death slumbers within the Arisen, awaiting only the taste of sweet Sekhem to awaken. With this Utterance, the mummy awakens that same divinity in others. The mummy doesn’t choose who is affected by this power. They need only define a specific task they need completed and unleash the Utterance; Fate chooses the afflicted. If the task as defined is impossible to complete, the mummy is refunded the cost. Afflicted dreamers suffer the Dead Dreamer Condition. Each time they slumber, they are plagued by nightmares of Duat and the horrifying futures awaiting them: scorpions scrabbling at their souls, loved ones embracing others and forgetting them, crying out in agony as their futures are torn asunder in smoke and shadow. These visions haunt them even during waking hours, pushing them to fulfill the task set before them or perish in torment. The duration lasts until every dreamer resolves the Condition. If unleashed during a death cycle or in henet, the mummy pays the cost immediately upon arising. When unleashed as a death curse, the mummy bestows the task directly upon their killer. Ba: With a Ba Pillar rating of 1 or higher, those afflicted by the mummy with the Dead Dreamer Condition gain two additional Blessed Actions per chapter. Tier 2 Terror pervades the dreams of death, but romance does as well. The mummy unleashes this Utterance upon any

136 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy character, mundane or supernatural, they have interacted with in the past week, filling the target’s slumber with images of the mummy cloaked in dread or splendor. Dice Roll: Manipulation + Ka + Sekhem vs. Resolve + Sekhem Action: Instant Duration: Until the Condition triggers or the end of the story Roll Results Success: The mummy may inflict the Charmed or Frightened Condition upon the target, triggered when they next behold the mummy’s visage, be it a static or electronic image or in the divine flesh. If using social maneuvering, this removes one Door. Exceptional Success: The mummy’s power leaves a lasting impression on the target, removing one additional Door on social maneuvering. Failure: The dreams of the target remain undisturbed. Dramatic Failure: The mummy becomes obsessed with the target and gains the Obsession Condition. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 2 or higher, as soon as the target resolves the Charmed or Frightened Conditions, they receive the Swooned or Shaken Conditions respectively. Tier 3 Speaking words of love, of hate, and of majesty, the mummy unleashing this Tier may completely command the emotions of any who behold her, bending them in service to herself. All within the sight of her eyes and the sound of her voice are affected. Even to the protection of soundproof walls or averted eyes is not enough; their souls resonate with her majesty. The player chooses one of three effects for the Arisen’s overwhelming aura of dread majesty, affecting all mortal characters beholding her as follows, though she may choose to exempt her cultists: Ruin: Victims gain the Broken Condition. Love: Victims gain the Swooned Condition toward the Arisen. Grandeur: Victims gain the Awestruck Condition toward the Arisen. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 4 or higher, the aura lingers for the entire scene and affects anyone beholding the Arisen throughout that time, rather than only affecting those beholding the Arisen in the moment the Utterance is unleashed. DUST BENEATH FEET Tier 1: Ba •; Tier 2: Ka ••• (Curse); Tier 3: Sheut ••••• (Curse, Epic) Tier 1 Wrought from dust, given breath by the Rite of Return, the Arisen bears the weight of the ages and shares it with the earth and the stone. By unleashing this Utterance, the Arisen attunes herself to the dust and the soil, gaining the following benefits for its duration: • She suffers no damage from falling, her flesh becoming as dust upon the moment of impact and immediately reassembling itself. • She suffers no damage and no penalties from earthquakes, landslides, and other earth-based disasters, including any environmental Tilts they impose. • She can move through objects made of earthen materials, traveling at up to her Speed through soil, dust, stone, concrete, etc. The material closes in her wake, leaving no trace of her passage. Carried and worn possessions come with her, but she cannot bring passengers. • With a word, she can form loose earthen material present in the scene to form itself into ancient Iremite garb of majestic appearance. The effects of unleashing this tier last for a scene, or indefinitely as long as the mummy remains in her tomb. Ba: With a Ba Pillar rating of 1 or more, the Arisen can grant the benefits of this tier to any willing beneficiary rather than herself. Tier 2 The Arisen calls to the earth and stone around her, binding it to herself through her burgeoning Sekhem. The Dreams of Duat All mummies carry this Utterance with them. Combined with Sanctity of Merits and the spe- cial rules for reserving a single dot of Cult, this Utterance is ideal for reconstituting a mummy’s Cult following its complete destruction. If the char- acters are cultists, an interesting start to a chroni- cle may bring together a disparate and disjointed group of individuals all plagued by the same di- vine burden to murder a willing supplicant and resurrect the mummy.

Utterances 137 unleashed Utterance tears the needed materials from the Arisen’s surroundings, dragging soil and stone, concrete and marble, metal and sand together to assemble an iconic form around the mummy’s body until she is a statue, huge in form and strength. The encased form grants the mummy several benefits: • Her Size increases by 1, and her weight increases greatly to match the burden of so much stone. • She gains 4 points of armor, and is immune to the Knocked Down Tilt. • Her Strength increases by 1. The mummy can maintain the stone exoskeleton for an hour, or indefinitely as long as she remains in her tomb. She may use the first tier of this Utterance to swim out of the statue, leaving it behind and intact. If she unleashes this tier as a death curse, it immediately encases her body within a sarcophagus statue, protecting the Arisen’s remains from desecration, theft, or fire. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the Arisen adds her Ka to her Size and to her Strength, rather than just adding 1. Tier 3 The Arisen commands the world to return to dust, and it obeys in the form of an earthquake, grinding itself down in servitude to the Utterance. She applies the Earthquake Environmental Tilt to the scene at an intensity of her choosing, and the Collapsing Ceiling Tilt as well if indoors; the Arisen herself is unaffected by either. By instead spending an entire scene calling up this Utterance, the Arisen may inflict it on a massive area, triggering a true earthquake roughly ten miles in radius. Buildings near the epicenter may fall; modern designs beyond the immediate environs of the quake are likely to stay up but are damaged, but pipes, roads, and other infrastructure also suffers, and the human toll is likely to be high. Beyond the immediate 10-mile radius, the shock-waves of the earthquake spreads naturally, causing damage up to 50 miles distant. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 5, the earthquake shakes even the gates of Duat. Ghosts in the affected area, whether the immediate scene or a wider earthquake, are woken and driven to sudden activity, gaining the affected region as a new Anchor for five days following the quake. During this time, if the tier was unleashed as a widespread earthquake rather than just affecting one scene, these ghosts also gain an additional Ban mandating that they follow commands given by the Arisen causing the earthquake. FEAST OF ASHES Tier 1: Ab •; Tier 2: Ka ••• (Curse, Epic); Tier 3: Sheut ••••• (Curse, Epic) Tier 1 The Deathless may unleash this tier Reflexively when striking a victim with a touch, unarmed attack, or successful move in a grapple. She inflicts the Arm Wrack or Leg Wrack Tilt, withering a limb to uselessness. The Tilt ends after one scene. This tier can only affect a given victim in this way once per scene. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the mummy may invest the curse into food or drink, which becomes pleasing to the eye and immune to decay. Consumers of the fare suffer a grave poison with Toxicity equal to the mummy’s Ab. The Arisen chooses whether the poison inflicts damage each turn or each hour, the poison running its course after Ab + Sekhem intervals of damage. The mummy may cure a victim of this poison with a touch if she wishes. Tier 2 The mummy curses an individual in their presence to a slow, agonizing decline of body and soul as food crumbles to ash in their mouths. The mummy may render the Utterance Epic by targeting all in a radius of their Ka + Sekhem in miles, although they may choose to exempt their cultists from this effect. Dice Pool: Wits + Ka + Sekhem vs. Stamina + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: Ka + Sekhem days Roll Results Success: Targets contest the mummy’s successes individually. Affected victims derive no nourishment from food, though the Arisen may choose to specify a food source that still nourishes (and must do so if targeting an area rather than an individual). Generous mummies offer up their own stores, while cruel ones may leave only cannibalism as a source of respite. Without nourishment, victims suffer the following effects: • Natural healing doesn’t function. • Victims suffer a cumulative –1 penalty to Physical actions after each day that passes, to a maximum of –5. • Victims cannot regain Willpower from their Virtue or Vice. After a number of days equal to a victim’s Stamina + Resolve, they also suffer one point of bashing damage each day they go without food.

138 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Supernatural beings who either need no physical sustenance or who require unusual nourishment, such as blood or human flesh, do not suffer the above penalties. However, any supernatural being affected by this tier does also suffer from occult starvation. The first time in each scene that they spend any points from a pool of supernatural power that fuels their abilities (such as Vitae, Essence, or Mana), they must expend an additional point, and they automatically lose a point at the beginning of each day that passes. Arisen remain entirely unaffected by this tier. Exceptional Success: The target also gains the Obsession Condition with regards to acquiring sustenance. Failure: The intended victims suffer only an unpleasant aftertaste during their next meal. Dramatic Failure: The mummy starves themselves instead, and cannot regain Pillar points via any means for three days. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the mummy may choose to inflict the consequences of the entire duration upon a victim over the course of turns rather than days. The curse advances one ‘day’ each turn, starving them before the shocked eyes of witnesses. Tier 3 An eldritch howl draws the Ashen Storm into physical substance, depriving people of the sun itself either on the scene or for as far as the mummy can see in the moment of unleashing. For Sheut + Sekhem days, the sun seems to be in permanent total eclipse. As well as the resulting darkness, characters in the affected area cannot regain Willpower by resting, and mortals suffer a –2 penalty to Composure rolls. Vampires and other entities vulnerable to sunlight are free from the sun’s negative effects during this time. The mummy levies a curse of loss upon characters other than Arisen in the area, exempting her cultists if she wishes. Until the sun’s rays shine upon them once more, characters suffer the Cursed Condition, and attempts to subvert the curse become Blighted Actions. Examples of suitable curses include: • Peace shall abandon you. • Your crops shall fail. • All you have built shall crumble. Characters entering or leaving the affected area gain or lose its curse accordingly. Unleashing the second tier in conjunction with this one extends its area of effect to match that covered by this tier. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 5, the horror forces the shadows of all those affected by this curse to split from their sources and become hostile fiends. These fiends have an Essence rating of 5, and are created using the rules on p. XX. Fiends immediately target the individuals from which they’ve sprung free, only fading away into nothingness once the unnatural eclipse passes. Victims of this Utterance develop the Shaken Condition (see p. XX) the first time they see their shadow after this power’s use, unless they were able to defeat or banish the fiend themselves. FURY OF SEKHMET Tier 1: Sheut •; Tier 2: Ab ••• (Potency 1); Tier 3: Defining ••••• (Epic) Tier 1 The Deathless lays her hand upon an object, drawing forth a melee weapon of the same material from within. The weapon matches the Arisen’s personal aesthetic, and may be drawn from objects of any size. The weapon’s damage increases by one over a normal weapon of its type, inflicts lethal damage even on mummies and other targets that would downgrade damage due to supernatural resilience, and ignores Defense bonuses that targets gain from supernatural sources. This weapon persists for the remainder of the story or until destroyed. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the weapon gains an Armor Piercing rating and a bonus to its Initiative modifier both equal to the mummy’s Sheut rating. The mummy may draw a weapon directly from shadows capable of striking entities in Neter-Khertet as easily as physical opponents. Tier 2 With a glare, the Arisen incites rage and violence. The mummy targets either a single character or everyone within sight in an area of diameter up to her Ab + Sekhem in yards. Dice Pool: Presence + Ab + Sekhem vs. Composure + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: Scene Roll Results Success: Affected characters suffer the Berserk Condition. The mummy chooses whether or not other characters suffering the Berserk Condition are valid targets for the rage of the afflicted. Exceptional Success: The Arisen may focus the mob’s wrath from the Berserk Condition upon a target she chooses. Failure: The power fails. Dramatic Failure: The mummy gains the Berserk Condition. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the mummy may choose to make the violent frenzy contagious. Characters

Utterances 139 must pass a Composure + Sekhem roll when a maddened victim injures them else suffer the Berserk Condition also. This contagiousness fades at the end of the scene. Tier 3 With a resounding battle cry, the Arisen transforms all members of her cult and other loyal followers present into a force of deadly warriors, spurring them into battle against her foes. This tier cannot transform other Arisen. The empowered warriors gain several benefits for the remainder of the scene: • They gain the Inspired Condition pertaining to achieving victory in battle. • They are immune to fear. • They gain a +2 bonus to Strength, Dexterity, and Stamina. • When they injure a foe, the victim must succeed on a Resolve + Sekhem roll or suffer the Frightened Condition. • When knocked unconscious or dying, a defeated warrior reflexively makes one final all-out attack against the nearest foe. When unleashing the first tier in conjunction with this tier, the mummy arms her entire force with conjured weapons, though these persist for only a single scene before crumbling to dust. If the Arisen possesses 5 dots of her defining Pillar, the warriors also transform into inhuman monsters, gaining additional capabilities for the scene. They remember little of the experience later, except through haunting dreams and flashbacks. Ab: Bestial monstrosities brandish natural weaponry with a damage modifier of 2L. Their ferocity is unmatched, losing only half their Defense when making all-out attacks. They heal one point of bashing or lethal damage each turn, starting with bashing. Ba: Avian terrors take to the skies, adding 5 to Speed and 2 to Defense when airborne and applying their Defense against ranged attacks. When grappling, the warrior gains a Takeoff grapple move, which allows them to drag their opponent into the air. When carrying an opponent, the warrior’s Speed is halved. Ka: Warriors grow spiny carapaces that add the mummy’s Sekhem to their Health and provide 2 Armor against all sources of damage. Characters striking a warrior with an unarmed attack suffer a single point of lethal damage in the process. Ren: Scaly nightmares move fluidly through the battlefield, suffering no Defense penalties from attacks by multiple opponents. Each turn they attack the same opponent, warriors gain a cumulative +1 bonus to attack rolls against that target. Warriors treat the Arisen’s Sekhem rating as their own for resisting baleful supernatural effects. Sheut: Warriors wither into skeletal horrors, gaining the damage resistance of Arisen. When knocked unconscious or killed, they continue fighting for a number of turns equal to their Stamina. When they move, they briefly transform into clouds of darkness and can pour through tiny gaps or swirl past intervening foes, reforming at the end of their movement. GIFT OF THE GOLDEN ANKH Tier 1: Ka • (Subtle); Tier 2: Ba •••; Tier 3: Ab ••••• Tier 1 The Golden Ankh is legendary even among the Deathless. Some see fleeting visions of this ancient symbol as they wake from their ageless slumber. Its brilliant light burns against the emptiness of the void, filling those around it with life and vitality. Unleashing this dream into reality, the Arisen bathes a mortal she can see in the light of the Ankh and reinforces one of their Physical Attributes in the same way as she can reinforce her own, calculated using her Sekhem rating as normal. If the mortal is one of her cultists, she may instead reinforce one of her Decree’s favored attributes in them, if she wishes. This effect lasts for the scene. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 1 or more, the Arisen grants the benefits of this tier to herself as well as the beneficiary with no need to spend further Pillar points. Tier 2 The Arisen channels the power of the Ankh to invigorate and protect her closest servants or bodyguards. She raises a dome of golden light around herself, Memory + Sekhem yards across, within which all characters of her choosing ignore wound penalties and negative Conditions while they remain within the light. Magically imposed negative Conditions provoke a Clash of Wills. The chosen characters also retain their full Defense against ranged attacks made from outside the dome. The light remains centered on the mummy for one scene before fading. Ba: With a Ba Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the Arisen may use the glaring brilliance of the Ankh’s light to impose partial concealment upon any attacks made against the chosen characters. Tier 3 The Arisen unleashes the vision of the Ankh into the waking world, a perfect symbol of eternal power shining forth

140 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy from the Arisen for up to her Sekhem + Memory in turns. Mortalsbeholding the Ankh are exposed to Sybaris and, if they fail to resist it, suffer the Knocked Down Tilt as they prostrate themselves. Victims cannot rise from prone until the Ankh is no longer present. For as long as the Ankh remains, it heals every character beholding it for 1 point of lethal or bashing damage at the start of each of the Arisen’s turns. The Arisen may choose to focus the Ankh’s healing power into a single target she can perceive for a turn instead, healing that target for 3 points of lethal or bashing damage or 1 point of aggravated damage but restoring no health to others. The Arisen’s Inheritors heal an additional point of damage from either form of healing. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 5, the Arisen may also focus the Ankh’s power for a turn to restore to life a person who died within the current scene, clearing the last of the target’s health boxes of damage. This cannot revive undead, Arisen, or targets who have lost their soul. GILDED DOOM Tier 1: Ren •; Tier 2: Ab •• (Curse); Tier 3: Sheut •••• Tier 1 The mummy permanently transforms materials from one non-magical substance to another in the same state of matter, transmuting lead into gold or water into wine with a touch. The mummy may affect a discrete inanimate object of a Size up to their Ren + Sekhem, the transformation taking place over a number of turns equal to the object’s Size. Larger objects and vessels are unaffected. The new substance is the purest form possible within the Arisen’s specifications. Other than the mummy, anyone touching the transformed materials finds greed stirring within their heart, gaining the Avarice Condition. This effect remains on the materials for the remainder of the story. By touching an individual suffering this Condition, the Arisen learns of any weaknesses to substances they possess. Ren: With a Ren Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the mummy may transmute the substance into another state of matter, such as producing fresh oxygen from a stone. Creating a solid from a gas produces an amorphous mass of the material. Tier 2 The Arisen touches an object, cursing it to stoke avarice and bring ill fortune upon its possessor. The mummy holds the object when unleashing the Utterance, storing successes rolled on the activation within it, and targets contest the mummy’s successes upon touching it. Additionally, for the remainder of the story, any actions utilizing the cursed item become Blighted Actions. Dice Pool: Presence + Ab + Sekhem vs. Composure + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: One story Roll Results Success: Convinced the item is of great value, the target gains the Apprehensive Condition related to it. They must spend a Willpower point to engage in any action to harm the cursed object. Exceptional Success: The target also gains the Delusional Condition, believing the object to be the perfect tool for their needs. They must spend a Willpower point to avoid using it if the opportunity presents itself. Failure: The target regards the object as an unexceptional example of its type. Dramatic Failure: The target recognizes the cursed object for what it is, easily casting it away. The curse lingers on the object until its destruction or the end of the story. If unleashed as a death curse, the object permanently takes on its baleful effects. The curse doesn’t affect the mummy or their Invested cultists. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 2 or higher, the cursed item sparks covetousness in all perceiving it. Anyone, other than the mummy’s cultists and other Arisen, glimpsing the item must contest the mummy’s successes or suffer the Obsession Condition to obtain the object. Tier 3 The Arisen’s hands glow, seemingly transforming into a solid substance of their choice such as gold, ivory, or sapphire. When touching or striking an opponent with their bare hands, animate flesh transmogrifies into the mummy’s chosen material, leaving golden statues or pillars of salt in their wake. The mummy’s unarmed attacks, touches, and grapples deal aggravated damage for the remainder of the scene. Survivors of a successful attack suffer a penalty equal to the Arisen’s Sheut rating to Physical dice pools, Initiative, and Speed until the damage heals; this penalty is not cumulative from multiple attacks. Those slain by the touch aren’t truly killed, instead fully transformed into solid statues of the substance. Transformed mummies and other immortal entities roll Stamina + Sekhem each chapter, reversing the transformation on a success. Mortal victims remain permanently transformed, but once one chapter has passed, any Arisen may spend a point of Willpower to release them with a touch. At the Storyteller’s discretion, other supernatural methods or Fate’s intervention might restore an affected mortal. Restored victims immediately heal Stamina + Sekhem points of aggravated damage.

Utterances 141 Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 4 or higher, the mummy may choose to leave a transformed victim conscious of their surroundings, and even leave them capable of speech. Some cruel Arisen place these statues as sentinels around their tomb. INVOKING TEMPEST’S FURY Tier 1: Ab •; Tier 2: Ka ••• (Epic); Tier 3: Sheut ••••• (Curse, Epic) Tier 1 The Arisen stirs up howling winds, unleashing them upon the world around her. The Arisen must be outdoors to unleash this Utterance, which instills the Heavy Winds Tilt on the scene of a grade equal to half her Sekhem rounded up. The Arisen herself is immune to its effects. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the Arisen fills the winds with rage toward her enemies. Foes suffer an additional penalty equal to the Arisen’s Ab to avoid damage from the winds, and suffer the Knocked Down Tilt if the roll fails. Tier 2 With an ominous rumble, the Arisen conjures a furious thunderstorm. The storm imposes the Heavy Rain Tilt on the scene. If the mummy wishes, lightning strikes frequently and randomly, dealing Ka + Sekhem bashing damage to anyone hit. Each character reflexively rolls a chance die each turn, suffering a strike on a dramatic failure. By sacrificing her Defense and movement for a turn, the mummy may prevent or direct a strike against a specific target as an instant action, negating the target’s chance die. The Arisen must be outdoors to call the storm, which lasts for the remainder of the scene, and does not affect her. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the Arisen can also affect all other characters within a radius of her Ka in yards around the target character when she prevents or directs a strike. If she directs a strike, characters caught in the area of effect, other than the primary target, suffer only Sekhem bashing damage. Tier 3 As the mummy throws her arms up and screams to the heavens, the sky takes on an unnatural hue, clouds rapidly gathering and swirling overhead. The ensuing storm lashes its victims with bizarre and nightmarish phenomena, from rains of blood or toads to winds echoing with the howls of the damned. For those unfortunate souls caught out in the tempest, there is little doubt the world is ending. The mummy must be outdoors to unleash this Utterance. The unnatural storm extends for miles up to equal to the

142 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Arisen’s Sekhem, and persists until the sun next rises or sets. The mummy is immune to her storm. Within the affected area: • Any negative effects imposed by existing weather conditions, such as damage or penalties, increase by 1. • The affected area becomes a Level 1 extreme environment. • Ordinary mortals caught outside in the storm must succeed on a roll of their Resolve – the mummy’s Sheut or gain the Madness Condition, which fades after days equal to the Arisen’s Sekhem. On a dramatic failure, they also suffer the Insensate Tilt. Mortals succeeding on the roll, and supernatural beings caught in the storm, gain the Shaken Condition. • When unleashing previous tiers of this Utterance in conjunction with this one, their duration and area of effect extend to match, and the extreme environment level increases by 1 for each tier. • After the storm’s fury abates, all physical evidence of the bizarre phenomena fades, leaving only the scarred memories of its witnesses to mark its passing. If unleashed as a death curse, the storm also inflicts the Ominous Condition on the mummy’s killers. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 5, the Arisen may choose to grant ephemeral entities the Open Condition while the tempest rages, or to cause any Enviromental Tilts or extreme environment caused by the weather to affect Neter-Khertet as well. PALACE KNOWS ITS PHARAOH Tier 1: Ka • (Subtle); Tier 2: Ren •• (Curse); Tier 3: Ba •••• (Epic) Tier 1 Placing her hand on a surface, the Arisen concentrates on the artificial structure she currently occupies, attuning her consciousness to the flow of heka within for as long as she remains inside. A structure is defined as a single building or level of any size, regardless of how it is partitioned (i.e., both halves of a duplex, all dorms in a university residence hall, a skyscraper floor, etc.). The Storyteller remains the final arbiter of boundary limits. The mummy’s senses pervade the structure, instantly discerning its layout and the presence of all entities within. She may project her senses along the flows of heka, starting at her location and moving through the structure with a Speed of 20, allowing her to observe and listen at a location as though physically present. She senses Lifeless, Deathless, and ephemeral entities within the structure, distinguishing them from mortals but not each other. She recognizes whether someone lives or not, and whether they are currently in Twilight. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the mummy may instantly send her senses to any point in the structure she has physically visited. The mummy may also discern general information relating to the current intent or nature of the individuals within the structure, asking a number of questions up to her Ka. The answers come to the mummy in a flash of insight, carrying the certitude of Fate. Sample Questions • Who is the most dangerous opponent here, and why? • What do the individuals here want? • What type of Lifeless/Deathless are the individuals here? • What are the individuals’ intended destinations within the building? Tier 2 While in contact with a structure under the same parameters as the first tier of this Utterance, the mummy may telekinetically influence any part of the structure, directly-connected elements, and any furniture that she can see as an instant action. This structural telekinesis uses her Sekhem rating as its effective Strength for determining physical force and can Tomb Sweet Tomb Palace Knows Its Pharaoh provides several ad- vantages to mummies within their own tomb. The first two tiers may be activated without Pillar costs, and the mummy adds their Geometry rat- ing to any Clash of Wills related to the Utterance. Alterations within the tomb from the third tier last indefinitely, and the Geometry rating is added to the number of alterations that may be made. Only one mummy may be attuned to a given structure at a time, requiring a Clash of Wills to seize control from another. A mummy losing con- trol over their own tomb suffers the Disinterred Condition until the intruder is driven out.

Utterances 143 open or close doors and gates, move or throw furniture, control the flow of utilities (including interfering with Wi-Fi or digital signals), cut electrical power, adjust the pressure of running water, activate or deactivate security systems, fire alarms, or traps, or perform any similar type of action. She may also adjust the pose of any statue or carving of a person or beast within the structure, whether to gesture and convey information or just to cause fear, and may speak from any number of such images’ mouths with her voice. This tier lasts for one scene. If unleashed as a death curse, the mummy attacks the structure itself, causing it to collapse over the course of one scene and inflicting the Collapsing Ceiling Environmental Tilt within it during that time. Ren: With a Ren Pillar rating of 2 or higher, the mummy may also add or subtract her Ren rating from the Durability of any part of the structure or its components for the duration of the scene, rendering glass bulletproof or stone soft enough to crumble with one’s hands. Additionally, the mummy may adjust text on signs, plaques, or other displays of writing that are part of the building, and can adjust the imagery in any paintings within the structure — including adding her image to such portraits. Tier 3 The Arisen warps space within the structure, allowing her to move walls, create doorways, form stairs, or place tomb traps within an area she can see as an instant action. Alterations last for the remainder of the scene before reverting to their original form. The Arisen may make a number of alterations equal to her Ba + Sekhem with each unleashing. These changes cannot themselves directly cause harm, such as crushing a victim by moving a wall, except through the placement of a trap which a character triggers. For the duration of the scene, she may also transport herself into the place of a statue of her Size anywhere within the structure as an Instant action, breaking out from within it as if cracking open a stony shell and destroying it in the process. If attuned to the structure through the first tier, the mummy may link two openings within it together for the duration of the scene with each unleashing. In this way, one doorway leads to another, in whichever direction of ingress or egress the mummy desires, with the new location visible through the door in a faded sepia tone stinking of dust and anise. Stairwells become endless loops, or hallways stretch to impossible distances. The Arisen may explicitly choose to render her own cultists unaffected by such links if she wishes. A desperate mummy may unleash this tier upon a single doorway, stepping through to an unknown destination somewhere in the world as determined by Fate. Ba: With a Ba rating of 4 or above, the Arisen may alter fundamental aspects of reality within the area with their alterations, such as forcing gravity to pull in whichever direction they please within a particular room, or causing the Disoriented Tilt through sensory overload with strange echoes or fractured patterns of light. The Storyteller acts as final arbiter of what is possible within the structure with this tier, but the mummy is affected by their own alterations. PAVANE OF ETERNITY Tier 1: Ba (Subtle) •; Tier 2: Ren (Subtle) •••; Tier 3: Ab (Epic) ••••• Tier 1 The Arisen sings a prayer, sounds the discordant strings of an instrument, or otherwise creates a tune or song, however simple. She chooses a target of which she knows the name or identity, and if they are within her Sekhem in miles of her location, the Utterance takes hold, delivering the music to them. Only the victim hears the music, twisted and warped; a mad mélange of piping and grave choir-song. The music draws the target towards the Arisen’s location, an alien allure that calls them ever closer. Mortal victims gain the Obsession Condition to reach the source of the music. The Arisen does not need to continue her song after using the Utterance; it continues in the mind of the victim until the end of the Condition or the chapter. Alternately, the Arisen may choose a target by seeking a particular kind of mortal — a murderer or an IT specialist or a man who has lost everything, for example — and allow Fate to deliver the music to an appropriate victim within range. Ba: With a Ba rating of 1 or higher, the beguiling song’s grasp on the victim is stronger. If they sleep, they sleepwalk towards the Arisen’s location. If they attempt to move in a direction other than closer to the Arisen, they suffer the Arisen’s Ba rating as a penalty to their Speed. The discordant, primal music of the Utterance even interferes with supernatural attempts to move anywhere other than closer to the Arisen, forcing a Clash of Wills against such powers to nullify their effects. Tier 2 The Arisen channels the echoes of dismal chords that ululate between distant stars and through the underpinnings of time and Fate, shaping them into a message of her own design. She begins a performance — whether musical, song, oratory, dance, or other form of expression — and ensnares fragile minds within its enthralling power. The Arisen may choose to focus the performance’s power on a single target rather than all perceiving it. That character resists the Utterance with Composure + Sekhem and is entranced if they fail.

144 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Dice Pool: Wits, Manipulation, or Dexterity + Ren + Sekhem Action: Instant Duration: As long as the Arisen continues the performance Roll Results Success: Characters perceiving the performance in its chosen medium whose Composure + Sekhem is equal to or less than the successes rolled become entranced, paying rapt attention for the duration even if unsure of the exact source. They only act to participate in the revels as desired by the Arisen — dancing, for example — and otherwise remain passive, ignoring or rationalizing away attempts to break them out of their trance, although forceful external distractions like being dragged from the Arisen’s presence or someone attacking and injuring them breaks the mesmerism. Nothing else can shake victims from the trance; they dance until they collapse of exhaustion or their feet are bloodied stumps, or watch in silence as smoke from a fiery performance chokes them to death. The Arisen may choose to inflict the Inspired and Obsession Conditions in entranced characters at the culmination of the performance, choosing the specific desire the Conditions pertain to and weaving it through the performance as a motif. This also inflicts a point of bashing damage on victims, as a wave of headaches, nosebleeds, or heart palpitations runs through the audience. If unleashed alongside the first tier of this Utterance, the Arisen may draw all entranced characters to follow her for as long as her performance continues, forming a cavalcade of revelers, dancers, or shuffling blank-faced audience in her wake, and potentially catching and drawing in new victims exposed to the performance. Exceptional Success: Nothing breaks the trance until at least one scene has passed. Failure: The performance fails to enrapture the audience. Dramatic Failure: The discordant power goes awry and floods the Arisen’s own senses, inflicting the Stunned Tilt upon her. Ren: With a Ren rating of 3 or more, the Arisen can keep victims entranced after she stops performing or even leaves their presence entirely. She may choose to leave the audience in their trance until the end of the scene, whether staring blankly after the whistling Arisen has passed by or still whirling through some old dance’s steps to a tune only they can now hear. If unleashed along with the third tier of this Utterance, the trance lasts indefinitely until broken. Tier 3 The Arisen channels the alien pulsations that throb and squeal in the quantum spaces of reality’s foundations and mark the hateful prayers of distant stars’ hearts. She pours this eldritch dissonance into the world through her performance, and lets it loose upon the minds and souls of humanity. The mummy unleashes this tier through a chosen performance, as per the second tier. Any living human or animal directly exposed to any part of the performance — which thankfully does not transmit its effects through recordings — suffers the Delusional and Madness Conditions, with the Arisen shaping the delusions via her performance, which can be so intense as to involve actual hallucinations. Once the performance is over, the more insidious effects from this breach of sanity and reality take effect. Audience survivors transmit the occult taint to others with whom they interact. This doesn’t spread the Conditions, but does infect the local human population with frightening whispers in the backs of their minds, dark hungers stirring in bellies, and halfseen glimpses of ragged shapes with meat-wound faces and void-black eyes. Motifs of the original performance spread as well, twisted and eerie — people keep whistling a particular refrain that sounds all the more discordant, or fearfully mutter a specific line to themselves over and over again. If no living humans other than the Arisen’s own cultists survive the performance, the spread of this corrosive influence never occurs, cauterized by the slaughter. Once the local population is infected, the dismal touch of the dirge of eternity threatens to break fragile human convictions. For the remainder of the story, across an area of up to the Arisen’s Sekhem + Ab in miles radius, mortals treat Integrity breaking points as Blighted Actions, and the Arisen and her cultists treat Social actions against those having failed such a breaking point as Blessed Actions. Furthermore, whenever a cult other than the Arisen’s own suffers a point of Fidelity damage of any kind, it suffers one additional point of damage, and all Fidelity healing times are doubled. Ab: With an Ab rating of 5, the Arisen may choose to exempt particular communities, groups, and Arisen cults from the spread of the infection, carefully working the significant occult representations of each into her performance. PESTILENT WHISPERS Tier 1: Ka • (Curse); Tier 2: Ba ••• (Curse); Tier 3: Sheut ••••• (Potency 2) Tier 1 With a cruel whisper, boils and carbuncles proliferate over a victim the mummy can see.

Utterances 145 Dice Pool: Manipulation + Ka + Sekhem vs. Stamina + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: One chapter, or until cured if unleashed as a death curse. Roll Results Success: Painful, reeking boils mar the flesh, repulsing all gazing upon them. The victim’s Social interactions become Blighted Actions. Exceptional Success: The victim also gains the moderate Sick Tilt during action scenes. Failure: The intended victim’s skin tingles briefly, but remains unblemished. Dramatic Failure: The curse rebounds, affecting the mummy instead. Mortal medicine is powerless against the affliction, while magical healing provokes a Clash of Wills. Barring dramatic failure, the mummy is immune to their own curse. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the Arisen can choose to make the boils contagious. Whenever the victim is wounded, they suffer an additional point of bashing damage and the boils rupture, splattering everyone within the mummy’s Ka in yards with infectious pus. These characters contest the power normally. Tier 2 The mummy bestows a horrific plague upon a victim she can see. Dice Pool: Stamina + Ba + Sekhem vs. Stamina + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: Ba days Roll Results Success: The mummy inflicts a moderate or grave illness upon their victim. During action scenes, the victim suffers the moderate or grave Sick Tilts as appropriate. Outside of action scenes, as a grave illness, the disease inflicts Sekhem + Ba bashing damage each day, resisted as normal for a disease (see p. XX), but which can’t be healed naturally until the disease has run its course. The disease is not contagious. Exceptional Success: The victim suffers the mummy’s Ba rating as a penalty to rolls to resist the disease’s effects. Failure: The disease fails to take hold. Dramatic Failure: The curse rebounds, affecting the mummy instead. When unleashed as a death curse in the mummy’s tomb, the Arisen may choose to expose all entering the area to the illness. In this case, the plague lingers in the tomb until the mummy rises once more. Ba: With a Ba Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the Deathless may render the plague contagious, spreading via contact or bodily fluids. Once loose in this way, the disease is entirely natural, and goes into remission after a victim has endured it for the Arisen’s Ba rating in days. The mummy may choose whether or not the disease can spread to animals, and can render her cultists immune to the disease’s infection. Tier 3 The Arisen’s sahu melts into animate shadow pulsating with disease. The Arisen gains the Disembodied Condition, which fades at sunrise. This ghastly form doesn’t inflict the Awestruck Condition upon ephemeral entities glimpsing it. By passing through the space of a physical person, the mummy infects them with a horrible illness; the infection immediately obvious. Symptoms vary between mummies, but are commonly necrotizing flesh, open sores, or rapid bleeding from eyes, pores, or other orifices. Dice Pool: Stamina + Sheut + Sekhem vs. Stamina + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: Recovery from the disease requires a number of successful resistance rolls equal to the Arisen’s Sheut. Roll Results Success: The mummy inflicts a grave illness upon their victim. During action scenes, victims suffer the Sick Tilt. Outside of action scenes, the plague inflicts lethal damage equal to the mummy’s Sheut each day. This damage can’t be healed naturally until the disease runs its course, but it may be resisted normally (p. XX). Exceptional Success: The damage inflicted by the Sick Tilt is also lethal. Failure: The disease fails to take hold. Dramatic Failure: The victim’s hand glows for the remainder of the chapter, allowing them to cure the Arisen’s disease with a touch. Unleashing either or both of the previous tiers with this one links their effects together, allowing them to also be spread with the mummy’s infectious touch for the remainder of the night, and renders the third tier’s dreadful effects contagious via the same vectors as the earlier tiers possess. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 5, the mummy’s touch infects any shades they come in contact with, transforming them into vectors for further spreading the plague. The mummy selects the criteria the shades must obey to infect others before unleashing them upon the world, specifying the subjects they may target or the steps one might take to avert their

146 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy corrupting touch. These directives may not be changed once given until the Utterance has run its course, and all shades follow the same instructions. The shades’ touch functions as an extension of the mummy’s own. Affected shades return to normal at sunrise. POWER OF RE Tier 1: Ren •; Tier 2: Sheut ••; Tier 3: Ab •••• (Curse, Epic) Tier 1 The mummy’s eyes flash as though they were a bronze mirror catching the sunlight. The mummy can see perfectly in any level of darkness as if it were daylight and, for the remainder of the scene, she may attempt to direct the power of the Utterance against foes and objects of Size equal to or less than her Sekhem + Ren as an Instant action, causing them to burst into golden flame. Alternatively, the mummy may unleash this Utterance to create a single flame that burns without heat, lasting for the remainder of the story, or lingering indefinitely if within the tomb of the mummy. Dice Pool: Wits + Ren + Sekhem – target’s Stamina Action: Instant Roll Results Success: The mummy sets the target alight with mystic flame. The size of the object determines the relative size of the flame (i.e., torch, bonfire, inferno; human-sized objects burn as a torch), but the fire only burns with the intensity of a candle. The mystic flame does not need fuel to burn, and may only be extinguished by beating it into the ground or by fleeing the sight of the Arisen. The mummy may have only one mystic flame active at a time; focusing this power on a new target extinguishes an existing one. The Arisen’s own cultists suffer no damage from the flame, although she may still target them with the power. If she does so, the mystic flame seethes within the cultist’s chest, adding her Ren to their Initiative, rendering them immune to natural fire damage, and allowing them to set enemies ablaze in a grapple or to start small fires with their touch if they wish; either option at the intensity of a candle. The mystic fire remains in an enchanted cultist until the end of the story or until the Arisen uses this tier to ignite a new one elsewhere. Exceptional Success: The flame’s intensity increases by one step. Failure: The mummy fails to ignite the target. Dramatic Failure: The mummy catches on fire herself. Ren: With a Ren rating of 1 or above, the mummy may render Ren vessels unaffected by the mystic fire’s flames. Additionally, the Arisen may perceive the area around any mystic fire she’s created, and may speak through the mystic fire as though she was a perfect ventriloquist. Tier 2 No fire can match the might of the Nameless Lion; all lesser flames shrink from his radiance. Unleashing this tier suppresses sources of light, swallowing and instantly extinguishing their radiance in a shadowy miasma. The mummy may extinguish any and all flames and sources of light she can perceive, including those shed by electronic devices. She can be selective as to which she snuffs out and which she allows to remain. If unleashed along with the first tier of this Utterance, any of the Arisen’s cultists present gain her ability to see perfectly in darkness and add her Sheut to their Stealth rolls for the remainder of the scene. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 2 or higher, the mummy may divert the flames into an extant mystic flame from the first tier of this Utterance, as the shadows twist and flow and arc the fires towards the mummy’s own golden light. When the sparking contrails meet the mystic flame, the magic is stoked, causing greater heat per distinct fire fed to it (raising one step per flame from candle to torch, Bunsen burner, or chemical fire). Electronic lights cannot be fed into the mystic flame in this way. Tier 3 The mummy screams in a pitch higher and louder than any human throat may create. This is the music of Re, the sound of the sun itself. As the roar explodes out of her throat, she sets alight with a blaze more brilliant than the sun at zenith. This is the gaze of Re, and all who look upon him feel the god’s eye staring back. Dice Pool: Presence + Ab + Sekhem versus Wits + Sekhem Action: Instant Roll Results Success: The mummy inflicts a point of lethal damage and the Blinded Tilt to both eyes of any affected characters looking at her at the moment of unleashing, even those in Twilight or looking from afar in either space or time. Even good quality recordings of the Arisen’s explosive burst convey this effect. Lifeless, ghosts, and other such forms of undead affected also suffer aggravated damage equal to successes on a roll of the mummy’s Sekhem. Those slain by this scouring light transmute into pillars of salt and ash, their smoking bones twisted into a grim tableau of pain and revelation. Exceptional Success: The lingering flash of light also substantially conceals the mummy for the remainder of the scene. Failure: The mummy is not a bright, shining star.

Utterances 147 Dramatic Failure: The mummy suffers a point of aggravated damage and the Blinded Tilt. Ab: With an Ab rating of 4 or above, affected mortals within Sekhem × 5 yards of the Arisen also suffer damage equal to successes on a roll of the mummy’s Sekhem, although only lethal damage. The mummy’s Inheritors are immune to this effect, though they must still avert their eyes to avoid being Blinded. REBUKE THE VIZIER Tier 1: Ka • (Potency 3); Tier 2: Ba ••• (Potency 3); Tier 3: Ren ••••• (Potency 3) Tier 1 The power of the Deathless overwhelms lesser forces, allowing the mummy to ward against magic. When unleashing this tier, the Arisen creates a skin of Sekhem around their body for one scene, appearing as a shining, golden skin covering the mummy. Any magic or supernatural power targeting the shielded mummy or the area they occupy triggers a Clash of Wills between the mummy and the attacker, with success turning aside any magical effects. If the Deathless loses, they may then attempt to resist the power according to its standard procedure. Ka: With a Ka Pillar of 1 or more, the Arisen doubles their Ka for the Clash of Wills, and may choose to permit beneficial magic to bypass its protection. Tier 2 With this tier, the mummy’s gaze instantly detects all enchantments currently affecting a target she perceives. With the mere passing of her gaze, the mummy may tear asunder one of those enchantments. The unleashing cannot remove fundamental abilities, such as a mage’s ability to cast spells or the power animating a vampire, but may cancel the effects of a mage’s protective wards or a vampire’s heightened strength. Doing so prompts a Clash of Wills between the Arisen and the source of the enchantment. Temporary effects are removed, but may be reapplied after Ba + Sekhem turns. Permanent or long-lasting effects are suppressed during this time, returning afterward. Ba: With a Ba Pillar of 3 or more, the Arisen may maintain the gaze for a number of turns equal to their Ba, targeting one effect each turn if they choose. The mummy doubles their Ba rating for the Clash of Wills. Tier 3 The mummy forbids a perceived target from using a power she has witnessed them use. The target resists with a roll of Resolve + Sekhem – the Arisen’s Sekhem. If the victim fails, for the remainder of the chapter any activation of the chosen ability provokes a Clash of Wills with the mummy, even if the Arisen isn’t present. This can’t suppress innate capabilities, such as a werewolf’s regeneration or shapeshifting, only supernatural powers such as one of the werewolf’s Gift Facets. When unleashed with the first tier active, her golden shell of Sekhem bursts, ending the first tier’s effects and shrouding the area around her in a radiant glow that casts a shadow over other supernatural powers used within it. The area of effect has a radius of Ren × 10 yards and ignores physical barriers. This prevents characters within the area from activating magic or supernatural powers targeting anyone except themselves for Ren + Sekhem turns. The Arisen can only use this aspect of the tier’s power once per scene. Ren: With a Ren Pillar of 5, the Arisen can use the second aspect of the tier freely throughout a scene, rather than only once. REFLECTIONS UPON A BROKEN IMAGE Tier 1: Ab (Subtle) •; Tier 2: Ba •••; Tier 3: Ka ••••• Tier 1 The Arisen takes on the appearance of another person of whose likeness she can see, such as a statue, painting, photo, or other image. The Arisen may also try to create the image herself with a Crafts or Expression roll. Seeing the actual person in the flesh is not enough; the mummy requires a simulacrum of some kind. The Arisen’s mimicry is visually and audibly perfect, but she gains no insight into mannerisms or other elements of the target’s behavior. The Arisen remains a doppelgänger until she uses another Utterance or the likeness she is using is destroyed. Ab: With an Ab rating of 1 or higher, the mimicry is also physically perfect; the Arisen’s actual weight changes, as do aspects such as her smell, fingerprint patterns, and so forth. Even a genetic sample confirms that she is, in fact, the person she is copying. Tier 2 The Arisen sheds her appearance entirely, casting it off amid the world’s reflections. She becomes invisible for the remainder of the scene. However, she still appears in reflections, such as from mirrors, windows, water, and the like, although there’s no guarantee other characters notice this. The Arisen also treats all sources of such reflections in which she appears as an origin point for her attacks, melee or ranged. She may grapple or strike someone standing adjacent to a reflection, or shoot out of it, regardless of her actual location.

148 Chapter Three: Creating A Mummy Ba: With a Ba rating of 3 or higher, the Arisen may also use reflections as doorways, moving directly through one to emerge from another that has a direct line of reflection from the first. The source of reflection must be large enough for the Arisen to physically move through. She can use a full-length mirror or large, still puddle as a doorway to appear out of a gleaming window across the street, but can’t fit through a six-inch-wide shaving mirror. Tier 3 A perfect copy of the Arisen forms out of the air in a swirl of dust and sand, animating with the mummy’s own essence. She can control the clone at the same time as her own body without any difficulty, even holding different conversations through both simultaneously. The copy uses her attributes and traits, has a Health value equal to her own, shares her senses, and she can use it as the origin point of her Utterances. The effects of her beneficial Utterances also affect the clone. The copy even fools supernatural detection. However, the clone does not benefit from the Arisen’s Affinities, she can only act through one body each turn during combat, and it cannot heal or Seal the Flesh. The clone remains animated until the Arisen uses this Utterance to create a new one or it is destroyed; the clone then immediately crumbles to dust. The Arisen can also use this tier to create a copy of one of her Inheritors she is touching and grant them control of it. However, this still counts as the single clone the mummy can maintain. The mummy herself has no control over the clone, and should the Inheritor cease to be Invested with Pillar points, the copy immediately de-animates. Ka: With a Ka rating of 5, the Arisen can create up to five weaker clones of herself rather than a single true one. The weaker copies cannot serve as the origin point of the Arisen’s Utterances, and have only half the usual Health, but in combat she can instinctively control all of them as a mob, adding a teamwork bonus to her Brawl-based attack and grapple rolls equal to the number of clones present. When using the Restrain move on a grappled opponent, she can reflexively de-animate one of the clones into a stone or marble statue to keep the victim pinned and leave the grapple herself. The Arisen may also activate this Utterance again to immediately exchange places with one of the existing clones, de-animating the exchanged clone into a statue and leaving it in her previous location. RELENTLESS HORROR Tier 1: Ka •; Tier 2: Ba ••; Tier 3: Ren •••• Tier 1 With a malicious threat, the Deathless declares a target for his wrath within his line of sight. Dice Pool: Strength + Ka + Sekhem vs. Resolve + Sekhem Action: Contested Duration: One scene Roll Results Success: The mummy takes only a single point of bashing damage from the target’s attacks with mundane weaponry for the remainder of the scene, including any heavy weaponry the target is operating, like a vehicle-mounted weapon. Fire, vessels, and the powers and natural attacks of supernatural creatures are unaffected. Exceptional Success: The Arisen also maintains his Defense against the chosen target when making all-out attacks. Failure: The target is unimpressed. Dramatic Failure: The target gains a +2 bonus to dice pools against the mummy for the remainder of the scene. The effects of this tier end if the Arisen unleashes it again to name a new chosen foe. Ka: With a Ka Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the mummy assumes the Relentless Condition toward his chosen target after suffering lethal or aggravated damage at their hands, or when the target has stolen an object belonging to the mummy during the same scene. This Condition fades without resolution after a number of scenes equal to the mummy’s Ka. Tier 2 No tower is high enough to escape the wrath of the Deathless. With a growl, the Arisen drops to all fours, gaining the ability to creep across walls and ceilings at full Speed. The Arisen maintains his full Defense while doing so, and may scale surfaces that should be incapable of bearing his weight. Mortals unexpectedly witnessing the mummy climb in this manner suffer the Shaken Condition. The Deathless is also immune to the Knocked Down Tilt, and ignores the effects of Arm Wrack and Leg Wrack Tilts for the duration. This effect lasts for the remainder of the scene. If the Arisen currently has the Relentless Condition toward a target within the structure, activating this tier costs only a point of Ba. Ba: With a Ba Pillar rating of 2 or higher, the mummy’s Stealth rolls and attacks from ambush while climbing gain bonus dice equal to the Arisen’s Ba. Tier 3 The target of the mummy’s wrath cannot escape the sensation of doom closing in upon them. Fate itself seems to undermine their efforts to avoid it. Dice Pool: Resolve + Ren + Sekhem vs. Resolve + Sekhem

Utterances 149 Action: Contested Duration: One story Roll Results Success: The target suffers the Cursed Condition related to fleeing or fighting against the mummy. The Arisen may whisper his threats to the target from any distance, and Intimidation rolls against the target become rote actions. Exceptional Success: The target is also haunted by nightmares of the mummy, regaining no Willpower from rest. Failure: The target is unimpressed. Dramatic Failure: Fate turns in the target’s favor. The target’s attempts to flee or fight against the mummy become Blessed Actions. If unleashed in conjunction with the first tier, the target’s allies are also affected by the mummy’s increased resistance to damage. Ren: With a Ren Pillar rating of 4 or higher, the target’s attempts to fight against or flee the mummy become Blighted Actions as well, and the Arisen’s successful attacks remove a point of Willpower in addition to any damage. REVELATIONS OF SMOKE AND FLAME Tier 1: Sheut •; Tier 2: Ab ••• (Epic); Tier 3: Ba ••••• (Epic) Tier 1 The Arisen breathes forth a cloud of cloying smoke, sweet as incense, to fill an area of up to her Sekhem x 10 yards in radius for the scene. The cloud is thick and murky, inflicting the Blinded Tilt on characters other than Arisen or Lifeless as long as they remain within it, and imposing partial concealment. The Arisen herself treats the swirling miasma as an extension of her sense of touch, and knows the exact locations of any other characters physically present in the cloud. The miasma moves with her, unless she chooses to affix it to an object or location she touches. Sheut: With a Sheut Pillar rating of 1 or higher, the Arisen may render the cloud a greater extension of her own senses and will. She may move, push, or manipulate objects within the cloud by focusing the miasma’s coils, treating its Strength and Dexterity for such actions as equal to her Sheut Pillar rating. Tier 2 The Arisen speaks words of smoke and void, which wrap her in tongues of flame and bands of starlit eyes. For the remainder of the scene, she gains the following benefits: • She may fly at a rate of up to three times her Speed. • She immediately loses any Blinded Tilts she may be suffering upon unleashing this Utterance, and she can see in all directions with perfect clarity up to a distance of her Sekhem rating in miles. This vision allows her to see minute details, and she suffers no penalties for darkness or other forms of concealment, such as mist or smoke. • She perceives the existence of supernatural creatures and ongoing supernatural effects, which appear to her gaze cast in vivid ocher hues that reveal their nature. • She cannot be surprised or ambushed, and imposes a penalty equal to her Ab on dice pools to influence her mind or perception. • Her voice is clearly heard at a range of up to a mile if she wishes, regardless of the volume she speaks at, and those hearing her can understand her words and intent regardless of language. The Arisen causes Sybaris in those witnessing her shrouded in starlight and fire. Ab: With an Ab Pillar rating of 3 or higher, the Arisen’s presence burns with the smoldering glory of alien suns. She gains a +2 bonus to all Social rolls on those beholding her grandeur, and cult actions carried out by her cult while in her empowered presence generate an additional point of Effort on a success — including cult wars. Tier 3 The Arisen’s soul blazes with such intensity as to pour forth in a pillar of roaring flame for a scene. Her physical form burns away into the Twilight frequency of Neter-Khetet, but her location is marked in the physical world by the very real column of fire that moves with her. The pillar is three yards wide and ten high and burns with the intensity of an inferno of chemical fire. Mundane forms of intervention cannot completely extinguish it although they can reduce the intensity somewhat, but secondary fires caused by the pillar are entirely normal and can be dealt with appropriately. The Arisen gains the Disembodied Condition, unable to directly interact with the physical world except by steering her column of fire. The blazing pillar inflicts Sybaris on witnesses. If the Arisen unleashes multiple tiers at once, she experiences the following effects as appropriate in addition to the tiers’ usual effects: • If she also unleashes the first tier, her transformation may become a pillar of smoke as wide as the miasma would usually be. As well as the usual effects of the miasma, any character within the smoke needing to breathe suffers the grave Poisoned Tilt, but the column