Hibis, Upper Egypt, 14th year of Alexander, Aquarius rising
There are two parts to Egypt. The Black Land, Kemet, is the thin long ribbon of fertile soil along the banks of the Nile. The Red Land is the desert, the domain of Set, nothing but endless rocky sand and storms and scavengers, inimical to life. The Red Land defies order, a maddening expanse of shifting dunes with nothing to support human life but the desperate hope of an oasis and/or divine intervention. Even Alexander could no more rule the desert than he could rule Ocean.
You're going into the Red Land.
Even with all your charms and spellcraft, it took more than 10 days to get here with a trade caravan departing from Waset, which the Hellenes now call Thebes. You've gone west from the Nile, the direction the dead go. There are five main oases in the western desert, and you've come to the one furthest south, the Kharga Oasis. This distant eye of the Black Land in the middle of the Red is called Hibis.
Let me paint you a picture: Hibis is a walled and garrisoned mud-brick town, about one square kilometer, in the center of a green ring of fields irrigated by the shallow blue canals of the carefully-managed oasis. Overlooking the town from the north is the Temple, which you understand is dedicated primarily to the Theban Triad (Ammun, Mut, and Khonsu) but honors many gods a traveler might need to pay respects to, emphasis on pay. East of town is a Camp of tents set up by passing traders and nomadic desert tribes, raucous and dirty and much cheaper than staying in town. Hibis is an outpost on the "40 Day Road," a desert trade route that moves gold, spices, rare animals, slave labor, etc between the Kushite city of Meroe (legendarily skilled metalworkers and international traders, proudly unconquered by Persia or Alexander) to the south and the city of Asyut in Upper Egypt. Lots of transients and traders and scammers and men driven mad by the desert sun.
The five of you, plus the half-Wise Kemsit and the wolf-spirit Urbi, are gathered in a large tent, sharing a final meal with the caravan that took you here before you enter town. The sun will be setting soon. It sounds like you can buy private lodging at a house in town for the next few days (Availability **), but don't stay too long. Your patron, Ratri, has asked you to go here as the first leg of a much more treacherous journey into the Red Land to investigate a Mystery, a rare astrological convergence that can best be observed from a long-forgotten ruin which she saw in a dream.
You can go over the details later. For now, you have a few minutes to sit and get your bearings.
There are two parts to Egypt. The Black Land, Kemet, is the thin long ribbon of fertile soil along the banks of the Nile. The Red Land is the desert, the domain of Set, nothing but endless rocky sand and storms and scavengers, inimical to life. The Red Land defies order, a maddening expanse of shifting dunes with nothing to support human life but the desperate hope of an oasis and/or divine intervention. Even Alexander could no more rule the desert than he could rule Ocean.
You're going into the Red Land.
Even with all your charms and spellcraft, it took more than 10 days to get here with a trade caravan departing from Waset, which the Hellenes now call Thebes. You've gone west from the Nile, the direction the dead go. There are five main oases in the western desert, and you've come to the one furthest south, the Kharga Oasis. This distant eye of the Black Land in the middle of the Red is called Hibis.
Let me paint you a picture: Hibis is a walled and garrisoned mud-brick town, about one square kilometer, in the center of a green ring of fields irrigated by the shallow blue canals of the carefully-managed oasis. Overlooking the town from the north is the Temple, which you understand is dedicated primarily to the Theban Triad (Ammun, Mut, and Khonsu) but honors many gods a traveler might need to pay respects to, emphasis on pay. East of town is a Camp of tents set up by passing traders and nomadic desert tribes, raucous and dirty and much cheaper than staying in town. Hibis is an outpost on the "40 Day Road," a desert trade route that moves gold, spices, rare animals, slave labor, etc between the Kushite city of Meroe (legendarily skilled metalworkers and international traders, proudly unconquered by Persia or Alexander) to the south and the city of Asyut in Upper Egypt. Lots of transients and traders and scammers and men driven mad by the desert sun.
The five of you, plus the half-Wise Kemsit and the wolf-spirit Urbi, are gathered in a large tent, sharing a final meal with the caravan that took you here before you enter town. The sun will be setting soon. It sounds like you can buy private lodging at a house in town for the next few days (Availability **), but don't stay too long. Your patron, Ratri, has asked you to go here as the first leg of a much more treacherous journey into the Red Land to investigate a Mystery, a rare astrological convergence that can best be observed from a long-forgotten ruin which she saw in a dream.
You can go over the details later. For now, you have a few minutes to sit and get your bearings.
Comment