Lexicons of MtC

[wyrdhamster]

Mummy the Curse is game with a lot of faux Egyptian terminology. It was one of problems in 1E on accessibility to new players. In 2E of MtC, we go with much more inclusive setting, opened for reinterpretation. So for having both easier time to understand the gameline text for newcomers ( like me ) – and to lay groundwork for mummies that do not remember Irem, only recalling their immortal lives in Peru, China or Scandinavia – I compiled general, English part of Lexicon of MtC line, to make it more readable to general audience.

For native speakers of other countries – could you translate those terms into your languages, for creating us Lexicons versions of Mummies that are not remembering Nameless Empire, yet? Most important would be translations Five-Fold Souls, Decrees and Pillars, to those ‘non-Egyptian’ mummies.

I can mark those terms in Polish, but I assume they would not be very much interest in it – Poland have only over 1000 years ( counting almost 125 under incorporating to other countries ) – We are not someone could called ‘Empire of Immortals’.
So, let’s go to the Lexicon…

English Lexicon of Mummy: The Curse

Afterlife – Place where souls free of Deathless existence end. Not Duat or Underworld - A’aru/Aaru
Affinity – A mystical imbuement that grants a mummy the quiet power to prevail at his purpose.
Apotheosis – State of either end or otherwise transform the cycle of death-and-rebirth to which mammy have chained for eternity.
Arisen – ‘true’ mummy, from Irem – even if she is not thinking like that.
Body – Sahu is the body of mummy, which expresses differently over a Descent as the raw Power drains and falls. Having a Sahu instead of a mortal body is why the mummy appears to be a preserved corpse when it first rises, but looks like a living human by the time their consciousness clears up and the initial rush of power is over. – Sahu
Circle (fan) – Group of ‘friends’, mummies living their Descents together - Meret
Capstone – Term marking person as Judge’s herald. - Benbenet
Decrees – First ‘purpose’ of mummy, declared before her Judge of Duat. It’s based on Pillar – meaning of the Five-fold Soul of mummies – but those are not directly associated . For example, raising the Ren Pillar to five dots does not make an Ashem more like an Usheb, it fully restores the soul's name. ( Format is Pillar – Soul Part – Decree Name )

• Essence – Ka – Nesrem
• Heart – Ab – Kheru
• Name – Ren – Usheb
• Shadow – Sheut – Ashem
• Spirit – Ba – Deshret

Descent – Active period of mummy, her particular ‘life’ – Semektet
Devourer – Ammut, goddess of oblivion that will DEVOUR the world if not sate by souls of people.
Duat – Land of the shades, beings ( or related to ) souls waiting for Judges verdict. It also full of fiends, similar to shades, but created from the Judges' Law of Suffering who exist to both suffer and inflict pain. In this land there are also animalistic Chimeras ( amkhata ), wrapped being from exposure to magic or relics. Duat is distinct from general CoD Underworld of Geist: the Sin Eaters and rest of gamelines.
Guild – Organization of mummies, based on professions they done in their lifetimes.
Major:

• Architects and engineers - Tef-Aabhi
• Craftsmen and smiths - Mesen-Nebu
• Funerary priests and ritualists - Su-Menent
• Magistrates and scribes - Sesha-Hebsu
• Spies and laborers - Maa-Kep

Minors:

• Physicians and healer-priests - Maar-Kherit
• Tricksters, gamblers, and oracles - Wadjet-Itja
• Warriors and tomb guardians - Kher-Minu

Immortals – Humans having some kind of ‘lesser’ eternal life compared to mummies.
Inheritor – Mortal with parts of mummies Pillar, granting power to mortal – but also letting mummy to resurrect in him.
Irem – City and Empire from what mummies are coming – if they remember it.
Judges of Duat – Godlike beings, that points who’s souls need to be send to Devourer, so the world can exists longer.

• Eater of Entrails - Unem-Besek
• Eater of Shadows - Am-Khaibit
• Final Judge - Arem-Abfu
• First Judge - Usekh-Nemtet
• Flame – Nebha
• One Who Unifies - Neheb-Ka
• Penitent – Kenemti

Power – Life force energy that gives immortality and magic to mummies – Sekhem ( See more definitions in this topic. )
Law of Suffering – One of important rules of Judges of Duat - "No life without pain."
Lost ( fan ) – Mummies of people who were sacrificed to Devourer so the Rite of Return could be completed. - Shuankhsen
Flight (fan) – Time when mummy is ‘dead’ and her soul is in Duat. – Henet
Territory (?) – Area of influence mummy has under her – Nome
Relic – Magical item that runs on Power.
Rite of Return – Magical procedure from ancient times that created mummies, in Irem.
Companion ( fan ) – Mortal imbued with mummies immortality, bound to her – Sadikh
Sickness – Miasma that settles over living mortals unaccustomed to the ancient power and dread presence of a mummy: terror or unease – Sybaris
Sorcerer-Priests – ‘True’ sorcerers that created mummies in Irem. Contrast with normal sorcerers. – Shan’iatu
Sorcerer – A human who can perceive and manipulate Power.
Turn ( Sothic ) – Period once in 1460 years when mummies can rise freely, without a call from Judge.
Utterance – A powerful spell invoked by a mummy through the power of his Life Force.
Vessel – An object that has either naturally accumulated or been artificially imbued with Life Force.
Witness – A mortal who, via exposure to the Arisen and her cult, is drawn to the mummy’s orbit. Often a Witness stirs the mummy’s memories of Irem.

[Satchel]

Much of this is rather off.

"Benbenet" is just the Ancient Egyptian word for the capstone of a pyramid or obelisk; they are the focal point of a Judge's manifestation in the world

The crown of a Judge is a metaphysical mark that identifies its benbenet to things that can see Sekhem or the soul.

"Sekhem," in turn, means "power" and can be understood in that general occult framework — if you have more Sekhem, you have more power and thus can do more and get away with more, which is mostly relevant to life in Mummy by the fact that it's a prominent power source for various immortals that's taken out of the world by sending it to the land of the dead; there's a reason Mage's Dark Eras material looking at the Awakened perspective on the Shan'iatu's handiwork likens it to handling plutonium with your bare hands.

The Pillars aren't symbolic organs where your decree is stored, they're the eponymous five parts of the fivefold soul the Arisen are familiar with.

Similarly, Inheritors don't have part of a mummy's body in them, but a mummy has invested some of the energies of her Pillars in them, which grants them some power and allows the mummy to be resurrected in their bodies.

Henet isn't a lethargic state — it's "pelican" in Ancient Egyptian, tying to the bird's association with safe passage through the Underworld.

The Shuankhsen haven't lost their identity, and in fact have a better memory than the average Arisen — they're "lost to shadow" in the sense that they serve the Devourer and have had the expression of their souls twisted by that connection.

"Sadikh" is at least homophonous with the Arabic sadiq, which means "friend," which is probably why Mummy so often uses the word "companion" as a descriptor for the Sadikh.

Duat is the land of the dead and the place where souls are judged, which indirectly neighbors but is distinct from the Underworld that Geist focuses on — both are accessed through the death-aspected Twilight of the mortal world, but Duat is accessed through a soul-portal that's distinct from Avernian Gates, and the Arisen can't cross any of the Rivers of the Underworld as long as Anpu turns them away.

[wyrdhamster]

Thanks Satchel - I will rewrote this later today, on your hints.
EDIT: I edited opening post on Satchel's comments.

[Acrozatarim]

*scratches head* I think you may have gotten the wrong end of the stick from Satchel 's comment about the benbenet. It's not an item or an artefact that marks someone as the focus of the Judge's power; that person is the benbenet, which is indeed itself a term referring to the capstone on a pyramid.

[LordHeru]

I like this. Thank you.

Its funny there are some words - like Sekhem - which I naturally use the foreign language word but then there are others - like Descent - where the English word is what i naturally use. Then there are times where both terms are equally used - like both Ab and Heart or Ren and Name and such. There are also some that I didn't even know meant something, like Henet, as the time the mummy spends dead.

Anyway, this is cool. So thanks.

[Tessie]

I don't really see the point of this thread. With the exception of fan terms I think everything is already part of the lexicon provided in the 2e manuscript, and fan terms or fan translations doesn't factor into making the book more accessible because they're not used in the book.

[Second Chances]

Yeah, you're losing some important nuances here Wyrd. The Ashem did not pronounce the shadow decree, but the eldritch decree. The Usheb are not defined by the Ren Decree, they are by the Cunning Decree. We were very intentional in not conflating the decree with the pillar – doing so trivializes both, which is why Ab, Ba, Ka, Ren and Sheut are not listed as the English nicknames for each decree. Every Mummy has access to every pillar, but raising the Ren pillar to five dots does not make an Ashem more like an Usheb, it fully restores the soul's name. By conflating the two, you lose the fundamental importance of the pillars to the soul while also losing the uniqueness of each decree.

Also, the decree is not the mummy's purpose. That gets determined at the beginning of each Descent.

[wyrdhamster]

I think that my list is doing it's job. LordHeru, for example, like simplification on it list. Because it do what is needed - a bit straightforward game for general population. I'm CoD nerd - i.e. I read most of the game lines - and even I have problem with understanding MtC 2E text, because there is so match alien words. It was exactly why MtC 1E did not really get to me. You say that list is losing nuance of corebook - and I say: 'It exactly doing that.'

Lexicons in gamelines are not to be precise - they are for people to understand basic terms. You have text of whole rest corebook to give nuance. Don't make them too complex, or people will not play the game.

Few days ago I was having discussion with other fans on the WtF spread of werewolves by bite. My debater showed me Introduction quote that bite spread is myth in WtF 2E is myth. Then I showed him that in Lunacy mechanics we have that on Dramatic Failure effect we have that mortal becomes Wolf-Blooded.

Moral of story? Introduction chapters - with Lexicon in it - are not for nuance. They are there to give you basic look on the game and entice you to read and play it!

However, of course, I will fix all misconceptions in list you point me, probably later today.

[Stupid Loserman]

I don't really see the point of this thread. With the exception of fan terms I think everything is already part of the lexicon provided in the 2e manuscript, and fan terms or fan translations doesn't factor into making the book more accessible because they're not used in the book.

I'm more confused by this thread because wyrdhamster appears to still be in the process of digesting and understanding the material, as demonstrated by the What is Sekhem? thread and by the corrections in this thread. There's nothing wrong with that, but to simultaneously start a guide or resource for other readers feels kind of like the blind leading the blind?

Re: Duat, "the land of the dead" is a little misleading because we're used to thinking of ghosts as being the dead, and Duat is not the land of ghosts, at least not in the sense of the ephemeral entities called ghosts in Chronicles of Darkness. The dead of Duat are the shades, who appear to be, or at least be associated with/cast off from/projected by, departed souls awaiting judgment. Duat is also home to another important concept missing from this list: fiends, who are shadelike but not human souls, beings born directly from the Judges' Law of Suffering who exist to both suffer and inflict pain. And then there's the amkhata, which I have no real good English moniker for off the top of my head.

[wyrdhamster]

There's nothing wrong with that, but to simultaneously start a guide or resource for other readers feels kind of like the blind leading the blind?

So it's very meritocratic feeling you got - as newbie to the gameline, I know what other people terminology are not understanding in first place. It's great you get the gist of things from reading them in Lexicon - good for you - but you do not sent old Egyptology professor of the niche period to make quick 101 of history for middle school class. You choose young teacher that is starting to make easier lesson, with much limited foundation, after reading text about it. I never said my fan lexicon is 100% accurate - it's only to make much more exotic sounding names to put in much more, everyday context for us - like it's in Vampire or Mage, for example.

Looking over the corrections from today...
EDIT: Made corrections on raised points - and added Law of Suffering by Stupid Loserman from Sekhem topic.

[Tessie]

So it's very meritocratic feeling you got - as newbie to the gameline, I know what other people terminology are not understanding in first place. It's great you get the gist of things from reading them in Lexicon - good for you - but you do not sent old Egyptology professor of the niche period to make quick 101 of history for middle school class. You choose young teacher that is starting to make easier lesson, with much limited foundation, after reading text about it. I never said my fan lexicon is 100% accurate - it's only to make much more exotic sounding names to put in much more, everyday context for us - like it's in Vampire or Mage, for example.

Looking over the corrections from today...
EDIT: Made corrections on raised points - and added Law of Suffering by Stupid Loserman from Sekhem topic.

In that analogy you're not the middle school teacher who reads the cliff notes, you're the guy you wrote the cliff notes for others to read, and that is someone I very much expect to be educated on the topic.
While "blind leading the blind" can be considered a rude way to put it, it's far from unreasonable to expect a resource for newbies to be written by someone who fully understand what he writes. If you want the perspective of a newbie, have a newbie test read it for you. If you write it as a newbie, you'll just make newbie mistakes which doesn't help anyone.
I admire your enthusiasm and I don't think it's a bad thing to put out resources like this, but I think you're over-eager and really jumped the gun by not having enough understanding of the game yet.

[Stupid Loserman]

I didn't mean to insult or judge, it was just the first phrase to come to mind to describe the problem: a resource to help newcomers understand various Mummy concepts by different names, being written by someone who is still in the process of coming to understand those concepts. There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking time to learn the game, nor in asking for help or clarification. It's just that, as Tessie says, a primer on a topic should be written by somebody with some confidence in their grasp on the topic. Misunderstandings might accidentally proliferate otherwise.

I probably would feel differently if this thread were presented as, say, "What are some good ways to refer to these concepts with Egyptian names in plain language?" There's certainly value in that, and lord knows Mummy is loaded down with jargon the average person can't parse, like "what the heck is a sahu?" (A: the sahu is the body of power, the shape the mummy's Sekhem takes materially, which expresses differently over a Descent as the raw Sekhem drains and falls. Having a sahu instead of a mortal body is why the mummy appears to be a preserved corpse when it first rises, but looks like a living human by the time their consciousness clears up and the initial rush of power is over.)

The Guilds are the worst bit for me there. Each guild has a primary name that's an Egyptian compound word and a secondary name that's a flowery epithet, meaning you're down to tertiary monikers or later before you get to useful descriptors like "Architects." I always have to double check which one is which.

[wyrdhamster]

"What the heck is a sahu?" (A: the sahu is the body of power, the shape the mummy's Sekhem takes materially, which expresses differently over a Descent as the raw Sekhem drains and falls. Having a sahu instead of a mortal body is why the mummy appears to be a preserved corpse when it first rises, but looks like a living human by the time their consciousness clears up and the initial rush of power is over.)

So Sahu is simply 'body' of mummy - that it once look like corpse and later like more living being do not change it primary role. Adding it to the list by edit.

The Guilds are the worst bit for me there. Each guild has a primary name that's an Egyptian compound word and a secondary name that's a flowery epithet, meaning you're down to tertiary monikers or later before you get to useful descriptors like "Architects." I always have to double check which one is which.

So I was having good instincts to list Guilds by the professions they represents on start.