Music: Fire in the Duat - Assassin’s Creed Origins
Author Note: I have decided that instead of posting big chapters, it will be better to post smaller but more frequent chapters for you to read.
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Mariline got to the top.. positioned herself and started looking around…there wasn’t any mist… so she could see clearly the world around her…
The first thing that she noticed was that the Academy has golden decorations and statues that shouldn’t be there and looks partially renovated with Egyptian architecture.
Then she noticed the lake… or lack of it… instead there was a cracked dry lakebed around and big spots that were beaches… with 30 meters height and 70 meters long massive black beetles in them…
Meanwhile, the Hawk accompanied Mariline to the top and stayed at her side.
The town's ruins around, like the Academy Gate Town, were used to make Egyptian buildings over them.
Also, around the lakebed and in the surrounding cliffs were a lot of craters around.
In the NorthWest of the Academy, the forest has been burned and only dead black trees and ashes remain in that area… the same happened to the other forest in Liurnia.
More to the NorthNorthEast, following the bridge… the area was renovated into an Egyptian military camp… and a burned-down forest remained behind…
But more impressive was the Golden Obelisks wall after the forest, from North of the Caria Manor to the South of the Minor Erdtree of Liurnia… which was also burned…
“*sigh*... things have just become a lot more complicated…”
And Mariline took her binoculars and reinforced her eyes to see better and further…
And she saw Griffins flying around and in nests in the area near the Golden Obelisks
Tch!... Of course, there were gonna be Egyptian Griffins near the golden obelisks… Griffins were always known for guarding treasures and priceless possessions… especially gold… since it was believed they made nests near areas with gold to dig up and that you can find gold nuggets in their nests…
Beyond the golden obelisk wall, to the North she could see the area around Mt. Gelmir, which had a lot more lava than it should, reaching the Perfumer’s ruins, the lake to the right, and even the river on the left, where a massive crater could be seen in the leftmost part of the volcano area.
It seems the lava has been spilled from there and has solidified in contact with the ocean, therefore blocking the river that went to the lake south of the Volcano.
And without water, the Ruin-Strewn Precipice waterfall was dry, therefore water didn’t reach the Liurnia area through the river South of the Caria Manor.
So that’s why Liurnia is a dry lakebed… But why is the lava area expanded around Mt Gelmir? Did something happen to the volcano?
Meanwhile, the Hawk was looking around the area and noticed something moving in the ruined tower they were standing… something big…
Mariline started to focus around the volcano area and looked like there were craters, but it was too far away to confirm anything.
Tch!... I will need to get closer to see more in detail… What about the Altus Plateau?...
Mariline focused there and could see a sea of ashes… the entire region was burned down.. and between the ashes, she could see a partially melted golden obelisk.. and a gigantic golden Egyptian golem in the distance…
That! That looks like a Giant Ushabti!... but they are funerary figures in Egyptian tombs that are meant to represent workers and supposedly animated by magic… Oh! In theory, you could use that to make golems… But why did they need Ushabtis of THAT SIZE?!... I think there are more in the Altus Plateau… *sigh*... but I cannot see well, it is too far away…
And so she changed her focus to the Leyndell Royal Capital area… and it was black… the entire area was black and nothing could be distinguished except for one thing… the Erdtree had been burned down and only a stump remained…
“What in the hell happened there?! Did the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending happen?... That! That actually explains why those regions seem burned down!.... FUCK! The world has practically ended then!”
And by shouting Mariline attracted the attention of the creature that was in the area… and the Hawk started to panic and peck very fast on Mariline’s leg to catch her attention.
“Ow! What are you doing?!”
And Mariline stopped looking with her binoculars and looked to the Hawk, which was doing it's best moving its head back and forth and pointing like trying to tell Mariline “Look behind”
“Uh? Why are you pointing there? Is there someth-”
And there it was… a big ass Griffin landed in the area and was stalking them… and at the moment it was discovered it screeched in a war cry and charged against Mariline…
She evaded by reflex and now the Griffin passed by and was now flying and making a u-turn to charge again.
FUCK! I was so focused on the world around me that I didn’t even check the nearby area! That is a Phantasmal Beast! There is no way we can fight that!! We need to run!
And Mariline ran for the opening on the tower where she climbed up, reinforced her hands, and started to slide down using the rope.
The Griffin landed and looked down the hole and to the rope.
“Wait no! No no no no!
And the Griffin cut it with its claws.
“Nooooooo!”
And Mariline landed on a blanket.
“Eh?!”
She noticed that landed on the blanket with the Falcons that she prepared beforehand if something goes wrong and she falls down.
“Thank the gods I prepared for if I fell… Falcons! Go down! We need to leave! Now!”
The Griffin looked down at what happened and screeched angrily, then it took flight high and dive down through the hole.
Meanwhile, Mariline’s team was reaching the bottom, she looked up and saw the Griffin diving down.
“You have to be kidding me!”
Then she reinforced her legs and jumped from the blanket to reach the bottom faster. And then started to run to the puzzle door.
At the same time, the Griffin was going down the hole and since it was too tight it was scraping against the walls which lowered his velocity, while it didn’t look like it damaged it at all it made it land badly.
Yes! Now we need to close the door and hopefully, this will separate us from the Lands Between since this should be like a portal right?!
She did the exact same motions as always and closed the marble door…
“*exhaling* That was close! I need to check better my surroundings from now on”
And then the door started cracking… and the beak of an angry Griffin appeared from the cracks…
“Dammit! The portal is on the other side! It is the other one! Run!”
And she started to run through the dungeon until she reached the Labyrinth home and closed the door… and when the portal closed, the section where you needed to put the hand turned red…
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“Wh-What? What does this mean? It closed right? There is no portal anymore! The opening in space is gone…“
And she distanced from the door and waited… and waited… and waited and nothing happened…
“*exhaling* Ok… I think we are now safe… that was too close… too much action and risk for today… now I need to rest and think about what we discovered”
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Author Notes: I have been reading your comments and I think that the best way to answer questions is with the flashbacks unless it is a very specific one or that couldn’t be explained this way. This should be more fun for all of you and also helps with world-building.
Flashback, 10 years old Mariline:
Mariline was following her grandmother into the underground Pyramid carrying offerings: cake bread, beer, meat, and milk.
“Mariline, child… today I will gonna teach you more about the AKHs… as you know they are the combination of the KA (the vital essence) and the BA (the personality), but they are not bound to us, but to the tomb where their KHET (physical body) was buried, and so as spirits, they need food to maintains them”
“So.. that is what the offerings are for?”
“Correct, spirits and gods consume the KA of the offerings to replenish their strength and maintain themselves when you put an offering on the false doors in the tombs and temples, which contains the offering formula. Naturally, it doesn’t disappear since only an aspect of them is consumed, so we can eat them later. But it does change its taste”
So from a clock tower magus point of view, it is like they are connected and maintained by the workshop then?
“Wait… Grandma, since the spirits are not connected to us, that is the reason we need to talk to them and can't use mental commands like… like with the bodies we reanimate with necromancy?”
“Hmm? I suppose it is a good time to explain the differences… The answer to your question is yes, and also why it is important who controls them since they are not bound to you. The case is different with necromancy since you’re using your KA (magical energy) to maintain them, therefore there is a direct connection and if they are controlled you can simply cut it off and they will fall down. That is also why you can give them mental commands, see and feel through them, though that depends on the state of the body in the first place. Also, they don’t have their own BA (personality) nor AKH (intelligence) and that is why you need to command their every action”
Tsk… I really don’t consider it morally correct to just kill a creature to reanimate it to be your slave… at the very least with AKHs (spirits) they do have independence and can do what they want most of the time… except when we need them to fight…
“Child… I know that expression… you are not fond of necromancy, but you need to learn balance, both types are needed and have their advantages and disadvantages… AKHs that you don’t need to maintain yourself but are a double blade weapon and reanimated ones that you maintain yourself but cannot turn against you, among other things…”
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Flashback, 3 years old Mariline:
Since I started studying the magecraft now I want to know more about the terms my family uses and their connections
“Mom! Mom! I have questions!”
“Oh! Sweetie, how is my little magus doing today? Studying hard?”
“I have questions! I want to know more about the terms our family uses for things. For starters this!”
And little Mariline activated her magic circuits and pointed at the lines
“Mari, those are the canals where the blood of Sobek-Isis runs through, what about them?”
“Grandma mentioned that the KA is what runs through them, what exactly is that?”
“Sweetie, you see, in Egyptian mythology the Soul is composed of 7 parts for living beings and 2 more for spirits, but we will focus on the first 7 today: REN (Name &, Memory), SHUT (Shadow), KHET (Physical body), BA (Personality), KA (Vital essence, the Double), AKH (Intelligence) and IB (Heart, emotions, thought, will, intention)”
“Okay…”
“So for the first, REN, it is a person's identity, their experiences, and their entire life's worth of memories”
“Ah! So that is why we use an Egyptian cartouche to surround it, to protect it right?”
“Very good sweetie! Yes, now SHUT, a being's shadow or silhouette is always present. Because of this, our ancestors surmised that a shadow contains something of the being it represents. Through this association, statues of people and deities were sometimes referred to as shadows”
“Uh… so shadows are really important then…”
“Then we have the KHET, the physical body that exists for the soul parts KA & BA to reunite to reanimate the AKH (Spirit, Intelligence) and have the chance to be judged by the guardians of the underworld”
“To be judged? By Anubis against the feather of Maat, the goddess of truth, balance, and order right?”
“Yes. It is the AKH which for living beings refers to their intelligence but for dead beings represent the spirit to be judged”
“Got it, gonna take note of it”
“Then finally there is the IB, the hearth, it was the seat of emotion, thought, will, and intention. The heart was the key to the afterlife since it gave evidence for, or against, its possessor when judged by Anubis”
So from a normal magus perspective then...
Ka = Vital Essence = Magical Energy = Od
Workshop = Temple, Tomb or Pyramid
But what about Mana? The magical energy in the ambient then? And leylines?
“So… our family uses AKHs a lot then the concept of the soul is very important… since beings have KA, does the earth or the air have its equivalent?”
“Hm? What do you mean? It is KA, everything has KA since the universe has been created by the God Atum and the concept of KA is equated with his flesh, which is the universe”
What the… We don’t distinguish between Leylines, Mana, Prana, and Od?... But that is not how the Nasuverse works.. then we only use Od? It is not clear…
Ok, let's change the approach to get more information…
“Mom, so going back to the ‘canals’, how are mine?”
“Hmm? What do you mean sweetie?”
Mom! Take the hint! I am trying to understand which quantity and quality mine are
“Emmm… are they good? Can they carry a lot of ‘KA’?”
“That is an unusual question sweetie… hmmm… I will say that yours are definitely bigger than normal since that happened when you opened them…”
Mom! What do you mean ‘unusual’? Magi are all obsessed with getting even only 1 more magic circuit… are you telling me our family doesn't even measure them?
And bigger than normal compared to WHO?
“So.. bigger than normal… for our family? Or somebody else?”
“For our family sweetie, yes yes”
That doesn’t tell me shit!!
“Okay.. and do we know somebody else to have as a reference?”
“Somebody to have as reference… Sweetie, you're asking something complicated… I suppose we could ask the Masters of the Emerald Tablet for you to measure if you want to compare…”
WHO the fuck?!
“Em.. who are these ‘Master of the Emerald Tablet’ mom?”
“Ah yes, you don’t know about them yet, the Masters of the Emerald Tablet, others also call them the Atlas Institute, is a magical organization that we have a close relationship with since ancient times and we do missions for them. They specialize in Alchemy”
Do we call Atlas with that chunni title?! And they didn’t kill us yet?!
Wait no! More importantly, we work for Atlas?!
“So.. we work for them… and what do we do exactly?”
“We transport things, Sweetie, being Abyssinians makes it easier to transport things without touching nor affecting them and get to the destination in pristine condition. We are the number one transporter family!”
So we use pocket dimensions to transport things around? That is clever!
Wait, what ‘things’?
“Mom… what ‘things’... do we transport?”
“Ah… I think your father will be better to explain this but we have a few rules that we always follow. First is to never make questions except for clarifications, they get us instructions and we do as the deal says. The second is to never touch nor open the package unless it contradicts the first one.”
What in hell are we transporting for Atlas that we need those rules?!
“And… we always did as the rules said and… never had any problem?”
“No sweetie never, eventually when you grow older you will also start to participate in those missions”
Ugh... I don’t like the idea of getting involved in that… }
Wait, do we also work for other organizations?
“And do we… work or know of other organizations or communities?”
“Hmm… They don’t deal much with magic but we normally buy things and animals from the Qesm Al Fayoum city black market… we are the biggest family in the area and so their primary customer”
*sigh*… now I know where we got the animals from… the black market…
“So.. we are ‘the biggest’ family? What about the others?”
“There aren’t sweetie! That’s why we are the biggest!, the number one!”
I swear… Mom!
I don’t want to make a Rin just so a wild Emiya appears out of nowhere later…
I am gonna need to comb the entire Fayoum area looking for magi when I grow up, don't I?
Wait… Mom didn’t mention the Mage’s association nor the Clock Tower…
“Mom… Ummm… I think I heard about an organization… the Clock Tower or something like that…“
“Sweetie, I am pretty sure that there isn’t a magical organization at your school”
No Mom… yeah there is a “clock” tower in the school but that wasn't what I was referring to…
*sigh*... our family doesn’t even know that there exists the Mage’s association? Nor that the Clock Tower exists?...
We are super isolated and it is like my family lives in its own world… With our only connection to Atlas then?...