A short idea today, for Promethean: The Created.
Ah Promethean, unloved child sandwiched between the staples of the Big Three and the surprise success of Changeling. I live in hope of a Promethean reboot book along the lines of strix, idigam and whatever Mage is going to be. I mean, Scion's getting a reboot and the system for that was a nightmare!
But I digress. Today's idea for you is possibly maybe inspired by a new film coming out. The logic runs like this:
Prometheans come in nuclear flavour.
Nuclear Promethean's can create nuclear Pandorans.
Nuclear Pandorans can form Praecipitati, monsterous amalgams that are usually very destructive to an area then disappear shortly after as they break apart.
So imagine one forming from dozens (or maybe hundreds) of pandorans, most of them nuclear, in post-war Japan. Towering above buildings, covered in tough scaly armour, breathing nuclear fire from it's lizard like-head. Then, gone just as quickly but leaving a lasting impression on the witnesses, who spread the word spawning films and pop-culture throughout the World of Darkness.
I refer, of course, to Godzilla.
Monday, 21 April 2014
Friday, 18 April 2014
More Canon Thoughts: Origin of the Kindred
A recent post by the White Wolf on the Onyx Path (which is here) and my previous post which mentioned how I'd connect the Mummy and Vampire canon's (which is here, though I doubt you'd get lost in my list of posts if you just went looking yourself) got me thinking again. If the Mekhet are the first vampire clan in my personal canon, and they originate in Egypt, does their name mean something and does that hint at their original purpose?
Well, some basic egyptology and google searching later, yes, it probably does. Here's what I came up with.
The Name Mekhet
The name Mekhet means one of two things. First, Meket is one of four ancient Egyptian words we know about that means 'amulet' but the word previously meant 'protection'. The Egyptians had a lot of faith in amulets for protection so this makes some sense but it raises the question of why a clan of vampires is called this.
The second meaning is a goddess, or possibly two, or possibly more. Egypt's deities were very fluid, with names and roles changing, and merging, and splitting apart again as Egypt went from a region of independent cities to two separate countries to one unified one and so on. For one example, there are two Horuses, one who is the son of Osiris and one who is his uncle maybe, and for another, Hathor the love goddess is also Sekhmet the war goddess.
But that aside, there was a collection of goddesses called Mehit/Menhit/Mekhit/Mekhet and a few sources agree on some details. She is often depicted as a lion or lion headed deity. She is generally a war goddess, who later got merged with Sekhmet (also a lion, also a war goddess). And she is the consort of a god named Onuris/Anhur, a war and sky god who's name means "the one who leads back the distant one". More on that later.
The Chosen One
Protection and war. Hmm. Suppose someone important in ancient Egypt, most likely a pharoah or a high priest, knew about the Arisen. They almost certainly wouldn't know the full story, such as who the Shan'iatu were, all of that is secret knowledge, but they knew about Mummies, that they were very powerful beings and that they were created to serve. Being important and knowledgeable, and in possession of what they believe is the full ritual to create Arisen, they would want such a servant for themselves. So that's where this creation story starts.
Whoever this important person was, they chose a woman, a great and devoted warrior, to serve as their eternal protector. Their old life was over of course, because now they would be something far more than a mortal, so they were given the name Meket to denote they are now a protector. The ritual was carried out and the warrior journeys to Duat. As with the Arisen, she travels from the sun, fights the demons and finds ways to survive Duat's guardians, until she reaches the Judges.
And that's where the flawed ritual takes effect. Her soul, instead of being stripped away down to it's core, remains intact and doesn't break. The Judge she meets is Unem-Sef, and it is furious at the corruption of the ritual. She cannot be allowed to return with soul intact, as this would corrupt the ritual further, but the imperfections have reduced the Judge's power over this soul. So Unem-Sef chooses to be patient. It crafts another piece of a soul and adds it to the Warrior's, so that it will return with her.
The First of the Kindred
Meket awakens, and while she doesn't remember Duat, she remembers who she is and her duty. But now she's different and not in the way her master's expected. Something inside her makes her hungry, and not for food but for blood. This is a hunger that she can barely control, and she experiences anger and fear she can't control either. Worse, at every dawn, she retreats from the sun and falls into a deep sleep. This beastial creature is not the powerful servant the ritual promised, it's a monster, and Meket is driven out of Egypt.
From Egypt, she journey's south to Nubia and resides there. In her homeland, dynasty's pass and anyone who knew about her dies, the ritual most likely fading from history again. Over time, Meket gets stronger as her blood gets more potent, and she learns more tricks to aid in survival, some linked to Unem-Sef such as quick movement or heightened awareness. As well as this, she learns to tame the 'Beast' inside her too, though never fully gaining control of it and knowing the basics of just being a Kindred, like blood bonding, ghouling and embracing others probably originate here. Now, rather than being an outcast or a servant, Meket's talents now make her something more and she's worshipped by the Nubians as a warrior and a goddess. But then Onuris arrives.
What Onuris is, I haven't decided. But once he hears about Meket, he journeys to meet her with one purpose: capture her for his masters. Perhaps he hears her story and convinces her to return to Egypt to fulfill her purpose. Perhaps he captures her through trickery or even brute force. Whatever the case, Onuris becomes the man who brought a war goddess back to Egypt and Meket plays a key role in the wars at the time. Despite not being an Arisen, she is now an elder vampire and stronger and faster than most men, making her a useful tool against other nations (the Hitites or Assyrians) and darker more supernatural things.
Plot Hooks
All of this is very nice but what to do with it? Some ideas:
- Have Meket show up in a game. Sure, she'd be several thousand years old (at least 3000) in modern times but it's possible, and she is the oldest and most knowledgable Kindred around. But the question then becomes, what does she want now? If the Covenants found out what she is, what would they do to get her support?
- A hunter group called the Sons of Onuris, who specialise in training and controlling vampires and using them to hunt other supernaturals.
- What happens when a Dracolescu uses Essentiaphagia on an Amkhata?Answer: I don't know but the Mummy PC's will have to stop it :)
Well, some basic egyptology and google searching later, yes, it probably does. Here's what I came up with.
The Name Mekhet
The name Mekhet means one of two things. First, Meket is one of four ancient Egyptian words we know about that means 'amulet' but the word previously meant 'protection'. The Egyptians had a lot of faith in amulets for protection so this makes some sense but it raises the question of why a clan of vampires is called this.
The second meaning is a goddess, or possibly two, or possibly more. Egypt's deities were very fluid, with names and roles changing, and merging, and splitting apart again as Egypt went from a region of independent cities to two separate countries to one unified one and so on. For one example, there are two Horuses, one who is the son of Osiris and one who is his uncle maybe, and for another, Hathor the love goddess is also Sekhmet the war goddess.
But that aside, there was a collection of goddesses called Mehit/Menhit/Mekhit/Mekhet and a few sources agree on some details. She is often depicted as a lion or lion headed deity. She is generally a war goddess, who later got merged with Sekhmet (also a lion, also a war goddess). And she is the consort of a god named Onuris/Anhur, a war and sky god who's name means "the one who leads back the distant one". More on that later.
The Chosen One
Protection and war. Hmm. Suppose someone important in ancient Egypt, most likely a pharoah or a high priest, knew about the Arisen. They almost certainly wouldn't know the full story, such as who the Shan'iatu were, all of that is secret knowledge, but they knew about Mummies, that they were very powerful beings and that they were created to serve. Being important and knowledgeable, and in possession of what they believe is the full ritual to create Arisen, they would want such a servant for themselves. So that's where this creation story starts.
Whoever this important person was, they chose a woman, a great and devoted warrior, to serve as their eternal protector. Their old life was over of course, because now they would be something far more than a mortal, so they were given the name Meket to denote they are now a protector. The ritual was carried out and the warrior journeys to Duat. As with the Arisen, she travels from the sun, fights the demons and finds ways to survive Duat's guardians, until she reaches the Judges.
And that's where the flawed ritual takes effect. Her soul, instead of being stripped away down to it's core, remains intact and doesn't break. The Judge she meets is Unem-Sef, and it is furious at the corruption of the ritual. She cannot be allowed to return with soul intact, as this would corrupt the ritual further, but the imperfections have reduced the Judge's power over this soul. So Unem-Sef chooses to be patient. It crafts another piece of a soul and adds it to the Warrior's, so that it will return with her.
The First of the Kindred
Meket awakens, and while she doesn't remember Duat, she remembers who she is and her duty. But now she's different and not in the way her master's expected. Something inside her makes her hungry, and not for food but for blood. This is a hunger that she can barely control, and she experiences anger and fear she can't control either. Worse, at every dawn, she retreats from the sun and falls into a deep sleep. This beastial creature is not the powerful servant the ritual promised, it's a monster, and Meket is driven out of Egypt.
From Egypt, she journey's south to Nubia and resides there. In her homeland, dynasty's pass and anyone who knew about her dies, the ritual most likely fading from history again. Over time, Meket gets stronger as her blood gets more potent, and she learns more tricks to aid in survival, some linked to Unem-Sef such as quick movement or heightened awareness. As well as this, she learns to tame the 'Beast' inside her too, though never fully gaining control of it and knowing the basics of just being a Kindred, like blood bonding, ghouling and embracing others probably originate here. Now, rather than being an outcast or a servant, Meket's talents now make her something more and she's worshipped by the Nubians as a warrior and a goddess. But then Onuris arrives.
What Onuris is, I haven't decided. But once he hears about Meket, he journeys to meet her with one purpose: capture her for his masters. Perhaps he hears her story and convinces her to return to Egypt to fulfill her purpose. Perhaps he captures her through trickery or even brute force. Whatever the case, Onuris becomes the man who brought a war goddess back to Egypt and Meket plays a key role in the wars at the time. Despite not being an Arisen, she is now an elder vampire and stronger and faster than most men, making her a useful tool against other nations (the Hitites or Assyrians) and darker more supernatural things.
Plot Hooks
All of this is very nice but what to do with it? Some ideas:
- Have Meket show up in a game. Sure, she'd be several thousand years old (at least 3000) in modern times but it's possible, and she is the oldest and most knowledgable Kindred around. But the question then becomes, what does she want now? If the Covenants found out what she is, what would they do to get her support?
- A hunter group called the Sons of Onuris, who specialise in training and controlling vampires and using them to hunt other supernaturals.
- What happens when a Dracolescu uses Essentiaphagia on an Amkhata?Answer: I don't know but the Mummy PC's will have to stop it :)
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