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True,
planar paths're less flexible than portals. If a basher
knows the dark of enough portals and has enough keys, he
can go almost wherever he wants. But it's dangerous.
Well-known portals're guarded, and others keep changin'
their destination. On the other hand, a planar path just
never changes. They've been there for millennia, and
they'll still be there when the last Power dies.
Most
bashers'll tell ya there's only a few planar paths: the
River Oceanus, the River Styx, Mount Olympus and
Yggdrasil the World Ash. The real dark is there are some
more, only few cutters know the dark of them 'cos they're
rarely frequented. A real planar blood could tell ya of
at least two more uncharted paths: the River Ar-en-Gereh
and the Spirit Mountain of the Shamans.
The
former's mainly used by the Egyptian powers and their
proxies, and that's the one I'm gonna tell ya about -- if
only you'd be so kind as to keep my poor throat from
gettin' dry. Oh thanks, basher!
See,
the Egyptian Powers're a secretive and reclusive lot, and
xenophobic on top of that. They ain't unfriendly though;
what I mean is they'd rather stay amongst their ilk and
avoid non-Egyptians. Their realms're scattered amongst
many distant planes, but they like to stay in touch with
each other in order to discuss family business and such
matters.
It's
the River Ar-en-Gereh they use in such occasions. This
planar path's only known to them (and bloods like me,
obviously), so they know they won't meet too many
foreigners while travellin' on it.
The
river's uncharted as yet, so what follows is only based
on my personal voyages, as well as on what I've
eavesdropped on several occasions. If some leatherheaded
Guvner says I'm wrong; well, he is.
The
chant goes that the Ar-en-Gereh flows out of the Outlands
into the Great Wheel. Its spring's supposed to be the
same as the river Ma'at's -- but this might just be the
kind of rumour the Egyptians spread to comfort themselves
they've got nothin' in common with non-Egyptians. It's a
gentle-tempered sort of river, as if it's reflectin' the
mood of it's Egyptian parent Powers.
Now
listen carefully, berk, and keep this dark for yourself;
it may get helpful one day -- ya never know.
After
leavin' the Outlands, the Ar-en-Gereh flows through
twelve Egyptian realms, then it disappears into some
unknown place. Some bashers reckon that it meanders into
the Astral, others say into an uncharted sea of the
Hinterlands, but as usual the wisest bloods're those that
keep their bone-boxes from rattlin' in the first
place.
These
twelve realms're called the Twelve Hours by Egyptian
petitioners, because their high-up Ra passes through each
of them durin' the twelve hours of the Arcadian night.
'Course this don't mean anythin' since day and night
depend on the whims of the Powers in the first place, but
then the Egyptians're often speakin' as if they were all
fresh-faced Clueless.
The First
Hour
Every
Arcadian night, the Sun-god Ra travels through the
Egyptian Netherworld, the Duât, so that all
Egyptian petitioners -- no matter what their alignment --
can see his might, and so that all Egyptian powers're
reminded who's the high-up in charge.
For
this voyage, the Sun-barge Mesektet is put on the waters
of the River Isis by the petitioners in Gizekhtet. They
call this place the First Hour. The barge is manned by
four proxies of Ra who're deckhands; Ra sits on a rich
dais atop the barge, his proxies Path-Opener and Spirit
are on bow, and the goddess Hathor and the god Horus sit
at stern. The decks're covered with Einheriar
warriors.
Mesektet
fares through Gizekhtet with all the petitioners cheerin'
and shoutin' from the banks, then she disappears with the
River Isis under Mount Manu.
The Second
Hour
Most
berks believe the River Isis disappears after it's left
Gizekhtet. Truth is, it loses its holy powers, but it
don't disappear -- it becomes part of Ar-en-Gereh,
flowin' through the many tunnels and siphons under
Heliopolis. This underground realm's called the Second
Hour.
'Tis
a sight a plane-hopper don't forget. Buseni swimmin' and
jumpin' out of the water salutin' the barge, and Ra's
deckhands pullin' on ropes, manoeuvrin' and swervin' to
avoid the rocks. It's some experience! The Buseni're
particularly good-lookin', like black dolphins with spiky
backs -- though they're much less friendly with unwanted
travellers than your usual buseni.
The Third
Hour
Ar-en-Gereh
emerges on the first layer of Arcadia, Abellio, out of a
great cavern at the foot of Mount Bakhau. The river then
flows through a beautiful, moon-lit country of rich and
well-kept cereal fields. This realm, called the Third
Hour or Uernes, is where the souls of Egyptian commoners
work as petitioners of the Psedjet, meanin' of no god in
particular.
Most
of the produce from Uernes is shipped to Buxenus to feed
the petitioners livin' in the desert there, but this
don't bother the petitioners -- they're just happy to
know they're helpin' fellow Egyptians.
The Fourth
Hour
At
the far end of Uernes, Ar-en-Gereh flows under a huge
arch of basalt guarded by two huge guardian tasked
genies. See, these bashers got two heads each, so ya
can't sneak behind 'em to pass unnoticed through the
gate.
Past
this gate, Ar-en-Gereh becomes thunderin' and flows
through the realm of Seker, also called the Fourth Hour
or Ro-Stau. This realm lies on Thalasia, the fourth layer
of Elysium, and is a pleasure house filled with all
manners of perfumes, flowers, good food and Egyptian
ale.
When
the barge gets here, Seker greets his high-up Ra, and
everyone on board's offered a good Egyptian meal. A rare
breed of delphons who only live in these waters gather to
sing Ra's praises. Here dwell also those Guardians of
Egyptian descent; some of them always get on Mesektet to
go and assist Ra in his voyage across the
planes.
The Fifth
Hour
Past
Ro-Stau, Ar-en-Gereh's waters get calmer and the river
widens so much as to nearly become a lake. In the middle
of this lagoon lies the realm of Hathor, Amenti or the
Fifth Hour. Since Hathor's already on the barge when she
leaves the First Hour, her proxy Khentamentiu -- a most
loyal lupinal -- greets Ra and asks for him blessin' all
the babies born in Amenti. See, Hathor bein' the Egyptian
goddess of birth, all petitioners in her realm're blessed
with bein' able to bear children.
The Sixth
Hour
Ar-en-Gereh
then leaves Thalasia to enter Belierin. 'Tis an unknown
layer for most berks, but not for the Egyptian powers --
after all, they have to cross it every night on their way
to visit relatives and to battle Apophis. The Sixth Hour
is Mount Gereh, the mountain upon which lies Nut's realm,
Refuge of Night. See for some dark reason, many Egyptian
monsters of legend, lead by Aker, the two-headed giant
lion live on its slopes and prevent Ra from enterin'
Refuge of Night and punishin' Nut.
The
voyage on Belierin's always the occasion for some
Guardians to show their commitment to Ra's cause and to
leave Mesektet and the protection of Ar-en-Gereh (whose
waters the monsters of legend can't bear) to go and fight
against 'em -- only to be put in the dead-book. Knowin'
the Guardians though, I reckon martyrdom's what they were
lookin' for in the first place.
The Seventh
Hour
Ar-en-Gereh
then flows into the first layer of Ysgard, through the
realm of Bast. Again, 'tis a dangerous place for the
passengers. Felines who dwell in the thickets of Merratet
-- the Seventh Hour -- love nothin' more than attackin'
the barge from the safety of the banks. This realm's
quite peaceful durin' the day hours when the sun beats
down on it -- Bast's cats're too lazy to do anythin' but
sleep -- but it gets mighty perilous at night when
Mesektet's there and Bast's mighty cats're out huntin'.
As fits a chaotic power like Bast, the cats might as well
attack the Sun-barge as ignore her.
The Eighth
Hour
After
a twist or two through the dark thickets of Merratet,
Ar-en-Gereh washes the infertile, sandy banks of
Tukhamen, the Eighth Hour. Tukhamen lies on Stygia, the
fifth layer of Baator -- home to Seth, the evil
great-grandson of Ra, and the mightiest Egyptian power.
The sky here's a sooty black and it's even blacker when
the barge comes alongside. Seth's petitioners are all on
parade, arms ready, to impress his relatives. Irisiri,
Seth's proxy in Tukhamen, welcomes Ra and berths
Mesektet.
Gimme
some more ale, berk, or I'll stop here. Ya know, it ain't
somethin' pleasant to recall, that stop in the Eighth
Hour. Next thing I remember, Seth appears on the bank,
clad in black armour and carryin' huge, baatific
weapons.
'Twas
though he'd even dwarf Ra, gods forbid, as if his black
aura'd overcome Ra's own light.
Then
Seth gets into the barge, next to his great-grandfather
as his champion, not somethin' to please Horus but after
all Seth's still the stronger -- and the worst is still
to come.
Ar-en-Gereh
leaves the Eighth Hour through its dark desert. So does
Mesektet, berk. The air is damp and warm -- and silent,
as no one on board dare to speak, knowin' what comes
next.
The Ninth
Hour
On
Stygia, the waters of the River Ar-en-Gereh get mixed
with the foul waters of the River Styx. Only Path-Opener
can get through the incredible watery labyrinth which
lies between the Eighth Hour and Khalas, the first layer
of Gehenna.
Lava
and molten metal spurt out of the water as the river
plunges through Khalas, and as Path-Opener guides
Mesektet through the narrow gorges that Ar-en-Gereh's
sculpted out of Khalas's rock and hostile marraenoloths
cross the path of the Egyptians' barge, everyone on board
readies their weapons for the fight to come in the Ninth
Hour.
A
huge, skyless hall appears: the realm of the serpent
Apophis. Ra, his proxies and his relatives must battle it
every night or it might regain enough power to threaten
Heliopolis and other Egyptian realms. I tell ya, berk,
I've seen more battles than you'll probably ever get to,
but this 'un is a huge 'un. That basher, Apophis; it's
mightier than any power man or monster worships. It
really takes Ra's light, and the combined strength of
Seth and Horus to defeat it. Plenty of Egyptian bloods
also get killed each time in the fight against Apophis'
snake petitioners. Yet the serpent ain't dead, it's just
kinda banished 'til the next battle the followin'
night.
After
the battle, the survivors clamber back onto Mesektet and
she leaves for the next realm.
The Tenth
Hour
Y'know
berk, the battle on Khalas actually serves Ra well,
'cause it shows every night to all Egyptian bashers that
he's unbeatable and thus is rightfully in charge.
When
Ar-en-Gereh's left the Ninth Hour, it flows through
Pluton, the third layer of the Grey Waste, not far from
Hades, in a vast plain known as the Field of the
Asphodels.
See
berk, when an Egyptian dies, his soul becomes a kind of
undead bird, a ba, which somehow flies to the Tenth Hour.
There, the ba patiently waits for Ra's arrival and the
Judgement of the Dead.
Anubis
reads a summary of what each ba did in life. Ra then
decides if it's allowed to become an Egyptian petitioner,
a ka, or if the ammut eat it. What did ya say berk? Ya
never seen an ammut! Gods forbid you ever should. They're
obese, lion-headed monsters with a hippo's body who eat a
poor ba like I'm eatin' your scone here.
So
after he's judged 'bout a thousand of these bashers, Ra
just leaves and everybody's back on Mesektet
again.
The Eleventh
Hour
'Tis
quite odd berk when the barge hits her next stop. After
all those horrible nether realms it's such a relief to be
in Quietude, the Eleventh Hour, that any peery basher'd
think he was about to get peeled in some way. Well, he
doesn't, 'cause Quietude's on Amoria -- it's really a
nice place with plenty of Egyptian petitioners healin'
those who got injured in the battles against Aker and
Apophis, and bringin' fresh water and great food to
everybody. The high-up here's a lovely lupinal called
Sirian Goodwife who really makes sure everyone's treated
well.
Most
bashers get off Mesektet here to get back to their kips
on Thalasia or just to get some rest. In Quietude, the
river Ar-en-Gereh's called Serenity. Quite a fittin' name
if ya ask me.
The Twelfth
Hour
When
everybody's ready to leave Quietude, Mesektet sails forth
on Ar-en-Gereh to the last realm to be visited durin' the
Arcadian night. The Sun-barge fares back to Buxenus, to a
place called the Offering Fields or the Twelfth Hour,
where the river just disappears into the desert. Here,
Osiris' petitioners take it outta the water to be
repaired after all this voyage.
The
next Arcadian day, Mesektet's back in the First Hour and
looks as if its brand new -- ready for another voyage
through the Duât.
Well,
I think I told ya 'nough for today, berk. See, as I told
ya 'bout those Egyptian bashers -- they're jus' so peery
of strangers, I'd advise ya to forget what I said. After
all, ya wouldn't like to get eaten by an ammut or to
accidentally meet Seth, would ya?
Copyright 1998 by Gianni
Vacca,
artwork by Jeremiah Golden and Jon Winter
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