#The Mummy and the Curse of the Jackals | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

total-drama-brainrot · 1 year ago

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Ran to listen to The Summoning, because despite also not being in the Starkid fandom I do really enjoy what I've seen of their work, and I've got to say you've piqued my interest on your AU (and not just because it's Alenoaheather 😏).

In terms of the silly little idea I've been sitting on for the past couple of hours, I'll put it under a Read More because I'm about to ramble.

CW: Mentions of death and dying! Nothing graphic, but it's always polite to mention 👍

Mine's just a bare-bones idea, also mostly generated from The Vibes of the song- which is Terrible Things by the way, an edit of it showed up on my TikTok fyp once and I couldn't get it out of my head 😓 until I listened to the whole song (it's still stuck in there)- based around the idea of someone being immortal but constantly plagued by death regardless.

I.e., they can die, but they never stay dead, and they often find themselves in fatal situations as if death itself is constantly nipping at their ankles. Like their own mortality is hunting them down for the thrill of the chase, letting them go once they're metaphorically 'caught' to start the hunt once again. Someone cursed to perish in the most horrific ways possible, only to stand up moments later and walk it off with no hope of leaving their painful purgatory.

I also really liked the aspect in the song about it being a punishment, but I couldn't think of anyone in canon who would deserve such an extreme form of punishment for their actions (other than Chris, potentially, but having him die over and over again would sort of get in the way of him hosting the show, so...).

So, of course, I immediately applied this to Noah because he lives rent free in my head (and I want to make him suffer for it).

Of course, you could substitute him for any other character(s) if you want.

And my mind, looking for a cause/justification for this, went to curses; such a fate couldn't be anything but a curse, right? And canon already has a basis for things like curses through DJ's 'Animal Curse', so it's not an outlandish leap of logic to make. As much as I disliked the animal curse plotline, the concept itself has great potential!

So what if in Egypt, Izzy and Owen raced forward down the mummy path without consulting Leshawna, DJ, Harold and Noah, leaving them as a group of four (as opposed to two groups of three)? When DJ pets the mummified dog, Noah also scrutinises another mummified figure next to it- the 'dog' is a jackal, a placeholder for Anubis, but the other figure is a depiction of Osiris (Egyptian god of life, death and resurrection among other things)- so when they disintegrate both DJ and Noah are cursed, just in different ways.

DJ gets his Animal Curse, since his prioritisation of the dog's wellbeing inadvertently caused Anubis' trinket to crumble into dust, so his 'punishment' was to have animals of all kind be adverse to him.

Osiris, on the other hand, simply decides to turn a blind eye to Noah. As the god of both life and death, this means that Noah is disregarded by both life and death- he's cursed to be rejected from both states of being, leading to him constantly being killed (having his 'live' privileges revoked) but not staying dead (also having his 'die' privileges revoked), in a perpetual vicious cycle of suffering.

...At least, that's the first concept that came to mind. 😅

The AU would then follow Noah's many, many deaths by the hands of both the challenges he faces on Total Drama and the competitors themselves, his budding horror at the realisation that he really can't die/stay dead, and how the others' react to his situation- assuming he probably tries to hide his 'secret', given that immortality is kind of a Big Deal. Also because I think trying to hide the fact that you've just died on International TV is both a great form of dark, ironic comedy whilst also being a really compelling horror concept. Additionally, it'll explore how his mental state- and perhaps also his physical state, for extra angst- deteriorates with every gruesome demise.

Not that I'm very well-versed in the art of writing/creating angst or horror content, but it's a fun idea!

(And imagining how someone like Owen would react to finding out his little buddy is literally suffering a fate worse than death fuels me.)

I'm not entirely sure if I want to go with a timeloop-adjacent approach to his dying, or a real time one minute he's a corpse on the floor, the next he's pushing himself up on shaky arms and wiping the blood from his nose zombie flavoured approach. Either way, it's got a lot of Kenny from South Park vibes to it. 🤷‍♀️

If I did go with the zombiecore approach, I think it'd be funny to pinpoint Noah as the route of Shawn's (and maybe Axel's) paranoia.

you guys ever hear a new song and frantically conceptualise a whole AU around it, starring your current Main Blorbo? or is that just me?

#oh boy 5am! time to talk about torturing my blorbos!#perp please stop enabling me and my dumb ideas. i'm probably gonna wake up tomorrow and hate this whole concept 😔#idk how to Angst properly #all i know is “be annoying” and “make bad jokes”. a court jester's skillset if you will.#total drama #td noah #cw death #silly ideas #ophe rambling #feel free to ignore

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buckyscombatboots · 2 years ago

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Monstertober Day 5:

The empty sarcophagus𓂀

Pairing: Mummy!Steve Rogers x Reader x Jackal!Bucky Barnes

Warnings: Dub con, Dead Dove: Do Not Eat, asphyxiation/ choking, scratching, marking/biting, mentions of blood, threesome, Stucky x Reader

Nicknames: Puppy, Pup, Scarab

Word count: 2.4K

༻𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐌𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫༺

Watery sunlight from the alternative entrance of the tomb falls down onto the golden sarcophagus, brightening, waning and brightening again. You arrived early enough that it's still cold, you wanted to avoid the midday heat and its blinding, orangey light that followed; you wanted to relax in the bluish grey light, the chill of the air and the absence of people scuttling around like little ants, occupying every square inch of the tomb, searching for secrets, for riches. It was stifling, suffocating; the smell of warm, sweaty people.

You entered into the sliver of sunlight, relishing in the tepid heat that faded and intensified like the ocean lapping at the shore. The golden sarcophagus in front of you was captivating, you ran your hand across the beaten gold covering the wooden coffin letting your hand linger on the brilliant coloured glass and semi-precious stones, fingering each of them in their imperfect rows; following their designs—the story of the inhabitants life. This was just the outer layer of the sarcophagus, next to it was a much heavier coffin, believed to be made of solid gold, that your team had struggled extracting from the initial layer. You moved over to it, more light was seeping in from the entrance now; the golden coffin glimmered, the lapis lazuli, agate, carnelian, amethyst and variscite inlaid on the tomb looked truly beautiful in the soft glow of the rising sun. Ever so gently you brushed your fingers across the side of the coffin, following the curve. You lifted the lid, inching it slowly open and pushing it to the side. It was empty. You could see all the inscriptions, the story of the inhabitants' entire life, but the actual mummy was gone. A frantically carved inscription was raggedly scratched into the bottom of the tomb, your eyes narrowed, your brain burning as you translated it “Cursed be those who enter my tomb...Those that break the seal of this tomb will meet their end by me. I shall seize their neck and cast fear of myself into them…Death will be upon them.” You bit your lip, removing your shaking hands from the edge of the sarcophagus and stepping backwards on trembling legs “Just a mummy’s curse, nothing too bad that’s normal. It’s going to be fine.” You soothed yourself, taking a deep breath in. Your panic was reignited when you realised “Where the fuck is the mummy?” A thin piece of fabric wrapped around your neck and you pulled backwards harshly, falling to the ground. Your hands flew to the fabric constricting your neck scratching at it, trying to distance it from your throat as it choked you, spittle flying from your mouth as you threw your head back to see who was dragging you. It was too dark.

Your vision adjusted as you were dragged into a room lit by rushlight candles, a dusty table was in the center dotted with canopic jars. The dragging stopped as did the choking, the fabric slipped away from its place around your throat; and you began sucking air back into your lungs as you swiveled your head to see who had almost asphyxiated you. You found the missing mummy. He towered over you, his atavistic linen wrapping falling off of him, exposing areas of his ancient, brown-tinged body. His face was fully visible—it was in almost perfect condition, minus a small laceration on the side of his head—defined cheekbones, a trimmed beard and piercing eyes like polished chrysocolla. He was handsome for a mummy, that thought was quickly replaced by a myriad of questions. You slowly got to your feet, putting your arms in front of yourself protectively “Scarab…” He uttered in a drawling tone.

“Scarab? No, wait, How are you even alive?” You questioned an incredulous expression distorting your features.

“That would be because of me, Pup.” A disembodied voice admitted. You turned around to try and see the other man, squinting and staring into the shadowed parts of the tomb. Then there was movement in the darkness “Over here,” He stepped into the light of the rushlight waving one of his hands that was partly paw; his hand was deep black with pads on his fingers and palm, “Hi.”

“Anubis?” Your voice tremored, you stumbled backwards bumping into the mummy behind you. His arms pulled you into him, settling you against his chest “Get off of me!” You struggled against his grip. The smell of decaying flesh reaching your nose makes you gag.

The Jackal stalked closer “Not quite, I’m Bucky a servant of Anubis and behind you is Steve; once an extremely important attendant and warrior for the pharaoh, now he is a mummy which I reanimated.” Bucky caressed your face with his cold dog-like palm, stroking across your cheek with his thumb—the long claw-like nail just about missed your eye. “You're going to be punished for opening the tomb, Pup, isn’t she Stevie?” Steve simply grunted in response, rubbing his crotch into your ass. You attempted to wriggle out of his grip but Bucky caged you in, his hands wandering down your body caressing your waist and hips. Below the thin material of his loincloth you could see his cock get harder, lifting the fabric as it did. His hands trailed back up to your tits, giving them a squeeze before he used one his sharp nails to tear open your blouse and bra. His chilly hands tweaked your nipples, his claws cutting into your skin as he pinched, you gasped trying to pull away from his touch.

Bucky’s other hand moved down to your shorts, undoing the buttons and tugging them down to your feet along with you underwear “I can smell you, little Puppy, there’s no point in trying to get away so you should at least have some fun or we’ll give you a truly terrible curse.” His voice was low and threatening, eyes narrowed and dark as he relished in the fear present in your tear reddened eyes. Bucky goes down on his knees, carefully helping you out of your shorts and tossing them across the embalming room. He placed one of your legs over his shoulder, liking his lips at the sight of your wet pussy. “So wet for us, Pup, do you secretly like being shared by two people? Do you like us taking you against your will?” You whined in response turning your head away to stare at the ancient walls, one of Steve’s hands seized your face pulling you into a kiss. His mouth was cold and tasted bitter. You scrunch your nose as he deepened the kiss, then you felt Bucky slide his long tongue inside of; the hot, wet muscle filled you so well, attacking the sweet spot inside you as the bridge of his nose rubbed against your sensitive clit. You writhed in the mummies grasp, your hands clenching and unclenching frantically—you were desperate to bury your hands in Bucky’s curls; to feel his long velvety ears and run the silky inside between your thumb and index finger. You could feel heat building in you belly as Bucky removed his tongue from your eager hole and began to suck and tease your bud, Steves kisses simply added to the sensation you head growing fuzzy from the stimulation which only intensified when Steve released your face from his hold and satiated the burning need of your clenching hole by roughly shoving two of his fingers inside you.

You pulled away from the intense kiss, slamming your head into his broad shoulder as you let out a breathy moan. “Feel good…Khepri- Scarab?” Steve probed, nibbling at your ear.

“Yes!” You whined, prying a hand from his grasp and digging your hand into Bucky’s soft hair, grinding your hips into his face trying to chase your release. He pulled away, lips red, his chin shining with spit and your slick “So close” you sobbed playing with his charcoal ears, fiddling with the golden piercing. Bucky’s large tongue licked across your inner thigh, you heard him let out a low chuckle before he sunk his teeth into the soft flesh. You hissed, slamming the back of his head with your fists. He released the area he’d bitten, slurping at the blood dripping down your thigh.

“You’re going to let Stevie fuck you arent you, Scarab?”

“I call her Scarab, my Scarab.” Steve grunted, tightening his hold on you so much so that you thought your wrist would snap, you could feel the bruises already forming as he strangled your wrists. You squeaked as he tugged you closer, his hard dick pressing on to your back, dripping precum “Saw her first. Like Khepri…appeared from nowhere, Scarab special. Mine.”

“Steve, you need to learn how to share. She can be both of ours, my Puppy, your Scarab. Okay?” Bucky kneads Steve’s shoulders soothingly.

“Fine. Scarab, up.” Steve picked you up, carrying you over to the table brushing his arm across it knocking the fragile canopic jars to the floor causing them to shatter. He lays you on your back on the dusty stone table; he pulled your hips closer to the edge. Staring into your eyes as he ran his red, leaking, mushroom head through your folds. You whimpered as he teased you, copying what he’d seen Bucky do earlier and playing with your puffy clit. With a single thrust he shoved himself fully inside, his dick crashing against your cervix almost painfully as he tried to fit all of his length in, giving shallow thrust to try get it all the way. A painful sting tore through you as your pussy tried to grow accustomed to the size of his girth shaft, Steve's eyebrows knitted together in frustration.

Bucky grazed his hand across Steve’s arm gently “It’s not gonna fit all the way. Remember what I told you? You’re big.” The jackal chuckled at Steve’s pout and his grumbling “He’s big isn’t he, Puppy? Too big. Try to breathe. Now turn your head to the side, Steve’s not gonna be the only one having fun.” You don’t know why, but you obeyed him; turning your head so your cheek rested against the cool stone. When you turned you were met with Bucky’s cock, he’d taken off his loin cloth and now you could fully see it. It was long, thick (not as thick as Steves), with a purple vein running from the base all the way to the tip and a golden piercing through the head, matching the ones in his ears. A bead of precum dripped from the head and he smeared it across your lips. A devious smile stretching across his lips “Open up. Don’t even think about biting it or I’ll pull out all your teeth and put them in one of the canopic jars.” He lowered his voice an octave as he threatened you. Steve stopped his thrusts giving Bucky a disapproving glare.

“Don’t threaten Scarab.” He growled, making Bucky’s ears pull backwards, he nodded, looking like a puppy that just got caught chewing something they weren’t supposed to, you snickered shooting a smile at him. Your smile soon faded as Bucky’s heady scent filled your nostrils; he sheathed the full length of his veiny cock in your mouth. You could feel the head of his dick brush uncomfortably against the walls of your throat. You gaged a bit and he rasped out a moan in response “that’s it, choke on it, Puppy.” You claw at his thick, hair thighs with your nails pushing yourself off of him, saliva leaking down your chin as you glare at him with teary eyes. He tangles his fingers in your hair and begins pounding into you, disregarding your muffled pleas for him to slow down “this is a punishment after all, Pup. Can’t be too nice.”

“Scarab feels good, s-so warm.” Steve moaned, his thrusts becoming more erratic, the sound of his balls slapping against your ass echoing throughout the room.

“I won't deny that she’s warm, but it’s also because you’re extremely cold, big guy.” Bucky used his free hand to play with your nipples, circling the hardened nub with his claw “Gonna make pleasure and pain indistinguishable for you.” Buck snarled, dragging his claws across your rib cage as he rammed his dick down your throat. Your jaw ached and mild prickling from the tiny incisions made you clench around Steve. You felt so full, your brain growing hazy as a pleasurable heat spread across your lower back.You tried to close your legs around Steve as the tingling inside you grew “She’s close. Come for us, Puppy!” He demanded quickening his thrusts in an attempt to catch up to both you and Steve. Your eyes flickered upwards towards the mummy above you. His face was flushed, mouth wide open, tears in his eyes as his brutal pace continued—the sight was enough to send you over the edge.

The sounds of Steve and Bucky’s moans cut into white noise as the coil tightening within your lower abdomen finally snapped, making your eyes roll back into your head as your pussy tensed around Steve's pulsing dick. His fingers dug into your hips as he came with a violent thrust and a gravelly grunt. Your eyes burned as Bucky’s held your face flush against his pelvis as let all of his seed flow down your throat. Bucky slipped his cock out of your mouth, the ache within your jaw finally dissipated. Begrudgingly Steve weakened his hold on your hips, whining as he slowly pulled out of you. Groggily you lifted your wrist, reading your watch—it was almost eight in the morning. The team was going to be here soon. Shakily you got to your feet, searching for your shorts that Bucky had tossed. The Jackal grabbed your arm. “I need to go, the research team is going to be here soon.”

“Oh sweet little Puppy, you’re not leaving. You’re coming with us, back to the underworld.” Bucky cooed, you felt two large hands seize your throat and squeeze, constricting your throat in his murderous grip. You fought for air, kicking at Steve's legs with your feet as he lifted you off the ground with his strong beefy arms, even below the bandaged you could see the muscles in his arms tense and his veins bulging as he used all his strength to clutch your throat. Darkness bordered your vision as the air drained from your lungs; your floundering and thrashing became more violent, you could feel the adrenaline leaving your body that was slowly growing slack “Shhh, death isn’t scary. It’s fun. You’ll travel through Duat on Ra’s boat, consult with Oris, meet master Anubis and then we can spend eternity together in the stars. Sleep now, Puppy, and when you wake we’ll begin our journey, together.”

Tag list: @alina02 @winterslove1917 @unabashed-lover-of-fictional-men @petesey @getwellsoontana @feyfantome @alexxavicry @ashenc-blog @floral-recs @renster05 @redbloodedgurl @shrekwreck @sweetwrathoflilith @cjand10 @flamefoxxrecs @addie5587483 @little-bunny0523 @sojuxxi @adoreyouusugar @teambarnes72 @wintasssoldier @gryffindorqueensworld @aerangi @itwillgetbetter @cevansgurl @bval-1 @taramaria

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starks-hero · 3 years ago

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From Dust

Pairing: Steven Grant x Reader

Summary: Inside an ancient Egyptian tomb, Steven finds his courage.

Word Count: 2.0k

Warnings: slight spoilers for episode 4! Steven being an adorable egyptology nerd <3

The tomb of Ammit, sealed for thousands of years and filled only by things with no pulse, smelled exactly how you might expect it to. The strong odour, which Steven had fondly labelled an 'aroma of death' was so horrendously overpowering you could taste it in the back of your throat.

Yet the horrid smell and clouds of thick dust accompanied by the general peril your current surroundings caused you to feel proved to not be enough to dampen Steven's excitement.

“Oh, this- this is amazing.” His voice wavered with unbridled joy as his eyes fell on the decorated walls of the tomb. You were sure they had once been coloured brilliant golds and blues yet had been peeled away by the wilful hand of time.

“These paintings would have taken weeks, months maybe!" See these, just here?” His fingers graced the depiction near the top of the wall. “These are high priests. Egyptians believed that their paintings would come to life once the tomb was sealed and help guide the dead to the afterlife. So whoever's buried here–” He motioned around the room, illustrating the fact that not a single wall was devoid of paint. “-one important bloke.”

You both continued to take in the true magnificence of the crypt you stood in. Its true scale was baffling and despite how hard you tried, you couldn't quite digest the fact that a tomb of this magnitude was built for just one person. Steven had been right, the owner of the tomb had certainly been held in high regard, a point only further emphasised by the dizzying amount of fine pendants, rings and scarabs laid out at your feet. You watched as Steven reached for what appeared to be a jackal-headed canopic jar and felt the familiar stir of paranoia in your chest.

“Maybe it's best we don't touch anything, ancient curses and all that.”

He turned to you with a surprisingly unfazed grin. “superstitious?”

“Not usually.” You made your way towards him with such care you could have been mistaken for walking on broken glass. “Just when I'm standing inside an Egyptian tomb looking for an ancient crocodile god."

“That- that is a very good point actually, yeah.” Steven hastily pulled his hand back from the artefact, wiping his palms into the fabric of his pants for good measure. “Speaking of curses and crocodile gods and all that–” he cleared his throat as if trying to dislodge the fear that had settled in his voice. “l think maybe we should find something to defend ourselves with in case, you know-” you vaguely caught sight of him making what appeared to be claws with his hands.

Doing your best to ignore the odd sense of adorableness that accompanied the gesture, you considered his words carefully and began to search the room for anything that could be brandished as a weapon. Your eyes settled on a long, winding metal rod with a sharpened hook you did not want to find yourself on the business end of.

“Oh.” You sounded rather confident as you held up your find for Steven to see. Your sureness in yourself was immediately offered up for scrutiny when a look torn between amused and disgusted settled over his features.

“Yeah, um, that's a brain hook. It was put up the old nozzle to remove the brain during mummification.”

“Oh-” You dropped the tool before Steven even had the chance to finish telling you about its function. The name ‘brain hook’ proved to be enough information for you to decide you no longer wanted an item related to organs in your hand.

You almost expected Steven to make some attempt at a joke, or to explain the role the other tools laid out on the tables in front of you played in the mummy-making process. However, his eyes had trained on something just ahead of you. When you finally caught sight of it you felt an uncomfortable twinge in your stomach.

“Wow, look at you,” Steven moved towards what was undoubtedly a mummified corpse with a surprising level of eagerness and enthusiasm. “This is- this is just amazing. He must be centuries old, look at how well preserved the flesh is and here, the markings on the skull are– oh, bloody hell!” Steven fired himself away from the wall, his back hitting your chest with such force that for a moment you feared the corpse before you had regained life and tried to attack him.

The extremity of the scenario your mind had crafted resulted in a relieved sigh when you discovered that nothing but an, albeit relatively large, spider beginning to make its way out of the mummy's hollowed eye was responsible for Steven's reaction.

“That's disgusting,” he gulped, releasing his grip on your arm he'd grabbed hold of during the haste, before turning to the mummified body with an apologetic expression. “No offence.”

The silence following Steven's comment only seemed to add to the sense of unease that had begun to settle over you both. You quickly continued on, the walls seeming to close in on you as you went. Steven, now hyper-aware of what might be surrounding him, remained so close to you as you walked his chest brushed your back and his breath fanned out over your neck. It was something neither of you commented on.

The path you’d been following came to a sudden end, completely obstructed by what appeared to be columns that had given way and collapsed over time. There was a small opening, big enough perhaps for you both to make it through. However, the sight alone was enough to make you feel uneasy. You attempted to use your flashlight to derive any clues as to what might be awaiting you both on the other side, however, the beam of light flickered stubbornly before the bulb gave in altogether.

“Perfect...”

“I'll go first,” Steven said suddenly. “Make sure it's safe, you follow after, yeah?”

Your lips parted with the intention to argue but the smile he offered, that told you not only was he capable of doing this but that he wanted to, proved victorious over your better judgement.

Steven sucked in what was almost a comedically large breath as he shifted the fallen stone slightly to the side to widen the gap for him to squeeze through. You breathed a quiet ‘be careful’ under your breath, your fingers dragging heavily over his shoulder, almost hesitant to let him go.

The few moments that passed in silence after he disappeared from your view were among the longest of your life. You had just begun to plan to do something reckless when Steven’s hand reappeared from between the gap in the stones.

“You have got to see this.”

You swallowed the fears that had so quickly almost driven you to irrationality and accepted his open palm.

The room you entered was voluminous, so large that you almost felt yourself physically growing smaller as you stood inside. The walls, unlike those you had already passed, shone a brilliant gold, completely untouched by the greedy hands of time. And there, in the middle of it all sat a sarcophagus so grand that only a king could possibly have been laid to rest inside.

“This is incredible,” you managed.

“Mind-blowing more like.”

You stepped towards the sarcophagus, your hands hesitantly curling into your sides as if you feared your touch would cause the gold paint to flake away to dust.

“Just look at this thing, museum replicas do not do the real thing justice. And the detailing is insane. There's no way paint, especially paint from centuries ago, would hold up like this. Not even in an airtight tomb. Which means this must be made from actual gold. They must have built this entire tomb around the sarcophagus!”

Steven watched you as you spoke as if he were observing an artist at work. The way your eyes shone with excitement and how your hands graced so carefully over the coffin but never once came in contact with the delicate metal.

“Isn't it amazing?”

"Yeah.” Steven's answer was somewhat absentminded. He couldn't help but think about how fitting it was, you standing there, inside an ancient tomb full of precious gold and artefacts. Your beauty was just as timeless as the relics that surrounded you and Steven found himself becoming more and more enthralled with each passing second. The warmth of your eyes and the calming aura that practically radiated from you in waves. The fine shaping of your jaw, cheeks and nose, as if the most talented sculptor had taken his time to carve you from the finest marble. Honestly, you should be in the Louvre–

“Steven?”

He blinked a few times. You were staring at him, brow quirked and wearing a somewhat amused smile and oh god did he say any of that out loud?

“Sorry, sorry I– sorry.” He could hear his own voice screaming at him to say something, anything else but he felt as though his words were a runaway train that he couldn't find the brakes for. He kept stumbling one word over another until your voice served as an interval between his nonsensical rambling. You assured him he didn't have to apologize, not that you were entirely sure what it was he was apologising for, and Steven bit his tongue to prevent him from saying 'sorry' again.

Before rationality could reconquer his mind, Steven's hands had already moved on their own accord, timidly brushing along your arm and resting against your shoulders. You felt the breath leave your body when you noticed his eyes focusing on your lips like a man starved.

You said his name quietly, granting him permission and he wasted little time in closing the distance between you. His kiss was eager and graceless and yet utterly perfect. Steven's inexperience was noticeable in each of his movements and you could feel his hands fumbling with uncertainty against your sides. In this ancient place, filled only with death and dust, the innocence of how your lips moved together was like the dawn breaking after an endless night.

Nerves soon began to take over and Steven found himself having to place a hand against the tomb beneath him to ensure he didn't crash to the floor due to the weakness in his knees. Just as he began to pull back, an apology already forming on the tip of his tongue, he felt your hand fall against his cheek. It anchored him to you and told him in the most silent and intimate of ways that you wanted this just as much as he did.

When the kiss broke Steven laughed breathlessly against your mouth and the sound was enough to make you feel dizzy. Your lips were left feeling light and bare and desperate for him again.

“I've-” he swallowed. “I've really wanted to do that for a while now.”

A million thoughts and affirmations rushed to the forefront of your mind, but feeling as though none of them truly did the man stood before you justice, none of them passed your lips. Your thumb traced along the plane of his cheek and something between a sigh and a whimper sounded as a result.

“Sorry, mate,” he spared a rueful glance down at the coffin beneath him. “No disrespect or anything it's just-” he motioned to you as if your divinity was enough of a justification for him kissing you above the remains of an ancient king.

“We should keep moving.” You said suddenly. Your voice felt unusually light and you were hyper-aware of the beating of your heart.

“Wha- yeah, yeah okay." Steven was still smiling, brighter than anything that should have been hidden away in a tomb so dark. When you stepped away, however small the distance between you may have been, he still found it a struggle to let you go.

“Steven, you sly son of a bitch." Marc's voice echoed somewhat fondly in his head. "I didn't think you had it in you."

#steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #moon knight #moon knight x reader #steven grant imagine #1k

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hopelessrromantix · 3 years ago

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The Jackal and the Bird | Prologue

summary: your life as a demigod (and friend of Anubis) is fairly normal. that is, until you spot your husband at a museum... insisting his name is steven... and saying he doesn't even remember you. and to top it all off, some guy is trying to help a giant crocodile kill some people. great.

(t/w): m/m, violence, cursing

for m/nblm, no fem aligned

masterlist

Your house was completely silent, save for the soft patter of rain on your windows.

Even though it was 3 am and storming, you could still hear the sound of distant cars honking. London was like New York in that way, it never truly slept.

You were stuck in your own head, blocking out the sounds of the world.

“You must leave soon,” A voice called, breaking the enjoyable quiet. “There are souls to carry over.”

The voice was deep, so deep it rumbled through your chest. The first time you’d heard it, it had startled you, but now you’d grown accustomed to it.

You sighed. In some ways, you hated your job.

Not your normal job, of course. Collecting and studying ancient artifacts was your passion.

No. You hated your night job.

“Who is it this time?” You questioned, standing up from your couch. You were still dressed for your day job, having been too tired to bother changing once you came home. The National Art Museum in London had just released an exhibit on the Ennead, and since you were the only curator, it had taken up a lot of your time.

“Two young women. Set to die in their homes.” The voice didn’t sound sad, despite the grim topic. You knew it wasn’t a lack of empathy, he was just so used to witnessing death. You too had grown numb to it, though watching souls pass on had never gotten easier.

“I take it they don’t go peacefully,” You assumed, slipping off your blazer.

“Do they ever?”

No. They didn’t.

You took a deep breath, summoning your suit.

As Anubis’ avatar, your suit was centered around jackals. Your golden eyes were the only thing visible in the dark night sky. The rest of your outfit was black, save for the ankh in the middle of your chest. Pieces of your suit flowed like dark mummy wrappings, moving with the wind. Though your eyes were sometimes obscured by your hood, they were usually enough to terrify your targets.

Your suit was always empowering. Something about the look of fear in those you passed judgment on would send a rush of adrenaline through you. It was both frightening and incredible.

After a moment or two, you walked over to your window, sliding it open and closing it behind you, clinging onto the side of your apartment (perhaps apartment wasn’t the right word, maybe penthouse).

You jumped onto the roof of the next building with ease. After only a second, Anubis appeared beside you, holding his staff topped with an ankh.

The god was much taller than you, likely twice your height. His clothing was dark, and he wore a similar hood to yours. The only non-human part of him, besides his height, was his jackal head. Even with his purely golden eyes, you could tell he was staring off into the night.

Black curls of wrappings floated off him, as if he was one of the mummies he watched over. Besides his eyes, the golden ankh in the center of his chest was the only sign of color. It glinted in the moonlight, much like the same symbol on your chest.

You inhaled deeply, taking in London’s night air. It wasn’t nearly as clean as the remote corners of the world you’d been to, but it was better than your stuffy apartment.

“You must be careful. I smell a bird…” Anubis’ nose twitched as if someone had swiped a feather below it.

You crane your head up to look him in the eyes, tilting your head.

“A bird?” You questioned. “Did Thoth choose an avatar? I thought he was still in Egypt, he hates working with humans.”

Thoth was one of the few other gods you’d ever had contact with. He didn’t like humans very much, usually regarding them as having lower intelligence. Since he was the god of wisdom, he wasn’t really wrong.

“I’m not certain, the smell is faint.”

You sighed. Sometimes you wished things could be easy.

“Do you think he’ll interfere?” You didn’t think you were ready for another discussion with Thoth. Somehow, the god always seemed condescending. Sure, he was smarter than just about anyone, but you still didn’t like being talked down to by an overgrown bird.

“He may, old friend.” Anubis huffed. “We will need to watch for him.”

You nodded, watching as Anubis vanished into sand on the night air.

You hopped from rooftop to rooftop with ease, heading toward the location of your next targets.

A skill of yours was sensing those who would die soon. Finding soon-to-be-dead souls was a talent you wish you didn’t have.

Sometimes you’d see them on the street, their souls out of place in the crowds. You always went out of your way to be nice to them, but there wasn’t any way you could help. Sadly, death was inevitable. Even if you helped them dodge their set death, fate would find another way to kill them.

It didn’t make it any less heartbreaking.

The innocent souls of the world may not have had anyone to help, but you and Anubis would make sure they carried onto the field of reeds.

You landed on the roof of your target building soon after.

You slid open a window, landing on the wooden floor quietly.

It was a fairly modern apartment, nothing impressive, but definitely wealthier than most. It smelled like the various flowers that decorated the room, sitting in vases around you.

But what stuck with you most, was the screaming.

Actually, ‘begging’ was a better word.

It was a woman, likely younger than you, pleading with an unknown figure. You could hear it in the living room, coming from one of the other open doors, presumably the bedroom.

Her voice cracked every few seconds, interrupted by her sobs. Your heart broke for her, though you knew you couldn’t help.

You heard the sound of glass breaking, and a shrill scream, followed by more crying.

You inhaled deeply, using one of the skills Anubis granted you.

The gift (or curse) of being a fly on the wall. A rush of warmth spread through your body as you stepped into the bedroom, completely unsensed by those around you. Even though they couldn’t see you, you’d still have to be careful not to make any noise.

Two women were on the ground, one’s head in the lap of the other. You didn’t need to be Anubis’ avatar to see that she was fading fast.

A large wound covered her stomach, and bright red blood pooled onto the floor, barely visible in the lamp-lit room.

“Simone… please…”

You could hear the other woman’s quiet pleas, holding the other, who was presumably Simone, close to her chest. She was attempting to talk, begging for someone named Anne (who you assumed was the other girl) to run. She wasn’t strong enough to speak above a quiet whisper. You doubted even Anne could hear her.

“You can’t leave me,” Anne said firmly, grasping Simone’s face with a gentleness you recognized. You held Marc the same way. Your heart broke just a little more for them.

Simone was dying quickly. You could feel her soul fading, slowly pulled by Anubis’ power. Anne was injured as well. Though it wasn’t enough to kill her, you knew it would be a matter of time.

You could hear heavy footsteps approaching, and it seemed Anne heard the same thing.

She stood up, quickly and quietly rushing to shut the door, but a man dressed in all black reached it first, forcing it open. Anne stepped back, standing in front of Simone.

You could sense her fear. It ran through her veins like a drug. But you could also sense her determination. She would go down swinging, you could tell.

“Was wonderin’ where you got to,” The man laughed. He had an American accent, his voice gruff and harsh. “That bitch dead yet?” He gestured to Simone, who was slipping away ever faster. She likely had less than a few minutes now.

“Don’t you talk about her like that,” Anne spoke firmly, staring the man down. The fear in her body started to waver, turning to pure anger.

Another man walked in behind him. “Quit talking. We need to go, she probably called the cops.”

The other man, as if he only just realized that, nodded and moved forward.

He took out a knife, glinting in the low light of the room.

He slashed at Anne, and she stepped back quickly. You could see it had cut her shirt, but she seemed unharmed.

She swung up her leg, kicking him in the face and knocking him to the ground.

You were impressed. Her kick was messy and she nearly fell over after, so it was obvious she had no fight training. But you could respect someone like her.

The man’s knife had clattered to the floor with him, and Anne picked it up, quickly stabbing the man in the neck. It wasn’t his jugular, but she dug it in deep, taking it out and stabbing again. She was just about to do it a third time when a shot rang out.

She could only shakily look down as blood poured from her own neck, dripping down onto the floor. She looked over to Simone, falling to the ground with her.

“I give him one damn job,” The other man muttered, hooking his pistol back up to his thigh.

The man on the floor was choking, blood pouring from his neck and mouth.

“Have fun with that,” The one in the doorway said, walking back through the house.

You sped in front of him, finally releasing your camouflage and staring at him.

Once he turned a corner, he jumped at the sight of you before him, a dark mask with golden eyes staring him down. You could feel fear sting his mind, but he pushed it away.

“The hell are you? One of those hero freaks?” He unstrapped his gun, pointing it at your head.

“Far from it.”

His eyes narrowed as he fired. The bullet bounced off your mask, not even scratching it. He looked surprised, firing several more bullets in succession.

You sighed. They never caught on that bullets wouldn’t work.

You simply walked up to him, enduring his fire until, finally, his clip ran out.

Your hand wrapped around his neck, cutting off his airflow.

“May Anubis judge you harshly.”

Clamping your hand down, you heard a loud snap. You dropped him to the ground, feeling Anubis drag his soul away with no further words.

You made your way back to the bedroom. The first man was standing up now, staggering to the door while holding his wound. He met your eyes when you walked in, and fear spread through him like wildfire.

“May your soul be condemned to the sands,” You said firmly, whipping out a golden ankh from your chest and using the sharp end to slice through his jugular. More blood fell from his throat and he collapsed almost immediately. Anubis dragged him away.

You finally turned to the two women, both now lying dead on the cold floor. You sighed. This part of your job was always the saddest.

You reached into their bodies, pulling their souls from their corpses.

Even their souls were afraid when they saw you, but Anne seemed to calm after looking over you.

“Are you the reaper? Death, I mean.”

You considered her question. “In some ways, yes, I am.”

She nodded. Simone was staring at Anne, tears sparkling in her eyes.

“You should’ve run.” She said, one hand covering her mouth as she tried not to cry. Guilt raged through her.

“I wasn’t leaving you.” Anne said, her voice unwavering.

“It is alright,” You reassured. “You will have time to talk in the field of reeds.”

“The what?” Simone questioned.

You didn’t answer, simply resting a hand on them. “May Anubis judge you kindly.”

They dissipated into mist, their spirits fading from the world.

You slipped into the night, far too ready to return home.

Marc was confused.

Marc was very confused.

According to Khonshu two murderers and thieves they’d been tracking had just landed in London. They picked a fairly standard house as their target, and it was the perfect time to end them.

But now that he stood in the home, four bodies littered the floor.

“The hell happened here?” He asked, looking over two women, one with a bullet wound and the other one stabbed.

Khonshu sat on an armchair in the corner.

“It smells like a mutt,” The god said angrily.

Marc’s mask faded as he somehow looked even more confused.

“The dog is nearby, I can smell him,” Khonshu said, as if it was meant to clarify.

“Yeah, that doesn’t explain anything,” Marc commented, looking over to the man with throat wounds on the floor. His blood was puddled around the room, as if he’d staggered from place to place before finally giving up.

“The Jackal, Death,” Khonshu began. “Anubis’ jackal is likely near. You must be careful with him, he is not a man to be trifled with or underestimated.”

“Another avatar?” Marc was slightly curious.

Khonshu sighed, as if he was already tired of explaining. “He is not simply an avatar, like humans would be. He is the son of Set, but he spends far too much time around Anubis.” It was easy to tell the god had some animosity toward Anubis, for whatever reason.

“So basically two more gods just interrupted our mission?” Marc questioned. “If they’re so good at this why don’t you get a team up or something? Send them a list of the people I’m supposed to hunt down,” Marc suggested, thankful he wouldn’t have to add more bodies to his count that night.

“They have rules and methods that must be followed. They do not just kill, they condemn the wicked for eternity. And they’re very picky about receiving help.”

Marc paused for a second, nearly laughing despite the blood under his feet. “All I’m hearing is that you tried to get in on their operation and they said they’re too cool for you.”

Khonshu was silent for a moment, forcing a smile and a scoff from Marc. “If that is how you would like to say it, yes.” Khonshu agreed.

Marc left the bedroom, stepping over the second man’s body in the doorway. He slipped out a window without another word.

At least his hands were clean tonight.

#letters to moon knight #jackal and the bird #moon knight #x reader #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #jake lockley x reader #marc spector #steven grant #jake lockley #moon knight x male reader #male reader #dom male reader #top male reader #steven grant x male reader #marc spector x male reader #khonshu #avatar!reader #demigod!reader

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sphymx · 3 years ago

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1. can you tell me all the differences you know between ygo pyramid of light anubis and real World mythology anubis? 2. is Zorc supposed to be set? 3. Which pharaoh was really good at senet and could be considered a king of games? 4. Do real cursed millennium items exist?

Hi Anon :) I’m sorry for the delayed answer. I’m doing my best to answer as quickly as possible!

1. It’s been a while since I’ve last seen Pyramid of Light so I might have forgotten a few things about the Anubis character but from what I can recall he was the main villain of the film, was evil, wanted to destroy the world and to kill Pharaoh Atem.

Now, the real world mythology Anubis is actually very different. First, Anubis is a jackal, a wolf or a wild dog (there’s no consensus of which exact animal he is but he’s a canine). He is usually black (which is the colour of rebirth) and wears a scarf (could be a bandage for mummies). And he inherits most of his personality from these animals: as a dog, Anubis leads the way and protects. As a scavenger, the jackal was usually seen near tombs and necropolis so Anubis was naturally associated with these areas.

Therefore, Anubis was the protector of tombs and necropolis. He also leads the deceased on his way to the Afterlife and protects him. One condition to get safely to the Afterlife in Ancient Egypt was to be mumified and have a safe burial. So Anubis was also the patron of embalmers and oversaw the momification process. Thus, he is a god who is active in the process of rebirth.

Finally, as a god, Anubis would always favour the king above all individual and would therefore protect him and not want to destroy him as seen in the ygo movie. One of the most beautiful statue of Anubis that is known to us was actually found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.

2. I don’t really know by what or by whom Kazuki Takahashi was inspired to create Zorc.

For me, personally, Zork is very different from Seth. As Seth is a war-god, extremely agressive and who can hurt others and go against morals but he still fights along the other gods to protect the sun from being destroyed. I would think the character that is mostly inspired by Seth is Seto Kaiba (thus his first name).

3. Unfortunately, as much as I would love to be able to answer you, we wouldn’t know about that. We know next to nothing about the pharaohs personal interests. They probably all knew how to play senet but it is impossible to say if they enjoyed playing it and how well they played it.

4. No?

#Yu-Gi-Oh!#ygo dm #yu-gi-oh! duel monsters #Ancient Egypt #Anubis #answer to an ask

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nerdythebard · 4 years ago

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#7: Anubis, God of the Dead

Well, now we've done it, Gods and Goddesses!

In our journey through the deserts of Egypt, we took a detour and found ourselves in the Land of the Dead. Now, we are under the watchful eye of Anubis. This psychopomp shall lead us to the Hall of Two Truths, were our soul will judge itself. Let's take a walk, shall we?

Next Time: I AM THE ETERNAL DRAGON! SPEAK YOUR WISH AND I SHALL GRANT IT! Sudden change of plans, dearies... Next time, we take a look at a strapping young lad who knows a thing or two about yard decorations. He got it from his daddy dearest.

So, what can we do to make Anubis chill our enemies to the bone:

Friends on the Other Side: Anubis has a connection to the spirits of the dead. He can grant them a facsimile of life to act on his behalf, damage and slow enemies in a wide AoE.

Crowd Control: Anubis can call upon a plague of locusts to damage enemies in a cone in front of him, as well as keep foes restrained with mummy bandages.

Death Glare: Anubis's Ultimate is a literal death glare, his sight becomes a piercing beam of necrotic energy heavily damaging enemies in front of him.

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Anubis's D&D race is a much more difficult case than I first imagined. Now, there is a race called Khenra

which would be a dead-ringer for Anubis, but their stats from the Plane Shift: Amonkhet document is... honestly, it's pretty bad and wouldn't make for a nice build.

Instead, let's take a look at the closest we have to a lycanthrope in player options, the Shifter race. More specifically, the Wildhunt Shifter, who are described to often be "the spiritual leaders of the shifter communities", which I'd say fits Anubis pretty well. As a Shifter, we get +2 Wisdom and +1 Dexterity, 30 feet of walking speed, 60 feet of Darkvision, and our only known language is Common. As a Natural Tracker, we get proficiency in Survival skill, and our key trait is our Shifting ability. As a bonus action, we can assume a more beast-like form (in this case, jackal-like). The transformation lasts for 1 minute/until we die/until we dismiss it as a bonus action. When we shift, we get Temporary Hit Points equal to [our level + Constitution modifier], as well as a feature unique to the type of shifter we choose. Wildhunt Shifters gain an advantage on Wisdom checks while shifted, and no creature within 30 feet of them can impose a disadvantage unless the shifter is incapacitated.

For our background, I think picking Acolyte is the most suitable choice. We get proficiencies with Insight and Religion (to better judge the intentions of a soul) and the Shelter of the Faithful feature, which grants us safety at any temple dedicated to the deity we're the acolyte of (either Kelemvor or Jergal are a good option here).

ABILITY SCORES

Anubis is a light armour caster-type, so we're going to focus on those stats. We will start with Dexterity to pull off that leather armour, and follow it with Wisdom; we must be wise in our judgment, and it's also our spellcasting ability. Constitution is next, as it's pretty important for casters to have decent Hit Points.

The stats on the down-low side of things shall be Intelligence, followed by Charisma, and we shall dump Strength.

CLASS

Yet another pure build. To keep the flow of souls at a steady pace and guide them to Osiris's Halls, Anubis is a Cleric.

As a Cleric, we get the d8 as our Hit Dice, [8 + Constitution modifier] initial Hit Points, proficiencies with light armour, medium armour, shields, and simple weapons. For this I suggest a studded leather armour and a dagger (perhaps like the one Egyptians used in the mummification processes, eh? :D), since this is a primarily spell-heavy build. Our saving throws is Wisdom and Charisma and we get to pick two class skills: let's go for Persuasion and History.

---

Level 1 - Clerics are full-casters, so from the very beginning we get our Spellcasting feature. We know cantrips and ritual casting, and we get access to the entire Cleric spell list, from which we can prepare a number of spells equal to [our Wisdom modifier + our Cleric level]. Starting with cantrips, we get to select three:

Guidance lets us give a creature we touch an extra d4 to their next skill check performed within 1 minute of casting (concentration). Very useful for "skill monkeys" like rogues or bards.

Sacred Flame is a good source of radiant damage. It requires a Dexterity saving throw from a target within 60 feet of us, or results in 1d8 radiant damage (damage increases with our level).

Toll the Dead fits Anubis's theme. Calls the soul for their final judgement. Forces onto them a Wisdom saving throw. On a failed save, the target take 1d8 necrotic damage. If they already have some Hit Points missing, they take 1d12 damage instead.

We start with two 1st-level spell slots and we can prepare four 1st-level spells:

Bless gives up to three creatures of our choice an extra d4 to all attack rolls and saving throws for 1 minute (concentration).

Cure Wounds is THE staple healing spell at lower levels, and it reflects Anubis's theme of preparing and embalming the body for their journey to the afterlife. A creature we touch regains [1d8 + our spellcasting modifier] Hit Points. It doesn't work on undead or constructs.

Guiding Bolt deals 4d6 radiant damage and applies advantage to the next attack roll made against the target (it can be ours or somebody else's).

Sanctuary protects a creature from harm for 1 minute. When attacking somebody who's under the effect of Sanctuary, the attacker must make a Wisdom saving throw or choose a different target.

We're not done with Level 1 features yet, because that is also where Clerics get their subclass, their Divine Domain. There are two official subclasses that mention Anubis by name, but for this build I feel like Grave Domain works best. As a Grave Cleric we get access to some more spells - those are always prepared for us and we don't count them against the number of spells we can prepare:

Bane works similarly to Bless, except the target has to make a Charisma saving throw or subtract 1d4 from each attack roll and saving throw they make for 1 minute (concentration).

False Life transforms necromantic energy into a facsimile of life, giving us 1d4+4 Temporary Hit Points for 1 hour (or until they're lost).

Grave Cleric's first subclass feature is Circle of Mortality, which boosts our healing spells. Where normally we would have to roll dice on healing spells (like 1d8 on Curse Wounds), we can instead automatically use the highest number on the die. We also learn Spare the Dying cantrip, which saves a fallen creature from making Death Saves. For us, the cantrip has 30 feet reach instead of touch.

We also get Eyes of the Grave. It works similarly to the Paladin's Divine Sense except this one only shows us the undead present within 60 feet of us.

And that's it for Level 1. Clerics, man... they're early game powerhouses.

Level 2 - This level gives us access to the Channel Divinity feature, which lets us tap into the Divine Energy of our deity to perform amazing features. For now, we can use it once per short or long rest. All Clerics get the Turn Undead effect - each undead within 30 feet of us must make a Wisdom saving throw or become turned (they cannot move towards us within 30 feet, and must spend their turn trying to move away from us as far as they can) for 1 minute. The Grave Domain gives us another CD effect - Path to the Grave. This effect curses a target of our choice within 30 feet of us, until the end of our next turn. During that time, the next attack that damages a target makes it vulnerable to that damage type (damage dealt increases by half) and the curse ends.

We also get a new spell - Inflict Wounds deals 3d10 necrotic damage on a successful touch.

Level 3 - We unlock 2nd-level spell slots. This means, we can now get a 2nd-level spell: Hold Person forces a Wisdom saving throw on one (or more, if using higher-level spell slots) humanoid target within 60 feet. On a failed save the target is paralysed for 1 minute (concentration). Flavour it as mummy bandages and we've got one Anubis ability down.

Our subclass also grants us two spells at this point:

Gentle Repose prevents a corpse from decay and turning into an undead (suck it, Ah Puch!). Useful if you cannot afford the resurrection of one of your party members, but besides that, it's pretty situational.

Ray of Enfeeblement is like a demo version of Anubis's Ultimate. On a successful hit, the target's damage that uses Strength deals only half the normal amount for 1 minute (concentration).

Level 4 - Time for our first Ability Score Improvement! Let's get some better HP with 1 point in Constitution, and we'll put the other point in Wisdom.

We get another cantrip: Thaumaturgy gives a list of multiple effects we can perform for, lasting for 1 minute (making our voice louder, dimming and brightening lights, locking and unlocking doors and windows, etc.)

We also get another spell: Blindness/Deafness forces a Constitution saving throw on one creature within 30 feet. If they fail, they are blinded or deafened (our choice) for 1 minute. They can repeat the saving throw on each of their turns to try and shake off the effect.

Level 5 - At this level, our Turn Undead becomes Destroy Undead. It works only on the undead with the CR of 1/2 and below (shadows, zombies, skeletons, etc.), but if they fail their saving throw, they are instantly destroyed.

We also unlock 3rd-level spell slots and spells: Speak with Dead lets us reanimate a corpse for a short while (10 minutes), enough to ask it five questions. The dead can answer only what they knew in life, and the answers are usually brief/cryptic. They may also lie if we're the one that killed them, or they're hostile in general.

Additionally, we get two more spells from our subclass:

Revivify might go against Anubis's ways, but it is a staple Cleric spell. Sacrificing a diamond worth at least 300 gold pieces, we bring a creature who died within the last minute to life with 1 Hit Point. The spell doesn't restore missing body parts.

Vampiric Touch lets us deal 3d6 necrotic damage to a creature we can touch, and give us the same amount of Hit Points. Until the spell ends (1 minute, concentration), we can use the spell again as action without a need to make a spell attack.

Level 6 - Our Channel Divinity has now two uses between rests, and we gain a new subclass upgrade. Sentinel at Death's Door is one of the more annoying features in all of D&D (speaking from the DM's point of view here). Whenever a creature within 30 feet of us is attacked with a Critical Hit (Natural 20 roll, doubles damage dealt), we can use our reaction to cancel that critical and turn it into regular damage.

Spirit Guardians is a spell that summons a horde of spirits in a 15 feet radius from us. We can select who is unaffected by the spirits when we cast it. Those who are affected have their speed halved, and whenever they end their turn within the spirits' radius (and first time walk into it) must make a Wisdom saving throw or take 3d8 radiant damage (if we're good/neutral; if we're evil, it's necrotic. Half damage on a successful save).

Level 7 - Here, we only unlock 4th-level spell slots.

We get two more subclass spells: Banishment forces a Charisma saving throw on one target within 60 feet. On a failed save, the target disappears from the Plane it resides on. (right into the Shadow Realm! Egyptian Underworld) If the target isn't native to the Plane it disappeared from, it returns to its home Plane. If the target is native to the Plane it disappeared from, it gets transported into a pocket demiplane. If nothing interrupts our concentration for the entire duration of the spell (1 minute), the banished target doesn't come back (non-native), or it returns to the same space (native).

We also have subclass spells here:

Blight drains vitality from one creature within 30 feet of us. They must succeed on a Constitution saving throw, or take 8d8 necrotic damage (half damage on a successful save). It doesn't work on the undead or constructs, but if the target is a plant creature or a magical plant, it makes the save with disadvantage and receives the maximum possible amount of damage (64). If the target is a non-magical plant, it doesn't make a save - just withers instantly.

Death Ward prevents a person's death before their scheduled time. A creature we touch gains protection against being killed for 8 hours. If they drop to 0 Hit Points, they immediately recover one point. Any effect that causes instant death (such as a trap, a curse, or even Power Word: Kill) is also blocked.

Level 8 - We get another ASI. Let's get a +1 Wisdom and +1 Constitution again.

Because of our Wisdom modifier changing from 3 to 4, we now can get two new spells at this level. For this, I'd actually suggest taking just one spell and ask your DM whether we can save the remaining one for later. Otherwise, pick any throwaway spell to replace later.

Guardian of Faith summons a Large-sized spectre at a point within 30 feet of us for 8 hours (no concentration). Any creature moving within 10 feet of the guardian must make a Dexterity saving throw or take 20 points of (unspecified) damage (half damage on a success). The guardian disappears after dealing a total of 60 points of damage.

Level 9 - We unlock 5th-level spells here. If we have an empty spell from the previous level, we can now take two spells here. Plus, we also get two spells from our subclass!

Greater Restoration is a great healing spell. It is able to remove one curse/petrification/charm/reduction of Hit Points Maximum on top of removing one level of exhaustion. Really useful.

Insect Plague basically lets us re-enact the Prince of Egypt. We fill a 20-foot-radius sphere with a swarm of buzzing, biting locust. All creatures within the sphere have to make a Constitution saving throw or take 4d10 piercing damage (half damage on a successful one). This saving throw must also be done when entering the sphere or ending the turn in it.

Now, for the spells from our subclass:

Antilife Shell creates a 10-foot-radius dome around us. It lasts for 1 hour (concentration) and during that time, nothing organic/alive can enter the barrier. Only undead and constructs can get through. It also lets in projectiles and spells.

Raise Dead is what happens when Anubis says 'I quit'. The spell targets one corpse that died within the last 10 days and brings it back to life with 1 Hit Point. The raised creature gets post-resurrectional penalty of -4 to all of their saving throws, attack rolls, and ability checks. The penalty is reduced by 1 for each long rest taken.

Level 10 - Halfway through the build and we receive one of the Cleric's best feature. With Divine Intervention we can petition our patron deity to directly help us with a problem. We roll a percentile dice and if the result is equal to or lower than our Cleric level, the prayer is successful. The interpretation of 'divine help' is up to our DM; it can be a vision, a single-use spell that's gonna be helpful, etc. If the prayer is successful, we cannot use this feature for a week. If the prayer fails, we can try again after finishing a long rest.

We get our final cantrip: Word of Radiance is a good anti-close range spell. It forces a Constitution saving throw on all creatures within 5 feet of us, and deals 1d6 radiant damage on a failed one (damage scales as we level up).

For our next spell, Holy Weapon infuses our weapon with divine energy for 1 hour (concentration). The weapon sheds bright light in 30 feet radius (and dim light for another 30), it becomes magical for the purpose of overcoming resistances, and all successful attacks deal extra 2d8 radiant damage for the whole duration of the spell.

Level 11 - Our Destroy Undead effect of Channel Divinity gets enhanced. It now affects undead with a CR of 2 or lower (ghouls, spectres, poltergeists, will-o'-wisps, etc.).

We also gain access to 6th-level spells. Find the Path represents Anubis's role as a guide of souls. It can last up to 1 day (concentration) and allows us to find the shortest and most direct path to a location we name that we're familiar with.

Level 12 - Time for another ASI! First, let's round up our Constitution to a nice, even number, and then let's start boosting our weaker abilities by raising our Charisma.

For this level's spell, Planar Ally allows us to summon an otherworldly minion (celestial, elemental, or fiend), which we could ask to carry out a small task in exchange for payment. The creature is under no obligation to listen to us but can be bargained with.

Level 13 - We don't get a class feature this time, only unlock 7th-level spell slots. With Etherealness, we can step into the spirit world for a brief amount of time (up to 8 hours, no concentration). While inside the Ethereal Plane, we can only interact with creatures from that plane. We see and hear into the Plane we departed from and can move in any direction (moving up and down costs +1 foot for every foot of movement). We can also pass through objects and walls of the Material Plane.

Level 14 - We have upgrade to our Destroy Undead effect. It can now affect the undead with a CR of 3 or lower (mummies, wights, phantom warriors, etc.).

With Regenerate, we restore one target's health by 4d8+15 Hit Points. Following that, for 1 hour the target recovers 1 Hit Point per turn (10 HP per minute) until reaching their Hit Point Maximum. The spell also regrows missing organs and limbs 2 minutes after casting.

Level 15 - Once again, no new class features. We do unlock 8th-level spell slots. Antimagic Field creates a 10-foot-radius invisible sphere, where no magic can exist; spells fizzle out, summoned creatures disappear, magic items become regular. When you stand before the final judgment, no magic will help you.

Level 16 - We get another ASI. Let's raise our Charisma and Strength.

Although we do have access to 8th-level spells now, we can back up for a moment and take Planar Shift. This spell lets us travel into another Plane of Existence, as long as we a metal rod worth at least 250 gold pieces and is attuned to our desired destination. The spell transports us, along with up to eight willing creatures. Alternatively, we can banish a creature within our melee range into the particular Plane, granted they fail a Charisma saving throw.

Level 17 - This is a big one. First of all, our Destroy Undead reaches another upgrade, allowing us to disintegrate undead with a CR of 4 or lower (the banshee, ghosts, flameskulls, deathlocks, etc.).

We also get our final subclass upgrade - Keeper of Souls. If a creature we can see dies within 60 feet of us, we can choose another creature we can see within 60 feet and restore their Hit Point by the now-deceased enemy's remaining Hit Dice. We can use this feature once per turn.

At this level, we also unlock the pinnacle of Divine Magic - 9th-level spells. True Resurrection can restore a creature who has been dead for no longer than 200 years back to life with a full amount of Hit Points. The spell closes wounds, restores missing limbs, lifts curses, and neutralizes poison and disease. It turns undead into their non-undead form. If there is no body to resurrect, the spell can provide a new body for the soul to inhabit. The only thing the spell cannot restore is if death came from old age.

Level 18 - Our Channel Divinity feature can now be used three times in-between rest.

Mass Heal is a powerful restorative spell, which targets all creatures within 60 feet of us. We can restore a total of 700 Hit Points, divided evenly between all creatures affected, who are also healed from all diseases as well as blindness or deafness. The spell doesn't work on constructs and undead.

Level 19 - We get our final ASI of this build. Before the final boss battle, let's boost our Constitution by 2.

Gate creates a portal linked into another Plane of Existence. We can determine a specific destination by naming a location in the target Plane. The portal lasts for 1 minute (concentration). Alternatively, we can name a creature we know resides in the target Plane and pull them through the portal into our location.

(yes, Doctor Strange is a Cleric in D&D terms, fight me!)

Level 20 - Our build capstone is Divine Intervention Improvement. At this level, whenever we decide to use our Divine Intervention hotline, the prayer is always successful, without a need to roll.

For our final spell, we get Astral Projection

The spell makes us and eight willing creatures go on a trip into the Astral Sea. Our soul leaves the body (which is in suspended animation, requiring no food, air, and doesn't age) and enters the dimension of pure thought and psychic energy. There is a series of rules in the spell description, but it can be used to survey other planes of existence by entering the right colourful portal.

---

And that's the end of it. Anubis, the Egyptian psychopomp. Let's see how we did:

We have good abilities, two 18s and a 16 where it counts, average Hit Points of 151 and 15 AC with studded leather armour. We're not the designated HealBot, but we have a few good higher-level healing spells for when things go sour.

Can't wait to show you folks the next one. I have a feeling some of you might enjoy it!

- Nerdy out!

#smite #anubis #cleric #grave danger #dnd #d&d 5e #character building #shifter #wildhunt shifter #egyptian

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prose-for-hire · 5 years ago

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Love, and dust, is in the air

Pairing: Spike x reader

Request: Do you think you could maybe do something where Spike always goes soft around the reader because he loves her? No matter what, even if he's yelling at the Scoobies and she walks in late he just instantly deflates and gets a dopey smile because he thinks she's so cute and innocent. Oo maybe he gets angry and protective cuz someone tries to attack her but she steaks them like a badass and then dotes on Spike cuz he got injured? And he's embarrassed cuz he wasn't scary but she finds him cute too?

Requested by: Anonymous

Part Two

Warning: Swearing. Fighting. Spike gets hurt.

A/N: Again, I got overexcited with writing the demon/backstory involved. No vampires today, but protective Spike and a reader who can handle themselves and be soft with him at the same time.

There was a demon out causing chaos in Sunnydale, which was not enough to haul you out of bed apparently. It was something that happened a lot, so you had to have a little pass for not hurrying just to have to sit in a long meeting that would probably involve a lot of reading and arguing about how best to get rid of whatever gross demon was trying to play havoc with the town you lived in.

At the Magic Box, everyone sans yourself, were discussing at great length the best way to remove the cursed Egyptian mummy that had started to suck people’s brains out through their noses. The mummy was flanked by two feral jackals that mauled anyone that interrupted the process. There was some debate around the ritual to return the mummy back into its resting place as it appeared that the jackals would not easily allow for the process to happen. They appeared to be the ones in control, not the mummy. This meant there would need to be some way of slaying the jackals so they could perform the ritual, but Giles and Willow were heatedly discussing the merits of humanely removing the jackals or just giving them a good stab from a big, pointy object. No guesses for who was arguing what.

This meant that Spike was getting irritated. It was annoying that the little group had to run the morality triathlon before it came back to what it always did. A good old fashioned fight. He was itching for it, ready to take them all on himself if none of them were willing to give over on the fight.

“But they’re sentient beings, Giles! You can’t just kill animals because they aren’t behaving how you like”

“They are bloody tearing half of the town limb from limb, Willow! To think that there is any other way is-”

“Bloody idiotic! The lot of you! You for entertaining the big song and dance about it and you for being, well, the bleeding bloody heart of the operation! They’re evil, they’re trying to kill you – it’s kill or bloody be killed so you can all have a big scholarly debate on the matter but I’m going out there and getting it done”

“Spike! You don’t make the decisions, we need to tread carefully or-” Buffy warned.

“Or what your head might bloody explode at the idea of actually slaying a demon and not shagging it to kingdom come? You wanna send it to hell in a nice neat little bow? Well let’s bloody go!”

“The jackals are just protecting the Mummy, something they’ve been bound to for centuries – we can’t just kill them for their loyalty!” Willow insisted, perhaps a little close to home for her. She had been with Oz for a long time and she knew that although the jackals were double the size they should be and highly aggressive, they could still feel.

“You’re fucking ridiculous – the lot of you! I’ve never seen so many self-congratulating, fake moral prats in one-” but Spike didn’t finish his sentence. You had walked in. His hand was still in mid-air from where he had been pointing around the room, but his face softened when he saw it was you. He didn’t want to shout in front of you, to hurt you, and he definitely didn’t want you to think that he was including you when he insulted the rest of the group.

He loved you, unconditionally. He was all-in, he just struggled to get close to you because the others were always getting in his way. You were sort of quiet, something he assumed meant you were somewhat innocent, but you weren’t necessarily shy around him. He liked the way your eyes lit up when he said something you found humorous and he liked that when you did manage to get a chance to speak to him, you were always kind to him. You even hugged him once after a fight and he thought he might pass out at how euphoric your affection made him feel. He had surprised you and wrapped his arms around you tight, making you smile so wide.

All of the fight that was in him had deflated when you walked in, all of the harsh words gone. His eyes were on you as you sneaked in and sat down without a word trying to hide the fact that you were late.

He appeared to have melted, smiling at you slightly, lowering himself into the seat beside you as you smiled back, despite Giles berating you for being late and the argument about how best to remove the mummy and it’s pets from the hellmouth started up around you again. But Spike no longer cared. You were here, they could talk in circles all night for all he cared, at least he’d be able to watch over you while they spoke.

Willow, Tara, Anya and Giles were staying behind to conduct the ritual so that when the jackals were either distracted or taken out (there still wasn’t a consensus) the mummy could be restored back to its sarcophagus in the Sunnydale museum with someone needing to attack when the Mummy was weakened. You had been paired with Spike to one part of Sunnydale with Xander and Buffy in the opposite direction. Spike had tried to insist you stayed behind but you told him you would be okay.

“You don’t need to be here, love, I can take care of this. Get yourself safely in bed, you look like you could use a nap”

“You think I look tired?” Your brow furrowed a little in that way he found cute. He spluttered, trying to assure you he definitely didn’t mean it that way. He had just wanted to protect you, it was more likely that Xander and Buffy came across the threat anyway, the demons had a tendency to go gunning for the slayer for some reason.

A figure started to stagger towards you both, interrupting the look Spike was giving you that was starting to make a heat rise in your cheeks. A figure started to walk slowly towards you, as if it could feel your presence.

“It’s the mummy!” You shouted, your eyes wide as Spike stepped in front of you, making sure he would be the target. Apparently, the threat was yours for today. It rounded on you, but Spike wasn’t having any of it.

“No you bloody don’t” Spike warned, spinning the mummy away with a hard kick to the chest after it lunged at you, knocking you to the floor. He helped you up, his touch in complete contrast to a second ago, he was gentle as he pulled you to your feet. As if he were scared to break you. The anger behind is eyes was evident, his jaw tensed when he saw the graze on your elbow. It was small and you were fine, but to him this was as if it had torn both of your arms off. He started to get brutal, as the jackals rounded the corner, prowling towards you both. Spike moved you behind him, a hand resting on you protectively, his touch always soft with you. The jackals circled you both, as the mummy walked towards you again, making Spike even more angry.

“You don’t come near them” He snarled, taking all of the attention from you. Spike, although he did have a brain that could be taken, wouldn’t be a target. They wanted human brains. Your brains.

The jackals leaped, both at Spike leaving the mummy staggering towards you, hands out as if ready to hold you down so it could extract what it wanted from you. Spike was violently kicking at the beasts, one had bitten into his side and the other was latched onto his leg. He had managed to fight one off but he was still struggling with the other. He looked over, the reason he was attacking them, even more aggressively than usual, was so that he could get to you. He was desperate to protect you. You had a sweet nature, he hadn’t been expecting what had come next. Even the jackal appeared to pause as it watched you punch the mummy before climbing it like a tree, kneeing it so it doubled over, allowing you to climb onto its back and secure it’s neck firmly between your hands, the way it had been threatening you.

Spike stared, his eyes wide at the way you so skilfully went for it. You didn’t even flinch as it thrashed at you. You struggled against it, trying to incapacitate it as Spike desperately tried to get out from the jackals jaw to help you. The ritual was complete, you could tell because strange golden light started to seep from cracks in the mummified flesh. It was now or never. You grabbed it’s head and twisted, it crumbled away in your hands and just as it did that, the jackals disappeared. A lot of dust started to pour from the mummy’s neck, flowing through the air as you ran over to Spike where he sat, clutching his side now the threat was gone. The mummy disintegrated as you both stared into each other’s eyes.

“That was…” He started, seemingly lost for words. He had forgotten his wounds at the sight of how capable you were in a fight. You didn’t usually get the chance to prove yourself like that, it was usually Buffy’s fight. You weren’t a slayer, just someone that had picked up some Sunnydale tricks along the way – you had to be like that on the Hellmouth, or you really wouldn’t last a week.

“You poor thing, it really bit into you” You said softly, kneeling beside him and stroking his side as he winced, “Sorry - come on, let me help” You had a mini first-aid kit you always brought on patrol that you took out and started to look for something to put on the wound. It wasn’t as deep as it could have been which you were grateful for. You didn’t want him hurt. You were really fond of him which is why you went kind of quiet around him sometimes.

“No, don’t – I just lay there like some useless git” He berated himself, his jaw tensing again in anger at himself this time. He had wanted to keep you safe. You shook your head softly, stroking your thumb along his jaw as you spoke.

“You didn’t, you looked out for me! You took on two were-jackals and lived, well – sort of, to tell the tale! That was so brave!” You insisted, giving him a smile that he savoured, your fingers still tracing his jaw. It was so sweet he was surprised when you came back the same sweetheart despite the rage he had seen as you attacked that mummy. He could tell you were being genuine too, you really found him brave. You smiled while he watched you begin to fuss over him, his gaze never leaving that face he loved so much.

As the last particles of dust lay upon the ground as a light scattering of icing sugar would, he made a decision. He was going to do it. He was going to tell you how much he loved you. He just had to figure out how.

#spike x reader #spike x you #spike imagine #spike btvs #Buffy The Vampire Slayer #buffy the vampire slayer imagines #Rupert Giles #Giles #Buffy Summers #Anya Jenkins #Xander Harris #Willow Rosenberg #Tara Maclay #Evil mummy demon #btvs x reader #btvs imagine #scooby reader #scooby gang x reader #queued

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blueiscoool · 4 years ago

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The Unbroken Seal on King Tutankhamun's Tomb 1922

This seal was actually a seal to King Tut’s fifth shrine. The king was buried in a series of four sarcophagi, which were in turn kept inside a series of five shrines. This unbroken seal stayed 3,245 years untouched. The late discovery of Tut’s tomb resulted from the fact that it was covered by debris from that of Ramesses IV which was located directly above its entrance.

While the outermost shrine of the youthful pharaoh had been opened not once but twice in ancient times, the doors of the second of the huge shrines of gilded wood containing the royal sarcophagus still carried the necropolis seal which indicated the pharaoh’s mummy was untouched and intact.

The tomb of the boy-king was opened by the famous archaeologist and Egyptologist Howard Carter in the early 1920’s. The tomb contained treasure more spectacular than any previous discoveries. Shortly after Howard Carter removed the lid of the outermost shrine in Tutankhamun’s Burial Chamber, he discovered three more.

Harry Burton photographed the ornately decorated doors of the second shrine while closed, their simple copper handles secured together tightly by a rope tied through them. The knotted cord was accompanied by a delicate clay seal featuring Anubis, the ancient Egyptians’ jackal god entrusted with the protection of the cemetery.

Even at the outset, Carter and his financier, Lord Carnarvon, knew that the tomb had been compromised, because of a re-plastered and sealed hole in the outer doorway (not on the fifth shrine). Furthermore, once they had entered the tomb, the disorganized state of the material, the damage sustained by several objects and the discernible lack of solid metalwork, bedding, glass, oils and unguents all suggested that the tomb had been robbed during antiquity.

The story goes that he also found an ancient clay tablet in the antechamber. When he later translated it, the inscription read: “Death will slay with his wings whoever disturbs the peace of the pharaoh”. This would later became the famous “Curse of the Pharaohs”, which in fact is just a myth. The curse, which does not differentiate between thieves and archaeologists, allegedly can cause bad luck, illness or death.

Tutankhamen was a very inconsequential king while alive, however because the tomb was located under an existing tomb and grave robbers never found it, it became one of the most valuable archaeological finds. Because of its lower position in the Valley of the Kings, the tomb’s entrance was sealed by rocks and mud from flooding and the location was lost until Carter’s discovery.

Tutankhamen was a relatively minor Pharaoh who seemingly died unexpectedly at a young age so whatever wealth with which he was buried (and that archeologists uncovered) was just a fraction of what it could have been, had he gone on to live a full life. So can you imagine the immense wealth that must have been buried with great Pharaohs such as Ramesses II.

How did the rope last 3,200 years without deteriorating?

Rope is one of the fundamental human technologies. Archaeologists have found two-ply ropes going back 28,000 years. Egypt was the first documented civilization to use specialized tools to make rope. One key to its longevity isn’t the rope itself, but the aridity of the air in the desert. It dries out and preserves things.

Another key is oxygen deprivation. Tombs are sealed to the outside. Bacteria can break things down as long as they have oxygen, but then they effectively suffocate. It’s not uncommon to find rope, wooden carvings, cloth, organic dyes, etc. in Egyptian pyramids and tombs that wouldn’t have survived elsewhere in the world. Egypt’s desert conditions made possible the preservation of far more organic material than would have otherwise been the case.

This in contrast to, say, Maya sites in Central America which are far younger, but from which almost no organic material has been recovered. The main difference is jungle versus desert conditions.

#The Unbroken Seal on King Tutankhamun's Tomb 1922 #King Tut #Valley of the Kings #Egyptian Pharaoh #The King of Kings #history #history news #ancient history #ancient civilizations #ancient egypt #egyptian history #archeology #archeolgst

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shining-red-diamond · 4 years ago

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Ch. 24: Hieroglyphs

Cast of Characters//Ch. 1//Ch. 2//Ch. 3//Ch. 4//Ch. 5//Ch. 6//Ch. 7//Ch. 8//Ch. 9//Ch. 10//Ch. 11//Ch. 12//Ch. 13//Ch. 14//Ch. 15//Ch. 16//Ch. 17//Ch. 18//Ch. 19//Ch. 20//Ch. 21//Ch. 22//Ch. 23//Ch. 24//Ch. 25//Ch. 26//Ch. 27//Ch. 28 (coming soon)

Words: 1.6k

Genre: Fluff, some angst

Pairing: ATEEZ OT8 x OCs

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: mentions of illness, scarab beetle attack, mentions of fear

“Easy, San,” Seonghwa instructed as his crewmate carefully hopped down into the carved hole in the Sphinx’s foot.

The crew followed the map to where the Great Sphinx was located, and they found two large stones that covered an entryway to a hidden cavern. Jongho and Yunho removed the fases yellow stones and set them to the side, and Seonghwa was the first one to hop into the hole with a torch in hand as the flashlights had run out of batteries in India. One by one, the crew joined him in the dusty space, Mingi being the last one to join them.

“Okay,” Seonghwa said, “the maps tell us we don’t have far to walk this time, but like the last two there are still death traps. Be cautious.”

“Here,” Jongho piped up as he pulled out his lighter, “these torches will last about an hour, so we’ll have to go quickly if we want enough light to get us through.”

The tiny flame touched each torch, fire blooming and providing an orange glow in the pitch darkness. Seonghwa, Yunho, Jongho, and San all held a torch and positioned themselves to illuminate the front back and sides of the group. The walls themselves were much wider than the catacombs in Rome, allowing the crew much more room to journey through; ancient hieroglyphs decorated the walls as they depicted the most powerful pharaohs and told stories of the gods of Egypt. Dirt covered the path they walked on, but it wasn’t as rough as Italy’s.

“We need to look for the wall with the inscription on it,” Dahae piped up as they began their walk beneath the Sphinx. “The diamond is in a room with treasure hidden away by the great pharaohs.”

“What’s written in the inscription?” Seonghwa asked as they turned a corner.

“It’s all in hieroglyphs, but Celestia translated it.”

San couldn’t help but smile. Even when she couldn’t do much, she was still helping with the journey in her own way.

Dahae cleared her throat and read, “‘The treasure of Nephertiti. May the Eye of Horus watch over it. Thieves be warned as punishment will be upon you if you choose that path.”

“That last part makes absolutely no sense,” Dinah shook her head.

“I mean, Celestia did write ‘Weird, but okay’ at the bottom,” Dahae laughed.

The rest of the crew chuckled at Celestia’s humor, but Seonghwa composed himself as to continue with their quest. It wasn’t long before they reached a blank wall guarded by jackal headed statues made of gold. Putting his flaming torch to use, the first mate leaned it towards a sort of indention on the wall. He brushed the dirt away and discovered the warning that was translated on the map.

“Are we supposed to look for a switch or something?” Grace-Anne broke the silence as she tried to look around.

Seonghwa took note of a small vertical crack in the wall. It was so microscopic one would need to scan the wall a few times to see it. He followed it with his eye and found that it was a door that had been sealed.

“Yunho, Jongho, help me push this,” he commanded the two strongest members. The three of them handed their torches over to the women before placing their hands on the wall.

On the count of three, the men used their combined strengths to get the passageway open. It took a few grunts and strained muscles, but the door finally moved with Jongho falling forward a little. Inside of the cavern was dark with the exception of the torches illuminating the area. However, some sunlight was peaking through, but it provided enough light to display the treasure that was spread out in piles.

“Look,” Mingi pointed to something on the ceiling. The Eye of Horus was painted just above a large bust of what Seonghwa guessed was Nephertiti. More hieroglyphs decorated the surrounding walls, and four stone pillars held gold statues of Egyptian gods. Gold coins, jewels, and other precious treasures littered the floor, tempting to the soul who happened to stumble upon it.

“According to the map,” Dahae said as she checked around, “the diamond piece should be somewhere...San you’re standing on it.”

The navigator glanced down at his boot and saw something twinkling in the minimal sunlight. “Hey, you’re right,” he smiled.

Just before he could reach for it, Taeran stopped him.

“What?” he asked.

“Nothing,” she shook her head and released him after a pause.

With his gloved index finger and thumb, San carefully picked up the piece and placed it into a small pouch for Grace-Anne to examine later.

Suddenly the ground shook violently, causing the crew to tumble to the ground. Thankfully, the quake only lasted a few seconds, and some of the crew were dusting off the dirt and coins that fell on them.

Seonghwa stood back to his feet and helped Grace-Anne to her feet. “Whoever took some treasure,” he warned, “put it back. We’re not thieves.”

“No one took anything except the diamond,” Dinah defended. “Something else must have triggered the shaking.”

“Was it a curse?” Mingi whimpered in fright.

“I doubt it. Besides, the riddle didn’t say anything about a curse, but they did talk about some sort of punishment ‘for thieves.’ WOOYOUNG, STEP AWAY FROM THAT STONE!!!”

The crew turned their heads to where the young man was kneeled tying the laces on his boots. His head popped up in surprise at his girlfriend’s voice screaming at him. When he saw what his foot was on, his face turned a ghostly white in horror. At jack rabbit speed he jumped to his feet, and back as far away from the stone as possible.

The dark, yellow stone was sunken in between two brown ones and engraved with a large beetle on top of it, and Dahae knew it was another trap.

Crackling and chirping noises sounded from the walls and underneath them. It started soft but quickly grew louder and louder with each second.

“What’s that?” Dinah panicked as she pointed out something metallic blue that was oozing out from the cracks between the ceiling and the walls. It wasn’t oozing, but rather...crawling?

Dahae let out a horrified gasp as she pulled Wooyoung from the statue. “Scarabs!” she squealed. “Run!”

The crew made a dash for the door, however, the beatles were multiplying in numbers and charging towards them at lightning speed.

“Keep waving your torches at them,” Dahae instructed. “They won’t touch us if there’s light.”

Those who didn’t have a torch huddled together as the four men surrounded them. The group scuttled back towards the entrance, one beetle nearing Taeran’s foot and Mingi being quick to kick it away.

“Don’t stop running until we get to the entrance!” Seonghwa ordered.

“Byeol,” Celestia’s voice called. “Come here, kitty!”

Hongjoong’s eyes slowly opened. He wasn’t sure what was going on or who Byeol was, but it sounded as if the Choi’s somehow got a pet. A cat, as Celestia mentioned. He heard his bedchamber door creak open, but nobody came in. That was until a sopping wet Siamese cat jumped up on the bed and began to dry itself on the duvet. The captain jumped as he wasn’t expecting an animal to pay a visit.

“Hey! Get out of here!” Hongjoong shouted weakly.

Phoebe and Celestia dashed in and scooped the cat up off of the bed.

“Sorry, captain,” apologized Phoebe. “We were just about to dry her off, but she got away from us.”

Hongjoong sighed. “It’s fine. I just want to know when the cat became a new member of the ship.”

“Well, she snuck on here when we were in India,” Celestia explained. “I found her snuggling San, and she quite likes the company.”

Hongjoong couldn’t ever get mad around Celestia. Really, no one could. She was just that type of person that no one could ever hate or be angry with. She was such an angelic soul and did her best to be kind. Her pregnancy hormones did attempt to hinder that at times when she had her mood swings, but it was understandable as she was growing another human.

“We need to teach you how to knock, silly,” she cooed at the cat.

Phoebe wrapped Byeol in the towel and carried her out to go finish drying her off.

“Would you like for me to take the duvet to the laundry room?” Celestia offered.

Hongjoong shook his head. “Dahae will take care of it,” he mumbled. “You take care of the cat.”

“Alright.”

Not even two minutes after she left, Hongjoong heard what he guessed was a stampede of horses on the ship. He opened his eyes to see what was wrong, but his fiancée burst into the room, dirty and out of breath. The illness seemed to disappear from the captain upon seeing the love of his life in such a state. He jumped out of bed and was by Dahae’s said in a matter of milliseconds.

“What happened?” he asked her. “Is everyone okay?”

She nodded, and the center of gravity shifted. The ship was taking off.

“We got the diamond,” she whimpered through a forced smile.

Hongjoong believed her, but he didn’t believe the smile she was trying to give him. He could tell that the tears forming around her red eyes weren’t of loss, but rather of fear.

“Did a mummy scare you?” he teased a little in an attempt to lighten the mood.

Dahae shook her head. She didn’t say anything else at all, but rather just embrace Hongjoong as she couldn’t hold back her sobs anymore.

“It’s okay, my love,” he shushed as he stroked her hair. “I’ll run a bath, and we’ll talk about it.”

Tags: @treasure-hwa @ateezlovenet (Let me know if you’d like to be added or removed)

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thecreaturecodex · 4 years ago

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Crawling Apocalypse

[The crawling apocalpyse was especially broken, even by the standards of Sandstorm’s bestiary, so I never used it. That didn’t mean I didn’t like it, though, and I’ve taken this opportunity to reduce it to a reasonable power for its CR.

The flavor text of the original is tied to the marru, an extinct progenitor race from Sandstorm that left behind a bunch of jackal-headed marruspawn, some of the artifacts in the book, etc. I don’t particularly care for the marruspawn et. al, and will be ignoring them. So I had to alter the crawling apocalypse’s flavor text somewhat. I also gave them the ability to respawn, thus earning the “apocalypse” title in a way most CR 11 monsters don’t.]

Crawling Apocalypse CR 11 NE Undead This creature looks like an immense sea creature, desiccated and returned to unholy life. It drags its withered body on a carpet of tentacles, two of which lash ahead of it and are studded with hooks and barbs. Its enormous eyes are haunted orbs, staring over a parrot-like beak.

In ancient times, the krakens sought to overtly dominate the races of the dry lands. During a mighty war, powerful wizards developed a trap for the krakens, and teleported a handful of them into the middle of a desert to die of suffocation and dehydration. Although this gambit was enough to turn the tide of that ancient battle, it created by mistake the undead known as crawling apocalypses. These monsters are mummified krakens, animated by spite and driven to destroy humanoid life wherever they can.

A crawling apocalypse is not nearly as intelligent or strong as a kraken, but they are still overwhelming combatants for most. Their smaller tentacles are not coordinated enough to attack individually, but it can grab enemies in its lashing arms and drag them to the tentacle mass to be crushed to death. A crawling apocalypse’s beak is laced with the dried up remains of kraken ink, which can spread mummy rot. Worse, it can spray this ink over a wide area, killing dozens at once with negative energy and infecting survivors with its dreaded curse.

If this were not bad enough, when a crawling apocalypse is slain, its body calves apart and creates two more of the creatures, which travel their separate ways. Only by destroying the body on holy ground can this fate be averted. Fortunately, such rejuvenation events seem to tire the monsters, and a newly formed crawling apocalypse typically buries itself deep below ground and falls into a torpor for decades before returning to the surface to wreak havoc. Still, despite the limited nature of their origins, there are now more crawling apocalypses than there ever have been. Their name is derived from the concern that they will eventually overtake the world, starting from the deserts to besiege more verdant and populous lands.

Crawling Apocalypse CR 11 XP 12,800 NE Gargantuan undead Init +4; Senses dakvision 60 ft., Perception +28, tremorsense 60 ft. Aura despair (30 ft., Will DC 22) Defense AC 26, touch 6, flat-footed 26 (-4 size, +20 natural) hp 150 (20d8+60); fast healing 10 Fort +8, Ref +8, Will +17 DR 5/-; Immune cold, undead traits Weakness vulnerable to fire Offense Speed 20 ft., burrow 20 ft. Melee 2 arms +18 (2d6+7/19-20x2 plus grab), bite +18 (2d8+7 plus mummy rot) Space 20 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (40 ft. with arms) Special Attacks constrict (1d8+7), ink dust, tentacle transfer Statistics Str 24, Dex 10, Con -, Int 7, Wis 21, Cha 15 Base Atk +15; CMB +26 (+30 grapple); CMD 36 (48 vs. trip) Feats Blind-fight, Critical Focus, Exhausting Critical, Fatiguing Critical, Improved Critical (arm), Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Power Attack, Skill Focus (Stealth), Toughness Skills Perception +28, Stealth +17 Languages Aquan SQ rejuvenating split Ecology Environment warm deserts and underground Organization solitary or pair Treasure incidental Special Abilities Despair Aura (Su) All creatures within 30 feet that can see a crawling apocalypse must succeed a DC 22 Will save or be paralyzed with fear for the next 1d4 rounds. Whether or not the save is successful, the creature cannot be affected by that crawling apocalypse’s despair aura for the next 24 hours. This is a mind-influencing fear effect, and the save DC is Charisma based. Ink Dust (Su) As a standard action once per day, a crawling apocalypse may spray black dust in a 60 foot cone. All creatures in the cone must succeed a DC 22 Fortitude save or take 11d6 negative energy damage and contract mummy rot. A successful save halves the damage and does not cause the creature to contract mummy rot. Mummy Rot (Su) Curse and disease—bite or ink dust; save Fort DC 22; onset 1 minute; frequency 1/day; effect 1d6 Con and 1d6 Cha; cure —. Mummy rot is both a curse and disease and can only be cured if the curse is first removed, at which point the disease can be magically removed. Even after the curse element of mummy rot is lifted, a creature suffering from it cannot recover naturally over time. Anyone casting a conjuration (healing) spell on the afflicted creature must succeed on a DC 26 caster level check, or the spell is wasted and the healing has no effect. Anyone who dies from mummy rot turns to dust and cannot be raised without a resurrection or greater magic. The save DC is Charisma-based. Rejuvenating Split (Su) 24 hours after a crawling apocalypse is slain, two crawling apocalypses form in squares adjacent to the corpse. This is only prevented if the body is reduced to ash in the area of a consecrate or hallow spell. Tentacle Transfer (Ex) As a swift action, a crawling apocalypse may transfer a Large or smaller grabbed creature to its tentacles by making a successful CMB check. If it does so, it continues to deal constrict damage and can maintain the grapple without spending an action. A crawling apocalypse does not gained the grappled condition if it has creatures held only in its tentacles. It may hold up to 4 Large or smaller creatures in its tentacles at a time.

#crawling apocalypse #mummy #pathfinder 1e #D&D #sandstorm

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