[Ascension]

Much of the history of Egypt has been lost to time. Even more of it has been disregarded as the stuff of myth and legend. Once gods did walk among the people of the Nile, and it was their guidance, their power, their benevolence that made Egypt great, a shining jewel of civilization amidst the desert sands. This is a story of those times. It is a tale that begins with endings and ends with beginnings. It is a tale of success born from failure, victory born from defeat, life born from death. Most importantly, it is a tale I cannot tell alone, so... could I get a few volunteers from the audience?

Let me set the scene. There is strife among the gods. Only a few years have passed since Set betrayed and murdered his brother Osiris. In the time since Osiris's wife, Isis, has reassembled his body, restored him to life, and borne his son. This son, Horus, sprung fully formed and vengeful from his mother's womb, now wages war on Set. His father, meanwhile, has preserved the order of things by retiring to the underworld, and Anubis has ceded the throne of Aaru to him. Though the flames of divine battle threaten to consume Egypt, Duat rests in peace under its new master, at least as far as anyone living knows.

Meanwhile, Shepseskaf reigns in Memphis, and the pyramids at Giza stand as monumental reminders of the glory of his immediate forbears. Any man -- even one with divine blood -- would be hard-pressed to live up to such a legacy, and Shepseskaf doesn't seem able to stand up to the strain. Mirroring the unrest among the gods, much of his kingdom is only a hair's-breadth from open rebellion. The royal coffers, too, are running low... the pyramid being built in honor of Shepseskaf's recently deceased father, Menkaure, is miniscule in comparison with other pharaonic tombs at Giza, and rumors are beginning to spread that he has planned a more humble resting place for himself, not even a pyramid at all.

In the midst of all this turmoil several travelers stop to rest their weary bones in the city called Shedyet, where Sobek the crocodile god is worshipped... and that, my friends, is where you come in.

Warning:
An early encounter in this game will be planned to inflict a TPK on the party. Do not panic. This is all part of the game, a necessary step to set up your quest through the shattered afterlife, a surreal, dreamlike landscape seemingly populated by fragments of your characters' souls. If you're unwilling to die, this is not the game for you. If you're currently snickering about how you'll be able to beat the DM's planned TPK scenario, this is not the game for you. You have been duly warned.

Character Generation:
Your characters will start at level 6. Use a 28 point buy. Take 1/2 the die for HP. Use standard L6 WBL. All characters must be human. Some templated humans or human-derived races, such as lycanthropes or Elans, may be acceptable, but please ask before building a non-standard human character. Characters may draw classes, feats, spells, etc. from any official WotC material, but care must be taken to preserve an appropriately Egyptian flavor. Much can be done with proper fluff justification, but I reserve full veto rights.

Background:
Background is absolutely vital to your enjoyment of this game. After the deaths of your mortal forms the majority of the remainder of the game will explore your characters' inner conflicts made external. I'm not going to set any specific guidelines in stone... even two paragraphs might awe me if they were the right two paragraphs... but I would certainly appreciate an insight into your characters' insecurities and fears, hopes and dreams, friends and family, enemies and conflicts, past and present. You will not get into this game with a lazy background.

A Few Notes on Religion:
Most Egyptians honor the entire pantheon, though they will obviously show prejudices toward the gods more directly involved in their lives. In some cases this almost reaches the point of monotheism, as with the people of Shedyet's worship of Sobek, but true monotheism, and indeed true atheism, is nigh-impossible given the obvious presence of the gods in Egypt. Most divine casters can and will choose to select the entire pantheon as their patron, rather than an individual god, and clerics may take advantage of this to choose whatever combination of domains they desire, but such casters will lack a favored weapon. As a result, clerics honoring the pantheon as a whole may not take advantage of the War domain's granted power or similar abilities. Favored Souls are always chosen by singular deities, and may not draw strength from the pantheon as a whole. A character will be assumed to believe in the entire pantheon, whether or not s/he draws strength from the entire pantheon, unless his/her background indicates otherwise.

I will be using the favored weapons and granted domains presented in Sandstorm for the Egyptian pantheon, but I will not be assigning alignments to the gods. If you wish to choose a god not listed there as your primary deity, or if you lack access to Sandstorm and still wish to play a divine caster, PM me and we'll work something out.

Also, just a general religious note, you may want to read up on the judging of the dead to see what your characters should be expecting after death.

A Note on Arcane Magic and Psionics:
In Egyptian culture, Heka was both the word for magic and the name of the god of magic. Also, all magic came from activating the power of the soul. As a result, divine magic, arcane magic, and psionics all blend somewhat when viewed from an Egyptian perspective. Invoking the power of the god of magic, working magic, or drawing on the inner strength of the soul... they're all just different ways of looking at the same action. A caster's mechanical build should have little bearing on how s/he sees him/herself. A Sorcerer could call himself a priest of Heka, or a Psion could call herself a wizard. It doesn't really matter.

A Question:
When you submit your application I would also appreciate it if each of you could vote yea or nay on whether or not to use the Sandstorm waste rules (heat effects, dehydration, fun stuff like that) in this game, and also tell me whether or not you have access to Sandstorm. If the majority vote yes on the rules, but not everyone has access to Sandstorm, I will post a summarized version of these effects for the benefit of those who can't get to the book, at least until WotC lawyer-snipers shoot me dead.

Deadline:
There isn't really one. As soon as I have enough applications that meet my expectations, recruitment will end. That could put the deadline as near as Tuesday or as far away as the end of next month, or even nearer or farther. It all depends on the response this gets.