I just received my copies of Osirion, Land of the Pharaohs and the Guide to Absalom. I was looking at the map of Osirion and noticed that along the banks of the Junira River, we have the ruins of Akhenaten and then directly across from it, the Ruins of El-Armara. I had to laugh at this because Akhenaten was probably the most unpopular pharaoh in all of Egyptian history due to the fact that he overthrew the traditional gods and replaced them with the sun god Aten (his son Tutankhamen reinstituted the traditional pantheon shortly after taking power), and he founded the short-lived city of El-Amarna, which served as Egypt's capitol for much of his reign.
I wanted to know more about these places, but there's no further information to be had. I can think of a number of adventure ideas based on these locations though.
I wanted to know more about these places, but there's no further information to be had. I can think of a number of adventure ideas based on these locations though.
Exactly the point. :)
I like extra spots on the map that don't necessarily have corresponding sections in the text. Names and locations tossed out as enigmatic little plot hooks are sometimes the best.
El-Amara and Akhenaten have a story behind them however. When I was writing up my portion of the book, I had a number of sources to look through, some of which were (at the time) some pre-edit versions. One of the maps I had listed the ruins of El-Amara on the eastern side of the Junaria river. A later copy of the map had the Ruins of Akhenaten listed on the west side of the river, and also on the eastern side of the river in the same spot that El-Amara had previously been.
Now I didn't make any mention of the Ruins of Akhenaten in the text itself. I would have avoided that obvious of a link to a historical ruler (or is he at all obscure for anyone not read up on their Egyptian history?). However in the section on the Fortress of Mek'shir I did mention El-Amara as the ruins of a former provincial capital during the time of Osirion's occupation of Thuvia. So there's a tad of history on that one spot there for you.
Not sure who added in the Ruins of Akhenaten originally to that one earlier version of the map, or if it was at one point intended as a renamed El-Amara.
But to give some flavor to what might have started as a map edit, Pharasma's clergy seem to have a thing for constructing mirror cities of the dead, so perhaps Akhenaten's ruins might comprise the graves of many of El-Amara's dead from that period of the nation's history? Possible, but it's not in print so it's just as valid as any other ideas that folks might entertain (which honestly, I'd love to hear on that location and any others).
And Darrin, I'd love to hear any feedback you might have on this. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
I like extra spots on the map that don't necessarily have corresponding sections in the text. Names and locations tossed out as enigmatic little plot hooks are sometimes the best.
El-Amara and Akhenaten have a story behind them however. When I was writing up my portion of the book, I had a number of sources to look through, some of which were (at the time) some pre-edit versions. One of the maps I had listed the ruins of El-Amara on the eastern side of the Junaria river. A later copy of the map had the Ruins of Akhenaten listed on the west side of the river, and also on the eastern side of the river in the same spot that El-Amara had previously been.
Now I didn't make any mention of the Ruins of Akhenaten in the text itself. I would have avoided that obvious of a link to a historical ruler (or is he at all obscure for anyone not read up on their Egyptian history?). However in the section on the Fortress of Mek'shir I did mention El-Amara as the ruins of a former provincial capital during the time of Osirion's occupation of Thuvia. So there's a tad of history on that one spot there for you.
Not sure who added in the Ruins of Akhenaten originally to that one earlier version of the map, or if it was at one point intended as a renamed El-Amara.
But to give some flavor to what might have started as a map edit, Pharasma's clergy seem to have a thing for constructing mirror cities of the dead, so perhaps Akhenaten's ruins might comprise the graves of many of El-Amara's dead from that period of the nation's history? Possible, but it's not in print so it's just as valid as any other ideas that folks might entertain (which honestly, I'd love to hear on that location and any others).
And Darrin, I'd love to hear any feedback you might have on this. Your opinion would be greatly appreciated.
In real-world El-Amarna, there was a burial site for nobles on the cliffs overlooking Tel El-Amarna, so your idea of having the Ruins of Akhenaten be a burial site makes a lot of sense, when taking real-world history into account. I did notice that it was mentioned as a provincial capitol, but the text was vague to the point where I didn't come to any conclusions.
Is Akhenaten really well known? People are quite familiar with his son (and within the past few months, they finally found evidence that Tutankhamen really was his son and not someone else's), but I'm not sure that there are that many people who would know the first thing about him if you were to casually mention his name. That's why I found his inclusion by name on the map so interesting. As a side note, with Green Ronin's Mythic Vista's series, they went with real world names and locations for most products, but they changed everything in Egyptian Adventures - Hamunaptra. I'm not sure why, but that was one place where I was actually expecting real world names to appear.
So what would I do with this? As long as the name is the same (and El-Amara is close enough to the same), you might as well make it close to the real world guy. Maybe he tried to overthrow the worship of the gods in Osirion, or maybe just one of the gods (the fact that the Egyptian pantheon didn't make the transition to Osirion is an interesting complication), but in any case he failed, his city died, and the people at the time tried to bury his legacy. Perhapse his tomb still stands, and he might even be in it, but of course since he was so despised by his people he's beyond cursed. He probably exists as a form of undead, but possibly not a traditional mummy. Maybe he's in some form that causes eternal pain and suffering. You could really base some sort of large scale curse here, where simply wandering in and breaking some sort of seal unleashes a horrible horrible evil upon the land, something on par with what we see in the first Mummy movie. It could make for an exciting adventure path.
Of course the more I thought about this today, the more this sparked my creativity for another non-Golarion project I've had on the backburner for a while, which actually may end up providing me with the BIG story idea I've been trying to come up with for a series of novels. As such, I'm keeping that under my hat, but I assure you that it's a cool idea (if I do say so myself!).
Akhenaten was probably the most unpopular pharaoh in all of Egyptian historyTo be fair though, his wife was like the hottest lady in the history of history.
I agree that she ranks, though I always thought that the honor of hottest lady fell to either Cleopatra or Helen of Troy.
Chief Technical Officer
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I agree that she ranks, though I always thought that the honor of hottest lady fell to either Cleopatra or Helen of Troy.Akhenaten was probably the most unpopular pharaoh in all of Egyptian historyTo be fair though, his wife was like the hottest lady in the history of history.
Helen of Troy? Maybe *before* the war... but do you have any idea what somebody's face looks like after they've used it to launch a thousand ships? I mean, that's gotta hurt.
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I agree that she ranks, though I always thought that the honor of hottest lady fell to either Cleopatra or Helen of Troy.Akhenaten was probably the most unpopular pharaoh in all of Egyptian historyTo be fair though, his wife was like the hottest lady in the history of history.
Cleo? Nah. She wasn't too hot, she just knew how to use what little she did have, and very, very well. Now Helen, she's a whole different matter. Most definitely hawt. Still, I think I might have to second the vote of Nefertiti as the hottest of history hotties. She most certainly was ridiculously hawt (check out those cheekbones!). I'm also going to say that it is very possible that Hatshepsut was a babe, and certainly a badass pharaoh. Nothing like chicks that take charge.
/sexism
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Maybe he tried to overthrow the worship of the gods in Osirion, or maybe just one of the gods (the fact that the Egyptian pantheon didn't make the transition to Osirion is an interesting complication), but in any case he failed, his city died, and the people at the time tried to bury his legacy.
Perhaps his undead is trying to influence the living into worshiping him and looking for a way to catapult him into godhood? He could have started by influencing Alashra in Lamashyu's Flower (that's as far as I've gotton in the book so far) and the voice she hears is really his?
edit: to go along with this his ruins being on the other side of the river might indicate that they feared him coming back and wanted his influence on the other side of moving water, but this didn't help the Fortress of Mekshir, which fell under his sway... it sodliers ending as they are... could mean he has vendetta against organized armies?
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That's really cool. In my art history class I always thought the photo of his bust looked wiggy -- like he was part alien or something. Maybe he really was a space alien! I know Golarion isn't supposed to borrow directly from the Real World, but Baba Yaga is up there in Irrisen, so maybe there's a place for Akhenaten, too. The Egyptians totally believed in wizards, so maybe he was an extremely powerful, deicidal wizard who, banished from Earth, made his way to Golarion to rule anew, but was somehow stopped and trapped in undeath. Now doesn't that sound EPIC? I mean, getting PCs to kill Akhenaten would be so much fun!
I don't have the guidebook yet but I REALLY want it!
That's really cool. In my art history class I always thought the photo of his bust looked wiggy -- like he was part alien or something. Maybe he really was a space alien! I know Golarion isn't supposed to borrow directly from the Real World, but Baba Yaga is up there in Irrisen, so maybe there's a place for Akhenaten, too. The Egyptians totally believed in wizards, so maybe he was an extremely powerful, deicidal wizard who, banished from Earth, made his way to Golarion to rule anew, but was somehow stopped and trapped in undeath. Now doesn't that sound EPIC? I mean, getting PCs to kill Akhenaten would be so much fun!
I don't have the guidebook yet but I REALLY want it!
It is commonly believed that Akhenaten had either Froehlich's Syndrome or Marfan's Syndrome, which explains his odd appearance. What is odd is that Amarna art followed the same conventions. Rather than try to hide his condition from the public, they tried to make it cool.
Of course in Golarion, any explanation is fair game.
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Akhenaton is one of my heroes of history. I had not heard that they had proven that Tutankhamen was his son. I always was told/read that he was a nephew. Too bad that neither of them lived long enough to establish a stronger legacy. Impressive smear campaign by Akhenaton's enemies after his death.
Nefertiti was the hottest woman ever. Cleo was an impressive woman for sure, but not as beautiful as Nefertiti. All my opinion of course. I've never heard of any surviving likeness of Helen so who can say.
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What is odd is that Amarna art followed the same conventions. Rather than try to hide his condition from the public, they tried to make it cool.
Yeah, around that time the entire elongated head thing was being sold as the ideal form, and it started getting applied to everyone for a short time(ie: Akhenaten's reign). His children may have had the condition, but his wife did not, yet all were represented with elongated skulls in some examples of art from that time. IIRC, the famous bust of Nefertiti was made during that time was unusual in that it was fairly realistic rather than stylized as mentioned above.
I kind of like the idea of having Akhenaten's fantasy counterpart being not quite entirely human. I wouldn't make him aberrant, but there would be something different about him.
I wonder how his banning of polytheistic worship in favor of monotheism could apply to Golarion's cosmology; if not himself, which god would he favor? He did ditch all of Egypt's gods in favor of Aten, the sun disc, but Sarenrae doesn't seem like a very good fit...
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Well, Groetus is the "god of end times" so he might fit the bill as a sort of "alpha-omega" god (monotheism because all the other gods are gone now), plus he has a celestial body, Golarion's moon, as an aspect, which kind of parallels Aten as Terra/Earth's sun...The only problem is that as the god of madness his portfolio doesn't quite fit Akhenaten either, and reminds me of Grayhawk comic's cultists of Tharizdun.
Sarenrae would have been "after his time" depending on when he arrived and was imprisoned on Golarion, but I don't think he would have been weirded out by a female sun goddess -- Aten is both mother and father, and "everyone" knows the gods can change gender if they want to. What would probably get his goat would be that his special relationship as "the god's represenatitive/son on Earth" would be annulled. It could even turn into a vendetta against her followers for having "scorned/forsaken" him!
Plus, if he was banished by the wizard priests of Osiris, Isis, etc. on Earth, he might be understandably atheistic.
Heck, maybe he even arranged things so that he played an important behind-the-scenes part in Rahadoum's embrace of atheism!
Neat, Darrin! I didn't know about those syndromes before, but I did an Google search on them thanks to your post. It seems like a really fascinating period to study.
He's a fascinating figure. One of the more enduring mysteries of Egypt has been in locating his mummy, though there's suggestions that the mummy found in a (heavily and specifically defaced) coffin in KV55 might have been his.
Neat, Darrin! I didn't know about those syndromes before, but I did an Google search on them thanks to your post. It seems like a really fascinating period to study.He's a fascinating figure. One of the more enduring mysteries of Egypt has been in locating his mummy, though there's suggestions that the mummy found in a (heavily and specifically defaced) coffin in KV55 might have been his.
Or his mummy has been stolen and ground into "medicine" long ago...
Stefan
Well, Groetus is the "god of end times" so he might fit the bill as a sort of "alpha-omega" god (monotheism because all the other gods are gone now), plus he has a celestial body, Golarion's moon, as an aspect, which kind of parallels Aten as Terra/Earth's sun...The only problem is that as the god of madness his portfolio doesn't quite fit Akhenaten either, and reminds me of Grayhawk comic's cultists of Tharizdun.
This "madness" may be just a manifestiation of his otherworldly qualities, misinterpreted by humans not insightful enough to fully understand him. Or you have something like the Cthulhu mythos knowledge in the CoC game: the more you know, the insaner you get, as "man was not meant to know..."
I was at first confused as the names Akhenaten and Nefertiti did not quite ring a bell with me, but rather sounded vaguely familiar. Now I know why: In German, the names are given as Echnaton and Nofretete. They are some kind of mystery superstars of ancient Egypt, so to speak :-)
Stefan
It is commonly believed that Akhenaten had either Froehlich's Syndrome or Marfan's Syndrome, which explains his odd appearance. What is odd is that Amarna art followed the same conventions. Rather than try to hide his condition from the public, they tried to make it cool.
Of course in Golarion, any explanation is fair game.
One theory is that the elongation of Akhenatens features is due to the monumental scale of the statues, as the sculptors were trying to give a better perspective for people viewing the statues from the ground.
Rather than seeing a chin when you look up you see the face in proper perspective.
Its a theory.....
I lean more to one of the syndromes.
Would it be worth starting a thread to share home-brew Osirion stuff?
Would it be worth starting a thread to share home-brew Osirion stuff?
Please, go right ahead. I've love to hear more about how folks are riffing their own stuff on the place. :)
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Nefertiti was the hottest woman ever. Cleo was an impressive woman for sure, but not as beautiful as Nefertiti. All my opinion of course. I've never heard of any surviving likeness of Helen so who can say.
Helen's doing pretty well for a person who probably never existed.
As far as mythical babes go, I'm more of an Atalanta man.
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Not to immediately head in the most obvious direction with this, but how long ago did that spaceship crash in Numeria again?
entery in the PFCS says it was "long before Numeria's recorded history, perhaps even before the Age of Darkness." (p. 114)
Oh, and Akhenaten isn't as funky as his son.