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Amonkhet encounter #005 Pyramid of the Pantheon 32x56
🕑 Added 2024-09-06 01:00:02 +0000 UTCThe five gods are the effective rulers of Amonkhet. They are not the creators of the plane, but they are its stewards while the people of Naktamun await the return of the God-Pharaoh. The five gods believe they were created by the God-Pharaoh, who charged them with teaching the people the ways of the God-Pharaoh, and with protecting them until he comes.
The five gods embody the five virtues the God-Pharaoh wishes to cultivate in those who will become his Eternals in the afterlife. Each god is responsible for modeling and teaching one of those virtues to the acolytes and initiates of Naktamun, and then testing those initiates to ensure that they have mastered their teachings. Thus, they are present during the acolytes’ first lessons, during the Ceremony of Measuring, during the initiates’ intense training, and at each of the trials that are part of an initiate’s journey.
The God Trials were a series of tasks performed on the plane of Amonkhet that each inhabitant of the world aspired to complete. Originally, the Trials predated Nicol Bolas's intrusion into the plane and were only held once in a solar cycle. Bolas took this tenet and perverted it to hold the population of Naktamun in a never-ending state of exercise. An initiate who underwent a trial was awarded a Cartouche upon its completion. The God-Pharaoh taught that this record of the initiate's achievements preserved the initiate's essence, safeguarding their life force for the journey to the afterlife. Only the best of the best attained the "worthy dead" and had the honor of being personally killed by Hazoret after completing the 5th trial. The corpses of the survivors were shipped through the Gates of the Afterlife at the end of the Hekma and were believed to stay in a hidden oasis. It was thought that upon his return, Bolas would grant an afterlife to the worthy dead. This "afterlife" was revealed to be the transformation into an Eternal. With the deaths of most of the gods and citizens of Naktamun, and the complete desolation and abandonment of the city, the trials could not continue.
How to use this map:
Blue Area: The Sacred Script:
A player who has proficiency in history or has a Vizier background can decipher the script on the wall by passing a DC20 history check. If they pass, show the script below:
In the beginning, there was nothing but darkness: a churning ocean of uncertainty.
Then the great God-Pharaoh awoke and rose, a shining golden sun, and shed light upon the unformed world. With the unfurling of his wings, he split sky from earth; with his first breath, he formed water and air; with a sweep of his tail, he carved mountains and crumbled stone into sand. And thus, the God-Pharaoh sifted order from chaos, and the world took shape, raw and young and new.
The God-Pharaoh then gazed upon the barren, quiet world and planted the seeds of life. And so the denizens of Amonkhet were born, birthed from the dreams of the dragon-creator. But unlike their creator, they were soft, vulnerable, frail—and mortal. And the shadows of the world, the remnants of that black ocean, seized those that died, twisting them into undeath, a threat and plague to the living.
And so the great God-Pharaoh forged the gods.
He drew upon the fabric of the world itself, weaving the mana of Amonkhet into five forms, each to embody a virtue of himself. And thus, the immortals of Amonkhet came into being. Born of the God-Pharaoh's will and stronger than his dream-children, the gods were tasked with protecting his mortal flocks from the whims of shadow, shepherding them toward a glorious death instead.
For the God-Pharaoh knew of a realm beyond this world. A place only reachable by passing through death. And though he knew the hardships of this world were many, and shadows gripped at the edges of all that dwelled there. He knew that his children could prevail, grow, learn, and become worthy. For the afterlife was a gift too precious to be given lightly; his children needed to prove themselves deserving of its glory.
And so the God-Pharaoh gifted his children the Trials. And each god was honored with the task of teaching, training, and leading the mortals on the path to life eternal.
And once all was in place, the God-Pharaoh left Naktamun to pave the way to eternity, giving time for his children to learn, strive, and achieve their destinies before joining him in the great afterlife. He left his children in the care of his gods and set the second sun in motion to mark the time of his return.
(Source: https://magic.wizards.com/en/news/magic-story/hour-glory-2017-06-21)
Yellow Area: Heavy Doors:
Players need to pass a DC22 Strength check to open those doors.
Red Area: Stone Coffins
Players can open those coffins to rescue the Dissenter. Those are people who rebel against the God-pharaoh.
Some of the coffins are empty and some of them are even animated by magic, you can make them roll a D20. If the number is lower than 5, they will have to fight the Hollow one
Green Area: The Transcendence Chamber
In this tiny chamber, players will witness how the anointed was made. If they choose to interrupt the process, they will have to fight every single zombie in this chamber.
Connect other Amonkhet maps to create a larger adventure:
Other variations of this map:
[All Patrons]Grid/Gridless version of the map
[Blood Witch]BloodWitch Map Collection
[Star Performer][Ring Master]Bonus map - Pyramid Stairway
[Star Performer][Ring Master]Star Performer Map Collection
Comments
TripleD8
Wow! This is an excellent ready-made little adventure! Great stuff <3
