SESSION 1 - ONE NIGHT IN SAIS
Log | Quotes | Session 2

We began the game with some old relatives, returning to Amber after many years.  Tawaret, missing from Amber for perhaps twenty years, sailed into the Delta with Harmakhis, the legendary hero from Amber's ancient past.  Word of this momentous occasion spread through the mortal population of the riverbanks, and soon reached the ear of Keket at her temple in Sais.  Keket set things in motion for a lavish reception and then journeyed down the Nile to meet the travelers aboard her own barge.  Welcomes and pleasantries were exchanged, and the three adjourned to Sais for a banquet and to exchange tales of Amber and distant lands.

Within the hour, everyone in the Pantheon had been heard that Harmakhis and Tawaret had returned.  Keket invited almost everyone to join in the upcoming festivities, and many took her up on that offer.  By dinnertime, the guest list included Amun, Horus, Isis, Min, Sobek, Weret, Khonsu, Shu, and Unut in addition to Harmakhis and Tawaret. Others declined to attend for various reasons - there was apparently some bad blood between Bast and Keket, Osiris and Wadjet were tied up elsewhere, and Ptah said he had to kill a guy.  Gossip and revelry lasted late into the night.  It was apparent that the relationship between Shu and Isis was closer than student and teacher, and it was clear that Amun and Keket were more than friends, as were Harmakhis and Tawaret.  Sobek apparently seduced and then ate several of Keket's servants, and Weret demonstrated a brief bit of sorcery to ease his indigestion.  Many welcoming gifts were bestowed on Harmakhis, who seemed to be drawing the most attention - though he did not reveal much information about his role in the great Rebellion nor his ability to shapeshift.  Wadjet contacted him via Trump and asked him to come to Memphis at his earliest convenience to give his oath of loyalty to Osiris.

At some point in the evening, Khonsu received a Trump call from Anubis and went through to Thebes, though his departure was not noted by anyone at the time.  Anubis said that a woman dressed in a white dress with Amberite features had come to his temple, claiming to be Smenkharet, daughter of Set.  Anubis was able to ascertain that she was quite old - much older than Khonsu.  She requested passage into the Land of the Dead, and when Anubis weighed her heart, he found it to be remarkably pure.  Shortly after she went through the gate, Anubis Trumped Khonsu.

Khonsu also entered the Land of the Dead, and traveled there to his father's former temple at Naqada.  There he found Thoth in a boat on the Nile.  Khonsu was able to get him to play some senet, but Thoth was distant and cryptic as usual when Khonsu questioned him about Smenkharet and Set.  Khonsu then explored Set's temple, discovering that the layout was not what he remembered, and that both Isis's shrine and her Trump had been defaced.  He then went to the site of his own Temple, but the site was bare of any construction.  From there he went to Weret's temple, which he found intact, and there he found a map of Amber.  Trusting to the luck he was known for, he chose a spot on the map at random and went there, deep into the western desert.  There he found a giant, miles-long serpent coiled around the base of a mountain.  He flew to the summit to get a better look, and the snake vanished.  He thought it was maybe an asp.  Having had enough for one night, Khonsu returned to Weret's temple, crossed back into the real world, found it to be early morning, and crashed out in the guest quarters provided to him.

Back in Sais, everyone had either departed or accepted lodging from Keket and went to bed.  The next morning Harmakhis and Tawaret made preparations to depart for Memphis and thence to Hawara, the site of Harmakhis's ancient temple.  Keket was then told by her servants that Isis had not yet awoken.  Keket went to wake her and found her body cold and apparently quite dead, though unmarked by any visible wound.  A series of hurried Trump calls ensued, and Isis's body was transported to Anubis.  Then Keket began to spread the news to the rest of the family.  Many theories ensued as the word was passed around - Khonsu, Weret, and Sobek gathered to discuss what might have happened and what it meant for Horus's position in the family.  Shu was much more mournful, and followed the investigation closely after viewing Isis's body in Thebes.  The story of Smenkharet and Khonsu traveling to the Land of the Dead made the rounds at the same time.  Ptah also said he had killed a three-headed god of Nubia that same night, though it was harder than he expected.

Several facts were established through a number of investigations.  First, the body did belong to Isis - Min was able to confirm that after getting samples of her hair from Shu and examining the body.  Second, the body had no heart in it, though there were no visible wounds.  Anubis said that the heart could be removed by someone with the correct knowledge either in his Temple (which he said hadn't happened) or at a site that once existed in Atlantis.  Tawaret didn't have much information about such a site, though.  Finally, the list of people who were at Sais during the time Isis died was established as Keket, Amun, Sobek, Weret, Unut, Harmakhis and Tawaret.  The others had all left previously.

The various theories that were floated around included variations on the following:
- Isis somehow projected herself to Thebes, appearing to Anubis as Smenkharet.  She went to the Land of the Dead, and encountered Set, who slew her.  Anubis thinks it would take a great act of sorcery to disguise someone to that extent, but Isis was the greatest sorceress in Amber.  He did note that Smenkharet's apparent age would be consistent with it being Isis, as would the white dress.
- Smenkharet, daughter of Set, traveled via the Land of the Dead to Isis's room in Keket's temple.  There she crossed over into the real world, somehow killed Isis, and then escaped without anyone noticing.
- Someone stealthy snuck into Isis's room and killed her via some mystical means and then escaped.  Keket acknowledged that there are several in the family capable of enough stealth to evade her temple's defenses.
- Isis is not in fact dead - rather this is some ruse of the White Witch.  Her heart may be found in another body somewhere.  There is some question as to whether an Amberite could live with their heart elsewhere.

While investigations continued, Harmakhis and Tawaret departed for Memphis.  Shu headed to Isis's temple to look for any clues.  Khonsu left to seek out the mountain he had seen in the Land of the Dead.  Keket tried to Trump Horus, but he wasn't answering, and she feared for the worst.