Fellow role-players, it was great to see most of online last night [Monday, 10 August 2020] for our final session (for now) of the D&D5e “Journey From Khemet: Talons of Tanis” Egyptian fantasy campaign!

In one ancient world, the human empire of Khemet has thrived for thousands of years. Pharaoh Ramses II has been blessed by the gods, but the world beyond his rule teeters on the brink of a dark age. Can a band of orphans find their fate and become heroes?

The “Talons of Tanis,” Player Character Party 43 in Gene D.’s “Vanished Lands: Journey From Khemet” Egyptian fantasy campaign, using Dungeons & Dragons, Fifth Edition, created 2018, as of summer 2020:

• “Meketre Kenamon” [Beruk A.]: male D’mt Pesedjer Bahati (Ethiopian human Monk-Kensai), outsider, partial amnesiac, and weapon master from Punt, with three Wakyambi (Elf) followers; LNg, Lvl. 11

• “Khafre Maa Keru” [Byron V.O.]: male Khemtian Pesedjer Ghaffir (Egyptian human Paladin) of Anubis, god of the dead; sage sworn to an oath of vengeance; with pharaoh hound Sulbandi and acolyte Serethet; LGn, Lvl. 11

• “Smrithi” [Brian W.]: male Pesedjer Hekai (Ebir human Sorcerer), Djinn-touched wild mage and charlatan; with vulture familiar Walracham and Undead beloved Muyet; CGn, Lvl. 11

• “Zyren Akahlay” [Bruce K.]: male Pehesset Shenu (Half-Elf Bard), sometime criminal, member of the College of the Sword, and follower of Bast; CGn, Lvl. 11

• “Farooq Fairbottom” [Rich C.G.]: male Ptahmenu Ghazi (Dwarf Cleric), priest of sun god Amun-Re; with banuq (winged cat) Liriel and acolyte Bel; NGl, Lvl. 11

• “Zikak” [Drew S.]: male Aarakocra Khebenti (bird-man Rogue), inquisitor in the Medjai (secret police); LNg, Lvl. 11

• “Kamala/Gamal” [Dana S.]: female Anpur Kama’at (Gnoll Druid), nomad and scout; won chariot race in Mennefer (Memphis) with help from the “Talons of Tanis”; LNg, Lvl. 7

• “Keraunos ‘Raoun’ Halba” [Ben O.]: male Achaean Pesedjer Hekai (Mycenaean Greek Sorcerer), Divine Soul, sailor, and cooly detached fugitive and warrior; NGc, Lvl. 11

• “Whaka Tu Hinga” [Liam O.]: male Anpur Bequenu (Gnoll Fighter), folk hero and Eldritch Knight; wary protector of his tribe in the wilderness; NGl, Lvl. 11

I liked your Player Characters and hope you enjoyed their adventures, from a bunch of orphans and foreigners discovering a temple buried beneath a leper colony to slaying Undead in the capital of Pi-Ramesses and surrounding swamps. The travelers then visited the pilgrimage sites of Bubastis and Heliopolis and beat bounty hunters as they traveled up the Nile River. In the ancient archives and pleasure barges of Mennefer (Memphis), they learned about various foes and royal intrigues.

The “Talons” hiked through the dangerous desert, explored the occupied ruins of the Sightless Sphinx, and killed numerous cultists of “Forgotten Pharaoh” Hakahotep. They managed to thwart an assassination attempt on Pharaoh Ramses II during the Opet festival in the metropolis of Waset (Thebes). Your heroes fought and bluffed their way through a quarry and onto the Flying Pyramid, where they confronted Hakahotep and his most powerful minions.

“7 June 1226 B.C.E., or Day 8 in Athyr, the third month of the flood in Year 53 of the reign of Pharaoh Ramses II:”

After crashing the pyramid in the distant Halmed Desert, the “Talons” returned home to Tanis, which had fallen under the sway of Prince Khanefru, a follower of reptile god Sobek. They gathered allies and publicly defeated more scorpion men, Khanefru, his Ifrit counselor Sargash-Gatoun, and a foul Yuan-ti Abomination. The people of Tanis — and Ramses himself — thanked the “Talons” as they prepared to go their separate ways for a time….

Don’t forget to let Byron know what remaining items your P.C.s want, as well as the sorts of items each of you would request from the empire’s treasury….

I look forward to our next games together, as well as to someday returning to my D&D5e campaigns! In the meantime, my “Chrome City” near-future young superhero scenario (using the FATE-based Icons: Assembled Edition) will begin on Monday, 24 August 2020. I’ll post more about it soon.

Byron said his next “Sauron Rises: War in the North” session will be on Saturday, Aug. 22. Stay in touch, -Gene