------------- The Infidels

Yithsetha had been defeated time and again by the followers of Gryphon, The Prophet who led a revolution and became Pharaoh of the Holy Symballan Empire. In their last battle, they destroyed her utterly,... or so they thought. But even when burnt to ash by holy fire, Apep would not allow His High Priestess to be destroyed. He resurrected her in an ancient pit of death and despair, where she entered a black sleep for twenty years. When she awoke, she summoned to her the foremost of her minions, the greatest of the Serpent Folk warriors, and the Chieftain of the Scorpites. But the renewal of their alliance was not without its interruptions.

A sorceress, a mystic seer of Symballan noble blood, named Feyathema al'Kaibar, had gathered a band of mercenaries to venture into the mysteries of Mount Kalsrym. They found the ruins of the lost city of Khasara al'Settis, supposedly destroyed completely during an incident some twenty years prior, an incident rumored to involve the High Priest of Sett, the Pharaoh's special guard, the Silver Gryphon, and the Queen of the Empire herself. Legends continued in the streets and bazaars of the city of Kaibar of the riches lost beneath the rocks of the mountain and the sands of the western erg. But Feyathema's interest was not in riches, it was in the legend of a sarcophagus of ultimate power that lay beneath those ruins, a machine of pure, elemental life and death.

She collected mercenaries and adventurers, those bold enough to risk certain death for money and for the thrill of danger. From the Pouarr Nation to the south, she found a human rogue, an assassin by trade, as handy with a sword as he was with a lock pick. From the north came two Hergovites; one a swarthy warrior-priest of their barbarian Gods, massive and powerful, with as much lust for fighting as for drinking; the other a tanned and buxom ranger from the mountains of Valkyr whose tongue was as sharp and quick as her sword arm. Others there were as well, outlanders all, but none survived to see the inner chambers deep beneath Khasara al'Settis.

Perhaps if Feyathema had known what she would face there, she might have reconsidered the whole adventure. Perhaps not. Only one would survive the encounter with Yithsetha and her lieutenants. She would wander back into the bazaar at Kaibar scarred, blind, and half insane. She would lose everything her family had saved, her title, her wealth, even her beauty before long. She wandered into the desert, seeking for the death that would release her from the nightmare she had lived, but death would not come. Ten years later, withered and aged before her time, she would be the blind Hakima who would tell others of the High Priestess of Apep, and the darkness under Khasara al'Settis that would not die.

------------- Credits

Feyathema (sorceress) Victoria 3, Loose Comb hair, Wizard's Robe & belt w/ The Elder tex, Morphing Starlet dress w/ Children of the Nile tex (modified), Wizard's Staff - DAZ. BB203 tex - TalonGE. Jambiya - Questor. Temple guards hat - RDNA. Rogue Mike 3, High Fantasy Naiar, Fantasy Cloak, M3 Barbarian hair, M2 Viking sword & axe - DAZ. Warrior-Priest Mike 2, Ninja suit w/ Temple Guard tex, M2 Viking sword, axe, belt & helm - DAZ. Gothic armor, boots, battle hammer - RDNA. Ranger Cherry Charms (Vicky 3), High Fantasy Edana, Fantasy Dress, M3 Barbarian sword & scabbard, M2 Viking shield - DAZ. BB2 tex - Asia (SteffyZZ) & TalonGE. Set Treasures of Egypt, Temple Ruins - DAZ. Other tex & props - Evanara & KTN3D.

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