Legacy of the Blood: Shinpi and Ankhtepot Dynasty

[KingCorn]

Legacy of the Blood includes the details of being a descendant of a Darklord, or connection to the great families of the core. So what about the families outside the core? I'm sort of tossing around some ideas of a Legacy of the Blood thing for the grandchildren of Haki Shinpi (sons of his sons) and a descendant of the Ankhtepot dynasty.

The thing is: would this work? Would Haki's son's have enough children (even illicitly) to have a "Blood"? And did Ankhtepot have any brothers or cousins or children by concubines that would continue his bloodline? Cause I remember he accidentally killed his son and wife in lore.

[KingCorn]

My idea for descendants of Ankhtepot is that they would be mostly confined to the Amber Wastes with most actually being found in Pharazia rather than the Har-Akir. They would have little family connection, and most descendants don't even know they are one, or would even care. A few though do know, and they flaunt it like crazy.

Descendants of Ankhtepot would be known for being arrogant, used to dominating others, and having a fascination with faith and religion. Not religious in a pious, humble way. More like, they see something of themselves in gods and so are drawn to worship to learn more about themselves. Many become priests, and see themselves as having a deeper connection to the divine than anyone else, seeing themselves as equals to the gods. Usually, this also tends to be their downfall. Many end up starting cults of personality, or of the religious variety.

Quite a few are found in Pharazia as inquisitors and priests, and while very fervent and devout, they tend to burn out quickly do to trying to get too close to Diambel, pretending like they are his equal (or even better). Many are also priests or community leaders in the Amber Wastes, making sure the people give respect to the gods (and to them). A few descendants even wind up in the core, and it has become a bit of a thing in Port-A-Lucine for those with a bit of Har-Akiri blood to claim to be descended from the mighty pharaoh. A few who make this claim even are, and grow drawn to the faith of Erza

The favored class is cleric, and I'm still sort of working out benefits, traits, feats, and artifacts. I had an idea about a "Jar of Ammit" which would be a jar filled with a mix of honey, wine, blood, and other stuff. And if you put someones hearts into it and mummified their body, it would create a mummy you can control.

[ewancummins]

Har Akir has only a couple of hundred inhabitants, so if it has been centuries since the mummy-king was a living man, I'd expect most Akiris are related to Ankhtepot if anybody is. They may all be distant relations of his. It's a small population, so in-breeding...

[KingCorn]

Har Akir has only a couple of hundred inhabitants, so if it has been centuries since the mummy-king was a living man, I'd expect most Akiris are related to Ankhtepot if anybody is. They may all be distant relations of his. It's a small population, so in-breeding...

True. I tend to overestimate the population of Har-Akir, since its so vast and all. Yeah, they probably would have the most connection to him. Then again, would have connection to all sorts of other pharaohs too.

[KingCorn]

The Ankhtepot bloodline should be easy to do, even if it has limited politics (I could do it as a sort of tracking the bloodline through the ages thing). The real problem is the line of Haki Shinpi, simply because there's never really been an agreed upon version of Rokushima nor of Haki's fours sons. I could make it to where all four brothers kids are more or less alike (prone to sibling rivarly) and mix it with the assumed politics of feudal japan. Anyone got any other ideas. I'm open to anything.

[Mistmaster]

My take on Har Akir is decisely more populated and vital than canon so yes, there are a number ( not everybody) but a number of descendants of Ankhtepot I; Including the living rulers of the nation, of course.

[KingCorn]

My take on Har Akir is decisely more populated and vital than canon so yes, there are a number ( not everybody) but a number of descendants of Ankhtepot I; Including the living rulers of the nation, of course.

Thanks, I can work with that. One problem I have is the timeline, cause it seems like Ankhtepot is supposed to be ancient history, yet according to mistipedia he committed his crime and got cursed in 551BC. I supposed that in this case that could just be material-plane BC, and then Ankhtepot got sent back into false history, as well as his family...
Man ravenloft's time shenanigans and false history can be a hassle to write around

[ewancummins]

My take on Har Akir is decisely more populated and vital than canon so yes, there are a number ( not everybody) but a number of descendants of Ankhtepot I; Including the living rulers of the nation, of course.

Thanks, I can work with that. One problem I have is the timeline, cause it seems like Ankhtepot is supposed to be ancient history, yet according to mistipedia he committed his crime and got cursed in 551BC. I supposed that in this case that could just be material-plane BC, and then Ankhtepot got sent back into false history, as well as his family...
Man ravenloft's time shenanigans and false history can be a hassle to write around

It could be 551 Before Christ, not Barovian Calendar. That would place Ankhtepot in Egypt just before the Persians overrun the country. But then you'd want to reconcile him with the list of known pharaohs. Ruler of a petty splinter kingdom or the victim of damnatio memoriae, perhaps?

How does the Earth/Gothic Earth timeline line up with Ravenloft's timeline? If it does at all.

[KingCorn]

Got kinda a rough sketch here, buts heres what i've got based on 5e rules (they're all I know)
-Divine Blood : The Ankhtepot Dynasty
-Few know the exact origins of how the bloodline survived. Some Dementliue and Pharazian scholars believe Pharaoh Ankhtepot I may have had several cousins, being apart of a larger royal household, while others assume his blood continued from children of the royal harem, sired in order to have an heir after the "untimely" deaths of his wife and eldest son. As the dynasty fell, the bloodline is assumed to have lost prestige with it. Many fell to become lesser nobles in the few dynasties that came after, while many others fled the region, settling in what would later become Pharazia, forming a niche with the growing merchant class over many generations (some Dementliue scholars even believe that these settled royals may have influenced the pharazian religion with the worship of a prophet of holy light visa a vis to their worship of a pharaoh as well as ra, though no pharazian will give credence to this). Most simply fell into obscurity, marrying into lower and lower classes until they became indistinguishable from any other Har-Akirin villager
-Many have attempted to trace the dynasty, know with little success. Between the falling dynasties, interconnected family lines, and the fog of ages, it is simply impossible to tell who is and who isn't a descendant of the Ankhtepot dynasty.
---Most descendant's are found in Har-Akir, though the exact proportion of the population that can claim such is unknown. Many noteworthy descendants from here become community and religious leaders, such as priests. While many try to be just and wise rulers, many fall to arrogance. Quite a few end up demanding to worshipped in place of the gods.
---Quite a few are found in Pharazia, either in the merchant class or the priesthood. Many of the most fervent Law-Givers are of the ancient royal blood, making sure the divine word is followed. Overtime however, many begin to see themselves not as servants of the prophet but as his equally, and so burn out quickly.
---Few if any of the Ankhtepot blood are found outside the Amber Wastes though some are found here and there, usually adventures or their families. In Dementliue it has for sometime become something of a fad for archaeologists or half-Har-Akirins visting to claim to be a descendant of some Pharaoh or another, of which Ankhtepot is one. While most of this is just gauche self-aggrandizement, in some cases it happens to be true. Many become fascinated in both the religious and the occult, and prove to overbearingly arrogant even for Dementliue standards.
-Members of the bloodline rarely know they are members, though some seem to be born with an innate knowledge of the fact. These are the ones to lookout for, for each seems cursed. Those who show signs of the blood grow an interest in the divine and the occult and join some sort of religion, not out of piety, but out of a strange feeling of kinship with the divine. While mostly this is either to the Har-Akirin Pantheon or to the prophet Diamabel, it can also be to darker and stranger being, with even a few Erzan priests being of the blood. They show profound arrogance and entitlement, sometimes growing into delusions of godhood. As such, many end up forming cults. While some may try to show humility before the gods and try to refrain from such behavior, it is a constant struggle.
--Family Traits
-- +1 Charisma, +1 Wisdom. You seem to strike a sense of command, even awe, in others. And despite some ego problems, you are known for sound judgement and wisdom
-- Divine Knowledge : You know 1 cleric cantrip of your choice.
-- Well Preserved : During a deathsave, you may succeed on a 9 or higher. As well, should you die, your corpse rots at half the normal rate.
--Family Feats
--Blessed of Ra (Prerequisite : Wisdom 15 or higher): You gain resistance to radiant damage, and may cast Bless, in direct sunlight, an amount of times per day equal to your wisdom modifier
--Royal Bearing : You gain advantage on intimidation checks against any creature of lower status than you, and advantage on persuasion checks against any creature of your status or above. Check with DM in regards (kinda a weak one, was all I could think of)
--Family Magic Items (this one has the least on it)
--Jar of Ammit : Believed to have been developed during the later parts of the reign of Ankhtepot 1st, this jar is similar to the organ keeping canopic jars, but the topper resembles the head of the heart-eating monster of Akirin myth, Ammit. The jars, as few as have been found, contain a strange mixture of honey, wine, blood, and a strange substance believed to be used for rituals. It is the jar was used in profane rituals of mummy creation, during which the heart of the deceased would be put into the jar. It was said this would deny the heart from Ammit, yet also from being weighed on the scales of Osiris, stranding the soul between life and death, judgement and oblivion. As such, it was seen as a profane object by the priesthood, and several of these jars are still found in the Har-Akirin temples
---Effects : You may place the heart of a recently deceased or well preserved body within the Jar, and then store the corpse in dry conditions. Doing so will create a mummy you permanently control so long as you have the jar. If the mummey is killed, the jar can be reused. If the jar is destroyed while you control a mummy, you will instantly lose control and it will violently attack you. Using the Jar is a profound perversion of the natural order of life and death, and so brings about a Powers Check
--Ushabti : Alright admittedly I don't know what to do. Basically its a mini statute of a man found in tombs that was said to act as a servant for the deceased person it was buried with in the afterlife. Maybe it could summon a ghost servant, a permanent unscene servant or it could just be a figurine of wonderous power. I dunno.
--Artifact : The Book of the Dead : Again, not sure what to do with this one. The Book of the dead was said to be buried with mummies and contained knowledge of the afterlife, spells, all sorts of stuff. I just wanted if as an artifact cause it sounds cool

Well that was alot. What do ya think?

[DeepShadow of FoS]

It's all good stuff, but I would also like to see variations on the bloodlines that use reincarnation rather than/along with blood descent. I loved the framing fiction in the RLCS that had the reincarnation scenario for the guy who went exploring tombs.

With Anktepot's bloodline, I would say perhaps there are certain throwbacks that only happen once every generation, or when a child is born under particular circumstances. These would get the basic effects of the bloodline, but also a prestige class or feat tree starting with the reincarnated feat. These throwbacks would be reincarnations of close family members of the pharaoh, such as his eldest son.

Plus, while I don't relish a "great white savior" scenario, I think there's been enough traffic in and out of Har'Akir to have a couple of strains of the bloodline running through the Core. It seems that was strongly hinted at in the RLCS framing fiction as well.

[KingCorn]

It's all good stuff, but I would also like to see variations on the bloodlines that use reincarnation rather than/along with blood descent. I loved the framing fiction in the RLCS that had the reincarnation scenario for the guy who went exploring tombs.

With Anktepot's bloodline, I would say perhaps there are certain throwbacks that only happen once every generation, or when a child is born under particular circumstances. These would get the basic effects of the bloodline, but also a prestige class or feat tree starting with the reincarnated feat. These throwbacks would be reincarnations of close family members of the pharaoh, such as his eldest son.

Plus, while I don't relish a "great white savior" scenario, I think there's been enough traffic in and out of Har'Akir to have a couple of strains of the bloodline running through the Core. It seems that was strongly hinted at in the RLCS framing fiction as well.

I might have that as a sort of Dread Possibility, or a theory for how these supposed descendants show up from time to time. Some claim blood ties and other claim reincarnation, and both could be right. After all, its been at least 200 years, and is implied to be even centuries more due to how time is in the Mists. I'll see if I can make a Reincarnate Prestige Class, and a Tomb Priest Prestige Class.

[nothri]

Apologies for the thread Necromancy.

So first off, reconciling the timelines...

While his background implies Ankhtepot committed these actions only a few centuries ago, like a lot of people I find that unsatisfying. I mean, given his background and the whole touch of death curse he suffered by blasphemy to Ra it is heavily implied that Ankhy is the origin of D&D mummies. As such I would personally make him as old as you would like and have the Dark Powers snatch up his tomb millenia after the fact. It wouldn't be the first rewrite of a darklord's history for the purpose of a better story.

Here's where it gets tricky. Other factors to consider are that Sebua and Har'Akir share a common origin and therefore a common history. Why does this matter? Because at some point Moosha, the desert vampire, went and apparently killed the line of Pharaohs except for a handful of bastard children that are eternally young in the city of Anhalla in Sebua. He was divinely cursed by what I tentatively would say are Anubis and Set ("God of Justice" and "God of Dark Vengeance", which could describe many egyptian deities but that's my first guess given the sandstorm the god of dark vengeance throws up). Therefore, if we assume that Har'Akir and Sebua come from the same nation and world (as they are said to in Domains of Dread) at some point the bloodline of Pharaoh was wiped out.

This doesn't necessarily refer to Ankhtepot's dynasty, of course. Egypt had 25 of them, after all. But I'm inclined to assume that a vampiric curse handed down by the gods themselves doesn't just happen for any old dynasty of kings...I would assume Moosha went and killed the last dynasty...or at least the last dynasty with blood ties to the gods.

This still leaves a few possibilities open. Ankhtepot might have sired a few children in Muhar before his domain formed with family lines still present. His curse allows him to become a mortal man at the cost of sacrificing a life for every day he wishes to remain human. I could see circumstances leading to a doomed romance and an illegitmate heir (wouldn't be the first time in Ravenloft). Finally, we have Anhalla's children next door that are explicitly related to the Pharaoh's bloodline (which could be either Tiyet or Ankhtepot's family if not both).