The Pharoah's Fate

From: Richard Fenner <rfenner_at_mail.direct.ca>
Date: Sat, 08 Nov 1997 11:05:16 -0800

>
> "In 1336 the Pharaoh 'used up' his body for the first time and the
> first of the Tournaments of the Masters of Luck and Death was held.
> In this event, certain individuals, chosen by a means known only to
> the Pharaoh, awake between dawn and day in a thoroughly magical Holy
> Country and compete upon the magic plane. The winner gives his body
> to the Pharaoh, who inhabits it for a number of years before requir-
> ing a new one. The winner's soul is liberated with consciousness and
> full powers to an angelic existence." - GB p.46.
>
> [1616]: "It got worse. The Pharaoh disappeared, and the Tournament
> of the Masters of Luck and Death failed to provide a new body." - GB
> p.48.

I thought I'd try to confuse things a bit more. Here's another "rumour" probably making the rounds in the City of Wonders.

The Ritual for the Pharoah was a two part ritual. The Tournament and "whatever" Belintar does between being killed and reborn (only the Pharoah knows what he does). They work as separate parts towards the same end. Belintar probably succeeded in what he was doing, but the Tournament didn't provide the escape he needed from his part of the ritual. Belintar isn't dead, or captured by the lunars - he's trapped in the ritual. Probably trying to invent a way out now.

A thought occurs to me - the CoW is probably filled with "false Pharoahs" in the years following the event. Con men, beggars and the madmen of the area all vying for the throne, money, etc. I have the image of someone standing up in a crowd with a sign ....

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