Exiles of Nehek

Even when they lived, the Tomb Kings of Nehekhara – or Priest Kings as they were – were obsessed with death. It infuriated them that the gods had seen fit to only grant them just a few short decades upon the world to make their mark and none rankled under that knowledge more than the Great King Settra. Despite having conquered all Nehekhara and ensuring that much of Khemri was made in his image, Settra was obsessed with not just creating a legacy, but outliving it. And so he ordered the Mortuary Cult formed – its purpose to discover the ultimate secret: to cheat death. The Priesthood of the Mortuary Cult was led by Khatep, an extremely gifted and wise seer. It was Khatep who tended to Settra’s dying mortal form and promised the Great King that he would rise again on the Day of Awakening. As the years past, the hieratic cult’s quest for lore was partially successful. The priests themselves learnt how to sustain a form of Unlife, their spirits tethered to their desiccated bodies, yet the knowledge to bring back the kings as eternal demi-gods still lay beyond their grasp. However, they were undeterred and their search continued, all while serving their living kings as advisors and viziers. Thus, the Mortuary Cult spread across Nehekhara. The arrival of the Arch-Necromancer changed everything. Following the casting of Nagash’s Great Ritual, civil war threatened Nehekhara and Khatep took it upon himself to restore order. He broke open the seals to Settra’s Grand Pyramid, which caused the Great King to rise, filled with an unquenchable wrath. However, Settra had not risen as a beatific sovereign but as a ravaged mummy – this was not the Day of Awakening promised by the Mortuary Cult! Settra raged and banished Khatep from Khemri. To this day Khatep the Liche Lord remains the nominal head of the Mortuary Cult; since his exile he wanders the world, at first restricted to roaming Nehekhara's vast deserts, but of late he has travelled further afield, gathering followers and fellow exiles to seek out the lost lore he hopes will return the Lands of Nehek to glory and rehabilitate his reputation as their saviour!