Ankhtepot is the Darklord of a vast, desert realm swept up in the Demiplane of Dread. But what makes this former priest so evil?
Ravenloft has it all when it comes to horror. It’s got your vampires, your evil undead of various flavors (including Death Knights and Liches), and it even has disembodied brains. So, of course, there’s a mummy that is also a Darklord. They’re horror icons unto themselves.
Hammer Horror and Universal got in on the action with tales of the mummy that was once the high priest Imhotep, as portrayed by Boris Karloff for Universal Studios back in the 1930s in the pre-code days. And Ankhtepot has echoes of that mummy story, in that his condition is, in fact, a curse placed upon him by the gods of the land he once lived in. But what makes Ankhtepot different is that where others might have raged against the gods, Ankhtepot replaced them. And that’s why he is the Mummy Lord of Har’Akir.
Ankhtepot – Loyal Priest To Usurper Lord
Ankhtepot’s tale begins in a long-forgotten part of Faerun, once known as the Land of Reeds and Lotuses. Though it has long vanished from “modern” maps, it still exists in legend. It is known that its people worshipped a vast and might pantheon, and that Ankhtepot was a faithful priest before becoming a Darklord.
In fact, he served three different pharaohs, witnessing how a leader could shape the beliefs and traditions of an entire people. So much so that he saw the land prosper under the first two pharaohs he served, for they were kind and just. But the third (who probably killed his own mother, the previous pharaoh), was unworthy in every respect.
You name it, this long-forgotten pharaoh indulged in it. Cruelty. Hedonism. Tyranny. The list goes on. Ankhtepot took this as a sign from the gods that this pharaoh would doom his people. It may well have been, but where the arrogance comes in is in the interpretation of what steps could be taken to fix it.
Because Ankhtepot, naturally, believed that this was a sign that he should take the pharaoh’s place. After all, who better to replace the pharaoh than someone who knew what the gods wanted and could spread their teachings to the people. So of course, the gods must want him and his loyal priests to slay the pharaoh on his consecration day. What could possibly go wrong with the gods on his side?
Hubris Comes Calling
As it turns out, quite a lot. The gods, in fact, were not on Ankhtepot’s side. Nor were the people of the Land of Reeds and Lotuses. They summarily rose up against the usurping priests and executed them all in a big, spectacular public ceremony.
This is where it really gets bad. Ankhtepot stood before his gods in judgement and his ambition was laid bare before him. The gods themselves cursed his existence, stripping Ankhtepot of a piece of his soul, his Ka. This is the vital essence that gives inspiration to all living things. Then, they banished Ankhetpot from the afterlife, returning him as an undead being.
Thus cursed, Ankhtepot awoke mid-mummification. Unable to move or cry out, he remained within his own corpse as his organs were removed and he was mummified, an unliving being. Buried in an unmarked crypt, he would have remained their for eternity until his hubris drew the attention of the Dark Powers of Ravenloft.
They came in the form of a question. A mysterious voice asking if he believed he was still worthy to rule after all that had happened to him. As you might imagine, his arrogance had only grown. After a hasty declaration that it was the gods who should suffer, Ankhtepot was freed at last, and stepped out into a desert, the desert of his own Domain of Dread, Har’Akir.
Blasphemy, Even For Ravenloft
Ankhtepot leads a cursed existence. Without his Ka, all he can do is rage against the living. And of course, as the perfect torment for Ankhtepot, the people of Har’Akir are pious subjects of his former gods. Their piety reminded him of what he lacked.
So, of course, he slew all who followed the gods who once cursed him. And using blasphemous rites, he resurrected his former priests as powerful mummy lords. Then he began creating his own religion, inventing deities and planting them in the hearts and minds of the people.
Now an unholy new faith has taken root in Har’Akir. The Children of Ankhtepot, horrific mummies with animal heads and dark powers granted by the former high priest himself, who lord over their people with all the tyranny and terror an unworthy pharaoh once brought to his people. Thus it is, that Ankhtepot will forever deny himself the very soul he seeks, and shall never have the rest or respite of the grave.
And as we all know, being cursed to live forever with ungodly power is definitely how you punish someone evil.
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Source: Bell of Lost Souls
