Akhmen-Hotep

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Akhmen-Hotep. beloved of the gods, Lord of the Brittle Peaks was the Priest-King of Ka-Sabar in Nehekhara. [1a]

Appearance

A huge, muscular man standing almost seven feet tall with many scars of battle. [1a]

History

He was born in -1834 IC. [1a]

In -1750 IC he gathered his army at the Oasis of Zedri [1a] to fight against Nagash, making many sacrifices to Khsar, Geheb, Phakth and Ptra, seeking their blessing in the forthcoming battle. Grand Hierophant of Ptra Memnet proclaimed that So long as the sun shines on the warriors of the faithful, victory is certain. [1b]

He gathered his army, noting that the army of Khemri was exhausted and inferior in numbers and quality but [1c] also that his allies from the city of Bhagar had not arrived. [1d]

Battle at the Oasis

The three thousand archers of his city, stationed ahead of his main battle line struck first, pouring a withering rain of arrows into the oncoming warriors of Khemri. Horse archers attempted to intervene, but the protection of Geheb held strong, the bowmen shrugging off their arrows before the lines of battle clashed. [1e]

Slowly the army of the Living City was pushed back by the Bronze Host but refused to break being driven back to the black pavilions at the rear of their lines. All the time the dust continued to rise around the fighting and then as Akhmen-hotep was about to launch his cavalry and chariots to break the line, priests brought our strange jars from the ebon tents and released columns of buzzing darkness. [1e]

As his army was enveloped in the darkness he ordered his trumpeter to sound the withdrawl towards the oasis which still glowed with Ptra's light. As they fell back in good order the dead rose to attack [1f] and to further compound the carnage, Screaming Skull Catapults began to fire at them from the camp of Nagash. [1g] Arkhan then led his heavy cavalry in a charge against the beleagured infantry but was counter-charged by the chariots of Suseb the Lion. [1h]

The remnants of the kings army were saved by priests of Neru, invoking the goddess whose light pushed back the swirling darkness. [1i] A the battle continued, 4000 robed horse archers arrived, all the warriors that the merchant princes of Bhagar could send, drawing off much of Arkhan's cavalry. [1j] With their arrival the battle seemed to have turned when the combined priesthood unleashed the full power of the gods, lightning bolts crashing down to breech the shorud of darkness. [1k]

But even this was not enough, for Nagash had enslaved the spirit and body of Neferem, the Daughter of the Sun and corrupted the covenant with the gods. The divine powers could not touch her and failed at her tormented wail.[1l] Akhmen-hotep was forced to order the retreat to save what was left of his army and the priesthood. [1m]

The War Continues

Nebunefer asked Akhmen-hotep to attack Bel-Aliad on the other side of the Great Desert to draw attention from the armies of Lybaras and Rasetra who marching to reinforce Quatar, which the king agreed to do, despite the risks. The Bronze Host marched across the Great Desert, guided by refugee horsemen from Bhagar [1n] and defeated Prince Suhedir al-Khazem of Bel-Aliad at the Battle of the Spice Road. [1o] However the dead arose and attacked the living, forcing him to retreat into the desert. [1p]

As they moved through the Great Desert, they came under repeated attack by undead cavalry who targeted their Bhagarite guides, whilst also the dead rose to attack former comrades. Soon the army was down to little more than two thousand warriors. [1q] Memnet told him that Pakh-amn was actually seeking to kill him and so as attacks by the undead continued, eventually some of the survivors rose against the king. The Master of Horse approached with other armed nobles the king decided to forstall the attmept and had his bodyguards attack and mortally wound him, killing his companions. [1d]

As Pakh-amn lay dying, Akhmen-Hotep was stabbed in the back and killed by the Grand Hierophant. [1d]

Weapons and Equipment

He wore to battle a pleated white linen kilt, red leather sandels a belt of hammered gold plates, inlaid with lapis lazuli. Braclets blessed by Geheb, the Giver of Strength were placed on his wrists and a bronze helmit on his shaven head. He wore leather armour and gold necklace with glyphs of protection. [1a]

His chariot was armoured. [1c]

Quotes

I will tell you what I think. I think that the truth is what we make of it. Else, why would we have need for kings at all? Nothing is preordained, so long as we have the courage to fight for what we believe. We will cast down the Usurper and drive his spirit into the wastes where he belongs. We will make this land right again, because I am the king and I command that it be so!

~ Akhmen-hotep to Memnet. [1n]

Sources

  • 1: Rise of Nagash (anthology) by Mike Lee
    • 1a: A Prayer before Battle, pg. 19-20
    • 1b: A Prayer before Battle, pg. 22
    • 1c: A Prayer before Battle, pg. 24-25
    • 1d: A Prayer before Battle, pg. 26
    • 1e: A Prayer before Battle, pg. 27-31
    • 1f: The Black Vizier, pg. 50-52
    • 1g: The Black Vizier, pg. 54
    • 1h: The Black Vizier, pg. 56-60
    • 1i: The Fickle Tide, pg. 62
    • 1j: The Fickle Tide, pg. 64
    • 1k: The Fickle Tide, pg. 67-68
    • 1l: The Fickle Tide, pg. 70-71
    • 1m: The Fickle Tide, pg. 72
    • 1n: Tidings of War, pg. 129-136
    • 1o: Chapter Fourteen: The Bloodstained Sands, pg. 172
    • 1p: Attack and Retreat, pg. 203-206
    • 1q: Chapter Twenty: The Long, Bitter Road, pg. 231-235
    • 1r: Chapter Twenty Two: Spirits of the Howling Waste, pg. 258-260
Tomb Kings
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