Encyclopaedia Argollica

Anubis

Nerem doesn't look like much at first glance, a sea of white sand from which jagged black mountains rise. But beneath these peaks lies the country's wealth. In times past, dwarven explorers found vast stores of precious metals and gemstones there. It wasn't long before they settled Nerem and a dwarf king ruled in every mountain, their wealth known far and wide. But no matter how opulent their halls were, these dwarves could not escape the consequences of the death of the twin goddesses. As the land around them turned from a steppe into the desert it is today, they slowly wasted away amidst their wealth, until only their corpses remained as fodder for the desert lizards.

When the anubis awoke in Nerem, they at first eked out a living in the desert. But soon, in search of food, they found the hidden entrances to the old dwarf holds. From out of the harsh desert sunlight, they stepped into vast caverns full of wealth, great halls carved from stone that were like nothing they had ever seen. Soon, the silent palaces of the dwarves were filled with hide tents as anubis bands settled within the cool safety of the mountains.

Then one anubis, her eyes glowing blue and speaking in a voice not entirely hers, appeared on the scene. One of the gifts given to the anubis by Echidna was a closeness to the spirit world, and mediums were already common among their kind. This woman, Gautseshen, claimed to be possessed by the spirits of the dwarves and told the others that these spirits wished to strike a deal. In exchange for honouring the dead dwarves and giving them the proper burial rites, the spirits would teach the anubis how to live in their old mountain homes.

Soon, other anubis in different holds started exhibiting similar symptoms and brought the same message, and throughout Nerem, anubis flocked to settle in the old mountainous spaces of the dwarves, lured in with the promise of an easier life than that of a desert nomad. Under the instruction of the various spirit mediums they imitated the old ancestor cults of the dwarves and, in so doing, became their descendants, at least in a spiritual sense. They explored the holds and carefully collected the artifacts that had been lying amidst the ruins, along with clearing away the rubble so they could make a start at restoring the halls to their former glory.

The original message of the mediums seems to have regarded the dwarves as just dead mortals, albeit ones who were responsible for great feats of engineering and art. Whatever power they had from beyond the grave was mostly the result of the critical mass of thousands of souls working together. But the view the anubis hold of the dwarves has changed dramatically since then. They have become a race of godlike craftsmen who presided over a mythical golden age of art and learning. Many of the anubis now believe that, if they fulfill their duties to these beings and preserve their heritage as best they can, one day the dwarves will return from the dead and usher in a new age of unseen prosperity.

The mediums are at the top of anubis society. Any command issued by them is seen as a command from the dwarves themselves. Since they essentially rule in the name of these spirits, they are usually referred to as viceroys. Every viceroy rules over an old dwarf hold, and all anubis living within answer to them. The others have various professions such as tending to the subterranean algae and mushroom farms, herding the underground creatures formerly domesticated by the dwarves, protecting the hold from outside threats or learning how to use and recreate the old dwarven artifacts.

By now Anubis culture is based almost entirely on the old dwarf culture, or at least what they perceive dwarf culture to have been like. Although they use their own language for everyday tasks, dwarvish and its script is the language of law, science and literature, and the viceroys speak no other tongue. Likewise, their clothing, jewelry and architecture is modelled on dwarf examples. However, the way in which this respect for the old ways is put into practice varies from hold to hold. Some can be described as fundamentalist, deriving as much as they can from the models of dwarven crafts they possess and scorning any innovation on these old models. Others take a looser approach. In their eyes, it is vital to keep dwarven culture alive in their own actions, and change (within reason) is vital to preventing it from becoming stale and dead. Given the religious significance this all has in their eyes, disputes on this matter can be quite heated, occasionally to the point of violence.

The anubis are a very insular culture. Outsiders are generally seen as intruders who might steal the old dwarven artefacts preserved within a hold and defile the temples dedicated to their worship. It is certainly not an unfounded worry, as every hold has had to repel outside invaders and thieves at least once in its history. Angels are the only outsider that has regular contacts with them, to the point that any monsters that wish to contact the anubis usually do so through the order of the Golden Dove. The anubis know that the angels were allies of the dwarfs of Nerem in times past, although the exact details of the relationship have faded from their memory and they believe the dwarves created us. As such there is little reason in their eyes for hostility towards us, since we are both seen as servants to the same entities.

There aren't many anubis. For a long time, their population was kept small by the harsh desert environment. In addition to this the elaborate underground agricultural systems that supported the holds fell into disrepair when the dwarven civilization crumbled and their restoration has been a slow process. Due to this, as well as their insular attitude, the anubis have so far only been a third-rate actor on the international stage. It is possible that they might overcome these challenges in the future however. During my visit to Nerem I cultivated a friendship with the viceroy of Mekhepi, and she allowed me to be present during a rather revolutionary experiment. One of her wizards had studied old dwarven documents for a long time and before our eyes, she managed to reanimate one of their old stone constructs. Moreover, she managed to program it to follow a few basic commands. The procedure required large stores of magical energy, so the anubis won't be able to start reanimating these old constructs en masse anytime soon. But even so, a new chapter in their history has been opened. What the future holds for this technology we will have to see.