Author Games: The River of Night

Task Three: The Price of Introductions

"Six fatalities? Just to get into the Underworld? That seems rather...severe."

Professor Wyndam frowned, the gesture wrinkling his nose and causing his bushy gray mustache to quiver. He took a sip of tea- Fatima noted with annoyance that he had scorned her best coffee for the tepid brew. She decided it was significantly un-American of him, and she should probably remind him that he wasn't actually British one of these days. Perhaps a day when she wasn't an impoverished graduate student dependent on the goodwill of the university.

"You counted correctly- this section names Rihunsup, Nubia Abasi, Asten Osorsen, Kahula Urbi, Galia Musa, and Khamet Aswad. The traps were apparently quite severe. However, the text is quite clear- the true dangers are yet to come. Pass the next photograph, if you please."

Fatima shrugged and pulled the next image from the stack. "I took a look at it while you were translating the other one. The hieroglyphs are totally incomprehensible to me, but the mosaics are pretty clear. The heroes went to meet a being on the shores of the River, deep in the Underworld. But there was something wrong with the person they found. That individual is marked with red symbols- the color of the desert and disorder. In addition, I saw isfet, the name of chaos, as part of the name of the being. I couldn't figure out exactly what they were offered or offering."

The professor pored over  the page. "Yes... you're absolutely right. According to this section, the boat they rode into the River was flawed- it didn't have a rudder, and the oars  had rotted away. Sensible, I suppose. The makers never anticipated it would actually see the water. The currents proved strong, and the boat ran aground in the Underworld right next to a hut."

"And they asked for help," Fatima breathed, fascinated despite herself. "They went to see if the- the thing inside had anything to help them. And it did. But if I know my Egyptian plot structures, it demanded a price."

"Precisely. The entity's name roughly translates to 'Unmaking Faith,' with the 'unmaking' represented by the symbol of chaos. It could fix their boat, but it wanted to know the true names of three of them. As you might imagine, this caused some discontent."

Fatima looked at the mosaic with renewed interest. "No kidding. Hearing a true name from a person's own lips... that's giving strange being a part of your soul. There's no telling what kind of  magic a malicious spirit could do if they got a hold of your name. Does that mean these three figures...?"

"Yes."

They examined the picture for a minute longer.

"Well. That would explain why the others have swords out."

"Indeed. They weren't volunteers."

"Nope. Sacrifices."

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Requirements

-The ship has run aground on the shores of the River of Night. This is obviously problematic. 

-A human-looking being calling themselves Heruisfet 'fortunately' lives nearby. They offer to repair the ship- in exchange for three true names from the crew. Your tribute likely has a general idea of the implications of such a transaction. They rarely turn out for the best.

-Decide whether or not to give Heruisfet your name. If it isn't clear what you chose in the entry, be sure to clarify your choice when you submit it. It will be relevant.

Deaths: Two ballot kills, to be handed in with your entry. Four tributes will go up for votes this round. Two will be eliminated.

Due Date: Friday, November 11 at 10 PM EST