Ishmaelites

The Ishmaelites were part of the original mummies, but forsake the Code of Horus in order to found their own Dynasty. Now, they are even more scattered than ever before but many command powers and experience the younger mummies of the Amenti cannot match.

History
Named after Ishmael; the first of the Shemsu-Heru to turn away from Horus and his never-ending thirst for vengeance, the Ishmaelites were Immortals who walk a path other than the Wat Hor. The eldest of them shared the Egyptian trappings and First lives of the Shemsu-Heru, in fact most of them were created as Shemsu-Heru, but they turned away from their companions and have forged a culture and a Dynasty of their own. Once they had established themselves as a distinct entity, the Ishmaelites went on to help create new Immortals completely divorced from the expectations of Horus and his dominion. In the wake of this, the Cabiri were created and later, Set discovered with the help of one of them the means to create his Bane mummies. This caused much friction between the Ishmaelites and the Shemsu-Heru

However, loyalty to Horus was the only real distinction between the two groups; all else about the Shemsu-Heru was equally present in the Ishmaelites, from the ritual that creates them to the language and mythology. Both groups were inducted into the mysteries of Osiris, they were taught to combat the minions of Apophis and of the absolutely essential need to maintain a personal moral path. However the Ishmaelites refused to abide by any legal code established by a ruler whom they considered a petty tyrant attempting to validate his own vendetta.That code, the Wat Hor, was and still is very demanding and requires complete faith for anyone to maintain its tenets over millennia. Some of greatest men and women had found it impossible to live up to Horus expectations, either because of their own doubts or because they were not inclined to turn their free will over to a demagogue.

As such, most Ishamelites were pariahs and constantly moved in order to escape from their untolerating brethren.

When the Underworld was ravaged by the Sixth Maelstrom, many Ishmaelites perished. When the new Spell of Life was presented, many refused to sacrifice themselves and scattered among the globe. Now, they remain secreted in whatever dwellings they originally took for themselves. Of late, the Judges of Ma'at have intimated that the Amenti seek out and make contact with these ancient beings whenever they can. They are also targeted by the Hand of Toth.

Culture
The Shemsu-Heru and the Ishmaelites were the same people with the same knowledge and beliefs about death and the Shadowlands. In truth, the only major difference comes from the concept of judgement because the Ishmaelites refuse to submit to the judges of Ma’at any more than they will submit to the laws of Horus. By refusing to submit himself to the judges when he comes before the scales of Ma'at, an Immortal marks himself forever as an Ishmaelite and not a Shemsu-Heru. From that moment on, he can never go back and will never be accepted by the Judges again.The Ishmaelites follow the same mythic paradigm as their parent Dynasty and used the same ways of Hekau, but they see the judging of the soul and the teachings of Ma’at as a requirement for personal responsibility rather than an external expectation. In Ishmaelite philosophy, there is no authority in the judges beyond their role as witnesses and when each Immortal comes before the scales of judgement, there is only the individual’s actions and their own heart to be weighed against the feather of Ma’at. They are the final arbitration of whether or not Ammit goes hungry, they believe, and that judgement is a matter of self-fulfilment and personal accomplishment.

Speculation
It is unknown if the Ishmaelites had any influence in the creation of the Capacocha or other distinct Dynasties.