Ba

The Falcon-Headed are the mummies who have arisen with Ba as their defining pillar.

General Overview
During the Rite of Return, the Talons declared that their actions were what defined them. As true kings rule not from the throne, but from the chariot, leading others by example, so these Arisen take charge when their Memory allows them to form words. Of all the decrees, they might feel the most desperate in the face of Descent. It limits what they can do with a given incarnation. This, however, is not without dangers and the Falcon-Headed are well aware of this. They prefer command but don’t demand on it. They recognize superior leadership when it gets results and attach their loyalty to it without hesitation. A strong ba encourages direct action, so the Falcon-Headed only delegate duties when they must, and always with a bit of shame. They pull their own weight and expect their companions to do the same. The Talons neither abandon nor scold those who fall behind. Given time, they’ll learn to be ashamed of their mistakes, to correct them, and then take their place by the Falcon-Headed’s side. Members of the decree forgive others for failure, but hate it in themselves. Undefeated foes and lost vessels nettle the ba-decreed conscience. The Charioteers throw themselves at the problem again and again, using new tactics and more power to strike at it until it breaks.

As far as the Charioteers are concerned, modern democracies are anarchies contained by force of arms. Politicians are second-rate scribes with peculiar delusions, who believe that mere words are the equivalent of actions. The pen is not mightier than the sword, because a man with a sword can order a scribe to write anything. In Irem, sorcery was more than speech and inscription; the Shan’iatu were fire-bearing leaders, not decadent “intellectuals”. This is why modern rulers fail to meet their peoples’ needs, and why the mob challenges their anemic grasp on power.

Cult
The cults of the Charioteers promote self-sufficiency, honestly, and loyalty—and a bit of contempt for outsiders who haven’t been through their society’s initiations. A Charioteer may command initiates to survive in the wild for a week alone, and mark success with scars and tattoos. The ba-centered philosophy tends to be short on doctrine, however, and many Talons have trouble keeping followers in line when they fail to uncover the elaborate mythologies, taboos, and rites they thought they’d find.

Restoring Pillars
A Talon of the Ba regenerates Pillars by triumphing over adversity in a meaningful challenge with the chance of failing. He doesn’t have to succeed, but he must choose to strive. To inspire its full recovery, the ba demands heroic effort. If one of the Falcon-Headed triumphs over mental or physical adversity he freely chooses to tackle, and for which he will suffer serious consequences for failure, his ba Pillar fills completely.