Kehetkhat was one of the Shan'iatu and one of the heads of the deceived Akhem-Urtu Guild. He is also referred to as the Dancer and his domain were the physical arts, the most prominent being dance.
Overview[]
The Dancer was originally tasked with expressing the cosmic principles of the Nomenclature into motion. In Irem, the temple-dancers, who assisted the rituals of the priests and intonations of the magi, were under his command. He also held close contact to the Shan'iatu of the Su-Menent, eventually proposing to create their own humans after the first revolt against Shan'iatu rule had to be put down. Through his close connection to the Su-Menent, he supported the Rite of Return and eventually, during the Rite itself, he expressed the secret principles that his brothers had deciphered in movement.
While in modern times, most of the sacred dances are lost to time, Kehetkhat still yearns to express them, crashing against the will of the Mummies bound to him like a wave of molten metal, seeking to take control over their physical forms to express his art. The Vessel of Celestial Movement hates individualized thoughts and abstract concepts, striving to express the cosmic sequences that manifest in the stars. Vain and lecherous, Kehetkhat vacillates between states of extreme narcissism manifesting through a predatory fantasy of self-indulgence and a bottomless, destructive nihilistic abandon that cannot be reasoned with. Shifting between a wide-open state of sensate submission and a coldly empty vessel of blood-minded aggression, those who serve Kehetkhat know his passing will quickly burn away all remaining sense of self and leave a gleaming husk that serves as his throne in the world of blood and skin.
Cults[]
Cults dedicated to the Dancer are often highly ritualized, seeking to give rise to legendary prodigies that unswervingly abide in the dogma of tradition and craft, achieving mastery with no deviation from the intended direction. If a mummy manages to overpower the drive of his Temakh in order to express its own vision, its cult can expect to gain great renown in the community of the Deceived.
Art[]
To the Thundering Cage, his art is nothing less than the dynamic mystery that conceals the hidden magic of meaning's violence. They are the vacillations of repose, stirring, ecstasy, and frenzy that form the volatile heart of every act of sex and war since the beginning of time. The use of external mediums of language and pigment are renounced for the discipline of the bones, muscles, and flesh. The ritualized movements are as the crushing march of a storm that had become bound within a prison of skin, a vessel of Fate's inevitable course that is written in the movements of the stars itself. Stripping away the refined layers of dialectic and linguistic interpretation, those who dance become the thousand-faceted mirror of all selves, immediate and exposed. To achieve this, the Mummy has surrender himself to the force of the Temakh within him, when actions have become as ingrained into their bodies as breathing, ready to act on the superior understanding of the shard of the Shan'iatu within him.
The Vessel of Celestial Motion searches for trances, seba that form the peak of artistic gnosis achieved by removing the content of self and temakh as to eliminate all obstacles between the performer's vessel and the edicts of the stars themselves. Such seba are gathered usually in two ways. Either the Mummy performs the act itself, or guides someone else to achieve this state. Once the trance is captured, the performance loses all appeal to onlookers. The vigor and strength of the performers seems to fade into a gray malaise and the audience becomes lost in the monotony of the movements.
Mandate[]
The Dancer demands the following of his adherents: "Shed the self and expose the naked heart."
If a servant of Kehetkhat manages to demonstrate truth through physical expression, including acts of sex or violence, he recovers his full pool of Ren. If the mummy inspires another person to act on the demands of his body through physical expression, one point in any Pillar is immediately restored.
Burden[]
Because the Thundering Cage itself is merely a conduit to the unimaginable music of the stars, those possessed by him have difficulties to resist similar attempts made by other forces. A Deceived of the Dancer receives a -2 die penalty to all checks in which the mummy is being compelled to take action by magical or other supernatural means.
Expression[]
Kehetkhat gifts his servants with The Seven Steps of Black Honey. If the Mummy possesses a corresponding Virtue or Vice], he can guide a target to act upon its vice or deny its virtue through a series of subtle gestures that target has to be able to see. If this is the case, the mummy gains a +3 bonus when attempting any form of intimidation or control upon the victim. If the victim shares both Virtue and Vice, the victim will comply with almost any command that is not blatantly suicidal or the torture or killing of loved ones.
References[]
- MTC: Book of the Deceived
,p 51-53
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Mummy: The Curse Temakh of the Deceived | |
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The Dancer · The Keeper · The Musician · The Painter · The Philosopher · The Poet · The Singer |