Cultists

The medication of the Filth lobotomises their brains. Vibrations from profane angles of undiscovered dimensions tickle their tongues to inspiration. Listen to them…

“With your light burn away all hateful things!”

“Don’t resist. Our bodies are unworthy of the majesty.”

“See how your radiance burns my skin. I am blessed!”

“I too feared Aten. So wrong, I was very wrong.”

“I give you my eyes, and I see! I see! It is beautiful!”

The cult of Aten was struck down thousands of years ago, but its embers continued to smolder in al-Merayah ever since. Those who have worshipped Aten hid in the shadows, met in dark tea houses, and kept their small cult concealed from the rest of the village. Few knew there was anything different about al-Merayah.

But things have changed. With the occult upheavals and the discovery of the lost City of Aten in Egypt, Aten himself — the Sun Eater — stirred, and the cult woke from its slumber. When the earthquakes tore the ground apart, the fire began falling from the sky, and the Filth started leaking up from the deepest abysses, the cultists made their move.

Under the leadership of Abdel Dahoud — who had kept up a facade as a God-fearing member of the village — the adherents of Aten reactivated the ancient magical idols and statues that were once imbued with Aten’s word, now once more powered by the dark dreams. They began recruiting. Some went willingly into Aten’s embrace, their minds wiped and their souls taken, leaving them with nothing but anger, hatred and a burning wish to see the Earth scorched. Others were taken from their homes, brought to hidden temples and altars, and forced to gaze into Aten’s eye and listen to His whispers. They too were reduced to mindless slaves of the Sun Eater, blindly following the commands given by the cult leaders.

The cult leaders themselves were also subjected to the ancient rituals, their very identities carved out, leaving only the instructions of Aten, as interpreted by His servant, Abdel. They gather their cultists. There is much work to be done. They are commanded to convert more and more people into Aten’s slaves; to fight the Marya uprising and the meddling secret worlders; and, most importantly, to uncover all of Aten’s idols and temples, and to eventually bring forth Aten’s avatar on Earth: the Black Pharaoh, Akhenaten, whose body resides in the temple inside the City of Aten.