King Arkon
There are many legends of monarchs the world over who will one day rise from their tombs to lead their nations again in times of dire need. In the case of King Arkon, the tale is true.He would rise from his tomb, if he only could break out from the sealed stone doors.
Appearance
King Arkon is aged in his late fifties, with black hair that is just beginning to turn grey, and brown eyes. He wears the white robes edged with gold leaf that the Kings of his country are buried in, with a sword at his side and a silver crown upon his head.
History/Background
King Arkon was generally a good king, who tried his best to avoid war and keep the wheels of Justice turning. However, he had one flaw-his great fear of Death. He turned to the mages and they told him to build a great Pyramid, and that if it was made large enougth and properly enchanted, it would create a bubble of *null-time* at the top, where he would never age.
Much of the population were put to work upon the Pyramid, but apart from those who were convicts in chain-gangs, they were not slaves and were paid reasonably well for their efforts. Nor was the Kingdom neglected as he was careful never to let the harvest be allowed to rot in the fields. There were some grumblers, however. After twenty years of toil the Pyramid was completed.
Then the engineers were called in to create booby-traps for the King's protection. A couch and plenty of books and other items were placed in his royal chamber and finally the Pyramid was enchanted, using every mage and witch in the Kingdom. In fact, so much magic was used that the Kingdom's Clathrate was destroyed. Magic became very hard to cast, which had a serious affect on the health of the people who relied on their magic users to heal them if disease broke out.
When disease did break out that summer the mages were unable to stop it and one in every thirty people died, including the daughter of the Royal Chancellor, who blamed the King for it, and managed to persuade a servent to drug the royal water one night. The sleeping King was placed in an ornate coffin and woke to find himself sealed alive in the Pyramid, whilst the Chancellor had himself made King in his place, as was the custom if a King died with no adult heir, a custom made to stop instability.
When the King awakened and found himself trapped in the tomb, which was lit by the flames of the torches, he screamed for help and battered at the sealed doors but nobody came. He expected that the torches would burn down in a matter of hours but to his surprise the torches did not burn down. When the small amount of food and water he
had been buried with ran out, he expected to die of thirst and hunger, but the hunger and thirst did not come, nor did he need to sleep or excrete.
He realised that the spell had worked and he was indeed safe from aging. The problem was, he was stuck where he was.He started reading the few books that he had and then a thought came to him. Sooner or later grave robbers would come to rob his tomb and then he could hopefully escape. He settled down to wait...
Special Equipment
The King's Royal Seal, the personal mark of the Monarch.
Roleplaying Notes
How he is depends on how long he has been locked up. Historicly many tombs with treasure in were robbed quite soon after they were sealed up.
One week to one year; He was entombed with several books and does not suffer the pangs of hunger and thirst nor is he in the dark, so his sanity will be intact. He will be very pleased to be set free and will try and get the PC's to help make him the ruler again. A counter-coup at this stage would be quite easy,as he was a popular ruler, and once back on the throne he will reward the PC's handsomely.
One year to five years; By now he has read and reread all his books, and loud noises frighten him, but he still has a weakened grip on sanity. Should the PC's set him free the result could be a violent civil war as his supporters and the supporters of the new king clash in battle again and again, bringing misery and poverty, gang rape and death, to the ordinary people.The PC's might well regret their choice.
Five years to twenty years;By now he has very little sanity left, and very little chance of getting his throne back. He will have to get used to the outside world again.He will be really grateful to whoever sets him free.
Twenty years or more; By now he is an insane freak, a parody of what he once was, driven mad by his long years of imprisonment.He may well attack the PC's,even if he does not, he will never function well in society again.His chances of regaining his throne are zero.
In a *horror type* game, if he's been sealed away for centuries, he could rot and turn to bone and dust as soon as he leaves the tomb, if the GM wants that to happen.
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? Responses (8)
Good job Cheka. It'd be interesting to see what he'd write on the walls.
I'll be honest, when I started reading this sub I was not impressed. It seemed to be very much the typical fantasy king with a bit of Egyptology tossed in. Now the coup, and the power actually working, tied with the king being released, that made this a good bit more interesting. instead of a mummy, the PCs find an old man who is quite jolly about finally being released...and after reading all of his books at least a dozen times over.
This is a nicely done piece. If it was not for the details in the roleplay notes section, this submission would of been trivial. It is a post of minimal usefulness, unless you are the PCs breaking into the good king's tomb.
This post got progressively better each line I read. It started off as average at best, but by the end of it, I was fairly interested. There's nothing like solitary confinement to gnaw at one's mind.
I like it. Lots for a GM to play around with.
I really like this idea. There is a lot of potential with this one. My only real criticism with it is that if adventurers find it after a long wait, then it only will matter on a very small scale, a single person crazily attacking people.
Still, great stuff. I will keep this on my roster.
I like this. Instead of stealing the grave goods of a dead ruler, they could be saddled with an addled old man who needs constant babysitting to keep him out of trouble...
'The King staggers down the road, the carved wooden lid from his coffin tucked under his bony arm. He starts grabbing passerby and screaming into their ears, 'LOOK! I'M NOOOT DEAD! I'M ALIVEEE!''
The more ethical the heroes are, the more amusing this guy could be.
I think Wulf said it best. An interesting scenario made possible by magic.
Perhaps when he is released there was need of him again, due to prophesy or some other factor.