History of the Necropolis:The founder of the Necropolis is Atsuseth, a late pharaoh who rose from the slumber of death to discover that his sister, a better pharaoh in life than he was whom he had murdered, had also risen from the tomb and started a herd of her own. Atsu has never been one to let his sister get the better of him, so he decided to found his own herd. He has less interest in conquest than she does, preferring a sneaker way.
He founded the Necropolis to not only be a people for him to rule over, but to serve the undead population, the Algols. He wants to know how to create Algols, and where they are all coming from.
What is life like in the Necropolis?Atsuseth wants to build a city and a new civilization, so a lot of the activity of the herd will be leaning in that direction. What exactly life is like varies from group to group, with most of them being roughly equal.
The ruler of the Necropolis is Pharaoh Atsuseth. Directly below him are the leaders of the five orders. After that, the organization of the individual factions matters little to him.
Slavery is allowed in the Necropolis, so long as slave owners are "responsible" and slaves are clearly marked somehow.
Social Structure:“Base” breeds: all accepted, except for Nova.
“Augmented” breeds: all accepted, Algols preferred.
Familiars: considered to be property of their Star (slaves or pets).
Genders, sexes, and orientations: all welcome, all equal.
Highest in the land: Pharaoh Atsuseth
Second-Highest in the Land: the High Priest, the Commander, the Loremaster, the Chief Embalmer, the Grand Architect
The Orders:The Priests of Scorpio: the spiritual heart of the city. Scorpio is considered to be the god of the undead, of which all other gods of the undead are merely an aspect. Scorpio is usually depicted as a plain, masculine Algol with a locket around his neck in Necropolis art. The Priests of Scorpio spend much time praying to Scorpio for guidance. The Priests of Scorpio are led by the High Priest and operate out of the Temple of Scorpio.
The Necropolis Guard: the fighting heart of the city. They are the guards who protect the citizens from outside attack as well as the police force. They are led by the Commander and operate out of the Fort.
The Great Library: the thoughtful heart of the city. The Great Library is dedicated to two tasks: one, researching undeath, and two, researching burial customs. Librarians research methods of bringing the dead back to life and “study” burial by stealing artifacts from tombs that do not belong to members of the Necropolis. They display their prizes in a museum attached to the Library, all neatly recorded and documented. They are led by the Loremaster and operate out of the Great Library and Necropolis Museum.
The Order of Undertakers: the future heart of the city. Once it is understood how undeath works, the undertakers will start creating more undead. Until then, they take care of the dead of the city and keep records of everyone who has died and what sort of undead they would prefer to be. They are led by the Chief Embalmer and operate out of the Mortuary.
The Order of Builders: the physical heart of the city. The builders are responsible for maintaining buildings that are already there and building new ones. Although not directly involved in undeath or Algols, the city would not exist without the physical labor of the Builders, so they are always welcome at the table to voice their concerns. Construction workers, engineers, and architects are all members of the Order of Builders. They are led by the Grand Architect and operate out of the City Planning Offices.
Relationships between the Orders:The Priests, the Librarians, and the Undertakers are required to work together, so they get along cordially at the moment. There is a little rivalry, but so far everyone is playing nice. The Builders need to work with everybody but might not get as much respect as they deserve, and no one interferes with Guard business.
The Government:Atsuseth rules the city, taking advice from the High Priest, the Commander, the Loremaster, the Chief Embalmer, and the Grand Architect. How exactly each order is organized Atsuseth is leaving up to the leaders of each order, but he reserves the right to decide which ranks within an order outrank ranks in another order (that is, he can decide if a “Master Librarian” is less than, greater than, or equal to a “Captain of the Guard”).
While the Guard and the Priesthood are officially the most important leaders in the city, functionally all five of the leaders are roughly equal, and all orders are therefore roughly equal.
Slaves:Slavery is legal in the Necropolis, though it is not organized. Slaves may belong to any private citizen or to an order in general. All slaves must be marked in some way so as to designate their status. All familiars are considered to be either slaves or pets.
No member of the Necropolis may be enslaved to another member of the Necropolis! If there is a slave related to a member of the herd, that family member may petition Atsuseth to change the slave’s status—whether to transfer ownership to their family or to free them. The owner of the slave must be compensated either way.
Allies, Rivals, and Enemies:So far the Necropolis has no allies.
They are, of course, rivals with Anubis’s Heiratic, although they are unwilling to start an outright war with Atsu’s sister’s herd.
They are outright enemies of the Grave Path, as that religion explicitly bans the raising of the dead. Members of the Grave Path may be killed or enslaved on sight.
