It is the Year 10. Along the banks of the river R, sits the majestic city of Warset,

the largest in all the land and capital of the mighty kingdom of Karset, the world leading

beacon of knowledge, industry and culture. It is the Year 10 because it is the 10th year

of their king's reign. It is also his last. For on the edge of the city, inside a grand

stone temple, their king, a young man of 19, lies dead. With his death comes great uncertainty

for a nation only recently restored under the watchful eye of the great God, Armun. Though

none of that matters for him now, it is not the end by any stretch. As is well understood

by all who are gathered by his side, his death is but the first step in the ultimate journey.

A journey that with the correct preparations will see his spirit in human form carried to

the other side and voyage into eternity, to walk forever among the gods in the golden fields of

Arru. It begins with the ex-seribration. The washing of the body, followed by the puncturing

of a hole through the back of the nasal cavity, into which a seven-inch tool, fashioned from

the stem of palm leaf, with a small hook carved into the end, is inserted. Since the

brain is thought to serve no function, the embalmer extracts what they can before pouring

a solution into the cavity to dissolve what is left. Next, the lungs, liver, stomach and

intestines are removed through a small incision, cut into the left side of the torso, before

being cleansed and packed into nature on salts alongside the body. Forty days later, as the

sweet smoke of incense fills the room, the desiccated body is smothered in a pungent

concoction of herbs, oil and resin, before being carefully wrapped in linen, into which

a number of totems for the gods are inserted, all the better to aid him in his journey.

Solony Charts spells, read from Papyrus Scrolls, known today as the Book of the Dead,

urging Osiris, the great god of the underworld, to take their king from this mortal realm and

...