Plot One: Never Cry Wolf, Information, Characters, etc.

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The Plot

Ancient Egypt, 24 000 BC in an alternate universe, Paki the heron priest claimed to have seen a vision with his waking eyes of a black sky filled with fire and crops wilting simultaneously as bodies littered the desert for as far as the eye could see. He prophesized mass death as there had never been before, in other words the apocalypse. To climb the priesthood hierarchy, Paki had to display that he had contact with the gods and had done so by lying throughout the past years without great impact, until now. All of the priests, firm believers of any prophecy they heard, accepted this divine presage as reality, save for Amon. The oxen commoners took to believing Paki, and the majority of the camels did not believe the prediction at all. The Pharaoh Abubakar remained apathetic to the situation. His nephew Kazemde rebels against the idea of the end of all life and the queen, Meskhenet, believes that death is inevitable. Despite the commoners' personal beliefs over the issue, Abubakar's choice of what to believe will affect them greatly. What will the Pharaoh choose to trust and what will he decide to do about the chaos erupting around him?

The gods took notice of the turmoil occurring below and Seth being the god of chaos, found it amusing that Paki would lie. He felt an obligate sense of need to fulfill the feigned prophesy. Hathor, the goddess of love and joy, objected to Seth's preparations and demanded he refrain. The rest of the gods remained stagnant over the issue, refusing to get involved... but Ra, the sun god, seemed interested, despite his indifferent attitude towards the situation. The fate of mortal kind seemed to hang on Ra's decision. Whose side would he take? And would the mortal's behavior below influence his decision as much as Hathor and Seth's persuasive debates?

Start Date: October 15, 2004
End Date: December 18, 2004
Note that it can end sooner, the 'phases' we've planned have times that we think are realistic. However, you can end the required threads for phases sooner, causing the plot to end sooner.

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The Characters

THE GODS
The gods could almost be categorised as "static" due to the fact that they don't have very many threads to play in, however, the few threads they are a part of are very influential to the plot. So, if you want to play an influential character and the time on your hands is short, these are for you.
»Ra: Ra is the Sun God and the most important God among the Egyptians. They believe that Ra is swallowed every night by the sky goddess Nut and reborn every morning. Additionally, they believe that he travels through the underworld at night, in the underworld he appears as a ram. However, most of the time, Ra holds the appearance of a hawk. The Sun God is indifferent towards the situation at hand. He realises that Paki lied about recieving the prophecy, but really thinks the earthlings are capable of handling it. A just God, Ra listens to the arguments Seth and Hathor put forth, debating in his mind what path is the right one to take. Ultimately, Ra holds the fate of the Egyptians in his...claws.
»Seth: The jackal god of chaos represents everything threatening harmony in Egypt. He believes that since Paki made false claims under his name that he has the right to decide whether or not to go through with what Paki claimed to have seen in a vision. He holds that it would surprise Paki to see his 'vision' come true, and furthermore, it'd just be fun to watch. A mischievious and heartless god, Seth will do all within his power to convince Ra to take his side.
»Hathor: Hathor appears as a cow and is the goddess of love and joy, and is also a protective godess. She believes strongly that the Egyptians should not be punished for the crimes of a deceitful Paki. She brings up the point that if nothing happens, then Paki will be punished and most likely cursed for eternity, wasn't that punishment enough? A loving and compassionate goddess, she plans to do all that is within her power to convince Ra to take her side.

ROYALTY
Note that all royalty are desert foxes.
»Abubakar: An old Pharoah, his reign of almost 10 years he fears will come to an end soon. He knows he is not as young as he once was, but he still loves his throne and does not want to give it up to his nephew, Kazemde, quite yet. He feels that Kazemde lacks the wisdom to rightly take the throne. But generally, Abubakar is tired, he cannot take much more of the high amounts of stress involved in his role. He is indifferent to the prophecy as he feels that the gods will do what the gods will do. How can he stop anything?
»Meskhenet: All her life, Meskhenet has been a religious woman. She will believe literally anything the priests tell her. For this reason, Paki's prophecy has shaken her up badly. She fears for her life and the life of her people. Devoutly, she begins praying to the Gods, begging for their help and guidance. More than anything, she needs the strength and support of her husband, who in his apathy, finds it difficult to give. The Queen spends much of her time crying and imagining again and again what would surely be the death of her and her people. Static Character.
»Kazemde: A young handsome male of about 5, Kazemde is arrogant and sure of himself. Upon hearing the prophecy, rage consumed the young male as he refused to believe it. He found it impossible that the Gods would threaten to ruin a kingdom that showed such success and brilliance. Too young to see any flaws in the kingdom he would soon take over, he couldn't have seen any reason. He goes to his secret love, the beautiful priestess Mukarramma to attempt to find some sanity. His rash behaviour could get him, and the royal family in trouble with the Gods, priests, and commoners. But he is too young to see any of that.

PRIESTS
Note that all priests are herons.
»Paki: An over-confident priest, he knows he's gotten away with lies in the past and figures he'll get away with this one too. He fails to realise that in order to get away with it, the prophecy will have to come true, and if the prophecy comes true, they're all dead. All he's concerned with, however, is gaining the position of a high-priest and will do whatever he can do to get there. Ambitious, he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He is very charismatic as well and can sell his visions to anyone...or so he thinks.
»Amon: Amon doesn't believe Paki for a second, a true priest, he feels strongly that Paki is lying to the Egyptian people. Amon seeks the God's help for everything, and everyone is highly aware of that. He is known as one of the holiest men in society, but all his pleas that Paki is lying seem to go unheard, except by those who have already decided it can't be true. Will Amon's pleas to the gods for help be heard?
»Mukarramma: One of the few women priests, she wields incredible power that is only surmounted by royalty. She sits as a high priestess alongside Amon, but unlike the elder priest, she strictly believes that it will be the end of the earth, since her recent confiding in the gods has not proven otherwise. She understands that life hovers over the edge of a knife and how unwise it would be not to look before they leapt into chaos. But, her view is a little different than most others, for she believes there is 'potential' for great catastrophe, but it's still in the beginning stages and not entirely definite until it actually occurs.

COMMONERS
These characters are all static, however, please note that how they react to the plot can potentially play a very important role in the decisions the gods make.
· Listed below are camel characters

»Monifa: she is an intelligent and bright young camel who, by luck and her good charm, has managed to become an eligible lady-in-waiting. She is highly regarded amongst the commoners for her pleasant demeanor and constant optimism. Her looks aren't entirely beautiful, but her personality gives her an admirable glow. While Monifa regards the gods with reverence, she doesn't believe that they would obliterate life without just cause and she has found none for such impending destruction. Static Character.
»Lapris: A bit of a numb-nut in the cognitive department, Lapris isn't the most independent woman that ever lived to grace Egyptian history. She isn't entirely honest either, but tries her best to live as good a life as she can. She is often jealous of Monifa's good grace and power among the commoners, as well as the ease with which Monifa seems to be able to talk to priests and other higher individuals, but Lapris doesn't let this get her down. She believes life will go on and not even the gods could take down her confidence in mortal-kind. Static Character.
»Kaphiri: He claims that he isn't swayed by Monifa's charm, but he indubitably is. He's always been a hopeless romantic, and even though he tries to act all brash and masculine, the girls only titter and he ends up succumbing to his natural, agreeable tendencies. He's always found himself excluded from the 'in-group' of the men, just because many of the popular women are good friends with him. He's humble, but not exactly devout to the gods. He isn't blasphemous, but it wasn't difficult for him to disregard Paki's claim of imminent fatality. Static Character.

· Listed below are oxen/water buffalo characters

»Azibo: Always the determined and hard-working citizen of Thebes, Azibo didn't seem to have much time for worship or devotion to the gods. He never took to the religious way of life and saw it as a waste of time until the rumors spread of apocalyptic proportions. Azibo found a part of himself that he never thought existed and began to devote his life to meditation and consolation to the gods, asking them for guidance and mercy. He found his prayers went unanswered, but that didn't deter him from his goal of eventually getting a true response and receiving salvation when what he believed to be the end came. Static Character.
>>Mensah: Being named as the 'third born', Mensah seemed to be fated with misfortune, at least that's the way he saw it. The average height of a bull ox was 6'; Mensah barely reached 4'11. There had been people in his life that had treated him differently, but no other than any other person gets teased in their lifespan. Nonetheless, he felt as though everyone was always prejudiced against him. If he relaxed a little he'd realize that he wasn't treated any differently than anyone else. And yet, he seems to naturally take to the idea of the apocalypse, believing that not only every mortal was out to get him, but the gods were as well. Static Character.
»Omorose: She was quiet, but extremely egocentric. She believed that because she was beautiful she had a special place in the heart of the gods and that even though the end would inevitably come, she would be saved because of this. Omorose was often cold and condescending when regarding other members of society and couldn't understand why she felt so alone. When she should have felt wonderful because of her attractiveness, there were emotions of pining for real relationships in her life. If she was able to look beyond her own snout she would perhaps see that other people had problems of their own and she wasn't what the world revolved around. Static character.

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