【金字塔3-7】新王国 THE NEW KINGDOM

[cmoon]

新王国 THE NEW KINGDOM

那是在1987年的5月。名为史密斯的雇佣兵因严重的枪伤倒在了豪华顶层公寓的地毯上，他流着血，感叹时运不济。
这本来是一场标准的砸了就抢式战斗，目标是哈玛得律阿斯（译注：希腊神话树木女神）责任有限公司神秘的CEO。史密斯的团队花了一个月的时间来准备:了解步骤和方法、人员和他们的偏好。这个计划是无懈可击的，正如他们的雇主所需要的那样。万无一失。
但一切都出了问题。
当目标和他那三名穿着制服、步伐僵硬的保镖一起从办公室走向电梯时，这支五人小队已经从屋顶渗透了进来。用快速且无声的射击解决了所有的安保人员——至少他们是这么想的——他们包围了那个胖乎乎、气喘吁吁的目标。只要回到屋顶，直升飞机就会俯冲下来，把他们带走。这很简单,对吧?
“事情是这样的，伯德先生，”史密斯说，他的声音经过了伪装，并且因肾上腺素的分泌而颤抖:“闭上嘴，跟我们走。我的雇主只想跟你谈谈。也许如果你运气足够好的话,你会记得——”
那头肥猪不再气喘吁吁，反而开始放声大笑——就像干裂的骨头在啪嗒作响。在听到枪声之前，史密斯的肚子就已经伴随着疼痛炸裂开来。他的人转身反击，但很快就被伯德的三个保镖给开枪打死了，他们现在又僵硬地站了起来。”
那几个保镖本该死了——他们每个人的身上都被枪开了几个洞。但他们还是在行动。
史密斯的生命正在消逝。他的过往在他的眼前浮现。他的目标也变了模样:不再肥胖，不再气喘吁吁，而是长得瘦高，身上披着金布，脸上长着鸟嘴。他用一双又圆又小的眼睛望着雇佣兵，长长的手指在他的头顶挥动。
“很有战斗经验，”那干巴巴的声音说道。“而且冷酷无情。也有一点点智慧……但不是太多。是的，你将侍奉于我。我将带走你的生命。”
那是1987年。从那天起，伯德先生身边就有了第四个保镖。

劇透 -   :

It was May 1987. Badly gut-shot, a mercenary named Smithy bled out on a fancy penthouse carpet, cursing his luck.
This was supposed to have been a standard smash-and-grab, with Hamadryas Inc.’s mysterious CEO as the target. Smithy’s team had spent a month preparing: learning procedures and patterns, personnel and predilections. The plan was airtight, just as their employer had dictated. Nothing left to chance.
It had all gone wrong.
The five-man team had infiltrated through the roof as the target was going from office to elevator with his three stiff-walking, uniformed guards. Quick, silenced shots dealt with security – or so they’d thought–and they’d surrounded the fat, wheezing target. Once back on the roof, a helicopter would swoop in, and take them away. Easy, right?
“Here’s the deal, Mr. Byrd,” Smithy said, voice disguised, shaking with adrenaline: “Keep quiet and come with us. Our employer just wants a word. Maybe if you’re lucky, you’ll get to remember it –
The fat guy stopped wheezing and started laughing – like dry bones clacking together. Smithy’s stomach exploded with pain before he heard the gunshot. His men turned to respond but were shot and killed quickly by Byrd’s three guards, now rising stiffly to their feet.
The guards had been dead – killshots on all of them. Yet they moved.
Smithy’s hold on the mortal coil was slipping away. His life swam before his eyes. So, too, did the target: no longer fat and wheezing, but tall, wrapped in gold cloth, and bearing the face of a long-billed bird. Small, beady eyes regarded the mercenary as long-taloned fingers waved over his head.

[cmoon]

在纽约的内部，有形形色色的“权贵”在控制着它的运作——有些较他人更守法，有些较他人更开放。
自20世纪50年代以来，纽约城里出现了把这座城市称为“家”的新一批权贵。其成员静默且神秘，更喜欢通过代理和高管发声。他们躲在公司、政府、教堂和慈善机构的背后。他们的真正面目无人知晓，他们的仆人守口如瓶，他们最好的朋友和盟友都早已入土。
他们是古埃及的神灵，沉睡并被遗忘了近2000年，直到某些事件将他们带回了人世。在获得的新力量的帮助下，他们在一个超越了他们所在的时代却又允许他们继续存在的世界里为自己找到了新的定位。在过去的几十年里，他们获得了成功——收获了权力和金钱，创造了仆人，索取灵魂，有时还会受到他们应得的崇拜。
但他们所谓的新王国也树敌不少:杀神刺客、古代怪物、敌对组织……可悲的是，他们彼此之间也是敌人。这一族被长期以来被身为神的傲慢、可怕的背叛和对一切人和事潜在的怀疑所分割。他们所受到的管制避免了他们之间的竞争演变成直接的战争，但当游戏的玩家不断试图找到绕过规则的方法时，这种制度又能持续多久呢?
苏醒的众神们能找到让这个伟大的族群再次屹立的办法吗?还是他们的新王国会重蹈曾经崇拜他们的人类帝国的覆辙呢?
《新王国》创造了一个能让古埃及万神殿存在于现代的框架。它介绍了他们的古代史和近代史，详细地介绍了他们一些较为知名的成员的现状，并谈到了他们的新老敌人。如前所述，它可以作为一个都会奇幻战役使用，玩家扮演万神殿里的“小”神。它也可以作为现有都会奇幻游戏的附加组件——提供新的敌人、盟友或超自然背景。
文章是通用的，适用于任何系统。GURPS是一个不错的选择，特别是与优秀的埃及GURPS(本文的大部分灵感都来自埃及)一起进行使用。但也可以使用其他的游戏系统，如d20 Modern、Deliria、Rifts、WitchCraft或各种Storyteller games(特别是Scion、Demon或Mummy)。

劇透 -   :

New York City has many different “aristocracies” operating within it – some more legal than others, some more open.
Since the 1950s, a different kind of aristocracy has called the city home. Its members are quiet and secretive, preferring to talk through mouthpieces and executive assistants. They hide in plain sight behind companies, governments, churches, and charities. Their true faces are unknown, their servants are tight-lipped, and their best friends and allies are dead.
They are the gods of ancient Egypt, who slumbered, forgotten, for nearly 2,000 years until certain events brought them back. Fired with new power, they have struggled to redefine themselves in a world that has passed them by and yet allows them to exist within it. Over the decades, they have prospered – harvesting power and money, creating servants, claiming souls, and sometimes receiving the worship they are due.
But their self-proclaimed New Kingdom has enemies: god-killing assassins, ancient monsters, rival organizations . . . and, sadly, one another. Theirs is a house long-divided by godly pride, terrible betrayal, and an underlying suspicion of everything and everyone. Regulated competition has kept their rivalries from spilling over into outright warfare, but how long can this system last when the players of the game are constantly trying to find ways around the rules?
Can the awakened gods find a way to make that great house stand once more, or will their New Kingdom go the way of the human empire that once worshipped them?
The New Kingdom presents a framework for having the ancient Egyptian pantheon exist in the modern day. It gives their ancient and recent history, details the current status of some of their more well-known members, and speaks of their enemies, new and old. As written, it could be used as an urban fantasy campaign, with players portraying “lesser” gods of the pantheon. It could also be used as an add-on to an existing urban fantasy game – providing new enemies, allies, or supernatural background noise.
The article is generic, making it suitable  for use in any system. GURPS is a good choice, especially alongside the excellent GURPS Egypt (from which much of this article has been inspired). However, other game systems like d20 Modern, Deliria, Rifts, WitchCraft, or various Storyteller games (especially Scion, Demon, or Mummy) could be used as well.

[cmoon]

太阳城（译注：古埃及圣地）的陷落THE FALL OF HELIOPOLIS
大约2000年前，尼罗河被罗马人占据，他们的神也是如此。埃及万神殿中的一个叛徒——他的身份至今仍不为人所知——向入侵者告知了每一位埃及神的真名。这使得奥林匹斯山诸神能够对尼罗河诸神进行绝对的控制。
由于失去了对自己身份的控制，埃及的众神被罗马万神殿所完全控制。次等神在罗马神域中被重新塑造，被不那么强大的罗马神所吸收，或者被彻底废除。当主要的埃及神还“存在”的时候，本该为他们祈祷和献祭的人却被征服者们残忍地夺走了。由于缺乏灵气(sekhem)，他们成为了奥林匹斯众神所佩戴的神之假面，存活于梦幻的黄昏之中，难以知晓自己的命运。
随着时间流逝，当罗马的众神倒下时，尼罗河的众神也随之倒下了。关于他们的信仰被抛弃，他们的名字被忘记，他们的雕像被埋在沙子里，或是被兴盛的亚伯拉罕宗教的信徒所摧毁和破坏。半死不活的神灵躯壳在冥界中漂浮，遭受着和那些灵体(sah)被严重损坏的干尸一样的命运。但他们并没有像凡人那样转世投胎，而是在轨道中循环往复，继续着他们的沉睡。
在冥界中沉睡之时，他们错过了世界的大部分转折点。他们没有受到教会命令激进分子清除古代众神一事的影响。他们没有被文艺复兴所美化，而是被所谓的启蒙时代所粉碎。在被遗忘的众神沉睡之时，除了苏醒之外，他们已经没有什么可做的了。
于是，他们被唤醒了。

劇透 -   :

Almost 2,000 years ago, the people of the Nile were annexed by the Romans, and so, too, were their gods. A traitor among their pantheon – still unknown to this day – provided the invaders the True Names (ren) of every Egyptian deity. That gave the Olympian gods absolute power over the gods of the Nile.
Having lost control of their identities, the gods of Egypt were wholly forfeit to the Roman pantheon. Minor deities were remade in the Roman mold, absorbed into less powerful Roman gods, or done away with outright. While the major Egyptian gods still “existed,” the prayers and sacrifice that should have gone to them were cruelly siphoned off by their conquerors. Starved of energy (sekhem), they became little more than divine masks for the Olympians to wear, and they existed in a dreamy twilight, barely able to comprehend their fate.
Time passed, and when the gods of Rome fell, the gods of the Nile fell along with them. Their worship was abandoned, their names forgotten, their likenesses buried in sand, or destroyed and defaced by adherents of the reigning Abrahamic religions. The near-mindless astral husks of the gods floated in the Underworld, suffering the same fate as mummified mortals whose spiritual bodies (sah) had been badly damaged. But rather than being reincarnated into new bodies, as should happen to mortals, they settled into orbit and continued their fevered slumber.
Dreaming in the Underworld, they missed much of the world’s turning. They were unaffected by the purge of ancient gods by the Church’s orders militant. They were not glorified by the Renaissance but then shredded by the so-called Age of Enlightenment. Deep in the sleep of forgotten gods, there was little more that could be done to them – save awakening.
 And awaken they did.

[cmoon]

日复一日COMING FORTH BY DAY
19世纪初，在法国人“发现”了埃及，并着手发掘埃及的古代遗产之时，第一次震荡来临了。一个又一个的发现把早已被世人遗忘的模样和名字带回了这个世界。当埃及学的领域在他们周围展开时，众神颤抖着，清醒了过来——远古的眼睛随着每一次新的挖掘而逐渐睁开了。
1922年，霍华德·卡特对图坦卡蒙陵墓的挖掘才真正开始让他们回归。世界的想象力被古代的火焰点燃，他们的面孔被全世界所知晓，他们的名字被全世界所传颂，古埃及的神灵慢慢地被注入了新的力量。他们的领土隔着时间的鸿沟召唤着他们，虽然又花了三十年的时间才治愈了他们所受的伤害，使他们得以离开冥界，但这一天终于到来了。
他们一同苏醒——炸开了冥府，穿着新衣服，在1951年的太阳城前睁开双眼。当他们开始探索这个新世界时，他们发现它不符合他们的喜好:城市被重新命名或消失，庙宇被摧毁或埋葬，圣地挤满了来自外国的盗墓贼。
最糟糕的是，一种新的一神论宗教——伊斯兰教——已经控制了他们的信徒的后代。这种新信仰不受异教魔法或多神论者的影响，仅仅是站在最小的清真寺的阴影下，就能让回归的神灵止步不前。这似乎是一种比他们低语自己的真名（ren）时拥有的力量还要强大的力量。
他们坚信着一种平衡原则——“ma’at”。但在他们曾经统治过的地方，却找不到平衡。这里只有恐惧。
意识到呆在这片土地上的他们是如此的虚弱无力，他们决定去别的地方。他们约定去花几年的时间在这个世界上走一走，看看究竟发生了什么变化，以及找找能够融入这个世界的地方。他们还一致认为，所有过去的敌意和对抗- -包括谁背叛了他们的问题- -都应该被放在一边。
他们现在是在为生存而战，他们必须团结一致。
 

劇透 -   :

The first stirrings came in the early 19th century, as the French “found” Egypt and set to work uncovering its ancient legacy. Discovery after discovery brought long-forgotten likenesses and names back to the world. The gods trembled toward wakefulness as the field of Egyptology unfolded around them – ancient eyes creaking open with each new excavation.
It was Howard Carter’s excavation of Tutankhamen’s tomb in 1922 that truly started to bring them back. The world’s imagination was set alight by the fires of antiquity, and with their faces known and their names spoken the whole world over, the gods of ancient Egypt were slowly infused with new power. Their dominions called to them, across the gulfs of time, and though it took another three decades for the damage done to them to be healed, so that they might leave the Underworld, the day finally came.
They woke as one – exploding from the Underworld, clothed in new flesh, and opening their eyes in Egypt, in the former Heliopolis, in 1951. Once they began to explore the new world, they found it not to their liking: cities renamed or gone, temples destroyed or buried, and sacred sites swarming with foreign tomb robbers.
Worst of all, a new, monotheistic religion – Islam – had taken hold of their worshippers’ descendants. This new faith did not suffer pagan magic or polytheists, and merely standing in the shadow of the smallest of mosques gave the returned gods pause. It was as though a power even higher than they whispered their ren in contempt.
Once they had held to a principle of balance – ma’at. But there was no balance to be found here, where they had once reigned. There was only fear.
Realizing there was little they could do in this land, they decided to leave for other places. It was agreed that they would spend some years walking this world in order to see what had changed, and where they might be able to fit in. They also agreed that all past enmities and rivalries – including the question of who betrayed them – should be placed aside.
They were now in a fight for survival, and they had to stand alongside their own.

[cmoon]

新王国的崛起THE RISE OF THE NEW KINGDOM
在探索不同土地的过程中，大多数埃及神最终都决定定居在美国。对他们来说，这似乎是最好的地方:国际化，生机勃勃，充满着新机遇，能够包容新思想——包括ma 'at的思想。这里也远离他们被篡夺的祖地，以及现在弥漫在中东上空的被监视的可怕感觉。
在这个更安全、更包容的国家里，埃及众神再度聚首，就如何最好地生存下去做出了一系列决定。很明显，文明世界对古代神灵或他们的魔法的概念已经没有多少空间了，他们更喜欢一个单一的、无所不能的存在。试图在这个新世界中公开宣称自己是神，不只是个愚蠢的行为，还会可能引起他们的老敌人——如果他们还存在的话——或者已经消失了的神系势力——不必要的注意。于是，他们决定——有些人会说“颁布法令”——按照新规则的玩新的游戏。他们会为自己塑造新的身份，尽可能地改变自己的统治方式，以适应新的环境和旧的性情。因此，他们将改头换面，沉浸在凡人的世界中，依靠智慧、追随者、以及一点点魔法重新获得权力。他们会避免与凡人进行身体上的接触，避免创造出半神，将自己的存在暴露给敌人。他们会像朋友一样一起工作，直到他们再次被视为神的时候。
并非所有的神都同意这么做。一些神认为他们不必畏惧凡人，于是他们选择去改革他们的邪教。另一些人相信，如果他们都站起来反抗占据了他们的祖国的新神，他就会被战胜，于是他们离开了那里，去集结军队，为那一天的到来做着准备。这些持不同意见的神灵选择与众神分道扬镳。
那些留在谈判桌上的神灵成为了议会的成员。他们一致宣布纽约市为众神的新家。这一次，充满讽刺意味的，他们宣称要成立一个新的王国。

劇透 -   :

After some time of exploring different lands, most of the Egyptian gods eventually settled in America. It seemed the best place for them: quite cosmopolitan in places, boisterously alive, filled with new opportunities, and open to new ideas – including that of ma’at. It was also far from both the ancestral lands of their usurpers, and the awful feeling of being watched from on high that now permeated the Middle East.
 Once secured in that safer, more accommodating country, the Egyptian gods met once again and came to a number of decisions about how best to proceed. It was clear that the civilized world had little room for the notion of ancient gods or their magic, preferring a single, omnipotent being. To try and publicly assert themselves as divine presences in this new world would be foolish at best, and it might also bring unwanted attention from their old enemies – if they still existed – or the forces that had seemingly run off the other pantheons.
 It was therefore decided – some would say “decreed” – that they should play the game according to the new rules. They would fashion new identities for themselves, rewriting their dominions as best as they could, to suit their changed surroundings and old temperaments. Thusly reinvented, they would immerse themselves in the mortal world, relying on wits, followers, and subtle magic to regain power. They would refrain from physical congress with mortals, so as to avoid creating half-gods that could give away their presence to their enemies. They would work together, as friends, toward the day when they might once more be accepted as gods.
 Not all the gods agreed. Some thought they had nothing to fear from mere mortals, and they left to reform their cults. Others were convinced the new god of their homelands could be challenged if they all stood against him, and they left to marshal forces against that day. These dissident gods went their own, separate ways from the others.
Those that remained at the table declared themselves the Council. They unanimously decreed New York City to be the new home of the gods. They proclaimed this time, not without some irony, to be the New Kingdom.

[cmoon]

回到西方GOING BACK INTO THE WEST
最初，有一段和平时期。众神在不同的派系之间来来往往，虽然众神之间会有一些小的口角，但并没有太严重的事情发生。他们的宿敌阿佩普（Apep）——未来的太阳吞噬者——将成群的不死怪物送到这个世界，但这些怪物被迅速而安静地处理掉了，人类不会觉得有什么异常。总之，一切都很顺利。
但这种情况并未持续太久。
危险的迹象出现在20世纪60年代初，当时众神意识到他们再也感觉不到那些出走神灵的存在了——就好像天空中那些著名的星星突然消失了一样。试图通过他们的模样联系他们的尝试失败了，魔法也给出了不确定的结果。
他们通过调查有了一个可怕的发现:一小部分持不同意见的神灵连同他们的仆人都被枪杀了。即便目视杀死他们的子弹也会让众神感到痛苦，当神灵触碰子弹时，子弹就会耗尽神的灵气。用魔法来揭示所发生的事情被证明是徒劳的;仿佛刺客们从未去过那里，他们的来去没有留下任何痕迹。
更糟的是，被杀的众神并不在冥界。这意味着，要么他们的灵体已经完全被摧毁，要么他们已经迅速地转世成为人。如此快速地转世的唯一原因是创伤极其地严重，以至于他们的神性没有留下任何的痕迹——神性的回声极度微弱，即使是最强大的神奥西里斯（Osiris）也找不到它们。
尽管议会中存在一些分歧，但他们还是决定从冥界召唤更多的神。这样做是为了取代死去的、持不同意见的神，这样他们的领土就可以得到保护。但他们没有说出来的事实是，这些神将与议会成员绑定在一起，无法反抗，他们的领土会被定在“属于他们的地方”。
还有一个可悲但在战术上却十分可靠的真理：更多的神能为主神和袭击者之间提供一个缓冲带。
 

劇透 -   :

At first, there was a period of peace. Gods moved back and forth between factions, and while there were small squabbles between gods, nothing too serious occurred. Their ancient enemy Apep – would-be devourer of the sun – sent hordes of undead monsters into the world, but these were dealt with quickly and quietly, so that mortals knew nothing was awry. All in all, things were going well.
They would not remain that way for long.
The sign of danger came in the early 1960s, when the gods realized they could no longer feel as many of themselves out there, anymore – as though well-known stars in the sky had suddenly winked out. Attempts to contact them by their likenesses failed, and magic also gave inconclusive results.
Investigations turned up a horrible discovery: a small number of the dissident gods were dead – shot down along with their mortal servants. The bullets that had killed them were painful even to look at, and when the gods touched them, the bullets drained the gods’ sekhem. Magic used to reveal what had happened proved fruitless; it was as if the assassins weren’t there and left no trail in their coming or going.
Worse, the slain gods were not in the Underworld. This meant that either their sah had been utterly destroyed, or they had been swiftly reincarnated into mortal flesh. The only reason for such fast reincarnation would be if the trauma had been so severe that no real trace of their previous personality remained – only an echo of divinity so faint that not even Osiris, greatest of gods, could find it.
Despite some disagreement in the Council, it was decided that more gods would be called from the Underworld. This was done to replace the lost, dissident gods, so that their dominions could be looked after. Left unsaid was the fact that these gods would be bound to Council members and unable to rebel, putting their dominions securely back where they “belonged.”
Also left unsaid was a sad but tactically sound truth: More gods would provide a buffer between the primary gods and whomever was striking them down.

[cmoon]

政治保障THE POLITICS OF RESURRECTION
透特是少数几个知道所有大小神灵的神之一，他的任务是做出一份潜在的次级神灵的名单，以便从冥界召唤回来，并将其以一定的数目分配给每个理事会成员，尽可能定让他们与理事会成员过去的助手和具有类似或补充领域的理事会成员相匹配。
当然，并不是每一次分配都像期望的那样顺利。正如他们所料，不是每一个被召唤的神都出现了。但很快，又有大约40位神灵出现在纽约市的街道上，他们服从召唤他们的神的旨意，他们的领域要么与他们的新主人相连，要么与他们共享。
这不仅带来了一些先前的神灵的替代品，而且还为最初的神提供了新的灵气来源。由于权力的变化，一些神有了僭越的想法，大声地质疑为什么议会的方向总是由某些成员决定的。拥有更多领域和力量的神灵难道不比过去曾领导他们的神灵更适合去领导众神吗？
与此同时，议会正在做的事情的消息传到了那些出于不信任或追求自己的道路而背弃议会的神那里。他们中的一些人也开始尝试召唤次等神——从议会中窃取有关其他神的真名的知识，或者从议会中不需要神仆的神那里购买真名。他们的召唤往往不如议会的成功，但也取得了一些积极的成果。很快，这些持不同政见者也感受到了新灵气带来的强大力量，并再次密谋对抗议会。
持不同政见的神灵不仅召唤其他神灵，他们还开始召唤那些生前为他们服务的死者的灵魂——让他们留存下来的尸体复活，或者把它们放进新的躯体里。他们把凡人当做助手、士兵、间谍和人体炸弹，并利用他们对这些神灵眼中的压迫者进行小小的恶作剧，这使得议会的成员变得比以前更加偏执。
这种秘密招募一直持续到20世纪60年代末70年代初。当许多美国人庆祝和平和爱，并要求结束战争时，神灵的邪教和私人军队的数量却在急剧膨胀。当核毁灭的幽灵逼近到人们的心头时，一场神灵之间的军备竞赛也正在幕后进行着，并等待着一个发动战争的借口。
他们彼此争辩，又有一个皮包公司被火烧了，又有一个神被不明势力给暗杀了。数个神灵发出了复仇的呼声。灾难迫在眉睫。
他们必须做点什么。

劇透 -   :

Thoth, one of a few who knew the ren of every god great and small, was tasked to develop a list of potential lesser gods to call back from the Underworld. A certain number was portioned out to each Council member, matching them up with past helpers and those with similar or complementary dominions, where possible.
Not every allotment was as smooth a fit as would have been desired, of course. As expected, not every god that was called back appeared. But soon another 40 or so gods were walking the streets of New York City, their ren bent to the will of the gods who had summoned them, and their dominions either linked to their new masters, or shared between them.
This brought not only a few replacements for the previously errant gods, but it gave new sources of sekhem for the primary gods. Fattened by an inrush of shared power, some gods began to get ideas above their station and wondered aloud why the Council’s direction was always shaped by certain members. Should not the number and power of dominions held, rather than past leadership roles, decide who would now lead?
Meanwhile, word of what the Council was doing reached those gods who had turned their back on that body out of mistrust, or to pursue their own agendas. Some of them began trying to call up lesser gods as well – stealing the knowledge of other gods’ ren from the Council, or buying names from gods on the Council who desired no divine servants. Their callings were often less successful than the Council’s, but some positive results were had. Soon these dissident gods too felt the heady rush of new sekhem and plotted anew against the Council.
Not only did the dissidents summon up other gods, they began calling back spirits of the dead who had served them in life – re-animating their preserved corpses, or putting them into new bodies. They ensorceled mortals to act as aides, soldiers, spies, and human bombs, and animated objects to perform minor mischief against their perceived oppressors, helping make those on the Council even more paranoid than before.
This secret recruitment went on throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s. As many Americans celebrated peace and love, and demanded an end to war, the cults and private armies of the gods swelled. As the specter of nuclear annihilation loomed to the forefront of the common mind, a magical arms’ race was going on behind the scenes, waiting for an excuse to launch.
As they argued, another front company burned, and another god was assassinated by forces unknown. The call for revenge went up from several mouths. Disaster was looming.
Something would have to be done.

大宅游戏THE GAME OF GREAT HOUSES
看到混乱的局面，奥西里斯召唤了透特，阿奴比斯和伊希斯。他希望与他们会面，在主要派别(议会、邪教和建军神)之间达成协议来避免即将到来的战争。
在商议的过程中，三位神达成了很多共识。很明显，众神需要一个最高领袖，既要确保众神能以平衡之道行动，又要注意他们共同的威胁，比如阿佩普的仆从和刺客。然而，领袖不是固定的神灵是最好的办法，这样任何神都可以轮流成为领袖。
于是，他们决定解散议会，设立一个统治者:一个由三个主要派别中最强大的神合体成为统御三派的法老王。所有神的整体工作的年度记录将由Ma 'at自己完成——远离竞争和冲突——她将决定哪三个神将成为法老。神灵伟大与否取决于那个神的“面具”通过商业和贸易为他们居住的城市带来了多少福祉。从理论上讲，这将把派系之间和个别神之间潜在的有害竞争变成有益于每个人的健康竞争。
这个决定广受众神欢迎，尤其是当它与放宽对“议会与凡人”的禁令相结合时——这是邪教给予恩惠。普塔（Ptah）安赫（Anhur）-哈索尔（Hathor）合体成的法老王非常有影响力，让所有的神都能看到这个决定的智慧之处，但还不足以让他们有想要在这个游戏中出类拔萃的念头。
在这样的刺激下，众神用他们的能力为许多人所称的新世界的真神——美元——工作，并确保它能以任何方式流通。

劇透 -   :

Seeing chaos at work, Osiris called forth Thoth, Anubis, and Isis. He demanded that they meet to work out a compromise between the main factions (the Council, the cults, and the army builders), so as to avoid the war that was coming.
 In their deliberations, the three gods agreed on much. It was clear the gods needed a higher body, both to make certain the gods behaved in a balanced fashion and to look out for shared threats, such as Apep’s minions and the assassins. However, it seemed best if the roles within it were not fixed, so that any god could lead, in turn.
It was therefore decided to dissolve the Council and have a ruler instead: a tripartite pharaoh made from the greatest of each of the three main factions. A yearly tally of the overall works of all gods would be taken by Ma’at herself – aloof from rivalries and conflicts – and she would decide which three gods would make the pharaoh. Greatness would be determined by how much the gods’ “masks” contributed to the well-being of the city they inhabited, through business and commerce. In theory, this would turn potentially harmful rivalries between factions, and individual gods, into healthy competition that benefited everyone.
The decision proved to be fairly popular, especially when coupled with the easing of the ban on congress with mortals – a favor taken by the cults. The initial combination of PtahAnhur-Hathor was effective enough to allow all gods to see the wisdom of the decision, and yet lacking enough to goad them into wanting to excel at this new game.
So goaded, the gods put their abilities to work on behalf of what many call the true god of the new world – the American dollar – and making certain it flowed every way that it could.

[cmoon]

幻想结束，故事开始THE END OF ILLUSIONS, THE START OF THE TALE
这是一个解决正在分裂的族群的完美方法吗?不，事实并非如此。
过了一段时间，一向高傲的众神又自相残杀起来。这一次，争端不再由仆人、咒语和刀剑来解决，而是由杠杆收购和企业合并来解决。他们的手中有了新的武器——黑市交易,企业间谍活动,和威逼利诱，他们将这些手段烂熟于心，不管是在控制还是确保他们的对手不对他们进行控制时都是。
毕竟，他们被告知要胜利，而不要公平。
合体成为三面法老王这个规则虽然对所有人都是公平的，却没有发挥任何的作用。他们每年都会改名换姓，并在那一年的大部分时间里撤销上一任做下的决定，几乎确保不会留下任何新的决定。一些决定仍然存在，比如找出杀害神灵者的命令，但是其他的一切都可能在下一次选举的第一天被取消。
最糟糕的是，金钱和权力成了目的，而不是实现目的的手段。太多的神做出了糟糕的经济决策，让某些行业的发展付出了可怕的长期代价。现在，随着经济的衰退，众神所播下的种子终于结了果。
厌倦了大宅游戏的众神又开始互相对抗。他们毫不畏惧，再次集结军队。从冥界召唤新的神来执行他们的命令，从万人坑和考古遗址中复活亡灵仆人为他们劳作。半神被告知他们的真正血统，并被带入这个圈子，从而创造出一个可被领导的阶层，这个阶层可能不如一个被束缚的神那么忠诚，但却比那些神更能明白人类世界的微妙之处。
无能为力的统御三派的神灵只能干坐在那里，看着新秩序慢慢分崩离析。正如其所看到的，他希望一个解决方案能够出现，并祈祷他在他统治那年早期所策划的计划将很快看到成果。但神又该向谁祷告呢?
他又是如何盼望自己创造无法创造的奇迹？
 

劇透 -   :

Was this a perfect solution to the divided house? No, it was not.
In time the gods, ever-prideful, were at each others’ throats again. This time disputes were no longer settled with servants, spells, and swords, but with leveraged buyouts and corporate consolidations. Back-alley deals, corporate espionage, and monetary backstabbing were the new weapons in their hands, and they learned to use them very well, either to take control or to ensure that their rivals did not.
After all, they were told to play nice, not fair.
 The tripartite pharaoh, while equitable to all, proved hamstrung. It changed most or all of its names every year, and spent most of that year cleaning up the messes that led to the current selection, almost ensuring that nothing new would stay. Some decisions remained, such as the order to seek out the god-killers, but everything else was likely to be undone on the next selection’s first day.
Worst of all, money and power became the ends, rather than the means to the end. Very poor economic decisions were made by far too many of the gods, and certain sectors advanced at terrible long-term costs. Now, with a failing economy, comes the reaping of what the gods have sown.
Tired of the Game of Great Houses, the gods are beginning to circle each other once more. Proud and unafraid, they raise their armies yet again. New gods are summoned from the Underworld to do their bidding, and undead servants raised from mass graves and archaeological sites toil, labor, and wait. The demigods are being told of their true parentage and brought into the fold, so as to create a level of leadership that may prove less loyal than a bound god, but more aware of the subtleties of the mortal world than those gods can understand.
A mostly toothless, three-in-one god sits and watches the new order fall apart in slow motion. As it watches, it hopes a solution will yet present itself, and prays that the plan it hatched early in its yearly reign will soon see fruition. But to whom does a god direct its prayers?
How does it hope for a miracle it cannot itself create?

逐流而行DIRECTIONS ALONG THE RIVER
设定可以被用来引入超自然元素或让冒险者成为半神之外,也可以让玩家成为被召唤出的“次等神”。他们可能都是被同一个神所召唤出来的，被束缚在一起，需要一起为召唤他们的神的利益服务。或者他们可能是被不同的神召唤来的，神们会希望他们在努力实现整体目标的同时，作为对手或以不同的目的进行工作。
这些英雄的共同任务有:维持众神的统治;为其庇护神的利益跑腿;经营或者破坏皮包公司;帮助创造和管理亡灵仆人;与阿佩普的仆从和其他忘记了ma’at的生物战斗;寻找、照顾和训练他们庇护神的半神子嗣;作为管理者并指导下属;或其他最好交给听话的“一次性”手下的危险任务。
这些PC的共同目标有:适应新的世界;收复或重新获得领土;改善众神的统治;制定自己的计划,情节和进展,向他们的庇护神分享或隐瞒这个计划;创造他们自己的仆人和半神;而召唤其他充分履行职责的神可能会让PC得到更多的自由或权力，或至少被允许留在自己的岗位上。不要妄想被神灵释放，因为他们产生的一小部分的灵气会被分给他们的庇护神。没有神会希望失去力量。
PC是否按命令行事由他们自己决定，但违抗命令有被送回冥府的危险——这是没有神想要的。随着时间的推移，PC神可能会变得足够强大，可以从庇护神那里买到自由，或者直接挑战他来赢得自由。但失败的代价高昂。

劇透 -   :

Aside from using the setting as a means to introduce supernatural elements or for allowing adventurers to be demigods, players could portray newly summoned “lesser” gods. They might have all been summoned by the same god, be bound to him, and obligated to work together to serve his interests. Or they might each have been summoned by a different god, which would see them sometimes expected to work at cross purposes, or as rivals, while trying to achieve their overall goals.
Common tasks given to such heroes are: maintaining a dominion; doing legwork or leg-breaking for their patron’s interests; running or destroying front businesses; helping create and supervise undead servants; battling the minions of Apep and other creatures that have forgotten ma’at; finding, minding, and training their patrons’ half-mortal children; being administrators and directing those beneath them; or other dangerous tasks best given to a “disposable” person who shouldn’t disobey orders.
Common goals for such PCs are: adjusting to the new world; reclaiming or re-inventing their dominions; improving a dominion; making their own plans, plots, and advancements, either for their patrons to share in or unbeknownst to them; creating their own servants and demigods; and summoning otheGods who perform their tasks adequately may be rewarded with more freedom or power, or at least allowed to remain at their posts. Hope of release is futile, for a small measure of the sekhem they generate is shared by their patrons. No patron wishes to lose out on power.
 Whether the PCs do what they’re told is up to them, but disobedience runs the risk of being sent back to the Underworld – something no one wants. In time, a god might become powerful enough to buy freedom from the patron, or challenge him directly to win it. But failure in that regard would be costly indeed.

[cmoon]

复活神概述PROFILES OF THE RETURNED

以下是一些在新王国里最常被听到的名字，以及他们最近在忙些什么。它们可以作为PC的庇护神，也可以作为PC庇护神的竞争对手。

阿努比斯（杰克·B·韦斯特博士）Anubis (Dr. Jack B. West) 阿努比斯是非常严肃地看待自己所扮演的作为亡灵向导的角色。因此，当他得知有新神抢夺了他的职责，声称要统治那些灵魂，并要拯救他们或诅咒他们时，他出离地愤怒。他背弃了议会，转而去征募军队，希望能把这个暴发户、自称为唯一的神赶下台。成为韦斯特博士(高大，白种人，长相平凡)之后，他通过各种各样的皮包公司为殡葬业的从防腐液到棺材在内的各个方面提供服务。当满月挂上天际之时，他会召唤那些用他的液体做防腐处理的尸体的灵魂，向他们承诺只要他们愿意为他服务，他就会保护他们不受篡位神的侵犯，并提升他们在阴间的地位。他也有一些“次等”神在为他服务，与他共享如死亡、旅行和月球之类的领域，并为他的事业和军队建设鞠躬尽瘁。当他的军队中有足够多的亡灵，并且拥有其他神的军队的全力支持之时，他将带领他们前往埃及，从篡夺者手中夺回它。在那之前，他一直保持着沉默和耐心，尽管他像一只猎犬一样执著。 劇透 -   : Anubis always took his role as the conductor of dead souls to the Underworld very seriously. So when he learned that some new god had supplanted his duties in his absence – claiming dominion over those souls, and seeing to their salvation or damnation – he became angry. He turned his back on the Council and instead went to work raising an army in the hopes of unseating this upstart, single god. As Dr. West (tall, Caucasian, unmemorable), he supplies all aspects of the funerary industry through a variety of front companies, everything from embalming fluid to coffins. When the moon is full in the sky, he calls up the souls of those embalmed with his fluid, promising them protection from the usurper god and elevated status in the Underworld if they will serve him. He also has a number of “lesser” gods in his service, sharing his dominions of death, travel, and the moon, and aiding him in his business and army-building endeavors. When he has enough dead souls in his army, and can count on the full backing of other gods’ armies, he will march them to Egypt and retake it from the usurper. Until then, he remains quiet and patient, though as persistent as a dog on a hunt.

荷鲁斯（霍雷斯·埃尔德先生）Horus (Mr. Horace Elder)
荷鲁斯是一个中等英俊、体格健壮、种族和背景通通不明的中年男子。他的左眼上戴着一个眼罩——他在与叔叔的战斗中失去了左眼。他的公司地平线企业（Horizon Enterprises）拥有世界上最大的飞机制造厂，并与世界各地的民用航空公司签有几份合同。他的主要领域是领空、领导、复仇和防御。他为自己的领域召唤了几位神，并建立了一支由石制飞鹰士兵组成的军队，为下一次的战争做着准备。但他不愿将死者从睡梦中唤醒，并拒绝与人类联姻，因为他觉得这并不合适。作为理事会的创始成员，他仍然相信这场游戏，尽管他知道它很快就会结束。

劇透 -   :

Horus takes the appearance of a moderately handsome, well-built, middle-aged man of indeterminate racial background. He wears an eyepatch over the ruins of his left eye, lost while battling his uncle Set. He is impulsive and easy to anger during the day, but well-considered and patient at night. His company, Horizon Enterprises, owns the world’s largest aircraft manufacturing plant, and has several contracts with civilian airlines around the world. His major dominions are air, leadership, vengeance, and protection from evil. He has raised several gods to tend to his minor dominions, and he created armies of flying, stone falcon-soldiers in preparation for the next war. He would rather not raise the dead from their slumber, though, and has refused to sire with mortals as he finds it inappropriate. A founding member of the Council, he still believes in the game, though he knows it will soon end.

伊希斯（阿香蒂）Isis (Ashante)
这位神职为爱、魔法和抵御邪恶的女神是一位性感、慈母般的中东和撒哈拉以南非洲人的混血女性。她总会在脖子上戴着一个很大的金色安卡（译注：又被称为埃及十字）。她温柔而冷漠，迷人而神秘。她是一位著名的歌手——将欧洲电子乐与中东歌词和主题融合在一起——她利用自己的财富和影响力为非洲和中东的女性创建了慈善机构。她还担任伊希斯的高级女祭司，鼓励这些地区的女性放弃一神论，皈依女神，这使她在政治上不受欢迎。她召唤了许多次等神，并且生了许多半神，他们都被她的宗教的凡人成员所接纳。她是最早的持不同政见的神之一，这让她的丈夫很失望，她仍然喜欢被凡人称为女神。

劇透 -   :

The goddess of love, magic, and protection from evil appears as a voluptuous, motherly woman of mixed Middle-Eastern and sub-Saharan African descent. She always wears a large, golden ankh around her neck. She is tender yet aloof, entrancing andmysterious. She is a well-known singer – fusing European electronica with Middle Eastern lyrics and themes – who uses her wealth and influence to create charities for women throughout Africa and the Middle East. She also acts as the high priestess of Isis, encouraging women in those areas to abandon monotheism and return to the goddess, which has made her politically unpopular. She has summoned many lesser gods and born many demigods, all adopted by mortal members of her cult. She was one of the original dissidents, much to her husband’s dismay, and still prefers to be called a goddess by mortals.

赛特（Ty·斯托姆斯先生）Set (Mr. Ty Storms)
作为西方世界最受鄙视的公司的首席执行官，斯托姆先生监管着雷霆工业，雷霆工业基本上是每个北约国家的顶级军事承包商和包括极具争议的暗河（Darkriver）在内的几支私人军队的秘密支持者。朋友们叫他“Ty”，但他没有很多朋友——他只会帮助他们，然后在背地里背叛并伤害他们，他会循环往复地这么做。他不会威胁或恐吓别人;他只会告诉人们这是怎么回事，从不放过任何细节。
他的形象是一个瘦削的男人，长着一张奇怪却迷人的脸。他把自己裹在一件昂贵的深色西装里。他是风暴、混乱和敌意之神，不与任何神分享他的领域。他有许多亡灵，并且通过召唤创造了许多战士，但没有召唤任何的次等神，因为他不相信他们，也没有创造半神，因为他与荷鲁斯史诗般的战斗让他无法繁衍后代。也就是说，他是荷鲁斯在议会剩下的成员中为数不多的真正朋友之一，因为他相信，内部比外部更容易出现混乱。
 

劇透 -   :

CEO of the most-despised company of the Western world, Mr. Storms oversees Thunder Industries, the top military contractor for almost every NATO nation and secret backer of several private armies, including the highly controversial Darkriver. His friends call him “Ty,” but he doesn’t have many – just business partners he assists then secretly betrays in an endless circle of help and hurt. He doesn’t threaten or bluster; he tells people how it is, sparing no detail. He takes the form of a skinny whip of a man with a fascinatingly weird face. He wraps himself in an expensive dark suit. He is the god of storms, chaos and hostility, and shares his dominions with no one. He has many undead and created soldierthings at his call, but no lesser gods, as he wouldn’t trust them, and no demigods, as his epic battle with Horus left him incapable of siring. That said, he is one of Horus’ few true friends on what’s left of the Council, as he believes that there’s better opportunities for chaos within the structure than outside.

透特（洛斯达罗斯·伯德先生）Thoth (Mr. Lostalus Byrd) 这位身材矮胖的哈玛得律阿斯公司——计算机主板领域的第二大供应商，机器语言翻译的第一大供应商——的首席执行官似乎是个谦逊的人。他身材魁梧，有着阿拉伯人的相貌，头发很少，总是拄着拐杖慢吞吞地行走，并不停地向手帕里咳痰。并且总是由行动僵硬，从不说话(不死)的保镖陪同。他使用计算机程序将他的图像从安全摄像头和其他电子记录和传感装置中抹除，为他铺平道路。 他的领域是写作、知识和交流——这些都比人们想象的更危险。他召唤了几个次等神来满足他的需要，并且抚养了一个儿子和一个女儿。他仍然认为议会是一个好主意，只要有奥西里斯在帮助并领导着它，他也愿意参加新的游戏…只要没人猜出他在挑拨大家互相竞争，不让他们发现他做过的某些事情，不管是现在还是过去。 劇透 -   : The roly-poly CEO of Hamadryus Inc. – number two provider of computer motherboards, number one provider of machine language translators – seems an unassuming man. He is a large fellow with Arabian features and very little hair, slow-moving with a cane and constantly harrumphing into a handkerchief. He is also always accompanied by stiff-moving, oddly silent (undead) security guards. A small battery of computer programs prepare the way for him by blanking his image from security cameras and other electronic means of recording and sensing. His dominions are writing, knowledge, and communication – all more dangerous than one might suspect. He has a number of lesser gods attending his needs, and a son and a daughter he’s raising himself. He still thinks the Council was a good idea with Osiris there to help lead it, but he is willing to participate in the new game . . . so long as no one guesses he’s playing everyone against each other to keep them from discovering certain things he’s done, both now and in the past.

[cmoon]

新旧仇敌ENEMIES NEW AND OLD
埃及众神的敌人出现了，每个都与他们有着不同的仇怨。

混沌之蛇·阿佩普Apep the Chaos-Serpent
潜伏在迷失的灵魂旋风之中，每天十二个小时都想要吞噬太阳的怪物。他是亘古的存在——每晚都攻击拉的太阳船，希望不管是巴斯特还是塞特都不会来帮助拉。但他们每天晚上都出现，太阳也会照常升起，挡住阿佩普的去路。但阿佩普很有耐心，因为总有一天他会赢的。
然后，在很长一段时间里，有些事情出了差错。太阳船没有经过这十二个小时，但太阳却照常升起又落下。阿佩普不能顺利地离开冥界，也不能把他的孩子送到人间。外面有什么东西在牵制着他——某种更新的、更强大的东西。
阿佩普一如既往地耐心。他选择蜷着身子进入睡眠，等待着改变再次发生。大约两千年后，太阳船又一次穿越了十二个小时。
阿佩普大喜若狂，发起了攻击。虽然拉和他的盟友仍然强大到足以阻止阿佩普摧毁它，但他们的领域却没有以前稳定。似乎随着时间的推移，事情已经发生了很大的变化，阿佩普在现实世界中的间谍证实了这一点。众神比以往任何时候都要虚弱，挣扎着重新确立自己的地位。
所以阿佩普选择阻挠他们，开始尽可能多地把他的生物送出冥界。他召集了僵尸大军，幽灵瘟疫，骷髅风暴，以及许多其他可怕的东西。他派他们到地面上与众神和他们的仆人争战。他们的目标不是要打败众神——阿佩普知道这几乎是不可能的——而是要在那些本应服务于众神的人的心中激起恐惧和混乱，让他们害怕那些他们无法解释的事情，而不是欢迎它们。
阿佩普很有耐心。阿佩普总有一天会赢。现在发生的一切只是朝着那个方向迈出的又一步。（译注：阿佩普还有一个名字，阿波菲斯）

劇透 -   :

Lurking within the maddened whirlwind of lost souls and monsters that is the Twelve Hours is the creature that would eat the sun. Long has he been there – attacking Ra’s Sun-Boat each night, hoping that neither Bast nor Set will come to save Ra from his fangs. Each night they appeared, and each day the sun rose, thwarting Apep. But Apep was patient, for one day he must win, so he continued.
Then, for the longest time something was wrong. The SunBoat did not come through the Twelve Hours, yet the sun rose and set. Apep could not leave the Underworld triumphant, nor send his spawn out into the world. Something out there was keeping him at bay – something new and more powerful.
Apep was patient, as always. He merely curled up to sleep and waited for something to change once more. Almost two millennia later, the Sun-Boat once again traversed the Twelve Hours.
Overjoyed, Apep attacked, and while Ra and his allies were still powerful enough to keep Apep from wrecking it, there was an uncertainty in their stance. It would seem that things had changed much over the ages, and Apep’s spies in the living world confirmed this. The gods were weaker than ever and struggling to re-assert themselves.
So Apep has stymied them in this, sending as many of his creatures out of the Underworld as he can. He raises armies of zombies, plagues of ghosts, storms of skulls, and numerous other, horrible things. He sends them into the world to do battle with the gods and their servants. The goal is not to defeat the gods – Apep knows this is likely impossible – but to stir fear and chaos into the hearts of those the gods would have serve them, making them afraid of what they cannot explain, instead of welcoming of it.
Apep is patient. Apep will one day win. Everything that happens now is just a step in that direction.

被拒绝的阿顿神Aten the Denied
回归的神并不是他们的神系中第一个在精神上被消灭的神。在第18王朝，“无赖法老”奥克亨那坦宣布帝国为一神论国家，太阳神阿顿是唯一的神。在崇拜和赞美的推动下，大自然的力量都被赋予给一个真名上，并被赋予了知觉，获得了对所有事物的统治权。
其他的神都被新政权推翻了。他们以自己的忠诚换取阿顿的援助，但阿顿却冷漠无情地把他们打发走了。但当奥克亨那坦的统治在耻辱和耻辱中结束，阿顿崇拜的一切痕迹都被抹去时，其他的神对他的冷漠做出了报复。
由于缺乏灵气，阿顿无力阻止他们将他的真名变回回原本的样子。尽管如此，他们还是对他造成了一定的伤害:从此之后在太阳圆盘中总有一小片意识在尖叫，他被困在一种混沌的自然力量中，无法被听到。
当其他的神倒下，他们自己被遗忘时，他们无意中加入了阿顿的行列。当图坦卡蒙的坟墓被发现的时候，把他们带回来的力量浪潮也把阿顿带回来了——比其他人晚一点，带回的也不是完整的他。他苏醒过来，“想起”诸神对自己的背叛，发誓要报复那些曾经伤害过他的神。
因为害怕神灵会制服他，摧毁他的灵体，把他送回冥界，他从来没有想过要暴露自己。他模仿了他们的行为，秘密控制了一个互补性产业——霓虹灯用气体——并开始召唤新王国不愿召唤的诸神，那些被奥林匹斯神摧毁得无法为诸神服务的神。他尽自己可能地重塑了他们，并告诉他们那个背叛了他们的神是如何与罗马神合谋的。又告诉他们，在奥林匹斯山陷落之前，其他的神都从奥林匹斯山中获利，这不是真的，但在他所拯救的神看来却是相当可信的。
他给了他的神仆一个复仇的机会，只要他们愿意为此再死一次。他们当然愿意。
从那时起，新王国的众神就被一群不知名的“次等”神及其鬼魂仆人骚扰。他们窥探着更强大的存在的利益，猛攻之后，然后逃跑。那些被抓住的神在被迫开口之前就自焚死去。
在所有的原始神中，只有阿努比斯知道阿顿已经回来了，因为他们共享着死亡的统治权。阿努比斯目前掌握着这一信息，并计划将其作为与其他神灵讨价还价的筹码。但是,如果阿顿选择攻击他,可能会导致满盘皆输。

劇透 -   :

The returned gods are not the first of their pantheon to be spiritually annihilated. In the 18th dynasty, the “rogue pharaoh” Akhenaten declared the empire a monotheistic state, proclaiming the sun-disk Aten to be the only god. Powered by worship and praise, the force of nature was given a ren and stirred to sentience, gaining dominion over all.
The other gods were swept aside by the new regime. They offered their fealty in exchange for Aten’s aid, but he dismissed them to their fate, cold and uncaring. But when the reign of Akhenaten ended in ignominy and shame, and all traces of Aten’s worship were obliterated, the other gods repaid him for his coldness.
Starved of sekhem, Aten was powerless to stop them from remolding his ren back to what it should have been. Nonetheless, the damage was done: ever after a tiny sliver of consciousness screamed within the sun-disk, trapped in a mostly mindless force of nature and unable to be heard.
When the other gods fell, themselves forgotten, they unwittingly joined Aten. When Tutankhamen’s tomb was uncovered, the power surge that brought them back brought him back as well – a little later than the others, perhaps not as fully. Reawakened, he “remembered” his betrayal and swore revenge upon those who had wronged him.
However, he had no desire to reveal himself, fearing that the gods might overpower him, destroy his mind, and send him back to the Underworld. Instead, he mirrored their actions, taking secret control of a complementary industry – gas for neon lighting – and began summoning gods the New Kingdom did not desire, those who had been too broken by the Olympians to be of any service. These he remade as best as possible and told them of how one of the gods had conspired with the Romans. He also told them that all other gods had profited by it until the fall of Olympus, which was hardly true, but believable to those he’d rescued.
He offered his divine servants a chance for revenge, so long as they were willing to die once more for it. They were.
Since then, the gods of the New Kingdom have been harried by an unknown group of “lesser” gods and their ghostly servants. They spy on the interests of more powerful beings, strike harshly, and then run away. Those who are caught immolate themselves before they can be forced to talk.
Of all the primal gods, only Anubis knows that Aten has returned, given their shared dominion of death. Anubis is sitting on this information for now, planning to use it as a bargaining chip with the others. If Aten should attack him, though, all bets may be off.

圣殿骑士团The Knights Templar
那些身份不明的杀神者，实际上是14世纪被摧毁的基督教武装组织的残余分子。他们还活着，掌握着许多致命的秘密，并且发现了新王国的诸神。
很久以前，圣殿骑士们在所罗门的圣殿里发现了他的秘密，其中包括了昏厥、控制和毁灭超自然生物的方法。他们用这些知识代表教会在欧洲杀死妖怪和神灵，并摧毁十字军东征时在战场上遇到的精灵（djinn）。当他们被命令向当时腐败的梵蒂冈交出秘密时，法国腓力二世(Phillip II)伪造了毁灭教团的场景，然后将其转入了地下。
圣殿骑士团在此之后就一直潜伏在基督教世界的边缘，等待另一场十字军东征或天启，无论哪一个先到来。他们的武器从盾牌和刀剑升级到了凯夫拉和有毒子弹。他们也知道如何躲避神和其他超自然的实体，避免自己的思想被他们控制。
当他们潜入纽约市的一个新异教组织时，他们的探员发现了一个真正的异教神灵，并将其杀死。然后，他们跟随着线索，找到了另一个邪教，并杀死了他们崇拜的神灵，从它的垂死的耳语中知道了在上个世纪发生了什么。从那时起，他们就悄悄地、小心翼翼地监视着这个新王国。他们不知道他们杀死了奥西里斯，但是那次暗杀彻底改变了他们目标的行为模式，直到现在他们才重新调整。
圣殿骑士团是一个相对较小的、以小队为基础（cell-based）的组织，其资金来源于一个大型基督教慈善机构。他们一直在寻找在不完美的世界拥有完美的信仰，热心,贞洁的人。拉拢他们入会后会向他们揭示了有关他们敌人的震撼真相，以及如何让他们远离的方法。幸存者会成为骑士的侍从，被传授剑、猎枪和教团的魔法秘密。幸存下来的侍从们也许有一天会被封为骑士，并拥有自己的侍从。

劇透 -   :

The as-yet unidentified god-assassins are, in fact, the remnants of a Christian militant order supposedly destroyed in the 14th century. They are alive and in command of a number of deadly secrets. And they have the gods of the New Kingdom in their sights.
Ages ago, the Templars found the secrets of Solomon inside his temple, including ways that supernatural beings could be confounded, contained, and destroyed. They used this knowledge to slay monsters and gods in Europe on behalf of the Church, and to destroy djinn encountered on the battlefield during the Crusades. When ordered to surrender their secrets to the then-corrupt Vatican, the order faked its destruction at the hands of Phillip II of France and went underground.
Since then the Templars have lurked at Christendom’s fringes, waiting for another Crusade or the Apocalypse, whichever comes first. They have graduated from shields and swords to Kevlar and theo-toxic bullets. They also know how to hide themselves from gods and other supernatural entities, and avoid having their minds controlled by them.
While infiltrating a neo-pagan group in New York City, their agents discovered a bona fide pagan god and dealt with it accordingly. Then they followed clues to another cult and dealt with its deity, learning from its dying whispers what had been happening over the last century. Since then, they have been quietly and carefully stalking the New Kingdom. They have no idea that they killed Osiris, but that assassination drastically changed their targets’ patterns, and it’s taken them until now to readjust.
The Templars are a relatively small, cell-based organization that exists on monies funneled from a large, Christian charity. They look for zealous, chaste men who struggle with having perfect faith in an imperfect world. Initiation reveals the mind-blasting truth about their spiritual enemies, and how to keep them at bay. Survivors become Pages to a Knight, to be taught the sword, the shotgun, and the magical secrets of the order. Pages who survive that may one day be knighted and take a Page of their own.