Mummy (Guardian, Pharaoh)

You'd be hard-pressed to find a creature with more readily available pop culture references than the Mummy. The classic black and white monster movies of the past come to mind, though today many of us may think more recently back to the likes of Brendan Fraser's adventures in Egypt.

Regardless of where you draw your inspiration, I invite you to consider other ways you might use the theme of a mummy. The Bestiary equips the enterprising GM with both the Mummy Guardian and the Mummy Pharaoh (though I also invite you to look at the Bog Mummy from Bestiary Two for a different feel).

Dungeons are classics for the deployment of a mummy as a combat encounter, though I would say that there are many other opportunities for the use of a mummy both in combat and overall in the world. Consider what kind of other societies you may create in your world that would practice the art of mummification (both the kind that yields the undead or otherwise). Lesser-known mummies such as the Chinchorro of South America or the Buddhist Mummies can provide other perspectives for the practice of mummification.

To the degree that you may decide to use a mummy, consider customization of their abilities given the alternate environment (if any) that one might find an undead adversary in. The Pharaoh is quite well equipped with additional abilities themed after the classic mummy, and can serve as a good template to really make it your own.

- Reece  

Hook 1 (Max) - Laid Here Beside You

The Great Archon was a wise and just ruler who took good care of his subjects, making sure they had everything they needed. Alas, his domain is but a wasteland now.

It began when his wife fell ill; no doctor or priest could find a way to help her and she withered away slowly but surely. The Archon looked on helplessly, stricken by grief and rage against the gods' cruel whims. He started looking for other ways to save the love of his life while his kingdom fell into disrepair from his lack of attention.

That is when an old man appeared in his palace, offering him a solution. He would be able to save his wife and make her live forever with him. The means were dark and ominous, but he agreed. At this point, the people were outraged by the Archon's lack of care and stormed his grand fortress. With the ritual underway, he rallied his remaining soldiers to defend the castle while the wizard conducted his rite. Blood stained the steps of his magnificent city as he fell into a frenzy and struck down his own people.

When he returned stained with the blood of his citizens, the old mage showed him his wife, turned into a vile undead, devoid of both beauty and mind. Overcome with blind rage, he destroyed everyone and everything in his path, beginning with the mage that took his wife.

So now his once proud and bountiful land is a province of vengeful ghosts, as he is the sole survivor. Driven mad, he stalks the ruins, looking for the walking corpse of his beloved queen.

Hook 2 (TJ) - Empire of Endless Suns

Hemet IV, Monarch of the Sun, had glimpsed the future. There in the Fabric of Possibilities, he was promised a place among the stars and a kingdom like no one had ever known. As he reached his middle years, it became increasingly apparent that this future was further off than he would have liked. The chances he would survive to see it in his current lifetime were slim.

Armed with his mortal fear and determined to take this Possibility and make it part of the Truth of the Present, he dove into the Knowledge of the Past. His ancestors, not many generations ago, slowed the Decay of the Knowledge of the dead. In these compounds, in this canopic knowledge, Hemet knew he could keep this Possibility. As he aged he prepared his body, slowing his own Decay. His preparations would also help prevent the exponential Decay of Death, as his ancestors discovered. When it finally came time, all of his innards were lined neatly on shelves around him. Tomes of instruction, penned by his own hand, accompanied him in this resting place. Cool, comforting cloths wound around his body as he drifted off into a deep sleep. The culmination of his final gambit, his Possibility was now in the hands of others.

When those others descended from the stars millennia later, they found Hemet alongside his instructions preserved near perfectly. With great care, they reversed the process and Hemet awoke to find himself among the stars. His Possibility became a Truth of the Present. The first step to becoming the Monarch of Infinite Suns was now complete.

Hook 3 (Nemanja) - Mild-mannered Mummies

A diplomatic mission is having a hard time reconciling the Kingdom of Three Pyramids and the Federation of Fifty Islands. The two states only recently made contact, and things were going pretty well, with talks of a major trade route being established... and then an inquisitor of the Jackal-god visited the Islands.

The Jackal's followers are the watchers of the dead, and one of the major threats they deal with are mummies, which in their homeland are created through invasive means which create inherently evil and violent beings.

In contrast, mummification in the isles is a gentle, spiritual process reserved for the wisest of elders, this process creates uniquely gentle mummies with skin of red clay. These mummies are placed in shrines present all over the islands, and people sometimes visit them to seek guidance.

Of course, the diplomat-priest of the Jackal was not aware of this when he cast a banishing spell on a village's founder—a being who has been guiding his descendants for fifteen generations. The foreign power diplomats present barely managed to save the man's life, but continuing dialogue between the two countries poses a new diplomatic challenge...