Orthul

Overview

Orthul stands at the heart of Kemet not as its ruler, but as its conscience. Known across the deserts as The City of Reflection, it is a place where light and law converge, where mortal truth is weighed against divine balance. The city lies upon the Mirror Basin—a vast, shallow lake whose waters gleam like polished gold beneath the sun. From its shores rise temples and colonnades of pale sandstone and electrum, their mirrored facades casting back the brilliance of Ra’s light into perfect symmetry.

Though Sekhemet rules the empire through crown and army, Orthul governs through judgment and memory. Here every edict, treaty, and coronation must be sanctified beneath the eyes of Anubis’s living vessel, the High Jackal of the Living Scales. No mortal crown is legitimate until the High Jackal declares it so. In Orthul, kings kneel, scribes whisper, and truth alone stands tall.

Geography & Architecture

The city is constructed upon concentric terraces rising from the Mirror Basin. Canals of clear water, lined with lotus and papyrus, divide districts into radiant symmetry. Every street is designed according to sacred proportion, mirroring the hieroglyph of the scales when seen from above.

At the lowest tier, docks and markets bustle with pilgrims, traders, and supplicants. Above them stand the Hall Courts, where bronze gates lead to amphitheaters of law. At the summit lies the Temple of Weighing, an immense twin-pyramid complex that crowns the city like a diadem of justice. The pyramids’ mirrored capstones are said to channel sunlight straight into Duat’s Mirror itself, binding Orthul’s decrees to the divine record.

Orthul’s color palette is gold, ivory, and indigo. Its air smells of lotus, incense, and parchment. Bells toll softly at dawn and dusk, marking the moments when mortal light and shadow stand in equal measure.

Governance & Society

The High Jackal, anointed by Anubis during the Festival of Still Hearts, reigns as Orthul’s divine arbiter. They are both ruler and vessel—chosen from the priesthood not by lineage, but by omen. When a High Jackal dies, their heart is weighed in secret; if found pure, a new vessel is selected through dreams that sweep the priesthood.

Beneath the High Jackal sits the Council of Scales, twelve judges each representing one aspect of Ma’at’s principles—Truth, Order, Mercy, Law, Balance, and so on. Their rulings shape not only legal matters but theology itself; to contradict them is to challenge the gods’ interpretation of harmony.

Orthul’s citizens are divided into castes of scribes, advocates, artisans, and initiates. Every inhabitant is expected to memorize a fragment of the Forty-Two Declarations of Innocence, recited weekly in public squares. Crime within Orthul is almost unknown, not through fear, but through faith: to lie is to deface one’s own reflection.

Religion

Anubis’s presence is absolute but serene. His jackal statues guard every gate, their obsidian eyes inset with moonstone. The city’s priests act as both lawyers and morticians; they tend the dead and defend the living, believing both acts to be part of the same sacred cycle. Ma’at’s followers serve alongside them as scribes and philosophers, ensuring law remains compassionate. Shrines to Ra, Isis, and Thoth dot the boulevards, but their worship is subdued—here, all light bends toward the Scales.

Culture & Daily Life

Orthul is a city of ritual. Every dawn begins with the Ceremony of First Light, where priests draw mirrors from sacred water, lifting them to capture the sun’s first ray. The act symbolizes self-knowledge—the belief that only by knowing one’s reflection can one know truth.

Education is sacred. Children learn law and scripture before trade or art. Festivals celebrate not victory or wealth, but balance—equinoxes are the greatest holidays, when both the day and the soul are deemed equal.

Artisans craft mirrored jewelry, ceremonial fans, and golden masks depicting serene jackal faces. The city’s greatest export is parchment—every decree written here is bound in mirrorleaf ink, a powder of crushed moonstone mixed with Nile water.

Factions of Orthul

The Weighers of Truth

Faction Color: #d4af37 (Solar Gold)

Core Identity & Philosophy:
The primary judicial order of Kemet, devoted to maintaining the balance of Ma’at through mortal law. They believe that justice must precede death—that to die without trial is to enter Duat unprepared. Their creed: “All light casts a shadow, and we judge both.”

History & Origins:
Formed in the First Era after the mortal rebellion of Setren, when chaos spread across the Nile kingdoms. The High Jackal himself decreed the founding of the Weighers to unify all courts beneath divine precedent. Their golden masks and mirrored scepters have symbolized judgment for centuries.

Goals & Motivations:

• Uphold the codified Scrolls of Ma’at.
  
  

• Prevent divine law from being manipulated by mortal politics.
  
  

• Seek perfect legal harmony between life and death.
  
  

Methods & Tactics:
Operate through public ceremony and visible process; secrecy is considered impurity. Their punishments favor symbolic reparation—false testimony is punished by reflection fasting, during which offenders may not see their own image for forty days.

Hierarchy & Key Members:

• High Jackal Nefrethis (Leader): Semi-divine priest-judge, embodiment of impartiality.
  
  

• Vizier of Measures Khotep: Oversees trials involving nobles.
  
  

• Sister Lumea: Blind archivist who “reads” law by touch.
  
  

Reputation:
Feared by liars, revered by all others. In Orthul, to wear gold is to invite scrutiny—for gold is their color, and it reflects too easily.

The Mirrorbound Order

Faction Color: #5e4b3a (Bronze Umber)

Core Identity & Philosophy:
A monastic sect of philosopher-priests who believe self-awareness is the highest worship of the gods. They maintain Orthul’s reflective architecture and teach that every soul carries both its truth and falsehood visibly—if only the mirror is polished enough.

History & Origins:
Founded by Thothian monks from Dream Valley who migrated to Orthul to study “living reflection.” They were granted autonomy under the High Jackal in exchange for maintaining the Basin’s sanctity.

Goals & Motivations:

• Preserve the mirrors and geometry of Orthul.
  
  

• Translate divine omens reflected in water and metal.
  
  

• Seek union of thought and image.
  
  

Methods & Tactics:
Meditation, ritual fasting, and dream interpretation. Their scribes inscribe prophecies onto mirrored tablets known as Ka-Panels, later placed in tombs as guides for souls.

Hierarchy & Key Members:

• Abbot Themn-Ra: Elder who never speaks above a whisper; his voice is said to ripple across the Basin.
  
  

• Mirrorkeeper Setari: Young artisan devoted to rebuilding the cracked capstone of the Temple of Weighing.
  
  

Reputation:
Seen as mystical yet harmless; locals joke that they “polish truth until it vanishes.” However, their knowledge of reflective magic is unparalleled, and the Weighers guard them closely.

The Votaries of the Second Dawn

Faction Color: #a52a2a (Deep Red Clay)

Core Identity & Philosophy:
A small but zealous sect venerating Ra’s daily rebirth as a symbol of redemption. They teach that even the guilty may earn balance if they act before the Second Dawn—the moment a sinner confronts their reflection at sunrise.

History & Origins:
Born from a heretical branch of priests during the reign of Pharaoh Amek-Sun. Supposedly dissolved, the Votaries endure in secret, offering “redemption vigils” along the Basin for those who seek atonement without trial.

Goals & Motivations:

• Offer absolution before judgment.
  
  

• Restore compassion to divine law.
  
  

• Reconcile Ra’s mercy with Anubis’s order.
  
  

Methods & Tactics:
Operate in twilight, guiding penitents to confess beside the Basin before dawn. Some claim their rituals draw true divine light into sinners’ reflections—others call it blasphemy.

Hierarchy & Key Members:

• Sun-Priestess Meret: Charismatic reformer marked by a scar across one eye, said to have been burned by her own reflection.
  
  

• The Unnamed: A silent figure in crimson linen who lights every vigil torch but is never seen in daylight.
  
  

Reputation:
Tolerated but watched; Orthul’s judges view them as dangerous idealists. Among the poor, however, they are saints—the only ones who offer forgiveness before the trial.