Kenaton

Kenaton

(Person)

Titles

Pharaoh, the Pious

Ancestry/Species

Human

Gender

Male

Homeland

Osirion

Died

Roughly -1116 AR

Source: Osirion, Legacy of Pharaohs, pg(s). 19 (1E)
Impossible Lands, pg(s). 14 (2E)

The pharaoh Kenaton of Osirion was an important figure in his country's history. He was known for his piety; for his efforts to restore stability to a declining empire; and, just before his death, for imprisoning a dangerous hieracosphinx in the pyramid built to be his final resting place. Unfortunately, this tomb would not last for long.

Background

Nothing is currently known about Kenaton's early life. He rose to power roughly three hundred years after the Four Pharaohs of Ascension died in -1431 AR. Since their death, Osirion had been in a state of decline, but Kenaton was able to revitalize the empire, purge it of its enemies, and regain control over its more distance territories in the Southern Reaches, or as its known today, the Impossible Lands.

Since the death of the Queen of Ebon Feathers in -1456 AR, the Southern Reaches thrived on their own through trade with the Mwangi Expanse and emerging seaports at locations like Quantium. Through his cunning and military tactics and administration, Kenaton conducted a series of quick and decisive military campaigns to bring these territories back under the control of Osirion, and caused many a local warlord to flee in a panic from these area.

Rise of Geb

The man who would eventually become the malevolent necromancer in charge of his own country, Geb, rose during Kenaton's reign. Geb had to watch, powerlessly, as his family rebelled against the pharaoh, and Kenaton's reaction was as decisive as it was thorough. Those who were not entombed alive or outright killed were sent into exile, with Geb being one of the only ones remaining, fleeing south away from Sothis in -1119 AR. Making his way to Mechitar, over the next few decades he would build his power to become the Ghost King history knows today.

Tomb of the Bound Sphinx

Deep within the Barrier Wall mountains, a pyramid-shaped Tomb of the Bound Sphinx was constructed in -1116 AR. Although it was intended to serve as Pharaoh Kenaton's burial ground, this tomb held a secondary purpose: it functioned as a prison to magically bind the legendary hieracosphinx Hephtethnet the Reaver who was terrorizing southern Osirion. Kenaton ultimately gave his own life to enact the magics necessary to accomplish this, ensuring its captivity until it could collect a thousand unique riddles.

Legacy

Ultimately, many of Kenaton's accomplishments would sadly not last. Unbeknownst to the builders, the Tomb of the Bound Sphinx was built over a large underground chamber, into which it would collapse with all of its treasures a few decades after Kenaton's death. Thankfully though, Hephtethnet would remain imprisoned there.

The wizard Nex was born in -1070 AR and he took control of the city of Quantium and named the surrounding region after himself in -987 AR. By -929 AR, the entire Southern Reaches that Kenaton had brought under Osirion's rule would be ceded to Nex and Geb where they would spend the next thousand years in war.

Even just within his family, Kenaton's grandson, Akten-ar, had none of the ambition of his grandfather. He would use his good looks to get whatever he wanted from those around him, and whatever wit he had was spent on womanizing. Akten-ar's life would be cut short in a duel with a rival that he had provoked.