Mummy Cults [Dark Eras 2]

Anticipating Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition? We’ve included the upcoming edition in Dark Eras 2. In the Rise of the Last Imperials chapter, we’ve offered sample cults which are included in the Mummy: The Curse portion. The text details three sample cults mummies may rely on on — and hunters might encounter. Here’s a sneak preview of The Wang.

Example Cults: The Wang

“Civilization is in danger, father. We must restore it, whatever the cost. If I thought else, would I be your daughter?” — Wang Ming-Yue

A family, the Wang, close to the Imperial Court in Beijing is contacted by sympathetic traders on the Silk Road. They have sacrificed much to maintain a position as a power behind the throne while the Ming were in control. Now they have been forced to sacrifice even more to appease the new emperor’s courtiers and to sop to his oafish, childish decrees. The promise of a new dawn and a new seat of power calls to them while the offer of aid from a family who are near to enjoying the Eight Privileges of the Imperial Court, such is their station, provides the perfect platform for the first of the Deathless to move.

Wang Ming-Yue is the only daughter of Wang Qiang, Prince of the Imperial Court and one of the chief defectors from the Ming to the Shunzhi Emperor. She has enjoyed a full education in the Three Obediences and the Four Virtues as befits a noble lady of her rank. She has been taught to read and write, as well as to ride. In her upbringing, where she held her father in great esteem, she also learned his nous for politics and statecraft. To preserve their family’s station, Qiang agrees for her to be married to a Banner Lord named Guroro, an uncouth, soldierly general who is impressed by her beauty and refinement, though she is less impressed by his rudeness and brutish ways.

Though this match is by no means perfect for her, she takes full advantage of it. Her place as first wife gives her great influence over the household of a man close to the emperor and he is more than happy for her to, very discreetly, manage his political and domestic affairs. She further impresses him by practicing archery with him.

With her father, she joins the cult of Rahush, the mummy that has been transposed into Qiang’s chief advisor. They have brought many of the household into the fold and scour the records of imperial trades for any record of the talismans their benefactor seeks. The house guards and some of the more loyal servants have all been inducted into the cult. Though their position permits them a certain luxury, it is also one of some danger.

If the emperor or Qiang’s political rivals became aware that they are practicing weird rituals in secret, it could expose the entire family. This is made all the more of a threat with the priest Herakon, who transported the heart of Rahush to China, living among them. His strange ways may be entertaining for a while but keeping him around the estate for extended periods of time is highly suspicious.