Mummy Boyfriend: Teremun (special preview)

Ages ago, violent sandstorms had plagued the once great Neith kingdom. What had once been a sprawling metropolis of the Rakshasa, Lizardfolk, and Jackal peoples, was instantly destroyed and buried under sand, separating the three for generations across the continent. The great kingdom now lays buried under the desert and I’ve been given the great duty to help find it.

Not much is left from those days, only stories, rotting books, and the vague memories that people had written down. The location is unknown, but many rumors circulate of its whereabouts. The Rakshasa claim it is further north, while the Lizardfolk believe it is closer to their borders in the west. The Jackals speculate that the kingdom lies in the direct center of the continent where it serves like a compass to the rest of the world.

Using old texts, I’ve been able to narrow down my search. Surprisingly, I believe the Jackals may have a better understanding of the location. Considering that the Oasis of Bastat is close to the purported center, which was described as having lush vegetation and vast gardens to support the populace. 

I decide to start my search north west of Bastat, taking into account all stories from each kingdom. The excavation is harsh to say the least, what with the horrible heat and blazing sun. The residents of Bastat have taken pity on us and taught us their ways of coping with the desert. Their origin comes from Neith as well, and their curiosity is evident. 

Sand is not kind to work with, but he finally manage to get through it. At first, it seems all we will find is bedrock. That was, until one of the local Bastat children told us about the Dragon’s Cave just a little further north of the oasis. 

I thought it was just all names, but to my shock, there was an actual dragon living there. From him, we learned that cave went further back and down, narrowing to where he couldn’t go, but said there was a strange archway that looked manmade. 

Going deep down into the cave, my team and I found the archway. In inscriptions upon it were in the old scribe, a language once used in Neith which, when the three tribes split due to the storms, formed the basis of each of their languages. It was a victory, an inkling into the whereabouts of Neith. I decided I would go in first and see what lay beyond the archway. If anything should happen, better that I suffer it than any of my team.

It was a narrow corridor I was led into. It felt like any regular cave, but soon, I found myself standing before a forked path. One passageway had a grander arch, the other had an old door. Both bore the same Neithian old scribe. 

I rushed back to tell my team and we celebrate at the discovery. We make plans with the citizens of Bastat and the dragon Abbor to explore the cave. Once we have the clear to continue our research, my first goal is to translate the Neithian old scribe so we can understand what lies beyond the arches and the door.

While my team prepares to dig and explore, setting up a new and much more permanent campsite, I get to work translating. I’ve studied Neithian old scribe since I was young, but it is still so hard to work with. I’ve had to learn the languages of the Rakshasa, Lizardfolk, and Jackals in order to better understand the old scribe. 

Eventually, I find the first archway reads; “beyond me there is life, between me there is agony.” I’m not sure what it means, so I keep on working to figure out the messages on the second arch and door.

The second arch reads: “I am but passage. Neither end of beginning. What happens now is but a journey.”

“It sounds like the Jackal's funeral poems,” one of my teammates remark, a Jackal herself. “They call death a journey as well back home. Perhaps this is where it comes from.”

“This could be a crypt or catacomb,” I add. “We may have just discovered the burial sight for the Neithian kingdom.”

I go on to work on the door, but I find it’s language much more difficult to piece together. Some of words I am not sure of, some I never even heard. Back after a long while of stressing over them, I’ve come to the conclusion it is either a poem or song. 

“What lies here may be eternal, what passes by may be fleeting. What once was great now is resting. The resting will wake in all due time. Blood of kind and soul combined, will treat the great as tea sublime. Morning breath and drop of dew, will greet the great with life anew.”