Pharaonic Theology

The Pharaonic Theology is not the story of good versus evil, but rather the story of order versus chaos. It begins in a different reality on the Astral Plane, where another pantheon reigned. When that reality was destroyed, one of its deities, Ptah, began wandering the Astral Plane. It was here that he learned the power of creation and many other mysteries. He may have even discovered the source of Arcane Magic. During his wandering, he came across a part of the Astral Plane called the Sea of Chaos. Here, he called forth the Sons of Order. However, first to rise from the Sea of Chaos was Apothis, the Lord of Chaos. Shortly thereafter, Ra and Thoth, the Sons of Order, arose from the Sea of Chaos and sent Apothis away for the moment.    Ra, then, brought into being two children: Shu and Tefnut. Shu was god of the dry desert air and the forces of preservation, while Tefnut had dominion over the moist river air and the forces of change. They had two children, Geb and Nut. Geb was the god of the earth while Nut was the goddess of the sky. They had four children -- Isis, Nephthys, Osiris, and Set. This generation of deities is by far the most important in the current Pharaonic pantheon.   Ra repeated his primordial act of parthenogenesis and bore two daughters: Hathor and Bast. Bast married Bes, bringing him in from to the pharaonic "family" from a foreign pantheon. Whatever origins, Bes has lost all contact with his former pantheon, and it is quite possible that the rest of the members of his pantheon have all died or disappeared.   The older generations of Pharaonic deities -- Shu, Tefnut, Geb, and Nut -- are still alive, but so remote from the mortal world that they are no longer important figures in the pantheon. They are no longer worshiped by mortals, but some people have claimed to have found Geb on the Material Plane. Tefnut assists Osiris in judgment. The whereabouts of Shu are unknown, as are the whereabouts of Nut, though many belive that Nut resides in that part of the Astral Plane just outside of Draconian Planar space. The oldest deities that remained part of the pantheon are Ra, Thoth, and Ptah.   The son of Osiris and Isis, Horus, ascended to claim the throne of Ra, absorbing Ra's most of Ra's essence, while Ra's last High Priest, Khepri, took over Ra's duties as Sun God. Osiris and Nephthys have a son, Anubis, who plays an important role in the human afterlife. Nephthys bore Set one child before fleeing her husband in horror over his evil: Sobek, the deformed crocodile god.   One remaining deity stands outside the familial relationships of the pantheon. Imhotep was born mortal and ascended to godhood.   Apothis is a deity, but is not part of the Pharaonic Pantheon, rejecting anything that brings any sense of order to the universe.