Founding of Khepnefera

Founding

Fleeing from their masters, the rebels of the Serpent Empire left the Tanjara Peninsula and traveled east until the found a verdant, welcoming land surrounded by the natural protection of mountains. Khep, their elven leader, called the lands Nefera.   As they began to explore and develop this rich land, the refugees who had served arcanist serpent folk began experimenting with their understanding of their masters' magic. Many studied and collected the combined knowledge of their masters knowledge, becoming wizards. Others found that their grasp of magic was more natural.   As the kingdom grew under Khep's leadership, the Neferans began to uncover ruins from the giant's occupation of the lands. They discovered references to the Elemental Chaos, and eventually found ways to cross the Veil, though no one knows if they found a manifest zone, or a ritual or some other way.   The first pioneers into the Elemental Chaos met with and bargained with the Genies, though the initial bargains were grossly unfair and enslaved many of these pioneers, gradually the Edgewalkers of Nefera began to profit from their bargains. They began to be exposed to Elemental Realms, including the famed City of Brass, and through the Githzerai learned about and began to explore the Astral Sea.   The human fascination with the planes, and the popularity of the planewalkers made the elves of Khep's Nefera uneasy. When Khep finally passed away, after hundreds of years as king, many of the elven subjects of Khep's Nefera departed, leaving the humans as the dominant race in the kingdom.   Not much information survives about the kings following Khep, the histories pick up again at Menkare. Menkare was said to be semi-divine, and a powerful wielder of the divine power of Ra. Menkare convinced the people of the kingdom Khepnefera that he spoke with Ra's voice. He named himself Pha-Ra-oh, the Chosen Voice of Ra, and ascended the throne. Menkare's reign was considered to be the beginning of the First Dynasty, and he and his descendants ruled Khepnefera for centuries.   During the first Dynasty, Khepnefera became an empire, Menkare and his descendants began conquering territory and expanding their influence. Eventually, the lands of Khepnefera became too large to be governed by one person, and the Pharaoh of that time, Ankhkare, began assigning kingdoms to his most loyal vassals.   During the Second Dynasty, the Edgewalkers collapsed into various factions, each led by a Factol, some focused on a specific plane or group of planes   At some point during the Third Dynasty, a faction of the Edgewalkers, known as the Infinity Coil, became confidants of Pharaoh. The Infinity Coil's goal was to bring the whole of creation under the rule of Pharaoh.   The Fourth Dynasty was begun by Alhamazad the wise, an archmage of great power and one of the leaders of the Infinity Coil. Alhamazad began his reign after the last Pharaoh of the third dynasty attempted to betray and destroy the Infinity Coil. Alhamazad began the Dynasty of the Sorcerer Pharaohs. He designed a way for the throne to go to only the wisest and most powerful arcanists that lasted for generations. No one knows if this was a set of challenges, or a great quest, or a set of regalia that tested a person's soul. Only that the Sorcerer-Pharaohs of the fourth dynasty led the empire through a great period of benign enlightenment.   All of that ended with Hakoris, a wicked and powerful sorcerer who somehow ascended to the throne. His rule is said to mark the beginning of the fifth and final dynasty. Under Hakoris, those without arcane abilities were nothing more than slaves, and those who called on the divine were outcasts, rebels and targets of assassination squads. The empire became cruel.