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"it is the great demigod Amun-Her Khepeshef who stalks you. A Pharaoh attempting to become a god, he always seems to appear as a massive serpent. Unimaginably powerful, but you have killed him before. Not once, not twice, but six times at this point, suffering great casualties. Since killing him doesn't seem to stop him, you have sought help from a legendary warden to finally seal him away. Time is of the essence. It is just a matter of time before Amun-Her appears again to take revenge" - Preface to the Tavern Tale known as "The Banishment of Khepeshef"
Amun-Her Khepeshef was a powerful pharaoh of The Serpentine people of Ta-Shedet that nearly ascended to godhood in prehistoric times who would be banished by Ymbtry to The BackHalls for most of recorded history, only reappearing in Quelmar when the halls were dispelled as part of the Fracturing of the Weave.
History
Banishment
Following a team of prehistoric heroes, Khepeshef arrive in Solvaer (now known as Ymbtrymman) and launched a full assault on the heroes, which included two heroes named Brynhild and Harvey Birdperson, as well as a dwarf named Skargric Greatjaw. Unfortunately in doing so he had landed directly in their trap, and had accidentally entered the ritual circle created by the famous Ymbtry the Imprisoner. As a result, he would be banished from the mortal plane, losing connection to the universe, and forced to slowly die bit by bit in The BackHalls.
Vestige: The Allip
After a long enough had passed in the halls, and Khepeshef's essence was slowly seeped away, taken and passed around like a cheap drug among the many banished of the halls...Khepeshef officially lost his mind. Becoming only an echo, a vestige, of his nearly unstoppable self, he became a shadowy form of tendrils and claws, sweeping through the halls still with considerable power, maddening and whispering to any creature that came his way.
As the Allip, Amun-Her Khepeshef hung on to only the faintest of drives which dictated his actions in the halls. One of those was the trusthworthiness of the Ten Yuan-Ti Captains who he fought alongside in his last minutes in Quelmar before the banishment. As a result, he would not attack, and would often overlook or even avoid, any group of ten humanoids traveling together in the halls. As a result of this small rule, it became more and more common to see groups travel in packs of 10 (sometimes called Contuberniums) as they navigated the Backhalls.
Creatures who destroyed the Allip would claim a small fraction of its essence, absorbing a tiny bit of Amun-Her's godhood into themselves. This would manifest as the following abilities:
- Burst of Life: As an action, release a 30 foot burst of energy that gives all allies in range 250 points of healing and a use of Greater Restoration.
- Scion of War: You project a 60-foot aura that enhances your allies. All allies in range receive double your charisma modifier as a bonus to all Strength ability checks and saves.
About
When Amun-her Khepeshef manifests, a handsome sarcophagus appears, resplendent in gold and gems and surrounded by ritual accoutrements. The lid of the stone sarcophagus breaks open onto the ground. Suddenly, the Serpentine warrior bolts upright in the sarcophagus. He wails a scream of pain that sounds like the collective voices of men and boys. His body explodes into overlapping images of thousands of yuan-ti children of all different ages, their faces jaundiced, their cheeks sunken, and their skin reeking of rotting death. They wail in unison for but a moment, and then the forms merge back together revealing the form of the warrior.
Behind the Screen
- Amun-Her Khepeshef is the IRL name of the firstborn son of Ramses the Great, who was known as "Commander of the Troops",
