The Curse of the Pharaohs was a visual representation of one of Bayek's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan through the Portable Animus HR-8.
Description[]
News of another artifact reaches Bayek, but landing in Thebes he finds a city ravaged by a terrible curse. The long-dead Pharaohs walk again.
Dialogue[]
Bayek visited a guide in Siwa, where he found a caravan guide.
- Caravan Lead: Headed to Thebes? It's a sand-scourged journey, but my caravan is fast!
Bayek accepted the offer and travelled to Thebes. While arriving in the city's harbor, he read the letter given to him by Amunet.
Amunet
- Bayek, I do not send you greetings, but a warning. Four years have passed since we laid the last to rest... but the creed spurs us ever onwards. I have captured a messenger bearing news of another artifact, this time in Upper Egypt. You must go at once. Give this parcel to Merti. She lives and runs her business near Luxor. She owes me a favor, not friendship. The rest must fall to you. Find this artifact no matter the cost. Let no one unleash its power on those we once swore to protect.
Upon arriving in the city, Bayek was greeted by a resident.
Dust started gathering in one location, which Bayek noticed.
- Bayek: What is this?
An apparition of Nefertiti appeared, prompting the guards to arm themselves.
- Sutekh: The Pharaoh's Curse!
Guards confronting the apparition
Sutekh and the Egyptians started fleeing the place. The soldiers attempted to attack the apparition.
- Bayek: As Ra lives! He landed a blow!
The apparition killed the soldiers. Bayek attacked the apparition.
- Bayek: You are nothing but a figment!
- Scared Woman: I honor the gods! She comes for me! I stole nothing! Why do the Pharaohs' punish us?
- Bayek: Return to the Duat! These people are innocent.
- Scared Woman: Amun protect me, Amun protect us alL!
- Terrified Woman: Sekhmet protect me. I only took a few drachma. There are worse than me. The abomination comes for us all. Amun has deserted us!
- Bayek: Who summoned you?
Bayek defeated the apparition, which disappeared shortly thereafter.
- Bayek: Someone has the artifact, is using it to summon the long dead. I must stop them before this curse murders all of Thebes. Amunet said her contact was near Luxor.
Bayek travelled to courtyard infront of Luxor, where he found Merti speaking to two residents, one of twhom he met earlier ago.
Bayek finding Sutekh and Merti
- Sutekh: Merti, you know what this curse has cost Thebes, cost me! I have no one left.
- Merti: Your uncle still lives, Sutekh. Perhaps he has work for you?
- Sutekh: That scorpion? He wouldn't give me a fig his monkey spat out.
Bayek approached them.
- Sutekh: Ah, you survived the curse! They will speak of you throughout Thebes.
- Bayek: Make sure no one speaks of me.
He flipped him a drachma for his silence.
- Merti: Enough, Sutekh.
- Sutekh: Of course! No phylakitai (cops) will hear of the man with death in his eye!
Bayek talked to Merti in private.
- Bayek: I was told you would help me. This is for you.
Bayek giving the parcel to Merti
Bayek passed a package to Merti.
- Merti: What is this? Who gave this to you?
- Bayek: The woman you know as Aya.
- Merti: Very well. What do you want?
- Bayek: A rare artifact. I believe it's the cause of this curse.
- Merti: Could it be?... Rumors, whispers. A relic was stolen from an unknown Pharaoh's tomb. Some say this desecration called the curse down upon us.
- Bayek: I must find it.
- Merti: There is quite a black market here in Thebes, secret auctions, rare trades. Talk to the merchants near the docks, they'll know more. Tell Aya our deal is done. I'm headed south. The curse comes too close for comfort.
- Bayek: What if I have more questions?
- Merti: Then find Isidora, the God's Wife of Amun. She will understand this curse in a way I cannot.
Merti left the place along with the others. After some investigation and even journeys into visions of the pharaohs' afterlives, Bayek defeated Nefertiti in her afterlife of Aaru and Akhenaten in Aten, allowing their souls to return to rest. He returned to Isidora in the Temple of Karnak, who was speaking to one of her servants, to report his progress.
Bayek reporting his findings to Isidora
- Bayek: Nefertiti and Akhenaten are no more. I defeated them in the Duat.
- Isidora: You've seen the land of the dead, yet still live?
- Bayek: No. It was a trick of the mind. I walked through the field of reeds, felt the breeze against my skin, but I was never there. I doubt I ever will be.
- Isidora: Never doubt it. I do not need to know what you've done to know there is a way. I will help you find it.
- Bayek: The Aten. Akhenaten passed it to his successors. It could've been stolen from any of their tombs.
- Isidora: I hear Tychon's funeral is taking place soon. Did his ledger reveal anything else? He knew the tombs quite well.
- Bayek: No. Irsu, the bile that robbed Nefertiti's tomb, did say he was working with others, but... well.
- Isidora: What happened? Is he dead?
Isidora warning Bayek to leave
Their conversation was cut short by the sound of approaching footsteps.
- Isidora: Soldiers coming. Please, you should not be seen—
Bayek had already withdrawn to the shadows.
- Isidora: ... here.
A group of soldiers came to the hall. Bayek had reached the top of the temple entryway and eavesdropped on the conversation.
- Captain: Priestess, a question. We've been investigating a ring of unsanctioned tomb robbers. Imagine my surprise when our prime suspect turns up dead. I know you had your... differences. So tell me, priestess, who killed Tychon?
- Isidora: Tychon? Was he not one of yours? A comrade of your Strategos? perhaps one of his allies grew tired of sharing the profits of the desecrated tombs. Did you find a dagger in his back? There are many who wished his death, how will you narrow your search?
The captain simply barked orders, to her and then to his men.
- Captain: Steer clear of Tychon's funeral.
- Captain: Do a thorough search. See what she's hiding.
Isidora left the place while the soldiers searched the premises.
- Soldier 1: You don't really think the God's Wife of Amun is involved do you?
- Soldier 2: There's nothing here but prayer scrolls.
- Captain: She's neck deep, I know it. Find the evidence.
- Soldier 1: Look sharp. We can't return empty handed.
Bayek left Karnak.
- Bayek: A brazen thief such as Tychon will live in the richer part of Thebes. I should pay my respects to the dead.
Bayek arriving at Tychon's villa
Bayek travelled to Tychon's villa, where the the funeral commencing.
- Bayek: Their slavish mourning leaves me time to search his villa.
He found the villa to be heavily guarded.
- Bayek: The Strategos' men have already been through here. What did they miss?
Bayek investigated cushions on the ground.
- Bayek: Tychon made a fortune trading our history to Rome.
He investigated a charm hanging on the wall.
- Bayek: No charm could save him in the end.
He investigated a table of fine food and wine.
- Bayek: Desecration and thievery paid for his expensive tastes.
Bayek investigating the second floor
Bayek went up to the second floor and read a scroll on a table.
Tychon, old friend
- Bayek: The Strategos ordered his men to apprehend Tychon.
Bayek read another scroll.
You bag of rancid cow dung!
- Pay me the money you owe me or Osiris help me, I will slit your throat. I risked Athames' wrath to get you that latest haul. And quite a tidy lot it was. Gold, cerulean, even a sword made from Shards of the stars. Pay me, the Pharaohs come for liars and cheats.
Irsu
- Bayek: Tychon and Irsu were working together.
He investigated a door beside the table.
- Bayek: Locked, I need another way in.
Bayek went out to the balcony and found a blockade to the room. He pulled it away and entered.
- Bayek: Tychon's papers were undisturbed.
He investigated a box containing masks.
- Bayek: Treasures from the Pharaohs, quite a hoard.
He investigated a chest.
- Bayek: What is this?
Bayek finding the next clue
Bayek opened the chest and took out a scrap of paper.
Report on the Lotus
- The ship, the one belonging to the Lotus you asked me to find it and I did. It last docked outside of Swenett and is carrying pelts and wine, nothing more. I got the captain drunk in Yebu and he mentioned the Lotus is looking for a relic, a special orb from the tombs. He knew nothing more.
Your servant Kleotis
- Bayek: Someone else is looking for the relic. So who are you, Lotus?
The ship docked in Swenett. That's my next port of call. I should find the scribe's office, the manifest might tell who the ship belongs to.
In time, Bayek discovered the Lotus to be Merti, who directed him to the antiquarian at the Necropolis of the Nobles. At the Necropolis, he encountered Tahemet arguing with Isidora, who left after a warning to her about desecrating the tombs of their mothers. Tahemet instructed Bayek to investigate the tomb for the answers he sought. In the tomb, Bayek investigated the clues and discovered the relic had been passed into the care of the priests of Amun, indicating that Isidora had the relic all along, and therefore was the one who conjured the curse. Bayek returned to Karnak.
Bayek finding "Isidora"
- Bayek: The relic corrupts absolutely. Isidora can not believe this is the will of the gods!
Bayek infiltrated the temple complex and found it under heavy guard by conjured warriors of Anubis.
- Bayek: The High Priestess has summoned the Army of Anubis to protect her!
"Isidora" revealed to be an illusion double of a soldier
Bayek located Isidora in the complex and assassinated her, though he later determined her to be an illusory double cast on a common soldier with the relic's power.
- Bayek: The relic, it's twisting what I see. I must find her.
Bayek travelled to Isidora's quarters beneath the temple. He found the door to the room to be locked.
- Bayek: Locked. Whatever her reasons for doing this, they must be behind this door.
Bayek climbed over an opening into the chamber.
- Bayek: As the wife of the Hidden One, she would keep her secrets close.
He investigated a scroll on the table.
Restoring Ma'at
- The carvings in the Necropolis are in ruins but my mother's notes say that the ritual needs the blood of User-Ma'at-Re, the flame-haired sons and daughter of the King of Kings. And Tutankhamun... As he restored the god, so can he restore balance? The relic it was held aloft by the priests, a ceremonial gesture nothing more. it did not have power, not the power it has now. Now shall they tremble before the wrath of Amun.
- Bayek: She's trying to finish what her mother started. There is a note, "as he restored the god, so can he restore balance."
He read a scroll on another table.
Nitokris on the Ma'at Ritual
- The orb was held aloft, shown to the Living Image of Amun, the restorer of the faith Tutankhamun. Could the ceremony alone be enough to deter the thieves who desecrate the tombs?
Nitokris, God's Wife of Amun
- Bayek: Texts on the Ma'at ritual by Nitokris, God's Wife of Amun. Could this be Isidora's mother?
Bayek reading a stele decree by Tutankhamun
He investigated a stele.
- Bayek: After Akhenaten's reign, his son Tutankhamun restored the temples of Amun. He gave the orb to the priests!
He investigated an object on a stand.
- Bayek: She always had the relic.
He investigated a hung papyrus.
Restorer of the Faith
- In the Valley of the Great Ones, we buried him. He who restored Egypt to the true faith. The son of the Aten became the Living image of Amun. We did not have time to build a great tomb, but his rest shall not be disturbed. He shall remain untouched in his House of Eternity, cut into the floor of the valley.
- Bayek: A hidden tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The thieves never found it.
Bayek shifted a stone block and investigated a papyrus hidden in a small hole behind it.
Isidora's Letters
- The one from Siwa... when he told me that tomb robber was dead, I felt as if the breath had been stolen from my chest. He does Amun's will, my will. Can it truly be? That the relic, which lay sleeping in her hands, is his instrument. It has granted my darkest prayer, punishes the thieves and desecrators. And what of the ritual? With the true power of the relic, balance, harmony, Ma'at... it can finally be restored.
- Bayek: She could kill countless in her misguided quest for 'balance' and 'truth'. Her mother would not want this.
Bayek concluded his investigation.
- Bayek: She means to finish what her mother started. A ritual to restore Ma'at in the hidden tomb of the long forgotten pharaoh.
Bayek left the chamber and made his way to the Valley of the Kings. He reached the entrance to Tutankhamun's tomb.
- Bayek: I know what it is like to lose someone you love, but this orb corrupts everything it touches.
Bayek confronting Isidora in the tomb
Bayek entered the tomb and navigated his way through. He found Isidora holding in thrall a number of Ramesses' descendants, including Sutekh, using the relic's power.
- Isidora: Ir nif di 'inh (it is done for him who has given life)...
You stalk me like common prey now?
Isidora turned to Bayek.
- Isidora: Bayek.
- Bayek: Give me the orb. I do not want to kill you.
- Isidora: My mother told me this is our role. To restore Ma'at and put Amun back on his throne. This is why I was born. This is why I had to hide and watch while they slit her throat. So I would have the strength to do Amun's will.
- Bayek: This is not strength. This is savagery.
Isidora turned away and back to the descendants of Ramesses.
- Isidora: (it is done for him who has given life).
Tutankhamun confronting Bayek within the Duat
Bayek drew his Hidden Blade and attempted to assassinate Isidora. However, he was transported to the Duat instead, wherein the spirit of Tutankhamun resided.
- Bayek: This must end, Isidora! You betrayed Amun, our people, your duty. I will not betray mine.
Tutankhamun took up his spear and attacked Bayek. After much difficulty, Bayek defeated the pharaoh, whose body disintegrated into a glowing white feather, then a golden ball of light. A scene of Tutankhamun was shown.
- Bayek: His father Akhenaten passed down the orb.
Tutankhamun handing the Apple to the priests of Amun
Tutankhamun held the orb aloft before the priests of Amun, before dropping it into their hands.
- Bayek: Tutankhamun wanted to restore balance, entrusted it to the priests of Amun.
The priests walked the orb through a gathering of people, the first of their rituals involving the orb.
- Bayek: But Isidora distorted the ritual in the name of vengeance. She betrayed her own gods.
The vision ended. Bayek followed the orb back to the Duat's exit. He passed through the portal and assassinated Isidora from behind.
- Isidora: Amun chose you. I do not understand. This was my birthright, my revenge. Why did he hear my cry? Why did he gave me the power to finish what she started, only for me to fail?
- Bayek: Amun never gave you power. He gave you a choice.
A feather flew in front of Isidora.
Isidora afraid to be judged due to her heavy heart
- Isidora: The feather of Ma'at. No... my heart is too heavy. Do you... believe Amun will protect me?
Bayek picked up the feather and approached Isidora.
- Bayek: As easy as it is to do wrong, it's easy for Amun to be merciful.
- Isidora: His wrath passess in a moment. His breath comes back in mercy...
Isidora's final moments
Bayek dipped the feather into Isidora's blood and drew it across her head as she passed away.
- Bayek: May the Hidden One walks with you. The lord of the Duat awaits.
Bayek picked up the relic and left the tomb with Sutekh, helping him walk.
- Sutekh: Put me down. Put me down.
Bayek put down Sutekh.
- Sutekh: I think I can manage on my own.
- Bayek: Can you?
- Sutekh: I once thought I had no one left in the world. Now I am a descendant of Ramesses the Great, and I have a family bigger than I could have imagined. Small price to pay. Thank you, neb. What will you do now with... that horror?
Bayek took out the orb.
- Sutekh: By Ra's light, I don't want it.
Sutekh gains possession of the relic
Bayek handed the orb to Sutekh.
- Bayek: All the more reason you should take it. You better than anyone knows what it can do. Bury it and all memory of it.
Sutekh accepted the orb.
- Sutekh: Alright, but not here. There are not secrets left in this valley.
- Bayek: There must be one more, Sen.
- Sutekh: You restore Ma'at, then leave. If that's what you want, then no one will hear of you from me. Hey, Bayek.
Sutekh bidding Bayek farewell
Sutekh threw a drachma to Bayek as he was about to leave.
- Sutekh: We'll meet again in the Field of Reeds. I'll see to it!
Bayek held up his fist holding the drachma in acknowledgment, then took his leave. Sutekh took stock of the tomb and his new task, exasperated.
- Sutekh: That is alright. We do not need any help. We'll close all this up. In a moment.
Sutekh sat down in the sand to collect himself.
Outcome[]
Bayek discovered the relic to be in the hands of Isidora, the God's Wife of Amun. Assassinating her in the tomb of Tutankhamun, Bayek broke the Curse of the Pharaohs and handed over the relic to Sutekh, a descendant of Ramesses II, to take the relic and bury it where none would ever find it.
Gallery[]
