Fir’awn
“They call us Pharaohs to mock us. But the Pharaohs kept their faith. The Pharaohs were powerful. We accept the name and all that comes with it.”
You want to join the Fir’awn because:
You won’t forget the old ways. You are a polytheist living in a monotheistic world. You have faith but feel that being a div is incompatible with being a Muslim.
The big picture:
The Fir’awn (Pharaohs) weren’t really a covenant in the beginning, but a loose alliance of polytheistic Kindred practicing Majnun in the Muslim empires. Now the group is much larger than most divs assume. Despite the stereotype that they are all ancient ifrits, many neonates still flock to their banner, hoping to find a new faith in Arabian paganism, Egyptian Kemeticism, Greco-Roman mystery cults, or Persian Zoroastrianism. Many of these new divs were devout monotheists in life but recognize that God did not intend the Qur’an for them. Now they seek wisdom from sources outside the Muslim canon, hoping to find new meaning for themselves. Most older Fir’awn inherited their faiths as mortals and now seek to ensure their persistence in the face of Islamic supremacy.
Elders are as rare among the Invisible as they are in every other covenant, but every div has heard stories of these elders’ terrifying blood sorcery. In an age when any div can learn to wield Majnun, Forbearer elders practice it as if it were second nature. In future centuries, many of the inheritors of this tradition will join what will be known as the Circle of the Crone.
Controversially, the Fir’awn welcome mortal curiosity in this era. While it is hazardous, many Invisible hope exposure to the occult will bolster their faiths among mortals. Most are canny enough to recognize when to cut their losses and go into hiding, but a few are recklessly close to endangering other Kindred by encouraging inquiry among the kine.
Where we came from:
Arabs and Persians worshipped many gods before the Prophet Muhammad’s coming, and we worshipped alongside them. We belonged to hundreds of different faiths and small alliances among coteries, but Muslim divs pigeonholed us into a single community. We have never unified, but given the threats we face tonight, maybe it is time for change.
Our practices:
We delve into ancient ruins to uncover the secrets of cultures long dead and gone — some of which our eldest remember from life. We are the self-appointed guardians of these sites, ensuring monotheists do not damage or desecrate them. When the Strix return to terrorize our kind and wipe us from the Earth as they did the Romans, we hunt them down, driving the Owls back into the shadows.
Nicknames: The Forbearers (within the covenant, formal the Invisible (informal Jinn (Europeans Mushrikun (derogatory)
When we are in power:
We rarely hold power for long, so we make the most of it while it is ours. We don’t go after Muslims en masse, but we strike down foes who thought it wise to persecute us when were subjugated. We rule with a light touch and let individual coteries lead their Requiems as they like.
When we are in trouble:
When aren’t we in trouble? When our backs are against the wall, we do our best to keep our heads down while we take the names of those who wrong us. And we have long memories.
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