Orimenhet

The Advocate (a.k.a. Ori)

Tairos is full of life. That life was here before us. It's here now and it will continue to thrive long after Skyrir is dust. We depend on it, don't we? So maybe, just maybe, we should find a way forward that doesn't involve swallowing it all up entire tribes at a time.

— Orimenhet to the other leaders of Skyrir

The Empire of Skyrir is a distant horror and the only mercy regarding that awful, ancient regime, is that it is long forgotten. Only the most trained scholars alive today will even recognize the empire and what little they do know comes from faded scribblings on cave walls or dusty stone fragments unearthed near Baradrad.

None of them know the names of Skyrir's heroes and those that tried desperately to push it onto a new path, one that wasn't destined for a cataclysmic demise. Orimenhet is one of those names that's spoken now only by the desert winds of the Scorch.

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A Better Way

After the people of Skyrir killed their Sun God , the instigator of that murder took his place... Zharkhaddos. He was considered by many to be the second sun of Skyrir and though the vast majority swore fealty to him there were others in the city of the dead that sought new paths. They explored alternative uses for their immortality rather than to continue to indulge in the consumption of souls and expansion of their bloody empire. One such philosophy became known as the Path of the Third Sun. The basic premise of their belief was that they were still part of the living world, just in a new way. While most of Skyrir considered the followers of the Third Sun to be bizarre eccentrics one particular member of the philosophy was afforded considerable respect. Orimenhet.

She was one of Skyrir's nobles and still waxing by the standards of their culture. Waxing were the living who were still youthful and approaching the ideal time for conversion into undeath. Waning were those living who were past their prime and unfit for anything but consumption or simple reanimation. While many of the waxing use their time in life to sire children who will follow them into undeath or to revel in pleasures that may be dulled by the transition, Orimenhet chose to become the speaker for her house and a prominent councilor in Skyriran politics.

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Four Virtues

Orimenhet was viewed in her time much the same way that modern citizens of urban centers like Frial, Ghal Pelor, and Melanthris would view self-proclaimed druids expounding the importance of leaving a forest pristine rather than harvesting the lumber needed for progress. While few truly saw the beauty in the living world like she could, many did begrudgingly admit that life played an important role in their continued existence.

Her most famous and impactful push for these notions came in a treatise known as the Four Virtues, an opinion that would go on to influence many of Skyrir's leaders and how they approached the living world.

The First Virtue- Life is the Origin of Innovation
The Second Virtue- The Cycles of the Natural World are Alive
The Third Virtue- Magic Favors Life
The Fourth Virtue- Death is Relentless

The First Virtue teaches that evolution and adaptation created many of nature's most perfect organisms. It also led to the development of the language, philosophy, invention, art, and exploration. It also said that by choosing a world of only death they are choosing an existence without change.

The Second Virtue is one that many of Tairos' druidic cults would be familiar with. The Third Sun believed that the natural world required life to continue with the cycles they were familiar with. In short, would it rain if life had died off entirely? Would there still be seasons? What would the oceans behave like if all that dwelt in them were gone? The natural world was predictable, none could be sure what a dead world might offer instead.

The Third Virtue is a more esoteric one and connects with a prevailing theory about magic during that time period. It presumed that magic was also the source that fueled the soul and thus life itself. In modern times the idea of the soul and magic being born from the same "well" has fallen out of favor but during the age of the Skyriran empire that was not the case. They believed magic favored life and that in turn life was what refilled the universal reservoir of mana. Orimenhet's point with the Third Virtue was that magic itself would be in jeopardy if life was culled too deeply.

Finally, the Fourth Virtue was aimed at the animosity many of the undead lords held toward each other. Living opponents were never much of a concern to the Empire as a whole or to the holdings of individual lords. Such enemies would be ground down by armies of undead servants, blasted by magic, or merely left to wither away over the ages. Orimenhet knew how the other lords had grown accustomed to dealing with living foes and chose to use the final virtue as a warning. If the living are driven to extinction then all that will be left are the dead. And, if there is no longer a cause to unite them than the lords will turn on each other. They would make each other into enemies who cannot be worn down, who cannot be sundered with spells nor left to the ravages of time. The living must be preserved as a buffer between peace and endless war.

The Four Virtues were received with considerable dissent from the other lords, each hoping to see the other lords adopt the virtues so they may neglect and abuse them. The god-king Zharkhaddos had no interest in the adoption of the virtues into law as he was contemplating the nature of undeath and the execution of his grand work (an effort that would end in failure and the destruction of Skyrir). The decision was left entirely in their hands.

After considerable debate among the ruling undead the measure came into law and the reaping of tribes of Tairos slowed to crawl.

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Holding Back the Setting Sun

Orimenhet may have become a voice that swayed many of the undead of Skyrir to a new, better path forward. Her teachings on the importance of a harmonious coexistence with nature could have changed the destiny of the empire and perhaps all of Tairos for that matter. The Fang Crusades, Plague of Undeath and the Queen's War may all have been avoided if a new and benevolent Skyrir had existed. Unfortunately, the fate of the empire was inevitable.

Orimenhet was trying to capitalize on the success of Four Virtues from several years earlier but putting forward measures aimed at real, meaningful alliances with the tribes including the creation of borders. The empire of old would have rejected the idea outright but thanks to the Four Virtues many were coming around and accepting merits of seeing the living as more than just food, slaves, or a brief stage of existence to be shunted off in favor of immortality.

However, she would not live to see this new effort take shape. Instead, the she would fall prey to the mortal frailties that she chose to embrace. It was a wasting disease that magic seemed unable to cure. Over the course of days she went from a healthy young woman to a bedridden and pain-wracked victim of illness. Orimenhet was eager to carry on the work she started in life and asked that her followers prepare her for transition.

Resurrection would never happen. Her illness was the work of Zharkhaddos' cult, a specially designed poison was used that was mistaken for a disease. Orimenhet's death was an offering in praise to the God-King whose favor they hoped to earn in the coming days. The poison they used would also prevent her body from receiving the gifts of immortality, something rarely seen in Skyrir. Consumed with grief over this pointless loss her followers instead chose Entombment.

Months later, the empire would perish. Zharkhaddos' attempt to open the leylines of Tairos and harness them would end in disaster. The lush region where Skyrir existed was set ablaze. The city itself was shattered and regardless of loyalty to or against the God-King... none were spared.

None can say for sure if Orimenhet's tomb was preserved though it is doubtful. More likely, she is ash now and buried with the ruins of the empire she tried to save. Though the legacy of her actions lives on in the form of every nation that can trace its heritage back to the first tribes of Tairos and the mercy of her Four Virtues.

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If Skyrir had heroes I pray they were incinerated the day the empire fell. The Scorch has a way of digging up what's been buried beneath its sands and giving life to the darkest parts of it.

— Hannibal Seward

Resurrected Mummy by Antti Hakosaari

Physical Description

General Physical Condition

Very healthy and fit until the time of her illness

Apparel & Accessories

Favored jade and turquoise jewelry

Mental characteristics

Sexuality

Orimenhet was known to indulge in passionate though brief relationships with both men and women. It is believed one of these many lovers was the agent responsible for poisoning her

Education

She was formally educated by the teachers of her house. However; most of what she learned came from the philosophies of the Third Sun and travels to nearby tribal communities

Accomplishments & Achievements

Pushing the Four Virtues into becoming law

Failures & Embarrassments

Many tribes that she tried to advocate for prior to the establishment of the Four Virtues could not be saved. Each loss weighed heavy upon her

Intellectual Characteristics

Philosophical, Philanthropic, Curious, Passionate

Morality & Philosophy

Orimenhet believed in the importance of balance and the coexitence of nature, the living and the undead. This was typical of the followers of the Third Sun's teachings.

Taboos

Senseless and unnecessary violence

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

Force the undead nation of Skyrir to embrace a harmonious balance with the living world

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Orimenhet has studied several forms of meditative, low-impact, martial arts, as a means of self-improvement and awareness. She was considered a very accomplished martial artist by many in that community.

Likes & Dislikes

Reading, learning about foreign cultures, sampling foreign food

Vices & Personality flaws

Often swayed or distracted from work in favor of sexual pursuits. Altruistic view of the motivations of others to the point of naivety.

Hygiene

Very fond of scented oils and soaps, especially those made with exotic ingredients from distant lands.

Social

Religious Views

Orimenhet was largely agnostic when it came to adopting any personal religion. She did acknowledge the existence of the Totem Spirits of Tairos and saw them as wise representatives of the type of natural balance she sought for Skyrir.

Social Aptitude

Within Skyriran society she was seen as a harmless eccentric thought to be obsessed with nature, the living, and antiquated ideas that had long since fallen out of favor.

Alignment

Lawful Good

Species

Humanity

Ethnicity

Skyriran

Circumstances of Death

Poisoned by followers of Zharkhaddos

Birthplace

Skyrir

Gender

Female

Aligned Organization

The Empire of Skyrir

Known Languages

Skyriran