Shrouded Piety: The Osiris Contract - Chapter 1

Prologue < | > Chapter 2
1798, General Napoleon Bonaparte has been granted the opportunity by the Directory of France to begin a military campaign in Egypt as a measure of curbing British power over India and the Mediterranean. Of course, for one as scientific and ambitious as Napoleon, the chance to dissect Egypt for its many wonders and continue building upon his own legacy is reason enough to excite the man, even with the British Navy leaving he and his army stranded in Egypt. Unsurprisingly, Napoleon is eager to venture forth to the Pyramids of Giza and see with his own eyes the ancient history of the old land of pharaohs, but what he may find within the dark, vast interior of the pyramids may leave the man shaking in his boots...
==Chapter Reading==
== Chapter 1 – Enter Napoleon =
Cairo, Egypt—a famous city for more reasons than one; modern capital of the Egyptian state, host of the Giza pyramids and Sphinx, wonderous trade and art, and currently, the latest prize of France. In Europe, the effects of the French Revolution have seen the ousting of the Bourbon monarchy and in its place a Directory to carry out the order of the nation. French wars are frequent and seemingly endless during this time of chaos, and what was exhausting and frightening for the general populace and soldier, was a goldmine of opportunity for those ambitious enough…
“General Bonaparte!” a French general complained along a busy Cairo street, “It escapes me how, even in light of the impossible tragedy the British devil has put us in by sinking our ships, you still find the spirit to dance around this desert nightmare with glee!”
Just as the man described, a well-uniformed superior officer of Corsican blood led their walk by a considerable distance, fueled by fascination and wonder. Napoleon Bonaparte, a general on the rise and head of a new campaign, had little in the way of negativity to show.
The spirited Napoleon spun around to face his fellow general and replied, “Come now, Kléber! Do not see Admiral Nelson’s victory as a hint of doom, instead have faith that we will soon be reinforced with ships.”
Kléber raised a brow, “And if not? What if no ships come and we remain stranded?”
“Then we remain stranded, kings of the lands once ruled by pharaohs.” Napoleon offered a wide open-armed shrug whilst walking backward, “What greater honor could you ask for than to rule the Nile?” The general left Napoleon on an open question, thus prompting a mocking laugh. “You leave me to suspect you would rather be campaigning in Italy right now, surrounded by Italian women, feasting upon the waters of Venice.” Napoleon clapped his hands and approached Kléber, then pat his shoulder, “But we are not in Italy because we have won that campaign, quite decisively, if I may add…”
“It was a magnificent victory, my friend,” Kléber returned a pat to Napoleon’s shoulder, but curbed his ego with, “It is a shame you were resorted to bringing battle to the Papal States, however.”
“General, you cannot blame me for attacking Rome. It is the pope’s fault for starting a fight he was not prepared to fight, yes, you see…” Napoleon raised his hands and squinted, “The way I see it, God belongs in the church and homes, not on the battlefield; Austria and her allies brought war to us, and the pope recklessly threw God into the matter.”
“I believe there is a debate to be had there, but not one I care to engage in.”
A tempered Napoleon dropped his brows, “You disagree with my handling of Papal aggression?” Just as quickly as he asked, the man sought to shut down the discussion, “Never mind that, we are discussing nothing of important substance. We walk a conquered Cairo! So many discoveries to be made, so much legacy to plant…”
Kléber forced a laugh and rubbed the back of his head, “I will never understand your fascination, nor do I understand your dismissal of Admiral Nelson’s treachery; I will admire your morale.”
Napoleon reached behind his back on their walk and concluded, “In time, you will see, General. The achievements for us to make here in Egypt will soon be clear for all to see, even one as hard seeing as you.”
Age had its effect on the Pyramids of Egypt, this was both evident from a distance and up close. It was an amazing honor for Napoleon to gaze upon the pyramids in-person, but a dream to also have complete control of them as well.
There before one of the pyramids stood Napoleon, standing with pride, arms in the air with a feeling of accomplishment. “A marvel that defines ancient humanity. What power one must have held to commission such a monument, what devotion and loyalty the pharaohs had…”
Alongside Napoleon were various soldiers, officers, members of the local Muslim clergy, and his appointed bodyguard, an Armenian known as Roustam Raza—a Mamluk or slave. Admire the ancient structure as Napoleon did, he at the same time had no problem allowing his men to climb all over it; he, however, was far more interested in its ancient functions.
“What treasures have been uncovered from within?”
The primary clergyman answered, “Aside from evil gods of barbaric past? Very little, adventurers have long looted the installations.”
“Really.” Napoleon turned a disappointed face over, “The entire complex? Licked clean of its wonders?”
“Presumably.”
“Presumably?”
Another man assisted, “The entrance and immediate chambers have little left to discover, they were clearly excavated by men endeavoring gold long ago.”
“Hm, naturally.” The general pocketed his hands and meditated on this for a few seconds. “What sort of knowledge was attained down there?”
The men exchanged glances, but no one had anything specific to share. “There is nothing much to learn. The language has been lost to history forever, and all we are left with are coffins and paintings… and cat mummies…” the clergyman rubbed his beard and looked down, “…they enjoyed their cat mummies…”
Napoleon went on to stare at the pyramid entrance with thoughts and wonders stirring, for even the threat of there being no trinkets to collect did little to contain his curiosity. It did not take the general long to let his ambitions come before him.
“I intend to enter the resting place of kings.”
All alarmed at the same time, the clergymen all reacted the same, proceeding to wave and panic down his suggestion. All their panic failed to penetrate the man’s intention though, and so he began to walk forward to get a sense of what the interior looked like. A few steps are all he could take, however, for he would quickly be met by chambers of total darkness right at the entrance. Roustam took to Napoleon’s side at the entrance for support, the clergymen joined him and continued their protesting.
“General, do not enter the pyramids…” Napoleon offered little more than an unamused glance. “An ancient structure was not meant to serve modern feet.”
“On the contrary, gentlemen. The Egyptians of ancient past developed a structure that would last. In fact, I will go further to say that it would not surprise me if these pyramids were designed for the modern visitor.”
As clear as could be, one man said, “They were designed to put kings to rest thousands of years ago. That is all.”
“I won’t be gone for long. My friend,” Napoleon reached toward Roustam, “Get a flame.”
Roustam bowed, but first asked, “May I suggest you carry one as well, in case I should lose my torch?”
Napoleon smirked, “There is no need for that. I intend to go alone.”
The bodyguard’s immediate reaction was to widen his eyes in alarm.
One step down, followed by one step up as the general could swear an ancient step was about to collapse. General Bonaparte had all his men trembling as he continued a daring venture down a long stairway of ancient past, with nothing but a single torch burning to guide him forward. Already the outside light of the pyramid entrance became only a distant light that would at best help him on his return up.
As the man fell deeper into the pyramid, more paths would be revealed left and right, but just as he was warned, most contained nothing but wall art and hieroglyphics. To this point in time, he had not discovered a tomb, only what he assumed to be rooms for simple worldly functions like storage. Fortunately, his interest in the pyramid was maintained as well as the fire of his torch.
Finally, an obstacle emerged that would put Napoleon’s spirit to the test; faced with a wall, his only option was to return up the stairs or make a left turn down new stairs. The problem with turning was that if he did so, he would lose sight of the pyramid entrance—his guiding light back to the surface if his torch were to fail. Ultimately, he did not let this threat end his adventure, and so he began his descent down the darkest fleet of stairs yet.
His daring choice was met with instant gratification luckily, for in his first steps he would discover great wall art depicting common agricultural labor. A bit further down and on the adjacent wall, he would then as well find depictions of war, the central character of the composition being a pharaoh slaying a foe of foreign likeness. The latter composition nearly had Napoleon passing right by, until noticing a more subtle aspect of the composition which featured the god Horus flanking the pharaoh in support, against the god Set, who supported the foreign warrior. It was just art to the man but nevertheless warranted his brief attention.
The further down he got, the more complex the wall art became, now featured on both sides and usually featuring Egyptian gods. Unlike the previous works, the meaning of these compositions escaped Napoleon, much of it seeming to depend on an understanding of the hieroglyphics that existed alongside all the works. For a moment, it started to become apparent to the man that all of the art was acting as some kind of narration leading him to something, but just as he had become so certain of this, a complication arose. He soon found himself standing over an intersection of stairways, two leading further down, the other two back up.
“Huh…”
Raising his torch toward each option did reveal indicators of some kind in the form of small hanging statues. No matter which path he looked to, each stairway was commanded by the same style of falcon statue featuring a pharaonic headpiece, the difference in each was the inscribed writing upon each.
Considering his limited options, Napoleon reached down for small pieces of rubble and decided to base his choice off simple factors. He threw a rock down one stairway and awaited its response; shockingly, it would be quite some time before he would finally stop hearing it, an indication of how steep the stairway went. He did the same for the adjacent descending stairway, and it as well took time for the stone to stop falling. The final option required him to throw upstairs, a task he did not expect great results from.
He stepped onto the first step, aimed his throw upward, and with great strength took his shot up into the darkness. A shock through his bones resulted, for almost immediately, the sound of his rock striking metal returned from the stairway. The moment came so suddenly and unexpectedly that a timid Bonaparte nearly dropped his torch in response and had to catch his breath. He took one last look over his head at the falcon statue, then with returning calmness, put his torch forward and examined the stairway ahead. To his great surprise, it was no further than ten steps up, compared to the other two options that were surely close to a hundred steps down. Strangely, however, while these steps were less in quantity, they were steeper than all the rest and thus required Napoleon to put in much more leg to climb up.
On his final step up the stairs, the general’s eyes widened for a moment and turned into fierceness as if challenged by some enemy.
“What is it you hide from the world, Pharaoh?”
The moment he found an entrance topped by a winged solar disk and blocked by an entrance of solid metal, Napoleon knew he had found something worthy of prestige and attention around the world. His obstacle appeared to be nothing more than a fallen wall of bronze, designed with elaborate hooks and a long bronze pole on the side facing him. With the pole contained within the hooks and pushed against two entrance pillars, it would be impossible for an intruder to simply push the bronze out of place. This was clear to Napoleon, yet a mystery worthy of consideration occurred: This locking mechanism was accessible to those seeking to enter, not the other way around.
Even with knowing that the bronze pole had to be removed to open the way, the general still gave it a strong kick forward just in search of a catch. When this failed to happen, he made the big move to place a hand over the pole and firmly grasp it. He gave the matter one big final thought of consideration, but without further ado, removed the pole and set it aside carefully. The bronze was so worn down that dropping it to the floor hardly made a sound.
Finally, he gave the bronze wall another kick with his jackboot, and while slightly moving it forward, found that this would ultimately require arm muscle. Holding the torch at a safe distance but also placing his shoulder against the bronze, the man began to push with great endeavor. While difficult for him, it was hardly an impossible task, and before he knew it, just enough space had been opened to allow him to push himself through. Moving in torch first, the general placed himself where no man was meant to ever return…
Napoleon’s first step in was dramatic and humble, not daring to move another step until evaluating the room before him. A pharaoh’s sarcophagus, mummified animals, trinkets, and wall art were among the things he was met with—but there was more in the room to naturally turn the man pale with shock.
Upon finally looking down, Napoleon was nearly forced to shriek out a type of grunt upon finding himself stepping into a literal pile of bones. He had already accidentally crushed several of them just by stepping into the tomb. A flash quick examination of the room would reveal that all bones were left in this same corner of the tomb, even while the animal remains existed, appropriately, beside the pharaoh’s sarcophagus.
The general finally leaped out of the bone pile and continued into the tomb, a brow arched, and his mind somehow already dismissing the bones as he explored the many other parts of the tomb. His very first destination put him before the sarcophagus, and there he looked into its painted eyes. A decorated casing and coffin were all that set the French general apart from a great Egyptian pharaoh of the ancient past. There was so much knowledge to gain from this, but with it, also potential opportunities.
“Imagine…” Napoleon gently placed a hand over the face of the sarcophagus, “To be admired by all.”
He continued to meditate over this for some time, listening to the crackling of his torch, and contemplating his role in this French Egypt he currently commanded. Slowly, he brought out a golden picture piece from his pocket, opened it, and right over the corpse of an ancient pharaoh he revealed to himself a photo of a woman—his wife.
“But is power worth leaving behind everything?”
All the while Napoleon meditated over matters of power and love, behind him emerged a coming anomaly of unthinkable power. Within the tomb existed carved and painted funerary art detailing the path to the Egyptian afterlife, and at the end of it, the seated image of the god Osiris, and draping from his hand, an Ankh. Napoleon had missed it due to the many other features of the tomb, but not only did Osiris hold a painted Ankh, but there was a physical nail planted into his hand, and hanging from that nail, an actual chained Ankh.
A soft, radiant energy grew around the necklace now, but with every second to pass, it glowed brighter, and soon, it would radiate so strongly that even Napoleon’s torch began to face its match.
“Wh- What!?”
The general spun around, and in doing so, made the tragic accident of dropping his torch in a manner that quickly put the size of its fire down to minimal size. Napoleon’s first instinct was to run for the entrance before the Ankh could get the chance to blind him with such power, but even in such a threatening situation, he knew that fleeing without a source of light to guide him back would surely result in great danger for him. At a loss of options or understanding of the situation, Napoleon took a gold vase and equipped it as a weapon.
The Ankh necklace soon took itself off the wall and levitated up ever so slightly as it reached its maximum display of brightness, and along with this, what was once merely a bright light began to glow a dooming red in what would ultimately turn the entire tomb red. Napoleon felt the coming of collapse from shock, and brought himself down to a knee, one arm shielding his eye as well. Upon briefly lowering his arm to look again, the man was met with yet another surprise.
“Wh- Who are you..?”
Emerging from whatever red supernatural abyss soon emerged the figure of a woman perfectly mysterious to him. Dressed in white, with thick brows, and blue hair, the woman of ancient times came before Napoleon and gradually began to tame down the red energy which had released her into this tomb. A surprisingly pleasant enough looking face, Napoleon’s heart began to calm but started to race again ever so slightly upon finding that his fallen torch lacked any fire. Dropping the gold vase and reequipping his torch, Napoleon backed himself away from the supernatural woman and shut his teeth.
The energy to have come from her necklace was now almost gone, and thus, the tomb began to dim down into almost total darkness. With what few seconds of light remained, the woman brought herself closer to Napoleon. Just as complete darkness consumed them, life in the room would return out of seemingly nowhere, for the next thing Napoleon knew the woman found herself up close, a hand now retracting from a newly lit torch. He was frightened and confused, but the only thing that mattered at this moment was that as far as he could tell, the woman confronting him was not yet an enemy.
“What are you?” he asked, “An angel? You have the appearance and clothing of an angel.” The woman fluttered her eyes and revealed great confusion. “A demon? A god? What are you?”
She dropped her brows, revealing a moment of great conflict, but then closed her eyes and exhaled to concentrate. Napoleon’s eyes continued to dart all over the place in his anticipation for the next inevitable major event to occur; he was so certain of this he even turned a scared glance over at the sarcophagus, guessing that some demonic spirit would launch out of his coffin at any second.
The woman’s eyes reopened, and she communicated her first words in centuries, “At last, the tomb has been opened.”
The general gasped, “Y- Yo- You speak perfect French..!”
“French?”
“Fluent French words!” he reaffirmed.
The woman shook, “I do not speak foreign words, only the words of the Nile.”
Napoleon quirked his mouth, “You speak perfect French to me.”
The woman knelt and felt the man’s shoulder, examining the fabric with great awe while also explaining, “Using a magical design I developed long ago, I have bridged our minds together temporarily so that we may understand each other. Under my spell, we speak the same, and any witnesses would attest so.”
“Bridged our minds? So that we both speak French?”
With a sound of guilt in her voice, she answered, “I have never liked resorting to so, but your heart is under my partial manipulation. What sounds native to you is, in fact, foreign. Right now, you speak the tongue of the Nile to me, and you do not realize it.”
“What?” Napoleon dismissed this murky explanation for the time being. “Who are you?”
“May I first ask a question of you?”
“No.” The woman puckered her lips and grunted. “Who are you?”
The woman looked deep into Napoleon’s eyes, analyzing her savior’s basic features, then with some quick thought brought herself away from him to face the wall art she helped design thousands of years ago. She placed her gaze onto the seated Osiris.
“I am the Godcraft of Osiris, the greatest sorcerer throughout all Egypt, immortal to the tests of time, perfectly loyal servant of Pharaoh…”
“Godcraft?”
Her patience thinning, the woman lowered her strong eyebrows and asked in a slightly demanding manner, “I have been trapped within this tomb for what I could believe has been a million years. Why now have I been set free, and by who?”
Napoleon got off the dirty ground and struck a mighty pose, “I am General Napoleon Bonaparte, and I come seeking knowledge, power, prestige…”
“A leader of warriors who is also an adventurer?” She rolled her eyes down, confused. “Napoleon… Bonaparte? What does that mean?”
“I am Napoleon; Bonaparte is my familial identity.”
She raised a brow, “Napoleon… of Bonaparte?”
“Sure, yes, I suppose.” He stepped forward and aggressively pointed at her. “And what is your name, my fellow?”
“That is not an easy question to answer,” she explained with a quick turn, “Our naming conventions differ greatly.”
He crossed his arms and challenged, “Try.”
She closed her eyes and thought for a moment, nodded, and answered, “For thousands of years, I have served Pharaoh under the name ‘SAt-Wsjr.’”
“S—S… Sa…” he shook at her, “That is one of the few things you say that I do not understand in my language.”
“As I said, it is difficult, it is not a name that can be so easily translated…” She raised her chin. “You would best know me as ‘Daughter of Osiris.’”
Napoleon grinned, “Ah, a solution. I will call you Osiris then.”
This brought forth an immediate glare from the woman, “I do not take the name of a god and will not allow you to do so.”
The emergency of a glow around one of her hands was enough to put Napoleon into a quick retreat, “Message clear.” Given a little more thought to it, he came up with an alternative. “Substituting for a name I dare not try speaking, may I call you ‘Mary?’”
“Mary?” she called back any potential fire attack and inquired, “What does Mary mean?”
“Mary… uh… like the blessed mother of Jesus Christ.”
“Jesus Christ?”
Napoleon widened his eyes and let out a heavy groan, “Oh boy… Look, we are getting off subject. Can I call you Mary or not?”
“Very well, Napoleon. For your convenience, I permit you to know me as Mary of Osiris.”
He shook, “Mary. Just Mary. Leave the formality.”
“I will not. I refuse to divorce myself from Osiris.”
“How about Mary Osiris?”
“Mary of Osiris.”
Napoleon thrashed his arms, “We are wasting time! Fine, Mary of Osiris!”
She gave him an approving nod, but then an eye roll as she looked to the sarcophagus and said, “It matters not at all, for once I leave this pyramid, I will submit myself back to the Pharaoh and serve only his interests.” She turned and offered Napoleon a bow. “I ask that you present me to the Pharaoh, surely you will be well compensated. Unless you are an enemy of the Nile, in which case, I may have no choice but to destroy you.”
He gulped, but confidently explained, “There is no Pharaoh and I am no foe of Egypt.”
“No Pharaoh?” she closed her eyes, “I’ve been locked away so long I had almost forgotten the deceiving nature of foreigners.”
“Mary, no pharaoh has ruled Egypt in… a very long time.” She crossed her arms at him, unimpressed. “A lot has changed since your time free. The people of Egypt have long discarded their polytheistic ways and embraced just one god, and the lands have fallen under the control of many crowns over the centuries—not even one being a pharaoh.”
“I do not believe you, but if you wish to prove your claim, deliver me to the one who rules Egypt.” Napoleon widened his eyes. “Once I see a man who controls the will of Egyptians, I will be convinced that the pharaoh has vanished.”
Napoleon opened his mouth to explain the inevitable, but soon stopped. He gave this matter a second, good thought.
“Very well, Mary. I will present you to Egypt’s ruler, and prove that the pharaoh is no more.” He raised a brow at her, “What will you do when I prove correct?”
The thought burdened her, but she answered, “I would have to judge whether the current ruler of Egypt is worthy of submitting my life to.”
This very prospect led Napoleon to bite his lip hard, hiding a sudden burst of internal excitement. Before he could officially agree, the woman placed a hand over her Ankh and gave him a stern gaze.
“I am entrusting this mission onto you, Napoleon. I have spent what feels like forever within this relic, and I am willing to spend whatever more time I must for you to deliver me to an Egyptian king.” A simple wave across the Ankh, and like that, she began to fade from existence, leaving behind only her necklace. Her parting words were, “Please, make this a quick errand.”
The general reached his hand underneath the Ankh necklace, and as soon as the woman’s figure fully faded, it would fall directly into his hand. He stood there in the tomb, eyes concentrated on this gold necklace, disbelief circulating in his mind, and many, many questions needing answer…
To be continued…
Prologue < | > Chapter 2
==Chapter Summary==
# Napoleon and his generals have decisively won control of Egypt from the Ottoman Empire, but the recent British naval victory in the Battle of the Nile has left them trapped in Egypt.
# Napoleon is a general of France, known for his great victory in the Italian Campaign, but with slight shame of having brought war to the Papal States in the process.
# Eager to witness and discover the secrets of the pyramids, Napoleon enters by himself and discovers a tomb blocked by a bronze wall.
# After opening the tomb, Napoleon discovers a sarcophagus, skeletal remains, several trinkets, and frees the ancient immortal Godcraft known as SAt-Wsjr--or 'Daughter of Osiris.'
# SAt-Wsjr tries to explain to Napoleon that she has the power to bridge their souls together and force him to speak her native ancient language (although he is made to incorrectly believe they are both speaking French.)
# Confused by her native name, Napoleon grants her a localized name of 'Mary Osiris,' but her religious zeal has her demanding that she be known instead as 'Mary of Osiris.'
# "Mary" does not believe Napoleon's claim that the days of pharaohs has ended, and demands that he present her to the current ruler of Egypt. Napoleon agrees (temporarily withholding the fact that he currently controls Egypt) after she reveals there is a chance she would rework her contract of loyalty to the current ruler of Egypt, should the pharaohs indeed be no more.
# "Mary" transports herself back into her Ankh necklace and trusts Napoleon to bring her to the current ruler of Egypt. The chapter concludes with Napoleon contemplating what to do with her.
==Author Notes==
====Rewriting Napoleon====
In Tale of Two Godcrafts, Napoleon was depicted in a largely comical way, often poked fun at for having a temper, being egoistic, and some easy jabs at him having a homoerotic obsession with Tsar Alexander I. While it is unclear if I ever intend to bring any of these things back, I decided to go with a more serious depiction of Napoleon this time around and very well may maintain this course. It would also be fair to wonder if bringing Napoleon back to once more assert himself as Selina's master was still a wise direction to take, especially given that Suri's own story would start her back in the 13th century. I decided that playing around with the myth of Napoleon entering the Pyramids alone was too good of an opportunity to miss out on, and that even with this reboot of Shrouded Piety, that the personalities of Napoleon and Selina still matched all too well to ignore. I have ultimately decided that while Selina is now Egyptian and Kemetic, rather than Frankish and Christian, the best course of action would be to drive things back toward the coronation of Napoleon, where these two characters originally met in Tale of Two Godcrafts; this is, effectively, the destination of The Osiris Contract.
===='of Osiris'====
A major flaw with Tale of Two Godcrafts was how a Frankish Christian woman who believes with a violent passion that she is the divine working of God could possibly take the surname of an Egyptian god, Osiris. With this reboot, I had a second chance to reconsider this. With her Egyptian name roughly translating to 'Daughter of Osiris,' I saw an opportunity to jump on that could maybe see her work her way up to simply adopting it as a surname. In the beginning of the story, she will not straight up accept the surname of 'Osiris,' but will compromise and take on 'of Osiris.' Although still questionable here and there, this will allow me to gradually transition Selina to a point in the story where she eventually strikes out 'of' and adopts that as a surname.
==Chapter Illustration==
This is the first ever chapter illustration of the Shrouded Piety rebooted series, and unlike the image used in the Prologue, was designed specifically and uniquely for the chapter, just as had been tradition with F-Zero: Seppuku, EngelReise, and Shrouded Piety: Tale of Two Godcrafts. This scene depicts SAt-Wsjr as she is freed at last from the tomb keeping her captive for so many years. While most of the image is drawn from scratch, the background does contain some Egyptian tomb imagery, as it was written that Selina appeared before the image of the god Osiris.
The image was prepared fully through Adobe Photoshop.
==Characters Introduced==
====Napoleon Bonaparte====
Napoleon is a major character in Shrouded Piety and makes his debut in this chapter, leader of the French campaign in Egypt. While his army suffers from heat and plague, Napoleon remains entranced by the wonders of Egypt and not so subtly fantasizes of a reality where he abandons France to seat himself on the throne of pharaohs long gone. While he does acknowledge the very dangerous predicament that the British blockade has put him and his men in, he is nevertheless confident that the Egyptian campaign will lead to glory for him. This feeling is validated when he makes the incredible decision to ignore the warning of the Egyptian clergy and enter the Pyramids, where he accidentally frees an ancient Egyptian immortal known as SAt-Wsjr, whom he localizes as 'Mary' for easier speaking.
Napoleon was a major recurring character in the now non-canon Tale of Two Godcrafts, where he made his debut six years ahead of this one.
====Jean-Baptiste Kléber====
General Kléber is introduced in this chapter as a minor supporting character to Napoleon, acting as one of the generals alongside him on the French expedition to Egypt. He is characterized as having a more rational perspective of the Egyptian campaign and far less excited about it when compared to Napoleon.