The City of Scribes

**The City of Scribes** (French titled *La cité des scribes*) is the eleventh episode of the animated series.

## Summary

Hieroglyphs, the sacred letters of the Egyptians, the keepers of wisdom and knowledge, suddenly begin to disappear, and the sky over Egypt is covered with ash. One does not have to be a genius to understand - Seth is behind it all. Papyrus, Théti and Tiya must travel to the divine City of Scribes to eliminate the cause of the misfortune. The god Thoth himself becomes their guide, speaking through the mouth of Saint Hapou.

## Plot

Aker sends one of the demons to take over the kingdom of ThothThe demon possesses one of the scribes. At this time, Théti and Tiya are playing a game of Senet. Papyrus notices that the hieroglyphs have begun to disappear, and red ash falls from the sky. Friends rush to the palace. In the palace, Pharaoh Merenre has come to believe that this is the god Thoth's anger with Egypt and decides to take his gift, hieroglyphs. But Ratoufer explains that the reason for this is the dark magic of Seth. Théti, Papyrus and Tiya come running, but unexpectedly Shepsi runs away from Tiya and then returns with Hapou, who speaks in the voice of the god Thoth. He reports that Seth has taken over the city of scribes, but suddenly falls silent. The hieroglyph of Thoth appears, which points to Papyrus, Tiya and Théti, which Ratoufer interprets as that they must save the city of scribes.

The friends float through the gates that lead to the kingdom of Thoth. However, the place still has hieroglyphs. Hapou declares he sees a city of scribes, but nothing is visible in the fog. In the city of scribes, Banamu, the scribe in which the demon possessed, promises that he will soon rule the city, not Thoth. Papyrus, Théti, Tiya, Hapou and Shepsi head towards the city of scribes, but no doors are present. Suddenly, one of the stone statues of the baboons comes to life and begins to attack. Papyrus engages into battle and destroys the monster. As soon as the statue is defeated, an entrance forms, but so narrow that only Shepsi can pass. As soon as Papyrus defeats more of the statues, the entrance widens and Hapou is able to pass as well. Three more statues come to life, and Papyrus hits them with one blow.

Papyrus, Théti and Tiya flee to the city of scribes. At this time, red ash continues to descend in Egypt, with Pharaoh Merenre believing that the chosen ones of Thoth did not cope with their task. Meanwhile, Papyrus, Théti and Tiya enter the hall and see many baboons writing on the scrolls. Théti declares to be the princess of Egypt, but the scribes of Thoth pay no attention to her. Banamu enters the scene, displeased that the three are disrupting the peace in the city of scribes. He invites them to a library, but in reality leads them into a small room. However, Hapou is intuitively lead to prosecute Banamu with betrayal against his god and the gatekeeper reveals his true nature by locking them in the room.

Red ash continues to flow in Egypt. A desperate peasant begs the Pharaoh to help his people, as all the grain has turned to dust. In the city of scribes, Théti, Papyrus and Tiya try to find a way out of the trap. Suddenly Shepsi points to a hieroglyph on the wall. Théti comes closer and comes to realize that the hieroglyph is upside down. Tiya insists that this is only a scribe's mistake, only for Théti to discover more inverted hieroglyphs. Together, they form the sentence "put your hand on the ibis on the wall." As Papyrus puts his hand on the hieroglyph of the ibis, the passage opens up and the chosen ones are saved.

Banamu appeals to Seth, ordering that the scribes surrender power over the city to themselves. There, he revives a snake to kill Papyrus. Tiya tries to help by throwing fruits at the snake, but Papyrus begs her not to risk it since only the Sword of Horus can defeat Seth's monster. He strikes but the beast grows larger. Papyrus shouts out to his friends to run as they can while he stops the snake, but Théti and Tiya stay to help. Papyrus realizes that the demon is merely an illusion, which dispels their fear and destroys the monster. They find Hapou surrounded by the scribes of Thoth. Relieved, Papyrus informs that Banamu betrayed his god, to which the scribes reply that they will always remain loyal to Thoth. Only soon does the city begins to crumble, and the hieroglyphs disappear again. In the black pyramid, Aker delivers his short-lived triumph, but Thoth appears and restores the hieroglyphs together with the city of scribes.

Théti and Tiya say goodbye to the scribes of Thoth, but do not find Papyrus nor Hapou. Therefore, Shepsi helps looks for them. There, a box that contains the secret of Papyrus's origins stands. Papyrus tries to take the gold box only for it to disappear much to his distress. But Hapou consoles him, saying that everything will unfold in due time.

## Characters

**Main**

* Papyrus
* Théti
* Tiya
* Hapou
* Shepsi
* Banamu
* Seth
* Aker

**Major**

* Pharaoh Merenre
* Ratoufer
* Thoth
* Demons of Ombos

## Trivia

* This is the first episode to foreshadow Papyrus's origin.