Nefret, Chapter 4: Risen From the Sands

A letter has arrived at the Tooth and Hookah for our party of heroes.

Dearest Companions,

It is with deepest regrets that I must take my leave from you all for an indeterminate period.   The work I have been doing for the Embalmers' Guild--of which I am not at liberty to disclose--requires me to travel to Tem-Akh.  My duties there will require my full attention.

It has been a pleasure working with you all.  I do not know when, or even if, I will be able to join you again.  Should our paths cross, I look forward to that meeting.

Regards,

Nephethus

Rumors throughout Peraten indicate that specially trained embalmers from throughout the city (and even elsewhere) have been recalled to Tem-Akh, the old capital.  As with Nephethus, many left before giving any indication that they would be gone for some time.  Some notices included requests not to follow.  The other embalmers who remain in the city to provide funerary services either feign ignorance of the "recall," or else refuse to discuss it.

Nefret, Chapter 3: The Sanctum of the Erudite Soul

Lady Sebti has agreed to let you explore one more site in Wati:  the Sanctum of the Erudite Soul, a temple to the minor netjer Heka.  Her only interest, she says, is that the previous team she'd hired insisted on being allowed to explore this site.  Sebti wants to know why.

While Kiji explored non-Aten worship near Peraten, Aloya spent time in the library at the Great Temple of the Sun.  She did research into the names Heka and Imanesh (the demonic head encountered in the House of Pentheru).  The only reference to Imanesh was a list of "malignant spirits" of Duat who were counted among the servants of Apep.  For Heka, the appellation of "Activated Soul" was uncovered, as well as his iconography--the holy symbol of his faith being a knot of flax between upraised arms (the heiroglyphs used to write his name).  You have seen this symbol before--being worn as amulets by Velriana Hypaxes and her companions.

Amulet worm my Velriana Hypaxes

Heka appears to have two forms, historically:  a man choking two entwined snakes; and a child holding a flail and wearing nothing but an elaborate crown.  Heka is a minor netjer of magic and medicine--portfolios more often associated with Isis and Thoth.