Anubis, Protector of Tombs

Anubis

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The Great Embalmer, Protector of Tombs, Corpse-Barker
Worshippers: Anpur, gnolls, zendiqi
Domains: Death, Protection, Repose, War
Favored Weapon: flail
Favored Animal: jackal

Legend
Definitive theological cosmogony on the psychopomp Usher entitled Anubis is not easily acquired from the xenophobic hyaenoid races of the anpur and gnoll, nor even from apostate zendiqi that have adopted His worship in the region of the Oliti River. What is known is that He has a stylized humanoid-canid form, identical to all races of worshippers, but differently comprehended as protector, warrior, and carrier of dead souls. Certain sphinx scholars are sure that Anubis came to be as a result of negotiations between the ancient mystical creator-being Atum the Self-Created and the psychopomp Primal Usher Ereshkigal, so that souled beings in the present might have access to Outer Planar rest, and not just elemental recycling promised by the Elemental Lords. Anubis is a quiet, dutiful being, never one to behave forcefully, even in His role as a war deity; war to Anubis is a careful function of the cycle of life, as is protecting the honored dead. One of the most treasured myths of Anubis among the anpur and gnolls is when He was able to sniff out the scattered body parts of a slain war-chief, and reunite them into his complete form, reassembling his corpse and interring it (or eating it, as the gnolls believe) properly.

Church
Among the anpur, Anubis ranks second only to Lord Ankh, the anpur incarnation of Shankhil, the Gatekeeper. The Protector of Tombs seems to have always been with the anpur people since they began building their desert cities by the banks of the Oliti. Anubian adherents form a bridge between the administrators of anpur mausoleums and the City of Tombs’ military, and have a great deal of influence among both. Among the desert gnolls Anubis has a more primitive form, sensing possible flesh to eat, mindful of protecting the kill once made. “Corpse-Barker” has adherents that do simple rituals before eating the dead, joining in, unlike Angutan ith’n ya’roo. Human followers of Anubis are mostly renegade zendiqi who form strange cults in the desert, building their own pyramid or mastaba complexes as mystical death-worshippers, insular and isolationist. Anubian adherents are very silent beings, even speaking amongst themselves in a type of yapping bark-code for communication.

Spell Preparation Ritual
Though less ritualized than the clerics of Lord Ankh/Shankhil, anpur Anubians preside over the arrangement of mausoleums and pyramids with an eye to community defense, and are the lead celebrants in the anpur embalming rituals. All races pray at dawn, holding a feather up to the sun’s first rays, symbolizing a soul’s worth.


See Also

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