North · Kemet Kalethia · South

Menkhef

A mythic fantasy novel, in progress

A continent walled in by mountains, frozen in the north, warm in the south. Two civilizations inside the wall. One gate, sealed since before living memory.

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Painted map of the known world of Menkhef, from the ice of Kemet in the north to the Halëa sea in the south The known worldEnter the map →
Chapter One · The Weighing of the Ib

Every city stands upon its dead. Sekhemhut kept them.

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The Premise

Kemet is the black land, the frozen north of a world walled in by mountains, its one gate sealed. Menkhef, an outsider to both of that world’s civilizations, is carrying a piece of the pillar that sealed the gate in the first place. It is killing him, and it is the only thing pointing him toward the truth both civilizations buried on purpose.

The North answers with permanence

Ka priests bind the dead so the spirit is never homeless.

The South answers with release

Hierophants pour Nepenthe down the throats of the grieving, so the living forget what they buried.