Tomb of the Magi: An Unexpected Journey

It was a perfect day for a picnic. A bright summer sun, a gentle breeze, and a crisp blue sky. The party was in full swing, with the best wines, cheeses, and breads from all of Egypt on display. The guests were enjoying themselves, but the wine had made them sleepy. They retired to their couches to nap in the shade of the palms that surrounded the small lake.

The lake itself was not natural. It had been dug out by an ancient people thousands of years ago, at the base of a hill where there used to be an unremarkable temple and some mud huts. Underneath the lake there was a cavern that led into a network of tunnels cut into the limestone bedrock of the escarpment. Inside these tunnels were more mud huts, and then a second cavern with more tunnels going deeper underground.

Deep inside one of those tunnels was an altar stone which had been carved with strange symbols in an unknown language. Anyone who looked closely could see that it had been carved over many generations: someone's name followed by another person's name followed by another person's name, all written in different styles and eras, until it was illegible and just looked like a jumble of scratches. What it meant nobody knew. But everyone knew that whoever controlled this altar controlled this entire area; whoever controlled this altar controlled Egypt.

There was only one way to control this altar: you needed three keys. There were three friends in this party today: Isis, Nephthys, and Osiris. Isis and Nephthys were sisters; Osiris was their brother. They had once ruled Egypt together as husband and wife until Osiris died after being attacked by his jealous brother Seth (who didn't like Osiris being king). Isis put up such a fight to bring her husband back to life that god finally gave her permission to do so...as long as she could find all his body parts - she had to gather all his face, feet, arms, hands, legs, etc., which had been strewn across the world by Seth when he took them away from Osiris' body in the first place - before he could wake up again. She succeeded...except for one thing: Osiris' penis (which they called his "jade"). She couldn't find it anywhere (though she did have some ideas about who might have stolen it), so Osiris never woke up again; he remained dead forever as his body lay under water at the bottom of Lake Abaton ("the sorrowful one").

Isis and Nephthys started working for Seth when he became king; now they are his wives (along with several other women) and rule Egypt for him with great cruelty and greed. They don't even let their own brotherOsiris have any fun anymore! And they're always trying to steal each other's husbands!

Today was supposed to be time off from all this nonsense, but when Isis got home yesterday afternoon she found out that Nephthys had taken Osiris on a picnic with her two children Khonsuand Anubis! Isis decided that if Nephthys could take someone else's husband on a picnic then she would take someone else's husband too! So today she put together her own picnic party at Lake Abaton with her own sister Nephthys...and also invited Osiris too! And here they all are now! The party is just getting started! The wine has been served! The food has been eaten! Now everyone can enjoy the view of Lake Abaton while taking a little snooze in the shade of the palm trees...lulled into sleep by birdsong and gentle breezes while they dream pleasant dreams...and then wake up refreshed two hours later ready for dinner!