Ibis

Anna Astin, aka Ibis, Daughter of Thoth is a character in the Justicars game on Rpg.net.

Stats

Abilities

Prowess 2
Coordination 3
Strength 3
Intellect 4
Awareness 4
Willpower 4
Stamina: 7
Determination: 1

Specialties

• Anthropology
• Archaeology
• Occult

Powers

• Element Control: Air 7 (Attack; Defend; Move:Flight)
• Flight 7
• Animal Control (Birds Only, +2 bonus to power level) 3
• Detect Magic 3
• ESP 3
• Precognition 3

Qualities

• Archetype: Demigod
• Connections: Campaign City University
• Epithet: Daughter of Thoth
• Identity: Up-And-Coming Cultural Anthropologist
• Motivation: “I must make my fathers proud!”

Challenges

• Enemy: Pharaoh (Sean Tyson, cousin. Earth Controller, add Shaping, Leaping instead of Flight, no Sensory Powers, More fit and athletic, less Awareness, military skills).
• Personal: Achluophobia
• Personal: Thrust Into The Mythic World (Harry Potter/Percy Jackson Syndrome)
• Social: Being a Pagan Magical Egyptian Demigoddess causes bigotry in some.
• Weakness: Must be able to verbally command winds to use powers.

Background

Falling rocks. Stone, sand. Dark, Choking... "Daddy?!?!!?" Anna Astin felt six years old, calling out for her father. “Dark Dark Dark.. not good at dark, no no no no no no...”A soft groaning answered from the darkness. Desperately fighting off her burgeoning panic attack, Anna hastily made sure she was uninjured, and fumblingly dug out her flashlight, nearly dropping it twice. The bright LEDs clicked on, and the shakes turned into mere trembling as the nightmarish blackness lit up.

"Dad, hang on!" Breathing, then coughing, but the dust was already clearing. Part of the collapse of the old tomb must have opened vent holes to the surface. “Dad?”

Weak coughing.. wet. Wet is bad. Finding him at last amid the rubble, Anna gasped. The golden Was, the ceremonial spear of Thoth, had impaled him as the stone statue of the Zeus of the Egyptian Ogdoad pantheon fell across him. He was bleeding out. The statue weighed hundreds of pounds. A dozen men could not have budged it, but the young Cultural Anthropologist was sure as hell going to try. She braced herself, but her father spoke. Weakly, the slight Middle Eastern accent he usually suppressed now thick and strained. A bubbling hiss accentuated each breath. “No... No, do not. It is too late. Too late, my Master has taken me. I have finally fulfilled my Oath, and will be taken on the Solar Boat to his side.”

He was delirious. There was no trace of the radios. Her cell phone was with her kit in the chamber before this one. The collapse had been their fault, breaking through the ancient walls.

“Daddy...”

“No, no, my little Ibis.” A tear finally broke through, one of many, at the sound of his pet name for her. “I am not... “ wracking coughs sprayed blood from the hole in his chest onto the statue.” One last breath, a wet pop. Harsh whipser. “Tell you.. in a minute... Take... and.. read... Thisssssssss”... the hissing stopped. Silence. She looked down, in his hand was an ancient scroll, written in hieroglyphics. It was his last request. She spoke the ancient language aloud. “Amon Ra, Amon Dei...Suei Ahara maktubs, Imastsiei baiá Imanti insupi insitsuei.... Iatuei, iatuei, iatuei!” … “The book of the Dead? But..”

She was startled by a golden flash of light. “DAUGHTER.” The voice was echoing, omnipresent, like IMAX Surround Sound times a billion. She looked up and gasped, dropping both the parchment and her flashlight. The man depicted in the statue with the strange Ibis head stood next to her father, who was see-through and blue, like a bad George Lucas edit. He smiles. “Not me. I was trying to tell you. I am not actually your father. I am the last High Priest of my Lord Thoth.”

“I... got hit on the head.. or passed out. Yes. Hypoxia. That explains...”

“IT IS TIME, MY DAUGHTER. PRIEST, SAY YOUR FAREWELLS. THE LAND OF TWO FIELDS AWAITS.”

The golden glow spread, and became a river of light. An ancient style boat floated toward them and paused. Impossibly, her mother was aboard, even though she had passed on a year ago.

“I loved you like my own, Anna. And I am proud of you. Now, please. Make your real father proud also.”

“FAREWELL PRIEST. YOU HAVE DONE WELL. GO TO YOUR REWARD.”

Her … Step? Father boarded the boat. He embraced her mother, who blew her a kiss. Rather quickly, but somehow unhurried, the boat seemed to get smaller and smaller without actually moving, until only the river remained. Thoth reached up, and removed his head. No, wait. He removed an Ibis-shaped helmet. Strange glowing symbols and a hint of images were briefly visible within.

“My daughter. Forgive the badges of office. The priests feel better with them on.”

Anna was hyperventilating. “Thoth.. My.. I... Thoth was.. A'an.. and Asten.. Anna.. Astin... I..” She fainted as the elder deity chuckled fondly.

When she awoke, Anna was in the hospital. She was released, and thought nothing more of her sad hallucinations as she prepared to bury her father. When the funeral was over, a strangely familiar man approached her, introducing himself as her Father's solicitor in Cairo. He gave her an envelope. Within was a key and an address. When she looked back up, he was gone.

That evening, Anna prepared to remove her father's final stored possessions. The neighbourhood was older, and not entirely safe. Seedy street bazaars lined cramped alleyways. The rickety old gate-lock on the dilapidated building she finally found after several wrong turns protested, but gave way. It seemed to have not been used in decades. Within, there was a simple rectangular dinner table, draped in black cloth. A letter on parchment rolled up and tied with a green silk ribbon. It was short, simple and to the point.

“Speak your name, and know the truth. --Daddy.”
“Speak my name? Anna? Annie? ...no, no one calls me Annie, not twice, anyway... Anna Astin?” She pondered the way he signed it. Daddy. Her father called her Anna. Her Daddy called her....

“Ibis.”

The tablecloth tented up and then fell off as a golden glow came from beneath. Within lay ancient, but somehow brand new, ceremonial reignments. The holy icons of Thoth. “I thought these were myths. They must be reproductions...”

She reached out to examine the chestplate. The world faded into golden light. When her eyes cleared, she was standing in front of.. “No way.... A pyramid. A brand new.. Pyramid. No. Way.”

“Oh yes, yes way, as I believe the young say these days.”

It was the voice from the tomb. She took a deep breath, and turned around. “Thoth...”

The old man was kindly, but looked like he could be severe in an instant. Wise, and...

“You look like Gandalf. Or maybe Dumbledore.”

He laughed merrily. “Dumbledore looks more like Wotan. Anyway, dear daughter, it is time you took up the family business. Before your nephew awakens.”

“I.. my.. what? Who?”

The deity smiled, looking decidedly more like Santa Claus. “I know what you are thinking. Still Wotan.” He motioned to a bench nearby. A reflecting pool on the way startled her. She was wearing the ancient artifacts from the table.
“Oh, yes, yes, those are yours. They awoke the power within you, what Zeus and his ilk called Demigods. Now, we have very little time. Your nephew is about to make his own discoveries.”

“The only nephew I have is Sean, he's in the Army, over in Iraq.”

“Yes, yes. Sean Tyson. Who is, you see, another Demigod. The son of Set. And his father is making plans to bring back the good old days. He can't see how much better it is now than when we were stomping around." He reached out to fondly touch her chin.
“You kids these days, you seem to have it more or less in hand. Chaotic, but then, it was in our day too. Now, no more time for this.”
Thoth placed his hand on the chestplate, which glowed golden. When the light faded, she stood on the roof of the building, knowledge now flooding her mind. A cool breeze blew, and she called for it. Ibis was borne away to protect her home, and make her fathers proud.