User:Hekatef

Resident of Queen's Retreat.

Elder in the guild Fields of Iaru.

Grandlegacy, Oracle of Thought.

News

• I've got a sculpture in QR by the northern SArt in need of just a few more votes. It's the one with the upside-down sheep. Well, to be honest, it IS the upside-down sheep. (It's kind of an abstract minimalist thing.)

• Started my Culinary subpage.

Tests

• Passed initiations for Architecture, Body, Harmony, Leadership and Thought.

Test of the Acrobat

• Move: Push-Ups
• 2 facets taught.

Test of the Obelisk

I'm budgeting for a 100 cubit obelisk, and by the time I've got those materials ready, we'll see how much more I'll need:

• • Bricks: 2429/21900
  • Boards: 288/2200
  • Slate: 412/484
  • Dried Flax: 140/608
  • Clay: 899/966
  • Linen: 20/296
  • Flint: 68/234

Current Projects

• Get 7 votes on Empty Hand Tower (see top of page for location).
• Conceive and construct a sculpture for Art Initiation. One that's nice. And not too expensive.

Future Projects

• Become an Initiate, and then a Student, of Seven.

• Construct a good-sized obelisk in camp. Hekatef's ancestors have always been fortunate enough to live in sparsely populated lands, where it is possible to pass the Test of the Obelisk with even modest effort. Hekatef IV wishes to break with family tradition and build a mighty obelisk worthy of the name. And no, he is not compensating for anything at all.

• Assist with the discovery of Barley Cultivation and Beer Brewing in Queen's Retreat. This, too, is a family tradition dating back to the founder of the line. It is said that beer runs in the veins of the Hekatef family. That would certainly explain a lot.

• Master viticulture. This has not formerly been a craft that the Hekatef line was known for. Grapevines practically wither at the touch of a Hekatef. In this telling, that curse shall be broken.

Family History

Hekatef I

The founder of the family line came to prominence in the earliest days of antiquity, during Egypt's first rise to enlightenment and the challenge of the original Stranger. Tradition holds that Hekatef I was among the first pioneers of the area now called Pyramid Lake. In those days the region was a distant and desolate place, and Hekatef, coming across it, named it the Lake of Reeds. Other colonists followed, and in time the remote community earned fame, respect and a place among the other regions of Egypt.

Hekatef I was known for his talents in brewing beer and mixing paint, but history remembers him most for being one of the first Oracles of Thought, and the overseer of the last stage of the Great Work to that discipline. At the very instant Hekatef placed his Oracular blessing upon the structure, the seventh Monument was finished and the challenge of the Stranger was beaten.

History tells that after Egypt's victory, Hekatef I retired to his home by the Lake of Reeds and lived out the rest of his days in tranquility, drinking beer and fishing. He had taken a wife, a woman named Dreasimy, and the couple bore a son named Hapu.

Hekatef II

Unlike his parents, Hapu was restless and possessed a great appetite for journeys. Reaching adulthood, he became a traveling merchant in foreign lands, rarely lingering in Egypt even in the midst of its golden age. Perhaps he prospered, and in his own way became well-renowned in far countries, but in the records of Egypt the name of Hapu quickly vanished into obscurity.

Personality often skips a generation, however, and after Egypt's glory days had passed and a second Stranger arose to test it anew, so too did a Hekatef return to the land. Hekatef II, son of Hapu and an unrecorded foreign wife, grew up in distant countries but returned to Egypt to labor for its renewal.

Hekatef II did not approach the fame of his illustrious grandfather. Records show that he dwelt by the Nile, perhaps near modern-day Saqqarah, but his achievements were few. One or two of the Monuments of the time bear his cartouche, and he seemed to have gained some reputation as a maker of musical instruments.

Hekatef III

Hekatef III, grandfather to our modern Hekatef and a veteran of the previous Tale, is still alive today. Extremely elderly, he spends most of his time indoors, but he will occasionally barge into Queen's Retreat regional chat to grouse about kids today and relate unprompted stories of the olden days.