Jeremy Thomas Fuller
The Metalwood Saga / Reference Guide

Full-series spoilers

Tomb of Akhenaten

Tomb of Akhenaten

The Tomb of Akhenaten was a massive, ancient pyramid located in the scorching sands of the Thesserin Desert on the planet Valaralda. Built around 10,000 A.A. (After Awakening) over the course of five centuries by the worshippers of the desert god-king Akhenaten (an alias of Orym/Aten), the pyramid was long purported to be a simple burial monument. In truth, it was a highly advanced, trap-filled fortress designed by Aten himself to safely hide Edrafen—the magical Key intended to unlock the Defense Mechanism.

Geography and Environment

Rising hundreds of feet above the blinding desert, the Tomb was a colossal sandstone pyramid that looked identical to the pyramids found in Egypt on Earth. The entrance led into dark, ascending passages made of thousands of perfectly fitted limestone bricks, with stone walls rising fifty feet overhead.

Deep beneath the pyramid, the cramped corridors opened into a breathtaking, fire-lit cavern thousands of feet in every dimension. This impossibly vast room contained a complex maze of wooden scaffolding, bridges, stairways, and automated elevators. It featured a subterranean waterfall, a deep pool of water, stone spires, and colossal statues of the fourteen Prime Trees.

The Tests and Traps

To protect the Key from his immortal enemy Cariel (Selenia), Aten constructed a lethal gauntlet of puzzles and traps. These tests evaluated a subject's magical prowess, reflexes, age, and soul.

The Ravine Bridge

The first major obstacle was a stone bridge stretching across a hundred-foot-deep ravine. A slightly raised ridge on the bridge served as a decoy trigger pad. The real trigger was hidden further along the stone; when stepped on, the entire bridge would violently crumble and slide into oblivion, taking intruders down into the abyss.

The First Test: Twinned Dúathmain

After the ravine, intruders faced a seamless stone wall with an arched doorway. A single hieroglyph of a lightning bolt—translating to "sword"—was carved above a small hole. Unlocking it required plunging a shocksword into the hole and channeling massive amounts of shockstriker magic into the stone.

This opened a disorienting, whirling tunnel illuminated by blue hieroglyphs. At the end stood a pedestal holding a wooden owl carving known as the Orator. Touching the owl activated a booming voice that welcomed the intruder in Ancient Eglarian, announcing that they had successfully passed the first test ("twinned dúathmain") and that six tests remained.

The Second Test: The Leaves

Beyond the tunnel, a narrow wooden platform extended over a hundred-foot drop, ending abruptly at a stone basin. The basin held freshly plucked leaves of ash, birch, and elm. When the test-taker approached, the tomb analyzed the subject's soul to verify their age (requiring the subject to be at least ten thousand years old). Upon sensing a sufficient age, the leaves dissolved into dust, and a hidden wooden stairway swung loudly into place to bridge the gap.

The Third Test: The Water Wheel

The path led to a massive, fifty-foot wooden water wheel set beside a small waterfall. The test required multiple streams of magic used simultaneously by a single soul. To pass, the intruder had to transmute the falling water into stone, drop the stones into the wheel's buckets, and use gatesending magic beneath the wheel to shoot the stones upward, reversing the wheel's rotation. This validated that the subject possessed an even split between the light and dark Aspects of the soul.

The Fourth Test: The Lasers

The fourth test resembled an archery range, crisscrossed by four thin purple lasers and featuring glass goggles mounted on a wall. If a subject looked through the goggles, the room plunged into darkness, and the lasers projected a horrifying vision of a planet exploding. The test-taker had to verbally describe the destruction they witnessed. Failure to do so correctly resulted in instant death, with the victim vanishing and leaving only a splatter of blood behind.

The Fifth Test: The Dark Path

After the lasers, the room plunged into pitch blackness, illuminated only by a dotted path of dim purple lights. As the subject ran along the winding stairways, a jungle menagerie of beasts—including massive claws and roaring monsters—lashed out from the darkness. The test evaluated pure individual reflexes; the intruder had to perceive and dodge the lethal threats themselves, as warnings from allies would come too late.

The Sixth Test: The Vibrating Bridge

The purple path led to another wooden bridge that suddenly began vibrating and shaking wildly. It tilted sideways and disintegrated, dropping the intruders toward thousands of metal spikes below. Levitation magic, previously banned by the tomb's automated voice, was instantly permitted. As the intruders used fallfoiling magic to survive the drop, three deadly iron arrows shot at them from the walls. However, the arrows were rubber-tipped decoys designed to trick the intruders into panicking.

The Scarab Swarm

Reaching a stone platform, the intruders triggered holes in the rock that disgorged millions of deadly, venomous black scarabs. The swarm was repelled only by fire, forcing the intruders to use torches to fight their way up a staircase and into a heavily sealed 10x10 stone room.

The Final Test: The Motivation Stone

Inside the tiny stone room, spotlights illuminated a second Orator owl and an Anubis statue known as the Motivation Stone. The test-taker had to place their hand on the Anubis and state their purpose. The tomb scanned the subject's soul, analyzing volition, character, and power scale to ensure their motivation was selfless and their power was immense. Upon passing, Akhenaten's pre-recorded voice welcomed them, and the stone walls fell away, lowering the platform into a hidden treasure vault.

The Treasure Chamber

The vault was filled with unimaginable wealth: heaps of gold, jewels, crystal goblets, golden chariots, and elven sarcophagi. Much like the Earth legends of Aladdin or Indiana Jones, the treasure was a final trap. Touching any of the riches would collapse the entire pyramid.

To find the Key, the intruder had to select the plainest, dullest wooden cup from a table of opulent chalices. Picking the correct cup split the table apart, revealing a dirt hole containing a glowing glass sphere (Edrafen), a crystal soulmirror, and a final note from Aten.

Key Events

Tarathiel's First Expedition

Approximately 20,000 years ago, the archaeologist Tarathiel led an expedition into the tomb hoping to find the Key to stop the Fall. However, the expedition was forced to flee when the senator Cresius stepped off the path and triggered the Ravine Bridge trap. Because they retreated, Tarathiel never discovered the remaining tests or the Key.

The Return to the Tomb

Millennia later, the reincarnated Trey returns to the desert with Arra, the scholar Lashel, the guide Shorn, and a contingent of security guards. After surviving an attack by the militant Devout in Nekhrumet, the group successfully navigates Aten's brutal gauntlet of tests.

Trey successfully retrieves Edrafen and the soulmirror. However, someone in the group touches the forbidden treasure in the vault, triggering the pyramid's ultimate fail-safe. The massive structure shakes apart and sinks into a colossal sand sinkhole, burying the tomb forever and swallowing Shorn and the security guards.

See Also