Rise! The Black Pharaoh commands you! Come to me!
Nephren-Ka, also known as the Black Pharaoh, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who worshipped the being Nyarlathotep, and after he died was merged with his god and became one of his avatars.
History[]
Background[]
Nephren-Ka was the last pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Egypt. For reasons unknown, he attracted the interest of the cosmic being Nyarlathotep, and the god offered him a deal. If Nephren-Ka sacrificed enough people in his name, he would be granted the gift of prophecy. Nephren-Ka sacrificed thousands of victims to Nyarlathotep and completely outlawed any religion other than Nyarlathotep worship. It is also possible that he may have founded the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh.
These sacrifices eventually brought revolution to the country and even the attention of the Egyptian gods, declaring such practices as blasphemous and unholy. In response, they unleashed their terrestrial avatars, the Amenti, to destroy him and his monstrous followers. The Amenti succeeded and the black pharaoh was overturned. The next pharaoh immediately drove out all the priests of Nyarlathotep and demolished all his temples, before amending the Book of the Dead to remove all mentions of Nephren-Ka.
Deathless Sleep[]
Nephren-Ka fled to what is now the city of Cairo, planning for him and his followers to flee to Britain. The Amenti heard of the plot and upon relaying this information to the Mokolé, the beasts surrounded him, forcing him to flee underground to a tomb he constructed. The Mokolé imprisoned Nephren-Ka and his followers, burying them all alive along with all his secrets.
Trapped in the tomb, Nephren-Ka summoned Nyarlathotep one final time by sacrificing his remaining followers. Nyarlathotep granted him the gift of prophecy, and he inscribed upon the walls the secrets of the future. Upon his seeming death (though in fact he survived and simply went into an eternal sleep), Nyarlathotep created one of his avatars in the pharaoh's image.
Nephren-Ka's tomb is guarded by the Brotherhood of the Beast, who often lure unsuspecting Westerners into the tomb and kill them to fulfil his prophecies. Nephren-Ka himself is also capable of awakening from his eternal sleep and taking the form of intruders into his tomb in order to kill them.
Personality[]
Even as a mortal man, Nephren-Ka had a total lack of empathy and respect for anyone but himself. He was more intrigued by the dark magic that killed his father rather than mourning him, entombed his brother Nophru-Ka out of jealousy and stole his wife the day after, and killed several sorcerers before absorbing their souls after they taught him their dark magic. He was also skilled at manipulating people as he was able to set himself as a god to the mountain tribes and make them build the city fortress of Nagashizzar, as well as gathering a rebel army to overthrow his brother and make them fight amongst themselves to see which one is the strongest servant.
After becoming an avatar of Nyarlathotep, his sense of self-worth and sadism grew to extreme levels, forcing the then king Alcadizzar to watch as he poisoned all the people of Egypt and then turned them into undead in a great ritual. His ultimate goal is to usurp the Gods and turn all the living creatures of the planet into his undead minions. Nephren-Ka is very patient, although it has a breaking point. Because he is immortal and a master strategist he knows that he can play the long game far better than others. But he will not tolerate the many attempts of the gods to deny him what is his right.