The Sisters

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The Pharaoh's Daughters, also referred to as the Sisters, are the six daughters of the Pharaoh of the Second City.

After their father was rendered unfit to rule, and following their successful imprisonment of Masters of the Bazaar,[1] the Sisters assumed control of the Second City themselves.[2] In the aftermath, the Sisters ventured into Parabola, where they constructed the Skin of the Sun, an artificial sun that shines over the land of dreams.[3][4] After this, they planned to build the Palace of the Rising to grant a sunlit shelter for the people of the Second City.[5] However, the Masters eventually escaped their imprisonment two thousand years later,[6] and captured one of the Sisters.[1] Forced to flee, the remaining Sisters abandoned the Palace, leaving it forever unfinished.[7] In the centuries since, many of the Sisters have carved out dominions of their own, becoming influential figures in the histories and societies of the Neath.

As of the present day, five of the six are confirmed to still live. From oldest to youngest:

  • The Poisoned Priestess – Sacrificed herself in the House of the Feather to bind the Masters, and was presumed dead by her sisters. She survived, however, and now lives in solitude within the Sere Palace, far out in the Hinterlands.
  • The Obstinate Adoratrice – A tireless architect, she continues to labor on the Palace of the Rising in Parabola, clinging to the hope that it will one day be finished.
  • The Mother Superior – Leads a militant order of nuns on Abbey Rock, dedicating her life to ending the terror of the Vake.
  • The Roseate Queen – Fled the wrath of the Masters to the Elder Continent, where she now rules the kingdom of Arbor.
  • The Duchess – Taken as a hostage after the Masters’ escape, she has since become a figure of power in both the world of cats and the city of London. Sources differ as to whether the Duchess is the fourth or the sixth of the sisters, but the Roseate Queen is the fifth.

Some sources attest to the existence of the Lost, who died on the Surface and never visited the Neath;[8] in our world, this youngest sister only lived to the age of five. If this sister is the Lost, the Duchess is the fourth of the six. However, other accounts suggest the youngest Sister survived,[9][1] and even depict the Duchess signing her name in hieroglyphs as the sixth daughter.[10]

Historical Inspirations

Pharaoh Akhenaten and Queen Nefertiti had six known daughters:

  • Meritaten ("She who is beloved of Aten"): As the eldest daughter, Meritaten was prominently featured in court life and religious ceremonies. She became the Great Royal Wife to Pharaoh Smenkhkare, who may have been her brother or half-brother. Some scholars suggest she may have ruled as Pharaoh under the name Neferneferuaten. Her date of death is unclear.
  • Meketaten ("Behold the Aten" or "Protected by Aten"): Meketaten died around year 14 of Akhenaten's reign, possibly in a plague. She was approximately ten years old.[11]
  • Ankhesenpaaten ("She lives for the Aten"): Ankhesenpaaten became the wife of her half-brother Tutankhaten, later (and better) known as Tutankhamun. Like him, she changed her name to Ankhesenpaamun to reflect the restoration of the Egyptian pantheon. She died in her twenties.
  • Neferneferuaten Tasherit ("Beautiful are the Beauties of Aten – the Younger"): Is depicted mourning Meketaten's death, at which point she was five or six, but disappears from records afterward.
  • Neferneferure ("Beautiful are the Beauties of Re"): Shown holding a gazelle in year 12 of Akhenaten's reign, when she was about three or four years old, but disappears from artwork afterward and likely died in the ensuing two years.
  • Setepenre ("Chosen of Re"): Depicted in a fresco from year 9 of Akhenaten's reign, where she is a baby sitting on Nefertiti’s lap, as well as in the year 12 scenes where she reaches out to pet her sister's gazelle; she disappears afterward, and likely also died a year or two later.

Given the sparse historical records and the early deaths of several of Akhenaten’s daughters, it's evident that Fallen London took creative liberties in reimagining their fictional counterparts. They are also all seemingly much older in the game, as the younger sisters must have been in their teens at least, with the presumable reasoning being that Akhenaten lived and ruled for longer and they all survived until the Fall.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Buying secrets, Fallen London "[...] My sisters and I have been watching the Vake for many years. Since the Second City, in fact. We were a royal house then. We played those black-cloaked vultures for fools, so we did. Beat them at their own game and pulled the nose of the Bazaar. And they never forgave us. Kept the youngest sister hostage while the rest of us ran for it. [...]"
  2. ↑ Listen, Sunless Sea "There is an air of celebration. As with many languages spoken in dreams, you understand the meaning without understanding the words: a great disaster has been averted, the King's folly is ended by the Princess' cunning, the heralds of night are bound. [...]"
  3. ↑ The Attendants, Fallen London "We found it in dreams and brought light to it."
  4. ↑ Climb the dome itself (Fingerkings), Fallen London ""The sun was born," [...] "With certain modifications. Those women augmented it in the shell.""
  5. ↑ Search for a pool that meets the description, Fallen London "[...] And then, hidden in a glimmering crevice, you see it: a Second City Palace, blue as the Ishtar Gate. Around it a river of serpents rises: the Writhing River."
  6. ↑ This really can't be good for you, Fallen London "caught incarcerated caged two dozen centuries no space no space to spread my wings !unbearable! !release me! Spit venom at my judas gaolers may their kohl eyes gender worms may their bones burn in their flesh !unbearable! !release me!"
  7. ↑ The Attendants, Fallen London "But the House of the Feather was opened before the Palace was completed. We four survivors fled."
  8. ↑ The Attendants, Fallen London "[...] The youngest of us perished on the Surface [...]"
  9. ↑ Open a knobbly package, Fallen London "[...] a memory that used to belong to a jackal. You pad across chilly sand. Royal flesh! The Pharaoh's youngest daughter escaped, but you'll crack the bones of the others where they lie bleaching in the desert sun. [...]"
  10. ↑ The Calendar Code, Fallen London "There is no signature. Just two simple symbols, scribed in careful strokes: a disk, above a tool embedded in a wood block."
  11. ↑ The Death of Meketaten
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