Arriz was born in the great city of
Ye-Egnol to the Osman family, a middle-class family of
Anpur merchants. She and her older brothers, Acet and Ak, and her younger sister Aryr would race,
Climbing the great staircase to the sun and moon plazas, hoping to get there before their father Arrguak would get back from the canyon below with the latest trades outside the Kafa Mountains. Since her mother Mryh did all the bookkeeping, she homeschooled the kits in reading and writing khemitian hoping they could help in the trade. As time went on, her brothers entered the family business, expanding Cohong Trade Emporium.
Arriz didn’t feel like she was needed at the Trade Emporium, besides the numbers weren’t really her thing. She likes the stories of monsters told by her parents that lived below the Anpur cities and pretended to fight the food stealing goblins or the animated sands that try to eat the uromanx. With that fighting nature, when she was old enough, she became a
Benque of the southern front; Technically part of
The Pharaoh’s army, but without a vizer for the Khemitian lands around the
Kufa Mountains, it’s a frontier with small units protecting the Anpur. Weeks of climbing mountains and practicing fighting skills lead to more and more outings into the surrounding area. At 18, Arriz became a benque of the Kufa deshret, she was finally assigned under captain Amr Saad to patrol the southern spice route. Weeks out in the desert the unit encountered the remains of a camp. It appeared marauders have started preying on merchants again.
Captain Amr told her that it was the
Bone Reavers, a nasty group of raiders who kill as well as steal. Amr tracked them into the badlands, his unit followed just behind. Thinking they would be able to ambush them, the unit split, flanking this supposed camp. Unfortunately, the Bone Reavers were much cleverer, Higher up in the cliffs, archers rained down arrows as the trap was sprung. Instead of ordering a retreat, Captain Amr ordered the unit to suppress the Reavers while Amr rode out to bring back one of the other units. Arriz rallied the unit around her. They followed her command as they found a defensive position to holdout.
By the time Amr returned with reinforcements, the Bone Reavers were gone. Arriz and two others were barely breathing, yet still alive. Captain Amr offered her a medal of valor. Arriz felt that it was a hollow gesture considering it was his poor planning and leadership that cost the lives of the anpur.
While recovering from her wounds, she felt that
Anubis was there protecting her, so she started training as a
Katapesh of Anubis. While the devotion and learning were new, she was still out patrolling the desert with her fellow survivors (also becoming katapesh) lead by
Gaffe Druga. Captain Amr, however, still dictated her patrols and assigned her unit further north into the harsh desert. While a Khemitian gaffe usually is out in the desert to protect pilgrims, there are plenty of temples to Anubis for the anpur in the Kufa mountains to find without much travel.
Arriz had her concerns that Amr was purposely putting her and her unit at greater risk but wasn’t concerned as gaffe Druga lead the unit instead of captain Amr. Months into their patrol, Arriz encountered bandits attacking a trade caravan. Druga’s unit quickly seized the advantage and flanked the bandits. Arriz dashed further to reach the lone wagon that bandits were attempting to loot. Her actions saved a female traveler, whom she found is Nomen Rahiz al’Fouad, a
Ptahmenu from Lower Khemit. She also met
Pip Ahmed, who had joined the caravan as it traveled south to Upper Khemit.
Arriz learned that Rahiz was travelling to Qesh while Pip was collecting pottery, though she suspected that Pip had ulterior motives, but in this case, he legitimately had crates of pottery. Worried that there would be more encounters, Arriz suggested that given the hostile nature of the bandits, they should escort them to Qesh. This travel gave her time to get to know khemitians outside the Kufa mountains, besides the bandits and bone reavers, as so few humans, ptahmenu even ventured to the southern mountains.
At Qesh, Druga wanted to take the unit back to their patrol but told Arriz that she walked a different path and should escort Rahiz and Pip back to the lower kingdom. The other two anpur volunteered to join her in her travels. A month traveling Khemit down the
Stygian River, allowed Arriz to see all the great urban cities of Khemit. She tried the various cuisines with Rahiz and got to know more of the kingdom. She got to understand some of Pip’s eccentricities as he was collecting cultural items; Ostraca, pieces of pottery with writing on them.
When they arrived at
Menefet, she and her companions were invited to Nomen’s house. There she was met by Rahiz’s parents, who were gratified that she was there to protect their daughter. Nomen Takk Al’fouad wanted to give her a substantial reward, but she declined. Trying not to be rude
Pardon my decline of your offer. I am overwhelmed by your generosity, but by the scales of Anubis, my heart is only balanced by the deeds offered by the gods. My mind has been graciously filled by your daughter's tales and guidance.— Arriz
by Midjourney
He understood the spiritual path and gave her a chit with the Al’fouad seal on it, telling her to return it with a request and if it’s within his power, he will fulfill it. Arriz and her companions returned to the Kufa mountains. There she was met by an infuriated captain, Amr. He was to strip her of her rank and possible imprisonment for abandoning her post. She was brought before the
Qenbet of ye-Egnol with such charges. Before the Qenbet could even hear the charges, Gaffe Druga came before the council with ye-Egnol's holy possession, the Scales of Anubis. With a few drops of Arriz’s blood in one tray, she showed them how the scales did not fall from the weight and instead the center stone faintly glowed. While it was not fully understood, it clearly meant that this was not the end of her journey. The Qenbet ignored captain’s amr’s protests and given that the Ka must be strong in Arriz, changed her training from Katapesh to Gaffe. An so it was, that Benque Arriz trained to become Gaffe Arriz.
A year later Arriz, stationed at the Grand Temple of Anubis at ye-Egnol got a letter from Pip. He requested her assistance in some exploration out in the desert that she hed patrolled years ago.
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