Thothmekri the Mummy

Thothmekri
(circa "The Hour of the Dragon")

Medium Male Undead Mummy
20th Level
Wizard 10/ Adept of the Black Ring 10

Hit Dice: 20d12 (117 Hit Points)
Initiative: +2 (dex)
Speed: 20 ft
AC: 24 (+2 Dex, +12 Natural)
Attacks: Slam +17/+12 melee
Damage: Slam 1d6 + 6 melee
Face/Reach: 5 ft by 5 ft/5ft
Special Attacks: Arcane Spells, Charm, Curse of Vengeance, Grapple
Special Qualities: Summon Familiar, Scribe Scroll, Command Undead, Create Undead, Damage Reduction 20/+3, Resistance to Blows, Enhanced Strength, Undead, Combined Levels, Blood Sorcery, Spell Dilettante, Powerful Presence, Magical Might, Knowing Stare, Mastered Name
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +8, Will +15
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 17, Con -, Int 23, Wis 15, Cha 17
Skills: Alchemy + 29, Concentration +27, Knowledge (Arcana) +31, Knowledge (Religion) +29, Knowledge (Planes) +29, Spell Craft +31, Scry +29, Intimidation +11, Diplomacy +7
Feats: Iron Will, Combat Casting, Skill Focus (Spellcraft), Empower Spell, Leadership, Skill Focus (Knowledge [Arcana]), Maximize Spell, Spell Penetration, Enlarge Spell, Silent Spell

Climate/Terrain: Stygia
Challenge Rating: 22
Treasure: None
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: by Character class

Albiona
Princess Akivasha
Publio
Tarascas
Thutothmes
Xaltotun

"He towered beside the altar, dusky, naked, with a face like a carven image. Conan realized that the conjurement had not been completed - life had not been fully restored to the corpse.

'Who are you?' demanded the Cimmerian.

The answer came in a toneless monotone, like the dripping of water from stalactites in subterranean caverns. 'I was Thothmekri; I am dead.'"

~Robert E. Howard, "The Hour of the Dragon"

Thothmekri is a high priest of Set who lived three thousand years ago, making him a contemporary of Xaltotun. He was an adept of the Black Ring. After being resurrected he showed Conan the exit of the tombs, and then he returned. Whether he laid back down in eternal slumber, or wanders those tombs as one of the undead still remains unanswered. Not much is known about Thothmekri, other than he was an adept of the Black Ring, and since he was chosen to be resurrected by Thutothmes I assume he was incredibly powerful. Thutothmes presumed Thothmekri had knowledge of the true workings of the Heart of Ahriman. This is doubtful, for none in Xaltotun's time really knew the powers of the Heart, but we must assume Thutothmes had done his homework.

Combat
Note: Thothmekri does not have Mummy Rot. Hyborian Age mummies do not have this power. Thothmekri battles with magic. He casts arcane spells as a 20th level wizard.

Combined Levels: Add the character's Black Ring level's to the levels of any other arcane spell casting class he has when determining the level-based effects of spells.

Blood Sorcery: Thothmekri can use the blood of a freshly slain victim to increase the power of his spells. He can either add two to his casting level, add two to the DC of the spell, or add any metamagic feat desired to the spell without increasing its level. He can also add sacrificial blood to magic items for the same effects.

Spell Dilettante: Thothmekri can choose from the cleric spell list when selecting new spells that are known to him when he gains levels. These spells count as arcane for Thothmekri. This is a supernatural ability.

Powerful Presence: Thothmekri gains +2 to Diplomacy and Intimidate checks. Once per day, as a standard action, he can force all living beings within a 30 foot radius to make a Will save (DC 10+Black Ring class levels+Charisma bonus) or suffer a -2 morale penalty on attacks, saves and skill checks for 1 round / black ring level. This is a supernatural ability.

Magical Might: The difficulty class for all spells cast by Thothmekri is increased by 2.

Knowing Stare: Once per day, Thothmekri can invoke a 30 foot gaze attack that holds all living creatures. Those affected must make a Will save (DC 10+Black Ring level+Charisma Bonus) or be held for 1 round/Black Ring level. This is a supernatural ability.

Mastered Name: Upon reaching 10th level, Thothmekri can sense when another being speaks his name. When this occurs the wizard knows the exact location and the name of the speaker. He is free to ignore such knowledge, retaining the details for when they seem significant. This awareness is sufficient to allow the wizard to scry on the individual as if he had just met the speaker (DC 10). It does not convey enough information to allow the wizard to teleport to the speaker's location, though such information could be gathered through other magical means, including scrying.

Charm (Su): Identical to the spell in PHB
Command Undead (Su): As an evil priest.
Create Undead (Ex) The mummy can embalm and perform the ceremonies to create servant mummies.
Curse of Vengeance (Su): This power allows him to curse attackers.
Grapple (Ex): Mummies with this power get two slam attacks and a +2 bonus to strength for damage if both slams hit. The victim is then strangled for triple slam damage until he breaks the hold.
Damage Reduction (Ex): 20/+3
Resistance to Blows (Ex): Physical attacks only do 1/2 damage
Enhanced Strength (Ex): +10 Str
Undead: Xaltotun has all the immunities shared by the undead. Unfortunately for Xaltotun, he is not aware that he is undead.

Robert E. Howard's story, "The Hour of the Dragon," was first published in Weird Tales as a five part serial, beginning in December of 1935 and ending in April 1936. It is Robert E. Howard's only Conan full length novel. The story can also be found in the Ace/Lancer paperback "Conan the Conquerer"; and the Gnome Press collection "Conan the Conquerer". It is also available in the Burkley/Putnam edition, "The Hour of the Dragon". This is easily my second favorite Conan tale of all time (following "The People of the Black Circle")

Karl Edward Wagner called it "one of the best novels ever written in the epic fantasy genre" and I certainly agree.

Howard wrote The Hour of the Dragon in four months at the behest of a British publishing house, in hopes he could finally become a full fledged novelist. Unfortunately, as described in the afterword, the publisher went under and Howard ended up selling the story to Weird Tales instead. The magazine published it in five issues, the last issue coming out only two months before Howard died. It was thus the last Conan story which he saw published.

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