Lights Among the Dunes

Lights Among the Dunes was a visual representation of one of Bayek's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2017 through the Portable Animus HR-8.

Description

Prophets proclaim that the Desheret Desert is the source of a wicked presence in Egypt, and many nomads have claimed to have seen eerie lights and inexplicable movements in that region.

Dialogue

In Krokodilopolis, a man desperately shouted to the soldiers in the Neorion Naval Arsenal, trying to get their attention.

• Man: I have news from Thebes! Come listen!
  Soldiers! Hear me!

Bayek approached the man.

• Man: I have heard the tales, south, near Thebes, things beyond mortal understanding have been loosed upon the land. Heralded by ghostly, golden light!
• Bayek: Golden light near Thebes? I should see this for myself.
• Man: Captains, Lieutenants, men of arms! Egypt needs you to fight a remorseless foe, come from the other side of death! Yes!

In Hermopolis, near the Temple of Thoth, a woman similarly addressed a group of people.

• Woman: Come listen! Our earthly travails have come to an end!
  Hear me! The world will soon be no more! We will all walk in the Duat together!

Bayek approached the woman.

• Woman: We hear the tales from Thebes! Light of gold brings forth restless souls to wander the desert.
• Bayek: "Light of gold." "Restless souls." What could this mean?
• Woman: It comes from the south, friends. The gods send us the gift of death! It is a deliverance! For well we know that this life of blood and bone is mere fantasy.

A man talking about the rumors from Thebes

In Kerke, near a temple, a man warned the people there about the dangers brought by the new threat.

• Man: Come, listen! Everyone!
  Will no one listen to me? We are all in danger!

Bayek, intrigued by the man's words, approached to him to hear closely.

• Man: Rumors from Thebes abound! The gods are angry! Stories of horror unimaginable, brought forth by golden light from the gods!
• Bayek: "Golden light from the gods!" on the road to Thebes? I may want to investigate these "horrors".
• Man: Join me, Egyptians, we must redouble our tributes to Osiris and Iset. To Horus and Hathor! To Apep and Geb! We must keep Amun-Ra in our thoughts at all times.

Bolts of lightning coming out from within the tomb

Bayek went to the Desheret Desert to investigate the true nature of the rumors. When he reached the Seth-Anat Tomb, he noticed strange lights coming out from within it.

• Bayek: This was not like this when I last came. It is the light I saw in Siwa.

Bayek got closer, attracted by the bolts of lightning created within the vast artificial canyon. Suddenly, a corpse rose up from the sands.

• Bayek: What sort of men are these?

An undead soldier attacking Bayek

Without hesitation, the undead soldier attacked Bayek.

• Bayek: He smells like death!

The Siwan defended himself, and when he struck the fatal blow, the undead man turned to sand. As Bayek approached the Qeneb.too Kah'Aiye vault, more undead warriors attacked him.

• Bayek: Have the dead risen?
  Some dark spirit has unleashed these soldiers.
  Do I dream?

When the Hidden One reached the Vault, he found a man lying on the ground, wounded.

• Parh: Aaah! My leg. Help me!

Parh calling for Bayek's help

Bayek got closer to the man.

• Parh: I was lucky to be alive. I was attacked by corpses dressed like soldiers.
• Bayek: I met them myself. How did you come to be here?
• Parh: I came here in search of the Lost Army of Cambyses.
• Bayek: That is an old legend. Thousands of men lost forever in a sandstorm.
• Parh: I believe they carried much gold. As I approached, I saw a golden light. "At last" I thought, "The gods have chosen me for the treasure of the Lost Army!"
• Bayek: Are you an adventurer or a grave robber?
• Parh: A man must live. I entered and saw many bodies, dead these centuries. And beyond them, a glowing object. I grabbed it and immediately heard strange sounds. I quickly loaded it onto my camel when suddenly horrifying soldiers attacked! The camel fled into the desert.
• Bayek: Here. I will help you get to safety.
• Parh: No. You must find my camel and bring back the glowing object. I am certain that it brought the Lost Army back from the dead.
• Bayek: I will find out what happened. Stay hidden here.

A corpse close to the Teletransportation Platform caught Bayek's attention.

• Bayek: This is a soldier. Could the Legend of the Lost Army of Cambyses be true?

Parh's camel lying dead on the sands surrounded by villagers

Determined to put an end to the terrible disturbance, Bayek went northwest from the tomb, where a bright beam of light emerged from the sands. Fighting more undead soldiers, the Hidden One eventually reached the source of the light and found ten villagers around the corpse of the adventurer's camel, worshipping the strange object. Bayek got closer to the body of the animal.

• Bayek: Poor animal. This is it.

The mysterious artifact

As soon as Bayek touched the object, it suddenly reacted to his touch, setting everything around it aflame. That caused the villagers to go berserk.

Unidentified Artifact
A translucent stone that shines brightly. It radiates a heat beyond anything felt in the desert sun.

• Bayek: What possesses these men?

As before, the Siwan protected himself and killed the berserk villagers, whose corpses turned to sand. Just as Bayek thought he was done, three undead soldiers rose from the sands. When he struck them down, the fires disappeared. Bayek found himself dizzy, with no marks left by the flames. The camel's corpse also showed no burn marks, implying everything was just an illusion.

• Bayek: I must return it to its place and end this nightmare.

An undead horseman on fire

As he went back to the Isu Vault, more undead soldiers, this time riding horses on fire, went after him. Bayek battled them all as he approached the tomb. Once there, he went to meet Parh.

• Bayek: I have recovered the object!

But he found only silence. Parh was no longer there.

• Bayek: Where has he gone?
  Are you here?

He approached one of the vault's four support pillars, where he saw a glowing engraving of a Memory Seal with a hollow space in its center.

• Bayek: Something must be behind here.
  Let's get you where you belong.

Undead soldiers preparing to attack Bayek

When Bayek put the artifact back in its place, it projected another illusion. This time, Bayek was surrounded by undead soldiers. As he struck one down, more rose from the ground. The Hidden One tried to escape from the tomb, but as soon as he got out of there, he passed out. Sometime later, he woke up.

• Bayek: Where am I?

Bayek wasn't in the tomb anymore, but in a village near Hermopolis, resting on a bed. Suddenly, a woman appeared.

• Woman: Ah, you're awake at last.

Bayek talking with one of his rescuers

Once dressed up, the Hidden One talked with the woman.

• Woman: We found you wandering dazed in the desert.
• Bayek: Where is the adventurer? And the object?
• Woman: We found only you, muttering about the "Lost Army".
• Bayek: I battled with soldiers returned from the Duat.
• Woman: Let us pray you were simply overcome by heat! These strange rumors from Thebes terrify everyone. Pray Osiris that none are true!

Before he left the house, Bayek asked the woman about the rumors from Thebes.

• Bayek: Tell me more about these rumors from Thebes.
• Woman: Stories too strange to repeat. I am sure they are foolish fantasies, but I will not go there myself. That eagle deserves your thanks. Nomads saw it circling the desert.
• Bayek: She is a good friend.

Outcome

Bayek witnessed strange lights in the desert and fought undead soldiers, which were all revealed as illusions projected by a strange artifact. After returning it to the Seth-Anat Tomb, the illusions vanished and Bayek was rescued from the desert when he passed out. Sometime later, he received a letter from Amunet concerning an unknown artifact which was seemingly responsible for a similar "curse" in Thebes.

References

An image gallery is available for Lights Among the Dunes