Odor Most Foul

Odor Most Foul was a virtual representation of one of Bayek's genetic memories, relived by Layla Hassan in 2017 through the Portable Animus HR-8.

Description

A foul stench troubles the people of Memphis, and the priests aren't willing to resolve the issue. Clearing the air would do both Pasherenptah and the public a service.

Dialogue

Bayek went to an Informant Table and accepted Pasherenptah's message requesting aid.

• Bayek: That stink on the wind... another of Memphis' curses. I will speak to the priests he mentioned in his note. Aya's nose is finer than mine. She could uncover the origin of the smell in a moment.

He made his way through the city and overheard some children talking.

• Child 1: Khemwy smells!
• Khemwy: No I don't!
• Child 1: Yes you do! I can smell you everywhere. I can smell you in my sleep.

Bayek continued on and encountered a group of priests conducting a ritual outside a tomb.

• Priest: Hail to you, Osiris! Your limbs are lasting, you do not know corruption. Hail to you, Osiris! Your limbs are lasting, you do not know corruption. There are no worms with you, you are not repugnant. There are no worms with you, you are not repugnant. >Here is the tomb of Osiris, motionless, motionless like Osiris; motionless his limbs like Osiris. Let them not remain motionless, let them not corrupt. They move not, they stir not: be it done for them as for Osiris. I am Osiris.

Bayek speaking to the head priest

Bayek spoke to the priest.

• Bayek: Hail, Pure One.
• Priest: May your heart be joyful, Medjay.
• Bayek: Joy is scarce while Memphis chokes on the scent of the grave. I am here to discuss Pasherenptah's complaint on the Informant Table.
• Priest: Indeed! We seek a capable person to investigate this tomb. Most are too fearful of the demons within to enter.
• Bayek: But demons would fear a priest. Why not investigate yourself?
• Priest: I am a vessel of the gods—I contribute through prayer.
• Bayek: Then I will face the demons. Pray that your faith shields me.
• Priest: Ptah grant you safety.

Bayek investigated a small opening above the tomb.

• Bayek: This stench! Vile as the Devourer's breath. The entrance is barred. There must be another way inside the tomb.

Bayek finding an opening

Bayek discovered a small opening beneath the ritual location and slid under it, exploring the tunnel that opened. A strong stench plagued the cave, causing him to cough.

• Bayek: (coughing)

Bayek jumped across a gap and squeezed through a hole in a cavern wall. On the other side, he saw a bust of Sobek, with a note at its base.

To all followers of Sobek—rejoice! Let your words and prayers be spoken here; may your offerings please the one true god! You are not forgotten and shall be rewarded for your faithfulness when he returns...

Bayek encountered a group of bandits in the cave and eliminated them before continuing exploring. He later came across a room with a heavier stench.

• Bayek: Gah! I can hardly breathe! The source of this poison is closer than before.

He investigated a bust, praying.

• Bayek: Departed, forgive my violation of your rest. Grant that I may pass by you.

Bayek journeyed deeper, finding a chamber with several mummies.

• Bayek: These mummies are sound. Not the cause of the smell.

Bayek discovered there also a table with a bunch of offerings.

• Bayek: An offering to chase the smell. Someone has been here recently... someone who does not fear demons.

Bayek finding a trail of blood

Bayek discovered a trail of blood and maggots on the ground.

• Bayek: What in the name of the gods is that foulness? I should trace it to its source.

Bayek destroyed a makeshift wooden wall and discovered behind it a chamber with a bunch of rotten mummies, haphazardly laid in mounds.

• Bayek: The mummies. They are rotted! This is a crime against the dead.

Bayek investigating the rotten mummies

Bayek investigated further and found several mummies that were clearly unsound.

• Bayek: Here. The flesh has decayed, but the wrappings are still intact. If the wrappings are sound, the fault lies in the embalming. Fear of demons kept the crime from being discovered. I will pay the mummification temple a visit.

Bayek left the tomb.

• Bayek: Fresh air... A better blessing than that priest's.

He made his way to the wabet, musing.

• Bayek: The guarding of temples was once a sacred duty entrusted to the Medjay. Now it falls to no one.

Once Bayek had reached the temple, he was greeted by the temple's Head Embalmer.

• Head Embalmer: Peace be on you! May Osiris shield your loved one's journey.
• Bayek: I do not need your services. I'm here to inspect the temple.
• Head Embalmer: You are not a priest. In whose name do you dare profane our grounds?
• Bayek: In the High Priest's name. Prove this by messenger if you wish.
• Head Embalmer: ...Ah yes. Poor Pasherenptah. The curse weighs heavy on us all. I have had two embalmers run off since it began. Only untrained laborers are free to take their place. Such coarse fellows! I hope to discharge them soon.
• Bayek: I look forward to meeting them.

Bayek interviewed one of the embalmers.

• Woman: (wailing)
• Bayek: Is this where bodies are delivered?
• Embalmer 1: Yes. This is the gate to the ibu—the place of purification. The dead are brought here by their families. Then we wash them with tears wept by the gods at the death of Osiris. Or maybe just water. Hard to say.
• Bayek: The mummies would not be tampered with so early in the process. This man is likely innocent.

Bayek talked to another embalmer.

• Bayek: What do you—
• Embalmer 2: Yes, yes, I know. You want to learn what I do here. I wash the bodies of the dead. It's a job—been doing it for ten years now. There's little to say about it, really.
• Bayek: A man of my own nature. He bears watching, though.

The Head Embalmer became impatient with Bayek.

• Head Embalmer: Is your curiosity satisfied?
• Bayek: Not yet.
• Head Embalmer: Be quicker. You disturb our work and the dead's rest.

Bayek talked to another embalmer, who was removing organs from a body.

• Bayek: I would not want to make an enemy of you.
• Embalmer 3: I have no enemies, and no secrets, either. This is just how we get rid of the brain—a useless organ! Next I will open the flank and take out the liver, stomach, lungs, and intestines. They are the first parts of the body to rot.
• Bayek: Fascinating.
• Embalmer 3: We never get visitors here. Come see us any time!
• Bayek: A friendly face can hide guilt... yet I do not suspect him.

An embalmer commenting on the natron texture to Bayek

Bayek talked to another embalmer, who was covering a body with a mineral.

• Bayek: Is this salt you are working with?
• Embalmer 4: Not salt. Natron. It dries out the body... and it fries my hands to shit. I have got burns all over! Although they have been better lately.
• Bayek: Has the natron changed somehow?
• Embalmer 4: The texture's been a little off. Powdery. They must be getting it from a new supplier. If you want to talk natron, man out back is the expert.
• Bayek: If natron is used to dry the bodies... There may be something wrong with the natron. I should speak to the worker out back.

Bayek headed to the backyard of the temple and talked to the worker in charge.

• Bayek: These bodies are dried with natron?
• Worker: Mmmph. Who might you be?
• Bayek: A temple inspector.
• Worker: Right, about time you got here. Memphis has been stinking of rot for months!
• Bayek: I suspect a problem with the natron. Where does it come from?
• Worker: Not far from here. Guarded by good men near the canal. Watch out for crocodiles.
• Bayek: And lizards...
• Worker: Did you say "Lizard"?
• Bayek: It means something to you?
• Worker: I have heard it whispered in taverns. Rumors only.
• Bayek: If you have nothing of substance to offer, I will be leaving.

The worker directing Bayek to the warehouse

• Worker: Wait! I can tell you this—our natron is tainted. It is mixed with sand. Go to the warehouse just north of the Great Temple. The gods be with you.
• Bayek: So the mummies rotted due to the tainted natron. Let's see what is in this warehouse he mentions.

Bayek made his way to the warehouse, which was surrounded by guards.

• Bayek: Here's the warehouse. I need to be careful.

Bayek confronting the Head Embalmer

Bayek infiltrated the warehouse, only to find the Head Embalmer present. Bayek grabbed the Head Embalmer and furiously shoved his face into a natron pile.

• Bayek: Only the guilty aim to disgrace the innocent.
• Head Embalmer: Oh! May the gods be kind!
• Bayek: Salt is cheap. There must be more than gold to your crime.
• Head Embalmer: Gold had nothing to do with it. A priest in a blue sash brought my orders.

He removed his sash, showing his cut-off nose. Bayek recoiled a step on seeing the horrific wound.

• Head Embalmer: He did this to me. He threatened to do the same to my daughter. I brought foulness on the city only to protect her, I swear it! Please...
• Bayek: Help me, and I will end this.

The Head Embalmer handed a scroll to Bayek.

• Head Embalmer: Here, I kept it... Take it.

Bayek reading the scroll

The Head Embalmer fled from the warehouse. Bayek inspected the scroll.

• Bayek: I'll send its writer to the Devourer. The seal of Anubis. A priest sabotaged the natron. The letter mentions a bandit cave. I will go clear out this viper's nest once and for all.

Letter with a seal of Anubis:
To the Head Embalmer of Memphis:
I am tasking you with overseeing the spoiling of natron. My men will render the natron impure by mixing it with white Saqqara sand. You will ensure its delivery, where it will be used in the mummification process and perpetuate the curse on the city.
The sand is stored in a cave under the temple of Ptah. Its entrance is located between two large granaries. Should you get a whiff of an intruder, you know what to do.
Do not disappoint.
The Lizard

Bayek finding the bandits

Bayek saw a small mound of sand on the table beside him, confirming what the temple official had said.

• Bayek: Sand. They have mixed it with the natron.

He left the warehouse and made his way to the cave. The bandits discovered Bayek and attacked him.

• Bandit: I guess some neket iadet (piece of shit) was listening after all!
• Bayek: May the kas of those lost haunt you forever!
  The Devourer waits for your hearts!
  Ma'at will judge you in the afterlife!

Bayek eliminated the bandits.

• Bayek: Memphis' dead will sleep peacefully now.

He explored the cave and found it led to a hole in a wall from the Temple of Ptah. He found a cracked wall on searching, and after breaking through it, entered a pitch black tomb. Bayek lit a torch and read an inscription on a black cubic altar on the tomb's far wall.

Rest now my child in undisturbed slumber. May you walk for all eternity through green fields, and along those that reigned before you. Let the gods judge you worthy of your noble birth.

Bayek left the tomb and then returned to the priest he first saw praying outside.

• Priest: I did not think to see you again. You seem like the wandering type. So the mummies were tampered with. May the perpetrator of this crime suffer for eternity. It seems my prayers were successful in shielding you.

Outcome

Bayek discovered the source of the foul smell plaguing Memphis and managed to stop it once and for all, allowing the dead in the city to rest peacefully again.

Gallery

• 
  A group of priests performing a ritual outside a tomb
• 
  Foul stench in the chamber
• 
  Bayek arriving at the Wabet
• 
  Bayek greeted by the Head Embalmer
• 
  Bayek questioning an embalmer
• 
  Bayek speaking to a worker at the back
• 
  The Head Embalmer revealing his cut-off nose
• 
  Bayek finding the entrance to the bandit hideout

References

• Assassin's Creed: Origins