OrthaneProductions

New year, new monsters to throw at your players! Behold the Sewer Harpy, one of the oldest and most terrifying creatures of Keshanar. #dungeonsanddragonsart

Anyone out there fellow fans of the Dungeon Dudes??? If yes, you should head to their Youtube channel right now, so you can check out their new video: "2024 Warlock Class Guide for D&D 5e" Thanks for the support guys! #dungeonsanddragons

Our CEO, Dave, is traveling in Egypt right now, and was invited to meet with Dr. Hourig Sourouzin, Professor of Egyptology and the Director of the Amenhotep III Temple Conservation Project, where he toured the temple conservation site she has led for years. #dungeonsanddragons

Calling all South Carolina Keshanar fans! We'll be at Scarab Con this upcoming January running Kingdom of Keshanar one-shots. Come through!! #DnD #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons

Our CEO, Dave, got to chat with the awesome creators of the Halfling and the Spaceman podcast! Check it out at the link below. Listening to "David Hadden, Game Designer" at buzzsprout.com/2014291/episod… #dungeonsanddragons

Meet the team! This week it's Andrew, our Loremaster and contributing writer, currently working on his Ph.D. in English. Read about the team here: keshanar.com/about/keshanar… Art by @rsrz90

The oldest 20-sided-die, from ancient Egypt. Conclusion: they played D&D!

2/2 I shared insights into combining theme and mechanics, the importance of historical accuracy, and the role of AI in game design. Also on deck: the challenges of crowdfunding, building a team, and the evolving indie RPG community.

1/2 Dave here -- I had a great time last week chatting with Gelb on the MyFavoriteGames Podcast! We dove into my journey in creating The Kingdom of Keshanar, and discussed how my passion for Dungeons and Dragons led me to develop an RPG inspired by ancient Egypt.

Check out this conversation between our CEO, Dave Hadden, and Robert Gelb on the MyFavoriteGames podcast! 020: David Hadden, Orthane Productions open.substack.com/pub/midnighttr…

Along with hieroglyphics, obelisks and geometric patterns, cats feature prominently in ancient Egyptian art, reflecting the animal’s unique status among the people who dwelled along the Nile River. The animals were initially adopted as useful predators in ancient Egypt and gradually became symbols of divinity and protection. “Though it is hard to say the Egyptians thought one thing or another, since so much change happened across their 3,000+ years of history, the ancient Egyptians, in general, did not worship animals,” says Julia Troche, an Egyptologist, assistant professor of history at Missouri State University, and author of Death, Power, and Apotheosis in Ancient Egypt: The Old and Middle Kingdoms. “Rather, [they] saw animals as representations of divine aspects of their gods.” Whether or not they were worshiped as deities, cats were an integral part of ancient Egyptian life. And, based on mummified cats discovered in tombs alongside humans, they carried an important role in the afterlife, as well. For most of the civilization’s history, ancient Egyptians saw cats as mutually beneficial companions, according to Troche. “Cats might come inside when it was hot, and they in turn would chase away dangerous animals, such as snakes—many of which were venomous—and scorpions,” she explains. Some of what we know about the function of cats in ancient Egyptian society comes from scenes of everyday life depicted in paintings on the walls of tombs. “In tombs scenes, cats are shown laying or sitting below chairs, chasing birds and playing,” Troche says. “In some mortuary texts, they are shown with a dagger, cutting through Apopis: the snake deity who threatens Ra (the sun) at night in the Underworld.” After keeping a cat as a live-in pet during their lives, ancient Egyptians continued that relationship into the afterlife. “The tomb was one's posthumous house for eternity,” Troche explains. “In your tombs, you would depict your family, your greatest titles and awards and the things you enjoyed doing. So, to see cats included in these tableaus speaks to their importance both in the daily lives of ancient Egyptians and in their hope that they continued with them into the Hereafter.” On walls from the Tomb of Nebamun, now housed at the British Museum, one painting features a cat accompanying Nebamun while he is out fishing and fowling. The cat has caught a bird in its mouth and grasps two other birds in its claws. One of the eyes of the cat is embellished with gold leaf gilding, which, according to the British Museum, is “the only known example of gilding on wall paintings in Theban tomb chapels.” The presence of cats in tombs wasn’t limited to paintings—sometimes cats were mummified and placed inside their human companion’s tomb, according to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History. One reason this was done is that when cats were mummified, they could then be used as funerary goods. “This meant that the deceased person could inhabit the body of the mummified cat in the afterlife,” explains Monique Skidmore, a professor of anthropology at Deakin University and editor of Trip Anthropologist. As is the case across various civilizations and cultures, ancient Egyptians saw royals as trendsetters, taking cues from the ruling tastemakers on everything from food, to fashion, to felines. © Elizabeth Yuko #archaeohistories

We work with so many awesome artists. Check out Gianluca's progress video of his painting of the captain of the Centuarian Guard, Capt. Tramples His Enemies, or "Tramples" for short. Check out more of his work here: instagram.com/gianluca_fasce… #DnD #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons

The Paladin of Anubis: Alright guys, we're gonna TALK this out, OK? No stabbing, no shooting, no punching, got it? The Rogue:

Meet the team! Up next is Dr. Jill Waller, our resident PhD egyptologist, providing interesting connections to real historical facts about ancient Egypt. Read about the team here: keshanar.com/about/keshanar… Art by @rsrz90

Happy Halloween adventurers! Spooky Season = Spooky Skeleton Mirage Demon (a Keshanar monster) Art by @DariuszKielisz2 #dungeonsanddragons #tabletopgames #gaming

Y'all like homebrew? Get ready for some of our homebrew playable races in The Kingdom of Keshanar, like the Crocodile Celeshu below, Bwegyt Bloodjaw! Art by @shauniraven #dungeonsanddragons #tabletopgames #gaming

Safe to say we had an AWESOME time at Gamehole Con. We met so many cool people, both game creators and players, and we're happy we had the chance to run so many games. To those who showed up to play with us, we hope you had fun! #GameholeCon #dungeonsanddragons #ttrpgcommunity

We're at Gamehole Con! Any other gamers out here? Swing by table 106 for a quick adventure through the Kingdom of Keshanar! #GameholeCon #dungeonsanddragons #ttrpgcommunity

Hey DMs--we all know that last-minute scramble for NPC names. That's why our material comes with pre-built NPCs, such as Aura, a Keshite teenager known to glimpse into the future! Art by Gianluca Fascetto: instagram.com/gianluca_fasce… #dungeonsanddragons #tabletopgames #gaming

Hey there dice hoarders! Want these Eye of Apep liquid-core dice? You can reserve your set for only $1 by becoming one of our VIP Kickstarter backers here! launch.keshanar.com #DnD #ttrpg #dungeonsanddragons #Kickstarter