Stargate Worlds Diary #1

Cheyenne Mountain’s Chris Klug discusses storytelling in massively multiplayer games and the writer’s primary job

Stargate Worlds Diary #2

The Creative Director on Cheyenne Mountain’s online project discusses scenes and their role in conveying a story

Stargate Worlds Diary #3

A new segment from Cheyenne Mountain on more of the creative thinking underlying the title’s storytelling element

Stargate Worlds Diary #4

A deconstructed mission to show us some of the thought processes employed by Cheyenne Mountain’s writing team

From the main Stargate Worlds forums:

Originally Posted by Ledaye
Okay, so here’s a name: Anat. You might also want to research Egyptian funereal texts.

Mythology

Anat is described as a major goddess of fertility, sexual love, hunting and war.

In the Egyptian myth of the Contest between Horus (Heru-ur) and Seth, Anat and Ashtart appear as daughters of Ra and consorts of Seth/Baal (Note: In Egyptian myth it was Seth, who they equated with the Canaanite deity Baal). As a warrior Anat confined herself to slaying the enemies of Baal. She may also be Rachmay, one of the two nursemaids of the gods. She is also the twin sister of Myrrh. She participates in the confrontation between Baal and Yam-Nahar. In a missing portion of the text she slays Yam and other enemies of Baal. Although Baal personally overcame Yam, it is uncertain whether or not he fought Lotan, the Leviathan of the Old Testament, but it is known that Anat “crushed the writhing serpent, the accused one of the seven heads.”

Burial

What’s interesting is the reference to Myrrh - humans were stuffed with precious spices before burial after the removal of organs (to prevent decomposition). Myrrh and cassia (a fragrant bark similar to cinnamon) were placed in the abdominal cavity, which was then sewn up.

Some Conclusions

It is possible that the reference to Anat “crushing the writhing serpent” might be a previous victorious confrontation between Anat and Apophis. Since Apophis and Ra were rivals, this would be likely given the close relationship Anat is implied to have with the Supreme System Lord Ra.

Anat seems to have been closely allied with the System Lords Seth and Baal and has clearly been to war on behalf of Baal, perhaps even them both.

Anat and Hathor seem to have similar roles, with regard to sexuality and fertility, but Anat was clearly the more dangerous and military minded of the two while Hathor was more popular and enduring. Anat vanishes from the pages of history where Hathor lived on, equated with Aphrodite/Venus. Both appear to have been Goa’uld queens (”one of the two nursemaids of the gods”).

What is interesting is the reference to Myrrh, however. This suggests that her military mind was seeking foot-soldiers, and that Anat may well be the mother/originator of the Jaffa. (sister of Myrrh, placed into the abdominal cavity).

Today the 31th or the 1st depending where you live is the 2nd Anniversary for the Stargate Worlds forums. I think we should give a round of applause for the moderators and CME workers. It’s not often that a community for a game is launched so early in its production, But as you can see it paid off well. Bringing such members together like Jayna, Zoeff and Ryst making what the forums are today! Three Cheers for SGW and CME. Hip Hurray, Hip Hurray, Hip Hurray.

Full Story Here.

~Uplink