The necromancers of Giza, a cult of reanimators
Concerned with interrogation of the long dead
Corpses who may be revived and made to talk

And describe the contents of rare books
And gold hidden in the earth
Although they are often reluctant to reveal their secrets
And must be encouraged with fire and blade

The essential salts

A corpse chosen for resurrection is cut into
Parts of convenient size boiled in clean water
Linen strips of mummification are removed
Skull and bones liquefied, boiled until all water is gone

What remains in the bottom is a white crystalline substance
That may be carried in the palms of two hands
This white powder contains the essential salts of the man
Whose corpse was boiled

It is from this powder that the living body may be recons***uted
And made to serve as a house for the soul
Which is called back into its former flesh by words of power
It is a great shock to the soul to tear it back
From its resting place and reanimate it

The resurrected are often insane and scream ceaselessly
If the salts are contaminated with the essence of other living beings
When the mummy has been the breeding place of vermin
The revitalization of the salts produces something
That is part man and part whatever gnawed his corpse

These horrors lack the faculty of speech
Or their speech is crazed and bestial and must be immediately slain
For though the memory of the man may remain intact
The verminous parts of his reanimated nature inhibit his human expression

Those who have served their purpose are killed
By strangulation with a cord around their neck
And their bodies burned, their ashes gathered and cast into the Nile
Where the currents carry them to the sea