In 2097, Egypt is once again a land of dualities—a nation split between myth and modernity, divided not by civil war but by the sheer metaphysical divergence of its regions. Along the fertile Nile Delta and the Mediterranean coast, Egypt is still tethered to the global order: a modern state with technocrats, corporate enclaves, and international trade. But as you travel south, past Luxor and into the old lands of Thebes and beyond, a different Egypt stirs—one where gods no longer dwell in myth, but in flesh.
The result is a paradoxical power on the rise: expansionist, isolationist, deeply magical, and technologically advanced. Egypt is no longer just a nation. It is becoming a civilizational echo, resurrecting the memory of empire with teeth and claws—and falcon heads.
The Two Kingdoms Reborn
Lower Egypt (North):
The delta cities of Cairo, Alexandria, and the Suez Arcologies remain global hubs. The region is semi-democratic, highly bureaucratized, and outward-facing. It maintains strong ties with European and Asian powers and tolerates megacorporate presence—so long as tribute is paid. Shadowrunners and smugglers find ample work here, often in the gray zones between archaeology, espionage, and artifact theft.
This region is governed by the National Restoration Authority (NRA)—a secularist council attempting to preserve Egypt’s sovereignty while navigating the surreal political realities of the modern era. But even here, temples are reopening. Cults are gaining legitimacy. And rumors spread of ministers who wear golden masks behind closed doors.
Upper Egypt (South):
South of the capital, reality shifts.
Here, the Awakening has taken hold in full. Ancient sites like Karnak, Abydos, and Abu Simbel have become nexuses of magical power. Thebes, now renamed Waset-Nekhbet, serves as the seat of a rising theocracy where the Ennead—the gods of old—are said to walk the land. Whether these are true Fourth World survivors, powerful spirits, or Awakened posthumans is hotly debated. What is not in doubt is their power.
Time behaves strangely here. Magic warps perception. Constellations unseen for thousands of years have reappeared in the night sky. Foreign drones malfunction. Wireless networks fail. The living gods are not fond of observation.
Expansionism and Influence
Egypt’s ambitions do not stop at its borders.
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To the South, military and magical campaigns push into Sudan and South Sudan, where local governments are either absorbed or turned into tributaries. The ruins of Meroë have become the site of a massive astral excavation zone, guarded by spirit-warriors in the service of the god Set.
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To the West, Libya is in turmoil. Egypt supports puppet warlords in Tripolitania and Cyrenaica, spreading its ideological and magical doctrine. Some say the goddess Sekhmet herself leads raids in the deep desert.
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To the East, influence creeps into the Levant—through prophecy, trade, and slow infiltration. Cults to Isis, Thoth, and Osiris are now common in parts of Jordan and Israel. The border region of the Sinai is a tense and haunted landscape, home to pilgrims and paracritters alike.
Culture and Society
Egypt’s population is deeply divided—but not along old ethnic or religious lines. Instead, the fracture is metaphysical.
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Modernists cling to the familiar structures of the Sixth World: corporations, universities, modern medicine, and rational law. They live in the north, in glass towers and matrix-linked towers.
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Reverents embrace the return of the gods. Some serve temples. Others see themselves as vessels for divine will. Many are Awakened—and many disappear into the south, never to return.
In between are the Masked Bureaucrats—technocrats and thaumaturges who work to bridge the divide, while pursuing private agendas of their own. Some worship the gods in secret. Others seek to bind or study them. No one trusts them, but everyone needs them.
Shadowrunning in Egypt
Egypt is a land of tomb raiders, spirit courts, black-market relics, and unstable power centers. Opportunities abound:
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Artifact theft from both modern museums and ancient ruins.
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Magical smuggling between the north and south.
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Espionage between factions within the NRA and temple hierarchies.
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Assassinations or retrievals at the behest of foreign powers unnerved by Egypt’s rise.
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Escort missions into the deep desert—possibly to meet a god… or stop one.
But beware: crossing into Upper Egypt without divine permission can be a fatal mistake.
Final Thoughts
In 2097, Egypt is a nation split by belief and proximity to the divine. It remembers who it was—and is becoming something terrifying and glorious in the remembering. Whether it becomes the cradle of a new civilization or the center of a global magical conflict remains to be seen.
One thing is certain: the gods are watching.
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