Night #12 - "My warriors, come forth!"

Kahmunrah's army of bird-headed warriors were summoned from the Underworld by means of a tablet, a gate, and a command (it's up for debate as to whether or not the chant that Kahmunrah does is even necessary), but to what limitations are they subject? They skip town after finding they have no effect on a gigantic marble Lincoln with pigeon issues, so the question is never entirely answered, but, as with the tablet's possible effects on the three old night guards should they have succeeded, there are several possibilities.

For one, if the tablet was key to their summoning, then logically the tablet can be used to get rid of them, even if it is used to open the gate and send them back to the Underworld from whence they came.

For another, are the birdmen subject to the same limitations as exhibits? This is a key question for anyone plotting world domination through this method. If you want access to your evil army at any time to lay waste to the opposition, then you need to make sure you've accounted for the whole inertness-at-daylight thing. This can be accomplished one of two ways, the first being to extend effective immortality to the exhibits and the second being to know for damned well sure that the birdmen are under your expressly approved leadership for periods of your inactivity so they can carry out your mission while you can't lead them very well. The former possibility guarantees immunity to daylight, and the latter assumes it, and people of various personality types will for various reasons (among them being knowledge, or lack thereof, of birdmen in general) go with either option. In any event, it is a chief consideration when working on taking over the world using an army of the damned.

Thirdly, those birdmen look pretty damned squishy. I mean, sure, they're seasoned warriors who've been around literally since Christ was a corporal, but it looks like there are a lot of very choice places to plant a spear, sword, or bullet. And considering they have bird heads and birds have hollow bones, snapping necks and crushing skulls should be doubly easy. They are armed, yes, but they do not look very well armored. If they ever stuck around for any significant length of time, eventually this topic would be brought up, and someone would wonder or suspect that they are under supernatural protection from their (apparent) patrons, Ra and Horus, both falcon-headed and involved in battle in various capacities, one against the god of darkness and the other as the protector of the pharaohs. Or perhaps they are supernatural in their own right (for instance being spirits of the faceless/unburied dead) and cannot be harmed by mortal means. Knowledge of how this works in detail would be especially useful to resistance leaders in the era of Kahmunrah.

It's really a shame Kahmunrah's army of the damned didn't stick around for us to study. The results of that would have been really interesting.

In any event, next on "For the Love of Night at the Museum": What is the exact reach of the tablet, and how long are affected exhibits affected?

Countdown: 364 Days to NATM 3