==History==  

The Ennead are a race of superhumanly powerful humanoid beings who were once worshipped in the region known as Ancient Egypt from around 3200 BC to 395 BC when the land was conquered by the Ancient Greeks. At its zenith, the Egyptian Empire controlled most of Northern Africa including Libya, Ethiopia and possibly most of Northern Africa and parts of the Middle East. Considered one of the oldest pantheons on Earth, their origins possibly predate the Hyborian Age, a vague period of time between the sinking of Atlantis and the beginning of written records. The Ennead dwell in Celestial Heliopolis, a small "pocket" dimension adjacent to Earth. Celestial Heliopolis was named for Heliopolis, a Greek word meaning "City of the Sun," now a part of the modern city of Cairo, but in the time of Ancient Egypt it was one of the four major centers of worship for the ancient Egyptian religion. (The other three cities were Hermopolis, Memphis, and Busiris.) The gods worshipped at Heliopolis became the most widely known and honored in all of Egypt, and constitute one of Earth's first great pantheons. The Ennead were said to have originated and dwelled on Earth until the time that the human pharaohs took over the rule of the earthly kingdoms. At that time, the pantheon founded its own celestial city of Heliopolis in a dimension adjacent to Earth's. It is there that the gods of ancient Egypt have dwelled through historical times till the present. Very little is known about Celestial Heliopolis other than that it appears to be built on a small planetary object much like Asgard, the realm of the Norse gods, and its passage to earth is a golden bridge through space called the Path of the Gods, which is analogous to the Asgardian Rainbow Bridge.

The Ennead came into existence over several generations, even as how the Olympian gods derived from the older generation of Titans. Before there were any other gods there was Nun, the essence of chaos or the Primordial Ocean of Nothingness. (It is believed that Nun was actually Gaea, the primordial earth-mother who had survived the destruction of the Elder Gods of Earth by infusing her life into the life-giving essence of the Earth). Nun was said to sire Atum, the ancestral deity of the Egyptian Gods (and possibly other pantheons as well). He later took the aspect and identity of Ra (or Re), the primordial essence of the sun and first god to develop a cult of worshipers among the Egyptians. As Atum-Re, he battled the serpent, Apophis, for control of the universe, eventually exiling him into the underworld, and afterward, proceeding to sire the first generation of gods, known as the Ogdoad, ruled over by Ammon-Ra, who became god of heaven and earth. According to Egyptian religion, there were three incarnations of Ra. The first was Atum-Re, who created the universe, Ammon-Ra, who created the earth and Khnum-Ra, who created the first people. 

Unlike the other pantheons of Earth, the Egyptian gods did not live apart from their worshippers, and instead lived on Earth near the centers of their worship. Ammon-Ra ruled over the gods from Thebes, and Shu ruled from Heliopolis, now part of the modern city of Cairo. When they became too elderly or infirmed to rule on Earth, they retreated for Duat, the afterlife. According to some accounts, Shu took Ammon-Ra's place as ruler of Egypt when he became too weary and old to rule, and became the god of air. His twin sister, Tefnut, ruled at his side as goddess of the rain. Shu and Tefnut began the fourth generation of gods, Geb and Nut. Geb was a god of the earth, having a natural affinity for mountains and other parts of the earth's crust. Nut was a goddess of the sky, specifically the starry heavens. Geb and Nut succeeded their parents when they too became too infirm to rule and began the next more numerous generations of gods, eldest among which was Osiris.

Osiris's siblings included Isis, whom he took as a wife, Horos (not to be confused with Horus), Seth, and Nephthys. Osiris became the head of the pantheon when Geb stepped down, and is credited with the spread of civilization throughout Egypt and beyond. Osiris was the last ruler of Egypt before historical times and the human pharaohs came to rule. Osiris became the benevolent god of the dead, preparing the afterlife for his loyal worshippers. Osiris's wife, Isis, was believed to have taught  humanity, the arts of medicine and the principles of domestication. She was also a powerful sorceress who was able to bring Osiris back to life after he had been murdered and dismembered by his jealous younger brother, Seth. Seth was the god of evil and destruction, who sought to rule Heliopolis himself, and murdered Osiris in order to do so. His wife, Nephthys, daughter of Geb, and sister of Isis, was also a goddess of the dead but was not evil like her husband. Nephthys had no offspring with Seth, but bore Osiris two sons, Anubis and Bata. Anubis invented funeral rites and mummy wrappings, and although it was Isis's magic that raised Osiris from the dead, her magic would have been useless had Anubis not specially prepared Osiris's body.

Osiris and Isis had a son, Horus the god of the sun. Horus was also instrumental in helping raise his father from the dead after Seth's treachery. Upon resurrection, Osiris dispatched his son, Horus, to find Seth to make him pay for his treachery. Eventually, Horus encountered Seth and their cataclysmic clash lasted centuries involving Horus's brothers, Anubis and Bata as his loyal allies. Seth finally got the upper hand over his nephew and used his powers to seal Horus, Isis, and Osiris within a pyramid on Earth. There they remained until the Twentieth Century when Odin, then lord of the Gods of Asgard, assumed the guise of Atum-Re, an aspect of the first of the gods, in order to free them. Odin's son Thor aided the Ennead in vanquishing Seth. Retreating from Earth, Osiris and his siblings retreated for Duat, now Celestial Heliopolis, named after the center of their worship on Earth.

Around 1000 BC, Thoth or Ammon-Ra had appeared to represent the Egyptian gods to meet with the rulers of the other gods once worshipped on Earth to discuss the threat of the Third Host of the Celestials. The Celestials had threatened to seal off the portals of each of their godly realms unless they promised to stop interfering in mortal affairs. Although Osiris was not present to this meeting, he followed the earlier pledge between Ammon-Ra and Odin to donate the necessary life energies to the Asgardians slain during the Fourth Host of the Celestials. When Thor came to Celestial Heliopolis to petition a portion of the required life energies as part of this vow, Osiris later saw that a debt had been paid to his realm and offered Thor the necessary energies to restore the slain Asgardian gods to life.

While Osiris, Isis, and Horus were imprisoned, the moon god Thoth, who had served as Osiris's grand vizier, became head of the Egyptian pantheon. Thoth was a son of Khnemu-Ra, the third incarnation of Ra, and a contemporary of Osiris. After each generation of Egyptian gods retired from earthly rule, they traveled to the dimension of Duat (later Celestial Heliopolis) to live out eternity. Beginning with the rule of Thoth, however, all of the gods moved to the other-dimensional realm, to traffic with the earth no more. When Osiris returned, Thoth returned the throne to his mentor. The Ennead have remained in their extra-dimensional realm since, having little traffic with Earth. Like most races of gods, they are believed to be mere figments of myth by most of humanity. The goddess Bast, daughter of Osiris and Isis, and her daughter Sakhmet, however, are tutelary deities of the tiny East African republic of Wakanda.

Since retreating from Earth, very few of the Ennead have appeared on Earth. In recent years, Mikaboshi of the Japanese Gods devastated both Celestial Heliopolis and Abydos, the realm of the dead, and enslaved many of the Egyptian gods until Hercules banished him to another reality, restoring the gods to their original states. Several Egyptian gods have made their presence known to the demigod Carter Kane.  

Relations to Other Pantheons: The Ennead have been long time allies with the Olympian gods since the Greeks visited Egypt and started carrying worship and knowledge of the Ennead back to Greece and Rome. Relations with the neighboring Anunnaki or Gods of Mesopotamia have been further strained due to the more hostile Hittite and Babylonian invasions of Egypt. The exact connections the Ennead have with the Vodu or Gods of Africa are ambiguous; Egyptian gods have appeared in African myth under alternate names (the Meroe called the Egyptian lion-god Mihos by the name Apedemek). It has been suggested but unconfirmed that the Ennead might have had some contact with the Anasazi (Native American gods) or Coatli (Mexican gods) since the Aztec, Mayan and Plains people of North America were known for creating pyramids, but this may just simply be due to having parallel civilizations. The Ennead are known to be close allies with the Asgardian gods with Seth having made several attempts to conquer Asgard.

==Characteristics==

Body Type: Humanoid
Avg. Height: 6' 0"
Eyes: Two
Hair: Normal
Skin: Normal
Limbs: Two
Fingers: Five with opposable thumb
Toes: Five
Special Adaptations: The Ennead or Egyptian gods are immortal and cease to age upon reaching adulthood. They are physically more durable than human beings; their skin, bone and tissue being three times more durable and dense than similar tissue in human beings.

==Powers== 

Avg. Strength Level: All of the Ennead are superhumanly strong with the average male being able to lift (press) about 30 tons under optimal conditions and the average female being able to lift (press) about 25 tons under optimal conditions.
Known Powers: The Ennead possess superhuman strength, stamina, longevity and resistance to harm. They are also inclined to tap and manipulate mystical energies for feats of magic, mostly for altering their appearance, communicating over long distances, teleporting through dimension barriers and casting spells. The scope of their powers mostly limited to one object, idea or field, usually tied into their personality. For example, as the god of rain, Tefnut has dominance over rain and fertility, whereas, Horus, god of the sun can generate intense light and heat equal to a small sun.
Known Abilities: The Ennead are considered among the most beneficent gods of earth. They are proficient in the mystical arts as well as all forms of armed and unarmed combat.

==Miscellaneous==

Type of Government: Monarchy (ruled over by a pharaoh)
Level Of Technology: Magic
Cultural Traits: The Ennead were worshipped as gods in Ancient Egypt, which once included much of North Africa, including Libya and the region around the Red Sea including Ethiopia and Northern Sudan. Their culture resembles much of Pre-Theban Egypt. Due their ability to change their appearance, the Ennead were often worshipped in the form of their animal avatars; Khnemu-Ra was often pictured as a ram while Set was pictured as a serpent.
Names of Representatives: Amaunet, Ammon-Ra, Anubis, Anhur, Atum-Re, Bast, Bata, Bes, Geb, Hathor, Heru (Horos), Horus, Isis, Khnemu, Khonshu, Mihos, Montu, Neith (Nun), Nephthys, Nut, Osiris, Ptah, Qadesh, Sakhmet, Sebek, Selkhet, Sesmu, Seth, Tawaret, Thoth, et al.