Ardeth Bay

Ardeth Bay was sworn from manhood to ensure that none travel to Hamunaptra and resurrect the High Priest Imhotep from death, and tended to his duty with dedication, frightening off or killing all that reached the city.

Along with other Medjai warriors, Ardeth Bay patrolled the ruins of Hamanaptra as well as the dunes surrounding it for any offenders.

One day in 1923 A.D, Ardeth Bay and his fellow Medjai warriors witnessed a battle taking place at Hamanaptra: a garrison from the French Foreign Legion had staked out in Hamunaptra, nearly all its men believing in it so much that without orders they trekked through Libya to find the ruins.

The soldiers outnumbered the Medjai forces so greatly that any attack by the Medjai would be ineffective and would not disperse the troops enough to have them leave.

The Legionnaires, however, had a trouble of their own: a roving band of Tuareg warriors came to the ruins, outnumbering the Legionnaires greatly, compelling them all to fight.

Colonel Guizot, the Legionnaires' leader, left the battle supposedly to fetch reinforcements, actually abandoning his men in the ruins.

This act of cowardice branded Rick O'Connell, a Legionnaire formerly of Chicago and the next highest rank in the garrison, the leader of the Legionnaire troops.

After much gun-fighting and slaughter, the Tuaregs were brought down in numbers as were nearly all the men in the Legionnaire garrison, save for O'Connell and Beni Gabor, a Legionnaire foot soldier that had chosen to hide in a doorway within the ruins.

O'Connell fought as best he could, taking down many Tuaregs, but finally outgunned as the warriors surrounded him on horseback, about to open fire.

At that moment, however, an unknown force under the sands caused the Tuaregs' horses to panic, compelling the Tuaregs themselves to leave the scene, as they too saw that force.

O'Connell soon after saw the force manifesting itself as it caused the surrounding sands to take the shape of a giant human face contorted with pain.

Frightened off by this new turn of events, O'Connell ran off from the ruins of Hamanaptra and into the deserts of the Sahara as the Medjai warriors watched on surreptitiously, Ardeth Bay among them.

One Medjai warrior asked Ardeth Bay if they should attack, as O'Connell could return to civilisation and tell the tale, Ardeth Bay replying that if the Tuaregs could not stop O'Connell, the desert would take care of him.

Three years after the battle between the Tuaregs and the Legionnaires, the Medjai received word from a loyal contact, the curator of a Cairo Museum, that the Museum's librarian Evelyn Carnahan had found a map leading to Hamunaptra.

She and her brother Jonathan recruited O’Connell to lead them, and a team of Medjai assassins were sent out to intercept the barge ferrying the explorers down the Nile.

The leader of this group, a menacing tattooed man with scars and a hook for a right hand, confronted a terrified Evelyn, demanding the map and the puzzle box, an Ancient Egyptian device that was referred to by the assailant as "the key", that contained the parchment.

At that moment Rick O’Connell arrived to battle the Medjai forces, which were setting fire to the ship and shooting at helpless bystanders.

As O’Connell was preparing to abandon ship, the hook-handed Medjai tackled him from over the rail, knocking down Rick.

As the warrior beat O’Connell with brutal hay-makers and strangled the American against a pole, Rick then furiously broke free of the Medjai’s grip, head-butting the man and kicking him through a door that led to a burning room

A few days later, having survived the attack on the boat, O’Connell led his clients to the lost city, and soon after were accompanied by a team of American fortune seekers also looking for Hamunaptra.

One night, while riding en route through the desert, a wary O’Connell spotted a trio of Medjai horsemen watching him from atop a rock formation; not knowing the riders to be Medjai, he remained on alert.

Ardeth declared that O'Connell was strong, having survived a trek through the desert.

The next night, Ardeth and a group of Medjai warriors stormed the camp grounds on horseback, killing off several native diggers and having some of their own number brought down as O'Connell, along with the three Americans, Evelyn, and Jonathan fought back.

As Jonathan shot a pistol and helped himself to a dead explorer's whiskey, Ardeth came roving towards him on horseback, brandishing a scimitar as he did.

O'Connell tackled the Medjai, knocking him off his horse.

Another Medjai caused O'Connell to lose his focus and shoot away at him, killing the warrior, which gave Ardeth a moment to knock the pistol out of O'Connell's hand.

Rolling backwards and grabbing a stick of dynamite as he fell back, the American lit the fuse of the dynamite.

Seeing that the American was not bluffing, Ardeth called off his remaining warriors and declared that they would kill no more, but that the expeditionaries must all leave the City of the Dead or die.

Giving them all one day to leave, Ardeth jumped up onto his horse and took his warriors with him.

The combined expeditions refused to leave, camping in groups rather than alone as a precaution.

That night, the tents of the expeditionaries were combined into one single area to ensure protection.

The next night, Evelyn Carnahan, having taken the already-discovered Book of the Dead from Allen Chamberlin, had mistakenly read the incantations that led to the resurrection of Imhotep.

At that time, Ardeth and the other Medjai warriors had returned to the City of the Dead, finding Dr. Chamberlin in the campsite and taking him hostage.

The Medjai had all found the expeditionaries that had run into the tunnels in fear of the mummy's curse coming to them shortly after, taking one member of the expedition, Burns from within the chambers below: Burns was missing his eyes and tongue after he had run into the mummy Imhotep.

Ardeth stepped forward from his fellow warriors, as they outnumbered the expeditionaries in firepower and numbers, to tell them that because they refused to leave, their actions might have caused some serious troubles; the expeditionaries had unleashed an ancient evil that was feared by the Medjai for over three thousand years.

O'Connell remarked that he had already dispatched the evil one, as Ardeth remarked that no mortal weapon could do any damage to the mummy.

With that, two Medjai stepped forward, bringing in Burns, who had been maimed severely by the mummy.

Henderson and Daniels, Burns' companions, had bitterly accused Ardeth and the other Medjai of disfiguring their friend, while Ardeth stated that Burns had been saved from the mummy completing his work.

Commanding the expeditions to leave the City of the Dead, Ardeth declared that he would go on the hunt and try and find a way to kill the creature.

O'Connell insisted that he had killed the enemy, but Ardeth was unconvinced still, telling the American that the mummy would bring death, never stopping to rest until the whole of his curse took the Earth itself.

Ardeth had eventually made his way to Cairo, where he sought out his contact, Dr Terence Bey.

At that time, Evelyn, O'Connell, Jonathan, Henderson and Daniels stepped into the Cairo Museum to speak with Dr. Bey, having just seen their fellow expeditionary Burns dead by the doing of Imhotep, and seek advice.

Surprised to see that Ardeth Bay was in league with Dr. Bey, Evelyn demanded to know what the Medjai was doing within the Museum as her friends pointed their firearms at the warrior; Dr. Bey calmly responded by asking if they really wished to know or if they would prefer to just shoot them both.

All in the group decided to put down their arms and listen.

Dr. Bey and Ardeth explained that they were part of an ancient secret society that was dedicated to the protection of mankind by ensuring from manhood that they would do all that they could to ensure that the High Priest Imhotep did not return into the world; Ardeth told the group accusingly that, because, of them, the Medjai mission was failed.

Evelyn asked if their actions justified the killing of innocents, to which Ardeth and Dr. Bey replied that it was, if only to stop the creature.

Asked why Imhotep feared cats so, Dr. Bey replied that cats were the guardians of the Underworld, and that Imhotep would fear them until he was fully regenerated, fearing nothing once he was whole.

Evelyn then cited that Imhotep had called her Anck-Su-Namun while they were at Hamunaptra, and while in Burns' quarters he had tried to kiss her; Dr. Bey and Ardeth explained that it was because Imhotep's love for Anck-Su-Namun that he was cursed, and that after three thousand years, he was still in love with her.

Dr. Bey and Ardeth then concluded that Imhotep might intend to resurrect his love, having chosen Evelyn as his sacrifice.

Dr. Bey took this as possible good new, as it might have given them the time needed to kill the mummy.

Ardeth then noted that they would need all of the help that they could get, as Imhotep's powers were growing, referring to the sun, which was being blocked out as one of the Plagues.

After some time, Evelyn, O'Connell, Jonathan, and Daniels had returned to the Cairo Museum and had met up once again with Dr. Bey and Ardeth, where Evelyn and the Curator set out to look for any artifacts within the museum that might give clues to where the Book of Amun-Ra, the only thing that could bring down Imhotep, was located.

As the group examined one displayed slab with hieroglyphs on it, the sound of chanting resonated from outside as the townspeople of Cairo, then covered with boils and sores, marched to the museum in great hordes; they had been made Imhotep's slaves.

The mob then proceeded to break down the doors as those inside frantically read the hieroglyphs and concluded that the Book of Amun-Ra was located in Hamunaptra inside the statue of Horus.

The mob outside broke down the doors at once as Jonathan ran outside to start the car, leaving O'Connell, Evelyn, Ardeth, Daniels and Dr. Bey to run outside and board it when Beni Gabor, a guide on the expedition to Hamunaptra, then in league with Imhotep, called out for his master.

The group escaped at once as the enslaved townsfolk pursued them, but were stopped when a large crowd of the townspeople were blocking the road.

Plowing through them, the resisters had been swarmed with many of the townspeople, who had begun to climb up the car.

Ardeth, along with O'Connell, Daniels, Evelyn and Dr. Bey, began to fight them off, punching them off and hitting them so that they fell from the car.

Soon after, they had lost Daniels, who fell from the car as he was pulled down by two of the townspeople, and the car ran directly into a fire hydrant, stopping the group from escaping any further.

Cornered by the townspeople, the group saw Imhotep fully regenerated, tailed by Beni, who translated his words for him: if Evelyn stepped forward and left with Imhotep, the mummy would spare her friends.

Evelyn reluctantly stepped forward, and was almost stopped by O'Connell, but Evelyn reasoned that she still had to be taken to Hamunaptra for the ritual to be performed, which Ardeth explained as "live today, fight tomorrow".

O'Connell then reluctantly stepped back, vowing to see the mummy again, and as Imhotep left with Evelyn, he ordered the townspeople to kill off the resisters.

O'Connell, seeing that he was outnumbered, quickly opened a manhole cover on the road, sending Jonathan and Ardeth down.

Before he could send the Curator down, the Curator insisted that he be left to fight off the townspeople, but was overpowered by them and killed.

O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth had made their way through the city's sewer systems, encountering and fighting against crazed villagers many times, until O'Connell lit up a dynamite stick and threw it, killing off a number of the enslaved people.

Finally escaping the sewers, O'Connell and Ardeth devised a plan to reach Hamunaptra, rescue Evelyn, and end Imhotep's plans.

The three men reached the airfield where Winston Havelock, an aging biplane pilot in the employ of the Royal Air Force, volunteered to help them reach the ruins once he had learned that the job entailed dying in action.

Winston, however, pointed that his plane only had room for one pilot and one gunman, but Jonathan insisted that they all had to get to the ruins.

Jonathan then was assigned with finding a way to tie himself to one wing of the plane, while Ardeth would be tied to the other.

The plane then took off for the City of the Dead, and Ardeth, who had never before flown on a plane, was enjoying the experience.

As they were all riding through the air and reaching the ruins, Imhotep spotted the plane and used his powers to conjure up a sandstorm that impeded the plane's arrival.

The sandstorm soon subsided and the plane, with its engines burnt out, crashed to the desert below.

As O'Connell, Jonathan and Ardeth got off of the plane, Winston remained in the cockpit: he had died in battle.

The sands gave way to the plane as Ardeth shouted for O'Connell and Jonathan step back from the wreck, taking down Winston Havelock and his plane.

Taking a moment of silence out of respect for the fall of the pilot, the group then began their walk to the ruins.

O'Connell and Ardeth began to take down large rocks that were blocking off an entrance, and Jonathan, who was holding a torch for them, was sidetracked by a mural on the wall with large shiny stones in it.

Plucking a stone from the wall, Jonathan held it in his hand until he saw that the stone was actually a scarab, which had begun to tear its way up through Jonathan's skin and to his head; O'Connell stopped the scarab by cutting it out and flinging it to the floor, and as the scarab tried to escape, O'Connell shot it dead with a revolver.

Imhotep, however, had heard the shot and, knowing that his foes had survived, brought back his mummified priests, and ordered them to kill off the resisters and awaken the other priests.

As the mummified priests woke each other up, O'Connell, Ardeth and Jonathan all reached the treasure chamber of Hamunaptra, which shone brightly with many gold statues and other priceless artifacts.

As the three men stood within the chamber, taking in the sight of the golden valuables, they heard a low croaking sound that came from behind them, the sound being a mummy that was emerging from the sandy floor, along with other mummies that came from the floor as well, and from the corridors near the chamber entrance.

Ardeth identified the mummies as Imhotep's priests, and the group began to open fire on them, escaping just in time, and finding the statue of Horus, which O'Connell and Jonathan were about to pry open, when a pair of mummies erupting from the floor, threw them aside and began to pry at the compartment of the statue.

The compartment then released a burning jet of salt acid that incinerated the mummies, allowing O'Connell and Jonathan to continue their work. The mummies kept coming in greater numbers when

Ardeth decided to stave them off by running from the other two men and driving the mummies away.

Ardeth ran into a corridor that was filled with mummies and, fighting his way out, Ardeth drew the mummies away.

After he had drawn them away, Ardeth escaped back up to the surface.

Not long after, O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan defeated Imhotep by returning him to his mortal form and as that happened, Beni had mistakenly brought down the city of Hamunaptra, trapping himself inside by mistake, and leaving the three survivors to escape quickly.

As O'Connell, Evelyn and Jonathan stood outside of the ruins of Hamunaptra, a bandaged hand took Jonathan's shoulder, surprising them all; the hand was Ardeth's, and Ardeth, then atop a camel, explained that because they had killed Imhotep, they were blessed with the gratitude and respect of Ardeth's people.

With that, Ardeth blessed them in Allah's name and left towards the sunset on his camel.

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