How About an Egypt Story?

Characters:1

1) A painter's appretince--15.  From a middle-class background.  Rather naive, but very genuine/good-hearted.  Not easily angered, but with a destructive temper when something sets him off.2

2) A second apprentice to the same painter--19.  From a mixed financial background.  His uncle is a merchant and is fairly well-off, and it is thanks to him that the apprentice was able to attach himself to such a skilled master.  The apprentice's father, however, never made much of himself.  Takes his art a bit *too* seriously.  Highly ambitious, rather sarcastic, irascible.3

3) Their master--41.  A brilliant, somewhat sickly man.  Appears to have some sort of cancer or something a modern reader might realize came from chemicals in the paint.  Tries to be fair and realizes that the second apprentice takes advantage of the first's naivete, but is often either too preoccupied or physically incapable of handling them.4

4) The master's niece--17.  She and her mother live with the painter (her mother's brother) after her father's death.  A bit spoiled and vain, but this may be because she has the same artistic leanings as her uncle, which are unfortunately being squashed by Egyptian society.5

5) The jackal--An enigmatic animal who is not only gargantuan but has eyes the color of lapis lazuli.  He appears to be haunting the first apprentice.  Is he a god?  The wandering ka (spirit) of some unfortunate person?  Though he speaks, he offers no answers.6

Objects7

1) A bone comb carved with what appears to be a sea scene, but part of the top has broken off.  The first apprentice found on the banks of the Nile after the last flood.8

2) A copy of The Book of the Dead.  The three painters are transferring the writing to the walls of the queen's tomb.9

3) Very fine painting materials.  They were given to the second apprentice by his uncle.10

4) A cone of perfume given to the niece by a merchant in the Thebes market.11

5) A single reed of papyrus.12

Settings (all in Thebes except Hapshepsut's tomb )13

1) The study of the architect, Ineni (his real name), who is in charge of building Hatshepsut's tomb.14

2) Deep underground in the Valley of the Kings, in what will be the tomb of Queen Hatshepsut.  The three painters are working on copying and illuminating The Book of the Dead on the walls.15

3) The painter's home.  He are decently well-off since he and his apprentices came into the employment of the queen, but there are other much more respected painters working on the tomb.16

4) The first apprentice's room in the middle of the night.17

5) On the bank of the Nile, which cuts through Thebes.18

Time frame: Around 1450 B.C.19