ARTEFACTS
Paintings and Symbols background
[Paintings&Symbols-2]
08-August-2001
"THE FIVE PAINTINGS AND SYMBOLS
THE CREATION OF THE SANGLYPH
1/ In 1445 Eckhardt’s 100 years pact with
the Nephilim is up. Apart from carrying the task they set him
on the human breeding colonies, he has been working on his own plans.
He intends to betray the Nephilim, crush and rule over them and take
control of the new Nephilim race by transforming himself into a
neo-Nephilim, supreme being of the revitalised race.
2/ To dominate the this declining race and take
their powers he needs a weapon, an unbeatable power source.
3/ His researches through obscure manuscripts came
up with mention of three crystalline shards of power used by
the Nephilim - the Three Periapt Shards. They were looted and
brought back from Turkey by Crusaders in the 1200’s. But Eckhardt
was never able to track any of them down. In fact they were in the
hands of his mortal enemies the Lux Veritatis.
4/ But he does track down five other Nephilim
artefacts made from prima materia, alchemically refined
metals, the purest elemental form it is possible to achieve. He sets
out to create his own talismans of power based on what he has learned
of the Periapt Shards.
5/ Using his advanced alchemical expertise he
creates the Sanglyph, five separate but interlocking metal
symbols cast from the purified Nephilim elements. The process
involves the darkest of black arts and human sacrifice where elements
within his victims’ bodies are brutally transmuted and then
‘harvested’ violently.
THE FIVE SYMBOLS
6/ Each symbol is in the Nephilim alphabet-glyph
for that element. The power of each individual symbol is keyed to its
particular element in the atomic scale: sulphur, iron, copper,
phosphorus and potassium. When used in unison or locked together the
five Symbols can be used to overcome the Nephilim. Or so
Eckhardt believes.
NB. The ancient Nephilim alphabet and the overall
design of the Sanglyph Symbols are based on the curlicue patterns
seen on the Nephilim’s bodies.
7/ Eckhardt was convinced that not only would the
Sanglyph Symbols be a potent weapon and protection against the
Nephilim’s powers but that they would eventually enable him to
transform himself into a neo-Nephilim. To disguise their purpose the
symbols were built into five Paintings (icons). But he never got to
use them properly. Though in decline and weakened the Nephilim were
far more cunning and far stronger than anything Eckhardt could
create. They crushed him when he tried to change the terms of the
pact and attack them.
8/ As an object lesson they confined him to the
hideous Vita Mortua – the living death of the pit. They
intended to set him free once his bitter lesson had been learned, say
after a decade or so. They still need him to complete the tasks they
had set him. Nephilim do not experience time as mortals do and can
exhibit incredible patience on a non human scale of decades or
centuries.
9/ The Lux Veritatis complicate things by
galloping in, strengthening the forces holding Eckhardt prisoner by
using the Periapt Shards and building a massive fortress on top of
the pit. The undying Eckhardt was in for a longer stay than the
Nephilim had originally intended..."
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The Brother Obscura Manuscripts
[Bro-Obscura-v3]
21-August-2001
"THE BROTHER OBSCURA MANUSCRIPTS
THE FIVE SANGLYPH
PAINTINGS BROKEN UP
The
Sanglyph or ‘blood sign’ was a series of five images, paintings
of dark power created by Eckhardt for a grotesque ritual. Originally
known as the Sanglyph
Paintings they passed
into history as the Five
Obscura Paintings.
Each painting contained a hidden metallic symbol built into the thick
wooden base. These were the source of the paintings’ power.
After
Eckhardt’s power was broken by Nephilim in 1445 the Lux Veritatis
built Castle Kreigler to keep him confined. The still dangerous
Sanglyph paintings were seized and dispersed to widely scattered
locations.
Whenever
it gained control over objects of power the Vatican’s practice was
to secrete them away rather than have them destroyed. Despite the
urgings of the Lux Veritatis that the objects be destroyed it was
decided that the five paintings would be preserved under strictest
secrecy. It made no difference that the objects originated from an
evil source. The power they contained might be turned and used for
good at some future date. And there were no shortages of remote
monasteries and strongholds where they could be entombed.
DISGUISING THE SANGLYPH PAINTINGS
But
the risk of spiritual contamination from these evil works was
considered a very real danger. As an extra measure of protection the
Sanglyph Paintings would have to be painted over, disguised beneath
layers of Christian imagery. No ordinary artisan could be trusted
with the task. Someone special, someone dispensable would have to be
sacrificed.
THE CHOICE OF ARTIST
The
ideal choice was a reformed heretic, now a monk, who had once been a
great painter. He had suffered questioning by the Inquisition and
was now a crippled deaf-mute. All he wanted was to be left in peace
and forgotten by the world.
Snatched
from cloistered exile he was informed that his name was now Brother
Obscura. After being sworn to secrecy and threatened further with the
Inquisitors this unwilling victim was instructed in his secret
duties. He was to spend the next two years being ferried to each of
the five isolated locations where the Sanglyph paintings were housed
and paint over the objects with images approved of by the Church and
the Lux Veritatis.
He
was never allowed out of his designated quarters into daylight. He
ground all his own pigments and prepared his own food which he would
eat alone denied even the simple comfort of human contact.
For
months he laboured in darkness over each of the evil images and was
then whisked away in great secrecy to the next location. As a further
measure the paintings themselves were also moved to new, secluded
locations.
THE TASK COMPLETED
Within
two years his work was done. Everything he had used, all his brushes,
pigments and sketches were burned. All trace of his work was
obliterated and he was returned to the monastery which he had been
forced to leave. But Brother Obscura was not well. Confinement with
such potent sources of evil had taken its toll on his mind. Two weeks
after his return he was found hanging from the rafter beams in his
own cell. It was reported that he had taken his own life..."
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Kurtis blade weapon
[KURTIS'BLADE-v2]
20-August-2002
"KURTIS’ BLADE WEAPON
The
discus blade used by Kurtis is an ancient Lux Veritatis weapon made
of ferilium, a meteorite alloy. He inherited it along with the
Periapt Shards when his father was killed by Eckhardt. Kurtis’
ability to control the terrifying weapon comes from his Lux Veritatis
initiate training and knowing the Blade’s secret Veritatis name.
There
are other Lux Veritatis Blade weapons still in existence but
non-Veritatis can’t use them effectively and they are well hidden.
Kurtis may discover other Blades in Game II. One could have slots for
crystals or rods of alchemically pure elements. When these are locked
into place the Blade exhibits different qualities such as hovering
invisibly, turning its targets into ice, solidifying them, making
them burst apart in flames or crumbling them into dust. Another Blade
may split into half a dozen tiny razor discs and swoop like a flock
of birds. Another may be locked onto a particular person/target and
pursue them out of the controller’s viewpoint.
POSSIBLE
ROOT NAMES FOR THE BLADE.
Ultrix
= (avenging)
Ultrax
= avenging blade
Spartax
Panax
= blade of peace or travelling blade.
Tenax
= (tenacious/grip)
Scutax
= (scutella flat dish,) (like scud missile).
Psychax
= mind weapon
Mentax = mind
blade/knife
Volax
= flying blade
Arrapax
= arrow of peace
Diskax
Lumenax
= blade of light
Chalybax
Chirurgi
= (violent measures/surgery)
Chirugai
= (like assegai or shuriken)
Jattaca
= throwing blade
Feravis
= iron bird
Metaculum
= mind weapon (Gk)
Cogilum
= thought javelin
Radius
= blade
Tellum
= blade/beam of light
Gladius
= sword
Glaeve
= sword
Chatka
= ring thing
Iactus
= throw
Lamina
= blade
Lancea
= flying blade
Chakblade
Reizor
Discutum
Blade
TERMS/IDEAS
Knife missile
Mind blade
Mind javelin
Flying axe
Mind arrow
Light blade
Thought missile
Mind knife
Light knife"
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History of the Periapt Shards
[SHARDS-PERIAPT-v2]
11-December-2002
" THREE PERIAPT SHARDS
The three crystalline shards, which became known as the Periapts Shards, are objects
of power from Pre-biblical times. They can only be used by beings properly attuned to
their properties.
- They were originally created by the Nephilim to focus destructive impulses but they themselves proved especially vulnerable to the wild energies channelled by the crystals. As a safeguard they were hidden away in labyrinths beneath the Anatolian wastelands of ancient Turkey.
- All three Shards were stolen by Crusaders in the 1200’s and brought back to Europe. The marauders misinterpreted the devastating effects the Shards wreaked on the few Nephilim they encountered in the desert lands. But clearly they were artefacts great powers, possibly works of the Devil. So they were disguised as treasure trove and taken out of the country.
- The true nature of the Shards was only revealed when they were handed into the Lux Veritatis’ keeping. The Lux Veritatis were formed in 1176 as an inner corpus of the Knights Templar and were intended to suppress all works of devilry and magic. The Shards were ideally suited to use by these dedicated ‘demon suppressors’. The crystal’s powers seemed to disrupt magical forces in the most devastating and spectacular ways.
- In 1445 the Lux Veritatis used the Shards to permanently imprison Eckhardt the Black Alchemist, who had been condemned to the Pit of Pain by the Nephilim when he tried to betray them. The Lux Veritatis invaded the Pit, took it over and built a fortress prison on the site - Castle Kriegler.
- The Shards were perfect for keeping Eckhardt weakened by pain. It seemed impossible to kill him (the Lux Veritatis’ preferred option). He had become other than human due to a pact formed with the Nephilim in 1335. His life was unnaturally preserved and extended and his inhuman powers could only be incapacitated by something as powerful as the Shards.
- In 1945 Eckhardt’s prison was virtually demolished by misdirected Allied bombers and he escaped. He took one of the Shards with him, vowing it would never again be used against him. The other two were taken into hiding by Gerhardt Heissturm, Kurtis’ grandfather and Lux Veritatis guardian of the Pit prison.
- Eckhardt buried the Shard in his subterranean alchemy lab beneath the present day Strahov in Prague.
- Kurtis inherited the two Lux Veritatis Shards when his father, the last of the LV adepts, was hunted down and killed by Eckhardt’s forces.
- Now Kurtis is out to reunite the three Periapt Shards in order to use them against Eckhardt, preferably to finish him off permanently this time."
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