The Catholic Church is an organisation supposedly dedicated to following the ideals of God but is in fact the modern day version of the Cult of Amun-Ra, followers of the teachings of the Super-Ancient Beings and devout servants of the Four Legendary Kingdom.
Fictional History[]
Early History[]
At some point in the ancient past, the organisation that would in the present day be known as the Catholic Church was formed out of a group of sun cult worshipers who served the Four Legendary Kingdoms (primarily the Kingdom of Land) as devoted followers called the Cult of Amun Ra. While the Cult began preaching their own ideals of monotheism to the world, their highest-ranking members were entrusted with many of the secrets the Four Kingdoms had learned from the Super-Ancient Beings. The highest acolytes of the sun cult were also entrusted with the secrets to the Supreme Labyrinth, which would be tattooed onto their scalp, as Imhotep had done, a tradition that would be carried on through to the modern era.
Over the next several millennia, the Cult of Amun Ra began to evolve into the Catholic Church, and the vast majority of the organisation and its followers remained unaware of the Four Kingdoms' existence or of the falsehood of their religion, coming to revere a singular God, follow a strict doctrine, and worship Jesus Christ as a messiah. The only ones who knew the truth of their organisation's reason for being were a select few highly initiated members.
In 37 AD, the "bronze" globe containing the locations of the five iron mountains and the three secret cities, along with the obelisk it was mounted on, was ordered by the Roman emperor Caligula to be relocated from the Siwa Oasis to Rome. The priests of the original Cult of Amon-Ra who still resided in Siwa were outraged, and decided to deface the globe to keep its knowledge from the mad emperor. Because the metal the globe was made out of was strong, the priests were only able to file off the locations of two of the iron mountains before they were caught and executed. After the globe was brought to Rome, the Church took possession of it, and while it was initially allowed to remain at the top of the obelisk, the Church later brought it down and replaced it with a brass forgery, putting the true globe in their vaults in the Vatican Secret Archives.
During its existence, the Catholic Church secretly stole various treasures and artefacts of great significant importance to both their original sun cult forefathers (such as the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Khufu taken from the Great Pyramid and the uraeus of the Great Sphinx), and their newer doctrine, like a nail from the crucifixion of Jesus. These artefacts were kept within the Church's most secretive vaults, including the Vatican Secret Archives and a vault at Lake Albano.
Over the years of the Church's existence, several splinter factions grew out of the organisation, such as Opus Dei and the Order of the Omega (though the latter group was know to the world as the Fraternal Order of St. Paul), all of whom who had slight differences in their beliefs and goals.
The Tournament[]
At some point during the reign of the Ottoman Empire, an embassy for the Catholic Church was established in Constantinople. Cardinal Cardoza was sent by the Pope to be the embassy's ambassador. It was during this period of history that King Henry VIII of England disavowed the Church's teachings and ostracized them.
When the Sultan of the Ottoman Empire, Suleiman, invited the leaders of the known world to send their best chess players to participate in a championship, the Catholic Church was able to send two players to be their representatives; Marko with the Roman delegation, and Brother Raul to represent the Papal States. The Church also decided to send Cardinal Farnese with the Roman delegation to Constantinople despite his notoriety for his statements about people of Moslem faith; Michelangelo believed that the Pope did so simply to irritate Suleiman.
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Once the riots following the chess tournament had come to an end, Suleiman's capital city was badly damaged and its people fractured. As things continued on, Suleiman ordered the Catholic embassy be razed and all of its ambassadors expelled from the Empire, not wanting to deal with what had ultimately become the source of one of his biggest strife's.
Roger Ascham and the Dead Queen's Command[]
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Jack West Jr and the Hero's Helmet[]
In 1994, the Opus Dei faction of the Catholic Church sent five of its men to retrieve a mysterious "keyblade" known by most as the Knife of Osiris from its resting place in a brick of the Temple of Dendur.
As Opus Dei's men began driving away from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art with the Knife on a firetruck, Jack West Jr grappled with one of the false firemen, and saw the mark of Opus Dei tattooed on his wrist, leading him to wonder what the Catholic Church wanted with the Knife.
As the rest of the false firemen approached St. Patrick's Cathedral, a man in a trench coat ambushed them and took the Knife, telling the group that the "keyblade" belonged to his master rather than Opus Dei or the Church.
Before Seven Ancient Wonders[]
When the Church began organising a mission on behalf of the Kingdom of Land to restore the Golden Capstone so that they could nullify the destruction threatened by the Tartarus sunspot and obtain worldly power, Father Francisco del Piero was chosen to lead the forces of the Old European Union. While one of the Pieces had been secretly kept by the Church at St. Peter's Basilica, the remaining Pieces were hidden within the remnants of the seven Ancient Wonders, the locations of which were detailed in a Vatican copy of the Callimachus text. However, they required an Oracle of Siwa to translate the Word of Thoth it was written in, and so del Piero and his people began seeking out the latest Oracle.
While the Oracle was too difficult to find, del Piero ended up locating his pregnant wife, Malena Okombo, and so he had here kidnapped and taken to an ancient chamber within the Kanyamanaga Volcano in Uganda, in order to play out a ceremony as she went into labour (the reason for this is never mentioned, though it may have been part of an old Sun Cult tradition to make each Oracle "divine"). Once the child, a boy, was birthed, del Piero claimed him and, over the next ten years, raised the boy, naming him Alexander after Alexander the Great. Even as the Church brainwashed Alexander and led him to believe he was being molded into the best possible ruler, they intended to use Alexander in the ceremony of power, hoping that he would emerge as a new Messiah-like figure whom the Church could get people to worship.
In March 2006, Alexander's ability to understand the Word of Thoth began developing, and he was able to translate the first clue in the Callimachus text, allowing del Piero and his men to determine the location of the head of the Colossus of Rhodes and its accompanying Capstone Piece at an old mine in the Sudan. After reaching the mine, the European team began attempting to make their way through the north entrance, taking two days to make their way through the trap system to the Grand Cavern.
Seven Ancient Wonders[]
Del Piero waited as his men constructed a crane to bypass the Master Snare trap on the Scar, but a team formed from a coalition of small nations entered the cavern and disabled his people's weapons, allowing them to retrieve and begin running away with the Piece, only to lose the Piece to the American Commander-in-Chief's In Extremis Force.
The Church-led European Union force remained largely quiet for the remainder of the week before the Tartarus Rotation, while the Coalition and American forces clashed over some of the other Pieces. Instead, del Piero had the Church use its influence to have the obelisk in Paris (crucial to locating Alexander the Great's tomb) closed off from public access to impede their enemies, and ordered that the Piece in the Basilica be monitored closely, knowing that Max Epper would at some stage try to get a glimpse of the inscription on its side.
Indeed, Epper did soon appear at St Peter's, and del Piero instructed his men to let Epper and his team leave unhindered until they had sent their teammates a message indicating they had been successful. Del Piero had Epper, Zoe Kissane and Fuzzy brought to him one day before the Rotation event in Frankfurt, gloating about the Church's imminent victory before moving on to tell them he would be taking them to Giza.
Soon after arriving at the Luxor airport, del Piero's men waited for him to give the order to move in and ambush the CIEF forces as they arrived with the Pieces, and when he did they cut the Americans down. Del Piero eagerly moved in to claim the Capstone Pieces in the cases, unaware that he had been led into a trap, and the Catholic Father watched as his forces were blindsided and killed.
Ultimately, del Piero was brought along by Marshall Judah to the tomb of Alexander at Luxor, where the Father was nervous as Epper revealed the measurements Hans Koenig scanned of the tomb were the same as St Peter's, the Basilica having being designed to replicate the tomb's interior, a fact del Piero had obviously known about from his time within the Church.
Shortly after arriving at the scaffolding on the Great Pyramid, Judah revealed to Alexander that the Oracle of Siwa was intended to sacrifice their life to fulfill the ritual of power, a fact that del Piero had known. The boy glared at the Jesuit, but del Piero was unable to mention the Church's true plan before Judah forced Alexander to enter the recess between the Pyramid's peak and the restored Capstone. During the ritual of power, the remainder of the Coalition team assaulted the CIEF team from the hovering Halicarnassus. In the midst of the chaos, del Piero attempted to reach Alexander in the recess, only for Judah to stop and shoot him in the head, with the priest's blood and brains spattered over the Capstone.
When the battle and ritual were over, Epper correctly determined what he believed the Church had intended to do with Alexander during the ritual of power.
Between Seven Ancient Wonders and The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
After del Piero's death, much to the regret of the Church given his devotion to them, Mendoza was appointed to take his place. Mendoza would mistakenly come to believe that Jack West Jr was the one who had killed del Piero.
In 2007, Mendoza was sent by the Church to meet with the President of Cambodia, as part of a larger tour of Vatican embassies around the world, including India, the U.S. and Brazil. When Jack was at an intelligence briefing at Pine Gap, he was briefed on Mendoza taking del Piero's place in the Church's ranks, and that his meetings with the leaders of many countries indicated that the Church was mobilising once more.
As the team were researching the Five Greatest Warriors, Lachlan Adamson pointed out that as the final date to lay the Sixth Pillar fell on the Dual Equinox during Easter. Given the apocalyptic ramifications if they failed, Lachlan noted that despite the Church's silence since Giza, they were likely to be watching their mission very closely.
Between 2008 and 2016, Mendoza was sent by the Church, on behalf of the Kingdom of Land, to South America to recruit potential candidates to participate in the Great Games of the Hydra.
The Four Legendary Kingdoms[]
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The Three Secret Cities[]
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The Two Lost Mountains[]
Though Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster performed a coup d'état against the Four Kingdoms and took control of their assets, the Catholic Church was indifferent, with the Pope believing that Mendoza serving the Trismagi as he prepared to undertake the Trial of the Mountains was to the Church's benefit.
Knowing that Sphinx was intent on obtaining the Siren bells and using them in his quest to conquer the world, the Pope ordered that Tracy Smith, an expert on the Orphean bell that could undo the siren sleep, be assassinated to ensure Sphinx's plan could not be disrupted. Once Sphinx announced to the Church that he was coming to Rome to claim the Vatican globe and any notes they had on the location of the Orphean bell, the Pope agreed to be ready to present them upon his arrival. However, not fully trusting the Trismagi, the Pope had his subordinates relocate their notes on the blue bell to Albano's Emissary in order to keep some leverage.
When Sphinx and Mendoza landed in St Peter's Square, the Pope shocked the curious tourists watching as he deferred to the royal rather than the other way around. The Pope then granted them the bronze globe with the locations of the iron mountains and their documents on the Orphean bell. The Pope praised Mendoza for his work on the Church's behalf, and then tried to suck up to Sphinx under the impression that he would turn the world to the Church's influence. Unfortunately, Sphinx and Mendoza donned protective earphones before having a Siren bell rung in the middle of the city, and as everyone else began falling into the siren sleep, including several of the Church's agents, Sphinx killed the unconscious Pope. Taking the papal ring from his finger, Sphinx passed it over to Mendoza, declaring that he was now the Pope for his new world order as he'd promised.
When Brother Bertie de Montreuil revealed to Jack's team that there was the option of a journal in the Vatican's vaults that might lead them to one of the other iron mountains, Jack decided to task Zoe, Mae, Rufus, Lynda and Agnes in going to Rome to see if they could find any information on the location of the Orphean bell. While Zoe and Agnes were searching the Pope's office, Mae and Lynda headed into the Vatican Secret Archives to recover the journal from the Church's collection.
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
Having pieced together that the Albano's Emissary mentioned in the note Zoe uncovered in the Pope's office with the ancient Roman ruin at Lake Albano and the whispers of dying priests he had known, Bertie led Iolanthe and Nobody to Castel Gandolfo and Lake Albano to search for the Church's secret vault. After locating the vault's door within the emissary, the trio began searching through the Church's collection of artefacts, with Iolanthe noting the contents of their secret collection until Bertie found a pair of scrolls regarding the Orphean bell.
After the Omega Event was averted and Sphinx's forces defeated, the world's governments began investigating and arresting the members of the Four Kingdoms, along with the organisations that served such as the Catholic Church. Because of the exposure of the actions of significant senior members of the Church and their role in aiding the Four Kingdoms and Sphinx, much hostility from around the world was directed at the Church, and a special commission was launched to determine their culpability. Jack suggested that Sister Lynda Fadel be the one to lead the commission's investigation; as she helped to purge the guilty members of the Church from the organisation, Lynda also made the case that despite the actions of its former leaders, the Church still had a lot to offer the world such as the charity and aid it had long provided, in addition to the history and artefacts the Church's leaders had kept hidden away for millennia.
Members of the Church[]
The Cult of Amun Ra[]
- Imhotep †
During 1546[]
Present Era[]
- Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza †
- Father Francisco del Piero †
- Unnamed Pope †
- Father Felix Rasmussen †
- Brother Bertie de Montreuil (formerly) †
- Opus Dei
Facilities[]
Messe Tower[]
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St. Peter's Basilica[]
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Papal Apartments[]
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Vatican Secret Archives[]
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Mont Saint-Michel[]
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First Iron Mountain[]
The first of several temple shrines built by the race of Super-Ancient Beings that are the centerpieces of the Trial of the Mountains, located within Mont Saint-Michel and maintained by the Church since they took control of the tidal island.
The Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope[]
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Castel Gandolfo[]
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Lake Albano Vault[]
The vault at Lake Albano Vault, also referred to as Albano's Emissary since it is built within the ruins of a Roman-built outlet called an emissary used to control the water level of the nearby Lake, is one of the Catholic Church's most secretive repositories for their collection of artefacts. Here they collected such artefacts as the sarcophagus of Pharaoh Khufu, a nail from the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, and later included scrolls that the Church found relevant to locating the Orphean bell.
Goals[]
Since the Church began as the Cult of Amun Ra, they have been serving the Four Legendary Kingdoms, primarily the Kingdom of Land, as one of their information repositories. Throughout the millennia, they have been collecting, hoarding and hiding various secrets related to the Super-Ancient Beings they truly worship, while presenting a sanctimonious front that claimed followed a certain set of ideals to the world. However, while they served the Land Kingdom and did their work for them, such as undertaking the search for the Golden Capstone, the Church is keen to obtain a power with which they can turn the organisation into the foremost leader in society.
During the preparations for the first trial of the ancients, the Kingdom of Land gave the Catholic Church full autonomy in their efforts to locate the seven Pieces of the Golden Capstone, with Father Francisco del Piero seeming to not answer to anyone as he led the mission. The Church hoped to use the power of the Tartarus sunspot in order to obtain 1,000 years of unrivaled power so that they could remake the world as they saw fit, and use the Oracle of Siwa child Alexander as a new Messiah figure for their followers to worship.
Following their failure in the Capstone mission, the Church took a step back and resumed allowing their masters in the Kingdom of Land to take charge of the subsequent trials, offering all the information they had regarding the trials. Using Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza as their representative, the Catholic Church hoped that their value to the Four Kingdoms would be recognised and rewarded in the form of being allowed to become the world's foremost authority for the King of Kings' new world order. They still hoped for this after Sphinx usurped control of the Four Kingdoms, however Mendoza chose to ally completely with the Trismagi in order to take over the Church himself as its new Pope.
Trivia[]
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