High Brother Ezekiel is a monk in the Order of the Omega and its unofficial leader.
History[]
Early History[]
Born in Romania, Nicolai Niculescu was brought up following the teachings of St. Paul, and later joined the Order of the Omega, who were devoted to studying the Omega Event, and took on the holy name Ezekiel. At the Order's lodgings at the Gallerie dell'Accademia, Ezekiel took to heart the woman-hating rhetoric of St. Paul, leading the monk to become embroiled in distaste for women despite the rest of the world's becoming more tolerant.
At some stage, Ezekiel became a High Brother within the Order, obtained a pendant with a sample of greystone powder, and later became the Order's unofficial leader.
The Three Secret Cities[]
When the Knights of the Golden Eight contacted the monks of the Order of the Omega in November 2016, Ezekiel and his fellow monks were warned that Jack West Jr and his team were likely on their way to view the Order's charcoal rubbing of the tablet of the Altar of the Cosmos, and requested that they delay them in order to give them the opportunity to catch them.
Indeed, Ezekiel and a few of his brothers soon found Jack and Lily West after they had found the rubbing, holding them at gunpoint as Ezekiel noted Jack's accomplishments over the years. As Ezekiel noted the Oracle of Siwa's presence, he flinched as she confirmed her identity, but composed himself to explain to the pair who the Order of the Omega really were. After demanding to know why they had snuck into their lodgings, Ezekiel snapped at Lily as she tried to answer, before composing himself and iterating that he had no intention of hearing a woman speak.
Jack explained their reason for wanting to view the rubbing and noting the Order's possessiveness of their artifacts, prompting Ezekiel to show the pair what they did to intruders. After Ezekiel revealing their intention to delay their departure so that the Knights could capture them, Jack initiated an escape, and after his Glock-wielding brothers were felled, Ezekiel and the other remaining monks opted to scatter as Jack and Lily fled.
Some days later, as the Trial of the Cities neared completion, Ezekiel and the other monks of the Order of the Omega gathered up their antiquities and departed their lodgings at the Gallerie, evidently to prepare for the final trial of the Ancients, the Trial of the Mountains.
The Two Lost Mountains[]
In the final days before the Omega Event was due to occur, Ezekiel made his way to the third iron mountain beneath Potala Palace, so that he could perform the Fall there and earn passage into the Supreme Labyrinth. There, Ezekiel successfully undertook Fall and was branded with the burning key, and began heading to the Supreme Labyrinth, leaving Lhasa behind some time before Sphinx had the iron mountain there destroyed by a nuclear missile in an attempt to keep any rivals from being able to challenge him.
However, General Garthon Rastor got wind of Ezekiel's efforts, and when confronting Brother Esrael at the second mountain at Aiguille du Midi, demanded to know if Ezekiel had been successful, which Esrael confirmed before Rastor killed him.
Shortly after Sphinx and his retinue headed into the Emperor's Gate of the Supreme Labyrinth, Ezekiel and a group of his monks crash-landed their Learjet in front of the second gate before Sphinx's army of bronzemen and silvermen could move into their defensive positions. Before Jaeger Fünf could do anything to stop them, Ezekiel's group entered the second gate and the Labyrinth, beginning their race to the ultimate throne.
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
Ezekiel and his monks proceeded though the Supreme Labyrinth with mild difficulty, losing two of their number to various traps and having their progress slowed by the "under-tunnels" that were clogged up by greystone traps that Sphinx's team had intentionally set off to delay them.
Ezekiel's group eventually arrived in the City-Maze and began attempts to beat Sphinx to the Throne of Life, however, their efforts to destroy the bridges leading Sphinx up the Castle and take the Trismagi down with sniper fire was unable to allow them to gain much ground. After several hours, Ezekiel and his monks began considering instead taking the Castle and the Throne down with RDX charges so that they could instead travel through the rest of the Labyrinth to the Throne of Death. Ezekiel soon managed to reach the base of the Castle and place his RDX charges, but was forced to take cover as one of Sphinx's remaining snipers opened fire on him, preventing him from setting the timer on the explosives.
The leader of the Order of the Omega was soon surprised as the Throne of Life was blown apart by a destroyer's cannon, though Ezekiel was quick to take advantage of the opportunity to order his remaining monks to head to the tunnel entrance within the Castle leading to the second half of the Labyrinth and the Throne of Death. Ultimately, however, only Ezekiel and one other monk was able to make it to the tunnel, following behind both General Rastor's and Sphinx's groups.
After several hours, Ezekiel and his remaining monk came across the Four-Sided Maze and began attempting to navigate it before deciding that they needed to rest properly before tackling it and turned back. To their surprise, they found a sleeping and unguarded Jack, who woke as the two monks loomed over him. Ezekiel taunted Jack about it not being his time to save the world and that the new age following the Omega Event would begin before him, and then ordered his comrade to kill the Australian. To everyone's shock, the monk's bullets were deflected by an active Warbler Jack unknowingly carried, and Ezekiel's companion was then struck and killed by a maghook fired by Zoe as she appeared on the scene.
Furious both at Zoe's appearance and speaking, Ezekiel turned his gun on her, only to be quickly disarmed and beaten up by Zoe, who criticized his dislike of women and their voices, and Ezekiel's own attempt on Jack's life. With one final blow that staggered the monk, Zoe snatched the greystone hourglass from around his neck and shoved it into his mouth, breaking it. As Ezekiel choked on the powder, Zoe emptied her water bottle into the Omega monk's mouth, causing it to begin turning to stone within Ezekiel's throat and stomach. Before the internal damage caused by the solidifying greystone killed him, Zoe kicked him off the ledge, with Ezekiel landing on a trench wall at such an angle that caused his head to whiplash and snap his neck, killing the last of the Omega monks.
Personality[]
Ezekiel is highly devoted to the original teachings of the Catholic Church, believing whole-heartedly that women serve little more purpose than to serve men or to be the vessels for children. So devout is he to his faith that he finds it sickening to even hear a woman's voice, having snapped at Lily for attempting to answer his questions (which he aimed toward Jack), before catching himself and reciting St Paul's quote regarding women to calm himself.
Equipment[]
- Greystone Powder Pendant: A pendant carried by most members of the Order of the Omega, which contains a small vial of greystone powder, which Ezekiel and his comrades often use to torment and kill their enemies. The pendant ultimately contributed to Ezekiel's own demise as Zoe poured the contents into the monk's mouth and used water to start turning it to stone within his throat.
- Learjet: A private aircraft used by Ezekiel and the Omega monks to crash their way onto the land ahead of the Labyrinth gate.
- Pistol: A handgun used by Ezekiel throughout the Supreme Labyrinth as he attempted to slow his enemies and hold Jack at gunpoint, only to be disarmed by Zoe.
- RDX Charges: An explosive agent carried by Ezekiel into the Supreme Labyrinth to use to aid his order's progress. After realising that they would not be able to beat Sphinx to the Throne of Life, Ezekiel prepared to use the RDX to destroy the base of the Castle, but after setting it was forced to take cover before he could set the timer to detonate it.
Trivia[]
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