- "The first kills, the second blinds, the third rules."
- —From the Mystery of the Weapons
The Immortal Weapons are a trio of different weapons which are crucial to the Trial of the Cities.
History[]
Early History[]
The three Immortal Weapons of a sword, a helmet, and a mace, were crafted by the Super-Ancient Beings long ago at a currently unknown point in Earth's history, to be included in their fourth trial in a series of trials for such a race to undertake to confirm they were worthy enough to survive the Omega Event. This task would later come to be known as the Trial of the Cities.
The Ancients chose the Three Secret Cities of Thule, Ra and Atlas, and left a mysterious blue gem deep with each city's vault which would need to be collected and added to the Immortal Weapons in order to "empower" them. A sacrificial ceremony would then need to take place at the Altar of the Cosmos, wherein the Helmet and Mace would be laid with the sacrifice in the pool, and the Sword would be used to kill the sacrifice. Doing so at the correct time (when the supermassive black hole Sagittarius A-star in the center of the Milky Way galaxy emitted radio waves which would bombard Earth), then the trial would be fulfilled.
Eventually, the Super-Ancients would pass on some of their knowledge to the group of humans that would become known as the Four Legendary Kingdoms; among the things they shared were the Immortal Weapons, and their importance in the fourth trial for humanity. The Four Kingdoms split the Weapons between them, with the Kingdom of Land taking the Sword, the Kingdom of Underworld claiming the Helmet, and the Mace was taken up by the Kingdom of Sea (the fourth Kingdom, the Kingdom of Sky, professed itself the most peaceful of the Kingdoms and apparently made no claim for a Weapon).
Over the millennia, the Weapons were wielded by the Kings of the Kingdoms who owned them during the course of conflicts, earning them a footnote in many tales and myths. The Sword became known by many names, primarily the Sword of the Rock, and in the 9th century it was laid to rest in the Tomb of Arthur near the castle of Avalon with its last wielder. The Helmet, coming to be known as the Helmet of Hades as it was used by the Kings of Underworld who used the title Hades, would be passed down the line of succession. The Mace, which was called the Trident of the Sealord (mistakenly considered to be a trident in many legends), was also laid to rest with its last user, Poseidon, at his tomb, however, the tomb's location became lost to all, and the Mace with it.
Some time after his ascension to King of Underworld in the late 20th century, Anthony DeSaxe was granted the Helmet, which he proceeded to keep secure in his penthouse's vault at Saxony Tower. Out of curiosity, Anthony later had the Helmet examined, discovering the composition of the Helmet's alloy, and determined that it had no innate abilities as some legends claimed.
The Three Secret Cities[]
A few days after the conclusion of the Third Trial, the mission to begin the Trial of the Cities began in earnest. As he joined forces with Jack West Jr's team, Hades urged them to join him in heading to his New York apartment to obtain both the Helmet and the tablet of the Altar of the Cosmos. Meanwhile, the King of Land, Orlando Compton-Jones, claimed the Sword of the Rock from its resting place, and set out to retrieve the Helmet as well.
Shortly after Hades led them into his vault, the group was alerted to the arrival of Orlando, Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza and Sunil Malik and their men, who took the Helmet from its case while Hades and the others hid in a panic room. As he questioned his allies as to the Trident's location, Orlando was dismayed when his two experts noted that while Poseidon's tomb was unknown, it was likely near Atlas. Orlando set Malik the task of locating the long-long Trident before the group set out.
Later, Jack and Lily West infiltrated the Gallerie dell'Accademia to view a full rubbing copy of the tablet, discovering that when the Sword was implanted into the altar at Thule, it activated the defences of all of the Cities.
Unaware of the mistake he was making, Orlando ventured to Thule and prematurely initiated the trial by implanting the Sword in the altar, and then left Mendoza and his Swiss Guards to empower the Sword and sent Chloe Carnarvon with the Helmet to Ra. Soon the uninformed Cardinal and his men found themselves caught between the bronze guardians marching slowly behind them, and the silver guardians baring their way.
After some research, Jack narrowed down the location of Poseidon's tomb to Santorini, and he and Aloysius Knight soon found it. However, as they came across the Mace, they were confronted by Malik and his men, who set off a trap which threatened to trap them and the Weapon in solidified liquid stone. Luckily, Jack and Knight were able to grab the Mace and escape unscathed.
Jack's team proceeded to Thule, Ra and Atlas with the intention of backing Orlando's people up in case they needed the help. Upon landing at Hardin "Sphinx" Lancaster's mansion over Atlas's entrance, Jack was blackmailed by Sphinx threatening Lily's life into taking the Mace and empowering it on his behalf. Soon, Stretch and Pooh Bear began working to catch up to Mendoza and his few remaining men at Thule, as did Iolanthe Compton-Jones and David "Nobody" Black with Chloe's team at Ra.
As each group from Jack's team came up against the Guardians, Jack realised that the Weapons themselves were the key to getting past the Bronze and Silver Guardians. Stretch and Pooh Bear took the Sword and used it to slay their opponents; Iolanthe donned the Helmet and was able to pass her Guardians; and Jack and Knight were able to use the Mace to command their Guardians to let them pass. Soon they were all able to reach the inner vaults of the Three Cities and add the blue gems to the Weapons, empowering them for the final ceremony. However, Sphinx and Orlando's people took them from Jack's people and made their way to the Altar of the Cosmos.
As the Kings of the Four Kingdoms gathered at the Rock of Gibraltar for the sacrificial ceremony to finish the Trial of the Cities, Sphinx arrived with Lily and the Mace, and was soon joined by the Sword-carrying Mendoza and Helmet-carrying Chloe, who passed the Weapons to the Trismagi. As Orlando commended Sphinx, his cousin initiated a coup by stabbing Orlando with the Sword. Setting the stone tablet in the sacrificial pool and closing Lily inside with the empowered Mace and Helmet, Sphinx proceeded to complete the Trial as the Sagittarius A-star's radio waves hit the Earth and stabbed Lily in the heart with the Sword. With the Oracle's death, the Trial of the Cities was successfully completed, and before the group departed, someone tossed a pill of greystone powder into the pool, solidifying the Weapons within.
The Two Lost Mountains[]
As Sphinx was about to deliver the fatal blow to Lily, her twin brother Alexander, who had also been held captive by the Trismagi, appeared and shot Sphinx in the shoulder, only to be gunned down himself. Furious, Sphinx had the mortally wounded Alexander take Lily's place in the sacrificial pool, with him wearing the Helmet and enclosed with the Mace before Sphinx stabbed him in the heart with the Sword. With the Trial of the Cities successfully fulfilled, the five Rings of Command were revealed from a hidden panel in the chamber; bringing them close to the Mace transferred the Weapon's "ability" to command the automatons into the Rings, and when the process was done the Mace became inert.
After Pooh Bear, Stretch and Alby Calvin arrived at the Altar of the Cosmos to retrieve what they thought was Lily's body, only to discover that it was in fact Alexander, they set about extracting the abandoned Immortal Weapons, and took them with them to Hades's Estate. The trio soon began working on the Weapons in the hope of finding ways to counter Sphinx's new army of bronze and silver automatons. Stretch spent hours using a grinder to get slivers of the Sword's blade off so that Easton could affix them onto numerous bullets and shotgun shells, believing that the metal that the Sword's blade was made from would enable them to penetrate the armour of the automatons. Meanwhile Alby spent hours using a spectrometer to analyse the Helmet, discovering that it was emitting a low-level gamma particle resonance. The Mace, however, had become inert since its "power" had been transferred to the Rings.
While Alby seemed to find no practical way to replicate the Helmet's ability before the team was thrust into their next encounters with Sphinx and his automatons, Stretch and Easton's efforts in removing slivers of the Sword's blade proved effective as the bullets tipped with them were able to penetrate the armour of the Bronze Guardians when Jack later used them.
Attributes[]
Though the Three Immortal Weapons appear to simply be ordinary forged weapons or armour, like many other creations of the Super-Ancient Beings, they are each constructed out of an unknown metal alloy that, in addition to being extremely strong and sturdy, allows them possess special properties that modern human technology cannot analyse or understand.
The composition of the Sword's metal is strong enough to penetrate the armour of the bronze and silver automatons with ease, a feat that no modern human weapons could achieve. Meanwhile the Helmet has the "ability" to hide its wearer from the view of the automatons, which is caused by a low-level gamma particle resonance that confuses the perception of the automatons. Finally, through unknown means, the Mace has the "ability" to command the automatons at the Three Secret Cities, and does not seem to be limited by or activated by language, rather it is instead done through the user's intent/command.
Once all three Immortal Weapons are empowered with the blue gems from the vaults of the Secret Cities, they are required for the sacrificial ceremony at the Altar of the Cosmos. Presumably the positioning of the Mace and the Helmet in the sacrificial pool with the sacrifice play some role, as may be the motion of the Sword through the slot in the pool's gate, and on through the victim. Additionally, the radio waves of Sagittarius A-star may interact with the Weapons' gems as they pass through the Earth, confirming their presence and empowered status at the Altar.
The Immortal Weapons[]
Sword of the Rock[]
The first of the Immortal Weapons, the Sword of the Rock, which is to be empowered with the gem from Thule's vault and used to kill the sacrifice at the Altar of the Cosmos.
Over the millennia since the Four Legendary Kingdoms came into power, the Sword has been wielded by the Kings of the Kingdom of Land during the course of conflicts, earned a footnote in many tales and myths, and became known by many names. In the 9th century, the Sword was laid to rest in the Tomb of Arthur near the castle of Avalon with its last wielder.
After the conclusion of the Third Trial, the King of Land, Orlando Compton-Jones, took the Sword of the Rock from its resting place in preparation for its use in the Trial of the Cities. The Sword was empowered thanks to Stretch and Pooh Bear's efforts, and was soon used by Sphinx to kill Alexander and fulfill the requirements of the Fourth Trial.
While the Sword was abandoned at the Altar, it was later recovered by Jack's team, who used shaving of the Sword's blade to tip their bullets with its sturdy metal in order to give them an edge in fighting Sphinx's automatons.
Helmet of Hades[]
The second of the Immortal Weapons, the Helmet of Hades allows its wearer to remain invisible to the guardians of Ra as they move to empower it with the gem from the City's vault, and must be worn by the sacrifice during the Trial's final ritual.
The Helmet was worn by the Kings of the Kingdom of Underworld during the course of conflicts, being continually passed down the Underworld Kingdom's line of succession until the present day when it was held by Anthony DeSaxe and kept in his vault at Saxony Tower.
The Helmet was taken by Orlando and his team as the mission to fulfill the Fourth Trial began, but it was Iolanthe and Nobody who successfully figured out the Helmet was the key in the getting past the Guardians. During the sacrificial ritual at the end of the Trial of the Cities, it was forcibly worn by Alexander.
The Helmet was recovered by Jack's team after it was left at the Altar of the Cosmos, and analysed by Alby in the hope of finding out how the Helmet made its wearer invisible to the bronze and silver automatons.
Trident of the Sealord[]
The third of the Immortal Weapons, the Trident of the Sealords is to be empowered with the gem from Atlas's vault and fitted into a dedicated slot in the sacrificial pool at the Altar of the Cosmos during the sacrificial ritual.
Mistakenly referred to a trident in the many myths of it being wielded by the Kings of the Kingdom of Sea, the Mace was later laid to rest with its last user, Poseidon, within his tomb, the location of which became lost for millennia.
After finding the tomb and recovering the Mace, Jack and Knight were blackmailed into empowering for Sphinx on the Trismagi's behalf, utilising its ability to command the Guardians of Atlas in order to reach the City's vault. After being taken to the Altar of the Cosmos, the Mace was placed in the sacrificial pool as Alexander was killed to complete the Fourth Trial. Once done, Sphinx empowered the Rings of Command with the ability to command the automatons by holding them close to the Mace's gem, transferring its power into the rings.
Along with the other Immortal Weapons, the Mace was later recovered by Jack's team, who in their subsequent analyses of the Weapons discovered that the Mace was completely inert.
Trivia[]
- The title of the novel in which the three Immortal Weapons first appear was in fact almost named for the Weapons by Reilly (The Three Immortal Weapons) before he settled on The Three Secret Cities.