The Orphean Bell, also known as the blue bell, is one of the Siren bells, but which is made to reverse the effect of the siren sleep.
History[]
Early History[]
Though unconfirmed, the Orphean bell, like the other 14 Siren bells, was likely crafted by the Super-Ancient Beings long ago during an unknown point in Earth's history. While the other Siren bells had the ability to send any who heard its tone into a coma-like sleep, the blue bell, later known as the Orphean bell, was given the ability to awaken any who had been put into the siren sleep by its sister bells.
Long after the Super-Ancients were gone, the knowledge of the Siren bells, including the Orphean bell, were left to the Four Legendary Kingdoms.
When the two obelisks that would later be called Cleopatra's Needle were being built in ancient Heliopolis, the Orphean bell was hidden within one of the two. So few knew of this, though the ancient royal banker Priam was one of the few who learned the truth, and he had a description of the Orphean bell's hiding place inscribed on his crown.
While the other 14 Siren bells were later found/obtained by Vestels, later known the Order of the Serene Maidens, the whereabouts of the blue bell became one of history's greatest mysteries. The Roman Emperor Domitian would attempt to torture the Vestels on the location of the waking bell, but since they did not seem to know and were seen to be uncooperative, Domitian had them executed.
The Catholic Church would also work tirelessly on gathering potentials leads as to the bell's whereabouts. They would eventually obtain an ancient scroll that contained a hint that the location of the Orphean bell was inscribed upon the crown worn by the royal banker of the Four Kingdoms, Priam. However, for unknown reasons, the Church made no apparent attempt to pursue this.
Later, the obelisk containing the Orphean bell was relocated to Central Park in New York City during the late 19th century, as a gift to the United States from the Khedive of Egypt.
During her time as a member of the Order of the Serene Maidens, Dr Tracy Smith studied the effects of the Siren bells in soundproof chambers, to see how they affected the ears, and was able to theorise how the Orphean bell worked in awakening those afflicted by the siren sleep.
The Two Lost Mountains[]
When Sphinx arrived in Rome to collect the Vatican Globe, the Pope assured the royal that he was also providing him with all of the documents that the Church had on the potential location of the Orphean bell.
As Jack West Jr and his team began discussing the Trial of the Mountains, Sister Lynda Fadel helped to explain the Siren bells to them and how their only hope to awaken the people afflicted by them lay with the Orphean bell. Jack asked if Sphinx had acquired the Orphean bell when he had invaded the Novodevichy Convent and taken the Siren bells, but Agnes clarified that the blue bell had been lost for over 2,000 years.
Later, while Agnes and Zoe Kissane were investigating the Pope's office, they discovered that the Pope had deliberately withheld the Church's notes on the Orphean bell's location, as a means to ensure that Sphinx kept his promises to them, and that their key notes had been taken to "Albano's emissary".
As Sphinx prepared to inside the Supreme Labyrinth, he tasked Chloe Carnarvon with finding the Orphean bell as part of his plan to choose who to awaken from the siren sleep.
As the team began looking into finding the two lost iron mountains, Bertie de Montreuil suggested that he might be able to interpret the Church's notes regarding Albano's emissary, which would in turn lead them to the Orphean bell's location, since they would need it to awaken the cities Sphinx had subjected to the Siren sleep. As such, Bertie soon set off with Iolanthe Compton-Jones and Nobody to follow up a lead in Italy.
The One Impossible Labyrinth[]
Bertie's lead took the trio to the Lake Albano Vault at Castel Gandolfo, where the scroll with the clue pointing to Priam's crown had been stored, but with the original crown having been destroyed, they instead headed to the Vault of Troy on Tenedos Island to view a statue of Priam which included his crown. Unfortunately, though Chloe had arrived there first, she misinterpreted the inscription and headed to the Cleopatra's Needle in London. After Iolanthe read the inscription and realised the obelisk they sought was in New York, she and Nobody rushed to its location in Central Park.
After Nobody toppled the obelisk with their chopper, Iolanthe retrieved the Orphean bell from inside, just as Chloe and her forces arrived. As they were pursued over the New York streets, Iolanthe started ringing the Orphean bell, which began awakening the sleep-struck citizens below. Once their pursuers were made to crash into the Brooklyn Bridge, Iolanthe and Nobody proceeded to use the blue bell the awaken the remainder of the sleepers in New York before proceeding on to Washington, D.C., ringing the bell along the way.
After the Omega Event was averted and Sphinx and his forces defeated, the team proceeded to use the Orphean bell to awaken the sleep-struck citizens in the cities affected by the Siren bells. However, for a few places such as Moscow - whose citizens had been in the siren sleep for a week - the ringing of the Orphean bell came too late, as several thousand people had already perished due to starvation and exposure to the elements.
Attributes[]
Of the 15 Siren bells, the Orphean bell is unique in that it is not intended to send people into the siren sleep, but rather to awaken them from it, presumably by re-stimulating the flow of endolymph fluid in the semicircular canals. Little is known about the Orphean bell aside from its blue colouration, which has given it the nickname blue bell, and is smaller in size compared to the other bells, only the size of a basketball.
While the Orphean bell is the only intended method to awaken those in the siren sleep, an injection of synthetic endolymph fluid directly into the semicircular canal of both ears will also work.
Trivia[]
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