Immortal Weapons

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"The first kills, the second blinds, the third rules."

—A description from the tablet of the Altar of the Cosmos

The Three 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, the Trial of the Cities.

When the Super-Ancients realised that even after they were gone from the Earth (by extinction, or otherwise departing the planet), there may yet be intelligent life, and so devised a series of trials for such a race to undertake to confirm they were worthy enough to survive the Omega Event. The fourth of these trials came to be known as the Trial of the Cities.

The Ancients chose three of their cities, 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 Three 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 Sealords (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 surged 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, discover 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.

Trivia

• The title of the novel in which the Three Immortal Weapons first appear was in fact almost named for the Weapons by Reilly before he settled on The Three Secret Cities.