During the Middle Ages, when mythical beings such as dragons were feared— there was a friar covertly turned alchemist by the name of Luminous Vitalos. Luminous Vitalos would tiptoe silently past the detection of the other friars in the monastery (or more properly referred to as the friary), who’d spend their nights chanting in Latin.. Only if they knew of his exploits would they have him hung by the noose—vilified as a charlatan..
Although this meant the rather grave possibility of being paid a visit by the grim reaper, the mere chance of acquiring the Philosopher’s Stone— a substance that could transform base metals into gold and produce the Elixir of Life, was worth the steep price of Luminous’ life, especially if his life could be prolonged by a sip of this Elixir—or be extended eternally. Not even the prospect of the king’s wrath could stop him……in the event, Luminous might debase the land’s currency by somehow succeeding in transmuting such base metals into gold.
Truth be told— the above objectives, which were what all other alchemists of his day pursued relentlessly, were secondary to Luminous’ true magnum opus…or great life’s work..which had been slightly refined—true to the spirit of the liquids he distilled and salts he crystallized..
Luminous Vitalos crept through a maze of secret passageways to arrive in a cellar of only which he and a few mice knew..
Once he crossed the labyrinth…he hunched in his chair….ignoring the collection of the finest materials he accumulated over the course of 17 years from lands far and wide—consisting of prized herbs, stones, salts, pigments, chemicals—mercury, sulfur, and arsenic—, oils and of course, metals upon metals—most prominently among them being lead…
These ingredients—a collection of the rarest and ordinary— were bundled in satchets in bowls and filled in flasks. They sat beside the scale he’d used countless times to weigh and measure contents before stirring up mysterious concoctions in cauldrons of various sizes. All of his recipes were derived from notebooks and books filled with riddles….that only few could decipher…
He’d concoct his own recipes, studying the particle of each ingredient… breaking them down to their very essence.. (or rudimentary form..), examining to see which could possibly form the elusive powder.. known as the Philosopher’s Stone— though the Philosopher’s Stone was strangely not an actual stone—but an ingredient that legend said was…so unremarkable that it was oft taken for granted in daily life—yet, could transmute ordinary metals into gold and heal the body of all illnesses… and better yet, grant immortality..
Such lofty aims could all be achieved by bringing the elements of Earth, fire, air and water existing in all forms of matter—especially in the specific ingredients the alchemists used—into balance… which would then reunite matter with its divine or original form to attain perfection..
As mentioned, finding the secret ingredient of the Philosopher’s Stone was the pursuit of every alchemist…far and wide…and it was his own—-until one day his scope broadened—or he reached the very essence— or true spirit of Alchemy—his Magnum Opus had then alchemized—right after receiving a letter—enclosed with it a golden thread.
As he now sat contemplatively, his eyes fell upon that thread. Luminous slipped into a remembrance of events related to the thread’s discovery… as well the Manual with the gold-leafed pages that lay before him.. and the singular page that had arrived right beside the thread.
As Bizarre…or morbid as it might seem
He had originally sought the heart and brain of a mummy… (from a merchant—acquaintance named Fulko..).. It happened that this request that was not so unusual for an alchemist of his time, as it was “for the purposes of examining the ailments of the body—-to dissect the connection between the faculty of thought and the seat of the soul… Perhaps the anatomy of this very connection can reveal the secret of life itself”, he had told Fulko. He knew it was no small feat.. and that a merchant as honorable and well-connected as Fulko was surely the one to do it
He had made the request in the highest secrecy.. arranging for a clandestine meeting… in a cobblestone building upon one of his visits to town.
….…”I can trust no man other than you to bring me something that if discovered” Luminous said, raising a finger in the air,—will mean the discovery of the secret of life itself!”
Though Fulko was far younger in age, his demeanor seemed despondent by comparison to Luminous’ whose energy now boomed with a degree of rigor equal to that of an army.
“Forgive me, Luminous… for I never have been to Egypt and… I possibly couldn’t be entrusted with such…” Fulko paused, momentarily glancing at the sacks of shimmering coins piled before him…as he continued his sentence, “wealth…for something I might not even procure… and if I by some way miraculously succeed, will it not be a sin?…”
“Well, why, a sin….a part of me does naturally understand.. I am a friar afterall…” he clearly intended for this as a joke to which Fulko forcefully smiled as if to not offend his favored Client … Luminous could read Fulko’s expression but didn’t seem to take offense at his joke failing, and resumed his proposal.
“I have cleared my conscience of this for the Almighty has seeded in me a calling—upon which I’ve pondered, fasted and prayed many, many years. You can be assured there is not a morsel of doubt within this old soul.” Luminous pointed to himself… and then once again, waved his finger in the air
“Such a discovery will be of great use to Creation…why think of what…. Can be achieved…and how it can only foremost glorify God! This is an asset only which you can acquire—as I can only trust you!”
“Well…” Fulko looked at the gold.. as if embarassed by the ostentatious number of sacks in which they were contained. He turned his head away, only to have his eyes once again regard the fortune that lay before him.
“Oh—but you must—don’t refuse me, Fulko…”
And so… two years after their meeting, when a wooden trunk buoyed along the moat surrounding the friary to its door during the dead of night, Luminous clambered waist-high into the murky waters. He dragged the chest up to the wooden platform and through a secret door. He lifted the chest on his shoulder, heaving, as the remaining half of his robes sagged, dripping behind him a soaked trail.
His breathlessness was not a result of the weight of the trunk—as he was perplexed by its lightness—yet, instead the moments spent creeping to his secret chamber couldn’t arrive fast enough. Once he finally sped his way through the chamber door, he cracked open the chest’s lid with great anticipation.
Initially, he was disheartened at seeing a skull in the trunk in place of his coveted mummy. Though, beside the mummy lay a glimmering, golden thread along with a page…. He Found to be rather cryptic as it contained cards positioned separately. He also found a letter.…whose wax seal he tore off; his intrigue further heightened—as he began decrypting the code through which Fulko and he had always corresponded..
This secret correspondence Afforded a level of familiarity between the two permitting Fulko to address Luminous by his chosen name—as opposed to the one with which he was christened…along with a title of reverence attached to this birthname—with which everyone else regarded him as: Friar Crissman Nichols…
“Dearest Luminous,
Before I customarily wish for your well-being and shower upon you all my good tidings —I am certain you are already showering all your ill-wishes upon me.
Perhaps rightly so, as I regret to inform you I could not obtain the mummy. Besides, my conscience could not bear to disturb a dead man from his rest…
In all honesty—-at the time of our meeting… when you had made your request and openly entrusted a handsome sum to me…
I was quite surprised that…a friar such as yourself would request something so sinister in the eyes of the church—to earn us decree of us being casted into hell.
I recall having protested.. yet, upon your insistence, I did in earnest try to obtain for what you wished—despite my own conscience, trusting in the better judgement of a learned friar — full of sincere belief — over my own.
whether I have failed or succeeded in my task is also a judgement I leave to you.
What I have acquired is the skull of a certain set of bones that have not received a proper burial—and whose skull you are perhaps holding—along with a golden thread and a mysterious page…
Perhaps—you wish to bury me in place—yet, the knowledge I’ve encountered might put your worried soul… not at rest… but in ecstasy.
Or it might perturb you deeply.
I again emphasize that I did indeed try—despite the protests of my own conscience as you had solicited the mummy for the sole or “soul”, purposes of learning—not sorcery nor necromancy— but decoding the mystery of life..:
And so fate would have it that we’ve been led to another mystery…
Let me explain… the fortuitous—and mysterious circumstances— which led to… the chain of events… regarding the thread in your possession.
It all began as I was…descending from a ship upon my return to Laxey—while claiming my trunks at steerage.
As I was lifting my belongings, I made a most valuable contact by fortuitous chance… a visitor I had never seen before .. and who in appearance resembled a Venetian merchant.
Recognizing me as a fellow merchant—perhaps by my manner of appearance and the ample trunks within my possession—he asked if by chance I knew the address of a certain nobleman in the city. This nobleman was a previous client of mine— being Reknown for his ostentatious tastes—he’d last inquired from me the tusk of a wooly mammoth—which I also regret I could not obtain…
It was only after the exchange of the civilities that this fellow revealed he was An inter-routes agent.. and in name referred to himself by his trade persona..Le explorator ,or “The Explorer”…
I assumed this was all part of his act to appeal to the eccentric tastes of the wealthy, such as my strange nobleman. However, the Inter-Routes as a name was indeed intriguing—thus, I asked about its name and the nature of his proprietorship…
“I am in the business of traveling past time…” the merchant said, and again—finding this fellow to be too enamored in his role to whet the tastes of the eccentric nobleman—I assumed it was an engagement of two fools possessing the proper means to delight one another—one laden with money and the other with tales. I felt both envious of their arrangement yet relieved of being released from fulfilling such a burden.
“I specialize in the sales of curious objects from the times of antiquity” he followed, “well relative to the current year. Would you be so kind to remind me of the year?”
“1101”, I said curtly.
“Oh, yes, yes”, he answered, patting the beads of sweat from his forehead with his handkerchief. “Jumping from one era is always bound to cause some amnesia—though I handle it better than most!”
Ignoring his comment, I proceeded,
“So, what it is that you bring back for Lord Capulet? Might I surmise that it’s the tusk of a wooly mammoth?” I asked in jest.
“Oh no, I’m afraid that is something I promised to deliver on the next order as I’d be headed to Siberia the — this time I was only able to acquire a dragon’s claw.”
Having not been phased by mention of the dragon’s claw but the idea that One who could acquire a dragon’s claw could surely find a mummy to spare—I begged of him to acquire us one..yet he instructed me…to.. embark to Egypt myself…as I’d meet a most peculiar fellow there who ..specialized in the sales the of tombs in the valley of the kings—and in some cases—within the pyramids themselves…
He claimed this was a fellow who who was well-versed in the secrets of the pharoahs…
Since The Egyptians believed that the mummified body was the home for this soul or spirit—this fellow would be concerned into whose possession the corpse fell—given If the body was destroyed, the spirit might be lost
“This dealer will examine accordingly whether the mummy will be reaching the proper hands…this examination must be made in protection of all involved in the exchange—to not be binded by a curse—or have one befall upon the buyer—“he said..
“Well, that is gracious, is the seller not concerned about himself?” I asked.
The Explorator then revealed that this mysterious dealer was trying to be cleared from a curse himself.. and didn’t need anymore to deal with..
“Which one of us needs a curse to deal with?” I responded in good nature, my spirits uplifted—and at that moment the curse of curiosity had befallen me so heavily—as I was betwitxt in accompanying this “Explorator” to the door of my former client to assess the veracity of his words…
On our way we discussed the logistics.. of the journey—if I were to embark— and where I were to find this cursed fellow—using the most practical terms.
Once we arrived at the door of the Nobleman, I was further surprised to find that Lord Capulet, rushed to the door himself, shoving his servant aside as he reached for the box in the hands of Le Explorator greedily.
“Did you bring the claw?” He asked in lieu of a greeting.
“Surely, I did, my Lord, and even met one of your acquaintances who was gracious enough to bring me.” Le Explorator surely said this in good earnest as he presented me, while the nobleman looked appalled by my presence, pulling Le Explorator through the door, as he left me alone at the doorstep.
“If one man can’t accomplish a job, another will!” Lord Capulet jeered, shutting the door loudly on my face.
At that moment, it had been fully confirmed that I had been replaced.
Arriving home, I found all the weariness of a long journey leaving my body—as I anticipated with curiosity the next one.
I spent the week in prayer, supplicating to Almighty God.. to not be led astray… whether it be in direction to the lands of Egypt—-nor in faith… as I set after the corpse of these pharaohs who strived for divinity..thinking of themselves as gods..surely, the True Lord Almighty would protect me… and reveal in the heart of His faithful yet flawed servant the proper decision…
And whether it was a knowing in my heart or guilt for having accepted your request in the first place that drove me… I took it as a sign from my greater conscience to go…
Before contacting the merchant… I sought the Nobleman for a direct reference on Le Explorator’’s degree of quality service and on his promise to deliver.
While the nobleman was no longer friendly, his anger seemed to subside when I had made my inquiry one afternoon after knocking on his door and being permitted to enter.
Upon being let in, the nobleman summoned me into his library, proudly pointing to his dragon’s claw high above the ground.. without uttering a single word..I would like to say I saw it— but couldn’t, as it was positioned at the topmost shelf… brim of the ceiling.. nonetheless, the glint of brazen pride in the nobleman’s eyes was his testament of the claw having been delivered.
A month later, arrangements were made..as I onboarded a ship filled with knights and Crusaders.. some..loud..and disruptive… some mild and gentlemanly, as le Explorator and I moved towards the furthest room on deck, doing our best to keep out of view.
We sailed towards the Mediterranean..where Le Explorator recounted his journey across a hidden sea called the Sea of Meaning… which he had sailed many a time on his travels across time.. (legend..)
We parted ways upon reaching the island of Crete—where he set off towards Siberia— and I across the Mediterranean towards the waters of the Red Sea—which wasn’t nearly as red as the waters of the Sea of Meaning which Le Explorator had described..as he stated the waters were a mixture of the darkest blue… and brightest of blood…
Thus, upon reaching the seaport of Alexandria, I greeted by a most charming Bedouin guide
Named Fadel.
Much like Le Explorator.had said, I too. lost sense of time… staying in a caravansarai overnight.. to be taken a calm boatride across the Nile for stretches of time—for however long, I do not know,.
We set off towards the desert as Fadel said we’d be reaching The great pyramids of Egypt… to gain access to the king’s chamber..as the… mysterious tradesman awaited us there…
Once reaching the desert of Egypt, we set off along windswept sands on camelback… I road behind my Bedouin guide during the heat of the day and Chill of the night… it was during this time…when the stars shimmered…ever so brightly. Upon taking rest at camp, he’d share of how the pyramids were positioned in accordance to the stars in the hunter Orion’s Belt and the star of Sirius—though to the Egyptians—was Osiris and..this was so the Pharoah’s soul could rise at the time of death—to take his throne.
The idea of “spirit” was complex involving really three spirits: the ka, ba, and akh. The ka, a “double” of the person, would remain in the tomb and needed the offerings and objects there. The ba, or “soul”, was free to fly out of the tomb and return to it. And it was the akh, perhaps translated as “spirit”, which had to travel through the Underworld to the Final Judgment and entrance to the Afterlife. To the Egyptian, all three were essential.
Once the time came, an arduous journey…would wait us again—and so we set off… Again, a journey lasting how long? I do not know for the sands of time swifted lazily before us..
Riding along bumpily In the loneliness of the desert, we were finally brought before the doors to the spectacular… pyramid… of Khufu…
I was befuddled as to how this grand monument was built.. surely… each of the stars…gleamed above each of the pyramids… with the brightest, centermost star… gleaming above this magnificent… grandeur…of simplicity and geometric perfection. I stood in in awe.. as the bricks… gleamed in moonlight.
Fadel accompanied me… in the darkness… as he held a lantern..and I followed studiously behind.
I was too focused on my heart leaping out of its chest to even comprehend anything before me except for my guide, whose footsteps I followed.
“Go in” he told me—“I shall be waiting for you here..” I understood that he had escorted him to the door of King’s chamber… I had been no different than a blind man in not truly seeing his surroundings.
It was upon being pushed… into the chill of the tomb…that I found my sense of sight returning.. perhaps at having to now be… independent…as I descended into the darkness.
I had no light to guide me until a candle flickered.
I was Startled… at a ghastly sight behind the flame…
A peculiar set of glittering…large green eyes… peered at me… along with a a wide grin.. was I staring into the face of a demon?
I nearly screamed..
He was a most Peculiar man indeed— short in stature—with bewitching green eyes.. and pointed ears..
“What do you come here for?” He asked.. the shrill echo…of his high-pitched voice reverberating inside of..this tomb.
“The heart and brain of a corpse…” I almost whispered..my throat seared from fear..
“And what is it that you need the heart and brain of a corpse for?” He asked..
“It,. It,.l I found myself stumbling, embarrassingly, I composed myself “it is for an alchemist who requested I acquire it on his behalf..”
“Why… an alchemist…” his devilish eyes glittered, dancing..”I know much of the powers of alchemy.. as I am an alchemist meself…”
From there, he touted he knew much of the powers as he was an alchemist himself and knew where the Philosopher’s Stone was
“Where?!” I asked…unable to compose myself…. Forgetting..for that sheer moment any fear…I had..
“on an island….” He grinned.
as he said island, I began to hear the sound of waves stirring in my mind…
Before I had any chance to ask further..he handed me this thread—“this will be more beneficial to you than a dead man’s organs… as it will serve as the nerves between the heart and mind” …in the darkness that thread glimmered brightly—upon which I noticed there was a sacrophagus in the center of this tomb.
Then with a tap of his cane, the sarcaphoagus opened!
Inside the sacrophagus… lay a skeleton..and overhead was a shaft from which light shone which I surmised were the light of centermost star of Orion—and Sirius
before I could even abject to the thread..… I found myself…tongue tyed..and cast under a spell..
While my tongue was locked—my brain reached a level of clarity I had never before experienced/encountered—as I tuned more and more into this strange sound of waves.
This is What as a friar you might consider reaching a state of Ecstasy.
My intution told me he was not a swindler… as he had an aura of an otherworldly nature … having lived briefly in Germany during my youth, it reminding me of the mysterious fellow of the children’s fairy story..named Rumplestilskin..
And that greedy Greedy…imp.. surely did peer into my soul! As I shivered.. there in in the dark.. locked inside the King’s Chamber.
He provided a riddle for…”my alchemist acquaintance” about setting off into the woods during a full moon.. to find any tree to his liking with a mushroom… and await a fellow alchemist who would provide you the essential knowledge you are seeking…as that knowledge would also be beneficial for me… there you would be receiving “the guidance in mapping the the brain to the stars”… to guide me… “to the island” where the philosopher’s stone…lie..…..
How for the life of me I recall all of the following details I do not know.
“no need for a dead man’s brain and heart,” he assured, the best cure for the living is death itself.. for that is how your alchemist-friend will know life.. the Skeleton who lies there in the tomb knows has mastered this lesson very well…”
My eyes again caught sight of the Skeleton in the sacroaphagous…
And at that moment, while pondering if these were indeed the bones of Pharoah Khufu.. it was as if I heard from that Skeleton a haunting cackle!
It was right then the—imp had, without my detection reached, below my collar, stealing the sack coins which I had strapped above my chest, beneath the securest layers of my garment.
How this little thief had climbed up like a monkey onto my shoulder—I do not know…yet Before I could…wring his neck, the dirty.. scoundrel jumped to the sarcophagus— reaching for the skull in the tomb and tossing it to me.. in a manner no different than a child would throw a ball..to another..
As I tried running after him…… shouting…the…. Dirtiest insults I could think of in that moment of fury…. He hurled a golden page in my face.. covering my eyesight..
I lifted the page from my eyes. Like the thread, there was a golden light from the page…its contents you are able to see for yourself.
I lifted the… examining.. noticing I had been left alone in the most frightening… the glow of the page.. without a candle to guide me..
I stood there, shivering in the presence…of the…tomb, alone, with the skull in my hands .. staring mockingly at me…which I so desperately wanted to free from my hands
As the little thief abandoned me—I questioned whether I… should…loot the remaining bones in the sacrophagus…lest the treasures I submitted to you would not fulfill your expectations of a fair purchase. There could be nothing else but the bones to loot anyway—as the surroundings were bare granite.
While considering this—I sensed an earthquake erupting at a level equal in magnitude to my sense of guilt and fear—though, realizing it was all merely the imagining of my mind—as were the sound of waves—and most likely the cackle…nonetheless, it felt all the more and I feared this pyramid would as I perished underneath its rubble and weight of my sin— thus, I escaped..
yet not without taking one last glimpse of… sarcophagus which now bear empty!
As I escaped.. I could not see Fadel … and jokted through the entrance… emerging into the first cracks of sunlight.
As I panted, staring accusatorially my at my guide, he merely laughed.
“Strange things happen inside of that pyramid… and why did you think I left you?” The Bedouin Laughed…and from there for the rest of the journey on our way Alexandria, I behaved rather coldly. As a means of apology, Fadel paid for all my lodgings and fare.
My acquaintance with the little man was but once—though left a very deep impression in me…a knowing so deep. All this brought to mind the celestial globes you had last purchased from me. knowing your affinity for stars, I suppose they might just be led to the island… through the knowledge you acquire and decipher…in the woods..
Again—how I know this—I do not know! It’s all through the conveyance of my Insanity.. or Intuition… (or the shining of Sirius on that sacriphagus?)
this dealing that… was once conducted on your behalf..is now… vested with my own Relentlessness —for I greatly fear bearing the risk… of having been deceived by a filthy..charlatan! My dignity, honor and pride as an esteemed merchant… shall be threatened—if a mischievous imp, along with the agent, Bedouin and even the nobleman, have indeed evaded the discernment of Fulko and turned me into a fool!
I.. humbly implore.. you to…go…on that search… in the wood… It is upon my honor that I shall bring us back the…Philosopher’s Stone…(if you succeed in solving this riddle as you surely may…) in account of all you have entrusted to me..Every cent shall be returned to you…in the event either of one of us fails:..
My promise of repayment will be extended well into the grave..whether it be through the repayment through my progeny…. Or an accounting weighed in the afterlife!
