A/N: really appreciating the reviews, keep 'em coming. Get ready for some
plot!
*
The two men were looking at Lara expectantly.
She told them about the men she had spied on at the Archaeology Association reception on Saturday night. "They mentioned searching someone's flat for something, but not finding it," she said, "and the scroll was dated as 100 ad., about the same period as that." She gestured at the medallion. "Now, I'm willing to bet this is the missing artefact. They said the scroll meant nothing without it," Lara paused thoughtfully, "but the scroll referred to a map." She looked disappointed.
Alex stood and went to look over Dr Bailey's shoulder. "This could be a map," he said, pointing at the cross. "The dots at the ends of the cross could be towns or something, and maybe we're looking for the place where the lines cross."
Lara looked up at him in surprise, it was actually a sensible suggestion.
"So what did the scroll say?"
Lara looked at the ceiling, trying to remember. "I'm not sure, it was some ancient form of Arabic I didn't quite recognise. There was something about drinking from a fountain of eternity I think. Oh and that the final resting place will be revealed to he who wears the symbol," she said.
"This could be the symbol, it is a medallion after all, such that a nobleman might have worn!" the professor exclaimed. "Let's go and take a look at the scroll, I may be able to translate it."
"Ah, there lies the problem. The scroll was stolen."
The two men looked disappointed, but suddenly Dr Bailey looked up with an interested expression.
"Christian symbolism and drinking from a fountain of eternity, plus the buried treasure of an Abbot," he pondered. "Was he by any chance the Abbot Sauniere?"
"Yes, I think that was it," said Alex. "How did you guess that?"
The older man just smiled in reply. "What do you two know about the legend of the holy grail?"
*
"That's just a bedtime story, the archaeologist's favourite wild goose chase," Alex said.
"I'm inclined to agree," said Lara, "but if this actually is Sauniere's treasure..."
"Who the fuck is Sauniere?" asked Alex impatiently.
"I knew you were only pretending to be an archaeologist," she said mildly.
Unfortunately Alex didn't take the joke well. "Just because I don't know about some ridiculous grail legend. I'm a serious archaeologist Lara, unlike some..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she replied, turning to him with eyes blazing.
"Ok, this isn't getting us anywhere," Dr Bailey said peaceably. "Berenger Sauniere was a priest in the 19th century, in the town of Rennes-le- Chateau, in the Languedoc region of France. Near where you found this I presume." Alex nodded. "He found some scrolls containing coded messages while restoring the altar, which are said to lead the location of the holy grail."
"But nobody's found it," said Alex impatiently.
"Not yet," said Lara, "do you have the translation of the message?"
The professor looked through the bookcases, eventually pulling out a slim volume. "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," he said by way of explanation, opening it at a bookmarked page. 'Shepherdess without temptation to which Poussin and Teniers hold the key peace 681 with the cross and this Horse of God I reach this daemon guardian at midday blue apples'."
"Sangreal, that's what he said!" They both looked at Lara. "In the museum, one of the men definitely said 'sangreal' - the holy grail, or according to that book, sang real - royal blood in French."
"Indeed," murmured Dr Bailey. "After his find, Sauniere supposedly traveled to Paris and returned with copies of paintings by Poussin and Teniers - 'Les Bergers d'Arcadie' (the Arcadian shepherds) and 'The Temptation of St Antony'. Geometry from these paintings corresponded with the local geography around Rennes-le-Chateau, also a phrase on the tomb in 'Les Bergers d'Arcadie' reads 'Et in arcadia ego...' the same as a similar tomb just outside the town."
"And I am in paradise..." Alex translated the Latin phrase. "Makes sense, to have that on a tomb."
"Or 'I am also in paradise'," said Lara.
Dr Bailey waved a hand dismissively, "whichever," he said. "The interesting thing here is the fact that Sauniere also returned from Paris very wealthy, for he built various elaborate structures in the town, such that a priest would not be expected to suddenly be able to afford. This has led to the theory that the geometry in the paintings were a kind of map, leading to buried treasure. Plus another coded message from the scrolls reads: 'To Dagobert II, king, and to Sion belongs this treasure and he is there dead.'
"Some say the treasure is the holy grail. This book claims, as you say Lara, that the 'sangreal' is the royal blood line - that Jesus survived the crucifixion and went on to father a child with Mary Magdalene, and that the 'treasure' is proof of this. Others say that it is the untold riches of the Templars from the crusades. Perhaps it is a combination of all three."
"Aren't the Knights Templar often associated with the Freemasons, and..." Alex began.
Lara completed the sentence for him, "the Illuminati."
*
A/N: This is a real mystery. 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' is a book by Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh. For more information www.rennes- le-chateau.com is a good place to start. Also, Gabriel Knight III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned is a great adventure game based around the mystery. Any inaccuracies in this and subsequent chapters are purely my own.
*
The two men were looking at Lara expectantly.
She told them about the men she had spied on at the Archaeology Association reception on Saturday night. "They mentioned searching someone's flat for something, but not finding it," she said, "and the scroll was dated as 100 ad., about the same period as that." She gestured at the medallion. "Now, I'm willing to bet this is the missing artefact. They said the scroll meant nothing without it," Lara paused thoughtfully, "but the scroll referred to a map." She looked disappointed.
Alex stood and went to look over Dr Bailey's shoulder. "This could be a map," he said, pointing at the cross. "The dots at the ends of the cross could be towns or something, and maybe we're looking for the place where the lines cross."
Lara looked up at him in surprise, it was actually a sensible suggestion.
"So what did the scroll say?"
Lara looked at the ceiling, trying to remember. "I'm not sure, it was some ancient form of Arabic I didn't quite recognise. There was something about drinking from a fountain of eternity I think. Oh and that the final resting place will be revealed to he who wears the symbol," she said.
"This could be the symbol, it is a medallion after all, such that a nobleman might have worn!" the professor exclaimed. "Let's go and take a look at the scroll, I may be able to translate it."
"Ah, there lies the problem. The scroll was stolen."
The two men looked disappointed, but suddenly Dr Bailey looked up with an interested expression.
"Christian symbolism and drinking from a fountain of eternity, plus the buried treasure of an Abbot," he pondered. "Was he by any chance the Abbot Sauniere?"
"Yes, I think that was it," said Alex. "How did you guess that?"
The older man just smiled in reply. "What do you two know about the legend of the holy grail?"
*
"That's just a bedtime story, the archaeologist's favourite wild goose chase," Alex said.
"I'm inclined to agree," said Lara, "but if this actually is Sauniere's treasure..."
"Who the fuck is Sauniere?" asked Alex impatiently.
"I knew you were only pretending to be an archaeologist," she said mildly.
Unfortunately Alex didn't take the joke well. "Just because I don't know about some ridiculous grail legend. I'm a serious archaeologist Lara, unlike some..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" she replied, turning to him with eyes blazing.
"Ok, this isn't getting us anywhere," Dr Bailey said peaceably. "Berenger Sauniere was a priest in the 19th century, in the town of Rennes-le- Chateau, in the Languedoc region of France. Near where you found this I presume." Alex nodded. "He found some scrolls containing coded messages while restoring the altar, which are said to lead the location of the holy grail."
"But nobody's found it," said Alex impatiently.
"Not yet," said Lara, "do you have the translation of the message?"
The professor looked through the bookcases, eventually pulling out a slim volume. "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," he said by way of explanation, opening it at a bookmarked page. 'Shepherdess without temptation to which Poussin and Teniers hold the key peace 681 with the cross and this Horse of God I reach this daemon guardian at midday blue apples'."
"Sangreal, that's what he said!" They both looked at Lara. "In the museum, one of the men definitely said 'sangreal' - the holy grail, or according to that book, sang real - royal blood in French."
"Indeed," murmured Dr Bailey. "After his find, Sauniere supposedly traveled to Paris and returned with copies of paintings by Poussin and Teniers - 'Les Bergers d'Arcadie' (the Arcadian shepherds) and 'The Temptation of St Antony'. Geometry from these paintings corresponded with the local geography around Rennes-le-Chateau, also a phrase on the tomb in 'Les Bergers d'Arcadie' reads 'Et in arcadia ego...' the same as a similar tomb just outside the town."
"And I am in paradise..." Alex translated the Latin phrase. "Makes sense, to have that on a tomb."
"Or 'I am also in paradise'," said Lara.
Dr Bailey waved a hand dismissively, "whichever," he said. "The interesting thing here is the fact that Sauniere also returned from Paris very wealthy, for he built various elaborate structures in the town, such that a priest would not be expected to suddenly be able to afford. This has led to the theory that the geometry in the paintings were a kind of map, leading to buried treasure. Plus another coded message from the scrolls reads: 'To Dagobert II, king, and to Sion belongs this treasure and he is there dead.'
"Some say the treasure is the holy grail. This book claims, as you say Lara, that the 'sangreal' is the royal blood line - that Jesus survived the crucifixion and went on to father a child with Mary Magdalene, and that the 'treasure' is proof of this. Others say that it is the untold riches of the Templars from the crusades. Perhaps it is a combination of all three."
"Aren't the Knights Templar often associated with the Freemasons, and..." Alex began.
Lara completed the sentence for him, "the Illuminati."
*
A/N: This is a real mystery. 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' is a book by Michael Baigent, Henry Lincoln and Richard Leigh. For more information www.rennes- le-chateau.com is a good place to start. Also, Gabriel Knight III: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned is a great adventure game based around the mystery. Any inaccuracies in this and subsequent chapters are purely my own.