Satan's Keys (The Messenger)

Satan's Keys are artifacts that appear in The Messenger.

History

Satan's Keys were four mystical relics that were tied to bringing about the events of the Apocalypse. As far back as the 14th century, a group of corrupted Templars drew the attention of Phillippe the Good who could no longer tolerate the Temple's sinister activities. Thus, he destroyed their order and seized their treasures whereupon he burnt the Templars at the stake. In the century following their brutal dissolution by King Philippe IV, a vengeful sect of tortured Templars sought a dark retribution that would transcend their own lifetimes. Despite his actions, a number of the Black Templars survived this purge and swore vengeance for the crimes made against them. Thus, they sold their souls to the Devil in order to achieve their goals which led to them kidnapping the wizard Anselme de Beauvais and forcing him to enchant four objects with a powerful spell. Delving into the forbidden black arts, these Black Templars performed unholy rituals to imbue four seemingly mundane objects—an ivory tablet, a lion-shaped perfume burner, and other relics—with a catastrophic curse. These talismans were based on the four elements of the Apocalypse and it was through this that Satan's Keys were forged in order to bring Armageddon to the world. These artifacts became the Satan’s Keys, mystical anchors designed to act as a countdown to the apocalypse; once unified, they possessed the power to bridge the gap between worlds and trigger a global annihilation known as Armageddon. To ensure their plan would survive the passage of time, the cult hid these vessels deep within the shifting architecture of the Louvre, leaving behind ivory tablets inscribed by a 14th-century wizard to guide their descendants. For over six hundred years, the Keys remained dormant within the museum’s walls, waiting for the bloodline of the Black Templars to reclaim them and finish the work of vengeance that had begun in the fires of their ancestors' execution.

Once these items were brought together, the cursed magic involved in their creations would bring about both chaos and destruction over the face of the Earth. This would bring about the Black Templars revenge for their near annihilation. Writings of the creation of the keys was engraved on ivory tablets by Anselme de Beauvais as a warning to future generations of the danger involved in Satan's Keys. At that point, he stole the ewer and hid it in order to prevent the Black Templars from achieving their goals and hid the relic at Lourve where it remained hidden for centuries. The tablet and the ewer were later excavated by Morgan Sinclair's father in the 21st century where he deciphered the message involved thus learning of Satan's Keys. By this point, the Black Templars were active and searching for the ewer in order to achieve their goal. In order to save the world, Sinclair wrote to his daughter who was a member of the Secret Service and tasked her with the mission of destroying the artifacts in order to save the world. He was brutally murdered by the Black Templars afterwards but not before Morgan Sinclair received the letter and began her mission to find Satan's Keys and destroy them.

Overview

In appearance, the Satan’s Keys were four distinct, ancient artifacts that masqueraded as mundane though often unsettling historical relics.

Each Key looked different and included:

• The first was a bull
• The second was a vase with an eagle on the top
• The third was a statue of an Assyrian demon
• The fourth was a Persian ewer in the shape of a lion

Their primary power was foundational; when joined together, they acted as a ritualistic trigger to usher in the end of the world. While the individual keys lacked explicit offensive abilities, their collective power was absolute, serving as the mystical gateway for ultimate darkness to consume the earth.

Users

• Frank Sinclair :
• Morgane Sinclair :

Notes

• Satan's Keys were created by Emmanuel Olivier, Gérard Milhe Poutingon and Édouard Lussan where they featured in the setting of The Messenger universe.

Appearances

• The Messenger: (2000)