Outremer III

by D. N. Carter

  “Yes. I am good. And privileged to be here,” he replied quietly. “I still cannot fathom why he forgives me and lets me stay.”

  “’Tis simple. You can tell a lot about a person by what they choose to see in you,” Upside replied quietly. “He clearly is a good man and therefore sees the good he knows is in you.”

  “Do you think we would be allowed to have such a tattoo in time?” Nicholas asked, looking at Percival.

  “Got mine already,” Upside said and winked.

  “Yes…but yours is rather small by comparison,” Nicholas joked.

  “Never had any complaints so far,” he replied, joking.

  As Percival took his place at the table, Nicholas could not help but look at Alisha. He knew that never again would he ever hold her…but he felt grateful, blessed and immensely proud to know her and Paul. He felt even luckier that he was allowed to stay. Abi and Tenno came and stood beside him just as Theodoric coughed and hit a silver spoon against one of the main wine jugs on the table to get everyone’s attention.

  “Words fail me as you saw…but before we start I would simply like to impart a final word…or two…that I was once told,” he said.

  “Long ago old ‘fat’ man,” Thomas joked and had to duck as Theodoric swiped the spoon at him.

  “Remember this always and wherever we end up,” Theodoric said and paused. “What we do for ourselves dies with us, but what we do for others remains forever. And the truly strong do not exploit the weak, they do not look down upon them, they help them up.”

  Paul immediately recognised those words as spoken to him by Kratos. His mind wandered momentarily back to the time and all the things he had been shown and taught by him. His path was not so different from Theodoric’s he knew now. When Paul took his seat beside Alisha, she took his hand and kissed it softly. Princess Stephanie smiled at them as she beckoned Ailia to sit near her. When Paul looked around the table at everyone seated or just sitting down, he felt tremendous pride in all of them. He truly felt he was in exulted company. Nicholas looked at him and they acknowledged each other with a slight nod. Alisha thought back to their wedding day in La Rochelle. She sighed heavily as she remembered Firgany and how proud he was that day. She prayed he was still proud of her. The wedding seemed so long ago now. But now as she sat with Paul, a different Paul, her heart ached for him and she found it almost impossible to contain her emotions and not cry. She clenched his hand tightly beneath the table and looked at him. She could not be any prouder than at that moment, and despite all that had happened, she loved him the more for he still wanted her as his wife. Paul turned to face her and as he studied every aspect of her beautiful face, her smile, her eyes and her silken hair, the many words of Kratos echoed through his mind. With Ailia sat by her side smiling at them both, he wished he could freeze that moment in time.

  Port of La Rochelle, France, Melissae Inn, spring 1191

  “A great time was had that night by all,” the old man sighed. “Theodoric I am afraid to say drank far too much and could not remember the last half of the evening. The fact the men had all got the same tattoo affected him deeply. Nicholas did not stay long after the meal and left with Upside and even Tenno and Abi sat together, not afraid to let it be known they were clearly together,” the old man laughed.

  “But Paul was different you say?” Gabirol asked.

  “Aye he was…just something about his very presence and look. ’Twas not a sad look. ’Tis hard to describe, but you could see it in his eyes. He knew things beyond our normal comprehension. He had a calmness and set look of contentment allied to a fierce determination…a man who knew what he had to do, and would do it.”

  “You mean the codes…and the new Order?” Simon asked.

  “Yes you could say that.”

  “I want to know if he was tempted with gold and other women as Kratos had offered,” Sarah asked loudly.

  “I can only tell you that Kratos offered him the choice of moving to another land where he would have power, authority, gold and as many wives as he wished… and the offer was a real one. But it all meant nothing to Paul without Alisha and Ailia. Like Princess Stephanie knew only too well, she had the position, wealth and power…but it was all empty of any real worth. ’Tis why she longed for Paul herself. Speaking of which, after the anniversary meal, Paul returned to her the poem she had given him years previously. Do you recall the poem about riding seahorses together?” the old man asked. “She took the poem back and understood why he had returned it, but that did not stop her heart from aching. She adored Alisha in no small way, taking the poem back was a way of also accepting Paul would never be hers.”

  “So even after all those years, she still harboured feelings for him?” Ayleth asked.

  “Yes…more so in fact,” the old man answered and moved in his chair. “’Twas on the ninth of January that Reynald returned to Kerak with Gerard. Reynald knew of Alisha and Paul’s loss. Having lost his own daughter, it was common ground almost…the grief that is. But before he returned, Paul was able to spend some time with Theodoric…to discuss certain things Paul had been taught and seen.”

  “Such as?” Gabirol asked, curious.

  “Well, and this is according to Theodoric’s account, Paul, like Nicholas, started to learn Elfdalian. Much of what Paul spoke of, Theodoric was not allowed to write down but it dealt with the symbolism of the Grail. How it’s set up was linked to the seven sisters star constellation, as in the Pleiades, and the belt stars of Orion. That from the region of Orion, many souls are born…but also how all ancient sites encompass within their design and layout the constellation of Orion, the sword of Orion, but also the Pleiades. How the symbol for them combined is set out and identical to that of the Holy Grail…the cup symbolism especially and the womb of the sacred feminine. But alas, the wealth of information surrounding all of that and what he learnt was not written down save just a couple of drawings he made, which in themselves mean very little,” the old man explained and sighed sadly. “But, as Theodoric informed his friend within the Carthusian Order, all that Paul knew and learnt would one day be revealed fully as our world passes into the fifth age of man, when again the Phoenix flies.”

  “What or who are the Carthusian Order?” Peter asked, puzzled.

  “’Tis probably more well known to you as the Order of Saint Bruno. ’Tis a Roman Catholic religious order of enclosed monastics. ’Twas founded by Saint Bruno of Cologne in 1084 and includes both monks and nuns. The order has its own Rule, called the Statutes, rather than the Rule of Saint Benedict, and combines eremitical and cenobitic life,” the old man started to explain.

  “What does cenobitic mean?” Simon asked.

  “Cenobitic monasticism is a tradition that stresses community life where the monk is regulated by a religious rule, a collection of precepts. The older style of monasticism is to live as a hermit, which is called eremitic. Cenobitic monasticism exists in various religions, though Buddhist and Christian cenobitic monasticism are the most prominent. The name Carthusian is derived from the Chartreuse Mountains; Saint Bruno built his first hermitage in the valley of these mountains in the French Alps. The word charterhouse, which is the English name for a Carthusian monastery, is derived from the same source. The motto of the Carthusians is ‘Stat crux dum volvitur orbis’, which is Latin for ‘The Cross is steady while the world is turning’, which is a symbol with much hidden knowledge behind it.”

  “How so?” Gabirol asked.

  “’Tis connected to the symbols of the Grail, Orion and the Pleiades…if you look within the folder, you will find a symbol of their Order complete with seven stars, but it also represents the world we live upon as spinning around a central cross, but also our very bodies being made upon the cross,” the old man answered and gestured to the folder.

  Gabirol opened it and removed several sheets until he found the image the old man was referring to with seven stars upon.

  Fig. 66: Carthusian Cross.

  “Will we ever get to l
earn of these symbols and what Paul learnt?” the Templar asked.

  “If you accept the charge of the commission contained within those documents you now hold, then I strongly believe you will all indeed learn of much of it…as well as such matters like the symbolism behind the true Noah story, which represented not just one Ark, but many along with all the mathematical codes within its story. The dimensions of the actual Ark as detailed within the Bible are commensurate with the dimensions of both the Ark of the Covenant and the actual so-called sarcophagus set within the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid. As explained previously, mathematics and harmonics are the only truly universal languages guaranteed to span the millennia of time intact…and encoded within religions…so even when certain parts added by men…read like insane rules, it is still a vehicle that carries that message. But even now in our time, religion has been reduced to ‘moralism’ and a question of faith only following it blindly. Once cherished doctrines are now just simple formulas and routine practices, devoid of any higher meaning. One day, for there will come that day, many numbers of people will view the great religions of this world as being unable to answer the most fundamental questions of existence. Yet throughout history we find people convinced the great religions are a necessary ‘outer shell’ veiling a more sacred and ancient wisdom that alone can reveal humanity’s real origin, purpose and destiny, which to a large degree is true, for hidden behind vital religious practices and doctrines is the esoteric or occult knowledge. That something is hidden because of its immense value, so reverently concealed from the prying eyes of the profane. But this hidden thing may also have achieved its sequestered position because the Powers That Be have found it wanting. Either it is a threat and must be buried, or simply useless, and so forgotten. Paul intended to make sure it would never be forgotten. But at that moment in time, he had to concentrate on plans to return to La Rochelle…and before Reynald returned…but alas Reynald did return before they left.” [111]

  “How did Reynald react to Alisha and Paul?” Sarah asked.

  “Well, Paul was not only busy trying to organise passage for Alisha, Ailia and himself, but of course Theodoric, Sister Lucy, Thomas and all of his men. Not only difficult during that time but also costly and Reynald was more than happy to relieve him of gold to help him do so.”

  2 - 6

  “What of Tenno and Percival?” Ayleth asked.

  “Of course they would come with them. That went without saying,” the old man smiled.

  “I wish to learn and know more of these strange balls of light that seem to visit Alisha and Paul. What exactly are they?” Sarah asked, changing the subject direction.

  “Paul was informed that as this world of ours transits from this age of Pisces to Aquarius, identical balls of light will return over Jerusalem. They will make themselves seen just as they were when Jesus ascended and where angels said he would return the same way. Matthew 24:27 ‘For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the coming of the Son of Man be. He was also taught that there was a far greater code hidden in the Hebrew bible…but we do not have the means to decode it in our time, but the means will become available to man, yet even then he will ignore it for many years,” the old man sighed.

  “Surely if he spent so much time with Kratos alone, he must have learnt much about him too?” Gabirol asked.

  “Oh he did. He learnt that Kratos was one of the nine,” the old man answered and smiled seeing the puzzled look on Simon’s face.

  “Who are the nine?” the wealthy tailor asked.

  “The Nine Unknown Men. ’Tis an ancient Indian tradition from the time of the Emperor Asoka, who reigned in India from 273 BC. He was the grandson of Chandragupta, who was the first to unify India. He lost a hundred thousand men in a great battle against the Kalingians, after which he was overcome by the horror of war so that he renounced the idea of trying to integrate the rebellious people, declaring that the only true conquest was to win men’s hearts by observance of the laws of duty and piety, because the Sacred Majesty desired that all living creatures should enjoy security, peace and happiness and be free to live as they pleased. Asoka was a convert to Buddhism by the way and spread this religion throughout India and his entire empire, which included Malaya, Ceylon and Indonesia. Later he respected all religious sects. He preached vegetarianism, abolished alcohol and the slaughter of animals. Inspired, he wished to forbid men from ever using their intelligence for evil purposes. During his reign natural science, past and present, was vowed to secrecy. And so for the next two thousand years, all researches, ranging from the structure of matter to the techniques employed in collective psychology, were to be hidden behind the mystical mask of a people commonly believed to be exclusively concerned with ecstasy and supernatural phenomena. It was Asoka who founded the most powerful secret society on earth: that of the Nine Unknown Men.”

  “Well they must have been very secret for I have never heard of them,” Simon joked.

  “No neither I,” the Templar said, looking at the old man intently, trying to study him behind his raised hood.

  “Some claim they can still communicate with the ‘council of nine’…but as I have tried to explain already, can you imagine people like Reynald obtaining advanced wisdom and knowledge along with powerful tools? Likewise, the original nine would not allow methods of destruction to fall into the hands of unqualified persons, but would allow the pursuit of knowledge which would benefit mankind. Their numbers would be renewed by co-option, so as to preserve the secrecy of techniques handed down from ancient times. There are but a few examples of when the Nine Unknown Men made contact with the outer world. One even included the Pope Sylvester the Second, known also by the name of Gerbert d’Aurillac. Born in the Auvergne in 920 (died 1003) Gerbert was a Benedictine monk, professor at the University of Rheims, Archbishop of Ravenna and Pope by the grace of Otho the Third. He is supposed to have spent some time in Spain, after which a mysterious voyage brought him to India where he is reputed to have acquired various kinds of skills which stupefied his entourage. For example, he possessed in his palace a bronze head which answered Yes or No to questions put to it on politics or the general position of Christianity. According to Sylvester the Second this was a perfectly simple operation corresponding to a two-figure calculation, and was performed by an automaton. This ‘magic’ head was destroyed when Sylvester died, and all the information it imparted carefully concealed. In terms of education, there has arguably been no other pope who has more influenced his time than Sylvester. In one generation, he succeeded in introducing to the monastery schools Arabic knowledge of mathematics and astronomy. Sylvester also commissioned multiple copies of ancient scientific instruments to be distributed including the rediscovered abacus and armillary sphere. Sylvester established new higher standards of education using the basis of the ‘trivium’ of grammar, logic and rhetoric. In all fields of science during his day, he was a man ahead of his time introducing for the first time the hydraulic organ at Reims Cathedral. But Sylvester died in 1012 having never set foot once in Rome.”

  “You are saying that this so-called pope was influenced by the nine, or at least one of them?” Gabirol asked.

  “Yes, yes he was. All I can say is that Paul likewise met one of the nine…hence why I state it was Kratos himself, but that was all he would say on the matter and that they used a different language…and that they had nine books, each covering a different aspect, such as the technique of propaganda and psychological warfare. The second book was on physiology. It explained, among other things, how it is possible to kill a man by touching him, death being caused by a reversal of the nerve-impulse. Martial arts of self defence and unarmed combat such as Tenno taught were but aspects taken from these original teachings. The third volume was a study on biology, and dealt especially with protective measures and the infinitely small that we cannot presently see. The fourth was concerned with the transmutation of metals. There is a legend that in times of drought, t
emples and religious relief organisations received large quantities of fine gold from a secret source. The fifth volume contains a study of all means of communication, terrestrial and other worldly, and remember these were supposedly written 250 BC…The sixth expounds the secrets of levitation, as in weightlessness, and of course, as a consequence, flight. The seventh contains the most exhaustive cosmogony known to humanity. The eighth deals with light. But the ninth volume, on sociology, gives the rules for the evolution of societies, and the means of foretelling their decline. Hence how and why prophecy can be used and works. Avoiding all forms of religious, social or political agitations, deliberately and perfectly concealed from the public eye, the nine were the incarnation of the ideal man of science, serenely aloof, but conscious of his moral obligations. Having the power to mould the destiny of the human race, just like the Arch Druids of old, but refraining from its exercise, this secret society is the finest tribute imaginable to freedom of the most exalted kind. Looking down from the watchtower of their hidden glory, these Nine Unknown Men watched civilisations being born, destroyed and re-born again, tolerant rather than indifferent, and ready to come to the rescue, but always observing that rule of silence that is the mark of human greatness.”

  “So just like Kratos?” Ayleth asked.

  “So Kratos is one of the nine?” Gabirol followed up.

  “I think it would be a safe bet to argue that point as highly probable,” the old man replied. “He probably helped initiate the nine in the first place.”

  “And so he would have access and use of any such flying machine?” Peter asked.

  “Let me just state that what we know about ancient Indian flying vehicles comes from authentic ancient Indian sources themselves…written texts that have come down to us through the centuries. There are many well known ancient Indian Epics, literally hundreds of them. Many still not translated. Ashoka was aware how devastating wars using such advanced vehicles and other advanced weapons were as they had destroyed the ancient Indian ‘Rama Empire’ several thousand years before.”