Amulet of Mareish has been lost since the siege of Khartoum, the amulet is said to grant the wearer untold power. Some long to possess it, others want to see it destroyed, and both sides pursue Lara relentlessly.
The Amulet is made of bronze with silver chain for hanging it around one's neck, and had engravings of a sun, a scimitar and a dagger. It was about three inches in diameter.
Some believe the amulet has wishes of its own and controls the wielder not the other way around.
History[]
Around 2000BC, Mareish, a Sudanese sorcerer created an amulet that gave the wielder the powers of enhanced strength, invulnerability, and immortality. They would also possess irresistible charisma and could control men. Mareish realizing what a dangerous object he had made, he did not trust it to anyone, and took the amulet to his grave.
In 1879 Muhammad Ahmad somehow stumbled onto Mareish's tomb and found the amulet. Two years later he controlled half of North Africa and claimed to be the Mahdi.
In 1885, General Charles Gordon found out about the amulet and had it stolen before the battle of Omdurman. After Omdurman, the Mahdi called a sixty-day halt to his war on the unbelievers while he went into the desert alone to commune with Allah and plan his next move. Gordon used that time to hide the Amulet. He sent J. D. H. Stewart to Egypt as a distraction but sent the amulet with another man to Praslin Island, Seychelles. Since Charles Gordon believed Seychelles to be the remnants of the Garden of Eden, and the amulet of the Devil, he though no Mahdists would be allowed to set a foot on the island.
In 2000, Lara Croft was pulled into the intrigues of the Amulet of Mareish, when a man found her in the collapsed Tomb of Horus, he introduced himself as Kevin Mason Jr.. He like Mahdists, and Silent Ones, believed that Lara had been searching for the Amulet of Mareish.
Lara agreed to search for the amulet, since it was only way to stop the assassination attempts on her life. She first went to Khartoum to get inside Charles Gordon head. During her time there she found out about a series of letters between General Gordon and Sir Richard Burton, where they discussed their religious beliefs. Lara realized that there is only one place where General Gordon would hide the amulet.
During her search Lara started to hear the amulet, and it wanted her to find it. She often had conversation with it, and sometimes it even gave clues on how to find it. The amulet took control of animals and sand monsters, through which it talked to Lara.
Lara was given eight magical words, which when spoken when holding the amulet would destroy it. The Amulet of Mareish was aware of this and promised Lara she would not have a chance to use it and tempted her to use the amulet.
Lara Tricked the fanatics following her in search of the amulet in retrieving a fake amulet she secretly planed in an old church. She then traveled to an abandoned small house, which had been the Church of the Chevalier. At first the amulet was invisible, but it revealed itself to Lara and her companion, Malcolm Oliver. After disabling the trap guarding the amulet, Lara held it in her hand, feeling all of its power. Malcolm however was also influenced by it and wanted to kill Lara and take it for himself. During the fight Lara observed how three sand demons grabbed Malcolm and dismembered him. The amulet was starting to affect her, but when she realized that she could have controlled the sand demons, she snapped back, and spoke out the eight magic words. The sand demons tried to stop her, but were seconds too late, and the amulet turned to ash.
Trivia[]
- There seems to be an error in the timeline, as in real life the Siege of Khartoum of 1885 took place before the Battle of Omdurman, which was in 1898.