LEGACY JOURNAL OF WINSTON RAYNE
Tues, April 1st - 12:30 AM
Have received word that the sepulcher has been found! (Hope it’s not somebody’s idea of an April Fool’s joke.) I pray that it’s the one I suspect. It surely must be, since the key I possess came from this area.
I know that I’ll get no sleep tonight, so I’ll set down my tale now - for the 1st time in a Legacy Journal. I know that I’ll doubtless be reprimanded by London for having carried on my own private investigations concerning the sepulchers. On more than one occasion I’ve found the interference of the past RP to be galling & unnecessarily intrusive.
Many believe the existence of the sepulchers, said to imprison the fallen Watchers, is purely mythological. However, after the war, I was engaged in research on the occult interests of certain high ranking Nazi officials. Amongst others was SS Gruppenführer Manfred Todt, in whose collection I found a large quantity of texts & scrolls relating to Kabbala, “angelic” script, & references to the sepulchers. Over the next couple of years I sporadically continued the research, treating it as a relaxing hobby between Legacy cases & foundation work. However, in early 1953 an earthquake struck NW Turkey & my research became a search in earnest.
The quake severely damaged the chapel of a small Greek Orthodox monastery on the Aegean island of Samothraki. Whilst performing repairs the monks found an ancient library concealed in the crypt. It had been sealed off over three centuries ago & long since forgotten. A friend studying at the Univ. in Athens knew of my interest in Kabbala & told me that this trove contained many previously unknown Kabbalistic texts. I flew over & the Brothers, not realizing the significance of their discovery, kindly let me peruse at my leisure. It was a very pleasant, very fruitful two weeks. Within one volume I found a large folded lambskin parchment that contained a detailed drawing of a sepulcher & its key, as well as the invocations, conjurations, & incantations needed to call forth the arch-demon & to subdue him to the will of man. What was most curious about this parchment was the diversity of the languages used. Portions were written in Greek, Latin, Gaelic (& it turned out to be Manx Gaelic), & something that seemed to contain a few Catalan words but was otherwise unrecognizable. I later determined it to be Quechua, the language of the Incas, phonetically written in Catalan. I now was certain that at least one of the sepulchers had once existed, perhaps in the New World.
About ten years later, while visiting the Prado on foundation business, I happened to read the obituary of a Señor Ortiz of Barcelona. In it there was mention that an ancestor had been with Pizarro in Peru & that the family still possessed a relic of the expedition - an oddly shaped key that had survived the family’s financial ups & downs because it seemingly possessed no value. In my mind, as I read, I saw the key. I raced to Barcelona & purchased it for an amount that would keep Señora Ortiz & her family in comfort for the next 50 yrs.
After that, as often as I could, I traveled to Peru to try to discover the origins of the key. To no avail. But, 3 yrs. ago by pure serendipity I came across the name of Ortiz in a book at the Library of Congress. It was a paymaster’s roll for a Spanish expedition over the Andes into the westernmost reaches of the Amazon. They were, of course, seeking El Dorado. Thereafter, I concentrated my search, perhaps with more intuition than logic, on the eastern slopes of the Andes from southern Ecuador to northern Chile.
* * *
At the same time, I spread word through the native grapevines that I was offering a hefty reward for information concerning any unusual receptacles found in the region. I let it be known that the box was very bad, “white man’s” magic & should be handled only by a powerful “shaman,” such as myself. It sounds lame, but, fortunately, they trust me. I’ve never deceived them & have always paid my guides well above the going rate. It’s the only way to build one’s reputation in areas that rely only upon word-of-mouth. There have been a few very odd red-herrings, but I think this time it’s for real.
Apparently, native miners found it at a gold mine near the village of Chipote, which was abandoned several years ago when the mine played out. The local tribesmen, probably of Incan stock, but perhaps affiliated with the Mascho, evidently still visit the mine occasionally to glean what little ore remains in the tailings. One of the children went off exploring & made the find of an elongated, hexagonal casket of about 1x3ft. Lord, if the legend is true that the ancient Druids scattered the sepulchers (The use of Gaelic would seem to support this.) & this discovery is, indeed, a sepulcher, how did the Druids get it here? Was the voyage of St. Brendan but one of many the Celtic peoples may have made across the seas? They were after all a vastly expansive people. I believe much more remains to be discovered about the earliest origins & travels of the race. Maybe, this will be a major step forward even in the field of anthropology & the study of the earliest civilizations.
* * *
Tomorrow we’ll take the road to Puerto Maldonado, but shall turn off at about the 1/2way point to take a mining road NE toward the basin of the Rio Madre de Dios. I understand that it’s about 75 km from the junction, as the crow flies. Though supposedly still in good condition when the mine closed, the road itself is probably now little more than a trail &, with its twists & curves, is said to be about 180 km. I suspect it must be somewhere NW of Manú. I’d hire a helicopter, but none are available.
I suspect Derek’s going to be quite upset at the change in plans. I only hope he doesn’t descend into one of his piquish moods & make life miserable for us both. I’d promised to show him the city, the Inca trail, the Urubamba Valley, & Machu Picchu, but that will have to wait. I can risk no delay. The thing is far too dangerous & too valuable. I cannot let my colleagues down by allowing the thing to slip through my fingers simply because I have my son with me.
My God! The discovery of the sepulcher could be equal to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, the Dead Sea Scrolls, & the Holy Grail combined. It could change our whole view of God, heaven & hell. Perhaps, it will change our whole concept of evil & how to fight it. Now we might actually win.
NEXT 
