Three Keys to Power

The Three Keys to Power were the Grimorum Arcanorum, the Eye of Odin, and the Phoenix Gate. When united, they can transform their bearer into an almost invincible sorcerer.

It is thought that the Roman Magus was the first to unite the Three Keys, using them to cast the Spell of Humility over every gargoyle in the world.

By various paths, the Grimorum, the Eye, and the Phoenix Gate all found their way into Goliath's keeping by 1995. He stored them in the clock tower until Demona and Macbeth, under the spell of the Weird Sisters stole the Three Keys later that year and delivered the Three Keys to the Archmage.

He united them by donning the Eye of Odin upon his skullcap, devouring the Grimorum (in order to provide a loophole that would allow him to enter Avalon with it), and wore the Phoenix Gate upon his chest. With these three objects combined, the Archmage was transformed into so mighty a sorcerer that he could even use the Phoenix Gate's powers without having to speak the Latin incantation to command it, and proceeded to attack Avalon as his first step towards world conquest.

Goliath was able to defeat the Archmage by tearing the Eye of Odin from his brow; once the Archmage lost the Eye (which had been compensating for the mixed magics), he was unable to control the Grimorum any further, which self-destructed, consuming him in the process.

Goliath took the remaining two Keys into his keeping again, eventually returning the Eye to Odin and throwing the Phoenix Gate into the time-stream.

By 1997, three new "Keys to Power" had emerged to fill the vacuum left when the original three Keys were removed. Demona discovered what they were: Gungnir, the Lance of Fate, Puck's Flute and Cleopatra's Necklace. After uniting them, she compelled all humans to serve the commands of any gargoyle, with her commands overruling the rest. The impact was immediate, with the effects of the spell spreading across Manhattan.

The Grimorum Arcanorum was a spell book that contained not only many spells but even a magical record that included an account by the Magus of how he had cursed the clan in 994 and likely his journey to Edinburgh with Princess Katharine and Tom as well. Its name was Latin for "Grimoire [spell book] of Secrets."

It was originally written and/or compiled during the reign of Caesar Augustus (27 B.C. - A.D. 14) by his chief advisor, the original Magus. It was the most powerful and comprehensive book of mortal spell books in existence. Ancient magical scrolls and other texts were cut and bound into the book. Spells were written in Latin and Gaelic, but other languages like Greek were likely represented. Most or all of the spells originated in Europe and other western lands. There are spells that may have even been contributed by Merlin himself.

It passed from hand to hand until, by 971, it was in the possession of the Archmage. When the Archmage was banished from Castle Wyvern in 984 for attempting to overthrow Prince Malcolm, he took the Grimorum with him, but Goliath, Demona, and Hudson pursued him to his cave and recovered it after the young Magus needed a spell from it to cure Prince Malcolm from the Archmage's poison.

The Grimorum remained in the Magus's possession for the next ten years, until Hakon sacked Castle Wyvern. The Viking leader then seized the book and, contemptuous of its magic, began tearing pages out and burning them. When the gargoyles came to the rescue of Hakon's human prisoners, the Magus, blaming them for Princess Katharine's apparent death, used a spell from the Grimorum's pages to put them into stone sleep "until the castle rises above the clouds". When he discovered that Katharine was alive and had been rescued by Goliath, he repented of his act, but since one of the pages that Hakon had burnt was the one with the counterspell written upon it, he could not undo his work. All that he could do was to turn Goliath to stone with that same spell, at the gargoyle leader's request.

The Magus took the Grimorum with him to Kenneth II's court, and used its properties to disguise the Eggs and help Princess Katharine escape after Constantine III's coup the following year. Using a spell from its pages, the Magus brought himself and his followers to Avalon, where their way was barred by the Weird Sisters. The Magus used the Grimorum to reflect an attack spell of the Sisters back upon them, changing them into owls, but because the Grimorum was powered by human magic rather than by Third Race magic, he could not bring it into Avalon with him. Knowing that he had to keep it out of Constantine's hands because of the spell that opened the way to Avalon, he entrusted it to Mary and Finella, to keep it safe.

Mary and Finella returned with the Grimorum to Scotland. Constantine pursued them, hoping to recover the book and use it to reach Princess Katharine on Avalon; so, too, did his hired sorcerer, Brother Valmont, who, like the Archmage, coveted the Grimorum as one of the Three Keys to Power. At the Battle of Rathveramoen, Valmont seized the Grimorum from Finella and used it to conjure up a rain of fiery arrows from the skies that slew many of the combatants on both sides, including the mate of Demona's Second, Magus the horse, and Mail Brigti. Brooklyn seized the Grimorum from the treacherous sorcerer, however, and Demona used a counter-spell to halt the rain (though those slain by the arrows remained slain). Brooklyn afterwards tricked Demona into returning the Grimorum to him and Finella, after which the Phoenix took them and Mary to the United States in the 1970s. [4] They later on gave it to Xanatos, who kept it, housing it in Castle Wyvern after it was moved to the top of the Eyrie Building.

Shortly after the gargoyles' awakening, Demona tricked Brooklyn into stealing the Grimorum for her so that she could use it to seize control of Goliath, turning him into a zombie slave. Brooklyn, when he discovered what he had done, recovered the Grimorum from her, but she managed to tear a few pages out of it first, to save for later. She used one of the spells that she had thus stolen to help create Coldstone, and another later on to place her "stone by night" curse upon New York City.

When the gargoyles had to leave Castle Wyvern for the Clock Tower, they took the Grimorum with them. They kept it safe until Demona and Macbeth stole it under the influence of the Weird Sisters, after which the Sisters presented it to the Archmage. Since the evil sorcerer could not bring it into Avalon with him directly, he ate it, thus making the Grimorum a part of him and absorbing its power. But when Goliath tore the Eye of Odin from the Archmage's brow, the Grimorum self-destructed, and destroyed the Archmage with it.

Only one page (containing the Tracking Spell) is known to still exist. It is in Demona's possession.

The Eye of Odin was the eye that Odin sacrificed in order to gain greater wisdom.

At some point before 975, the eye was transformed into a jewel on Avalon, which (linking to Odin's own power) increased the powers of whoever wore it; however, it would also corrupt them, in a manner reflecting the strengths and weaknesses of its wearer.

Its detailed history is unknown though Its first known chronological appearance is in 10 A.D., when the Roman Magus became the first to combine it with the Grimorum Arcanorum and the Phoenix Gate to cast the Spell of Humility. By 1994, it had somehow come into Xanatos's possession. Xanatos donated it to the Museum of Modern Art, but afterwards had a Steel Clan robot steal it back. The following year, Xanatos gave the Eye to Fox as an engagement gift. When she wore it, however, it turned her into a rampaging "werefox". Xanatos had to make a temporary alliance with Goliath in order to remove the Eye from Fox and save her life. Goliath took the eye into his custody at the clock tower, to prevent it from falling into the wrong hands.

Not long afterwards, Macbeth and Demona stole the Eye from the clock tower, alongside the Grimorum Arcanorum and the Phoenix Gate, under the Weird Sisters' influence. They gave all three objects to the Archmage, allowing him to become a nearly all-powerful sorcerer. The Eye of Odin in particular transformed the Archmage into an enhanced version of himself (and would compensate his dangerous mixing of magics), giving him the ability to consume the Grimorum Arcanorum so that it could safely be taken into Avalon. In battle, Goliath was able to remove the Eye from the Archmage, bringing about his destruction from an unstable Grimorum.

Goliath kept the Eye afterwards, hoping to keep it out of the wrong hands once again, until he and his companions came to Norway during the Avalon World Tour and encountered Odin, who now wanted the Eye back. In final desperation to keep the Eye out of Odin's hands, Goliath donned it and was transformed into a quasi-avatar of the Norse god, possessing near-divine powers; however, the Eye slowly corrupted him, so that, under the guise of protecting his friends, he became increasingly obsessed with destroying Odin as his one rival to ownership of the Eye. Angela finally brought him to his senses, and Goliath quickly discarded the Eye, reverting to normal. Odin claimed it, and made it part of himself once again, presumably permanently.

The Phoenix Gate was a magical talisman that allowed whoever uses it to travel through time and space.

In order to activate the Gate, one must hold it and speak the Latin incantation, Deslagrate muri tempi et intervalia! (which roughly translates to Burn down the walls of space and time! ) Afterwards, a ball of fire will appear and teleport the speaker and anyone close enough to them to whatever time and place on Earth the speaker had envisioned. The ball of fire vanishes once the Gate itself travels through the vortex.

The origins of the Phoenix Gate are unknown, but it is possible that it came into existence with time itself on Avalon, as a sort of safety valve for the Time Stream. At some point in its origins, the Gate was bound to the Phoenix by some unknown person or entity, who was also the first to understand how to use it.

Its detailed history is unknown though its first known chronological appearance is in 10 A.D., when the Roman Magus became the first to combine it with the Grimorum Arcanorum and the Eye of Odin to cast the Spell of Humility. By 975, it was in the possession of King Richard I, who made it his daughter, Princess Elena's dowry for her marriage to Prince Malcolm. The Archmage learned of this, and sent bandits to seize it from the princess. They were foiled by the time-traveling Xanatos, Fox, and Petros Xanatos, arriving from 1995 with a future version of the Gate. The Archmage next sent his apprentice, Demona, to steal the Gate, but she encountered both her future self and a future Goliath, beheld the aftermath of the Wyvern Massacre nineteen years later, and decided to tell the Archmage she had lost it instead. She split the Gate, sharing half with Goliath as a token of their love.

Both kept their halves over the next 1020 years, until Xanatos and Fox's wedding in 1995. Xanatos and Demona tricked Goliath into attending the wedding with his half so that Demona could reconstitute the Gate and travel to 975, Xanatos to arrange for his financial future, and Demona to attempt to persuade her younger self not to share the Gate. Upon returning to 1995, Goliath stores the Gate at the clock tower with the Grimorum and the Eye of Odin.

Under the Weird Sisters' instructions, Demona and Macbeth stole the three magical objects from the clock tower and delivered them to the Archmage. He used the Phoenix Gate to go back in time and rescue himself from the abyss in 984, bought his younger self forward in time, helping him set up the steps that he would need to become the "enhanced Archmage." When Goliath finally defeated the Archmage, struggling with him across multiple time periods, he took the Gate into his custody to make certain that it would never be used again.

However, he broke that promise when the Avalon World Tour came to London and he encountered Leo and Una, who blamed him for their friend Griff's disappearance in 1940. When they kidnapped Elisa, Angela, and Bronx in retaliation, Goliath chose to use the Gate to go back to 1940 and learn what happened, in the process meeting the three gargoyles and "saving" Griff by bringing him forward to 1995.

Near the end of the Avalon World Tour, Puck attempted to trick Goliath into giving him the Gate so he could bribe Oberon into letting him avoid the Gathering. He caused Goliath to experience a vision of a grim and bleak New York in 2036, ruled by Xanatos, with the only way of saving the city to use the Gate to change history. Discovering Puck's ruse and that the Gate needs to be "forked over" for Puck to acquire it, Goliath activated the Gate and threw it into the timestream "without a mind to control it," hoping it would be lost forever.

But Goliath was wrong. In early 1997, the Phoenix Gate reappeared in New York, in front of Brooklyn, Angela, and Broadway while they were out on patrol. When Brooklyn tried to touch it, the Gate disintegrated, releasing a great fiery bird, the Phoenix, which transported Brooklyn away to 997. The Phoenix then proceeded to transport Brooklyn to various other parts of the timeline for the next forty years of his life, finally returning him to Manhattan forty seconds after he had left, with his new family.

The Phoenix then returned to its starting point in time, was bound to the Gate and begain the cycle anew.

Gungnir was a magic spear, also known as Hasta Fatum, the Odinspear, and the Lance of Fate.

It was used by Lord Valois to aid King Culen against Kenneth II in 971. Valois used Gungnir to conjure up watery hands to attack the Wyvern gargoyles, when they came to Kenneth II's aid in the battle with Culen. The Archmage counter-attacked with a spell, severing the spearhead from the shaft.

At an unknown point in time, the lancehead became the prize of Anapaula Aguilar's husband's collection, despite unsuccessful attempts in acquiring the haft. By 1997, Doña Aguilar kept in her home in Buenos Aires, Argentina. When Dominique Destine paid the human (and her collection) a visit, she timed it to sunset so that she could transform into a gargoyle and steal the lancehead.

Promising him controlling interest to Nightstone Unlimited, Demona employed Thailog to steal the haft from the Illuminati's treasure on Eastcheap Isle. The gargoyle located it in Wyvern's horde while Shahrizad distracted the Society's Dragon Treasurer.

Upon acquiring all Three Keys, Demona assembled repaired Gungnir in her townhouse and used its powers to target all humans on Earth.

Gungnir is a spear of vast magical power that is said to be incapable of missing its target.

Puck's flute was a magic flute crafted by Puck. It resembles a simple tube with holes carved on one side, but it is not clear what the flute is made from or how it is played. It has the power to enthrall anyone within earshot.

In 971 AD, the flute was in the hoard of the dragon known as Wyvern. When the dragon attacked Wyvern Hill, the Archmage took the opportunity to send his apprentice Angel to retrieve the flute from the unguarded hoard. The gargoyle used a Scrying Glass to locate the flute among all of the treasure. She brought it to the Archmage afterwards.

Sometime during the Middle Ages, Puck acquired the flute once more and used it when he took on the role of the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

By 1996, the flute was in the possession of Oberon who used the flute to help the gargoyle beast Boudicca track Puck's scent when Puck did not attend the Gathering. Oberon finally tracked him down to New York City. Puck sensed the flute just as Oberon began to ban him from Avalon (and of his powers), and mystically pocketed the flute from the Lord of the Third Race. For the next year and a half, he played the flute for the infant Alexander Fox Xanatos, until Demona identified the instrument as one of the new Three Keys to Power, and cornered him in July 1997.

The flute is now in Demona's possession at her townhouse.

The necklace was a gift from the goddess, Hathor, to Cleopatra. Throughout the centuries, it was possessed by Catherine the Great and Princess Aga Khan.

Following the destruction of the Grimorum Arcanorum, the Eye of Odin being returned to Odin, and the dissolving of the Phoenix Gate, the mystical energies within those Three Keys to Power flowed into three new Keys; one of them was the necklace of Cleopatra.

On November 18th, 1997, Antoinette Dracon attended an auction in Geneva and bought the necklace for $900,000. The following day, she delivered it – the last of the three new Keys – to Demona at the gargoyle's townhouse.

The necklace is a talisman capable of bending an individual's very will.