 Yoruk's Shield in coffin (A) / (B) / (C) Ruby from Yoruk's Shield An errenous illustration of the shield, 949 Replica of Shield (A) / (B) |
The Shield of Yoruk, one of the most widely sought after relics that has been used in powerful rituals and events over the course of history, is but one of many large, bronze shields stuffed with five brilliant rubies aligned on the face to form a cross which are carried by demons of Hades. These shields, which are able to dispel all flames that touch them into pungent black smoke, are used by the demons to past through a ring of fire to gain entrance into Hades.
In 380, Yoruk plucked one of these from the side of a careless lesser demon and plunged his way through the ring of fire unscathed, passed through the gates of Hades and slayed the Great Daemon of the Threshold. When Yoruk passed away in 425, legends tell that this Zorkastrian saint ascended to the Ethereal Plane of Atrii to meet with the Implementors. When they refused to let him leave, Yoruk branished his sword and bronze shield, hacked a path through the Happy Fields where joy forever dwells, and was never heard of again.
During the mid-seventh century, a man named Locksmoore recovered Yoruk's shield and journal. He shared this knowledge with Cornelius Agrippa. Agrippa would be the first head of the modern alchemical order, the first in a direct line of succession that stemming from Yoruk's original descent into the underground. Before his death, Locksmoore founded an ascetic order of monks that would keep alive the fire of Yoruk's ancient beliefs until this day. It is not certain if the Steppinthrax Monastery was founded by Locksmoore or a later member of his order. This religious establishment appears to have been built on the spot on where Yoruk descended into the underworld. Yoruk's empty coffin was placed in the monastery's catacombs and Yoruk's shield (minus one ruby) was hidden on the undersize of the cover and would not be rediscovered until 949. In the meantime, the Monastery constructed a wooden replica of the shield and held it, along with one of the original rubies at the museum. In 949, an unknown female pilgrim would enter the Monastery, remove the ruby from the museum, insert it back into the authentic Shield of Yoruk, and use it to pass through a ring of fire which the Nemesis had placed before Francois Malveaux's alchemical laboratory in the catacombs of the Monastery. It is unknown what happened to the Shield after this event.