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"This is Caduceus, where devils keep a garden of roses."[1]
"The devils were here before me. They were wearing those masks when I arrived. This temple was once something else, something important to them. They reclaimed it, though for a new purpose."[2]
Caduceus is a temple located in Eleutheria. It is said that this is the only place in Eleutheria where sunlight can be seen.
Where the Roses Bloom[]
"A temple, garlanded with incarnadine flowers and wreathed with thorns, sits at the apex of Caduceus. It is drowsy with the scent of roses, though you can see none."[3]
Caduceus was the gateway to Parabola through which the devils escaped after their rebellion against the Judgements.[4] Now that they have returned millennia later, the devils use this place as grounds for a mysterious set of rituals called the Rites of the Rose.[5] They are joined by a ragtag bunch of bohemian artists, poets, and musicians[6] who have found themselves greatly inspired by roses.[7][8]
The devilish caretakers of this Grecian temple[9] are called the Rose-Binders. They tend the rose bushes that surround the temple,[10] perhaps even pampering them[11] even though they do not bloom,[10] and are engaged in a constant struggle to keep overgrowth from destroying the temple.[12] The Rose-Binders have also erected shrines, statues, and frescoes here[13] that are devoted to the musical Saints of Hell.[14][15]
There is a labyrinth of caverns under the temple of Caduceus;[16] deep within resides one of the Saints, the Drummer. He is contained in a gargantuan glass vessel resembling a heart,[17] and it is he who determines who is worthy to participate in the Rites. His drumbeats can be heard reverberating throughout Caduceus; none can resist dancing along.[18] There is also a pool in these caverns, lit by moonish light and located beside a ruined temple.[19] Those with worthy souls may drink the water of this pool to commune with the Drummer and be admitted to the Rites of the Rose.[20]
In typical diabolical fashion, individuals with "aesthetically displeasing" souls are ignored by the residents of Caduceus. Those that have cold or "dull" souls are advised to improve their soul in Carillon.[21][22]
The Thorn-Maiden[]
The Thorn-Maiden
"I found Caduceus not long after I arrived in Eleutheria. I was frustrated with the methodologies of Winter's Reside. Where was the poetry? Where the beauty in all the horror?"[23]
The ritual leader of the Rite of the Rose is the Thorn-Maiden: crowned in leaves and thorns, adorned with jewels, and carrying a stave coiled with snakes.[24] Her voice expresses no emotion[25] and seems to have been altered in some way,[26] and she speaks cryptically of alliances between great powers,[27] but her impatient and ambitious personality certainly shines through.[28]
The Thorn-Maiden is a former revolutionary, who left Winter's Reside due to ideological differences with the Calendar Council; she was unable to see beauty and poetry in the Liberation.[29] She does not clarify why she was chosen for her role by the Rose-Binders, who preceded her arrival.[30] Interestingly, like the devils', her sense of style is rather anachronistic; perhaps she learned a few tricks from them?
The Rites of the Rose[]
"As your eyes adjust to the illegal radiance of the sudden sunlight, you can see that the Arboretum has been entirely transformed. The statues are covered and crowned in wild roses of every possible colour. Impossible roses bloom on the throne and on the marble slabs on the ground. Celebrants run through fields of brightly-hued flowers, drinking and dancing and laughing."[31]
The Rites of the Rose are the mysterious celebrations of Caduceus, during which the temple is bathed in sunlight and the roses start to bloom.[32] Celebrants can be seen dancing and drinking their way through the fields where the Rose-Binders tend to the flowers.[33] Hissing can be heard from the bushes,[34] and celebrants cavorting near them often have their fingers bitten.[35]
A Caducean Rose.
When the roses fade and the sunlight dims, celebrants gather in the Hall of the Fiddler to participate in the Mystery of Beholding. Here they are each guided to pick a rose, each color of which will show them a specific future.[36] Celebrants that pick the rose of loss[37] are then allowed into the higher mystery called the Mystery of Indulgence. The Rose-Binders gather in the Hall of the Pipers and offer a choice of indulgences to the revelers:[38] wine,[39] dance,[40] love,[41] or sorrow.[42] After this rite, the celebrants leave a gift for the "insatiate rose" in the Hall of the Drummer:[43] a crew member, for those attending with their crew,[44] or a piece of their own flesh or mind.[45][46]
Finally, after "the roses have taken enough of them,"[47][48] full initiates are directed to the marble wall behind the Thorn-Maiden's throne, where the sunlight shines the strongest.[49] The marble "wall" is in fact a mirror and thus a gateway to Parabola.[50] Behind the glass is a garden where the Rose-Binders and many-armed devils tend wild roses,[51] and something slithering can be seen in the shadows.[52] Not all celebrants return from behind the mirror...[53][54]
"Enjoy the sunlight," says the Thorn-Maiden. "I shall bring it home, one day soon."[55]
Historical and Cultural Inspirations[]
In addition to the obvious Ancient Greek aesthetic strewn about Caduceus - from its name, to the architecture, to the costume and thyrsus of the Thorn-Maiden - the Rite of Roses may take some inspiration from the Eleusinian Mysteries. These were initiations into the cult of Demeter and Persephone; the three phases represented Persephone's abduction by Hades, Demeter's search for her daughter, and their reunion. The reference is made a little more direct by "A Paeon for Persephone," the lengthy poem about the Thorned Maiden and her rites.[56]
The Prorrhesis[57] was originally the announcement of the start of the Mysteries, inviting the pure of heart to participate. As for the name of the final stage of the Rite, Euryphaessa[58] is an epithet for the Titan Theia that literally means "wide-shining." Theia was the goddess of vision and value (i.e. giving gems and precious metals their high value), and the mother of Helios (the Sun), Selene (the Moon), and Eos (dawn).
There is a particularly long list of references to other parts of ancient history thrown into descriptions of Caduceus, but these do not appear to be as relevant.
References[]
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