In the Secret World there are a variety of different Talismans with specific names and functions, some which relate loosely to an area or entity from which they were acquired.
This thread is for players to research, explore, and share their speculations regarding the nature of these extraordinary talismans.
Occult Talisman - Razor Fossil
This damage buff item appears to be linked to the Hell Dimensions. It was previously known to drop from the Engine Tyrants of the Egypt portal and a reference is made by the succubus Saccharissa at the end of the Hell Raised dungeon.
âYou, me⊠on a beach of razor fossils. The vultures of Leng plucking your nerve endings like a fabulous instrument.â
Evocative for a wasteland of perilous and exquisite skeletal remains, it suggests a desolation where once life was abundant. This correlates with what we know of the Second Age. That Hell was once a paradise, a great and palpitating civilization now but an aborted experiment, abandoned to die. A tortuous relic place.
âOnce all was perfect. Like you. But it was left to rot in the vile glasshouse of its planters. So cruel!â
The Hell Dimension is also described as a place where the wind blows âblinding razor-grain sandâ. It is of salt and sulphur dunes with wrong-angled cliffs and the dessicated corpses of a hundred thousand demons.
The mentioned vultures of Leng is most likely a reference to the Cthulhu Mythos and the Plateau of Leng.
A cold desert place known to the âMad Arabâ Abdul Alhazred of the Necronomicon (Kitab al-Azif), and also inhabitated by man-eating spiders and the satyr-like âMen of Lengâ.
Although its location varies from each telling, in the Dreamland dimension, Leng is located to the north.
Fun fact: Leng has Penguins. Big, blind albino Penguins.
Sorry. I always found that a fun fact.
There is the case of the New York Raid head talismans.
The Ashes of Elder Things is in the shape of Lovecraftâs Elder Sign
While Elder Things are creatures from space that lived on Earth millions of years ago and created shoggoths and eventually were destroyed by shoggoths.
The Mark of the Starspawn is August Derlethâs Elder Sign:
Star-spawn are much smaller Cthulhu-like creatures that warred against the Elder Things.
The Elder Sign was used in Râlyeh on doors as a ward against Outer Gods. Presumably that is also why Secret Worlders draw it on their foreheads. Weâve got a rather large Unutterable Lurker to keep out of our heads, and in particular the Mark of the Starspawn is useful for this, since it provides healing when one is hit and the Lurker hits fast and often, soothing a mind battered by the Lurkerâs gaze.
The Blood of The Old Ones also references Elder Things, as that was another name for them, Old Ones.
Yeah, those Whispers of Darkness get louder and louder until simply impossible to ignore.
in âThe Shadow Over Innsmouthâ the Elder sign also provides protection against the Deep Ones, servants and worshippers to âcertain cosmic forces, certain dreaming entitiesâ including ancient and overgrown Deep Ones and Cthulhu. Certainly worth testing against the âTide Lurkerâ.
The symbol on the âBlood of The Old Onesâ appears to represent several writhing tentacles, imagery unique to FCâs Secret World.
Interestingly here is a bestiary depicting the symbols for Lovecraftian races such as the Elder Things, Starspawn and Deep Ones, as well as singular iconography for Outer Gods / The Old Ones, Great Old Ones, and a geographic timeline representing their principal areas of occurence on earth.
Indeed Antarctica is one of the proposed locations of the Plateau of Leng, as hypothesised by one of the Miskatonic University Expedition explorers during âAt the Mountains of Madnessâ in which an ancient Elder Thing city is discovered atop a plateau. There is much to indicate that Antarctica is a location of significance in the Secret World and there is no reason not to suspect these birds to be scavengers and the âvulturesâ mentioned.
Finger Talisman - Band of the Bacab
This talismanâs function provides benefit to cleansing by restoring health on cleanse attempts. The lore behind this item is related to the Darkness War dungeon and more specifically to the Mayan invaders.
The Bacabs are four Yucatec Maya deities, who were placed at the four cardinal points (north, south, east, west) by the creator god Itzamna at the formation of the world, in order to prevent the heavens from falling.
Between them grew a huge ceiba tree, the cosmic tree, with roots deep in the underworld and its branches reaching towards the heavens to support it.
They are associated with the interior of the earth, the health of bees/honey production, curing rituals, water and are symbolically in opposition to the nocturnal sun.
Appropriate given the effect of the talisman on the bee-swallowers from Hollow Earth.
The names of the Bacab are Hobnil, Cantzicnal, Saccimi, and Hosanek.
Their mythology is also associated with cosmological upheaval and end times, with their escape and the destruction of the world by a great deluge (Kâatun 11 Ahau). As such they have also been described as Atlantean gods.
â âŠin one great sudden rush of water⊠Great Serpent (Canhel) was ravished from the Heavens⊠the sky fell down and the dry land sank, when the four gods (the four Bacabs) arose, who had brought about the annihilation of the world." - Mayan Book of Chilam Balam of Chumayel.
According to some sources they have wrinkled faces with ears ornamented with circlets. Could these be the band talismans worn on the finger?
Additionally, a manuscript written in the Yucatec Maya language named âRitual of the Bacabsâ contains forty-two main shamanistic incantations and supplementary fragments, some of which have never been translated.
Iâve been trying to work out the origin of the Iron-Sulfur bracelet, because it sounds simple enough.
After trawling through the Iron-Sulfur page on Wikipedia, I found Iron Sulfides are things, one of which is Pyrites (FeS2). Iron Pyrite, aka Foolâs Gold, has been used to make marcasite jewellery since the time of the ancient Greeks. It was also apparently used by Victorian nobles when Prince Albert died and Victoria didnât want people being all bright and extravagant while she was mourning. As an added bonus, itâs a semiconductor that may be usable to make cheap photovoltaic cells.
Pyrites means âof/in fireâ because it makes a spark when struck against steel. Itâs alleged to be protective, heal auras, and manifests energy for use.
https://www.crystalvaults.com/crystal-encyclopedia/pyrite
This was a fun bit of armchair research, but Iâve almost certainly taken a wrong turn at Albuquerque.
Gold symbolism, even in the Secret World, is not always positive.
So, it is interesting that Gaiaâs imbued should benefit from a talisman made from âFools Goldâ.
That the mineral already has a history of metaphysical properties and has been used in the creation of magical jewellery is good research.
Generally it appears to be defensive against negative energies and physical harm, despite the braceletâs effect of damaging those already suffering from detrimental effects.
There are also accounts of supernatural properties, in which polished pyrite was used for divination purposes.
The name âIron-Sulfurâ brings to mind the Hell Dimension, of abandoned machines and brimstone. However the ironâsulfur world hypothesis suggests that life that pre-dates genetics originated in deep-sea vents, which may indicate a connection to the Draug species.
