Trinity of Stanos

These are strange relics of the Empire showing the power of relgion and its many forms...

— Warden O. B. Davies

The Trinity of Stanos is a collection of three items that resemble the Imperial religion. Each of these items were seemingly just found in 905 CY, upon which point the religious nature of the items started to spread under the guidance of the Church of the Overseer. The three items are: the Kyranok, a book that was the origin of religious text before being copied on mass; the Ulrane Cup, a small cup about the size of an egg that is referenced in the Kyranok as a device for communing with the natural order; and the Hylenith Blade, a longsword of ancient design that was said to be the weapon of choice for The Ikon.
The last time that all three items were in a known location was near the dissolution of the Oldfront Empire, when three powerful factions each possessed one of the items and were using them to power their own ideals in the course of the upcoming conflict of The Great War. However, since the resolution of the Second Great War the location of the Trinity are mostly unknown.
There is one exception to the loss of the Trinity. The Hylenith Blade was found by a Collective known as the Alabaster Sun and Moon. The Blade seems to have not rusted over its many centuries of existence and was reported by the Collective's warden to contain an unnaturally large amount of Weird within its presence. However, this was only continued by the fact that the sword is reported to emit strange and unusual telepathic calls to a variety of people. For everyone's safety, the blade has been stored within a lead-lined coffin in the depths of The Grand Archive, therefore limiting contact for each person.

Context

I feel that it is important to layout the context for each of the items of the Trinity. While yes, they are somewhat self-explanatory from what I have said above, it is important to note how each of the elements exist within the religion of The Empire.

The Kyranok

Considered to be the first of the objects created, The Kyranok is supposed to be a book that is written by the Prophetic, an ancient order of Prophets who worshipped and lived among The Ikon, a messiah like figure within the book.
The writings contained within the Kyranok is broken into three primary 'chapters'. Each chapter follows a central figure who has attained some direct connection with the Everknowing, a sentience that could look out over each person and judges them at the end of their lives. The nature of this sentience is never explicit, but more often than not implied within the texts to be otherworldly and even sometimes referred to as the creator of the realm that we inhabit.
The first chapter of the Kyranok describes the tales of, and thus is named after, "The Gardener". This figure is intended to be a protector of the beginning of life itself. It describes The Gardener as being a figure who was tending to the seeds laid by The Everknowing. While none of this information has been factually checked, it is likely that such a person would exist before the era known as the "Wild Years". One prominent tale spoke of The Gardener telling a pack of people about some of The Everknowing's views on life. They describe it as a crust of bread, while we know its there, there are things on the inside and outside that affect it, so we should utilise our moment of time to experience as much of what is around you as possible.
The second chapter is much shorter and seems to have been missing several elements throughout its existence. However, the chapter does reference, and is thus named for, a figure listed only as "The Ikon". More than either of the other chapters, this section of the Kyranok seems to focus on what seems to be some sort of divine war between the angels of The Everknowing and demonic figures that originate from an unknown source. The Ikon is meant to be The Everknowing's mortal champion crossing our realm helping people, the fragments seem to indicate a level of power that is similar to that of a Magik user. Yet, once again the existence of The Ikon has never been verified other than by the existance of their weapon, the Hylenith Blade.
The final chapter of the Kyranok is named for its central figure known as "The Diviner". While the others seem to have already been chosen of The Everknowing, The Diviner seems to be discovering their connection to the entity, particularly in an age of a great empire. The latter part of that sentence was greatly debated when the documents were discovered as this great empire was able to be identified as The Oldfront Empire. Once this was discovered, it has been the mission of many scholars of the time, and through to today, to discover the identity of The Diviner and verify if the stories were possible. This direct connection would allow for a proof of either The Everknowing as an existing entity, or it would become a myth used to enforce some religious message.

Ulrane Cup

Most prominently referenced in the third chapter of the Kyranok, the Ulrane Cup is said to be the device upon which The Diviner was able to communicate directly with The Everknowing. There are no known reports of the actual cup having such divine power. However, it is written that when water collected from a special spring was boiled and steamed in a room, it would allow a user to communicate directly with the powerful entity known as The Everknowing.
The user would allegedly step from their mortal body beyond our realm and sit among a garden filled with flowers unlike any that exist in the mortal realm and rules that don't abide our own natural laws. From here they are able to speak with The Everknowing for a short time. In the writings the entity appears as a single floating eye within a large ball of light that seems to coarse with a powerful energy that is described as "the burning of a sun combined with a cold winter's night, all wrapped up in the hope of a child's dream."
While I am not one for poetic descriptions of powerful entities, even I must admit that this entity seems welcoming and friendly, though a single eye reminds me of some of the reports surrounding the arrival of Weird and Magik. Is this entity another from the strange world? Or was it merely trying to warn those of us who would see it that there was a powerful and strange entity arriving to our realm sooner than we expected.

Hylenith Blade

The strangest of the items is the Hylenith Blade as it was a direct reference to the blade carried by The Ikon. Its blade is of a dark steel that has yet to be matched by smiths across the realm. As I mentioned, much of the information in the chapter about The Ikon seems to be missing, leading me to believe that some of the records were removed before the book was allowed to be witnessed by a mass populous.
However, despite this, the blade is originally referred to as the Blade of Sorrowful Night within the Kyranok. This blade was said to be able to not only carve the flesh of a demonic presence but the fragmented chapter seemed to indicate that the demonic presences were trapped within the sword to keep them from reforming in the deepest pits of their home. If this is the case, it would make the physical sword one of the most haunted objects in the entire realm, to the point that it should be destroyed if that were even possible,
The main thing about the real sword that had religious fanatics raving about the authenticity of the blade was the case that the styling pre-dated the imperial forces. If this is the case, the sword would be extremely rusted to the point that it wouldn't be usable. However, it is reported that it was sharper than any blade that was forged by the greatest smith of the time.
The Hylenith Blade was given its name after the fighter who volunteered to be the first and only person to go against combat with the blade. Gronva Hylenith was a dedicated soldier to the imperial forces, however on the day of the fight, he seemed to start to lose a fragment of his sanity. This moment of claritous madness was only halted when Hylenith took the blade and cut his own flesh. By doing so, it is reported at least, that his form seemed to collapse into the blade itself. As such the blade is named after him, and is regarded as still having his fom trapped within the blade.

Type of Item
Book
Cup
Sword
Significance
Ancient Religious
Cultural
Created by
Unknown
Date of Creation
Unknown
Date of Discovery
905 CY
Material
Paper and Leather
Silver and Pearl
Darksteel and Leather

Current Status

The Kyranok

The Kyranok is the original copy of what would become the Manuscript of the Many Eyed, a reproduction for the masses. However, the location and owner of the original and most important copy is unknown. Some believe that the Church of the Overseer possesses it as a facet of their religious autonomy. Though it should be noted that there are allegedly many differences between the Manuscript (owned and released by the Church of the Overseer) and the written accounts of the Kyranok in Old Stanosian.

Ulrane Cup

If there was ever an award for "The Most Assorted History for a Religious Artifact", I would hand it to the Ulrane Cup. On one hand, it is somewhat easy to follow as likely it will leave death and destruction in its wake, but that is where the leads go cold. After being passed as a family heirloom, the cup travelled many hands, each person recieving the success they desired then having it torn away until the eventually passed on from this realm. The last known owners were the Merrivine family, who seemed to have been rising in power among the people of Voran, until its disastrous end. From that day, the cup has been considered lost among the ruins of Voran, waiting to be discovered by some unfortunate soul.

Hylenith Blade

As previously mentioned, the Hylenith Blade currently resides int he Grand Archive's secure vault. From the reports I have, not only does it emit powerful forces but its whispers were once enough to drive a Warden to brutally murder a whole Collective. While such diversions are not uncommon within a Collective, for an entity to have enough force to possess and control a Warden scares me to the bone. I'm glad its locked away and several dimensions away from me.