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Lucreto

Lucreto is a powerful and immortal Archarchon of the Realm of the Sun. He is The Father of demons and abominations.[1][2]

Background[]

Lucreto was once the most revered leader of the Archons in the Realm of the Sun. He was once the protector of the Mask of Eternity - the global icon of truth, light, and order.[3] However he coveted the power of the mask. The now evil being took up quarters in the sacred sanctity of the Mask of Eternity. He stood at the altar before the mask at the top of the temple where the Mask was held, while his fellow Archons were performing their devotions.[4] Betraying his acolytes, he cast a great spell in an attempt to gain the power of the Mask.[5] With arms thrust upward, he summoned the dark spell. The skies darkened and bolts of lightning converged on the temple. With a powerful burst, the mask exploded into pieces that fell to the world below. The spell destroyed the Mask, shattering it into several pieces, but the power was his.[6][7]

The destruction of the mask caused a vile tempest of dark magic to be unleashed across the world. The Sun vanished and darkness and evil was released...[8] Great storms and earthquakes rent the land. The cataclysm caused by the supernatural spell caused the mortal inhabitants of Daventry and other lands to be turned into stone.

Lucreto also imprisoned his acolytes in marble, including Uriel, putting them into his thrall.[9] Imprisoned, they were left powerless to stop him.[10] He then took up residence in the Temple of the Sun's sanctum sanctorum, the Inner Sanctum of the Mask. To protect himself, he caused the precepts to vanish from the Tablet of Knowledge, locking the gates of each level of the Temple of the Sun.

With the Mask's power under his command, he caused water from the River of Death to flow into the Temple of the Sun, corrupting the Sacred Fountain, and turning it into a vile cauldron, allowing him to create the Children of Darkness, his henchmen.[11]

Not long after the shattering, one of the pieces landed at the feet of the tanner, Connor. Just as he picked it up, the effects of Lucreto's spell reached the ground. In a flash, at that moment every inhabitant of the beloved kingdom had turned to stone. That is, every inhabitant but one. With the sacred mask piece in hand, Connor was somehow protected from the consequences of the omen. Connor encountered one of Lucreto's henchman who had been searching for the Mask piece in Connor's possession. Later he made his way to the Throne Room of Castle Daventry to check on the condition of the royal family, Lucreto saw him the young tanner through the Magic Mirror. He saw that the peasant was a potential threat to him. He called him a stripling, and wondered why Connor presumed to thwart him, and telling him to go run to his mother. From that point forward he desired Connor dead, sending his minions out to kill him.

Lucreto began creating more of his Children of Darkness from the vile cauldron, his Henchmen, and sent them out to search for Connor, and kill him, as well as seek out and guard the pieces of the Mask. Lucreto wanted Connor's prompt death to prevent him from infiltrating his domain. Connor was able to see a vision of this command from the Swamp Witch's cauldron.

Lucretothork

Lucreto meets with Thork

Connor continued to prove himself a thorn in Lucreto's side, finding more and more pieces of the mask. Lucreto began to notice that one his acolytes, Uriel, although paralyzed in Lucreto's thrall was still mentally defying the evil one, and attempting to help Connor out. Lucreto heard Uriel's thoughts and told Uriel to stop interfering, that he could not be stopped, and that Connor would fall. Somehow this event corrupted a crystal pyramid, Connor was able to access the vision and learn more about the adversary that he was destined to confront.

Finally Lucreto teleported before Thork. Thork knelt in his presence but was told to stand. Lucreto required his service. The human male Connor would be attempting to infiltrate Thork's mountain citadel (Ice Lord's Stronghold) , and Lucreto wanted his prompt death. He expected that to rely on Thork and his battalions to stop Connor. Thork accepted, and Lucreto teleported back to the Realm of the Sun.

Since he was an Archon before he became evil, he was not good at combat. However, he did have a good grasp of the powers of magic. He was defeated by Connor, who had recovered the pieces of the mask and returned it back to the Realm. Connor could not harm him directly (being immortal he could not be slain). He could only be battled with the Sword of Truth, the Armor of Light, and immortality bestowed by the Chalice of Order. With that gear at his disposal, Connor pushed Lucreto and weakened him enough to allow him to place that pieces back on the altar one by one. Once the mask was put back together, a portal opened to the Black Abyss and Connor made a couple of final attacks on Lucreto, pushing him back into the Black Abyss, banishing him from the world and forever trapping Lucreto.

Titles[]

Note: The latter two Chaos and Lord of Darkness are not clear nicknames for Lucreto. Although at least with Chaos it is treated as 'reigning' and its Lucreto who reigns releasing the vile spirits of the elements (in the form of various demons) to (see also The Father of demons and abominations. Lord of Darkness is more problematic as it could also apply to Azriel.

Notes[]

  • The Oracle of the Tree (Prophet Tree) offers clues about Lucreto's personality. It describes Lucreto as 'the sinner', calls him 'a Pretender". States that 'He that doeth evil abhorreth the light.", "He who coveted all have now brought on sin." It calls Lucreto, The Father, 'of demons and abominations'
  • The Henchmen call him the Master.
  • The Archon spirit, Uriel refers to him as the Evil One.
  • The voice of Uriel/Archon can be heard in the sun altar room, they also give insight into Lucreto's motivations, personality, and backstory.
  • His shortened nickname in the files as seen in mirror image in Castle Daventry is "Luke".

Behind the scenes[]

The Archarchon, Lucreto's story is inspired by the story of Lucifer's fall from Heaven into Hell, becoming Satan according to Interaction Magazine. The title 'Archarchon' does not appear in the game but only in description in a 1997 magazine.

That his title is the Archarchon is only mentioned in production materials and articles. It is not specifically mentioned in the game. But it did make it into concept material for King's Quest IX (Roberta Williams).

Lucreto's title, "The Father" is likely to the reference to Satan being the 'father of lies'.

Lucreto appears to be very powerful magical user, if not sorcerer (he has been described as a sorcerer in a number of previews and advertisements). He is an immortal of the Archon race and has near-god like abilities, and cannot be killed by normal means, he also has a good grasp of magic. These abilities together make him one of the most powerful villain in all the King's Quest series. It was his magic that shattered the Mask of Eternity when he attempted to use it. With his powers and power of the water of the River of Death he was able to corrupt the Sacred Well transforming it into a dark cauldron in which he created his evil henchmen. With his magic he was also able to put his fellow Archons into his thrall. While he has very little physical prowess at fighting, he is quite dangerous due to magic he wields, he is able to shoot many magical fiery darts at once from the end of his staff, or magical beams, or magical rings that bind the victim and throws them telekinetically across the room, and he also has the ability to teleport to avoid damage. Be prepared with plenty of health items when facing him. Since he cannot be killed, you’ll have to find a way to deal with him other than standard combat!

Lucreto is arguably the most powerful villain the KQ series, and is nearly god-like in power.

The Unicorn makes a reference to a Lord of Darkness and a Lord of Sunshine, its unclear if the Lord of Darkness is an allusion to Lucreto or perhaps Azriel or something else altogether. Lucreto is partially associated with darkness: Lucreto broke the mask by using a magic of Darkness, darkness dimmed one of the crystal pyramids, and he brought darkness over the world, and his henchman ('Children of Darknes') are creatures of darkness (however Lucreto contaminated the sacred well with the waters from River of Death, which are part of Azriel's domain, and the Shadow Bane is also a creature of darkness from that realm).

In Milton's Paradise Lost which the game is partially inspired by, Satan/Lucifer is referred to as the Prince of Darkness (which would make this allusion more apt than if it applied to Azriel).

Lucreto may have some similarities to the Gnostic Lucifier in Catharism which was a kind of co-ruler with "God" the Demiurge, and helped bring balance to the universe. If one over powered the other it could cause chaos or enslavement... If Lucifer became more powerful than "God" he could become the Devil or Satan, and remove inhibition, morality, and control... if "Demiurge" become more powerful he could take away choice... Humans made up a third part of a trinity, representing 'free will'.

References[]

  1. Oracle of the Grove (KQ8): "The Father of demons and abominations before the altar stands."
  2. KQ:MOE strat guide, pg
  3. Archon/Uriel (KQ8)
  4. Voices: "Lucreto hath coveted power. He knew we wouldst be performing our devotions."
  5. "Lucreto, he hath betrayed us."
  6. "Lucreto hath caused the Mask's destruction."
  7. http://web.archive.org/web/19990224094840fw_/http://www.sierrastudios.com/games/mask/cindex.html
  8. "The sun is vanished. All is darkness and evil."
  9. Archon/Uriel, Lucreto: "I hear thy thoughts, Uriel. Though thinkest thy Champion Eternal will come and save thee from my thrall. Hah! He shall not EVER make it past my Children of Darkness. And thy precious MASK, it shall not help thee. Its power is now MINE...forever!"
  10. "We are imprisoned, we are powerless."
  11. "A foul River of Death is here in the Temple."
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