CHRONICLE OF BROTHER GEOFFROY // LIBER CRUCIS
EXPEDITION: FOURTH CRUSADE // SACK OF CONSTANTINOPLE (1204)
[Vellum folio scorched around edges. Written in Latin with red rubricated initials.]
When the iron gates of the Blachernae Palace were broken, we found not gold or silks, but a bronze chest adorned with the double-headed dragon of the East. The Venetian soldiers threw open the lid expecting jewels, but found only three river stones dripping with cold, pitch-black slime that did not wash clean with wine or oil.
"The slime crawled up the spear-shafts of five foot-soldiers. By vespers, those men spoke no Latin or Greek, but sang in the ancient tongue of Babylon, pointing their swords toward the stars above Mount Ararat."
We cast the chest into the deepest cistern under the city and sealed the trapdoor with lead poured from the cathedral roof. May God have mercy on whoever reopens the waters of Byzantium.
PARTIAL TIMELINE MAPPING:
- April 1204: Fourth Crusade breaches land walls; imperial relic vaults looted.
- May 1204: Anomaly discovered in subterranean palace cisterns; five soldiers infected.
- June 1204: Vault sealed with molten lead under order of Latin Patriarchate wardens.