The Regulators are the band that closes the cycle of Antiterra. Emerging after the fall of the Deep Ones on 21 December 1889 A.D.A., they fought from the Mediterranean to Paris, through the Eiffel Tournament (1890) to the confrontation with Barbatos (c. 1901), and later became agents of time (1946?).
| Type | Group (adventuring band) |
| World | Antiterra |
| Predecessors | The Deep Ones; the Boreals |
| Houses of the Cycle | ⛓ House of the Band · △ House of the Crossing Object · ☷ House of the Descent · ☯ House of the Twin Cosmos |
| Spanish entry | Los Reguladores |
Members
- El Fabuloso — gnome, sole survivor of the Boreals, founder of the Boreal Bank.
- Maleika — human warrior nun, fastest runner to the top in the Eiffel Tournament.
- Helter — “gives his life for the Gem” in the Tournament.
- Dr. Zoulu — obtains the power of Faragod in Arcadia Wilderness Park (Los Angeles).
- Benetton — paladin of the lance and the band’s man of letters (Poet Paladins); first appears in Labrador.
- Cornelio — killed by assassins before the Tournament.
- Carmichael, Ariel and Sven complete the roster.
History
From the Mediterranean to Paris
A chain of battles against hosts of devils, documented in Events of Antiterra: support of the 300 Atlanteans from Atlantis; landing at Marseille or Narbonne; the woman of the wolves (Cave of the Wolves); Carcassonne in the Pyrenees, a castle taken from devils and held until a dragon attacked; ravaged lands to San Sebastián; Paris. It included an “intense and eventful” Christmas. Other episodes: Buckingham Palace, the Castle of the Prism.
Paris
- Attack on Notre-Dame: the Lady awakens; the Great Khan provides tactics and stops time; Graz’zt desecrates the cathedral; Paul Claudel dies in the street at the demon’s hands (“This is as far as you go”).
- Catacombs: a bomb network coordinated by the Pyrexians (five cultists, five red crosses on the 1898 map of Paris). The explosive of the Time Bandit Ärsvan sinks the Cathedral and frees Ariadna from the Labyrinth.
- Eiffel Tower Tournament (1890 A.D.A.): El Fabuloso reaches the top inside Boro, drinks from the Cup of a Hundred Wishes and wishes the Gem of Creation into vault U-5-7-1 of Union — a Boreal Bank operation with the Mercane, seen by the group as betrayal. Faragod strikes from the sky like lightning and nails Seth to the Tower; Sven tastes Seth’s blue blood and is changed forever; Benetton strikes Seth with his sword.
Barbatos
The final arc: confront Barbatos, First Lord of the First Hell, recover the Stone of the Apocalypse he held, and kill him. “Finish Barbatos. They succeed.” The Stone changed hands.
Agents of time
By 1946? A.D.A. they are agents of time, following leads on the whereabouts of Syl, a temporal agent, from a castle in Poland. Benetton in particular works in this role.
Legacy
- The Stone of the Apocalypse and the Gem of Creation are two of the three pieces of the Rod of Infinity; its triadic crystallization in the tribunal outside the universe and the conflict of the Supreme Ones follow from them.
- In the Inferno gesta several Regulators reappear as condemned residents of Hell: Ärsvan as a condemned Templar in the Castle of Siegling; Sven as a brutal Lost One, condemned for taking Seth’s blood and executed by his own group; Helter chained beside him; Ariadna relapsed into her dark side. A bomb episode in the Catacombs of the first level of the Inferno (Sven tempted by the three witches, Ärsvan stopping him, Ariadna with the scythe) echoes the one in Antiterra.
Conflicting accounts
- Who killed Barbatos: Events of Antiterra names no agent; the archive of the end of Antiterra gives the beheading to Ariel, in the rotten paradise of Avernus, fulfilling a pact with Lucifer; Oratiol, avatar of Lotario, was deeply involved and possibly struck the final blow.