Pope Alexander VI, formerly Sir Sixto, is a knight lost in the lower levels of the dungeon who became pope during the Fifteen-Year Hiatus and now rules from the ruby throne of the Palace of the Prism as the luminous pole.
| Type | Character |
| Seat | Ruby throne, Palace of the Prism |
| Also called | Supreme Pontiff of the Prism, Magnanim Pius Pontifex Maximus |
| Spanish entry | Papa Alejandro VI |
History
Sir Sixto
He was Sir Sixto, knight of the Order of the Scar of the Sun, namesake of the companion Sixto. After the escape from the Forum of Set with the rubies of Prisco Electe, an arcane message in the mega-dungeon’s octagonal chamber named him: “Lo perdimos en el nivel de abajo. Encuéntrenlo.” (“We lost him on the level below. Find him.”). The Seekers of Ardis Vala closed the valley’s first cycle without finding him.
The Hiatus
During the fifteen-year Hiatus he became pope and gained the luminous power of the positive energy plane. He:
- survived the collapse of the Order (the beheading of Malakita by Alúmine in the hyperbaric chamber, the Seekers’ seizure of the Bastion) as the only surviving legitimizable church leader;
- took the papal office when the Castle of the Prism fell under the misty domain;
- assimilated the Custodes Oculis Solis, a priestly order of Thoth transmuted into servants of golden light;
The return
When the Seekers fell onto the pentagram, he acted through his librarian; his scribe Arkos, the clone of the Plata, closed the list: Baron Arbúz, Decio Balmora, the rangers’ guard of Valdemora, Alúmine, and Valerio of Utrecht, “names that resound here as part of the history of this new order”. Being “on the list” usually means, per the Decadian apparatus, judgment, conscription and contract at once.
Last days
The Seekers find him on the ruby throne, larger than before, bearing the solar symbol. His librarian identifies Decio as “Baron Arbúz, vanished fifteen years ago” and guards a library of unlent books, among them the Atlas of the Twelve Worlds. When the ranger of Valdemora dies in the arena, the miracle of the Sun brings him back. He blesses the Holmgang, a duel of justice that closes with a troll king’s head and the words “This was not a game. It was an act of justice. For Ritornello.”
The ruby throne
The throne echoes the previous lord of the misty domains. The Pope does not rise from it when receiving; visitors stay at the foot of the dais, and whoever tries to approach the ruby does not reach it.
The luminous pole
In the Game of Shadows, which works by poles, the dark pole grew under the misty domain: Caladan became an involuntary darklord, the white fever ravaged the villages, Valakhan was stitched to the valley. In response — or simultaneously, by another doctrine — the luminous pole settled in the Palace: golden light, anti-undead aura, custodians with imperial-eagle breastplates and a sun eye. Caladan, a vampire, cannot approach the throne.
The name
- Alexander VI is, in the history of the world above, the Borgia pope, by-word for papal corruption. This Alexander is good.
- In Star City another pope, one of the “Bad Popes”, tried to lichify himself with innocent blood in the Great Obsidian Plaza and was crushed by the Giantess with the Sword of Judgment. Both are Borg Popes: that one the negative pole of the rite, this one the positive.
- He is identified with the Terran Renaissance pope Alexander VI Borgia as the same being in different incarnations.
- The lost children of Mirela Valka, Dracos and Luminita (Dragoș, Luminița), act in the present cycle as Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia did; the Seekers rescue them from the crypt. Whether Mirela is their cosmological mother is not settled.
Conflicting accounts
- Source of his light: some minor doctrinaires say it came from the elven prisoner the Palace holds; others, that he gave it to the prisoner in exchange for the office. Arkos suspects both.
- The name: one reading treats it as antiphrasis; another holds the identity with the Borgia is literal.
- His allegiance, four readings admitted in public council:
- Ally: he was a knight of the Scar of the Sun, now led by the Seekers through Valerius.
- Enemy: he rules under the misty domain, judges the Seekers “stained”, and accepts that at least one of them is a demon.
- Darklord or victim: the domain may have trapped him or made him its lord.
- Heir of the elven prisoner: he may have absorbed the previous vampire lord the Palace holds, drawing his authority from that cosmic prison.
Open questions
- How Sir Sixto became pope during the Hiatus.
- Whether he is prisoner of the throne or jailer of the prisoner.