postbear
orbe doré
algerian polymath ∋vitruc, though born into poverty, rose in influence and power through his revisioning of janissarian tactics, demonstrating uncommon military brilliance and innovation. initially forced because of his age (estimated to be 13 at his first foray) to filter his instructions through a "ghost", an older, mildly disabled war veteran, his identity was discovered upon investigation of the death of said ghost. still a very young man (14 or 15; sources differ), he was challenged by pasha to prove his competence in developing strategy for a pending battle. ∋vitruc agreed, making a request that no opposing soldiers be killed unnecessarily, and that all armaments and gear obtained from the defeated be given him to study. upon the rout of the enemy battalion (again, sources differ alarmingly here, showing much personal bias among historians), ∋vitruc was awarded his prize, along with two captured soldiers, now his servants.
these servants, whom he'd personally selected, were reputed to become his advisors and reporters of the mysterious scientific innovations of foreign lands. though the empire was powerful, suspicion of great weaponry possessed by the enemy haunted the upper classes, and ∋vitruc's youthful intelligence was given unprecedented freedom to spend and explore. retiring with his servants to a remote valley some distance from oran, he spent some time refining (and re-refining) his own astonishingly accurate (and lethal) modifications to the arquebus, eventually earning the undying gratitude of the pasha for more than tripling the range of the firearm. as a result, the empire went unchallenged with any seriousness for many years.
his true reasons for retiring to the privacy of the countryside, however, were only revealed upon the eve of what has been recorded as his death (in or around 1623), but was really what more modern biographers now call his grand escape. algeria began to suffer from the effects of plague in 1620, and though he felt safe in his sheltered valley, ∋vitruc realised that terrible disease could strike at any time (his theories on epidemiology, though noted here, will have to wait to be discussed). none of his drawings survive (disputed; no paper record exists), but he was rumoured to have been fascinated by the constellations and from a very early age built odd devices (described as witches' clouds) that clearly must have been balloon prototypes. cave drawings estimated to be from his era (and in a valley not far from oran) show odd craft in the sky, in both day and night - historians again squabble here, as the drawings are crude and ∋vitruc was widely known to be a meticulous and exemplary artist. some agreement can be established that it was his servants who did the scribbling while he worked, and he possibly took his paperwork with him.
unsatisfied with paper aircraft, ∋vitruc began working with metal constructs he believed would fly through the air and carry weaponry, people and any and all matter of goods. documents survive in algiers, written by his detractors (and those who politically opposed his funders) that mock his impossible dream of levitating rocks, metals and minerals. ∋vitruc's legend and value as a miltary innovator protected him, though, and only the most polite needling of his dreams seems to have been allowed. some more serious criticism came in the form of questioning his use of valuable materials (notably silver and gold), which he was reputed to be experimenting with and destroying in vast amounts. there is evidence that at least two attempts were made by brigands to steal from him, but his weaponry was very greatly feared and respected (and his location secret and remote), so it's doubtful any dent in his resources was made.
the golden orb, shown above, is one of the few remaining devices he developed. with plague threatening his land (one of the servants is said to have become quite ill or died in 1622), ∋vitruc boarded his experimental metal craft and is said to have floated or flown away over the mediterranean sea. his surviving servant, when questioned, was barely believed, and he indicated that ∋vitruc had packed all of his remaining machines, along with some food, before departing. envoys of the pasha delivered the news, and in a fury, believing ∋vitruc had simply stolen all the wealth allowed him (not more than a few ounces of gold and silver remained), the story of his death was summarily spread.
the orb, once in the possession of the musée des arts et métiers (museum of arts and crafts) in paris, france, was lost and presumed stolen in 1804. a daguerreotype (dated 1850) of an unnamed man standing beside it surfaced in 1948, but no location could be determined. its existence on the grey market is, however, an open secret, and though algerian nationalists have made strong claims that the orb be repatriated, other pressing matters have consistently stifled the issue.
shown here is the orb attached sideways to a support structure, for no reason other than the whim of the current owner (and perhaps a slight attempt to disguise it, as it is on somewhat open display). the mechanical works are unfortunately not shown and may be missing entirely, though i was not allowed to touch, approach or examine the orb. photographing it was forbidden for the few years i knew of its location, until just recently, and i was required to both obscure all background details and surrender the memory card of my camera after downloading and editing this one shot. for obvious reasons, i cannot geolocate the orb on any map.
orbe doré
algerian polymath ∋vitruc, though born into poverty, rose in influence and power through his revisioning of janissarian tactics, demonstrating uncommon military brilliance and innovation. initially forced because of his age (estimated to be 13 at his first foray) to filter his instructions through a "ghost", an older, mildly disabled war veteran, his identity was discovered upon investigation of the death of said ghost. still a very young man (14 or 15; sources differ), he was challenged by pasha to prove his competence in developing strategy for a pending battle. ∋vitruc agreed, making a request that no opposing soldiers be killed unnecessarily, and that all armaments and gear obtained from the defeated be given him to study. upon the rout of the enemy battalion (again, sources differ alarmingly here, showing much personal bias among historians), ∋vitruc was awarded his prize, along with two captured soldiers, now his servants.
these servants, whom he'd personally selected, were reputed to become his advisors and reporters of the mysterious scientific innovations of foreign lands. though the empire was powerful, suspicion of great weaponry possessed by the enemy haunted the upper classes, and ∋vitruc's youthful intelligence was given unprecedented freedom to spend and explore. retiring with his servants to a remote valley some distance from oran, he spent some time refining (and re-refining) his own astonishingly accurate (and lethal) modifications to the arquebus, eventually earning the undying gratitude of the pasha for more than tripling the range of the firearm. as a result, the empire went unchallenged with any seriousness for many years.
his true reasons for retiring to the privacy of the countryside, however, were only revealed upon the eve of what has been recorded as his death (in or around 1623), but was really what more modern biographers now call his grand escape. algeria began to suffer from the effects of plague in 1620, and though he felt safe in his sheltered valley, ∋vitruc realised that terrible disease could strike at any time (his theories on epidemiology, though noted here, will have to wait to be discussed). none of his drawings survive (disputed; no paper record exists), but he was rumoured to have been fascinated by the constellations and from a very early age built odd devices (described as witches' clouds) that clearly must have been balloon prototypes. cave drawings estimated to be from his era (and in a valley not far from oran) show odd craft in the sky, in both day and night - historians again squabble here, as the drawings are crude and ∋vitruc was widely known to be a meticulous and exemplary artist. some agreement can be established that it was his servants who did the scribbling while he worked, and he possibly took his paperwork with him.
unsatisfied with paper aircraft, ∋vitruc began working with metal constructs he believed would fly through the air and carry weaponry, people and any and all matter of goods. documents survive in algiers, written by his detractors (and those who politically opposed his funders) that mock his impossible dream of levitating rocks, metals and minerals. ∋vitruc's legend and value as a miltary innovator protected him, though, and only the most polite needling of his dreams seems to have been allowed. some more serious criticism came in the form of questioning his use of valuable materials (notably silver and gold), which he was reputed to be experimenting with and destroying in vast amounts. there is evidence that at least two attempts were made by brigands to steal from him, but his weaponry was very greatly feared and respected (and his location secret and remote), so it's doubtful any dent in his resources was made.
the golden orb, shown above, is one of the few remaining devices he developed. with plague threatening his land (one of the servants is said to have become quite ill or died in 1622), ∋vitruc boarded his experimental metal craft and is said to have floated or flown away over the mediterranean sea. his surviving servant, when questioned, was barely believed, and he indicated that ∋vitruc had packed all of his remaining machines, along with some food, before departing. envoys of the pasha delivered the news, and in a fury, believing ∋vitruc had simply stolen all the wealth allowed him (not more than a few ounces of gold and silver remained), the story of his death was summarily spread.
the orb, once in the possession of the musée des arts et métiers (museum of arts and crafts) in paris, france, was lost and presumed stolen in 1804. a daguerreotype (dated 1850) of an unnamed man standing beside it surfaced in 1948, but no location could be determined. its existence on the grey market is, however, an open secret, and though algerian nationalists have made strong claims that the orb be repatriated, other pressing matters have consistently stifled the issue.
shown here is the orb attached sideways to a support structure, for no reason other than the whim of the current owner (and perhaps a slight attempt to disguise it, as it is on somewhat open display). the mechanical works are unfortunately not shown and may be missing entirely, though i was not allowed to touch, approach or examine the orb. photographing it was forbidden for the few years i knew of its location, until just recently, and i was required to both obscure all background details and surrender the memory card of my camera after downloading and editing this one shot. for obvious reasons, i cannot geolocate the orb on any map.