With great power comes great... kicking ass and taking names!
The Orb has been described as a controlled pocket of unreality, a wishing well with legs, the greatest prize in the universe, or a nasty bit of celestial humor. It has many names and has appeared in history many times and has generally caused great upheavals in its wake. It has no set shape, conforming to the will of its owner, and pulls massive amount of power into its form.
Early History[]
The Orb was first referenced in the vampiric bible, the Book of Nod, and its use was rumored to have led to the fall of the first city. (See "Tale of Seth.") It disappeared in the war that followed and was supposedly was given by Caine to a water spirit. That spirit was later known as the Lady of the Lake, who was tricked into turning it over to a powerful mage named Merlin, who in turn handed it over to King Arthur, who called it Excalibur. Logrus de Mordechai (aka Mordred) recognized the Orb for what it was and led a army to capture the artifact. When he failed at the Battle of Camlan, the water spirit reclaimed the Orb upon Arthur's death.
Other stories surroudning the Orb are not as substantiated. Some suggest that the water spirit gave it to Miriam and is the basis of the story of Miriam's Well. Charlemagne's Lance, which supposedly led to the Viking invasions, and the Philosopher's Stone and its fantastic properties, are also equally dubious tales that may or may not relate to The Orb. At some point, the Orb seems to have absorbed the Water Spirit, known as the Lady of the Lake, into itself, although the exact reasons and nature of this absorption are unclear.
Modern History[]
After the destruction of Earth, the Orb was known to have appeared again to a group of young men and women on the EFS Madrid. Its reappearance led to the assault by the Caal, and with its use, eradiacated them from that part of space. The Gray Man then intervened and took the Orb out of our universe, changing the timeline.
The Orb later appeared back in our universe and was quickly hidden in the Fuji Depository on New Tokyo. It was later taken by Xavier Pollos who proceeded to use it to stop the K'Nes invasion. Later possessed by the spirit of Al-Hazen, he continued to walk the universe, and causing mass devastation. He was later defeated by Vin Dane and Demar Palencia, who used it stop the Caal Invasion.
When Vin Dane was stripped of his powers as a Mage, due to a magickal ceremony conducted by Scyr, he lost the ability to control the Orb. He passed it on to his wife, empress Miranda Mayfield, but she was not as powerful a mage as he was, and inexperienced in dealing with an artifact of such magnitude. Unable to control the Orb properly, she sent it loose on its own, to find and kill the Caal it had detected. The orb killed Scyr, and gave itself in turn to Victoria Sylvest, a member of Team Golden Ticket who had come to kill Vin Dane. But the Caal part of Scyr survived, and took possession of Victoria, and with it, the Orb. It consumed the Orb, merging its power permanently into itself. Using that power, it was able to change his appearance to that of the now-dead Vin Dane, and rule the galaxy in his place. This replacement is a secret known only to a handful of people who managed to escape the events of that night, or within the Emperor's inner circle of most fanatical followers.
The Orb Today[]
The Orb, and the Lady of the Lake who still resides within it, are less than happy about being used by a being such as Scyr, and are fighting against his control. Only by frequently absorbing the magickal energy of powerful spirits known as Star Souls can Scyr maintain his control over the Orb, and the facade of being Emperor Vin Dane. One of the first Star Souls he absorbed was that of Fabian Cortez, a ghoul whose memories and very soul were polluted by the memories and essence of the millions of humans and vampires whose blood he and his master, Mordred, had drunk over the milennia. As one of those victims was Merlin, a past master of the Orb, it is unclear to what extent Merlin's memories are aiding either Scyr to control the Orb, or the Orb to resist Scyr. Either way, the Orb is slowly driving Scyr insane in an attempt to free itself from his grasp, and Scyr is slowly trying to break the will of the Orb, the Lady of the Lake, and whatever other soul remnants may be running around inside of him, fighting against his inner control.
Behind the Scenes[]
Although the Orb does appear in some form in background material for the World of Darkness games upon which TI is based, our enthusaism for this artifact is mainly inspired by the MacGuffin from The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.