The Gabriel Knight Mysteries

This is now the top-most link for Gk in general on Sierra's site, it allows you to link to all 3 games from it, and also has background information on the game itself, and links to fan pages...

Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers

Wayhey! Lots of new MIDI files, and screenshots, plus the original graphic novel has been scanned in and made available online!

Gabriel Knight - The Beast Within

Wayhey! Cool WAV/RA soundfiles, and images...

Gabriel Knight - Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned

Wayhey! An extended opening theme tune real audio file (as mentioned yesterday).

When I first read the title of GK3 the place that I immediately thought of was Rennes-le-Chateau. The book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail explains it all. Knights Templer, Royal bloodlines, the mysterious Prieure de Sion, hidden treasure, strange symbolism, the Cathars at Carcassonne, the tomb ET IN ARCADIA EGO painted by Poussin was supposedly found in the 1970s identical to the one in the painting, in the same surrounding - at Arques - approx 6 miles from Rennes. This tomb is the supposed resting place of Jesus. An inscription was carved in the porch lintel of the church (the Church of Mary Magdalene - she was supposed to be the wife of Jesus) at Rennes-le-Chateau which reads TERRIBILIS EST LOCUS ISTE (this place is terrible). Definitely sounds like a place that needs a Schattenjager to me!

Compare the scan (47k) of Rennes-le-Chateau, to the backdrop image Sierra art for GK3.

Another possibility for the setting of GK3 is Rennes le Chateau in France, It seem to fit the big mystery/big hoax type thing, and is very important in European politics - Is the EU the new Holy Roman Empire?

And seeing as Jesus Christ is supposed to be buried in the vicinity and/or his blood line reside there, would fit in with the blood bit in the title.

It's in France. It's a mecca for tourists (both believers and sceptics), and it's the location of a -great- enigma.

LOURDES

I don't have time to summarise everything about the place, but I'll just say that on February 11, 1858, a little girl saw Mary in a grotto there, and ever since, people have been healed by the spring in the grotto. There's goddam pilgrimages there!

The full story's at this this page.

Voice your ideas here, or at my site, The Unofficial Gabriel Knight Homepage

While researching the possibility of GK3 in southern France and Saignes, I tried to think of a well-known mystery of France. I remembered a myth about a true order of monks known as the Knights Templar. An ancient, mysterious order betrayed, destroyed, and accused of "occult rituals". The idea seemed to have great potential but I was still missing a location. I then stumbled onto a name that was tied not only to the Knights Templar and southern France, but more mysteries and more enigmas - a great place for Gabriel Knight. The place is called Rennes-le-Chateu.

"The dissolution of the Templars, the downfall of the Cathars, the bizarre Rosicrucian manifestoes, and other political intrigues of French history" - all tied into Rennes-le-Chateu. That's only part of it. A mysterious village - a long line of Kings with a dark past, with live descendants (Emilio?) - and it happens to be a tourist attraction (Mosley?). Visit the sight.

I have a new theory about the mystery in GK3. Based on the "obvious" French references and the mention of blood in the title, I searched the Internet and found a very intriguing story which fits many of the rumors and facts concerning GK3. This mystery involves secret societies, hidden treasure, and even the Holy Grail. An overview of the Mysteries of Rennes-le-Chateau and the Prieure du Sion can be found here.

The Prieure du Sion is a covert organization claiming blood-ties and roots in the Frankish Merovingian monarchs, who were allegedly of Jewish ancestry from the Davidic line of Jesus himself. The Prieure is connected with the Freemasons and the Bilderbergers (other secret groups). In medieval times, they were involved in the founding of the Knights Templar. Though protected by the pope, the Knights' accumulated knowledge involved heretical matters such as the Black Virgin (Mary Magdalene), Shi'ite mysteries, and the Grail. During the Inquisition, around 1314, the Knights Templar was abolished. With the burning at the stake of the Grand Master, the Templars disappeared as did their treasures, which were borne away in a fleet of ships, never to be known of again.

During the late 19th and early 20th century, Berenger Sauniere, the parish priest of a small village called Rennes-le-Chateau, had been receiving vast sums of money to refurbish the local church and to build many structures in the area. Sauniere died in 1917 (under somewhat mysterious circumstances) and the 'secret' of where he got his wealth was never discovered, though it is speculated that it was the 'lost treasure' of the Templars. Sauniere is supposed to have decorated his church like a giant crossword clue, in such a way as to show where the remaining treasure lies hidden, in caves or underground chambers around the village.

Well, I'm sure you're saying, "This is all quite interesting, but does it *really* apply to GK3?" I thought the same thing, but the more I discover about this mystery, the more it fits our knowledge of GK3. Here's my evidence:

Starting with the rumors:

Off to France

I think this is obvious...

The Inquisition

Check out the Knights Templar...

Bloodlines

The connection of the Prieure du Sion with the...

Merovingian bloodline

Claiming to be descendants of Jesus and Mary Magdalene...

Gargoyles

There is a 'daemon guardian' inside Sauniere's church which is a representation of the Biblical Asmodeus...

Sacrilege!

What the Knights Templar were accused of during the Inquisition...

There is also speculation that the Knights Templar and the Pieure du Sion have connections with space aliens and celtic druids.

What about connections to the 'facts' we already have:

The hilltop village of Rennes-le-Chateau is a few miles south of Carcassonne. Carcassonne is in the Languedoc-Roussilon region of France (the SW near Spain). It appears that there is a railroad passing a few miles south of Carcassonne (through Rennes-le-Chateau?).

The whole area around Rennes-le-Chateau is "humped and ridged with rocky hills." Makes me think of the barren landscape in the avi clip. "The houses are the usual Midi cheek-by-jowl jumble of stone-built, orange tiled village dwellings."(Hmm, sounds familiar...)

Then there's the lost treasure. Remember Emilio's character profile and the reference to "material treasure"?

There is also evidence that all these secret societies have tremendous political influence not only in France, but in all of Europe.

The hidden messages in gabeshot.jpg :

I haven't found anything concrete about the "sunrise line", however I found two references to the the alignment of Sauniere's church with the Paris Meridian (meridian=line?).

Possibly the SSA refers to CarcASSonne. There have been several grisly murders associated with this mystery including that of the old priest Jean-Antoine-Maurice Gelis, who was parish priest for CoustauSSA. There are also many references to aSSAssinations and coded meSSAges in the story of the Prieure du Sion.

As for the grid and circles in the background, the puzzle of Rennes-le-Chateau lies in the layout of the redesign of Sauniere's church. Possibly the GK background is indicative of blueprints?

That's all I have so far. There's is much more out there, but I haven't had time to search through all of it. If you want to find out more about this mystery, here are the sites where I got my info. NOTE: This is not an exhaustive list. There are many more sites with info, as well as several books!

• The Secrets of Sion
  
• Trial by Blood and Fire
  
• Rennes-le-Chateau Revisited Part I, Part II
  
• HHN Footnotes - EUROPEAN HISTORY 2