Relic

“	In those days when magic itself was young, her body was enshrined in an elaborate sarcophagus that shielded not only her rotting remains, but a vital spark of her soul, which, like a cinder carefully tended, is enough to reignite her life force again and again and again.	”
	— Increase Mather^[src]

The Relic of Countess Von Marburg is the skeleton of the witch's original body that allows her to live forever. The Relic is both the secret source of the Countess's everlasting life and her vulnerability.

Description

The Relic, or Relikt in German ^[1], consists of a mummified body wearing a threadbare black dress lying on satin. It is the seat of the vital spark of the witch that is constantly kept alight by witchcraft, and that allows the Countess to win death itself. This wretched body is also the place where the consciousness of Countess Von Marburg is trapped between one life and the other, suspended in a limbo of sort until she comes back to life to yet unknown means.

The Relic itself is protected by dark magic. Whenever someone tries to steal it from its sarcophagus, they will experience pain, and their body will start to match the conditions of the Relic. Due to the profound link between the Countess and her original body, the Relic acts as a poppet. Any harm done to the Relic reflects on the Countess. ^[1]

The Sarcophagus

A wooden sarcophagus is used as a reliquary for the mortal remains of the ancient witch. The sarcophagus wards her Relic similarly to the box protecting the Malum from ending up into enemy hands. The craftwork of both the box and the sarcophagus is also similar. The sarcophagus is a clear wood with dark red inlays. At the center of the lid, there is a golden unicursal hexagram, acting as a key. The richly inlaid lateral sides of the sarcophagus represent different occult scenarios.

Sarcophagus panels 2 — Middle and third panel

The first panel depicts some sort of wasteland, with corpses rottin like those John Alden saw in a vision triggered by the Malum. The middle panel is inlaid with an herald's staff or a caduceus. The third panel depicts an unborn child suspended within a Witch Tree, quite possibly a reference to the Tree of Life mentioned by the Essex Elder, a motif present in many cultures.

Throughout Salem

Season Two

Summoned forth from Hell by Mary Sibley, the ghost of Increase Mather discovered that the invincible power of the Countess is connected to her ship which is always under her care. ^[2]

Mary later projected herself to the ship and divined the sarcophagus hidden in a lair. Through a small offering of her blood, Mary opened the passage into an enchanted clearing. Mary cast another spell to open the lid by placing her hand on the hexagram. However, as she grabbed the relic, Mary started to deteriorate and experience excruciating pain until she was safely in the woods. There, Mary threatened the Countess by plucking a tooth from the Relic which also happened to the Countess. Mary reinforced her threats by setting it on fire. The Countess rushed to extinguish the flames with her bare hands. ^[1]

Following the Consecration, Countess Von Marburg, Baron Sebastian, and the Salem witches gathered around their Dark Lord. He delivered punishment to Tituba and Mercy Lewis for their transgressions against Mary Sibley, his bride-to-be. The Countess was eventually punished as well. The Devil repeatedly stabbed her till Sebastian discovered her consciousness struck inside the relic. He promptly shut it close.^[3]

Season Three

After being killed by the Dark Lord, the Countess was trapped in her relic, regularly visited by Sebastian Von Marburg in search of maternal advice. ^[4] During these visits, the Countess began to devise a plan of revenge, ordering her son to retrieve the bag containing Mary Sibley's blood so that she could feed on the witch's blood. ^[5]

Blood kiss properties — Sebastian feeding Mary's blood to his mother's relic

As the Countess fed herself on Mary's blood, her mummified body started to blooming once again, with tendons and flesh fleshing out the skeleton. Following this hint of reinvigoration, the Countess demanded her daughter's presence in front of the sarcophagus, informing her precious Anne about what was going to happen. ^[6]

Anne Hale was assigned to bring Mary Sibley to the sarcophagus, where Anne used a knife to cut Mary's tongue in order for the former witch to bleed directly over the Countess's face, establishing a bond that allowed an exchange of souls and bodies — the Countess took possession of Mary's body, ready to become the Devil's Bride, while Mary Sibley's spirit was trapped in the Relic. However, Anne had different plans and made it possible to swap the bodies again. Anne stabbed the Countess to death inside Mary's body, which began to mummify. Meanwhile, the real Mary trapped inside the Relict started to reinvigorate by assuming her own physical appearance. This allowed Mary to find a loophole in the curse that bounded her to Salem's boundaries and to leave the town forever. ^[7]

Gallery

Memorable Quotes

Mary Sibley: "I've come from the docks. The Countess has our son on board. But for all her power and knowledge, she does not know you even exist. To keep living century after century, she carries with her the first body she inhabited. Find it, destroy it, and the bitch can be run through with a dull blade."

— Til Death Do Us Part

Countess Von Marburg: "You would not dare harm my Relickt. You know what I would do to him and to you. Do not do anything hasty that you will spend eternity regretting, Mary. For he is already lost. I feel the presence of my love inside him."