Disciples of Marduk
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The Disciples of Marduk was the sacred group of four high priests, during the reign of Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar, entrusted with each taking one of the four removable pieces of the Infernal Machine and scattering them all across the Earth. The mission of the Disciples was to use magic and distance to hide and guard these four essential parts of the Machine either for eternity (at the command of King Nebuchadnezzar) so that no one in the future could ever bring them back together to reactivate the awful Machine or, until someone intelligent enough to follow their clues could collect them all and bring them back together (at the command of the vengeful god Marduk). It is unclear, therefore, whether the Disciples of Marduk was formed to preserve the Machine parts from being destroyed and to flee from Nebuchadnezzar who wanted to destroy them, or to hide them forever (since, presumably, they could not be destroyed) so that none could ever possess their awesome and devastating powers; it remains ambiguous with whom (Nebuchadnezzar or Marduk) the Disciples' loyalties lay. In any case, the Disciples included:
- Urgon, who fled to Shambala Sanctuary (Kazakhstan)
- Taklit, who fled to a volcanic temple on the island of Palawan (Philippines)
- Azerim, who fled to live among the Olmec tribe in Teotihuacan (Mexico)
- Nub, the who fled to Meroe in the Nubian desert (Anglo-Egyptian Sudan)
Evidence discovered in 1947, notably by Indiana Jones, indicated that some of the Disciples may have committed human atrocities in order to carry out their mission at all costs, including Urgon's massacre of Shambala monks, Taklit's manipulation (and possible massacre) of an entire unidentified Palawan tribe, Azerim's enslavement of the Olmecs, and Nub's usurpation of power in the Nubian region. Any of the Disciples, all of whom created vicious monsters to protect their Machine part, may have experimented with their monsters' ferocity on human subjects; in all four locations, especially in areas where the monsters still lurked, Indiana Jones found many human skeletal remains.
[edit] Behind the scenes
Although it is unknown whether or not the Disciples were liked by the native peoples whom they manipulated, it is possible to get an idea based upon the circumstances of their burials. Urgon's skeleton was found still seated on a chair by Indiana Jones in Urgon's study in the Shambala inner sanctum, having never left his Machine part which Jones found resting nearby; Urgon presumably died alone, sealing himself in his own chamber. Taklit was the only of the Disciples to have been given a full ceremonial funeral (his intact remains were discovered on a funereal barge), suggesting that he may have treated the tribespeople he worked with kindly. Azerim's remains have never been found and his grave, if he has any, is unmarked, suggesting that the Olmecs he worked with hated him too much to give him a proper burial. Nub's remains were found in a plan-looking sarcophagus in the crypt of Nub's Tomb, probably as he had ordered, however, he was not mummified as was the usual tradition, which again suggests that the Nubian people hated him.
[edit] Appearances
- Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine (First appearance)
