Shield of Galahad

The Church in Stevid’s claim the procession of one of the least known artefacts, yet incredibly holy and valuable to the Church, the Shield of Sir Galahad himself which he took with him when he went upon his quest for the Holy Grail itself.

The Shield takes the form of the stereotypical shaped shield from the medieval era of the world and similarly shaped like a “crossbreed” between the shield that British “Chivalric Men-at-Arms” used and the “Order of the Foot Knights”. It is split up into four quarters with personal iconography (Top Left), national iconography (Top Right), unit/detachment/personal iconography (Bottom Left), and miscellaneous (Bottom Right)- this is what makes up (historians in Stevid and other nations think) the personal Shields of those who were members of the Round Table.

But most interesting of all upon the discovery of the shield was the miscellaneous part of the shield. It was not the usual iconography that was expected by historians but rather part personal and part factual. It was inscribed Ancient Latin text imbedded on that part of the shield and told all those reading it that that shield belonged to THE Sir Galahad- a Chivalric Knight of The Round Table under command of King Arthur of Britons himself. The text revealed many facts, both agreed and disputed by historians and authors alike, but one caught the attention of many there- the location of the Holy Grail itself. Ironically, the Shield was the Holy Grail of maps that gave information to THE Holy Grail.

Discovery of The Shield

Stevidian historians, scientists and an army of diggers were digging in part of the desert in Syria about ten miles away from Damascus in June 1978. They were looking for remnants of part of the Second Holy Crusade. They hoped to find bones, weapons and maybe small buildings and evidence of graves for the fallen. Instead the came across a medium sized stone and granite construct which, when finally totally excavated, appeared to be an oversized tomb of some sort with distinct iconography and dates relating after the Third Crusade. The time dates were wrong and had found something they hadn’t set out to find but intended to discover whose tomb it was.

Texts that were inscribed along with pictures on the outer walls gave no indication to who was inside the tomb or who built it. It was decided that they were to break into the tomb without damaging it too much and then find out whom it belonged to. Hours of patient drilling at the double doors (facing slightly South-West) eventually led to a rush of stale air from the tomb and 21st century light to fill the once darkened tomb for the first time in centuries. It was then that a team of seven entered the tomb to find four stone graves that rose out of the ground with characters engraved out of stone on the top. Behind them was another door near the end of the tomb that slightly slanted downwards towards the ground- this they assumed was an extension to the tomb with the important body in that extension. The historians were at a loss at who were in the four other graves but the statues lying down on top of them gave them the impression of dead knights, perhaps friends of the deceased and best left undisturbed.

They opened the double doors at the back of the tomb, which released yet more stale air, when light was shone through the opening they could see and fairly long stone corridor with stone engravings down along the walls. They claimed that on the short journey underground down the corridor the picture depicted the Twelve Stations of the Cross and a title for each in Latin. When they reached the bottom they lit a bright yellow flare and saw an amazing hall made entirely of stone but a marble floor. Ancient stone columns holding up a distinctly Gothic roof- it was almost a chapel but with an absence of seats and pews. The tomb was empty, a lot of religiously orientated iconography and engraved pictures of battles during the Third Crusade, however the end of this tomb was different.

It was stone but had some definite gold decorations that picked up well in the light. The large pieces of gold made out a huge cross on top of the large stonewall and at its foot was a raised sarcophagus with no stone character lying on top but rather an engraved crucifix. At the front of the sarcophagus was and kind of small gravestone with one word, a name- ‘’Galahad’’.

The Sarcophagus of Sir Galahad

A find none of them expected to see or ever uncover in the first place. Some made the sign of the cross and other took pictures of the find and other stood motionless at the great discovery- they were all devotees or at least believers and this was the find of the century. The grave was one that led a single man to approach and touch the sarcophagus. This man was Edmund Vice, one of the co-ordinators of some of the historical digs. He had heard tales and read book of the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table and also heard rumours of the Shield of Galahad.

It was Edmund Vice that, in the eyes of some, desecrated the sarcophagus of The Galahad himself. Others believe that the tales of the Shield were too much of a temptation to ignore. It was Edmund Vice that opened the sarcophagus of Sir Galahad, much to horror of everyone present in the tomb, and unveiled the skeleton of Sir Galahad himself- still dressed in ceremonial chain mail armour and red and white robes. Accompanying that was his great sword, supposedly to have been forged by master metal smiths and armourers of Spain, and it too was complete with additional protection- a shield- ‘’The’’ Shield.

The Shield of Sir Galahad

The Shield of Galahad is a priceless relic that probably will never leave the faults of Stevid’s greatest cathedral of St. Malleus. The discovery of the shield meant that the historians could work in their particular field. The shields of the military of Britain of the time did not change for nearly a century and a half and so could understand and decipher the Shield.

Three of the four corners (notably Top Left, Right and the Bottom Left quarters) were easily deciphered as legal iconography and personal iconography but the miscellaneous quarter surprised them. Usually it would contain some kind of personal iconography but instead it had engraved Latin text. When a translator read the text to himself he was reported to be shaking all over with a loss of colour in his face. When he managed to speak he said that the text spoke of the owner of the shield and the position of the Knight on the Round Table but also supplied a location and brief directions- a location to the Holy Cup of Christ, the Challis that Christ used during the Last Supper- The Holy Grail.

The Holy Grail and Aftermath of Discovery

The information had shocked those present and when reported to the surface many rushed down to see the Shield and the text. Apparently the Shield spoke of and area East of Tripoli and slightly North of Egypt- the location was a name they had never heard before and so could not translate into English. There were brief, primitive directions to the area that was described as a great valley or deep ridge in a desert but no more information was divulged. No one criticised, the fact that they had found the tomb of Sir Galahad alone was incredible but the discovery of the Shield and information to the location of the Holy Grail. They prayed to God and Sir Galahad for forgiveness as they took the shield and replaced the stone lid of the sarcophagus. The Shield was given the utmost protection and was flown directly to St. Malleus cathedral and all further excavations were postponed (the shock was enough to send them all home with jubilation of finding something extremely rare). The Cardinals and every top brass religious folk were at the grand cathedral to see the relic. The Pope was informed and so was the general public. Pictures were taken on the Shield but it was decided that it would not be displayed to the public in fear of accidents. It was finally decided that the reliquaries deep in the volcano would be used to house the relic along with pieces of the cross and other priceless artefacts.

There it has stayed and there it will remain unless otherwise stated by the Pope himself or idiots desecrate it (the likely hood cannot be ignored by The Knights Templar). There has been no Church funded or supported expeditions into the Holy Land to try and find the Holy Grail, the people who discover the Shield attempted to discover the Grail using personal knowledge and photos of the Shield. They failed to locate the area because they lacked proper equipment and since they didn’t know where to look they spent too much money on travel and wages. The expedition collapsed without accomplishment but still retained the honour of finding the Shield of Galahad.

The Holy Grail remains undiscovered to this day and no expedition has yet the money or the information to find the Grail.