EBON ROSE

Classification: Talismans of Mystic Power

Creator: Gaea

First Appearance: (Mentioned) Mystic Arcana#1 (Magik) (August, 2007);
    (seen) Mystic Arcana: Black Knight#1

Powers/Abilities/Functions: Imbued with mystic power from the Earth goddess Gaea, the Ebon Rose presumably grants a number of powers, only a few of which have been glimpsed.

    The Rose can serve to root/anchor a user to their location/plane when accessing other dimensions, realms, etc.

    The Rose can generate throny vines to entangle others (even a being as powerful as Chthon); it can also be used to bind/anchor others to the truth.

    Despite its floral appearance, the Rose, or at least its petals, are stone.

    Morgan once enchanted one of the Ebon Rose's petals so that if Ian consumed it, communicating with any of Gaea's "children," any of Earth's flora and fauna, and give Ian a measure of control over them. This allowed him to read the thoughts and emotions of the Lemurian Set-descendent Llyra.

    In conjunction with the Darkhold, Serpent Crown, and Sword of Bone, the Ebon Rose is one of the Cornerstones of Creation.

    Collectively, the Cornerstones grant even greater power, allegedly enough to control all reality.

History:
(Mystic Arcana#1 - BTS) - The Ebon Rose is the talisman of (and was presumably created by) the Elder Goddess Gaea, as such, it served as one of the four Cornerstones of Creation, along with the Dark Mirror (another name for the Darkhold, reflecting its creator, Chthon), the Serpent Crown (talisman of Set), and the Sword of Bone (talisman of Oshtur). See comments.

(Mystic Arcana#1 - BTS) - Posing as Oshtur, Chthon instructed young sorcerer Ian McNee to gather the Cornerstones of Creation to restore the ancient sorcerer Heka-Nut in order to save the Mystic Realms, which had been badly damaged by the War of the Seven Spheres.

    After granting the Sword of Bone to Ian McNee, Ammut told him he must next seek the Ebon Rose from its holder, Morgan Le Fay.

(Mystic Arcana: Black Knight#1 - BTS) - In Avalon, within the forests outside Morgan Le Fay's castle, Ian McNee called out to Morgan and asking her to help him find the Ebon Rose. She agreed to reveal the Rose's location only if Ian would look her in the eyes. Ultimately, Morgan appreciated Ian's mischevious nature, and she directed him to go to the darkened heart of Avalon, to the lifeless ashes that were once her oaken altar (which was destroyed in an ancient battle between her and Merliin).

    Wandering the barren ground, like heavy soundproofed glass and surrounded by utter silence (Ian was reminded of reports of Chernobyl) that made him want to scream (although he did not).

(Mystic Arcana: Black Knight#1) - Listening intently to the silence, Ian feared he would lose himself inside it until he finally heard a sound "like a heart pumping or a baby crying or a flower opening). Locating and obtaining the Ebon Rose, Ian gave silent thanks to Gaea and Morgan, her priestess.

(Mystic Arcana#3 (fb)) - Morgan Le Fay enchanted a stone petal from the Ebon Rose and told Ian to swallow it, instructing him that the petal would allow Ian to communicate with any of Gaea's "children," both flora and fauna, and give Ian a measure of control over them, including creatures of the ocean's depths (as he was heading to the Serpent's Sea, the realm of Set, to recover the Serpent Crown).

(Mystic Arcana#3 - BTS) - Arriving in the Serpent's Sea, McNee used the Rose Petal to touch the mind of the serpentine Llyra, who guarded the Serpent Crown.

    After Nagala arrived and formed a new Serpent Crown, McNee pretended to offer Nagala the Ebon Rose to save himself while he acted on and perhaps enhanced Llyra's jealous rivalry, leading Llyra to attack Nagala, while he escaped with the Serpent Crown.

(Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm#1) - Using the combined power of the Cornerstones, with the Ebon Rose helping root Ian to his location, and secretly aided by Ashake, Llyra, and Morgan Le Fay, Ian summoned the canopic jar holding Heka-Nut's soul and allowed it to take shelter in his own (Ian's) form.

    Chthon then revealed his true identity and prepared to have Heka-Nut take over Ian's form, but Ian had already determined Chthon's deception and taken steps to thwart it. Ashake traveled forward to the present while invoking Oshtur for help, while Llyra (with the power of the Serpent Crown) and Morgan (with the power of the Rose) retrained Chthon to prevent his interference; Morgan specifically used the Rose and Gaea's power to generate thorny vines to entangle Chthon.

    Using the Cornerstones (notably using the Rose's strength to bind him to the truth), Ashake and Ian helped free Heka-Nut from Chthon's influence, and then Ian banished Chthon from the mortal plane.

Comments: Created by David Sexton.

    For an "ebon" rose, it sure looked red...

Elder Gods and Cornerstones of Creation

• In the past, we have always considered the Elder Gods of the Hyborian Age (never specifically named and sometimes referred to as the Primal Gods and the Creation-Lords) to be distinct from the true Elder Gods (Chthon, Gaea, Oshtur, and Set; with others having long since perished) and to possibly be the major gods mentioned elsewhere in the Conan series: Crom, Mitra, Asura, and possibly Set..."
  
• However, the Mystic Arcana series included the Cornerstones of Creation and showed them to be associated with the true Elder Gods. Between the two stories, the Sword of Strength from Conan I#128-130 would correspond to the Sword of Bone (associated with Oshtur), used by Agamotto's Pale Horseman, with most recent incarnation being Cadaver;  the Rose of Peace would correspond to the Ebon Rose (associated with Gaea); the Crown of Wisdom would correspond to the Serpent Crown (associated with Set); and the Mirror of Beauty would correspond to the Black Mirror, which was a form or portion of the Darkhold (associated with (and a reflection of) Chthon). It is NOT outright stated, however, that the Cornerstones of Creation in Mystic Arcana were the same as those in the Conan stories.
• Is the Rose of Peace an incarnation the Ebon Rose?
• There's not much to contradict the two being the same, but while the Ebon Rose could not be touched by anyone tainted by violence without great pain/mystic backlash, both Ian McNee and Morgan Le Fay held the Ebon Rose, and both of them are tainted by violence.
  
• Connections/contradictions between the Crown of Wisdom and the Serpent Crown are discussed in their respective profiles.
• Connections/contradictions between the Mirror of Beauty and the Black Mirror (a page of the Darkhold) are discussed in their respective profiles.
  
• Connections/contradictions between the Sword of Strength and the Sword of Bone are discussed in their respective profiles.
• Interestingly, the one image in Conan the Barbarian I#130 that shows the Elder Gods as appearing to be at least three completely human-looking males. Is this just an image from Noyo's understanding of her masters? Did she lack understanding of their true forms/natures and just assume them to be human males who mystically combined their energies to generate a living being? Were these beings actually avatars of the Elder Gods, rather than the Elder Gods themselves? Or are there two different sets of Cornerstones of Creation?
  
• I know the author of Mystic Arcana, David Sexton, intended the Cornerstones in his stories to be the same ones from the Conan stories, but he did tell me that he wasn't sure that would actually work out...
• My ultimate conclusion is that it seems likely that the Cornerstones (and the "Elder Gods" that empowered and were represented by them) gathered by Noyo were not exactly the same as those gathered by Ian McNee.
  
• A lot could have happened during the 12,000 years between the stories, but certainly most of the Primal Gods of the Hyborian era fell out of favor and power.
  
• Perhaps the true Elder Gods, who had divorced themselves somewhat from the Earthly plane at the Hyborian era, re-established the Cornerstones of Creation under their prominence.
• It's also possible that Set was associated with both groups of Cornerstones...or not.
  
• Maybe there are two completely different sets of Cornerstones of Creation.
  
• At any rate, after updating/tweaking the profiles on the Darkhold and Serpent Crown, I'm going to update/adjust the current Cornerstones of Creation profile, and then make a new Cornerstones of Creation profile to reflect those in
  
• This issue will likely remain unrevealed...and perhaps moot, depending on how the new Conan series fits in. It's supposed to be a continuation of the older series, although they don't necessarily plan to revisit much outside of classic Robert E. Howard story themes. We shall see...

     I discovered the original Cornerstones of Creation on your Appendix website as I was investigating magic in Marvel and the idea of the number 4 as a repeated theme in Marvel. And, of course, the way that Tarot fits into all that.

     When I saw the C of C on your site I connected it to Tarot and then the 4 Elder Gods. I knew that Gaea was Earth and Rose fit with her, that the crown was the Serpent Crown, and that the Sword which signifies intellect and the mind was Oshtur.

     So then I was like how would a mirror work with Cthon and I realized that the Darkhold was the mirror of Chthon. A reflection of his twisted vision for the world.

     In Marvel Tarot, it appears as the Ace of Wands (see image on right--Snood; the Ace of Swords is the Sword of Bone, the Ace of Cups is the Serpent Crown, and the Ace of Pentacles is the Ebon Rose)

     In the image of Ian McNee using the Cornerstones of Creation, the Black Mirror is just a magical construct to symbolize the Mirror.

     In my mind, the Darkhold itself is the Cornerstone. Possessing the Last Chronicle of Chthon / Darkhold page allowed Ian to access the Darkhold's power (as far as the Cornerstones of Creation is concerned).

The Serpent Crown. The Ebon Rose. The Sword of Bone. and the Darkhold. Those are the four Cornerstones

After re-re-re-re-reviewing all the stories and speaking to the creator, it seems clear that the Handbook entry offers the best solution...the Cornerstones' reality-altering power changed their nature...or their natures were altered.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
The Ebon Rose may or may not be otherwise connected to:

• ROSE of PEACE - one of the Cornerstones of Creation gathered by Noyo in the Hyborian era--Conan the Barbarian I#128
  
  but should be distinguished from:
  

• ROSE of PURITY - Wasteland dim, intelligent, turned Wasteland dimension into paradise, initially sought by Defenders as pawns of Enchantress so she would resurrect Valkyrie (Brunnehilde), they were unable to allow themselves to take it from the residents of the Wasteland (Damask & Zaffer)--Defenders I#107
• ROSE - see FISK, RICHARD--Amazing Spider-Man I#253
  
• ROSE (Det. Sgt. Blume) - allied with Richard Fisk against Kingpin and Richard Fisk imposter (Alfredo), killed by Alfredo when turned against him--Web of Spider-Man#84
  
• ROSE (Jacob "Jake" Connover) - agent of Fortunato, employed Delilah, pretended to identity of Fisk + Blume to capitalize on their reputations--Amazing Spider-Man I#414
• Rose (Phillip Hayes) - Jackpot (Sara Ehret & Spider-Man foe--Amazing Spider-Man Presents Jackpot#1
• Rose of "Earth-22519" - Law Enforcement Squad; crime-fighting counterpart of Fisk or another Rose--Fantastic Four III 2001 Annual
• ROSE ?? - civilian, scared off when N'Gamo's agents planned to move against T'Challa--Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes II#2
• ROSE ?? - telepath, worked with Charlie to slaughter thirty telepaths —Marvel Graphic Novel: Daredevil/ Black Widow: Abbatoir
• Rose O'Hara - childhood companion of James Howlett, unintentionally killed by him in early 20th century--Origin#1
• Rose, Lt. Bert - NYPD officer, Daredevil ally--Daredevil I#1
  
• Rose, Chuck - SHIELD agent, Professor Power ally--X-Factor I Annual#9
  
• Rose, Daniel - possibly the real name of Rockman--The Twelve#6
  
• Rose, Danielle - alleged grand-niece of Rockman--The Twelve#6
  
• Rose, Dr. Janice of Earth-70105 - radiation specialist, worked with Bruce Banner to examine the gamma radiation mutated Peter Parker--Bullet Points#4
  
• Rose Blossom - see Mortis/Lois London--Dazzler I#26
  
• Rose Kugel - Punisher (Frank Castle) ally, nicknamed Wild Rose--Punisher II#7
• other Rose characters, items, locations, etc.

images: (without ads):
Mystic Arcana: Black Knight#1/3, pg. 10, panel 1 (Ian locating Rose);
          panel 2 (main);
Mystic Arcana: Sister Grimm#1/3, pg. 4 (Ian utilizing four Cornerstones)

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

First posted: 11/17/2019
Last updated: 04/10/2020

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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Special Thanks to www.g-mart.com for hosting the Appendix, Master List, etc.!

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