Maria Doria

The Maria Doria is a huge cruise liner that sank in the North Atlantic Ocean decades ago. As well as the countless lives lost in the incident, the ship was also carrying the Seraph, an object which could be used to access the Dagger of Xian.

Specifications

Built as a magnificent cruise liner by Gianni Bartoli, industrialist, occultist and head of an Italian crime family, the ship was built in the latest and most luxurious Art Deco style. When she visits the wreck Lara can see the sumptuous salons, ballrooms, swimming pools and a theatre that would have been full of passengers, enjoying everything the ship had to offer. Secret service corridors also connected various areas of the ship, so that servants could go about their business without disturbing the paying passengers.

The top decks of the ship offered more comforts with another swimming pool and comfortable rooms to gaze out at the sea as the voyage continued. Huge engines powered the ship with large propellors - some of this machinery can be seen in the levels.

Nothing is known about the passengers. Whether they were innocents or friends and relatives involved in the Fiama Nera cult is unknown. Luckily for Lara, she does not find the cadavers of any of the passengers - the sharks, barracuda and Moray Eels that now live among the wreckage must have picked them clean long ago. Gianni Bartoli is also supposed to have died in the wreck.

Perhaps because of the criminal connections of the Bartoli family, no investigation was mounted to discover the cause of the incident. Therefore, Marco Bartoli has had to employ considerable time and resources to finding the wreck again, to recover the precious Seraph.

The Wreck

Lara learns from a Brother Chen Barkhang that it was the Barkhang Monks who were responsible for bombing the ship and causing the catastrophe. It is clear that the monks are people who constantly have to weigh up their actions and decide on the lesser of two evils. As Gianni had found the Seraph, and was intending to use it to obtain the Dagger of Xian, the monks had to sacrifice the lives of the passengers on board the Maria Doria to save their monastery and to prevent the Fiama Nera from gaining supreme magical powers from the dagger.

The bomb may have been detonated in the centre of the ship, as the wreckage is in two parts - the stern decks and the bow decks. The bow decks with the ballast holds and the grand entrances have turned upside down. The stern passenger decks and the engines have remained upright, but are wedged in a large submarine cavern. Travelling between these two areas unscathed will be one of Lara's major challenges.