Pieter Van Eckhardt
General Information
Current Statut : Dead
A disturbed fourteenth century genius known as 'The Black Alchemist'. Eckhardt spent 500 years in a containment pit after being imprisoned by the Lux Veritatis, but escaped in 1945.
With the help of a sinister group called 'The Cabal', Eckhardt has set about reviving the biblical race known as the Nephilim, in return they have granted him immortality.
Biography
Born in the early 1300's, Pieter Van Eckhardt became infamous for his dealings in the dark arts - alchemy in particular, where he gained the name 'The Black Alchemist'.
In the mid 1300's he was approached in clandestine by a sole survivor of the Nephilim bloodline, who propositioned him. If he was to revive the Nephilim race to their former glory, he would be rewarded with immortality. Blinded by power, Eckhardt accepted the offer and began working on his newly appointed task.
Over the following century, he constructed the 'Sanglyph' out of an unknown metal. This weapon, created from the union of five symbols of power, would assist him in rebreeding the ancient race.
Eckhardt also created a glove, which he used to harvest organs and essences from his victims bodies, vital for the revival of 'The Sleeper' - a completely intact Nephilim corpse.
As Eckhardt grew in power and knowledge, he believed he could outsmart his masters and force the Nephilim to do his bidding once they were resurrected. Discovering that The Black Alchemist was attempting to double cross them, the remaining hidden Nephilim fashioned a battle between Eckhardt and the Templar-offshoots 'Lux Veritatis'.
In order to protect his great work, Eckhardt split up the Sanglyph into five pieces. He hid each piece inside five different iconic paintings, and in turn hid them.
In the year 1442 the Lux Veritatis defeated Eckhardt, and cast him into a great containment pit beneath Castle Kriegler in Germany, where he was bound in chains and imprisoned for all eternity. He remained in fear of his captors taking away his immortal life by the use of 'Periapt Shards' - mysterious weapons that were said to be the downfall of any immortal.
His paintings were discovered, and the leader of the Lux Veritatis known as Brother Obscura, repainted over each image. From then on, the images where known as the Obscura Paintings. These paintings were hidden in various locations to stop them from being reunited, but maps of each painting's location were created in the form of 'Obscura Engravings', should they ever need to be rediscovered.
For the next 500 years, Eckhardt remained sealed away from the world. However in 1945 an unforseen event allowed The Black Alchemist to escape from his prison.
Over the next six decades, Eckhardt set himself up as the leader of The Cabal - a mysterious organization based in Prague. He accomplishes much over the years, including procuring one of the three Periapt Shards. As long as he had it, it would be impossible for anyone to stop him. Eckhardt sought to wipe out the remnants of the Lux Veritatis, and killed a man by the name of Konstantin to end the line. Little did he know that Konstantin had passed on his knowledge to his son Kurtis Trent.
During those years, Eckhardt and the Cabal discovered the location of The Sleeper - the last remaining Nephilim. The corpse was transfered from Cappadocia in Turkey, to Eckhardt's base of operations in Prague where a giant machine had been created to aid in the resurrection of the creature.
Eckhardt's evil deeds continued, and wherever he went, news of gruesome and bizarre murders followed. He left corpses in his wake, after using his glove to remove alchemically transmuted minerals from his victims bodies to aid his dark task.
By the year 2003, Eckhardt and the Cabal were already in possession of three pieces of the Sanglyph, but employed world famous archaeologist-adventurer Werner Von Croy to discover the location of the final two pieces concealed within the hidden Obscura Paitings.
When Werner Von Croy failed to retrieve the paintings, Lara Croft witnesses his demise at the hands of a man she believes is Pieter Van Eckhardt. Lara Croft continues to search for the Obscura Paitings, and in so doing unravels the mystery of the Nephilim and the Black Alchemist.
She manages to retrieve the remaining two paintings, but gives them up to save the life of Kurtis Trent, whom she had been working alongside.
With the Sanglyph back in his possession, the Black Alchemist once again tries to complete his task of reviving the Nephilim to do his bidding. Unfortunately for him, Lara Croft had secured the three Periapt Shards, and she used them to attacked Eckhardt in his laboratory. Before she had a chance to defeat him however, Eckhardt was finished off by Karel - his right hand man.
Karel explains that he is the last surviving Nephilim, but now that he had the means of reviving the race himself, there was no longer any need for the Alchemist.
Gallery
Contained
Bodily Devices
Statue of Eckhardt
Laboratory Entrance
