Mayan Sun Amulet
TheMayan Sun Amulet is amagical amulet crafted by aMayan wizardin990, and given by him to theMayan Clan inChacIxChel,Guatemala.[1]
Contents
History
The Mayan wizard went to these extreme lengths to be sure the pyramid and the Mayan people would be defended day and night. The golden amulet he created was shaped like the sun, and contained four precious stones, one of sapphire, one of obsidian, one of jade, and one of turquoise. It powered fourmagical pendants, each of which was also made of one of the four precious stones. These pendants caused thegargoyles that wear them to remain awake in the daytime, without enteringstone sleep. The four gargoyles who wear these pendants are given names (Zafiro/Zafira, Obsidiano/Obsidiana, Jade/Jada and Turqueso/Turquesa) and remain flesh as long as they wear them and unlike a typical gargoyle, they do not absorb solar radiation during the day, though the pendants do seem to compensate for this. The pendents also allow them to continue aging at the usual gargoyle rate, giving the pendent wearers longer lifespans.[2] The pendants work ongargoyle beasts and will wake a sleeping gargoyle during midday if they are placed on him/her.Traditionally, two of the pendant wearers are male and two are female, though that isn't an enforced rule. Usually the leader of theclan is one of the pendant wearers but that isn't a hard and fast rule either.[3]
The clan kept the Mayan Sun Amulet safe for a thousand years, passing the pendants on from one group of four gargoyles in arookery generation to the next.[4] Then, in1993, disaster struck. A band of looters came upon thepyramid where the clan lived during the daytime, slaughtered the entire clan in its stone sleep (except forZafiro,Obsidiana,Jade, andTurquesa, who were away patrolling therain forest), and stole the amulet. It eventually wound up in the possession of theAmerican Museum of Natural History inNew York, which put it on display.
WhenJackal andHyena were hired byPreston Vogel to destroy the Mayan gargoyles in1996, they learned about the Sun Amulet, and Jackal promptly sent Hyena to New York to destroy it; once the amulet was no more, the Mayan gargoyles would become subject to stone sleep, and he could destroy them easily. Before Hyena could destroy the Amulet, however, she was defeated byBroadway andLexington, who had seen her break into the museum. Discovering that the amulet was magical (although not the exact nature of its magic), they decided to take it into their possession and guard it, so that it could not fall into the wrong hands; Broadway took it back with him to theClock Tower, to watch over it.("The Green")
When the Clock Tower was destroyed by theCanmores, the Amulet survived unscathed. Realizing it's importance,Elisa recovered it. TheManhattan Clan kept it safe atCastle Wyvern until it was returned to Jade and Turquesa when they arrived toManhattan fromAvalon in July 1997. After helping the Manhattan Clan defeatDemona that November, Jade and Turquesa returned to Guatemala, successfully returning the Sun Amulet to its rightful home.("Quo Vadis Cum Hoc?","Queen of All She Surveys")
It will still be in the possession of the Mayan Clan by2198.[5]
Production Background
WhileGreg Weisman stated in the early days ofAsk Greg that the Mayan Sun Amulet and its pendants were made byhumansorcery (and therefore Jade and Turquesa would have likely left their pendants on the skiff), during the website's 2007-2008 "This Day inGargoyles' Universe History" feature, the entry for May 26 suggested that the two gargoyles were, in fact, awake on Avalon during the day.[6][7][8] Thiscanon-in-training confusion was eventually clarified in the canonical issue,"Questions" in 2024.[9]
Weisman also considered having Zafiro come to New York to reclaim the Amulet at one point.[10]
