We watch. And we are always there.
| Talamasca | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Talamasca | |
| Aliases: | Talamasca Caste Order of the Talamasca |
| Continuity: | Vampire Chronicles Lives of the Mayfair Witches |
| Type: | Paranormal investigation |
| Status: | Active |
| Members: | Aaron Lightner; Ciprien Grieve; David Talbot; Jesse Reeves; Merrick Mayfair |
| Allies: | Michael Curry; Rowan Mayfair |
| Enemies: | Vampires; Witches |
| First appearance: | Queen of the Damned |
The Talamasca is a fictional organization featured in novels written by author Anne Rice. They began by making appearances in The Vampire Chronicles series of novels, starting with Queen of the Damned. They have also made appearances in the Lives of the Mayfair Witches series of novels.
History[]
The Talamasca Caste, also referred to as "Order of the Talamasca" or simply "Talamasca," is described as a secret society set up to watch over and keep track of the paranormal, in particular witches, vampires, spirits, and werewolves. Members of the Talamasca are described as "psychic detectives."
Some information on the origins of the Talamasca is mentioned by David Talbot in the book Merrick where it's written, "A humming sound distracted me somewhat because I was afraid that it came from bees. I have a very great fear of bees, and like many members of the Talamasca, I fear some secret regarding bees which has to do with our origins, but there is not room enough to explain here."
This can earlier be connected to the being that Pandora meets in her autobiography, where in the ending she meets a being described to have come to exist in the following way, "Thus force rose out of the very bees themselves, out of their intricate knowledge and their countless sublime patterns, as though they had somehow accidentally evolved it, or empowered it with consciousness through the means of their endless creativity, meticulousness and endurance."
This force is then transferred to a scarecrow. Pandora speaks some about the century that this happened as follows: "Once in the sixth Century - that is, five hundred years after the birth of Christ and three hundred years since I had left Marius."
Through this, we can make out that this being came to life 500 years after Christ's birth; thereby, the Talamasca was created sometime after this.
Later, in the Book Prince Lestat it is discovered that the Talamasca was established by the vampire Teskahmen, and the Ghost Grempt. These two, along with other beings become the hidden elders of the Talamasca, eventually establishing new elders so the order can move on in the world.
The Talamasca itself was described in The Vampire Chronicles as having motherhouses or bases in London, Amsterdam, Rome and other various parts of the world. The organization is said to have existed since the 1st century. It's stated in The Witching Hour that it was formally formed in the 11th century but existed before that.
The organization itself was described as having many influences in the suppression of paranormal information, namely the existence of vampires as is the case with Lestat, hoarding most of his diaries and other expository items that may have revealed the existence and nature of vampires in its vaults below the main motherhouse in London, England. Beneath the building are a number of museums in which the Talamasca house a substantial collection of artifacts, all connected with the supernatural in some way. Vaults accessible only by the eldest members of the order house paraphernalia connected with vampires. The Talamasca also housed several paintings of Marius's "The Temptation of Amadeo", and other artefacts from vampires such as Pandora, Armand, Louis, the infamous Lestat de Lioncourt, and Claudia.
The organization is also responsible for the suppression and cover-up regarding the Mayfair family's fiasco concerning the Taltos birth anomaly. It may also have been responsible for covering the burning of the Théâtre des Vampires.