| Berenice II Euergetis' Shears | |
|---|---|
| |
| "I assure you, Mr. Donovan - the shears are no more a myth than Berenice herself." | |
|
Origin |
Berenice's Lock |
|
Type |
Shears |
|
Effects |
Spatial Rifts |
|
Downsides |
Effects? |
|
Activation |
Unknown |
|
Collected by |
|
| [Source] | |
Origin[]
Berenice II Eurgetis (267 - 221 BCE) was the ruling queen of Cyrenaica in 250 BCE, reincorporating the region when she married Ptolemy III Euergetes and become queen of Ptolemic Egypt from 246 until 222 BCE. She was an active queen, known for her involvement in the politics and sports, as well as being worshiped as a goddess as part of the Ptolemaic state cult. She was particularly likened with the figures such as Isis and Aphrodite, and said to protect against shipwrecks. However, not much of her personal life is remembered.
Berenice is largely remembered for sacrificing her long hair as a votive offering to Arisnoe II (her mother-in-law and worshiped as Aphrodite) in exchange for the safe return of her husband from the Third Syrian War. She placed the lock of her hair in the temple at Cape Zephyrium, only to find they had been stolen the next day. Conon of Samos, the court astronomer, attributed a constellation to the missing tresses, claiming the sacrifice was deemed divine by the gods and worthy of a space in the heavens. This constellation is known as Coma Berenices.
To date, Coma Berenices is the only modern constellation named after a historical person.
Effects[]
Not much is known about the shears - they remain uncollected, and only the very briefest of historical precedent has suggested they remain at large. They appear to be able to create rifts in space that allow movement from one location to another - the exact range and endurance of these rifts are up for debate, though they can be extremely dangerous if stumbled across.
Collection[]
Though never formally collected, the shears are largely suspected to be responsible for teleporting a Spanish soldier in 1593 from the palace of Manila in the Philippines to the Plaza Mayor (now Zócalo) in Mexico City. The soldier was woozy and had no explanation for his sudden teleportation.