Mandragora Helix

[olegrand]

Hello everybody!

I'm working on a scenario featuring the Mandragora Helix (from The Masque of Mandragora) in a 20th century setting. I've re-watched the episodes, read the relevant section in the 4th Doctor sourcebook as well as this page tardis.fandom.com/wiki/Mandragora_Helix...

But I still have some uncertainties about how the Doctor defeated the Helix in the first place and how it could be defeated in a more modern setting.

1) What part did the metallic wire play in the Doctor's stratagem? I understand that the idea was to cause the Helix to disperse/exhaust its energy but how did the metal wire achieve that exactly?

2) Does all this mean that the Helix (in its natural, disembodied form) would have extreme difficulty maintaining its cohesion / existence in an environment full of metals or metallic structures - including, for instance, a modern-day building or a science lab? But if this is indeed the case, how could it survive within the TARDIS?

[Catsmate]

Hmm. The Doctor requested of Giuliano a breastplate and wire ("Yes, wire. It must be at least a hundred and fifty years since wire-drawing machines were invented. There must be some about the place?") and told Sarah that

[Cosmic rays] Negatively charged high energy particles follow magnetic lines of force, yes?
Therefore, if I've guessed correctly about the nature of Helix energy, I should be able to drain it off.

So I assume he covered himself in conductive material (the steel breastplate) and then earthen himself to drain off the energy.
Later he winds wire around the altar that the cult is going to use and nails it to the floor (presumably to connect it to ground). He survives several energy bolts to the armour because he's grounded (though the conduction is imperfect).

From the novelisation:

He had run the wire right round the base of the altar, in contact with it, to form a circuit. From this he had led off a number of 'spokes' to the area immediately surrounding  the altar and camouflaged the whole skein of wires with earth and stones. The remaining wire he attached to the chain jerkin beneath his coat, leaving the other end free to trail on the ground.
......
The chain-mail jerkin was taking the force of the impact but growing red-hot in the process and burning into the Doctor's flesh. The Doctor's right hand groped for the wire running to the ground by his side. It too was fiercely hot and on the point of melting. Once that snapped the massive charge of Helix Energy would no longer be 'earthed' and the next bolt would travel directly through the Doctor's body, burning him to a frazzle as it did so.
......
The atmosphere was weird, uncanny, devilish. The cracked and jagged walls of the chamber began to shimmer and a strange luminous glow appeared on them. It gradually grew in strength until the outline of a ghostly Roman temple was discernible. At the same time the sound of tumbling masonry was augmented by a high-pitched wail which almost drowned Hieronymous.

"Mandragora, we, your servants welcome you. Bestow your power upon us that we may rule over the whole of your dominion!"

The shrieking, roaring din grew unbearable and Sarah and the other captives buried their heads in one another's shoulders to escape the ear-splitting wail.
Then, a brilliant sphere of light seemed to swoop down through the roof of the temple. It hovered a few moments above the altar then slowly descended into the slab causing it to glow with white-hot heat.

Hieronymous lowered his arms and pointed towards the centre of the altar. The brethren followed suit. There was a hum, like a build-up of power, and suddenly sheets of blue flame leapt from the altar to the outstretched fingers of the encircling brethren. At this instant Hieronymous jumped clear of the altar steps and ran from the central area. But the brethren remained transfixed to the floor, each brother illuminated like a fire-brand with crackling, sizzling Helix Energy. Screams of torture and anguish rang out from the hooded figures as they struggled to move but they seemed held in the grip of an immutable current.

Their cloaks caught fire and the ground where they stood erupted with sheets of flame which sped under-foot towards the base of the altar. As the circuit was completed there was a blinding flash and tumultuous explosion. Sarah was hurled to the ground together with everyone around her.

which seems to explain it better. There were two parts to the plan; weaken Hieronym[o]us (by having him fire several energy bolts into the grounded armour) and then ground all the infected Brethren when they gathered around the alter at the climax of the ceremony, at the moment of the eclipse. Also in the novel the breastplate is replaced by a chainmail jerkin.

Naturally the person in Hieronym[o]us's costume isn't actually him. He died [dissipated?] offscreen and was replaced by the Doctor. During this the grounding wire does snap, leaving the Doctor to absorb Hieronym[o]us's final energy bolt without dissipation 

That's my take anyway


Hope this helps.

[olegrand]

Thanks a lot for this very detailed (and very useful) answer - and for the invaluable novelisation quotes! That's question one solved!

Would anyone have ideas / suggestions etc. regarding question two ?

[Catsmate]

Jan 31, 2020 14:42:26 GMT olegrand said:

Thanks a lot for this very detailed (and very useful) answer - and for the invaluable novelisation quotes! That's question one solved!

Would anyone have ideas / suggestions etc. regarding question two ?

Ah, now that's speculative physics. It really depends on exactly what the Helix is.
Some of the EU material suggests that it pre-dates this universe, something suggests of the other Lovecraftian "Great Old Ones" referred to in the deuterocanon. Maybe it evolved in the previous universe, migrated to hyperspace or the Vortex and survived the end of the previous universe.

Then again the novelisation of Masque describes it as a "subthermal recombination of ionised plasma" which, wile being utter nonsense, suggests it is a form of ionised plasma life, something that's actually not considered impossible. Indeed the work of Sanduloviciu and Lozneanu, beginning some twenty years ago, suggest that such life is quite possible. In plasma electrons and ions can self-organise into complex, lower entropy, configurations, crate a distinct boundary layer, grow by absorbing suitable materials and emit EM radiation; all characteristics of living organisms.

One might speculate that such self-contained plasmoids¹, formed in the early, highly energetic, stage of the universe's expansion might achieve a form of intelligence and spread, carried by the expansion of wave front.
Interestingly, based on computer modelling by Tsytovich, in free space (without gravity) plasma elements will bead together to form strings or filaments which will then twist into helical strands due to electrostatic attraction.
Finally plasma can form crystal like structures, orderly Coulomb balls with nested layers of electronics an ionised particles (such as interstellar dust).
So I wouldn't rule out plasma life forms, even in environments that initially seen unfriendly.

OK, on to your actual question; to paraphrase, would the Helix (in its natural, disembodied form) have extreme difficulty maintaining its cohesion / existence in an environment full of metals or metallic structures.
I'd say yes and no.

Plasma structures can be quite stable, creating a self-containing magnetic field surrounding itself and existing in open air. One could postulate a layered structure that's sufficiently complex to "self-seal" against minor penetrations of it's structure, even complete impalement and also resist external magnetic fields because the outer layer can be highly conductive and hence highly resistant to external magnetic fields.

Though, at this stage, you're probably too crunchy for classic Who and should adopt whatever's suited to the game. The Helix can survive until enough effort, clever ideas, successful rolls and Story Point expenditure has happened.


Hope this helps.




1. A plasmoid is a coherent, self-contained, structure of plasma and magnetic fields.

[olegrand]

Jan 31, 2020 16:11:21 GMT Catsmate said:

Hope this helps.

Tremendously Thanks a lot, Catsmate!

[Catsmate]

Jan 31, 2020 17:25:12 GMT olegrand said:

Jan 31, 2020 16:11:21 GMT Catsmate said:

Hope this helps.

Tremendously Thanks a lot, Catsmate!

Glad I could help.

BTW plasmoid entities in general have some fascinating possibilities.
Emitting EM radiation (from radio to x-rays, perhaps able to influence organic brains), disrupting electrical and electronic devices, even able to generate a laser beam within themselves.
However they'd probably be very low density and vulnerable to wind.

[missyfan45]

hmm so its a 500 year thing every time he appears is it possible hes like the nemesis statue? ie he influenced events in 1092

[Catsmate]

Jul 3, 2020 22:01:31 GMT missyfan45 said:

hmm so its a 500 year thing every time he appears is it possible hes like the nemesis statue? ie he influenced events in 1092

Oh good catch sir, I'd completely forgotten about that. In fact Masque suggests three'sequels'.
1. Five hundred years later.
1492 + 500 = 1992 This probably was the events of The Mark of Mandragora.

2. Five hundred years earlier.
1492 - 500 = 992
So what was happening in 992CE? Let's consult wiki.

• Pietro the doge of Venice concluded a treaty with Emperor Basil II to transport Byzantine troops, in exchange for exemption from customs duties in Constantinople.
  Plenty of opportunity for intrigue in either Venice or Byzantium.
• The death of duke Mieszko I of the Polans (Eastern Germany). Maybe the Helix tries to control his son?
• The Battle of Conquereuil sees the Angevins under Fulk the Black defeat the forces of Conan I, duke of Brittany.
• A year earlier and Æthelred II (the Unready¹) signed an peace treaty with Richard duke of Normandy. There are Viking attacks ravage Kent and Sussex. The Anglo-Saxons under Byrhtnoth are defeated by Norwegian Viking invaders, led by Olaf Tryggvason at the Battle of Maldon in Essex. And Æthelred decided to pay off Olaf, to the tune of ten tonnes of silver.

      I rather like this. Blend in the historical Millennial Fever as people feared the end of the world and cults sprang up.

3. One thousand year earlier.
1492 - 1000 = 492
Not long after the Roman Empire collapsed. Heavy fighting by Theoderic the Great who conquered Rimini and besieged and captured Ravenna. Lots of death and destruction. Might someone be desperate enough to tap the power of the Helix?

4. There are a couple of interesting references in Masque to prior events.
When the Mandragora Helix arrives and rebuilds the temple the priest says.

It is a dream of two thousand years come true. 

Later Hieronymous and the priest of Demnos speak:

"Master, you speak to the voices of Demnos as though, as..."
"Go on".
"As though this were not the first time".
"What think you brought me to San Martino? Many years ago, in another place, the voice of Demnos told me how my life would be. Told me I had been chosen because of my special powers. Ruler over all the Earth. From that night until now, I have waited".
"And now at last your faith has been rewarded".

Megalomania? Self-delusion? Or some prior contact?
Might Hieronymous have lived from a prior contact with the Helix? Could the cult itself date back to 492CE?