Saint Sebastian medallion

**Saint Sebastian medallion** — Appears in Claimed by Shadow

## About

**Saint Sebastian medallion** is an amulet that belonged to Agnes'—it was somehow pertinent to her death. Saint Sebastian medallions were once used to ward off the Black Plague. Saint Sebastian was the saint believed to be able to ward off disease. Most were made in the fourteenth century, during the Black Death. During that time, ingredients such as Powdered toad, arsenic-a whole host of substances were often put inside these things before they were soldered together. They were thought to ward off sickness, and added to the medallion's value-and its price.

Agnes, the Pythia, was holding this **Saint Sebastian medallion** when she died, and it contained the same poison that killed her. John Pritkin and Mac had opened it, discovering it had arsenic inside it, but with no way for it to touch the skin creating a puzzle as to how it could have been used to kill Agnes. the poison was administered in small doses over six months that built up in her system until it finally overwhelmed her.

### Arsenic Poisoning

* causes redness and swelling of the skin over time- it would be noticed
* gradual poisoning is usually done in food
* tasteless and odorless, and in small doses, its symptoms are similar to food poisoning.

### Other Details

* tampering with the medallion ruined its physical integrity, and in the process had ruptured any psychic skin that might have imprinted itself.

## Lady Phemonoe (Agnes)

* Agnes extremely careful about poisons—almost paranoid
* superstitious with age—bought various questionable remedies: knife that turn green over poisoned food, an glass that exploded if filled with a poison, a goblet with a bezoar.

## Events in the Series

*This section may have **spoilers**. Think of the book title as a "Spoiler Warning" if you haven’t read it yet*.

### 2. Claimed by Shadow

Pritkin tried to get Cassie to have a clairvoyant vision that might tell them how the Agnes was killed by holding the amulet against her skin. However, the tampering had ruined its psychic skin, so she got nothing. Cassie grills Kit Marlowe about the medallion being. Kit tells her that they were used a lot during the Black Plague to ward off disease and often contain arsenic. She tells him it's implicated in Agnes' murder—they discuss possible methods, arsenic symptoms, etc.

## Book References

1. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 10
2. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 10
3. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 5
4. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 5
5. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 5
6. ↑ *Claimed by Shadow*, ch. 10

## External Links

Saint Sebastian

* St. Sebastian - Saints & Angels - Catholic Online
* Saint Sebastian - Wikipedia
* Saint Sebastian

Black Plague

* Black Death - Wikipedia
* Black Death - Facts & Summary - HISTORY.com
* The Black Death, 1348
* The Black Death: The Greatest Catastrophe Ever | History Today
* The Black Death: Bubonic Plague
* The Black Death of 1348 to 1350 - History Learning Site
* 'Gerbils replace rats' as main cause of Black Death - BBC News
* BBC - History - British History in depth: Black Death
* Plague genome: The Black Death decoded : Nature News
* Avoiding the Black Plague Today - The Atlantic

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