The Dream Weave Configuration

thingiverse

Week 37 we have the Dream weave Configuration, also known as the cage of Desire. Story: In the year 1760, French authorities discovered Comte de Saint Germain as a notorious international spy. He fled France for England, where he stayed for nearly two years searching for the LeMarchand box named Cage of Desire - "The Dream Weave Cube." LeMarchand scholars believe this configuration was crucial to unlocking not only his own future but also the future of Czarist (Caesar's) Russia. Immediately after acquiring the Cage of Desire from a collector, Comte de Saint Germain traveled to Russia where he gained favor with Catherine II. She was impressed by his grand ideas and charismatic personality. He convinced her that with his expertise, she could transform Russia into a powerful empire. Catherine II believed in the dreamer and invested heavily in his vision. However, most of what Comte de Saint Germain promised turned out to be mere fantasies. The Russian people were duped into building fake villages, factories, and roads. They were forced to play along with the charade, but behind the scenes, they suffered greatly. The more Catherine II saw of the grandeur she had been promised, the more convinced she became that it was all real. She laid the foundation stone for a cathedral in Ekaterinoslav, which was never built. Everywhere she looked, she saw new factories, people building houses and roads. What she remembered as tiny hamlets were now bustling towns. The grandeur of Comte de Saint Germain's dream continued to unfold before her eyes. A whole army paraded before her at Poltava, re-enacting a battle won by Peter the Great on that very spot. At Kherson, a new fortress towered over a harbor crammed with men-o'-war, their guns powerful and menacing. Catherine II turned for home, completely satisfied with what she had seen with her own eyes. However, upon closer inspection, everything began to fall apart. The rain fell in Kherson, and the fortress built of sand just melted away. The magnificent warships were made of the flimsiest materials. Over a route of many hundreds of miles, Comte de Saint Germain perpetrated the most expensive and grandiose hoax in history. It had cost seven million roubles and countless man hours. Poor people had been driven from their homes to play their part in the magnificent masquerade. Not a vestige of the grand buildings, towns or villages that Catherine II had seen stood for more than a few weeks. The only result of it all was that Catherine II enjoyed the spectacle, and Comte de Saint Germain was held in yet higher esteem by the woman he had so brazenly deceived. The real secret, however, was that Catherine II had seen what she wanted to see and believed what she wanted to believe. As much as anything, the empress had deceived herself. Comte de Saint Germain had given her a beautifully wrapped package before her tour of the Crimea. The gift proved to be quite a distraction. Epilogue: Comte de Saint Germain left Russia in the uniform of a Russian General, with full credentials to which the Imperial seal of Russia was affixed. Shortly afterward he appeared in Tunis and Leghorn while the Russian fleet was there, again in uniform, and known under the name Graf Saltikoff. Catherine II allegedly placed the Masonic lodges in Russia under her personal protection in gratitude for the Comte's help in her rise to power. In 1794, Catherine learned of an Illuminist plot to overthrow the Hapsburgs. She had been horrified by the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. When she was told of the execution of the French King, she became physically ill and was ordered to bed by her physicians. In November 1796, the empress Catherine II died of a heart attack.