Advena Avis

"And so, the Advena Avis finally weighed anchor! Carrying scientists fleeing persecution in Europe, this ship should rightly be known as one of the great heroes of history, bringing seeds of knowledge and reason to the New World!"

- A museum curator circa 2003

The Advena Avis is a ship that transported thirty passengers, most of whom were alchemists, from Lotto Valentino to North America in 1711. Although the alchemists were fleeing immediate local persecution from House Dormentaire at the time of departure, their primary motive for the voyage was to obtain true immortality while on board the ship.

Maiza Avaro successfully summons a 'demon' when the ship is crossing the Atlantic, and all passengers save for Sylvie Lumiere become complete immortals after drinking the Grand Panacea. A horrific massacre takes place on the Advena Avis the next night: Szilard Quates, an alchemist who desires the elixir's formula for himself, devours thirteen of the thirty passengers before jumping overboard.

The survivors of the massacre abandon the Advena Avis on the beach upon arriving in North America; however, the ship is later recovered and, as of 2003, is on display at a maritime museum on the North American east coast.

The ship's sails and helm were greatly simplified compared to those of contemporary vessels, thus making it possible for three people to pilot the Advena Avis alone if necessary. It was also capable of moving at an incredibly fast pace, though an adequate number of hands is needed for maximum speed.

Procurement and Departure
By 1711, Lotto Valentino is under the control of House Dormentaire—a wealthy and powerful Spanish family which desires the local alchemists' knowledge (pertaining to immortality, counterfeit gold, and drugs) for itself. Their interest in immortality lies particularly with the means of obtaining and/or making the Grand Panacea, means which local alchemist Dalton Strauss allegedly possesses.

Dalton, having prepared to pass on this knowledge to his pupil Maiza Avaro, sends for a ship capable of a transatlantic crossing. The intention is for Maiza to obtain immortality on the ship; as summoning a demon is forbidden, it will be easier and safer for the alchemists to do so en route and away from prying eyes. This ship is the Advena Avis, which Dalton procures from the wealthy Mars Family at a great debt.

As the Mars Family refuses to officially involve themselves beyond supplying a vessel, Dalton relies on legendary alchemist Majeedah Batutah for additional support. Majeedah sends three alchemists—Denkurō Tōgō, Nile, and Zank Rowan, all qualified sailors—to Lotto Valentino with instructions to assist the Advena Avis in its departure; on the day the three men arrive, multiple explosions rock Dormentaire facilities and ships.

Thirty-six Dormentaire-targeted explosions go off over the ensuing week, with further bombings and arsons plaguing the city for three days more. Carla Alvarez Santonia, leader of the Dormentaire delegation, suspects the city's alchemists and Mask Makers are behind the attacks; upon hearing rumors that the Advena Avis is on its way to Lotto Valentino, and that the alchemists intend to board it, she decides she will seize the ship once it arrives in port. In response to Dormentaire suspicion and an increasingly volatile city, some alchemists start leaving town.

Following the aforementioned ten days of fire and brimstone, a ship carrying Lucrezia de Dormentaire explodes in full view of everyone at the harbor. The Advena Avis conspicuously appears on the horizon moments later, and Dormentaire personnel seize it and place it under guard as soon as it reaches port—unaware that Lucrezia faked her death.

In truth, Lucrezia's ship had been rigged with timed explosives; the skeleton crew piloting it transferred to the Advena Avis before the bombs went off, and posed as its crewmen as it made port. The Mars Family, despite its desire to avoid conflict, must have been involved in this part of Lucrezia's plan for such a ploy to work. Lucrezia herself desired the alchemists' research and not the alchemists themselves, evidently content to have the alchemists flee on the Advena Avis (instead of allowing them to fall into the hands of other nobles and countries).

Lotto Valentino's residents and Dormentaire soldiers both come to blame the alchemists for Lucrezia's presumed death over the next five days and instigate manhunts, though all alchemists have either fled or gone into hiding by such time. As neither Carla nor her men are aware of Lucrezia's deception (or that she wants the alchemists driven away), they sincerely believe Lucrezia was murdered and conduct their manhunts with according severity.

When the Mask Makers set off another series of explosions, distracting the Dormentaires, the remaining alchemists seize their chance and make for the Advena Avis via the catacombs. Carla and her soldiers attempt and fail to obstruct the alchemists at the harbor, and the Advena Avis manages to depart the harbor with twenty-six passengers on board.

A Dormentaire warship pursues the Advena Avis for thirty minutes, catching up to it once stowaway Victor Talbot attempts to commandeer the vessel with a flintlock pistol. Rather than carrying soldiers, the warship is carrying Szilard Quates, Huey Laforet, and Elmer C. Albatross—three last-minute additions to the passenger list—and the three board without incident. As Dalton foresaw Victor's actions and added him to the list in advance, Victor is allowed to remain on the ship.

While en route to the Atlantic Ocean, the Advena Avis is scheduled to make several port stops and stock up on provisions courtesy of Majeedah's floating workshop. Should there be any word of danger, the floating workshop is also prepared to send the Advena Avis escort ships for the remainder of the Mediterranean. Denkurō, Nile, and Zank, as the ship's primary pilots, instruct their fellow alchemists in seamanship along the way.

The Summoning Ritual and Massacre
As planned, Maiza conducts the summoning ritual while the Advena Avis is crossing the Atlantic. In the 2007 anime adaptation, the ritual involves him reciting the following incantation:

"I summon thee here to this place. Thou art my heaven's Earth, the night of day. Thou art the darkness of light, the goodness of the wicked. Thou art the one who sees, and the one who is seen. Thou art the creator of all destruction, the lover of all men who thou dost despise."

This is all that is heard of the incantation before the 'demon' himself interrupts the proceedings, soon manifesting a container of the Grand Panacea for all to drink. Szilard Quates chooses to drink first, believing the elixir to be a sham; when the demon cuts off his head and he comes back to life, he and the others need more convincing. Twenty-nine out of thirty passengers drink the elixir and become immortal on the spot; the one exception is Sylvie Lumiere, who secretly saves her portion of the elixir for later.

The Demon proceeds to give the new immortals the following key information on their newfound immortality:


 * By placing their right hand on a person's head and think "I wish to eat", an immortal can devour the person and absorb all their knowledge and experiences.
 * The only way an immortal can die is by having another immortal devour them with their right hand.
 * Immortals physically cannot refer to themselves with false names when in close proximity to another immortal. This restriction extends to writing names on documents, regardless of proximity.
 * The demon does not mention that there are loopholes to this rule, though some of the immortals discover such loopholes later on. Victor has a mortal introduce him with a false name in 1934, while Lebreau Fermet Viralesque often goes by just one of his names—not all of which the other immortals know.

The 'demon' imparts the elixir's formula to Maiza alone. That night, Maiza tells half of the formula to his brother Gretto before changing his mind; the next day, he announces his decision to keep the elixir's formula to himself. His decision does not sit well with some of the alchemists, Szilard least of all, and Szilard devours Gretto that night after mistaking him for Maiza. Szilard proceeds to devour twelve more alchemists before jumping overboard to avoid the same fate.

The Fate of the Advena Avis
Once the alchemists reach the North American coast, the sixteen survivors of the massacre go their separate ways and leave the Advena Avis on the shore. The ship is on display at a maritime museum on the North American east coast as of 2003, preserved in its original state—as the museum curator thus claims—in "accordance with the passengers' wishes." In pursuit of an "authentic as possible" preservation, the museum has not repaired any damage or decay done to the ship.

The museum's archivists are currently studying the alchemists' documents which were recovered from the Advena Avis; how these documents survived and when they were recovered are unknown. Specifically, Victor's travelogue and reports are recovered from Elmer's cabin; although Victor's documents mention immortals, a demon, and alchemists, the museum has chosen to refer to the alchemists as 'scientists' to the public and say nothing of the rest to protect Lotto Valentino from extreme scrutiny.

Rather than mention any demons and immortality elixirs, the museum's public stance is that the Advena Avis was carrying scientists fleeing European persecution to North America. The museum also appears to believe that the ship was owned by the Boroñal Family and donated to the Third Library, despite the ship being originally legally built and owned by the Mars Family.

Accardo's Descendant visits the museum in 2003 to look at the Advena Avis and, if possible, gain access to its surviving research materials. The archives manager shows him the papers only after learning he is a descendant of Jean-Pierre Accardo, whose name is mentioned in the documents, and tells him what he knows of the 1711 incident.

Shortly after the manager finishes relating what happened between House Dormentaire and the Mask Makers, Victor and FBI Inspector Jessica Sullivan arrive at the museum so that the latter may request access to the Advena Avis research material. Jessica reports seeing the Descendant when she brings the written data to Victor, who is soon surprised to learn Elmer had brought his reports onto the ship.

Original List

 * Lebreau Fermet Viralesque
 * Maiza Avaro
 * Begg Garrott
 * Czeslaw Meyer
 * Denkurō Tōgō (sent by Majeedah Batutah)
 * Nile (sent by Majeedah Batutah)
 * Zank Rowan (sent by Majeedah Batutah)
 * Gretto Avaro (listed as assistant; first massacre victim)
 * Sylvie Lumiere (listed as assistant)
 * Pierre (named in Episode 07; massacre victim)
 * Italo (named in Episode 07; massacre victim)
 * Fifteen other alchemists

Addendum by Dalton Strauss

 * Szilard Quates
 * Huey Laforet
 * Elmer C. Albatross

Addendum/Stowaway

 * Victor Talbot (hid in a crate in order to detain the ship; Dalton foresaw his actions and added his name as well to the list)

Etymology
In Latin, Advena means "stranger" or "foreigner," and Avis means "omen" or "sign." Thus, the name Advena Avis can be roughly translated as "Sign of Strangers", "Omen of Foreigners" or "Strange Omens."

Trivia

 * The name of the ship is spelled Advenna Avis in the 2007 anime. However, in the official English translations of the 2015 manga and The Rolling Bootlegs, it is spelled Advena Avis. This wiki page has been updated to reflect those translations.
 * The Mars Family is a wealthy vampiric family from Vamp!, one of Ryohgo Narita's other light novel series set in the Naritaverse.
 * In the 2007 anime, the demon includes an additional rule: an immortal, when placing their right hand on another immortal's forehead, can choose to transfer memories and information to the immortal rather than devour them. They cannot do so in the case in the novels, though immortals can transfer such knowledge to their homunculi via their left hand.
 * The alchemists hailed from various origins, including Northern Europe, Southern Europe, and the Near East.
 * Denkurō was the only Asian aboard the ship, Sylvie was the only woman, and Czeslaw was the only child. Szilard Quates was the oldest passenger on the ship.