Lady Inferemet and her twenty cats

Record of Inferemet

By the Historical Art Institute of Balkridge

An old, old portrait lost in the destruction of Corelia. It was the oldest recorded piece of art, dating to before the Frostmarch. Depicting the old god Inferemet, who governed art, passion, and song, this painting was created by the mysterious artist known as Belvue A. Lovecraft. No recovered archives of this person contained any describing features, only the general remark of the person's supposedly 'haunted' and 'life-like' art. The scene the painting once depicted was of a fancy yet cluttered room with a variety of knick-knacks and artworks scattered throughout. Sitting upon a couch was a woman in regal white and gold silks, tending to her many cats scattered throughout the painting.

The supposed controversy was with the unique properties of the painting. Upon discovery, both Inferemet and her cats would frequently move about the painted space. Preforming a variety of tasks such as playing, destroying furniture, sleeping, and eating. Inferemet herself had the ability to leave the shown canvas which implied there to be a space outside of view, but her cats themselves did not have this ability, and all twenty could always be seen on the painting. One the back of the painting's frame was a well written set of instructions which were mostly legible, aside from the ones detailing recontainment. These were most likely left by Lovecraft. It said to keep Inferemet away from paintings on the same wall as her, as the cats were 'curious and prone to wander'. These directions were followed in its stay at the institute, however paw prints and cat hairs were frequently found stuck to the wall it was hung up on.

History

During the Great War, to keep the Institute unharmed from the modern army, Inferemet and several artifacts were give up to their museums under the assumption the proper instructions were followed. Aside from the blood poisoning artifact Rapture, none of these instructions were. Two of the more powerful artifacts were 'lost in transit', and one was broken. No word was given about Inferemet for several years until several senior members of the institute were called to help onsite researchers with an issue concerning the painting. Upon arrival, the members were told of Inferemet's disappearance five months ago. (It should be noted that before, the woman would only disappear for a half day.) In addition, seventeen of Inferemet's twenty cats appeared to have escaped from the painting's domain. One of the cats was found in a painting of one of their cities, but other than that, the only traces of these cats left were trinkets in their home painting and paw prints and scratch marks in and around other portraits. Onsite researchers refused additional information, so it can only be assumed that these cats escaped through adjacent portraits which were moved or removed from the site. Guest members were then sent back to Balkridge to be brought back when all cats were found. The last news the institute received on about Inferemet was that it was lost in the destruction of Corelia, a city that the painting had not been in previously.

A somewhat accurate recreation of the painting by an aspiring modern artist made shortly before the painting's destruction.

Item type

Art

Destruction Date

March 13, 1374