The Nautilus Chamber of Akbadain from Miracle Mask (or The Infinite Vault of Akbadain in some versions) appeared after Layton and Descole used the Masks of Chaos and Order. Descole’s whole reason for threatening Monte d’Or, for wanting to raise the ruins, for facing Targent’s army…was for this?
This big-ass revolving thing in the middle of the dessert. I can see why it’s called an ‘infinite vault’ because it looks like it goes on forever. ‘Vault’ and ‘chamber’ suggest a prison of some kind. Is it another golem prison made by the Azran? Is that where they put the mummy guardian golems from Akbadain? Can you even get in and out of the vault? If they did just leave treasure down there it’s probably rigged like Akbadian so you either die or never get out.
I have no idea what ‘nautilus’ means or why they even changed it to that. According to the most reliable source in the world, Wikipedia: ‘The nautilus […] is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. *Blah blah blah…* ‘Though it more specifically refers to species Nautilus pompilius, the name chambered nautilus is also used for any of the Nautilidae.’ So… this thing:
Wikipedia: ‘The chambered nautilus, Nautilus pompilius, also called the pearly nautilus, is the best-known species of nautilus. The shell, when cut away, reveals a lining of lustrous nacre and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral, although it is not a golden spiral.’
The vault looks a lot like the shell! Now the name makes sense. The Nautilus can be found deep underwater where they’ve survived for millions of years. (They’re completely harmless to people but that image still creeps me out.) They’re often called ‘living fossils’ and they’ve survived the extinction events so far on Earth… sort of like a certain ‘living mummy’. These things probably would’ve been around during Azran times and, being the geniuses that they were, the Azran designed the vault to like them. But for what purpose…?
The Nautilus’ shells are obviously used for protection, but it also helps them float around when they fart release a gas. Again, maybe the vault protected the world by keeping some golems locked up… or was it used as a bunker for the Azran people? The ones who lived around the Akbadain ruins?
If the vault was designed to preserve life, that would connect it to the previous Azran ruins- the Garden of Healing and the City of Ambrosia. (Bronev calls them the ‘three great legacies’ in the last MM cutscene which confuses me, but whatever.) Both of those legacies could still be unlocked in the present day Layton-verse, so the vault should be accessible too. Did the Azran leave behind one shelter for humanity in case the golems couldn’t be stopped? That was nice of them.
You know what I think? Layton and Co should’ve tossed the Azran egg key into the vault after it was assembled. This adds closure to the set up from MM after Layton and Descole worked together with the masks. Leon Bronev could’ve jumped in after the key if he really wanted it and never emerged from the vault. No betrayals. The golems never have to be released and Aurora never has to die. Legacy averted. Everyone’s happy. Cue Curious Village.
I’ve always believed the chamber was actually a giant drain or a mechanism for controlling water flow of some sort (or perhaps a water vault). The previous two legacies were strongly tied to water and I wouldn’t be surprised if the desert Monte d'Or occupies had previously been fertile land with a lot of rainfall. Or it may have been somewhere near the shore if sea levels were higher then (I think there’s a collection item that can be found during the ruins exploration mini game of a sea shell but it’s been a long time since I played).
The Akbadian ruins may also indicate that more water used to occupy the area. There’s a fast flowing underground river and the surrounding area looks a bit like a canyon, indicating rivers would have flowed through there before and eroded into the land over time.
That’s a really good point about the water and the river! And it still ties in to the nautilus water animals with the sea! I didn’t know about the collection item- I’ll have to see if I can find it if I replay the game. (It’s been years after this game came out and we’re all still unravelling he Azran ruins…)