Trithemius, the Keeper of the Nigredo

A connoisseur of all ancient languages and a universal man, he fled home before he came of age in search of masters who could reveal to him secret knowledge about the spirit and the world. It is said that, on one of his wanderings, he was caught in a snowstorm and took refuge in the Benedictine abbey of Sponheim, near Bad Kreuznach, of which he later became abbot. Having fallen into a deep sleep, he was drawn by Zosimos to the Cinerean City, and initiated by him into the Cult of Nigredo.

It was after this crucial meeting that he conceived and wrote the Steganographia in order to be able to communicate his findings in the magical field between this and other worlds. This three-volume work of magic, in fact, deals with how to use subtle spirits to communicate over long distances. Through the methods described in the work, it is possible to encrypt any message through the use of combinatorial art and the use of seemingly incomprehensible symbols and glyphs. In the preface to the work, Trithemius establishes that his cryptographic method could be realized through the ability of a soul to reach, by magical means, from earth to heaven.

Trithemius is also the Keeper of the Cynerian Library, and guardian of the occult knowledge of Nigredo. His vast knowledge enables him to translate the language of Nigredo and the word of Zosimos into manuscripts for initiates, which he is responsible for spreading on the material plane through spirits and genies that he controls through magic.