The Umbran Resting Places, commonly referred to as Treasure Chests, are the tombs of the Umbra Witches that are scattered around Vigrid, Noatun, Fimbulventr, Paradiso, and Inferno. They are sealed stone coffins that the strongest of the deceased witches were buried in after they departed from the world. No one can open the caskets without proper knowledge of the Witches' magic; even during the Witch Hunts, the caskets remained sealed.
Vigrid is littered with the legacies of an ancient age. Amongst these are the stone coffins used to bury departed witches. Along with their fellow overseers of history, the Lumen Sages, the Umbra Witches used their incredible power to repel any intrusion upon Vigrid.
Under these auspices, the witches abode by the terms of their netherwordly contracts, and upon parting with the physical world, the strongest of the witches were deified
According to one theory, the contract with their demon master stipulates that upon leaving this earth, a witch’s soul nor body can remain. Umbran burial customs were developed for that very reason. The women would bury their loved ones in treasured stone coffins to lessen the pain of those destined for Inferno, even if the effect was slight.
Today, unable to break the magic seal upon the coffins, the Lumen Sage Seal of the Sun has been placed upon the sarcophagi as a counter-weight. If by chance the power of witches were to return to this world, they would be prevented from opening their coffins due to the seal. This is a clear indicator of the sort of persecution these women were subjected to during the witch hunts.
While the whereabouts of the witch’s tombs is outlined above, the location of the tombs for the Lumen Sages remains unknown. According to remaining records, they had taken up final resting places with the Umbra in the secluded region known as the Crescent and Sunrise Valleys. It is said the Lumen Sages, who conducted their duties not in the darkness but the light, rest peacefully in the valley after departing from this world.
Finally, there are rumours that somewhere in Vigrid, research is underway to extract the Spirit Energy from departed witches. It seems that the fate of the Umbra Witch and Lumen Sage has yet to be truly decided.
If you're going to spit in the face of God, you're probably going to incur some of his wrath. That's just common sense to me. Still, I can't help but feel a little sorry when I hear the level of divine retribution some of these witches get dealt.
One case I witnessed was particularly bad. The type of punishment that never gets better, hurting for all eternity, like a curse. An Umbra Witch had the Resting Place that carried her remains shattered into pieces and her soul flung into a rift in time and space, never to be saved again. Just thinking about what this witch must've done to get dealt a hand like that drives me almost insane with curiosity. I'd kill for the chance to sit down and chat with the Lumen Sages that did it to her.
Yet, judging from the witches I know, you could expel them to the ends of the universe and they'd still find a way back.
In the first game, the Umbran Resting Places are scattered throughout both Vigrid and Paradiso and must be broken open with a Wicked Weave attack in order to break the seal and obtain the item inside. If an item such as a Witch Heart or Moon Pearl has already been acquired from the chest, then it will give an Arcade Bullet the next time it is broken open. The chests come in particular variations depending on the stage of the game.
The most common kind of Resting Places are the casket-like chests, ones that appear to be a tomb for a Witch but with a heavy gold Sage inspired seal on the top, surrounded by gold chain. In Paradiso, the entire chest appears golden and has a heavenly motif, making it appear much grander than a Witch's casket, implying these may be the Resting Places of Lumen Sages. Onboard the Valkyrie in Chapter XII, the chests act as power units for the plane and are wired into the aircraft's structure.
The Resting Places function in the same way as the first game with a similar appearance, but also appear in a brand-new variation that is related to the Remembrance of Time present throughout Noatun and Fimbulventr. These Resting Places have been sealed away so heavily by the Lumen Sages that they have been banished from reality, the pieces scattered into rifts in time and space.
Instead of the golden seal on top of the usual Resting Places, these chests have a blue, angular-themed seal based around the imagery of Aesir and initially appear as interdimensional oddities, seeming out of phase with the rest of the level. Approaching one of these Resting Places prompts Bayonetta to collect the scattered pieces of the chest within a specific time limit before being able to break it open. They contain the same sort of items as in the original game, but will provide a bounty of Halos if they are broken open again after collecting their initial item.
When the Chain Chomp weapon is equipped, it will detect and attack any nearby Resting Place, making them easier to track down.
The Resting Places appear once more but with a radically new design in comparison to the first two entries. This time, the chests appear similar to the Golem enemy as a geometric sphere shape comprised of numerous cubes with a glowing blue centre. As before, striking the object enough times with any of Bayonetta's attacks will cause the chest to transform into a hexagonal diamond shape before opening and presenting the items contained within.
Concept art for the Umbran Resting Place from The Eyes Of Bayonetta artbook.
Concept Art for Umbran Resting Place variations
Concept art for power source Umbran Resting Place on the Valkyrie
Umbran Resting Place on the Valkyrie
Concept of the standard and Remembrance of Time resting places in Bayonetta 2
Umbran Resting Place spotted in Bayonetta 2 footage
The 'Remembrance Of Time' chest
The completed Resting Place
Pieces of the Resting Place.
Trivia[]
In The Eyes Of Bayonetta artbook, concept designer, Ikumi Nakamura's concept art depicts that a Witch's body was planned to be present in the casket. The corpse would be bound by the hands and feet as part of the burial process for the Witches with the very same ribbon that Bayonetta wears in the first game. The Lumen Sage Seal of the Sun placed upon the Resting Places acts as a magical counterweight to prevent them from being opened.
