Chapter 5 · MalebolgematerialCircle VIIIBeing built

Gold from the holes

The gold poured into the stone above those who sold the things of God.

Gold from the holes, turning on itself: sixteen views rendered from the game itself.
Rendered from what the game puts on screen. Move over it to turn it.

Io vidi per le coste e per lo fondopiena la pietra livida di fori

Inf. XIX 13-14

The chapter runs on one rule: one circle, one material, one thing you make from it. Here the material is this, and it is not treasure. It is gold poured into the livid stone above the holes where the men who sold the things of God are planted head downwards, and it comes off the hypocrites’ copes as well, which «di fuor dorate son, sì ch’elli abbaglia» (Inf. XXIII 64) and are lead underneath: the gilding scrapes away and the real metal stays.

It sells to nobody, because there is not a counter anywhere in this game that buys: it is made into nails, and a counterfeiter is the one who melts it. One piece gives six of them, and they are nails that sometimes do not fire.

The numbers

WhatHow much
From the pope’s hole2 pieces
From a cope scraped by hand1 piece
From a cope caught by the smoke2 pieces
At the counterfeiter’s bench1 piece for 6 alloy nails
In one stack in the bagup to 8

Links

Found in
The Third Ditch, the Simonists, The Sixth Ditch, the Hypocrites
See also
Nicholas III, The Leaden Copes, Alloy nail, Master Adam
Named by
Master Adam, Alloy nail

Planned, and it may never reach the finished game.

As it stood on 19 September 2026.