Artefacts

Clock of Ages
The key to getting both halves of the Triangle of Light and to the combining of them. It also serves as a clock to count down to the planetary alignment. 

In ancient times, when the Triangle was being split into two, the Clock of Ages was created - against the orders of the High Priest - as a device to find the halves again when the next planetary alignment occurred. These craftmen who made it were the founding fathers of the Illuminati. Inside the clock is a grain of a crystal that seals the two halves of the Triangle to make it whole. Lara Croft’s father somehow managed to obtain the artefact and he hid it in Croft Manor to protect it from the Illuminati, in hope that Lara would one day find it and use it to find and destroy the Triangle of Light.
     
In 2001, Lara discovered it hidden inside a clock in a cupboard under the stairs. 

The Triangle of Light
The Triangle was created by a group of primitive people thousands of years ago when a meteor fell to Earth. The people excavated the meteor and found that buried inside was a mysterious, crystallised metal. They worshipped the metal within the crater, and it was said to have magical powers- such as healing, and providing wisdom and insight that was thousands of years ahead of their time. Their King, who had gained wisdom from the metal, decided that it should be forged into a sacred shape - a triangle. The King himself then engraved it with the symbol of a single eye.   

With insight from the Triangle, the people built a grand city within the crater and lived in peace. At the centre of the city was a pyramid, which had the symbol of the All-Seeing Eye at its apex. There were streets spiralling up and around the pyramid; it was a place of worship where the Triangle was kept. The civilisation called themselves ‘the People of the Light’. However once others had heard about the powers of the Triangle, a great war was waged against the People of the Light, spurred on by jealously. The barbarians joined forces, wishing to possess the artefact themselves, and caused food and water shortages and disease and fires to spread throughout the city.   

Inside the Great Pyramid, the High Priest knew that unless there was a miracle, the People of the Light and the gifts of the Triangle would perish forever. As he prayed, a miracle happened: the sun appeared to go out. It was in fact a planetary alignment. The High Priest prayed that their enemies would disappear, and as the power of the Triangle shone out of the Pyramid, there was a bright flash of light that destroyed everything. The High Priest stepped down from the Pyramid; there was death all around, and it was at this point that he realised that the Triangle's power was beyond imagination when the planets were aligned. He also realised that no man should hold this power and that it was meant for gods alone. He ordered that the Triangle had to be destroyed. However, the metal could not be burnt, crushed or bent, so he ordered it to be cut into two halves. One half was to stay at the Temple whilst the other was to be hidden at the end of the Earth to prevent the power of the Triangle from being used again.   

In defiance of the High Priest, the Craftsmen who had cut the Triangle in half secretly made a highly advanced device, intended to serve as a guide to find the hidden pieces and preserve the Triangle's powers for future generations, a device known as the Clock of Ages. These craftsmen were the founding fathers of the Illuminati. It was their descendants who swore a sacred oath to use the Triangle to stop time and bring their ancestors back to life, but they realised that the alignment of the planets would not be due for another five thousand years.