As I pinched my new treasure between my fingers, I could feel my energy navigating it's way into the charms. The set of earrings began to glow faintly. The colors emitting from the garnet and citrine reminded me of a campfire. The light was feeble, but very calming.
I could feel more energy flowing, and saw the glow getting brighter, like little embers in my hands. Instinctively, I held the gems in front of my mouth, and let loose a gentle breath. The earrings responded, growing brighter with each bellow. Soon I was blinded by a flash of light, and when my vision returned, the chamber was bright as day.
I was floored by the full presence of the room. The entire thing was carved out of an entrancing pink stone. As I looked around, a shimmer of orange, and coral mesmerized me. I needed several moments to take in the total scene. When I was finished examining the ceiling, my gaze found its way back to the statue.
She was carved from a dark brown stone, the light streaked golden bands through it. Her clothes were made up of thousands of faceted red gems that looked the same as the stone I assume to be garnet on my new earrings. My gaze was broken by a chill rushing through my spine. Even though this place was underground, a strong breeze comes bellowing by every now, and again. The wind holding an unearthly, biting cold.
Untold years of wind gusts built up sand in every nook it could find. I saw my opportunity for wealth. My searching was met with wooden debris, and metal cogs. I pocketed a small one. Surely even an old cog from a forgotten ruin had some value to it. I continued searching through the dunes until I came upon a tattered piece of cloth, bound by ropes.
At first I thought it to be a small box. My father had brought home many ornately wrapped rectangles, and they were always some kind of box containing a present. I struggled through the knots that held the fabric tight. Peeling away the wrappings I found it instead to be a book.
It was in decent condition, for what it was, but it still had pages disintegrating as I turned them. It was probably best to leave it unopened, perhaps find a restoration scroll to bring youthfulness back to the paper, but my curiosity was too controlling.
I was as gentle as I could be. Page after page, I soaked up every word I could find, but by the end, the book was nothing more than a pile of torn scraps.
The story was incomplete anyway, many of the pages seemed to be burned, with large portions missing. It is strange to me, why would you take the time to wrap a burned book, so carefully? Why wouldn't they just find a better copy?
The book told of the infrastructure of the desert when Tresoro, and Pazmoltae were full of life. There were hundreds of villages throughout what is now the Desert of the Shifting Sands. Back then it was a thriving jungle, full of useful minerals.
As always, when you have something worthwhile, there will be someone trying to take it. This is where Tresoro came to be. The villages sent their stipends to the major city, and in return they provided protection for the land.
The city itself became a hub of merchants, and craftsmen. With many achieving great deeds. However, its greatest accolade was indeed their soldiers' use of a sword. This is proven by the first ruler appointed to the city, Hala Hansa. She was chosen, by the high priest of Pazmoltae, for her unmatched ferocity in battle.
The warriors were trained and units stationed at each village incase of surprise attack. Scouting towers were built and manned in order to move larger forces by the thousands using massive machinery powered by the village's sacred stone, the sunstone.
This is where the book got a bit burned. It began to describe Pazmoltae more in length. Although called a temple, the surrounding area became a booming metropolis, with only the highest influences allowed to cross the large stone barriers into the temple grounds.
The relationship between the two cities was difficult to figure out, and the book implies that there are more major cities besides Tresoro. Mentions of rebellion against Pazmoltae were scribbled in the margins. A “combination of forces' ' between the major cities could hopefully overpower the priests of Pazmoltae, and staunch the overwhelming taxes levied against them.
Complaints about the inoculation of dragons were also carved into the pages with anger. I couldn't find more about this subject in what was left of the book, but at least the legends of why the dragons roam the desert here are true!
My stomach moaning for food started to overcome my thoughts. I hadn't eaten in over half a day, and the random winds seemed too cruel to set up a quick fire to heat my meal. I decided to try going deeper into this temple carved from stone. Hopefully I can find good shelter, so I don't need to eat my quick rations.
As I crossed into the next room, I found it was a near identical match to the last. The large circular, domed room, carved from the same peach colored stone, held an ornately carved sculpture of another woman. This one in flowing gowns instead of hardened armor. She held a scepter, instead of a sword, and a book in her other hand. "High Priestess Amun Serker ," read the plaque.
I examined her head to toe, thoroughly, in hopes of finding another piece of treasure, but I was not as lucky as before.
It proved to be less windy in here, and there was plenty of broken timber, so I was able to make a campfire. As the fire grew, I placed some hard rations in the pot, with some water, to make some soup. I had time to kill, so I explored the chamber.
There were many books scattered about, and one caught my eye. The title "Unstable Ecosystem" was unlike many of the others, which seemed to be encyclopedia. I tried to flip through the pages, but they were stuck together. I decided it was better to wait until after I ate, to tackle this puzzle.
I also found a strange room that my citrine earrings cannot light up. Even a burning stick offers no glow once it crosses the doorway. A bit concerning, but my attention was drawn back to my pot, which was now boiling over.
I just managed to save my soup, and the fire. As I sipped my hot broth, I gazed up at the statue once again. Like before I noticed a strange bauble hanging from the eyes of the statue. I had given the statue a through once over, but somehow I missed these new earrings the first time, weird.
I climbed up, and snatched them. The first pair proved to be useful. Maybe these will be the same. They had the same citrine stone, however these held a fair sized, black stone below them. The silver veining streaking through it sparkled in the firelight.
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