Blush

It was a wild bet to think the final pieces could be together. But Nigel took pride in his research. If all evidence pointed to there not being any other Scrolls of Findings for the Tablet in Sornieth, then logic said the final two pieces would be together.

And so the group's ships all arrived, standing before the pools near the Shoredeep Presage.

"Of all places... Although, it makes sense. Seers come to this place to hear messages from the depths, I suppose a relic related to translating messages would eventually lead us here."

"I have a conjecture. I assume that the hints may have to do with their location... The upper half, and the lower half... Why, let's suppose within these... Rocks... Might be one of them, and the other, likely underwater. Our starting point might as well be destroying some of the rocks on the surface and beneath, like cracking open a geode, and seeing what gives."

Elena scratches her chin thinking. She thinks it's unfair they split the search party in "water dragons do the underwater" and "non-water dragons do surface". They still had their blessings from the previous part of the journey. So why not invite them all to take their pick on which search party they'd do?

"Alright, scallywags. Let's split. I don't actually see anything to imply we're at the right place, but all evidence points to us being right. Let's tear this place apart. I'll take the surface team."

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"I'll take the depths. Let's do our best at cracking open those rocks!"

"We need something that is inside, most likely. Although possibly hidden. What types of curses, do you mind us asking?"

Udhne honestly had to ponder for a minute. There wasn't a clear pattern, not a "oh-everyone-gets-teary-eyed" type of malediction. Some lost their sight, for a few days, hours... Years. Some had foggy vision. Some felt nothing. The blessings were just as varied.

"All sorts of things. It's not a one-size-fits-all. Nothing life-threatening, but like... Who knows, hm? The worse one was being blinded of an eye, hence its name. It's always related to the eyes." – She sighed. "My clan only recently found this place. We've been thinking about tearing it down. The hatchlings love it like any brat loves a good haunted mansion, and even the blinded kid still wanted to come back, the stupid little thing." – She nodded, sure of her decisions. "The temple needs to go. You're welcome to take all of the golden rune-plaques lining the walls, the statues and everything that is inside it, but we're tearing it down."

Nigel thought about arguing, but knew that it was a pointless endeavor. If the locals wanted it gone, they would tear it apart sooner or later. Anything that put hatchlings and younglings at risk was indeed best dealt with soon, and he couldn't blame the spiral for wanting to protect those under her.

"Rune-plaques?!" – Nigel beamed, taking a sketch of one of the pieces and showing to the spiral. He pointed at one of the runes. "Like these?"

The dragon came near and inspected the sketch. They pointed at a few of the runes.

"Uh-hum, there's a golden tile for each of these runes and then some. One-hundred and twenty one, said one of the hatchlings."

'Eleven runes for eleven deities.'

"Can we take the relics inside? Are you sure? We might offer you compensation for them..."

"Uh-hum, and nn-nhm. By all means, take the cursed stuff, and do whatever. If you're cursed as you go in... Don't come running saying I didn't warn you. We don't want anything in association with it, not even bad luck coin."

And with that, the spiral disappears into the woods as if it had never been near them.

"Very well then." – Nigel said, confidently, thinking being blinded of an eye wasn't even the worst curse surrounding a relic he encountered in his voyages, and explorations. Plus, it's not like he's got good eye-sight. He's already near-sighted on both eyes and relying on tech from the Turrets of Goldensparc to see properly. "I shall let each decide whether they step into the temple or not. If they're willing to deal with the consequences. Those who you willing to let curiosity and the quest for knowledge win... I shall see you inside."

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Sitting peacefully atop a pedestal lies another piece of the tablet.

What's of interest, however, is the surrounding walls of the room. Like the spiral said, 121 golden slabs with etched runes decorate the walls, and as Nigel approaches one with his tools, he noticed they might be easily removed.

He never felt good taking relics from someplace to another, but he felt worse at the thought these might end up destroyed, like the Temple in the sand was, according to Cida.

Nigel had theories now. He wondered if deep within the Longneck's lost lands was a version of this temple.

"Very well, to those of you who have come inside... Let's use the best of our skills to extract these slabs from the wall for analysis. We're down to the last few missing pieces now..."

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