Master Of None



The movement through the carved out path of sand was proving to be much faster than expected. In just an hour of walking, the group had been able to cover a substantial distance. There was even the bonus of the sun being blocked by some of the higher dunes that had been built up by the tornado. 

This shade gave the soldiers a welcome rest from the constant heat. It also was the perfect chance for everyone to drink water and snack on something. This was better yet because a lot of the monsters that had been seen were either defeated already or completely injured so they could be easily beaten. The few that had been unharmed rushed away after seeing such a large force moving through the desert. 

The sand tornado was a very dangerous force of nature, however, with danger came fortune as well. The things that had been presented to them were too good. Many earth elemental mana crystals had been harvested along with other random chunks of ore. Some of the soldiers had even brought ancient golden coins that held small runes. They were roughly made proving that the quality of forging for many years ago was lesser but still decent enough to make something. 

The insights from these ancient pieces here and there were very telling. It proved that this entire area of the outer circle of the desert had once been well off. It had not been a desert at all. It had been a forest or a prairie of sorts. Plenty of water and natural growth. Enough to have different monster bones and animal bones being found too. It had been radically different too many years ago. 

While this was a little sad, time was that way. Nothing should stay the same forever, things would adapt and change as time moved on. This was why everyone was always trying to grow and push for new knowledge. The world was full of mysteries and with time, new things were learned. 

"It looks like another pile of old bricks and stones. I wonder if this is just another thing blown by winds." Remey took a little extra pep to her step to get to the pile of stones. But when she made it there, she found that it was still partially buried in the sands. "Hey Walker, this is another place to check out with your appraisal!" she realized it was more than what she had thought and had to get him to take a real look at it. 

"Sure thing. I wonder what this might be." The stones were somewhat carved but had been damaged through the winds and sands over the years. Any runes were far faded to the point that they were unable to be read or understood. But looking at the stones as whole left Walker wondering. The all around appraisal gave him a lot more insight. 

'Fallen waypoint temple

This ancient temple was once left for those traveling to their main temple of worship. It was a resting point for worshippers and travelers alike. Many would come here and pray to their gods and even make some offerings. It was a place for peace in a way until it was altered by ulterior beliefs. 

The red colorations on the stones are ancient blood that had stained the stone beyond what should still be left. It is a permanent marking of cruelty and evil. The changes from worship to a goddess of nature to a god of death left behind the desecrated fallen temples like this. There is nothing worth uncovering such a relic of an evil past.'

While the words were very strong, Walker still said them out loud. He was sure that it would be important for everyone to understand what they were dealing with. The level of danger that came with such an ancient culture changing their views. 

However, this did enlighten them yet again. The small part of this fallen temple had been able to tell them that the race that lived here had once worshipped a goddess of nature. One that would be seen as good. One that definitely had to do with the growth of their ancient culture and race. 

Unfortunately, it highlighted that blood had permanently stained the stones and bricks of this fallen temple. That the worship had become twisted and broken as some had worshipped death over everything else. That meant that the offerings had become sacrifices of evil. A very poor and nightmare causing thought. 

"So, I don't like any of what you just said. Can we just get rid of it?" Remey was looking at the bricks and wondering how much might still be hidden under the sand. Her slight battle stance made it seem that she was waiting for an undead or a monster to just leap out of the sand and start a battle right then and there. 

"I think we can just seal it back in sand and pass right on through. That seems best. It even said in the all around appraisal not to uncover it, right?" Gil had come behind them and listened carefully. He also thought it best not to go looking for something that literally warned of trouble. 

"I agree. Every horror story I read in the library always had someone that ignored the basic facts. And the appraisal I did were part of those facts." Walker pulled the sands around the bricks he could see using his high earth sculpting skill. The sand started to condense as well causing the bricks to be left under a mass of harder sand. 

While this might not make it remain covered forever, he could only hope that anyone else that found it would let it rest until it eventually returned to nature fully. "Goods riddance. I don't need any unhappy undead or cursed whatever with us. We already have to catch up to a literal sand tornado!" Remey seemed to fully support everything as she glared at the Fel angels who appeared to linger at the area Walker had covered up too much. Her harsh looked did the trick and everyone moved forward well enough. 

As they did though, more stones appeared here and there. They highlighted what had once been parts of a winding and crossing path of stones. This was only a small section here and there. The way that the land had clearly moved was enough to make the path they saw change here and there to avoid things. These things were found by Walker as he walked. 

Whether it was part of broken stone or sand blasted trees, he could tell they were the reason why there were paths that appeared so oddly made. Many trails in the wilderness would follow the flow of nature and not be carved out. This was not like the dwarves who could make solid paths of cut stone toward a palace. That was more recent technology and magic than had ever been used. Especially since the kingdoms in Genesis had organized to make this happen. 

The trails being found showed that the culture had been much less advanced than they had believed. Especially with the added worship of gods and beliefs in nature and death. While many knew that gods and goddesses were a thing, it wasn't that they needed someone or something to worship them. The dragons had once been revered as such but had put that to an end since they were not some unyielding force of nature. 

But that brought up even more thoughts of what might have been around to cause a society to alter its beliefs from nature to death. That was a dramatic change. Nature was the growth of new things while death was, well, death. 

"There are too many things we need to understand. I can see that there is a relationship with shadows and death. My darkness affinity leads me to it as a potential. That's why some of the younger dragons falter." Mordant was unhappy seeing this as a potential here. 

"All dragons falter in ways. Even my light dragons have once become undead or lesser things. They were cleansed but it is more than a loss of morals." Rise saw that Mordant was questioning things. However, so was she. For a change like this to happen was drastic. Therefore, it should have been caused by an important puzzle piece they were missing. 

"I will ask Walker to do more appraisals. We should gather more information. I don't want the ruins we find to hold the darkness dominator dragon ruins. If that's the case, I may have to destroy them instead of learning from them. I will not have our history tainted." Mordant's promise made Rise respect him much more. She saw him as her opposite but she had never doubted his standing. This just reinforced her feelings of respect to a fellow royal dragon that upheld their race.

….

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