The Glowing Runes
The Never Ending Quest - Episode 20261
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As the evening darkened Elashi noticed that the cairn was inscribed with
runes and that the runes were glowing! She
immediately woke everyone up and showed them. "Well," Val said, turning
to Chuc, "what are they?" Chuc
shrugged and replied, "What are you asking me for?" Val frowned, "You
are the mage in this group Chuc,
and glowing runes I would think fall into the category of magic." Now it
was Chuc's turn to frown, out of
embarrasment if nothing else, for he had no idea why the runes were
glowing or what it might signify. This was only
natural of course, Chuc was only a second year novice at the Mage
Academy. And anyway, they were dealing with
something out of the past, from a time before the Ravage presumably. Much
had been lost since then and who knew
if even a Master Mage would know what to make of this strange cairn and
its glowing runes. But the way Val
sounded, it was as if Chuc was letting them all down for not knowing. And
it made Chuc feel bad.
"Lay off Val," Elashi nudged the young man. "We're not in the countryside of Shara anymore, we're on the mysterious Great Isle. If you're looking for quick answers this isn't the place to find them." Val eyed his friend and then turned back to Chuc, "I just want to know if we're in danger or not. None of us came here to get killed and I intend to see us all return back home safe and sound, as well as far richer." Fredric then pulled Chuc over to him and the two began to walk around the cairn. After some time they finished their study of the piled stones and turned to Val and Elashi. Fredric reported that, since none of them could read the runes, it was impossible to know what they meant. The cairn might be a sign post, designating the location they were at or declaring a warning of danger. It might also be a religious or magical artifact, a place of worship or gathering. There was just no way to tell. The only thing they were sure of was that whoever had built it was long dead and whatever significance it had was now meaningless. But Fredric also pointed out, quite excitedly in fact, that two of the runes were very similar to ones used today. There was no way he could attempt a translation of the cairn but if they found more of these it might be possible to shed some light on the mystery of their meaning. "So," Val asked, looking at the cairn, "which runes?" Fredric pointed them out. "I don't recognize them," Val replied. Fredric smiled proudly and said, "These are more stylized than our own, but the root design is unmistakable. I didn't see it either at first but then I realized that these are not common runes. Luckily, in my studies with the Scribesmen I've had cause to learn much more than the average person. This one here, it signifies the sky and movement, in our language it is most commonly used to describe elevation. And that one, the swirling box, it connotes openness, wide areas flat and... rich. It's a difficult idea to put in words, we don't have a word quite like it." "Open areas and great heights," Elashi mused, "the Dragon took both of those things away from the Desolated People. Why would they be inscribed on this cairn?" "Wel-l-l-l-l, I'm not saying what the cairn actually says," Fredric quickly corrected her, "only what those two runes might mean." "Fine," Val butt in, "now let's take care of what's important. Since we don't know what this cairn is or what these runes do, we're going to move our camp. In the morning, if you want to come back, that's ok. But for right now I don't want to be sleeping next to a mysterious glowing cairn."
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WolfRun
7/18/2002 10:02:14 PM
Extending Enabled
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