Rae did still call her golems, and Karl added the Lamia Bodyguards to the group, but Dana left her Golems in reserve. Unlike Rae, she didn’t get much situational information from hers, only a vague sense of where they were and what happened around them. They couldn’t be used to search for treasures in the ruins, but they might accidentally squish them into the soft dirt.
The majority of the ruined city was still covered in the rich black topsoil and long grass that had grown over it, but the magic which had caused it to rise was slowly dissipating the excess.
The architecture was simple, with fieldstone walls crumbled by time, and piles of small round river rocks next to the remains of small houses. Many appeared to have been one room buildings, but there were signs of indoor plumbing, so they weren’t completely primitive, just small homes.
“Do you think that these were the slums of town? All the small houses, and I see a lot of petrified wood piled up in the corners, but not split for firewood. I think they had bunk beds, so it might have been a military barracks as well.” One of the Spellblades noted quietly.
“The quality is good, fieldstone with stone floors. Barracks or possibly traveller dorms would make sense.” Corbin agreed.
That reminded Karl of something he read in a history book. Back in the ancient past, when the system was fully active, most towns were built around a dungeon entrance. Both to keep the area secure, and for the travellers and adventurers who came to visit supplied and fed.
There was a whole industry around harvesting the resources from the dungeons, but it took skilled and powerful groups of warriors.
But most dungeons were for groups of either five or ten people.
So, these small houses could be something like private hotels for them, rented to house the whole group, but not a lifelong, or likely even a long-term residence.
The slums would look empty in a place like this, as they would have been canvas tents or tin roofed shacks. Plus, there normally wasn’t much left of them if the inhabitants had to evacuate.
The magic that had raised the ruins from the ground was still too strong to detect much, even for Remi, who was very well attuned to mana flows as a Shaman.
But the Lamia bodyguards did find a few ‘treasures’ in the dirt, which turned out to be silver chains with semi-precious stones in them.
They handed them straight to Remi, though it was Tessa who actually knew how to identify magical items properly.
However, it appeared that Remi could do it as well, though not in the same way. She had just learned to use the system to sort things that had some level of attunement.
[Inspect] Karl heard her think.
[Junk, junk, oh, shiny.]
[Necklace of Fireball] {Damaged} Charges 0/50
[Hawk, I got you a present.]
Hawk laughed when he saw what it was.
[Just put it in my space and I will see if I can make it not broken later.]
Neither of them actually knew how to fix the necklace, but it might be something obvious, like a cracked stone or a broken link. They could fix the link, and they had lots of little stones from the Giants. Giants always had stones in their pockets, and the beasts loved to collect them. Karl didn’t even see them anymore, they were just pilfered by the beasts as soon as they were detected.
Along the line, one of the Spellblades found a plain metal ring, and another found a broken amulet.
There wasn’t a lot of value to be found, but it was clear that whatever was in the centre of this ruined city was powerful. [I can see the thing. It’s a purple sphere, glowing and floating in the air. It doesn’t look like a portal.] Hawk noted.
As they rounded the corner, everyone could see the orb, and the platform that it was floating above. There were no stairs up to it, though. Perhaps it wasn’t something that was meant to be touched like an instance entrance? But neither Karl nor anyone else present knew what else it could be.
Prince Corbin made a gesture to his team. “Everyone stay well back of the object until we know what it is. I need a volunteer to go forward and examine it.”
Karl nodded and patted him on the shoulder. “You know I’m going. But if you want to send one of your people as well, that’s fine.”
Corbin raised an eyebrow in a curious gesture, questioning Karl’s judgment.
“Are you certain?”
“If there are dumb things to be done, that is my job. I have the best defences, and the highest chance of survival out of anyone present. In fact, I am invulnerable to many of the attacks that could cripple others. So, I am going.”
Dana was glaring at him as Karl finished speaking, but he made an excellent point. If they needed an actual person to go forward, and not a summoned creature, he was the best option. Next would be the Lamia bodyguards, or the Naga Warriors, as they were intelligent and could explain what was going on.
Karl motioned for them to join him, as they could share barriers. Three layers was better than one, especially when two of the three barrier layers would be the Monarch Ranked [Flaming Body] barriers from the Lamia.
One of the Commanders from the Spellblade Clan, an older man from Karl’s perspective, but most likely only in his forties with prematurely grey hair, joined him as he moved toward the orb.
The trio extended their barriers to the Spellblade as well, adding a level of safety as they cautiously approached the plinth beneath the purple orb.
Karl stared at the runes for a moment, then gestured for the Spellblade to come forward. The inscription was not in Common, or any language that Karl could read.
[Oh, I can read that. It’s the language they use in Shaman books. Let’s see. Great Power awaits those who dare to embrace the power of the World Dragon. Take him into your heart and receive his blessing to know true power.] Remi read.
[But the World Dragon is in my heart? Are we not all faithful followers of the gods? He’s in both the beast and Dragon pantheons.] Karl replied, not noticing that above his head, a faint purple copy of himself was forming.