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PowerFusion50 -> (AQ) The Artifact (10/12/2011 18:01:44)
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THE ARTIFACT
I
“Ha!! Take that you two-bit worthless gogg!!” exclaimed Artix at the top of his lungs. He was panting heavily, almost gasping for air. Sweat was dripping by the pint down his forehead and face; his eyes were red and bloodshot from exhaustion. As the humongous, lifeless gogg collapsed to the ground, so too did Artix’s blood-stained golden battleaxe from his grasp, followed by Artix himself. It had been a long, hard, grueling battle, which pushed him to the limits of his endurance. His health was literally down to 5, and he was dry on potions.
He lay there for almost ten minutes now, regaining his breath. His left eye fixed upon the dead gogg, for fear of one last stand. His heavy armor made him very hot and humid, so he unequipped it. He now sat rested against the tree in only his undershirt and long pants. He just couldn’t take the weight of that armor another second, not after such a tiring fight. He turned around to check behind him, for fear of a vengeful ambush conducted by other nearby goggs. Nothing. As he swung his head back around, a bright white flash caught his eye.
He was puzzled now. He swung his head back again and saw the flash of light again. After some moments, he managed to regain himself just enough stand. Leaving his armor and battleaxe on the ground, he slowly walked around, searching the ground and tree branches above him for what might have caused this glint. He turned to towards his armor, presumably to take it and leave, just when the glint flashed again. He tracked it down, this time, and discovered it was coming from the ground. He knelt, and rubbed his hand through the grass and weeds. “Gaw!!!!” he exclaimed, abruptly retreating his hand. He looked at his palm, which was now open and bleeding down his wrist. Something had cut him. He pushed the brush aside, and saw what looked like the tip of a sword sticking out from under the dirt.
He began to dig around it, and found out quickly that this was no sword, for it was too wide. After some moments, he pulled out a very small piece of metal, which looked old, was rusted (there is no tetanus in Lore), and jagged. He re-equipped his armor and battleaxe. “Warlic might have some idea as to what this is.” He thought. He quickly as he could walked through the woods, avoiding all conflicts. After awhile, he came to the clearing in which the town was. He spotted the mage shop, and went inside. Warlic welcomed him with a friendly hello, and Artix showed him the strange item. Warlic stopped short, his eyes widened, and his mouth hung open loosely.
II
“Where did you find this, Artix?” Warlic’s voice came out very slowly, and was dull like that of a whisper; he was very astonished.
“In the forest, buried in dirt and weeds. Do you know what it might be?”
“I have some suspicions, yes.”
The item was very small; it could fit in the palms of their hands. It seemed like a piece of something, as it had sharp edges, and a pointed corner. “What is that thing sticking out of it?” asked Artix. Warlic examined it and responded, “A screw, more specifically an incline plane used to hold things together. You may find them in the workings of some armors.” He examined it further, held it up to the light, and set it back down, saying, “I must call upon the assistance of a dear friend of mine.”
Warlic retreated to the corner of the room, leaving Artix to look at the piece of armor. Warlic sat, and began to meditate very intensely. After some moments, the room began to vibrate slightly. Forming in the room now was a strange purple and black aura, and it slowly increased in size. Soon, it swirled its way into a perfect circle, and seemed to have depth leading to parts unknown. Suddenly, a human figure began to emerge. He was carrying a staff and seemed to have a small animal companion perched on his shoulder. He took one step out of the portal, and a white robe lined with gold trim was visible. As he walked into the shop, his face and long white hair was now visible. The portal diminished. Warlic, seeing this event, stood up saying, “Thank goodness you’ve come, Eldron.”
III
“Anything for such a close companion,” said Eldron, “now, what is this urgent matter which must be attended to? With Falerin gone I now have many responsibilities over in the Isle.” Warlic put his arm around the shoulder of his friend Eldron, who walked with him (did he have a choice?) over to the table in which the piece of metal sat. “Our friend, the paladin Artix has stumbled upon what I believe may be the most significant discovery of our time.” Said Warlic.
Eldron gazed upon the piece of metal armor, and his arms fell loosely to his sides, letting his staff fall to the ground. His facial expression was much the same as that of Warlic. “Does anyone mind telling what this is?” asked Artix. Eldron picked it up and held it to the light, looking at it from all angles, studying it until eyes became red. “I believe you are right, Warlic.” Said Eldron with astonishment. “Well…?” said Artix again. Eldron took a deep sigh. “Artix,” he said, “we have in our possession documents. Historical documents, dating back to almost 1,500 years ago. These most ancient of ancient documents make indications that suggest that there was once a time in which magic did not exist, it had not been discovered.” “So how did people fight?” asked Artix. Eldron answered, “Some documents make brief indications that there was once the existence of larger-than-life mechanical war machines. It was these that people used to battle.”
“So?” asked Artix. Eldron face-palmed, and said, “There has never been any proof that such mechanisms existed. Only brief references in documents. Please excuse me, as I must return to the Isle and acquire some literature from the library.” Eldron then quickly retreated back through his portal, leaving Artix and Warlic alone until his return.
Artix just stood there, scratching his head and blinking like a buffoon. “So, is he saying that this might be a piece of those fabled war machines?” “They were fabled, until about twenty minutes ago. Do you realize the significance of what this could mean?” “Not really, I never knew any historical information going back that far. I didn’t even think it went that far at all.” Warlic shook his head, saying, “It did, we just never knew for sure what life was like.”
IV
The large portal returned, and with it Eldron. He hastily walked out of the passage with several books under his arm, and a vial of yellow liquid in his hand. He laid them on the table, saying “This is fantastic! Once and for all we will determine the existence of the war machines! Behold! An ancient diary entry sealed in a box of pure arcane! This is our oldest document, for we know not when it was written, and to boot we only know a portion of the content and the writer’s name; it must have been submerged in water at some point, for half of it is blurred.” Eldron proceeded to read it. It read as follows:
“Star Log …………. I have found another rune, but this one seems like it may be active. It emits an energy I cannot describe ………… the mere feel of it in one’s hand enlightens both physical and mental strength. I must keep it hidden from the house members until I have more information on it.
-Jaan………………..”
“How fascinating!” exclaimed Warlic. “Is there any more information on it?” “I’m afraid not,” responded Eldron, “however, we do have a piece of literature indicating where this may have taken place.” Eldron took in hand a very old book which bore the name ‘The Chronicles of a Pilot’. Eldron opened the front cover carefully, saying, “This is a novelette written by some unknown adventurer. Apparently, this person had reason to believe that schools once existed on Lore.” He slowly and carefully turned the pages, saying, “The person speaks of a college university that is fabled to have once existed on Lore. They refer to it once in the introductory paragraph as ‘GEARS University’, and shortens it to GEARS-U throughout the rest of the book. It tells a supposedly fictional story of this school which taught people how to use their mechanical war machines, and according to the text, their training was very intense, harsh and crude. They say that nearly 95% of all students were killed during their admission test.”
“My goodness! That’s horrible!” exclaimed Warlic. “What kind of cruel person would do such a thing?” asked Artix. Eldron closed his eyes, and answered, “Up until now we never had any evidence that this story had any truth. We could only speculate. Now, however, we have reason to believe that there is some truth to it. Behold!” he said, picking up the vial of liquid, “A vial of delicate acid. I will treat this substance carefully onto the metal to deteriorate the rust, so that we may study it further. Warlic, please tell me you have some Q-tips.” Warlic nodded, and started toward the back room of the mage shop to fetch them.
“I had no idea a piece of metal would amount to this.” Said Artix, rubbing his hand through his hair. Eldron responded by saying that nothing was for certain quite yet. Warlic returned with the Q-tips. “Excellent!” said Eldron, “Let us begin!”
V
Eldron dipped one end of the Q-tip into the acid, and carefully rubbed it over the rust in small, circular motions. Both Warlic and Artix were watching intently. After some moments, Eldron gave out a loud and boisterous gasp, and began to work twice as fast, constantly switching Q-tips. “What? What is it?” asked Warlic. “I cannot believe my eyes,” Eldron said in a faint whisper of astonishment. “Look, Warlic, tell me that my eyes deceive me.” He looked, and gasped twice as loud as Eldron. “Your eyes deceive you not, dear Eldron.” Artix leaned over to look at the clean spot on the piece of metal, and saw two letters inscribed there. The letters were GE... and the remaining rust covered the rest.
“Artix,” said Warlic, “you made the greatest discovery of Lore’s history, second of course to the discovery of magic, which we now know has not been practiced since the beginning of time.” “Yes,” said Eldron, “in these ancient times people relied on only technology for battles and other things. A select few, like Jaan…, dedicated their lives to tapping into the arcane sources. Up until now, all these were mere unspoken myths.” Eldron continued treating the metal.
After awhile, he finally uncovered two more letters: A and R. After some more work, he uncovered the S. “There can no longer be any question or any shadow of a doubt whatsoever.” Said Eldron, “We have proven the existence of mechanical war machines, which are referred to as ‘mechas’ in the text of ‘The Chronicles of a Pilot’. This piece of metal is at least 2,000 years old, and was undoubtedly a component of a mecha. Oh! What wars, what history this has seen! Your contribution to the study of history, Artix, will be remembered forever. This piece of mecha is going into the arcane box with Jaan…’s diary entry. It shall be conserved by the life blood of Lore. These series of events which took place today, in your shop, Warlic, these words which we have spoken, this piece of metal which proves the existence of technology and the non-existence of magic, shall be documented into words and preserved in the library. I shall return these to the Isle, and write our conversation in the form a dialogue between us.”
Eldron took his literature, acid, and the piece of mecha, and returned to the Isle through his mystical portal. As he left, he turned round and said, “Thank you. Thank you both for calling me to be a part of these instances.” Then he turned and disappeared, and his method of transport slowly faded away. Both Artix and Warlic stood by the table, dumbfounded. They had just taken part in greatest discovery of Lore since magic. The mythology of MechQuest had now been solved!
THE END
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