This heat during this expedition was perhaps the hottest Ezra had ever felt all year. Just going from ruin to ruin was a struggle for him, up and down the cliff from one building to another dragging the master’s supplies became a monumental task. The crimson sun beat down mercilessly, even this high in the mountains it was almost unbearable. Ezra could not understand why Master Teodias was so intent on retrieving all of the tablets as soon as possible, rather than wait later in the day, after the noon sun began its descent. But as the dutifully apprentice, Ezra did his teacher’s bidding in the hopes of being rewarded with more instruction in the Way.
Ezra recalled the arduous trek up into the very cliffs of the Ringing Mountains all the way from Tyr. It had been nine days since they had left that city. On their first day out, things went well as they traveled past the verdant faro fields and into the scrub plains, and past the erdlu flocks tended by Tyrian herders.
They attempted to stick as close to the hills of the mountains but nature had other plans for them. On the second night, a fierce dust storm tore through their small caravan dispersing one of the supply wagons. We heard the screams of Onu and Ladis as they fell into a ravine crushed by the wagon itself, their lives extinguished. By morning sunrise we could see that their bodies had been devoured by the beasts of the wastes. On the fourth day, one of our guards, the scarred mul Ulvas, mentioned to Master Teodias, that he saw the markings of anakore dung. Upon that revelation we doubled our effort and pushed the kanks to their limit in order to leave the area. Eventually we arrived at the base of the cliffs where the map that Master Teodias indicated the ruins of a place called Jondoraal lay.
I trusted Master Teodias, but sometimes he relied too much on the veracity of former templars of Tyr who peddled in rare documents acquired from the King’s Libraries. His devotion to his scholarly group and their patron Amiska, was commendable and his loyalty was unshakeable.
“Ah here it is” called Teodias “we start digging in these ruins, if you find tablets, please let me know and go no further” he reminded me.
The guards uninterested in the work, remained at the lower base of the cliff.
“Master Teodias what do you hope to find in these ruins?” Ezra asked.
“Well young Ezra, the knowledge of the ancients has been lost not only to the wastelands, but also to the memory of the living. The tablets that my order has previously found, but of whose provenance I am still uncertain of, say that gods once existed on Athas. It is something that may hold a kernel of truth as my excursions to many of the cities and towns of the ancients that I have explored, have large ruined buildings near the center of the settlements dedicated to all manner of strange beings, each focusing on one philosophy or another. Much like that of the temples of the sorcerer-kings in some of our city-states, such as Draj and Raam.” Master Teodias recounted.
“You see I believe as some of the ancient tablets claim, that during the Green Age, Athas did have gods. Beings of immense power that provided their divine blessings for the devotion and faith of the people. They had priests and holy warriors who received divine power much like the elemental clerics of today.” He continued.
So where did they all go? Did … did they abandon us? Were they killed off? Ezra rattled off a series of questions.
Master Teodias replied “Hmm, it seems in these codices that someone called Lok-tanal the Loremaster claimed that a being called Rajaat, used an artifact of immense power for some unspeakable act, which shifted the metaphysical axis of the world. So much so, that Athas lost its alignment with the rest of the universe and the sun became the bloated and crimson thing we see today. Suddenly the gods went silent and no longer answered the prayers of priests or their adherents. Lok-tanal claimed that his colleague, Kalanthor, a powerful wizard, informed him that he was no longer able to see distant lands or travel into the other planes of existence. Apparently, it was something Lok-tanal also could no longer accomplish, even with the use of the Way.”
“Well, this all sounds like fanciful tales to me, master. There is no way this could be true. What else did this Kalanthor speak of?” Ezra asked skeptically.
“There is nothing else, other than Lok-tanal explaining that Kalanthor was recalled back to his kingdom at the request of his mentor Sacha of Arala. Master Teodias explained.
“Well, that’s not really much information. I don’t ever recall hearing of these names in our previous explorations.” Ezra continued to dig through the rocky soil and yelled excitedly . “Hah! I found another set of tablets master. I’m getting luckier by the minute”.
Master Teodias cleaned the dust off them as he reviewed the ancient script. “ahh, these are just accounting documents of the kingdom. You see here, scribes recounting a decrease in grain production, declining ore returns from mines, and livestock becoming sickly and dying.” He said, uninterested in the contents of the tablets. “take them as well. Lady Amiska always says ‘even a kernel of knowledge can lead to greater revelations.’ ” He added.
I was concerned that the final effect would be worse. But it’s nice that someone liked it.