Shane was the first to get close to the entrance of the tomb. Before heading inside, she wanted to be sure that there wouldn't be any traps or any writing on the statues or the door. If this really was the location of the legacy she was after, she didn't want to miss anything. The rest of the party joined to help, but they couldn't find anything on the front of the structure.
Hera couldn't help but stare at the statues around the main entrance. The naga had such a serene and warm expression. Not in a 'this is too good to be true' kind of way, but somehow it seemed like the statue was saying 'Welcome.' While staring at the giant figure, Hera noticed that there was something different about its bracelet. These larger versions of the naga hero were made of some sort of white marble or maybe a pearl. However, the oval shape inside the bracelets had a more crystalline mineral. It wasn't completely transparent but almost pearlescent in a milky cream color.
She pointed that out for the group. Helena found it very interesting, but the stone itself didn't have any magic on it. It was just a natural reflection, almost like it was made out of some type of bismuth. Silah tried to understand what that material was, but it was hard to tell what it could do without removing the rock from the statue. No one liked the idea of breaking the figure just to satiate their curiosity. Unless there was a good reason to break the sculptures, it was best to leave them alone. Shane explained that even among the most greedy of explorers, they tended to respect culturally significant places. Not to say that they wouldn't steal gold and other valuables, but the buildings themselves and anything that felt really important was left alone. This also meant that the statues should be safe from robbers unless someone figured out that the mineral used on the sculpture was extremely valuable.
After being sure that they weren't missing anything outside, the group headed inside the tomb. The place was weirder than anyone expected. Not so much because of the structure itself, but because of the way everything was laid out and the spiral pathways spread around everywhere. One could look anywhere inside, and they wouldn't find a single staircase. Instead, ramps were leading to the higher floors, all in different shades of blue.
Another unexpected thing was that the jade floor was smooth and somehow soft. Not to the point of being like a mattress, but it was close to walking through grass or fresh snow. Clearly, the naga had developed a way to make the ground more comfortable for them to move through. Another curious thing was the layout of the tomb. Unlike what it was with humans, or dwarves for that matter, the naga didn't seem to focus on decorating the white pearl walls. Instead, they would make areas around every cream pillar with several ruby shelves and a small ramp that followed the shelves up to the top of each pillar. Near the walls, there were a number of cloths, rugs, and large pillows that one could use to sit or even lay down on.
However, the most surprising thing about this all was the pristine condition it was in. It looked like a brand new hospital. There wasn't even a single speck of dirt. It seemed that whatever spell was hiding this place would even keep the dirt and wind away, maybe even more than that since the fabrics were also intact.
"Could the spell that hid this place created some sort of vacuum?" Bonnie started to think out loud.
"I think there should be more than that. If it was just vacuum sealed, the pillows would have lost their shape," Helena replied.
"Maybe some sort of permanency spell? Or just a conservation one, I mean, people use that type of magic with food. I don't see a reason why it wouldn't work with something else," Silah suggested.
"That's fair, but to use it on something this big, the amount of mana used would be ridiculous," Helena nodded.
"Could this be part of the legacy effect? I mean, Stormcloud, Blue's legacy created a barrier that was able to stop level 60 plus dwarfs from passing through, and the monster that had it wasn't even level 20," Hera passed a finger on the ground, trying to see if there was some dust around, but her finger came out clean.
"That is a possibility, but let's remember that the legacy might not be here," Shane replied.
"Trying to keep your cool?" Mylo snickered.
"Hell yeah, I am! Every fiber of my body is telling me that the legacy is here, but if I'm wrong, I don't want to be too disappointed."
"The mural we saw in the jungle had a naga with bracelets," Mylo replied.
"You are not helping, man!" Shane gasped and started walking away, "No one goes to a different room alone. Look around and see if you find any indications of what's inside here."
The group spread out and started searching. Surrounding the pillars, there were some tapestries and other small trinkets that seemed to be handcrafted. A few carved wooden figurines of different monsters and a few naga plushies. It seemed like each naga had different colored scales. Some of those plushies seemed to have been made by either someone who was just starting or by a kid. A bit higher up in one of the pillars, there were also some drawings and paintings. Again, they weren't particularly good. Not something you expected to find on a crypt, at least. Most of them seemed like the type of thing that a parent would put on their fridge. Yet, there was a charm to them. Hera couldn't help but wonder how much the kids should love the naga hero to be willing to do something like this. The feeling should be reciprocated by the hero as well. After all, she doubted that the people would let the kids put these drawings on a tomb unless the owner would allow it.
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Hera came down that one pillar and started climbing another. Just like the previous one, this was filled with handmade gifts that weren't particularly well made. When reaching the part with the paintings, she started to notice that the people who made this should be older. Maybe not adults who were experienced with the craft, but at least teenagers that were beginning to understand how to properly paint things.
Bonnie was also checking the pillars, and they seemed to gradually increase the quality of items that were around. The one with the most well-made paintings and sculptures was the pillar hidden behind a corridor on the corner of the room. Somehow, that area felt like something made out of obligation. Almost as if it was made just to appease a group of people. It wasn't just the location that gave off that feeling, but the way each piece of art was displayed. On the other pillars, they were organized, creating makeshift sets and harmonizing with each other's colors. Still, on that specific area, each sculpture or painting was just tossed around as if it was a first-come, first-served situation.
Aside from those paintings, the room had four corridors connected to it, plus the one that would lead to the outside. Each hallway was the same, with white walls and the jade floor and ceiling. What was different was the other side. Every corridor had a door with a large naga face in the middle, but each naga was different. One was verdant green, the other was yellow with white spots, the third was red with black rings, and the last was blue with darker arrow-like markings.
"So, I don't think we will find anything else here. Has anyone found something that could help?" Shane asked.
"I'm not sure. I mean, I thought that this naga could be the same as the one in the mural back there, but there were six there, and even in the drawings here, there are only four," Hera replied.
"Yeah, I found that odd too. Then again, we have no idea what those nagas looked like. Aside from that mark in the leader and the bracelets, they were only silhouettes," Bonnie sighed.
"Well, I think it's fair to say the one with the bracelets is the same naga. I mean, we used the journal to find our way in here. Maybe this is their actual party. The ones before were there just because of that emperor that they want to forget," Alex suggested.
"I mean, that is a possibility. But the naga hero and the emperor are supposed to be siblings, right? Isn't that what that note we found with the journal said? Usually, when someone does something truly horrible, their entire family gets wiped. Why would the naga hero get so much love despite that?" Helena asked.
"Maybe they did that to wash away the bad," Blue spoke up while laying down on one of the massive pillows.
"What do you mean?" Silah stopped trying to figure out what the ground was made out of for a moment and turned to the controller.
"Like, when a politician or the boss of a big company does something bad, they try to cover it up by giving away a bunch of money or doing something for charity. What if they did that but on a bigger scale. Didn't the mural said that the naga only had an emperor in times of need? So maybe they twisted the story, so the naga hero was the one that saved them instead of the emperor. I know that maybe old civilizations didn't have the same thing with heroes that we have, but maybe they did," after Blue explained, she noticed Bonnie's confused expression, "What?"
"No, I just wasn't expecting something so insightful coming from you. Well done," Bonnie replied.
"Yeah, then… if I was a naga hero, where would I keep my legacy?" Shane asked.
"Hey, what did the emperor had? Like, how did we know he was the emperor in the mural?" Alex asked.
"He had a triskelion on his shoulder. It's like three spirals connected on the middle," Hera replied.
"Ok, so can someone come here just to be sure I'm not seeing things," Alex had stopped moving her head and was being careful not to shift her body while pointing towards the blue door. Hera walked over and took a look.
It took a while with Alex trying her best to explain what she was seeing, but finally, Hera found a point where the pillars would be on the way to the door, and the ramps would match with the dark blue arrow markings on the naga's head forming three spirals in a triangle. They weren't connected in the middle, but it could easily be considered a triskelion if one ignored that detail.
"Isn't this kind of obvious?" Hera scratched her head.
"Obvious? How come. You have to be at exactly this position and look there. If you move just a little bit, you can't see it. How is that obvious?" Alex scoffed.
"I mean, it's something anyone can end up finding. And if the people wanted to hide anything about that emperor, wouldn't they know about that mark?" Hera asked.
"Not necessarily. Maybe that mark has some cultural significance that is not directly related to the emperor. Also, let me take a look. Where should I stand," Shane started trying to see the triskelion, but only after Alex showed the exact position she was that the explorer managed to see the mark.
"That seems promising. Let's take a look there," Shane led the way while the rest of the group reached the door. They took a while since they were still worried about possible traps despite this looking more like a tomb that anyone could enter.
Reaching the door, Shane asked Mylo to open it, and he did without an issue. The giant naga head shifted to the side and revealed the inside of the chamber. Four large stone beds were spread around a room of dark blue stone. When the group took a step inside, a circle of light appeared on the ceiling, illuminating the area. At the same time, four spectral nagas appeared standing up on the beds.
They all turned to the group, making the door close behind the humans, and opened their mouths at the same time. With a roar, they spoke as one "Sssshaaaashssaasheesshsishes!"