I was happily surprised when I was able to collect the small Naga statue and bring it with me to the surface. Most of the time, these dungeon scenes were illusionary, anything removed disintegrating into the stuff of dreams. But this carving was real, even the tool marks that had been used to carve it remained, felt as I ran my fingers across the surface.
Once I reached the river's edge and climbed out of the water, I grabbed a spot on a relatively dry boulder. I'd removed my clothing to take my swim, so the warmth of the sun on my drying skin was soothing. Examining the carving in more detail, I realized that the image wasn't exactly a Naga. It was similar, but the tail was more fish-like than snake-like, and the facial details more closely resembled Goblin than Seelie.
Maybe it could be classified as a kind of water nymph, but one that was more monstrous than any of the nymphs that populated Talahm. The figure had a beauty that only the Sidhe could appreciate. We revered the monstrous as just another way to manifest perfection. The artistic blending of Goblin and Fish was crude, it would never be considered a masterpiece, but the creature had a proud and noble monstrous allure. Elegance and grace as profound as the Slaugh.
Once I was done examining it visually and tacitly, I decided to do what I should have done, to begin with, and use [Inspect].
[Item - Rare: A totem created by a cursed civilization. This totem was carved to resemble Priestess Xz'Xtl, a member of the Z'exl tribe. She refused to forsake the Gods even as her people were destroyed.]
[Totem effects were destroyed when the Gods of her people were banished, their Divine Will constrained and caged.]
[Quest: Find out what happened to the Z'exl tribe.]
The quest worried me. It was too similar to what had happened with the CERN dungeon and grandfather and made me wonder if there was something about our family's bloodline that would require each generation to play the child of prophecy. King Teigh's quest had allowed the Gods and System to claim a Universe. Would this quest free trapped Gods and restore a Universe?
I worried about what grandfather would advise once I shared this with him. I loved my grandfather, unfailingly, but that didn't blind me to who he was. His largest character flaw might be his belief that, given a chance, everyone would make decisions that uplifted people and society at large.
I believed in an ideal Universe that was true. But Olympus and Asgard had proven that those who gained and held power, used that power to suppress others. Even for grandfather, I often felt this ideal he spouted was more platitude than conviction.
He had gone out of his way to protect me, to assign no real importance to who I was or announce my right as the heir of House Teigh. He had encountered bigotry as a Seelie/Unseelie hybrid to believe that.
Certainly, there were good people, but there were also selfish entitled pricks that thought the world owed them. People who would look for and take every advantage when trying to integrate a new planet, a new System paradigm, and now a new people seemed fraught with disaster.
The only silver lining I could think of with this quest was that perhaps completion would mirror the circumstances that happened with CERN. Maybe these people and their Pantheon of Gods were part of a multiverse splintered and different from this one. They existed, but they were not a part of this world. They were trapped in a Dungeon. And at least for now, nothing more than experience to be farmed, either as a resolution for quests or by killing.
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A harsh characterization. But the Sidhe people, for all their beauty, were harsh and pragmatic. Even grandfather for all his ideals had brought System and magic to a world run by technology. His actions creating a seismic shift to the planet, a shift that hundreds of millions of people must have died from before they could adapt.
Based on the age of the totem, the chances that any of the Z'exl tribe still existed were slim, but System didn't play games with quests. There had to be at least someone that knew what happened to that tribe, perhaps someone lost to time still existed.
"Ryu?" Sieph yelled at me. Her frustration suggesting, she had been attempting to get my attention for some time. I was still standing in the river, having surfaced but finding myself lost in thought once I had taken a fresh breath of air. Looking over to see what she needed, I saw the device she was holding, a Triton facemask that had been crafted for me.
"I need to make a few adjustments, fit the mouthpiece and face mask so that there are no leaks," she said motioning for me closer, "and then we should be ready."
The adjustments she made were not uncomfortable exactly but having metal morph and form while placed in my mouth, while not painful, did raise goosebumps. The fact that it took a few moments, the metal continuing to run like liquid across my tongue and between my teeth was even more disturbing.
When she had me gargle with the metal solution, I realized she was having one off on me. A bit of teasing that was confirmed when Bob began releasing great wheezing gouts of laughter. I had been so focused on diving and the totem; I hadn't paid attention to what she and the rest of the group had been doing.
But Bob had. His interest had been purely academic, he didn't need the device to breathe. Because of his interest in what she was doing and how he had seen the process she had used to fit the device to herself. So, he was fully enjoying the joke.
"Very funny, Sieph," I admitted, not even trying to hide my embarrassment. "Now that you've played your joke, let's get the Triton fitted for real."
"There is no fitting process," she admitted as she moved to join Bob, both continuing laughing at my expense.
"The mouthpiece contains enough Silinium to remain fluid. As you bite down, the metal will shape and mold to your mouth. The pressure you exert while biting will stabilize and hold the Triton in place."
"How do I breathe with a mouth full of metal?" I asked in confusion.
"The face mask has a reservoir that collects the oxygen that is filtered through the metal mesh. Magic allows the exhaled carbon dioxide to be vented, without the need of a snorkel or opening," she explained. "The same enchantment that allows the device to vent, maintains uniform pressure."
"An interesting solution," Thutmose admitted, "You might suggest to King Teigh that he market these devices for sale. Most Egyptians have not attained a high enough level or position to warrant a tattoo, the price to create the ink is exorbitant. This device might be useful for some of our people, those that concentrate on kelp and oyster farming."
"I'm not sure these would be much cheaper than the ink you need for the tattoos," Sieph pointed out, "the Silinium required to keep the metal pliable would be the largest expense. But maybe a brand might be created without Silinium, a more cost-effective product could be mass-produced."
"I'll let Grandfather know," I promised. "Talahm is still looking for products and ideas that might be used as trade goods. Perhaps this type of 'support' device might fill a niche that has long been ignored."
"And I am sure the Egyptians are not the only people that might find the device worth purchasing," Thutmose advised.
"Did you discover anything during your swim?" Bob asked.
"Not much more than you described," I answered, "except for this."
Holding the statue out for each of them to handle, I didn't mention the quest that I had received, wondering if the System quest would trigger for each of them in turn. It hadn't, but I was able to share the quest I'd accepted with Bob and Sieph.
Thutmose seemed disappointed for the first time since we had arrived on Ijal. We tried sharing the quest with him, but the System refused to allow it. Even touching him or using his full name, like we had to add him to our party had failed. He hadn't been integrated, he wasn't a part of Ijal's System paradigm, and like our mini-maps, there was some functionality that he was barred from.