{-Myr-}

Mostly just to break up the emerging somber tone, Myr gave Zetai an enthusiastic wave when she saw her. “Good morning!”

Zetai grinned when she saw all of them. “Who’s ready to investigate some ruins?”

They might not have given very loud signs of agreement, but they were definitely all ready. Everyone finished whatever they’d been doing before and, in a moment, they were ready to go. Myr was glad they’d gotten to this part of the day—it’s how things should be… nothing more than a group of friends doing random quests across the region.

Of course, there were always breaks in the perfect fantasy. As Zetai started leading the way, Reynneak walked up next to her and whispered, “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am,” she responded effortlessly. She made it louder, too, like she wanted everyone to know it. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Alright, then…”

And she seemed the most relieved to know that that was the only thing he was going to ask.

Myr decided to change the subject completely. “What are we doing in the ruin, again?”

“We’ve already gone over that,” Casrane remarked. “We’re—”

Tinath nudged her and mumbled something, getting a small “oh” from Casrane in response.

Zetai gave the proper answer. “There should be a guy around here that might need our help deciphering some stuff.” She paused, then gestured to someone in the near distance. “Actually, I think that might be the guy.”

The scholar in question must’ve realized that they were there, too, because he looked up and smiled. He waved them over and, once they were close enough for the quest pop-up, asked, “Would you mind helping me out? Perhaps some new eyes could help me decipher these!”

[Quest: Ruin Readers

Haris has tasked himself with studying a couple of ancient ruins across Anseshara. The problem is, the murals are a little hard for him to decipher. Maybe it would go by a little quicker if he had someone else to help him?

Rewards: Rewards: 1100 EXP, 1200 coins]

“We were already planning on it!” Zetai announced.

Haris’s smile grew. “Great! Now, the ruin in question is right over here—there are others, but they’re their own quests. I found a couple of stone tablets but I’m not sure they’re in the right order. If you’re able to piece together the story of each, though, I should be able to figure out which one goes where.”

He led them to a small campsite just outside of an ancient building—one which likely hadn’t been touched for a very long time. And sitting right outside of the ruins was a set of tablets, each with little drawings on them. They reminded Myr of kid’s drawings; simple, and perhaps hard to understand, but still full of meaning.

“Why don’t you start with this one?” Haris prompted, gesturing to a specific tablet.

It showed what looked like a little boy, alone in a forest.

Now, Myr couldn’t think much more of the obvious of, “Maybe he doesn’t have a lot of friends? So he has to spend his time alone, even if he doesn’t want to…”

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“His parents aren’t with him,” Reynneak mumbled. “He might be lost.”

“It’s part of a story,” Zetai pointed out. “Why would his parents be mentioned at all? Obviously they’re just not important.”

He shrugged. “That’s just what I notice.”

“Or the whole forest could be a metaphor,” Llewel offered casually. “He could be figuratively lost in it somehow.”

Tinath sighed. “You know, I don’t come here to have to think about metaphors and symbolism…”

“I don’t know, I think there might be some merit to it,” Casrane remarked.

“That’s because you think he’s cute.”

Llewel and Casrane looked at each other, blushed, then looked away again. Myr so much wanted to continue on that line of conversation, but it seemed Haris didn’t want them getting that off-track.

“I’ve recorded all of those responses,” Haris remarked. “Perhaps the true nature will come to light once we look at the others. What do you think about this one?”

He motioned to another tablet; this one showed a bird and the same kid. The kid was smiling and the bird looked excited.

“I don’t know what’s really there to interpret,” Zetai remarked. “It’s just a boy and a bird. Maybe he got a new pet.”

“They’re still in the forest,” Myr said. “I think he just made a friend, and the two got really close to each other.”

“But then it’s probably still a wild bird, isn’t it?” Reynneak asked. “Wild animals don’t exactly make for permanent companions.”

Llewel shrugged. “Only so long as we’re talking realistically. We don’t know how literal these actually are.”

Haris nodded. “You’re right—I think the true nature will only become apparent once we go through them all. I’ve recorded these responses as well. This is the next tablet I’d like you to look at.”

It showed the boy knelt down in front of the bird.

“I think the bird’s injured somehow,” Tinath said. “It’s close to the ground, and it looks like it’s got its wing out.”

“Is that a [Beast Tamer] thing, or are you just a bird nerd?” Zetai questioned.

Tinath shrugged. “I’ll keep you guessing.”

“These stories aren’t in chronological order, right, Harris?” Reynneak asked, getting back to the original topic. Haris nodded, and Reynneak continued, “Which means there’s one of two options: this was how the boy and the bird met, or this was what happened after they started playing with each other.”

“I guess another tablet might tell us the answer,” Llewel decided.

“Yes. I’ll record those responses.” Haris pulled out the fourth tablet. “Would you all like to take a look at this one?”

This tablet felt… a lot sadder than any of the others. The forest and the bird were gone; a hooded adult took up the entire image.

Myr tilted her head. “Do you think that’s still the kid? Or maybe one of his parents?”

Llewel shook his head. “I don’t think it’s his parents. It seems too… intimidating? To be his parents, I mean.”

“I agree with you,” Casrane said. “I think it’s the boy after he’s grown up—after the bird left, one way or another.”

“But what happened to get him to that point..?” Reynneak questioned. “That seems like a pretty big departure from playing with a bird in the forest… The forest isn’t even there—like he went somewhere else entirely.”

A mutual shrug showed that no one really had the answer.

“Is there anything else you’d like to add?” Haris prompted.

Zetai looked between all of them and, looking over their expressions, turned back to Haris and responded, “I think that’s everything.”

He nodded. “Alright. Here’s the last tablet, go ahead and have a look. I believe we’re about to make a breakthrough in their message.”

The tablet showed the boy, sitting on the ground in the forest, as the bird flew off.

“Well, I guess that answers one possible question,” Tinath remarked. “The bird didn’t die, at least—it left on its own. That doesn’t really change the meaning of the other tablet, though. I guess it might just add some context.”

“But why is it leaving..?” Myr asked. “They both seemed happy when they were playing with each other…”

“As far as we can tell, it was still a wild animal,” Llewel pointed out. “It had its own life before finding the boy—a life it eventually had to go back to. They couldn’t stay together forever.”

“I guess…”

Haris mumbled a few things, then nodded. “I believe I’m starting to form a good idea of the story these tablets are supposed to tell. Would you like to hear it?”