Tomb of the Ancients Part 3

Posted on Thu Feb 8th, 2024 @ 9:01pm by Lieutenant Tracey Walker Jr & Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance

Mission: Guilty Pleasures
Location: Risa
Timeline: Current

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After their near death experience with the ancient blade trap, the two men managed to combine their strength to wrench upon the door and proceed into a large chamber. Cobwebs hung in wide swathes and again, a thick layer of dust coated everything.

"We are the first people to set foot here in at least a thousand years. Kind of awesome, ain't it?" Trace said, as he picked his way carefully toward the center of the chamber. A raised dais sat in the middle of the room, surrounded by statues of robed Risans, as evidenced by the mark on their foreheads. On the dais rested a sarcophagus.

Kevin, anxious to get out of this death trap thought about wrenching the lid off the thing, getting loot and hightailing it out of there but thought better of it, based on recent previous experience. "What's next?" He asked.

"Well, if I'm reading the text correctly, it talks about a test of some kind, related to Risan cultural knowledge." He search the base of the dais and found a plaque. Translating it, he read aloud. "In Risan philosophy, what objects symbolize the unity of the people?"

“Don’t look at me,” Kevin shrugged, “I almost failed comparative cultures. I'm pretty useless here."

With his diverse background, Trace had been able to test out of the required basic level course at the Academy. Still, the class was easy enough, he was told, if you showed up and listened. The admission by Kevin that he had struggled was surprising.

“Surely you know about the Horgah’hn,” Trace explained. Kevin nodded.

Turning back to the dais, Trace continued, “Other significant artifacts include the Scepter of Nogga’lan, the Kesh’ara necklace, Urn of Eternal Joy, and the Tapestry of the Whispering Winds.”

Kevin sat back on his heels as Trace examined the dais. “The Horgah’hn symbolizes fertility,” Kevin said thoughtfully, “Specters usually signify authority and a tapestry covers or protects. Urns are receptacles that could indicate a collection or gathering. The circular nature of a neckless could represent oneness.”

Trace gave a crooked smile. “See, you aren’t as useless as you thought,” he said. "All right, on your toes." He said, walking over to the statue bearing the Kesh'ara necklace and touching the stone. The necklace piece depressed and their was an audible click. Both men held their breath, waiting for a trap of some kind, but released it when nothing materialized. A latch on the side of the sarcophagus sprang open but one more latch remained.

"Ok, one more riddle, it looks like." He said, reading a second plaque. "What mythical creature represents the inner balance required to live a life of peace?"

He began looking around and saw at least three of the statues with some kind of animal: one that was accompanied by some sort of bear, one that was accompanied by something that looked like a small badger, and one that like a cat with wings.

"Thoughts?" He asked Kevin.

“I don’t think that I would associate any of those creatures with an inner balance,” Kevin confessed, “but maybe it isn’t about the animal’s spiritual symbolism. Bears and badgers exist on Risa, I believe, but flying cats certainly don’t. Of the three, it is the only one that is ‘mythical’.”

“You would go with the Lysara?” Trace asked.

“Absent any additional data, I would.”

As Trace depressed the hidden button on the Lysara, the final latch on the sarcophagus released. The two men moved in unison to either side of it, and lifted off the lid.

Inside, wrapped in disintegrating rags was a skeleton. In its arms was a bundle wrapped in oiled linens. Carefully, Trace lifted the bundle out of the arms, and placed it on a nearby pedestal. Slowly, the anticipation building, he unwrapped the bundle.

It was a wooden block with symbols etched onto the sides. "Son of a Bitch." He said, "A toy?"

"Do the symbols mean anything to you?" Kevin asked.

Trace shrugged. "Nope. I'll need a bit of research against some of the older texts to see if they're anything but decoration, but I think we're looking at the 'Treasure of the Ancients', a sentimental treasure, not a monetary one. Still, a minor find is still a find. You ready to get out of here?"

Taking a last look around the secret chamber, Kevin responded in the affirmative. "After almost getting decapitated," he observed as they departed, "The result was anticlimactic."

With patience and care, the two men made their way out of the tomb, spent the rest of the night at the camp, with plans to head back to the shuttle landing padd in the morning.

Trace had shown the relic to the dig coordinator who was astonished that the secret chamber even existed, and promised to credit Trace with the find. Trace very much doubted that, but didn't say so. In the morning, after a rather nice breakfast (for a camp), they made their way back.

As they walked Trace asked "Well, what did you think? Better than sitting on a beach, no?"

"At least I didn't pick up any additional injuries," Kevin quipped.

:off

Lieutenant Commander Kevin Lance
Chief Flight Control Officer
USS Chuck Norris

and

Lieutenant Tracey "Trace" Walker
Chief Engineer
USS Chuck Norris