Took a while
, but here we go.
Chapter 4: The Ruins of Kopan
Oliver was very conscious of the fact that this journey was the furthest he had ever been from home. As a young peasant born to a Bretonnian colony in a dangerous land, he had never been outside the province up until a few days ago when they first set out. Now, many miles away and deep in the deepest jungle he could have imagined, Oliver beheld a gigantic group of ruined buildings, where the smallest was easily twice as large as his old lord’s castle.
The claustrophobic jungle path from the boats had led the band of treasure hunters into a broad, overgrown clearing. The ancient plaza had been taken over by shrubs and tough jungle grass which erupted bugs and other tiny critters as they brought up the horses. Several large stone slabs stood at seemingly random locations around the plaza. Upon closer inspection Skuddi exclaimed they were in fact highly detailed sculptures, so elaborately carved with depictions of lizard-humanoid creatures as to be almost incomprehensible to an untrained (or Bretonnian peasant) eye. Shorter, rounded carved stones stood at the base of some of the sculptures, reminding Oliver of millstones. Skuddi guessed they were altars of some sort.
Partially obscured in the overgrown jungle around the plaza were the towering buildings themselves. Some were small, and so covered in greenery as to be nearly indistinguishable from the green mountains looming behind them. Some of the larger temples stretched deep into the wood line behind them, with giant galleries of broken columns visible on their rooftops. The main buildings commanded the far edge of the plaza, piercing the sky high about the canopy. The largest structure, labeled the
palacio on Mathus’ map, had suffered a great deal of erosion damage due to the dried-up river bed that flowed perpendicular through the plaza. From their present location, Oliver could see where huge chunks of the grand pyramid-structure had fallen upon the plaza and the ancient river bed.
By way of introduction, Mathus explained on the trek up the jungle path that the ruins had been built by the ancient race of Lizard-people who originally owned the entirety of the New World. Their temples first started small, but as the centuries passed they continued to build them higher and higher, in the fashion of Kislev nesting dolls, to make them into the monumental pyramids of the ruins before them (of course Oliver had never heard of Kislev, or of nesting dolls, but he was too busy admiring the sights around him to notice).
“In more recent history, the Lizardmen have drawn back into the deepest and inhospitable regions of the jungle; rarely coming out except on hunting patrols to guard their territory.”
“Seems deserted enough” remarked Sir Gaunt, as Oliver struggled to secure the pack horses in the center of the plaza near a small cropping of trees. The Questing Knight was quite impressed by the craftsmanship of the ancient barbaric-heathens and expressed it to the old wizard as they surveyed the layout of the ruins.
Shortly after Oliver was finished with the horses, Shen Wu and Konrad returned from tree line, having completed a patrol around the ruins to search for any signs of life, inhabitants, or other treasure seekers.
“The
shinobi also reports no movement” reported the Cathayan.
“But he is certain there are hidden chameleons about” cautioned the Reiklander. “Notomori will be on lookout, but we should remain in groups as we start hunting for treasure.”
“My favorite part” responded the dwarf, to which the rest of the band murmured agreement.
The Amazon, who up until the arrival to the ruins, had been defiant and occasionally lashing out at her captors in attempts to escape, appeared to have finally given up. From the moment they had encountered the crocodile-statues on the riverfront and entered the clearing, she had barely spoken a word. Now that they were preparing themselves to enter the monumental temples surrounding the plaza, she knelt on the ground, hands still tied, and began fervently praying in her native tongue.
The Cathayan immediately yanked her to her feet with her chains to keep her with the rest of the party as they prepared to investigate the temple.
“Your false gods will not give you peace
Akula,” spat the Shen as he pulled her forward.
“Leave her be Shen,” admonished the Reiklander as he ushered the team across plaza to follow the hedge wizard “…she is terrified. To her superstitious people these lands are probably sacred. Or haunted.”
“Or she suspects we
are actually surrounded…” muttered the dwarf gripping his ax closer to himself and glancing at the jungle’s edge.”
“Enough. Keep the Amazon close,” Mathus commanded as he lead the procession forward.
Oliver noticed the pygmy Squato was as equally uneasy as the Amazon, and made a pagan sign of protection on himself as they approached the ruined temple. He noticed Oliver watching, and bared his pointed teeth at the squire to make him look away. Oliver took the hint, and instead turned to the Reiklander with a question.
“What are chameleons?”
Konrad patiently explained that they were a type of Lizardmen that could change color and blend in with their surroundings. When chameleons didn’t want to be found, they could travel through the jungles completely invisible and stalk their prey without ever being seen. This did little to console Oliver, who though acquainted with the stories of mythical Lizardmen inhabiting the jungles of the New World in ancient days, had never heard tales of invisible ones before. He resigned to looking around the jungles in even more terror as he clamored up the platform to the temple’s base.
The wizard was consulting with Geraldo on details of the map to decipher some of the old-Estalian script. Deciding they were in the right location after all, the wizard lead the rest of the band up the steep stairway of the
palacio, which upon further inspection proved to be much larger than a simple pyramid structure. The mega-complex was a giant stone compound of plazas, vaulted rooms, and overgrown corridors set on a tremendous base.
Upon reaching the main level, the wizard had the team pause to conduct a final magical survey of the building. Hands outstretched, Oliver felt the hairs on his neck stand up as Mathus cast a scrying spell to search for any signs of magical booby traps. Finding none, he ordered the group to spread out and start searching.
“Spread out, but stay in groups. Report anything you find.”
Inside was very dark. Little of the light that penetrated the thick jungle canopy also made it into the dank vaults and corridors of the temple complex. Vines and vegetation made navigating through the hallways difficult, but soon Skuddi was cutting his way through one of the halls with his axe, while the Reiklander and Sir Gaunt were making progress on another avenue with their swords.
True to form, the dwarf was the first one to find traces of gold scattered in one of the central
palacio chambers. Most of the finds were small gold pieces, no larger than coins, but there were also some beautifully carve green-stone figurines that Shen Wu described as “jade,” as well as several other ornaments of precious stones. While members of the band were rooting through the nooks and crannies of the main chamber, Sir Gaunt made the observation that the room had not been entered for quite a long time.
“Is it not strange that these valuables are so easy to gather here in this temple complex? Surely looters would have taken anything valuable from these ruins ages ago.” It was a concern that Oliver secretly shared, but concern seemed lost on the rest of the companions due to the newly discovered gold.
“These ruins are hard to find,” stated the wizard re-entering the chamber. “Very few men have been able to penetrate the jungles this far, especially if they don’t know where to look. And fewer still are able to leave.”
“There is evidence of the Estalian expedition in one of the adjoining chambers down the hall if you don’t believe us.” Geraldo added, following behind Mathus into the room. “The poor souls are practically disintegrated.”
“We also have something the Estalians didn’t when they came through here.” the wizard continued, looking over at the Amazon crouched in a corner. Her eyes were tight shut as she continued to murmur her pagan prayers.
“And they did a lot of the gathering for us!” Konrad entered following Geraldo, carrying a large bag filled with loot. Squato followed him, clutching a miniature golden idol in his grasp and smiling from ear to scraggly ear.
“Take stock of what we have found so far and prepare to move as soon as we have completed searching the complex” Mathus instructed as he ventured deeper into the structure. “I do not plan to stay in the ruins overnight.”
The rest of the team gathered close together to admire the bounty discovered by Konrad and the pygmy. Oliver was hesitant, torn between his desire to admire the mind-boggling quantity of riches they had discovered, and a morbid curiosity of what remained of the previous explorers down the hall. Geraldo had stated that it looks like they had most likely been ambushed, and had found what appeared to be remains of blow-darts on the floor.
Curiosity getting the best of him, Oliver decided to explore and see for himself. As he slowly snuck away from the rest of the group, he heard Sir Gaunt voice another concern to Konrad.
“If the poor Estalians were the last men to ever reach these ruins, how by the Lady did the map ever make it back to the colonies and into Mathus’ possession?”
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Continuing down the vaulted corridor, Oliver eventually found the remnants of the Estalian expedition. Just as Geraldo had said, the remains were splayed across the stone floor of a low-ceiling room. Their armor was mostly intact, but the leather straps had all but rotted away, as did the dusty scraps of their tunics. All that remained left of their humanity were their bleached bones. Hairless skulls leered out at Oliver from under their iron helmets, greatly unsettling him.
Shaking despite himself in the cold chamber, he noticed something clutched in the hands of one of the skeletons. Reaching down, he gingerly moved aside the dead Estalian’s bony fingers and pulled up a small square parcel. The fabric covering fell away to dust as he picked it up, revealing a shiny golden artifact underneath.
Awestruck, Oliver examined his find. It was only about a hand-and-a-half in length, shiny gold, and inscribed with numerous beautiful and bizarre symbols, similar in style to the fantastic designs on the sculptures outside or on the
palacio walls. The artifact was beautiful, seemingly giving off its own brilliance under the flickering canopy light peeking through the ruined ceiling. It was also much lighter that he had expected, hefting it easily in his hands as he admired the indecipherable writing.
“What have you found there, boy?”
Oliver jumped, having not heard the footsteps coming down the corridor. Geraldo, with Shen Wu close at his shoulder, had come up behind him into the tiny room, also to investigate the remains of the dead Estalian expedition. Without thinking or hesitating, Oliver quietly slipped the golden treasure into his squire’s tunic as he turned around.
“Nothing!” he tried to say as calmly as possible.
“The boy seeks a ghoulish souvenir,” sneered the Cathayan.
Ignoring Shen, the living Estalian looked past the squire to the remains of his former countrymen strewn about floor. “You shouldn’t wander off on your own; you don’t know what you might find hidden away down here.”
If Geraldo or the Cathayan had noticed anything, they said nothing as they brushed past Oliver to finish rooting through the skeletons for more gold.
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