The Key to the Icy Tide

Written by Starfarertheta

Northern Arctic Wastes, Quassus Continent

1172AGC, 4th of Vita

Of course it had to be in the arctic, thought Ielenia as she continued to chisel through yet another block of ice. It must have been her hundredth block on this assignment, and her nose was just about to be frostbitten. She had to remind herself of what it was her entire expedition was here to find: a relic containing an undiscovered set of Xēlōian runes. New sets of runes often meant the discovery of new spells, and spells were the business of the Pleiades Laboratory.

Under Queen Shava Lunaria, the Queendom of Lunaria was placing greater emphasis on locating and securing new sources of ancient spells in a bid to gain the upper hand against the increasingly powerful Kingdom of Helia. Helian Fire had so far given the Kingdom a brutal edge over those who opposed them, and the Queendom greatly desired to find an answer to it.

Ielenia had been to many dig sites in search of ancient knowledge that could provide such an answer, but most findings only proved to be supplemental to existing spells. Nothing that could serve as a spear-point for the Queendom's war machine. Her most recent finding yielded an unexpected find, a map that indicated the presence of an undiscovered and Ancient remote outpost in the arctic regions. Such outposts were known to contain tablets describing powerful spells, and Ielenia was looking for such a tablet in what must be the most remote Ancient outpost she had ever been to. Why did the Ancients feel the need to build something like this all the way out here? Especially when "here" has to be the coldest spot on the continent! Ielenia thought to herself as she chiseled away at the block of ice in front of her.

"Are you are sure it is here Peren?" Ielenia asked aloud as she finished splintering her block of ice into many pieces.
"Positive! Do you see all this?" Peren gestured to the surrounding ancient Ancient Ruins, which was not much at all.

Ielenia briefly looked around her before replying, "This was an outpost at best." She then began cutting into the ice to extract yet another block of ice. Peren, meanwhile, just finished splintering his latest piece. "But the Ancients always kept a stone relic of some kind in any place where they were researching magic. Our own research indicates that this structure was a magic research facility. Ergo, we are looking for a stone artifact with runes written on it."

"That's assuming this place wasn't ransacked over the-" and then Ielenia's pick-axe hit stone. The sudden and unexpected clang was jarring. "I found something!" she called out. Peren rushed over as fast as he could over the ice and snow, and other members of the expedition followed suit. While they were busy with that, Ielenia quickly cut into the ice to extract the stone object. It was precisely what the expedition was looking for, a stone tablet containing a set of Xēlōian runes. Ielenia could not wait to begin studying it, but they would need to get it to the laboratory first.

Pleides Laboratory, Queendom of Lunaria, Quassus Continent

1172AGC, 3rd of Festum

Progress was slow at the laboratory. The stone tablet's runes were visible but weathered, and some had been chipped to the point of becoming unrecognizable. Translating hawpā, which roughly means "spell", had proven to be the only easy part of translating the tablet. However, enough had been translated to reveal that what was discovered was not only a spell, but a hitherto undiscovered variant of ice magic.

"Have you finished with the translations yet?" Asked General Alexis. The general was particularly interested in the Pleiades' findings on anything related to the Xēlōian language.
"I don't even know if these are complete characters. The stone is very weathered." Replied Ielenia.
"I was assured that you were the best researcher we had, Ielenia."
"I'm doing the best I can. Deciphering Ancient relics is a time consuming process. Making out runes is only the first step of the process. The rest is linguistics. We cannot know what kind of spell we are dealing with until we understand the meaning of the words. We need time."

General Alexis considered that for a moment. She knew very well that these matters take time, especially if they are to be done right. However, the situation concerning Helia has grown more serious. King Vimak Helia III has announced the beginning of his campaign eastward. The goal was clear, the Kingdom intends to gain control of the Eastern Occulus Gate, which would give it control over all trade coming from the east much as the Queendom commands the Western Occulus Gate. As soon as the Kingdom achieves that goal they will inevitably turn their attention to their western neighbor as they begin reaping the economic benefits of their new conquests. Economic benefits that would place Helia in a firmly superior position to all of its rivals. The Queendom needs a new unseen advantage before that happens, and the best chance of that happening is in the decoding of hitherto undiscovered Xēlōian runes.

"I am giving you all the time that I can, Ielenia, but it's ultimately not up to me. Queen Shava has been expecting results for some time now and contrary to popular opinion her patience is not infinite."

Ielenia knew that as well as anyone. She too had heard about Helia's new offensive campaign, and what it means for the region. "Tell the Queen that I will do all that I can to translate the object." Even if it means missing out on the entirety of the month of festivals, Ielenia did not say out loud. At least the autumnal weather was pleasant, and the winter promised to be far more pleasant than that of the northern wastes.

Pleiades Laboratory, Queendom of Lunaria, Quassus Continent

1172AGC, 2nd of Luna

Ielenia had finally deciphered every rune on the tablet, but she was reluctant to try out the magic those runes described. Pleiades had several chambers designed to contained all manner of magics, but not a Magic Storm of the kind described by the Xēlōian runes. The military officer in front of her, however, would probably be inclined to begin testing the spell as soon as possible.

"Are you sure that this is the correct translation?" said Lieutenant Talon as he set down the paper containing a complete translation of the tablet. He was acting in place of General Alexis for the month while the General was away having been summoned to a strategic meeting at Luna.
"Yes," Replied Ielenia. "but the magics the phrases on this tablet describe are powerful. I do not believe we are prepared to test it. Not without either further research into these runes or moving our experiments to someplace remote."
"This facility was designed to handle powerful magics, and so far it has. Besides, Lunaria's top mages are assigned to this place. Surely, they can handle any spell thrown at them no matter how powerful."
"I'm sure they believe they can, but I have never seen a spell casting phrase made of so many words and in this particular arrangement. I believe it can summon a violent magic storm. We need to prepare accordingly."
"Ielenia, as you are aware the Queen has patiently waited for your research into this artifact to produce results for quite some time. If we can begin testing this spell now, I believe we should. The sooner you can demonstrate your understanding of this tablet's runes the sooner you can gain Shava's favor."
"We could kill ourselves in the process of rushing to gain a mere favor. What good will this spell be to me then? Or to you? What good would this tablet be to the Queendom if we unleash something we could not control?"
An unsettling silence fell upon the room as Talon carefully considered what to say next.
"I do not believe your concerns are well founded. Our mages are the best on the continent, that is an undisputed fact. Should anything go wrong they are more than capable of handling it. Besides, ultimate authority for these tests resides with the highest ranking military officer. That officer happens to be me at this time. Acting as such, I order you to proceed with the tests."
"I urge you to reconsider! The Queen's favor is not-!"
"My decision is final!" The way with which the Lieutenant barked that last phrase startled Ielenia. Was he really so pressured? Or was he merely impatient for career advancement? As Ielenia considered these things, Talon continued, "If you cannot carry out the order I will find someone who will. I-We need these results more than you know."

Ielenia knew that there was no one more qualified than her to conduct the experiment than her. As proud as she was of her peers and students, they would not understand the full danger of the spell on the tablet. Besides, if she oversaw the procedure she had a chance to shut everything down in the event of a catastrophe. Ielenia reluctantly agreed to begin testing the spell on the tablet.

Pleiades Laboratory, Queendom of Lunaria, Quassus Continent

1173AGC, 1st of Aqua

Ruadh had not adequately dressed for the unnaturally cold climate that now gripped the dead laboratory. Magical ice storms were a known phenomena, but none were known to permanently change the climate of an affected area. Still, he had a mission and it had to be done quickly. He began to pick away at the ice that barred his entry to the laboratory.

It had been a month since contact with the Pleiades Laboratory was lost before the Royal Court dispatched a messenger with questions. The turnaround by the messenger was impressive, but that was because the news she carried was grave. The entire laboratory and the people within it were encased in ice and snow. That report is proving to have understated matters. In order to break the ice, Ruadh had to break the door and that took several minutes to do. He now beheld the what had become of the laboratory. The once beautiful silver-laced laboratory complex, complete with verdant gardens, is now an icy tomb. Ruadh felt the biting chill on his exposed face, which was rapidly becoming frost-bitten, as he explored each frozen structure one by one. The ice seemed to have changed to very properties of the walls, doors, and bodies, for Ruadh could not cleanly separate it from anything it gripped.

Lunaria is lucky that the surrounding forest hid the unnatural sight from prying eyes. The forest was a key feature that enabled the facility to conduct its work in secret due to its labyrinth like plant growths that will impede at best -and trap at worst- even the most skillful traveler. Many souls were lost attempting to travel through it, so many opt to avoid the forest entirely. Only those who knew of the appropriate trail markers to follow- and of the proper cantrip to reveal said markers-could find the laboratory. Ruadh fortunately had such knowledge and had therefore passed through the forest without incident.

Despite the magical security measure, Queen Shava had dispatched Lunarian archers to hide within bow shot of the trail's entrance. At the same time, Ruadh was sent to Pleiades to locate and retrieve the artifact believed to be the source of the unexpected phenomena. It would not be an easy task, since no one at the research laboratory could tell him where the artifact was being kept due to being frozen solid. It was a surreal sight, the entire facility would not look out of place in the northern arctic wastes.

Research into the artifact had yielded results according to the final set messages the Court received from the Lieutenant Talon. The ancient tablet and the words written upon it had proven the key to unlocking a powerful new spell, one that was believed to be capable of summoning a powerful ice storm. No further messages were received afterward, and now Ruadh was busily rummaging through the frozen remains of a once busy complex. He had none to assist him due to the sensitivity of the matter, although he had yet to fail his Queen and did not intend on doing so now. Even if the cold threatened to freeze him in place at any moment. The chill breeze among the icy halls seemed to cackle in anticipation.

Eventually, in spite of the mounds of snow and iced over doors and flooring, Ruadh found what he was looking for. A stone tablet with Xēlōian runes upon it. It was in Lieutenant Talon's frozen hands. Ruadh extracted the artifact as carefully as he could under the circumstances. Attached to the tablet was a note containing the complete translation of the tablet's runes, along with a hastily scrawled warning that Ruadh could not read himself. He took the tablet and the notes and began to make his way back to the Queen. Strange, some of the researchers are missing, he thought as he left the laboratory and proceeded to travel back through the now eerily quiet forest. It was possible that there were survivors, but it was also possible that they had been erased by whatever spell had iced the laboratory.

End