Shadows of the Past

Caution won you over in the end. Instead of walking right into the next close contact with the spirits, you instead just opted to watch them for a while, and as it turned out, the Fire Sprites were quite happy in the lower level of the room, making not a single move to come towards you and the exit. Thus you left them to their own devices and instead relocated your little camp. Walking into the former cave of the Fleshweaver after spending a good long while away from it just put it into perspective how much it had begun to reek by now, making you rather happy to leave it for good. So you bring all your possessions over to the stairway leading out of the underground ruins, making a much more homely place to spend the night. The canopy of leaves above offers ample protection from casual view, yet it is soothing to see the sun and moon shine through them and hear the sounds of the jungle again. It was becoming quite unsettling to mostly see them though narrow shafts in the dirt, almost making you feel buried.

The next day is not much more exciting. You spend the morning exploring the surroundings of your hiding place on the jungle ground, finding only a few overgrown pieces of masonry that show that any kind of ruin might be hidden here. Nothing interesting can be found among them, but you do find a few good trees to harvest some bark from. The only bad thing happening all day is that Xochi's bandages become undone as she helps you to strip the bark from the trunk, forcing you do redo the whole dressing. While her wounds still look worrisome, your companion is healing well and fast, only your dwindling supplies making you worry a bit. In the afternoon, you return to the hall with the sprites. They still keep to themselves and while Xochi is eyeing them warily all the time, you put your knife to use and transcribe the inscriptions of this place, easily visible thanks to the glow of the spirits, onto the bark. It's unlikely to be anything of great value, yet you never know when you might miss something important.

---

"And you are sure you want to go through with this?" You can't quite shake the feeling that you had this exact same discussion with Xochi before. Unfortunately, it also yet again will involve fire. Since this time it is not part of the plan to get engulfed by it though, you dearly hope that trend will break very soon.

Again you glance back to her, then at the stairway in front of you. Only a few of the sprites meander there, yet they still are undeniably in your way. The small pile of soot, which suspiciously looks like scorched bones of an animal, isn't the most reassuring sight right now. "Just look at the carvings. Constellations and alchemical circles? This place might hide something great." It's true, but you consciously swallow the rest of your reasoning. 'Because the sprites probably burned all who came to loot this place.'

As far as spirits went, Fire Sprites were truly amicable fellows. They didn't assault a man unprovoked, let alone try to murder you on principle, but just because they were disinclined to do so didn't mean that they couldn't do it. "Just make sure you come back in one piece." It probably still rankled her, that you were unwilling to take her along solely for her injuries. With careful steps, you walk down the stairway, unwilling to drag this out any longer.


The first few sprites are nice enough to drift out of the way, but when you reach the bottom of the stairs, there is no avoiding them anymore. Too thick becomes the cloud of embers and your movements slow down to a crawl. The spirits don't care for your presence on way or another and soon enough, you are directly in their midst. It's becoming warmer around you, yet not unbearably so. You throw a nervous glance back towards the stair, recalling the last time you where surrounded by flames and what that brought you. While you are distracted, you are startled by a sudden patch of prickly warmth on your calf. You freeze in place, yet give not into the urge to swat away the sprite that brushed against you. The second rule that Mahuizo taught you about spirits is to always remain calm in their presence for how poorly most of them reacted to surprises. Doubly so in the case of the dots of light all around you.

Another one brushes past you, the warm sensation traveling up your shoulder blade. More follow and as one rests on your hand for a bit, you begin to fear that it might break you skin to sink into you, but after a tense moment, it floats off again, leaving nothing save a light tingling and unblemished skin. Carefully you begin to walk again, paying heed to any spirit in your path. One of them, right in front of you face, seems to not have liked as you accidentally breathed onto him, yet he only puffs himself up to the size of you thumb. The rolling ball of flame stays such for only a heartbeat, then resumes its chaotic path as if nothing had happened. Before you really notice it, you stand before the left door leaving the room, not a single singed hair on your body. You turn around to look for Xochi and even dare to give her a slow wave, which she answers with a relieved smile. Then you walk on to see what else there is in this compound.

As you walk down the corridor, the Fire Sprites slowly thin out and finally disappear, whatever draws them to the central chamber seemingly not present here. With them goes the light and you are glad to have brought a torch just in case, which is promptly lit. With your own flame in hand, you walk around a bend and nearly drop it right again. A stone man stares right at you, the flickering flame casting eerie shadows on his face, making him look far more demonic then any others you saw so far. Immediately, your knife is in your hand, yet the expected strike never comes. Still as the statue he resembles, it just stands there, only the lack of a pedestal under his feet giving away that it was once alive. One hand is pressed against the wall, as if it tried to steady himself, the very human gesture looking quite out of place. You tear your gaze away for a moment and look onward into the room behind it. More stone men stand there, all just as motionless as this one.

Warily you walk on, counting stone man as you go. They all stand haphazardly around in the large chamber, with no rhyme or reason found about their placement. All a frozen in odd postures, one even toppled over to the side while apparently taking a step forward, his leg still outstretched. On the walls, dust filled shelves made from stone still stand, yet they seem depressingly empty. What might once have stood there? Maybe they were filled with tools, which the people from this place took with them as they left? Or where codices stacked within them, they and all their contents lost to time by now? Your gaze wanders over the dead stone men again, left in the poses of their final moments for more years than you can truly comprehend. Whatever this place once was, it is now just a grave, filled with things that seem to ape the signs of life and failing miserably at the task.


Ready to turn around and walk on, you idly run your hand through the dust as suddenly, there is some resistance. You immediately step closer and eye the thing that you felt, brushing off the thick covering of dust for a better view. Before you lays a tiny codex, not much larger than your palms put together. It's wrapped into a rough leather pouch, the old skin flaky and dried, yet still in good enough conditions. With great care, you open the flap and pull out the codex, opening a few pages to see the contents. No diagrams or pictures are to be found, just row upon row of writing in Old Cualli, broken up in paragraphs of uneven length. The penmanship is fine, that you recognize, but sadly you can barely make out the faded letters in the dim light. Something to be pondered later, then, and so the codex finds its way into your pack for now.

What now?
[] Go back to the main chamber.
-[] Leave
-[] Take the middle door.
-[] Take the right door.

[] Do something with the Stone Men.
-[] Write-In what.

[] Write-In

---

AN: This chamber is a dead end, so you now can either go home or explore the other doors. I'm still debating with myself if I should write up the full codex, some choice bits, or just leave it at a general description of the contents. At least I have time to ponder that until you go back to someone literate.