Re: In Val Preszar
The Outback
Before they left, the crew at the bar asked around about "Old Lin" but while the regulars recognised him, no one knew when he'd be back or how to get ahold of him.
They returned back home, then turned in for the night. It had cost about Cr120 for drinks and food. Lorain had told Linus that was fine, it was all "research".
It was a hot and humid night, difficult to get some rest in the non-air conditioned hotel despite the fans and screened-in windows.
They had breakfast the next morning, the usual excellent quality eggs, toast, baguettes, bacon, sausage, hash browned potatoes, coffee, tea, juice. After, they split into two groups: one to go fight it out with the bureaucrats in the Ministry of Antiquities at Government House and another to check out some ruins not too far from the city.
Government House
It took all morning for Lorain, Thomas and Liisha to regain their property. The going was slow and painstaking, but surprisingly they were not accosted for further bribes. More surprisingly, none of the seized weapons were damaged, everything was there as promised. To add an almost surreal element, Lorain received a curt almost-apology. Not wanting to push their luck further, they took the weapons and left.
Ruins Outside Val Preszar
The trip out to the local ruins was not all that unpleasant, winding through thickly-forested mountains. The bus was filled with (human) tourists from Mirayn's other continent of Grenven, and even off-world.
Finally, they arrived at a mountaintop where the jungle vegetation had been cleared away to reveal massive black stone blocks of an ancient temple complex. There was a parking lot, an air-conditioned museum containing artifacts that had been unearthed there, snack bar and gift shoppe. Many of the staff were humans, primarily the clerks, ticket takers and guides, while the Gogs seemed to be restricted to grounds-keepers and security (armed with poles and batons). There were a couple school buses in the parking lot.
The bas-relief in question was the centrepiece of the museum. It had been buried along with the temple and thus protected from the elements. Illustrated texts discussed differing theories about Raynirjik civilisation and the possible origins of the Sky Raiders.
Generally, the widest accepted theory was the Raynirjik had achieved TL 2-3 before a massive die-off due to plague. This total collapse resulted in a 5,000-year period of cultural and technological decline and then stagnation that persisted until the present. Modern Gog tribal groups lacked legends of starfaring and indeed, any awareness of cosmology or astronomy in general. So far a total lack of any trace of modern infrastructure further argued against it. Most Raynirjik artifacts were also of TL 2-3.
On the other side was the bas-relief and legends of the "city of Golden Walls" (Tlaynsilak) built by the "people of the golden walls" (Raynirjik). There was also the possibility more was yet to be discovered in Momande's vast interior swamps. Eco-friendly bio-degradable materials would melt away after 5,000 years, leaving behind more primitive stone and metal artifacts for archaeologists to find. Basically, it was impossible to prove a negative; there was always some plausible explanation about what might (or might not) be lost in the mists of time and the Great Swamp.
It seemed it was a wash, overall. Still, they could wander the ruins, run their fingers over a concrete replica of the ancient carved tablet (which was behind a clear Lexan barrier) in the museum.
