"I think this is the one. The terrain looks unfamiliar but it's possible that this is what we're looking for. Go and get UOPETA. We need to go back to the base."
Heading into the passage where UOPETA had gone, I followed it round, and found him at the bottom, examining the walls of the stone end of the passage. Whoever had been down here had obviously been interrupted in the middle of this, or they have not had enough time to get very far.
"Oh, hey Syeonyx. I'm just looking at these tool markings and have been wondering. They're not that old, so I would probably say this was done within the last few weeks. Whoever was here has moved out very recently... Anyway, had any luck?"
Actually, yes we had! After getting a little upset at the lack of progress, THEROS had banged his head on the underside of the table and found what looked like a map.
"Excellent! Let's get up there then, and back to base. COLUS will want to see this."
That he would, but I doubted us actually going anywhere today. Not only did THEROS have to identify where the coordinates went on this new map - if in fact they did - but he would also have to identify where this map was referencing in relation to the ones we already had. I couldn't see any familiar landmarks or terrain from what I had seen, but with THEROS being the cartographer, I'd leave it in his professional hands. We went back up through the passage and into the wooden shack, closing the passage behind us. THEROS was still sitting at the table studying it intently, trying to get a feel for it. UOPETA looked over his shoulder, and let out an audible sigh of relief.
"Looks like we have a place to start from after all..."
"Better than that! I think I might even be able to refer this back to our maps. I think I know where this is, but I don't want to say just yet in case I'm massively off..."
Entrusting THEROS with the map, me and UOPETA picked up a few extra books, all of which had green covers - assuming there was indeed a link between the book cover colour and the content of the book - and headed for the door. Making our way back through the labyrinthine tunnels and chambers, we eventually reached the stairs that ascended back to the main shaft, and headed upwards.
We got back to the base within a few minutes of reaching the main mineshaft within the cliff mine, and still only COLUS, AMPHIS and THEXIS were there. It seemed Joe, Amie and OROTHO were still installing the security door on the tower-side entrance to the tunnel. Then again, looking back at OROTHO's design, that wasn't surprising; he had added a lot of complicated wiring and piston usage to ensure it functioned perfectly, but could also be hidden very very easily. That was what we were looking for, especially with this proposed increase in security we had assumed we would see. THEROS is currently comparing the coordinates against this new map, and the fact that he picked up a pencil almost immediately is a good sign! He's marked a few locations on the map already!
"Yes, this is definitely the map! There are quite a few portals then from the looks of things, although there's quite a bit on the map itself that intrigues me..."
"Like what...?"
"Well, there's this perfectly straight edge along the centre... I've never seen terrain that straight before... Not for that type of distance. And then there's this large patch of red in the North West portion. Either that's a mistake or a very large surface lava pool..."
"Or another obsidian farm..."
"It's possible. Also, I've managed to confirm that we have seen parts of this map before. Here, take a look and I'm sure there are bits you should recognise."
I studied the map for some time, but I couldn't see anything that seemed familiar at all. THEROS was right about the rest of the terrain; the miscellaneous red patch in the top left corner was odd, as was the almost perfectly straight line bisecting the map into two sections.
"Are yo sure? You especially Syeonyx should see something there that would be familiar to you... Look towards the South East."
Looking in the bottom right corner, I scanned for any terrain markings that looked familiar, but nothing stood out. The only thing that did was a small white blob, which I took to be snow... Hang on... I HAD seen something like that before! A small, isolated patch of snow! The look of realisation must have been visible on my face, as THEROS stood up and began nodding.
"You see it then? You know where this map is drawn from?"
Relating this map to the one I had been given by THEROS back when I was alone, I could remember that this small patch of snow was way up to the North, a few hundred metres from Jonas'... SERVERE's house. That meant this map... Was of a section taken to the North of his house!
"Bingo! Now I don't know about any of you, but I would say that's another strong piece of evidence that this person who owns this map is SERVERE. For all we know, he could have mapped out a lot more of the terrain around him and us, before and after this theoretical incident. I know we have to look at only the facts, but it's something to consider, eh COLUS?"
"I have to admit, that is rather striking, but yes, the facts for now until we have irrefutable evidence. THEROS, get busy putting those coordinates on that map. You, Syeonyx and UOPETA are moving out to that area tomorrow! It's a great excuse to check out SERVERE's house as well, and maybe we can shed some light on this situation. Even take out a few portals while you're at it! I would suggest using SERVERE's house as a base of operations though."
"COLUS? I would suggest I go with them."
"Why's that?"
"Well, they're reliant on the coordinates I translate from the book. If they run out of coordinates, then they have to return here, which means wasting time. If I go with them, I can stay at SERVERE's house, translate more of the books and look into more of the library beneath his house. There might be more translating needed doing there too."
"Excellent point! Okay, you will go with them, but for now, continue translating."
That was that settled then! Tomorrow, me, THEROS, AMPHIS and UOPETA would head out to the North East towards SERVERE's old house and begin striking back at HoN Co., whilst trying to piece together more of this mystery.
No comments:
Post a Comment