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The Lost Stars ChronicleChapter 27: Secrets Revealed
Everyone was surprised to meet Daner Pluto in the Archives, of all places. is hands were covered with dust, a tattered volume perched on his knee. After the introductions were made between Anardan, Shainya, and Daner, the man closed his book with a thud and straightened up. Bjarn stepped forward and talked hurriedly with Daner for several moments, then stepped back.
“Temple Of Lost Stars...in this Library I know of no such volumes, but I may yet be able to assist you. Follow me.”
Through the rows of books the Fellowship tramped, and Daner lead them out of the area where the Archivists roamed. Through a doorway and down a winding stairwell they followed him, the light from two lanterns held by Daner and Bjarn illuminating their steps. The stairwell ended in a door that opened into a dark room, so dusty it seemed no human had stepped there for centuries. Ancient shelves and tables lined the walls, stacks of brittle, dusty parchment piled on every inch of them, with old leather-bound volumes scattered among the scrolls.
“This room contains some of the most ancient writings in Dametreos. Records dating back four thousand years or more lie entombed in this place, too fragile for use in the upper library. In the light they would crack into dust. Few of these manuscripts have been translated, or indeed have been read since they were penned, many lives of men before we were born. If you cannot find your answer here, there is nowhere in Dametreos that your goal can be achieved.”
All eight persons of the Fellowship groaned. The task before them seemed impossible. Some of them were warriors, others not, but none of them were scholars.
Daner smiled. “Do not despair, my friends. I said I knew of no such volumes, that doesn’t mean they don’t exist. That also doesn’t mean I haven’t been researching myself. I have looked at books about the world of Dametreos and I can deduce several things. First, we need not look at any of the books, only the scrolls. Bookbinding was not used until about 560 BCC.”
“BCC?” repeated Luxus.
Hans Lentawl, who had accompanied them, answered, “BCC stands for Before Classic Castle, or before the Classic LEGOlanders first colonized Dametreos.”
Daner nodded. “We can also eliminate all the scrolls written on animal hide. Papyrus was the main use of paper back then.”
“Then we’d better get to work…” sighed Bjarn and stepped into the room.
“If you all fetch me the scrolls I can translate.” directed Daner.
“And I’ll do some translating as well if you need me.” volunteered Hans, “Let me just get some lamps to light up this place…”
The ten persons all began sifting through the piles of magic-protected papyrus scrolls. It would be a long day. For five and a half hours, until nearly ten at night, the Fellowship searched the scrolls. It was slow going, for many of the scrolls needed to be translated by Hans, who became slower and slower as the time wore on. The scrolls were filled with ancient records, myths, legends, and literature of all types, but there was nobody in the room who took the time to do anything but glance over the ancient pen-work, then carefully re-roll the papyrus and stack it in the ever-growing pile of parchments.
Daner Pluto seemed to be enjoying himself, taking scrolls from the ‘already read’ stack and reading them over, making notes on his paper, then putting it in a ]finished’ pile of his own. About midnight, Luxus and Hans had fallen over with exhaustion, their collapsing onto the scroll entitled An Examination Of Cloud Formations In Northwest Dametreos. Daner winced as the ancient parchment tore, then hurriedly shoved them off it and picked it up. The two stared blankly at him, then promptly nestled into a corner and fell asleep, their heads resting on A History of the Bull Isles. Daner just smiled slightly, chortling.
“Let them get some sleep, they won’t hurt that book. My, Luxus and Hans do seem to get on famously, don’t you agree?”
The others nodded from behind their scrolls. The two had been talking all evening, Hans teaching Luxus fragments of several languages, while Luxus chattered on about their adventures since leaving Forestman territory. But that was of little concern now, they had work to do. By three in the morning, the crew was exhausted.
“Let’s call it a night.”
Even Daner looked tired now. He picked the lantern from a rickety table and started to turn when a scroll, which had been wedged under the lantern to keep it from sliding, fell off the table. Instinctively, Daner caught it in his free hand and started to put it on one of the shelves when he dropped the lantern in surprise. It shattered, and oil started to blaze on the floor. The rest of the Fellowship turned in alarm, and Anardan and Reno quickly used their cloaks to smother the flames. They stood up, cloaks slightly smoking, while Shainya took the other lantern from a bleary-eyed Luxus and held it up.
“What’s wrong?”
Daner held up the scroll, stared at it for a moment to make sure that his exhausted eyes had not malfunctioned, then opened his mouth.
“Here follows the account of the Temple of Lost Stars, written on 15 June in the Year of the Fallen Hawk.
After the legendary defeat of the Battle of the Second Suns, Lord Inion of Heilsgoth learned by betrayal and subterfuge the existence of two magical pendants, wrought by King Kris himself, to contain all his power. Upon learning of these Pendants that could hold the fate of King Kris, Lord Inion scoured the land until at last he found them in a temple, known as the Temple Of The Powers.
Before King Kris could stop him, Lord Inion destroyed the Pendants, causing at great spout of flame to rise into the sky and obliterating all of King Kris’s power. The great flame burned for three days, and when it at last fell to earth, the locals began calling the infamous temple the Temple Of Lost Stars, for it seemed the heavens themselves had fallen to earth, not knowing where to go.
When the flame at last was quenched, Lord Inion, now ruler of this most vast and expansive land, commanded a mighty forest to grow, to swallow up and hide the place that was the symbol of King Kris’ power. Then Lord Inion was banished by Verlin the Great, and the wood became a place of fear and danger.”
Daner looked up. All of them stared back. Then, slowly, Aros said, “I’ve wandered Dametreos all my life, and there is only one place that the Temple Of Lost Stars could be. And that would be the Neverwood.”
There was a stunned silence, then someone spoke. It was Hans.
“I’ve never stepped out of Classic LEGOland in my life, but I think you’re right. I’ve seen many maps of Dametreos, and the Neverwood is in the perfect location. It’s western borders are on what used to be the Draqqar Desert before it was irrigated and converted by magic and muscle in 1652 CC. Also, all of Classic LEGOland was mostly plains before being built upon.”
Daner nodded. “I believe you are both right. It is logical too. The Neverwood is one of the few places in Dametreos that has not been accurately charted and is generally avoided. A perfect place for a 4000 year old temple to hide.”
Bjarn sighed a slumped into a chair, rubbing his eyes.
“Of all the places, it had to be the Neverwood…”
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