[Celestial Arms Quest 1-2] Finding the Cryptic Cuneiform

[Fletcher]

As one could expect, the Thames Coastline was mostly sand and rock the closer you got to the water's edge. There were some parts of elevation that meant that rather than a beach forming there was just a shear cliff dropping down into the water. As the Summoner and follower stepped into the area, the fainted of lights emitted from the wand, but it was nothing as vibrant as what the Messier Sage had described the whole process to look like. Carbuncle looked down at Fletcher for direcion and the dwarf could only sigh in response. It was too early for this, although if they treated it as a morning stroll it might not be so bad. "Come on, let's go walkabout and see if we can find a stronger reaction." Carbuncle mumbled something in an approving manner, the wand in its mouth making the vocal part difficult.

The grass here was green and long, with no signs of it being mowed since it began to grow. It wasn't as tall as the grass closer to the water's edge, but it was as if he was taking steps towards the Greatwood with how much things had grown around here. Carbuncle motioned for them to head up a nearby hill; whether or not the blue fox could sense or see something up there he couldn't tell, but Fletcher went along with it anyway. Having short legs was something that he was used to now, although he missed the length of his previous legs in order to cover ground faster. When it was available to him, getting a mount was going to be a must just to make travel easier. Perhaps he could get a follower that could double as one? Eyes rested on Carbuncle and the fox merely shot the summoner a look both in apology and disapproval.

From what they could see stop the hill overlooking the beach, there were a few adventurers already here doing various things. Some seemed to be digging in the sand and searching for things; these people were undoubtedly other people recruited by the Messier Sage. Next were those standing beyond the water's edge with fishing poles in hand and occcasioanlly checking their lines for anything hooked; fishermen doing what they did best to fulfil the need of chefs and the People of the Land alike. There were a few others including people just enjoying the environment and a couple of young kids building things in the sand, but they were the vast minority of the people out here. It would be ironic and a shame to have to knock down a sandcastle to get this piece of tablet that he was required to find, but if it came to that then so be it.

[Fletcher]

Doubling back and heading back down the hill to make his way down onto the sand, Carbuncle resumed sitting bolt upright and wand at the ready. he was almost wondering if Sylph would be more useful in this situation, although given how high she may fly with the wand, the whole excersize might just be an effort in futility. His eyesight wasn't that great, although she could cover more ground faster which would speed up the search. There was also the problem of then digging up anything that the wand reacted to, which given Carbuncle was close enough to a dog as it was, would be in charge oof digging. Fletcher would help, but without a shovel he'd more than likely just get in the way. His mind then flicked over to if he could've gotten an Earth elemental follower to assist with the excavation, although he'd yet to hear of anything hinting to the location to make a pact of such a being. Alas, retrospect was a cruel mistress.

The sand was soft, and the closer to the water's edge he went the wetter it became, solidfying from dust into a sludge and then into a fairly compact state from the weight of the waves crashing down on it, He'd been to the beach before, but wasn't exactly fond of swimming. It's not that he hated it, he just didn't love it either; with dwarf legs now though, swimming seemed like it would be even harder than it would be prior. At that thought he took a couple of steps away from the waves crashing onto the shore so that only the foam tickled the ends of his shoes and looked back out into the endless ocean. Somewhere across the sea lay other islands, continents even, although getting there was nigh impossible given their current state of technology. As rapidly developing as it was, it was not going to be a matter of weeks before they managed to get to the other parts of the world, including where France would be given the width of that ocean channel.

Carbuncle's attention snapped to a spot up the beach, and as the fox's head turned the wand started glowing brighter. it wasn't by much, but it was enough to be noticible when Carbuncle looked in that direction. Whatever it was reacting to was coming from a spot close to the water's edge where a bunch of rocks had tumbled from the cliff and cascaded into a pile. "That pebble we're looking for better not be at the bottom of that landslide." He grumbled, to which Carbuncle just murmured through the bit of wand in its mouth. There were other adventurers looking around the rock pile, although few if any paid the dwarf any mind as he got closer and started kicking over some of the smaller rocks hoping for a stroke of luck to just make what they were looking for appear.

[Fletcher]

Carbuncle tapped its summoner on the head gently with the wand, prompting Fletcher to take it. By this stage the stick was dazzling with light, but didn't seem to get any brighter when pointed in any particular direction. As the dwarf took the wand from the fox, Carbuncle jumped down off its perch and started heading towards a spot on the ground, looking at it before digging fervently. Fletcher watched on, eager to know what it was that Carbuncle was going to unearth. Looking up proudly from the hole it had dug, Carbuncle yapped once seemed overly proud of its success; presumably a piece of the tablet that the sage was after.

There was a problem though, with how worn it had become from the sand laying on top of it, and being in water for so many years, whatever inscription that was once on it was unreadable; nothing more than chicken scratch on the dirt. Fletcher was annnoyed that the specimen wasn't just that tiny bit more pristine in order to bring it back to the sage. It was no use to anyone like this, but thankfully he had a friend who may be able to help out restoring this to a more usable state. Granted, there was every possibility that the sage needed it as is, so he'd check in there first just in case.

Total Word Count: 1177