Ep. 115 Tales of the Ancients Chapter One

## Listen

Ep. 115 Tales of the Ancients Chapter One

—Varistorkaan, Beacon of Siberys

*Borrowed Time* and its passengers fly over the Xen'drik desert, nearing the Spear of Desert Winds. Beric, Booyah, and Dex set off on foot and soon find two acquaintances they hadn't seen for some time: Prince Oargev and his trusted bodyguard, Barasha. They've been wandering for twenty days and are in rough shape. Dex calls Jace over with the ship to pick them up, but before going up they make a quick search of the area and find the roof of a buried structure.

Erebus suddenly remembers being there before, and he draws Beric into a vision. Elves are hurriedly running into the structure, while dragons fight overhead, and they see an entrance in a distance away.

They board the ship once again, and on the way Barasha offers his help, which they accept. They arrive near the entrance and go inside. Murals line the walls, and they come to a chamber holding four sarcophagi. On the sides are magical elvish carvings that read "guardian" and various other carvings. As they read the writing, skeletons come to life and burst from the sarcophagi.

## Synopsis

### British Explorers

Beric senses that they're about fifteen to twenty minutes out from the Spear, or about an hour if they go on foot. Everyone collects their things and prepares for a walk in the desert. As Jace brings the airship closer, Beric realizes the spear is very far underground. They get close enough to be able to descend on a rope, and Beric warns everyone to keep an eye out; these artifacts are important, and he doesn't know what will be guarding this one.

Looking out at the horizon, Dex spots two figures walking perpendicular to the boat. The ship goes back up in case they're threatening, and when the figures start heading towards the boat they bring it back down, assuming if they are threatening the party can take them. They climb down the rope and send the boat up once again.

As they get closer Dex can tell one is a silver dragonborn in light blue robes and the other is a human in light tan pants and a tunic. Both wear brimmed boonies and handle walking sticks. The human pulls up his goggles to reveal hilarious tan lines, and they find it's Oargev and Barasha.

They've been in the desert for twenty days. Oargev got some bad intel from a giant that there was fertile land near a river, but no such luck. Beric offers for them to go up and rest on *Borrowed Time*. They fill the two in on the artifacts, and make a quick search of the area before calling Jace back down.

### Creation of the Pyramid

Dex notices a part of the dune that's become unnaturally sharper than the rest and pokes around with his ribbonweave. After a few stabs he feels something solid, and about two and a half feet down finds a stone roof.

Erebus starts vibrating on Beric's belt and in a surprised tone says he remembers this place. Beric is drawn into a vision. Before the pyramid was covered in sand, elves frantically walk to and fro, carrying equipment. Light explodes around them and dragons fly through the air. Magical energy shoots up from the ground. They're stoneshaping an above-ground tunnel, while other elves manipulate the wind to pile up sand behind them. The entire pyramid is about 700 feet tall.

### Teen Troubles

Everyone sits around the table on *Borrowed Time*. Charlie has made Oargev and Barasha some nice stew. Barasha, itching for some excitement, asks to join them. Beric has no problem with that, but tells Dex he's responsible for when Oriana finds out. For a minute Dex wants to bring Oriana with them, but shuts up when Beric admits that she *is* ready⁠—but he couldn't bear it if she died.

They arrive at a small outcropping of stone still filled with sand and start climbing down. Barasha pulls out a light wand and sticks it in his shield. Beric watches the ship for any sign of a teenage girl escaping, and is more suspicious when he sees nothing.

### Dragon Destruction

Finally they reach the leveling out point and start seeing designs on the walls. They depict the decimation of the giants at the hand of the dragons. The slightly happy part of Beric is crushed that even though he can see the shape of the world and the living things on it, he can't see these carvings. For as much as it's worth, Dex describes them to Beric.

Barasha wonders aloud what the giants did to raise the ire of the dragons. It seems they were the main civilization on the continent, and they were destroyed beyond repair.

Near the end of the tunnel the carvings start depicting giants, though none of the "cloud giants" Booyah had seen in the past. They find themselves in the first chamber, with only one door in front of them, and four sarcophagi with elven figures and writing on the side that reads "guardian." As they stop to look, skeletons burst out from the top of the sarcophagi.

End of episode.

## Locations

* Xen'drik
	+ Giant-built pyramid

## Quotes

"Smells like day old White Whale."
*—Randy 0:44:24*

## Trivia

* Beric dons his helmet for the first time.

## References and Footnotes

1. ↑ There are disagreements on whether it's a good idea to serve people who have been in a hot desert for twenty days a hot stew.