Tale of the Treasure Trove, part 2

Read part 1 if you haven't already.

Audio recording from Wizard Wednesday reading. “I told you already, I don’t deal with missing person’s reports! I’m just a curious collector of oddities.” Uvlius stared into his massive tome on the large wooden desk, pretending to be deep in thought, hoping the huge Orc & the little pirate penguin would leave him alone.

“I’m telling you, this isn’t a normal missing person! She isn’t lost here in the Runiverse, she's just GONE! While we’ve lost many at sea, Valentina met another fate! She didn’t fall over board, or die fighting… She was taken by the chest itself!”

Uvlius looked up from his tome, now unable to contain his curiosity. “The treasure chest took her? Like she is stuck inside?”

The penguin got annoyed, “Aren’t you hearing me old man? She’s not still there, she’s just GONE! Poof, vanished, missing, lost to the shadow!”

Ulvius looked puzzled. “But that’s not possible… unless…” Uvlius sprang from his chair, rushing to the stacks, as though looking for a specific book.

“Gah, enough with riddles & mysteries, just give it to us straight!” Arkol slammed his fist on the table. “This isn’t some weekly storytelling ritual where a bard needs to drum up dramatic tension between pieces of the tale to keep an audience on the edge of their seats or anything!”

Uvlius chuckled as he pulled a large, dusty tome down off a higher shelf. “Here… here!” Uvlius had flipped to a page in the middle of the book titled ‘Treasure Troves’. Uvlius poured over the page. “It says here that the magic of the Treasure Trove itself has the power to serve as a bridge or tunnel between worlds. Between the Quantum Shadow and the world we know.” Uvlius looked up at Rusty & Arkol. “Perhaps Valentina found a way to activate this portal? She could be there in the shadow now, as we speak!”

Rusty looked horrified. “We must leave for the Quantum Shadow at once to save her! Arkol, let’s go!” He was already turning to leave when Uvlius stopped him.

“Hang on… the road to the Quantum Shadow is filled with peril! One does not simply walk into the Quantum Shadow” Uvlius turned the page. “There way be another way…” he trailed off as he continued to read. “It says here, that while there are many such Treasure Troves scattered around the Runiverse, twelve of them contain a unique, secret key shard.” Uvlius pointed at the page that showed a large diagram of a colour showing 6 dark colours & 6 light colours. “These 12 key shards represent the 6 colours of ancient magic in the Runiverse, both their light side and their dark side.”

Uvlius read on.

“Only if someone can find all 12 key shards, then learn the correct order in which they must be activated will they unlock the power of the Trove, reopening the bridge between worlds. Only then, can Valentina be saved!”

Rusty looked overwhelmed. “That sounds like a lot of work… Find all 12 Troves with the special key shards in them? How can we possibly do that? The Troves have been lost for eons! I know how rare they are! We’ve been hunting them for years now!”

Uvlius looked at the penguin with a gentle smile, “Oh you silly bird: this isn’t a task for one, but a job for many! Only if we work together as a team will we be able to unlock this cryptic message. I know others who are searching for the Troves as well. I’ll reach out to them by chronogram and inform them to keep their eyes out for key shards if they should find a Trove.”

Arkol pulled a map from his coat pocket and unfolded it onto the large desk. “Well, send them this as well: once we got into the chest of brass, we found this map showing the location of many Troves around the Runiverse. If helping others find the Troves will bring Valentina back sooner, it's a sacrifice that must be made.”

Rusty nodded “Yea, and if they find other treasure, in the chest, just make sure we get our cut okay old man?”

Uvlius was elated. Treasure Trove hunters from across the Runiverse would be finding Troves in no time and with them the key shards required to unlock the portal and bring Valentina home again. “It’s unclear who will unlock the portal first… I guess whichever hunter is able to learn the magic of the 12 key shards and solve the riddles of their secret order will have the power to summon Valentina back from the abyss, to safety.”

Rusty had a deeply sober look on his tiny penguin face as he spoke these final words to Uvlius, “Listen, I don’t care who saves her, I just want to know she is back. I want someone to free her!”

Uvlius smiled his gentle smile, yet again. “Don’t worry little one, I’m sure she will find a way home.” Uvlius patted the birds head, “Now off you go, I’ve got letters to send and instructions to give! Hopefully next week I’ll have another chapter for you that will bring us one step closer. Till then, may the Shadows part for you.”

Uvlius got to work as Arkol & Rusty turned and walked quickly from the Great Library.

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