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.Armor and jewelry—that's metalwork and another story.Elves, now, they have the longest memories.When they make a picture like this, it's to remind other folk, and they hate it when you question what's real and what's not.Everything is real to an elf.""Some of them just have a finer sense of humor about it than others," added Ivy, who got along better with elves than the rest of the Siegebreakers.She appreciated their efforts to seek out her father in Ardecp when he disappeared during his last journey into the forest.It wasn't the elves' fault that he had not wanted to be found after her mother's death.Ivy suspected that he was probably one of the murmuring oaks shading the path there.He had always talked about the simplicity of life as a tree—trees, after all, did not have hearts that could break, or even crack a little."So, is this a real event or not?" asked Zuzzara, who never could stand much philosophizing and disliked talk about elves because of some bad experiences with one of her stepmothers."Well, it's not an elf-made picture, which makes it a bit tricky to tell," started Mumchance."Somebody came down here in the dust and gloom, not to mention risking kobolds and whatever chewed that bugbear, and stopped to look at it," said Ivy."Maybe we should discover who that person was," suggested Sanval."Or maybe we should look for a way out that keeps us out of their path," Ivy said loudly.Nobody was listening to her.They were all carefully puzzling over the picture on the floor.There were times when kobolds were more sensible than her friends.At least koboldsconcentrated on the basics like finding food and left mystical patterns written in the floor tiles alone."I don't think that they were just looking at the pictures.I think they stopped to read the runes," added Gunderal."Look how the dust is cleaned away so carefully.""Can you read them?" asked Ivy, because it was obvious that nobody was going to do anything until they had solved this little mystery.Gunderal shook her head."Too old.Four hundred years or more, if I had to guess.And it's only a guess." She looked at Mumchance where he was bent over the runes, tracing the edges of each shape with a stubby finger."I'm old," snorted the dwarf."But I'm not that old.Runes change, meanings change.But these.These might be corruptions of old Netherese symbols.""That is not possible," said Sanval."Even I know that empire was dust long before the first Tsurlagol was built," added Ivy, just to stay in the conversation."The empire disappeared long before Tsurlagol was built," agreed Mumchance."But that doesn't mean all their magic disappeared overnight.Dig deep enough and you run into strange things in the Vast—artifacts, toys, bits of spellbooks that those mad sorcerers left behind.They were human, after all—that meant they bred like rabbits and ran like deer when the disaster finally overtook them.""Mumchance," said Ivy in gentle reproof."Both Sanval and I would like to think our race has a few redeeming qualities.""Many and many," said the dwarf."You humans are usually nice to dogs and other small furry creatures.But the best of all is that you know when to run to survive.Dwarves can be too stubborn sometimes." He fingered the old scars on his face and shook his head at memories of the mine fire that haddestroyed his family.He shrugged and continued the discussion of Netheril, because ancient history was always more pleasant than his own memories."When the shining cities fell, not everyone died.Some carried mighty magic into exile.There have always been rumors about a fantastic treasure buried beneath Tsurlagol.The story goes that the first time Tsurlagol fell into dust and ruin, it was because of a great magic that men could not control.That sounds like Netheril to me.Then later they started that mad fire that they had to bury under the earth.That was fairly recent history for a dwarf, not much before my grandfather's father's time.And they used some fancy artifact to bury the city, something like what would have come out of Netheril.""But is there information here that can help us?" said Ivy, glancing around the shadowed bath."The dwarf is right, my dears.These symbols are not well made, but they do bear great resemblance to those used by Netheril and its sorcerers," said Kid, circling back to peer over Mumchance's shoulder.He pursed his lips
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