Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Tianshi City: Tianshi Imperial Palace

Script

Script

Adorable Homewrecker
Benefactor
as written by Tiko

Arun was meandering through the halls of the Imperial palace, bored out of his mind. Losenji wasn't a horrible place, and it was fun learning about the local culture and customs, but he missed Volaria. When he wasn't caught up in his studies, he was usually exploring the palace for something or other to entertain the hours. He wasn't allowed off the grounds alone, and Kaida's staff had proven quite efficient at keeping the boy under a watchful eye that had disuaded his efforts to sneak off alone as he so often did back home in Volaria.

The Earthquake that shook the mainland of Shintenchi was far subdued this far from the coastal line that it had originated from, but the effects were still felt. It started with a steady vibration that confused Arun more than anything. The youth had never experienced an earthquake before, and his first thought was that something had attacked the Imperial Palace, causing it to quake so.

As the quakes grew in intensity he caught himself against a stone pillar to hold himself steady. The crash of ceramic drew his gaze to where a large jar had toppled within its display stand. It hadn't been a particular large fall - only a few inches from its stand to the bottom of the display case - but the ancient Arteghian relic had been within the possession of the Losenyu royal family for generations and its age had taken its toll on the fragile artifact.

There was something strange about it though, and a clear fluid was running free of the display case to puddle onto the floor beneath it.

With the tremors stopped, Arun let go of the pillar hesitantly and looked around before taking wary steps towards the display case. There within the jar a serpent of some nature or another was writhing free of the broken ceramic before it spilled out onto the bottom of the display stand.

Arun looked around, but the hall remained empty, and the strange animal had piqued his curiosity as he opened the display case to get a closer look at it. It appeared to be some sort of eel...

How had it survived in there for so long?

Whatever it was, it seemed to be dying now, and its flailing and writhing had fallen still. Arun carefully picked up a piece of the broken jar and poked the thing lightly to see if it was dead.

Thought of the earthquake still lingered upon his mind, but the youth's curiosity was a powerful force.
 
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as written by barney_fife and Tiko

As the child poked the serpent, the serpent remain motionless. It was waiting for the right opportunity to strike, silently lurking sitting and enduring the child as he poked at it. It wouldn't take long a few more pokes and the serpent flailed to life wants more.

What happened next could be described as quite surreal as the strange creature once more sprang to life, and slithered up the boy's arm. Once the creature reached the boy's shoulders, it swiftly began to burrow into the back of the boy's neck.

The young boy let out a startled cry as he dropped the piece of ceramic and stumbled back from the display stand. He tripped over his own feet and fell to the floor trying to grab the creature and pull it free while he screamed for help. The sharp pain in the back of his neck intensified as the creature burrowed deeper into the small wound it had created even as the boy flailed violently on the floor.

Hurried footsteps and shouts started down the hall towards the room Arun was in, but his struggles ceased as the last of the parasite's body disappeared into his own. He would swiftly find himself a prisoner in his own body as his eyes glowed vividly for a brief moment. The creature coiled itself tightly around the boys spinal column as tendrils snaked their way into his brain.

The outside observer would notice these eyes glowing brightly, however the glowing lasted only a brief moment and it was as if nothing had ever happened. The creature would quickly learn the boys habits from his memories and would be capable of mimicking his actions. The only sign that anything had transpired was a scar that manifested itself on the back of the boys neck, concealed by his long hair.

The God Qumatz had returned.
 
as written by Script

"Arun?" It was a young man's voice that called out as the footsteps drew closer. The Volarian prince's cries for help had not gone unheard, and within a few moments, Prince Kenji ran into the room along with two members of the dragonwatch. He quickly spotted Arun on the ground by the broken vase and hurried to his side.

"Are you alright? What happened?" he asked as he kneeled beside the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder. Behind him, the dragonwatch guards were scanning the chamber for any threat that might have caused the boy to yell so desperately, but there was nothing out of the ordinary in the chamber aside from a few fallen relics from the quake.
 
as written by Tiko

Arun - or rather, the boy who was once Arun - moved quickly to conceal that anything had transpired. At his side, and out of view of Kenji he closed his fingers around one of the broken bits of ceramic and he gripped it tightly enough that it cut into his palm and drew blood.

"I'm fine... I just fell. Everything was shaking," he explained. "It scared me," he added sheepishly.

He held his hand out to show Kenji the cut on his palm.
 
as written by Script

Kenji winced briefly at seeing the cut. "It's alright," he said with a bright smile, "It was just a little tremor. Nothing to worry about."

He turned to glance over his shoulder at the dragonwatch guards, "One of you, please go and get a doctor," he instructed, "Tell them that Prince Arun's hurt, it's nothing serious, but they're to hurry and meet us in his chambers!"

One of the guards, a woman, bowed her head in acknowledgement and ran off out of the room. As she was leaving, a serving girl came into sight. "Ah, good," Kenji beckoned her over, "Please, clean this up." He gestured at the shards of ceramic from the broken jar. "Be careful, keep the fragments together in case they're salvageable. I don't know what it was, but it might have been important."

He laughed, "Hopefully not too important, though."

Turning his attention back to Arun, he smiled. "Come on, let's go back to your rooms and get you bandaged up," he said, offering the boy a hand to help him to his feet.
 
as written by Tiko

Arun let Kenji pull him back to his feet before following him back to his chambers. The wound wasn't particularly deep, and in fact seemed substantially less deep than it had first appeared once the doctor had cleaned it up. Perhaps the blood had simply made it seem worse than it actually was.

The doctor had noted the scar on the back of Arun's neck while checking him over for any other injuries but it appeared as an old wound and he didn't pay it any mind. Surely it wasn't anything the boy had acquired during his stay here.

Once the wound on Arun's hand was bound, the doctor and Kenji had left him to his own devices once more with a gentle urging to be more careful.
 
as written by barney_fife

Some time Later...

The days following the earthquake saw a few minor behavioral changes from young Arun. He had taken an interest in certain Arteghian artifacts in relation to the canopic jar he knocked down. One artifact in particular was a gold colored metal ribbon, which appeared to wrap around the fingers, hand and forearm of the user with a red gem is nestled in the palm.

He eyed the photograph with mild intensity. He would have to find the location of this artifact.
 
as written by Script

"Arun?" Prince Kenji called from the entrance to the small library. "Katsuro is looking for you. You're late for lessons."

The young prince stepped into the room, moving with his characteristically unusual grace. "What are you reading, that has you so enraptured?" he inquired, raising an eyebrow - the hefty book of history certainly didn't look like light reading.
 
as written by barney_fife

"I'm not feeling well, I think I will pass on the lessons today." Arun said, feigning a slight raspy voice. "I just want to relax and do some light reading." He replied, before he held up a picture of the strange golden ribbon device he was researching.

"Out of curiousity, have you seen this in any museums around here? It says here it's an artifact of great power from Arteghia, it'd be really neat to see in person." Arum said, before he marked his place in the history book. Closing it and moving it aside, another history book was revealed, religions and customs of the ancient arteghian followers of Qumatz.
 
as written by Script

Kenji raised a skeptical eyebrow, but then simply laughed. "I should really disapprove, but I can't say I'm not guilty of having skipped my fair share of lessons," the prince remarked. He turned, raising his hand slightly, and within seconds a palace servant hurried forwards from the background, bowing lowly.

"Please, tell Master Naoe that Arun is unwell, and will not be attending lessons today," he instructed with a smile.

The young man nodded his head, and scurried away to deliver the message.

"I don't believe I've been to any museums in the city aside from the Gallery of Progress in the Ministry Quarter, and that was several years ago. I tend not to go on too many day trips. The sheer amount of fuss that the servants and guards put into any time I leave the palace grounds is stressful enough just by proximity that it's not worth the bother." The prince rolled his eyes. His dismissive attitude towards what he saw as unnecessary security and ceremony was well known within the palace.

He took a moment to examine the image and skim the page, before glancing down at the other books. "I'm sure I could arrange for a scholar who has studied Arteghia to visit the palace, if you wish. What about their culture has piqued your interest so?"
 
as written by barney_fife

"I feel really bad about the jar I broke, so I wanted to learn more about the people who made it" He said with a smile.

"If you could send a scholar, and all the arteghian artifacts you find, I would really like that." He said, before he opened another history book, holding it up and showing Kenji. "Did you know, my people were worshiped as gods." He said. "There is apparently an entire ancient religion devoted to the worship of Avorians."

He continued to thumb through the history books, taking it as much information as he can. Already his mind was hard work putting his escape, and his subsequent rise to power. He either the picture of the ribbon device intently, almost obsessively before he turns his attention back to Kenji

"No lessons today, Kenji. Today we are going to learn about ancient cultures." He added.
 
as written by Script

Kenji took the book, examining the indicated page with amusement. "So there was. Huh." He smirked. "Just don't let it go to your head."

He waved a hand again, summoning another servant from where she'd been waiting on the edge of vision. "Can you tell Wei Jun to find me a well reputed historian who's studied Ancient Arteghia, please? Thank you."

Once the woman had bowed and hurried off to carry out the order, Kenji looked back at Arun. "I can't stick around all day - I'm needed for some of the festival preparations." Losenji was coming up on the week of the Spirit Festival, an important ceremony that would involve celebrations across the island as well as a number of appearances by the Empress and the rest of the Imperial family.

Officially, Kenji was only needed to ensure that he was familiar with the ceremony and knew where to stand whilst Kaida was speaking, but unofficially... he had a little more of an involved role.

"But you have me for a few hours." The young boy's obsessive stare didn't escape Kenji's notice, and he carefully kept a frown of concern from his face. He supposed it was only natural to be excited to discover that your race used to be considered gods in some backwards ancient culture. "You've clearly made a start already. Anything else to do before that scholar arrives?"
 
as written by barney_fife

Arum slowly shook his head as he kept his attention on the book in front of him.

"No, I do want to know what all is here, so I can see the artifacts in person, but other than that I think I can do most of the research myself." He said, turning the page to reveal some more text, and another large picture of a strange pyramid like structure in Arteghia.

"My queen..." He said quietly, barely audible as his hand ran across the paper. According to the text, his queen was still alive, and stored in stasis aboard what was left of his Cheops class ship.

He would have to put his plan to go to Arteghia in motion.
 
as written by Script

"...what was that?" Kenji asked, raising an eyebrow. 'My queen'? Had he heard that right? Maybe there was some context he was missing, but Arun was acting rather oddly, even for a kid. He made a mental note to talk to Kaida about it when he next saw her.

The prince leaned against a chair, peering at the text over Arun's shoulder. Most would have found the text difficult to read at a distance, but Kenji had no such issues. He skimmed something about a stasis chamber, before Arun turned the page.

It would be a while before the scholar arrived, since Arteghian history was far from a common subject. The messenger would have to make their way to one of the universities, or perhaps a museum.
 
as written by barney_fife

"It was nothing, pay no attention. This book is very fascinating, I was reading from it's text." Arun said playfully. Of course he noticed that Kenji was acting rather suspicious of him, already the Goa'uld was plotting, planning, as Arun's expression changed slightly.

"I hope the scholar comes soon." He said, turning a page to reveal a large picture of an Avorian 'God' wielding what appeared to be some kind of Vishatafa predecessor standing next to a throne, his eyes glowing brightly and his attire adorned with feathers and various Goa'uld accoutrements, including the hand device Arun had been so intent to go see.

"So fascinating..." He said, turning the page to reveal an inscription and text describing an army of "Jaffa warriors" that ruled over the natives of Arteghia.
 
as written by Script

If Kenji was honest, there were a significant number of things he'd rather have been doing with his afternoon than researching ancient cultures. He'd done enough of that when he was younger, and honestly, couldn't see how it would ever be useful for him. He was the fourth child, and it would take some kind of catastrophic disaster to see him ever assuming the throne, where he'd need that knowledge.

And so, he largely nodded along with everything Arun was saying as they waited for the scholar to arrive, whilst in some cases entirely tuning out.

It was approaching an hour later before there was a knock at the door, and the historian was led in by one of the servants.
 
as written by Script

The historian was a relatively young woman for her respective profession, and perhaps not the most world-renowned as a result. But within her field she was well known for her rather extensive knowledge into the ancient cultures of Arteghia. Having just entered into her profession she was largely making a name for herself as a guest lecturer across Losenji schools, and had even taken several requests in Volaria and the Sato Shogunate, to guest lecture at prominent academies of learning.

She had quite a passion for her work, but simply lacked the years behind her name to really make waves in the higher education community. Fortunately for her that also meant her schedule was largely free up between her travels and that meant that the twenty-seven year old's name was at the forefront of recommendations by more prominent professors and historians that were otherwise indisposed of on such short notice.

As she was admitted into the room she offered a low bow before greeting the pair.

"Your Imperial Majesty. Prince Arun. It is a pleasure to be of service to you. My name is Lanyang Ts'ui."
 
as written by barney_fife

Arun kept his gaze fixated on the history book, turning pages and reading the text. Mostly to inflate his own ego, as the book was describing his exploits in Arteghia.

Quite rapidly, Arun flipped back several pages until the hand device was revealed, he then held the book up to the Scholar.

"I wish to know what this device is, and where it's located. The text says it was the source of power for the God Qumatz, would this thing be in the same collection that Vase from Arteghia was in?" He asked.

"I want to see it."
 
as written by Script

Kenji smiled to Lanyang as she entered, "Thank you for coming on such short notice, Miss Ts'ui," he said, before Arun launched into his request. He half-raised an eyebrow at the boy's manner.

"Any help you could provide to Prince Arun would be greatly appreciated, of course," he added, in an attempt to make up for Arun's demanding tone.
 
as written by Tiko

Lanyang too seemed a bit taken back by the child's rather forward attitude, but she quickly regained her composure at Keni's urgings to assist the child on the matter.

"It was yes," she answered. "There are few records and artifacts that survived that era, and those that have been recovered over the years are well known. That one in particular has been referenced as a 'kara kesh' on some ancient tablets, though it is more commonly known by its Volarian name. The kala'i ka dohe. It's theorized that the kala'i ka dohe were attempts to recreate the original that was believed lost to the ages until it was unearthed about fifty years ago. It - and the vase - were both purchased at an auction and are now part of the Imperial family's royal collection right here in Tianshi City. That particular piece I believe is currently on loan to a local museum though."
 
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