After the three people and one cat finished their banter, they spotted Captain Steve Damon directing his crew to dig up a small raised mound in the basin.
Armed with shovels, pickaxes, and hoes, they excavated the dry mound, with mages joining in to haul dirt and smash rocks using magic.
The metal tools rose and fell in rhythm, kicking up huge clouds of dust and sand. Steve, in his striped shirt, stood off to the side, clutching an ancient parchment scroll and barking orders at the workers.
Barrett curiously asked Steve what they were up to, and Steve explained that he had a treasure map sketched by explorers over a decade ago. The caravan just happened to be passing through the Blacktar Wastes, so they made a detour here to unearth treasures left behind from the Eight Greed Kings era.
"You know? The reason there are so many mud golems and Sandstorm Stalkers around here is because of those Eight Greed Kings' treasures. The magic infused in them draws the soil and sandstorms together, turning them into monsters," Captain Steve said with excitement.
With the aid of Levitate spells, massive clumps of dirt were hauled out of the basin, suddenly revealing a rough cave entrance.
A rope ladder was rigged straight down to the cave's bottom. The Golden Aquarius caravan sent a few folks down into the cave, and EeDechi, Barrett, and the others curiously climbed down the ladder after them.
Beneath the cave lay a surprisingly spacious chamber. As the group ventured through the underground ruins, the flames of tallow candles flickered gently, showing there was plenty of oxygen. The glow from crystal lanterns cut through the darkness, casting light on the walls of the subterranean space.
One crystal lantern after another lit up, and firefly-like magical lights bloomed forth, swiftly stripping away the veil of mystery from the underground area.
Collapsed houses, crumbling stone walls, rundown roads, shattered pottery fragments, and broken pots, pans, and utensils all pointed to this being a tiny remnant of a corner of a city from the Eight Greed Kings' empire.
EeDechi led the way, weaving through the bell tower crushed by mud pillars and the dried-up stone-carved fountain, until an ancient towering stone monument loomed before them. The monument was etched with bold, flowing script, recounting the tale of the old city to any who followed.
After wiping away the dust from the weathered monument, Barrett and a knowledgeable traveling mage stood side by side, poring over the ancient Common tongue inscribed upon it.
Though the official language of the Eight Greed Kings' era was Common, six hundred years of shifting times had brought new words into being, seen old ones fade away, and even tweaked the grammar in subtle ways.
Most of the monument's text bragged about the Eight Greed Kings' feats in governance and war, along with their triumphs in subduing every race under the sun and crushing all foes across the world without rival.
According to the monument's records, the ancient dragons were the race with the best shot at standing against the Eight Greed Kings. Before the Eight Greed Kings descended, this world had been an age of dragon prosperity.
Dragons perched at the pinnacle of the food chain, ruling the earth with razor-sharp claws and blazing fire. They roamed freely, soaring through the endless skies, their massive wings eclipsing the sun. Among them, the long-lived elder dragons who wielded potent Wild Magic were known as Dragon Lords.
Once, there were three mightiest and most ancient Dragon Lords, bearing noble and haughty titles: Dragon Progenitor, Dragon Emperor, and Dragon Endbringer. Ancient ballads echoed in the bleak winds, while shadow-dwelling black mages honored these three Dragon Lords as the "Three Dragon Gods Beneath the World."
The three dragon gods rallied the dragon clans and dragonborn armies under their sway to battle and defy the might of the Eight Greed Kings, but in the end, they fell in defeat. From that point, the dragons withered into utter decline, with even the three dragon gods meeting their doom at the hands of the Eight Greed Kings' sorcery.
Barrett held the crystal lantern to illuminate the monument, reading the words on it one by one:
"The divine power of the emperors is unmatched; wherever the scepter points, that is the empire's domain...
"...In the imperial year 1336, the empire conquered the entire world! Whether it's the dragons of the skies, the dwarf kingdoms deep underground, or the merfolk tribes in the ocean abysses, all races of the world have utterly prostrated themselves at the empire's feet..."
"Elves, dwarves, humans, chromatic dragons, aarakocra, aboleths, liches, beholders, goblins, genies, illithids, minotaurs, troglodytes, lizardmen, kuo-toa, couatls, trolls, satyrs, quaggoths... all submit to the eight emperors.
"Everything of everything, all of all, falls under the rule of the eight emperors. THE ENTIRE WORLD HAS BEEN THOROUGHLY CONQUERED!"
After Barrett finished reading, he savored the words on the monument carefully. Even spanning six hundred years, he could still sense the bold imperial spirit of the Eight Greed Kings in conquering the world and ruling over all races.
"In the imperial year 1336, the empire conquered the entire world..."
Barrett looked up at the towering monument once more, and suddenly, he had a strange feeling, as if something was jammed in his brain.
It was like some memory fragment hidden in a deep, shadowy black ocean, stubbornly glowing, urging Barrett to remember something.
Barrett slapped his forehead and muttered to himself: "Weird, I keep feeling like something's not right, like there's something in my memory that's clashing..."
EeDechi paced back and forth nearby, curiously eyeing the surroundings. Barrett spotted his captain, which reminded him of EeDechi's fight today, bringing to mind that massive stone giant plummeting from the sky, cowing everyone around…
"Captain!" Barrett cried out: "Hand me your Constructs Storage Box so I can take a look."
"Huh?" EeDechi was a bit surprised, but she still pulled out the Constructs Storage Box with its dark gold frame and crystal dividers, passing it to Barrett.
Barrett flipped the Constructs Storage Box upside down, peering at the bottom. On the dark gold base, that line of silver-inscribed text made Barrett's heart thump wildly.
Right there on the base of the Constructs Storage Box, it read:
"Imperial Year 1339, the Great Expedition began.
"I followed eight emperors, with no chance to turn back. Elsa, I leave this small toy for our child yet to be born.
"Goodbye, my love, do not wait for my return."
"What's up?" EeDechi glanced at the base of the Constructs Storage Box. "What's so surprising... this doesn't add up!"
Imperial Year 1336, the empire conquered the entire world.
Imperial Year 1339, the Great Expedition began!
"I'm a bit confused," EeDechi said, holding her forehead. "Why would the Great Expedition happen three years after totally conquering the world? If they've already taken over the whole world, why launch a Great Expedition? Against who?"
"I can't answer that one either," Barrett said gravely.
He traced his fingers over the silver-inscribed text on the Constructs Storage Box, sensing that behind these few sparse lines lay the ultimate secret.
Suddenly, the underground started shaking, dirt tumbling down, stone walls splitting with spiderweb cracks. "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" Noises like savage tribal war drums echoed through the earth.
From the rope ladder at the cave entrance, someone yelled: "Get out fast! The ruin's guardian has woken up!"