Notes on Nurcan: A strange artifact (#95)

#95 Draw or write about a talisman for your character.

For as long as Nurcan remembers herself, she had a peculiar item in her possession. At first glance one could easily mistake it for a simple rock, however upon further inspection it becomes clear, that its angular pyramid-like shape doesn't appear to be natural and its surface is adorned with many thin grooves, creating a web-like ornament of sorts, covering the whole thing. For a human the strange properties of this object would end with its appearance, however for a being sensitive to mental space, such as Nurcan, the item presents even more mysteries.

This artifact appears to store a vast amount of information, something Nurcan can clearly feel, however most of its contents remain impossible for her to understand even to this day, leaving her greatly intrigued. The few clues she could decipher from it set her on a track to discover some interesting places, the first of which was hidden deep in the ocean. Fortunately for Nurcan, exploring the underwater environment wasn't a problem, as she's well adapted for swimming, not needing to surface to breathe, her wings in retracted state serving as flippers and the tail shape being suitable for effectively propelling her through the water.

Following the clue, Nurcan found a cave entrance on the side of the underwater mountain, which led her to a series of rooms large enough for the 3 meter tall creature to explore them freely. The cave was overgrown with algae, fully covering the walls and various stone structures present inside. However nothing could hide the fact that the mental space of this place wasn't empty, suggesting to Nurcan, that it was once inhabited or at least frequently visited by sapient beings. The traces of information were too vague to understand, but it was a clear sign, that Nurcan was on the right track.

A large stone structure in the middle of one of the furthest rooms  seemed to be the source of the most prominent echoes in the mental space, prompting Nurcan to carefully inspect it. She cleared away the dense algae, revealing the familiar angular form. It was almost identical to the little pyramid-like object Nurcan brought with her, with the exception of what appeared to be a shallow socket present on one of its horizontal surfaces, the shape of which seemed to correspond to the artifact's base.

And indeed, the strange item, that started this journey, was a key. Upon placing it into the socket, its grooves began to glow and the whole room came to life – the light from the artifact spread onto the stone structure, lighting up the intricate patterns on its surface and making some of its parts move, accompanied by muffled thuds, as if they were unusually shaped cogs in this otherworldly machine. Then the glow spread onto the ornaments on the walls of the room, making them visible through all the algae obscuring them.

It took Nurcan quite some time to properly study this place in its activated form, figuring out the meaning of it all, but in the end it was worth it, as not only did it lead to her understanding more of the information stored in the artifact, which would lead her to more places of interest (one of which started her Paperverse adventure), but it also revealed some new properties of the artifact. For example, it could amplify one's crafting ability, allowing even an inexperienced artificer like Nurcan to create useful items to aid her on her journeys.