'Au Dorado? Really?' Filigree asked in their minds.
'I know, right?' Crimson spoke up. 'I an, there's only so much that we can take before it gets ridiculous.'
'Why is that a problem?' Crescendo asked.
'It's because of the Au,' Viper explained. 'Au is the atomic symbol for gold, so the city of Au Dorado ans the city of golden Dorado.'
'Oh, that's not even the worst part. Dorado ans golden in Spanish. So we are quite literally talking about the city of gold golden,' Vulcan added.
'Couldn't it be sothing else?' Mock suggested. 'Like the city of dogs or sothing? Don't they go au au in Portuguese?'
Hera rubbed her temple. 'Honestly, at this point I would be happy if that were the case. Gold golden is...'
"Everything okay there, miss? You've been awfully quiet since I appeared," the orc that was the reason for triggering the quest asked.
Hera looked towards him and noticed that he truly had a worried expression. It didn't seem like the man was upset or anything, just concerned. She took a deep breath to realize her thoughts before the Empress smiled.
"Sorry about that. I was just surprised at everything. You are looking for the city of Au Dorado?"
"Exactly!" he said. "It's said to be a long-lost city from an ancient civilization that is so rich in mystery. So of the tales tell how this was supposed to be a temple, maybe to honor the gods, and that through that sa temple, the gods would bestow blessings on the faithful. Other legends say that it was the ho of a mighty Devil who desolated the land and stripped it down of all resources, until the ancient people managed to trap him inside the very sa city that he built, leaving him to rot in there for all eternity. There are many stories surrounding Au Dorado, and I intend to discover which is the real one."
"More often than not, all stories have so pieces of the truth," Hera replied. "Legends co from actual events, only twisted by the perception of those witnesses. Maybe there really is an ancient creature who was trapped inside the city. Maybe so powerful being ca here to inhabit the city and bestowed its blessings on those who lived here. Or maybe it was just a trap to lure people there and kill them before they could share the information around."
Rembering one of the versions of the story of El Dorado back on Earth, Livy added, "There was a good number of people who believed it was just a lie. A tale to make sure that people would be going on random goose chases instead of focusing on subjugating the indigenous people of the region.
The orc nodded, "That is true, We don't give enough credit to the indigenous people all the ti. They tended to be very capable of creative thinking in order to protect their own. The reality of the matter is sothing we will only discover once we find the ancient city. Can I count on your assistance?"
He smiled in a way that was equally off-putting and endearing at the sa ti due to how his tusks seed to stretch the sides of his face. Still, Hera nodded. "Of course. You may count on to help you with this discovery. However, I will be honest and say that if things take a turn for the worst, I will flee."
He clapped his hands. "Wonderful. And I cannot bla you for thinking about your life first. Not all of us are willing to die for a discovery."
Hera hear so chuckles from her court in her mind. It wasn't so much a situation where she wasn't willing to die for a discovery. After all, she ca to Deakoshara on her own to try to figure out more about the Naga. But she had no intention of dying here in this dungeon to help this orc's.
Yet, she still couldn't wrap her head around the orc's existence. Not just because he was an orc, after all, she wasn't really expecting to find one here. But because his clothes seed to be from maybe 500 years ago. Old, yes, but still very modern in a way. Much more modern than what she expected from the Naga. And if the Naga had access to this dungeon, then why were they not able to develop fabrics or ways to make clothes that felt more modern?
Hera didn't even get the notification saying that she was the first person to ever step foot here. aning that soone else ca here and completed this dungeon, or at least participated in this dungeon before.
So in her mind, there were only two possibilities. One, she wasn't the first person to find this place after the Naga left, and there was another civilization nearby who had access to this room. A prospect that made her very worried for a multitude of reasons. Or two, this was a dungeon that existed in the past when the Naga still road the area, but the dungeon was updated. Which wasn't sothing she knew the guides could do. It would be very nice to ask right now, but in order to do so, she would have to wait until she was back in her private room.
"Actually," Hera spoke up, causing her court to turn to her. While the orc was looking around. But she just shook her head and said in her mind, 'Sorry, sorry, I'm thinking about... We just figured out that I can talk to the guides even if I'm not in the private room, right?'
'Yeah. As long as you are wrapped in a bunch of your own magic, it works, right?' Filigree asked for confirmation.
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The Empress nodded, 'Yeah. So maybe I can talk to them now and ask so things about this dungeon. Not about anything that the guides would need to step in to say, but just so pieces of information that are not sitting well in my mind.'
Turning back to the orc, Hera asked, "Say, do you have a campsite or sothing nearby? I am more than happy to help you figure out where Au Dorado is, but I need a few monts alone just to get ready for such a journey."
"Of course, of course," he replied. "Please follow back to my camp. There you can see all the progress I already made. There is a good chunk of this forest already mapped out. I also found a few clues that might lead us to the ancient city. If you don't have a tent, I'm more than happy to provide one for you."
"I have one, so I'm set on that end. Thanks," Hera smiled.
"Wonderful. Please follow . My na is Eli, by the way."
The Empress smiled. "Lovely to et you, Eli. I'm Hera." and they started walking towards the campsite that he was using.
It didn't take long, as it was just a few minutes away from the entrance to the dungeon. Which made sense in the Empress's mind. After all, if the dungeon was supposed to have people helping him find out about the ruins of the city, it was expected that the ho base would be near where the people who entered the dungeon would find him.
Eli pointed at a large, round tent. "That is mine. Feel free to put yours anywhere around here."
"And is the area safe?" the Empress asked.
"It is. It is safe. You can put your tent here whenever you want, and the protections that I placed around here should be more than enough to stop anyone from coming." Eli pointed to a few totems that were forming the periter of his camp.
Hera quickly set up her own tent and walked inside, making sure to be far from the entrance and completely covered by the sides of the surrounding tarp. Even if Eli was a dungeon NPC, she wasn't entirely sure how her Guide skill would interact with him, and she had no intention of getting a strike just because she was careless.
Once she felt ready, the Empress created a barrier around her using [Blade Accord] and [Noble Shroud], replicating the sa thing she did when she talked with Seth. She created almost a cocoon around her, leaving a couple of her Title Blades outside to stop Eli from getting close, just in case the orc beca a bit more curious about the situation.
Once she felt confident enough, the Empress pulled out her tablet and sent a ssage on the Guide's group chat.
Hera: Hey, quick question. I'm in Deakoshara right now, and I'm running a dungeon, but there are so things that are not really adding up. Can anyone just help figure sothing out?
Peaches: Jeez, I got to say, kid, it's really weird to talk to you when you're not in your private room.
Capri: I must agree. It is indeed a unique experience.
Hera: Really? What happens?
Lodi: It's nothing major. We just feel as if we are getting into contact with soone who was using an old radio. Like the connection is not quite there. It's even stranger when you are using text. It's really not sothing that I can even explain.
Hera: Oh, sorry about that. I can not talk to you like this if it's being a problem.
Berthellemy: No, that's fine, It's not so much that it hurts us or anything. It's just weird. But we're weird all the ti, so feel free to talk."
Hera paused for a mont but decided to go along with it.
Hera: Okay then. Can anyone tell if you are able to update dungeons? Like if there's sothing in a dungeon that you want to change, or because things change with ti and you need to adapt it for modern society, can you do it?
Capri: Unfortunately, the magnanimous is unable to understand the question. Are you willing to elaborate?
Hera: Sure, I'm in a dungeon with an orc searching for Au Dorado. Which is a bad na, but I'm not going there. The question is, the way he looks and the things he has feel very colonial, you know? From 500 to 600 years ago. Back then, people should be wearing the kind of clothes and using the types of tools that he has. But if the Naga existed when this dungeon was created, then they would know about these types of materials and would probably adapt their technology to match that. And I know for a fact that I'm not the first one to run this dungeon. That notification didn't appear. So I'm wondering if anyone found this place before I did, or if you can, you know, update things inside a dungeon just if you want to or sothing."
Hera explained and watched as the three dots appeared as if many people were typing. Eventually, only one of them replied.
Laika: We can actually do that. Update dungeons. It's really not that hard, but we do need to do it in a mont when there is no one running the dungeon. Sotis we kind of block the entrance just for a day or two to run the updates, but we can do it.
Miss Jackie: You know a lot about that, hun?
Laika: I do. I really do. The thing is, sci-fi changes all the ti. Things that were futuristic 10 years ago are not futuristic anymore. So, I need to keep constantly updating so of my dungeons to reflect what people would expect from sothing futuristic. We can't do that with historical dungeons, though. In those cases, those dungeons are just as they're ant to be. The only thing we could do is give them a different language if the language they speak is no longer spoken, or if people who are going there generally don't know that kind of language. We just make sure that everybody inside is speaking sothing that others will understand.
Hera: I see. So, in this case, the dungeon that I am in could be the sa one that the Naga had, just updated?
Laika: Pretty much. And considering we are talking about a room that was blocked off from everywhere else, it makes a lot of sense that the guides spent so ti working on updating the dungeon. We do get bored when there is nothing going on in our room.
Hera nodded but didn't type anything for a few monts before asking sothing else:
Hera: Is the guide of this room upset with because I'm taking so long to call them?
Miss Jackie: Not really, but-
The rest of the ssage was cut off, with Peaches taking charge of the conversation and blocking that specific ssage from coming through.
Peaches: You don't have to worry about that, kid. So call us right away, and others call only when they find it necessary. Call the guide of Deakoshara when you feel like it, not when you think they will want you to.
The Empress understood where Peaches was coming from. It was likely that the first guide she t was saying sothing to protect her. She thanked them all once again and promised to throw a party, or at least to call them to her private room as soon as possible, and left this small cocoon after saying her goodbyes.
She was ready to explore more of this area and help Eli find the city of Au Dorado, especially now that she could feel more at ease with the environnt. After all, the guides almost confird her suspicion that the Naga were the only people who ca here. She wouldn't have to worry about a new species showing up, especially considering what happened the last ti a new sapient species appeared in the MAZE.
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