[OL-TC2A] Shadows of a distant past

[Keymonus]

The Labyrinth, El Oleonda, May 624... or another time?

Spoiler

Ghostly voices

Down below

A suspicious jungle stroll

The mouth of the Emperor

The City of the Dead

Konrad was exhausted. He hadn't eaten anything in days, and for sure he hadn't slept at all... not after what he had seen.
The previous days were only incoherent flashes for him, but that was enough to keep him walking: the bivouac with Hans and Professor Wagner, somewhere in the Labyrinth. Hans shooting his musket to scare a jaguar away. The drums, those damned drums in the darkness, getting closer and closer. The javelin piercing Hans' chest. The guards trying to run away, just to fall after a few steps. Professor Wagner placing a backpack on his shoulders, pushing the cipher in his hands, and yelling him to run away. Then everything he could remember was jungle, ruins, and jungle again... and the parrots, repeating Professor Wagner's last words, again and again.

He tripped into something and almost fell. It would have been so easy... falling, and then just lying down to rest. But Konrad had something important to do: he had to bring the cipher to someone, but at the moment he couldn't remember to whom. What he knew for sure, however, was that the cipher was actually something else, something that could change their understanding of the New World... but he was too tired to remember exactly why. He was so tired... but he had to keep walking. In a corner of his mind, Konrad noticed that the ground was scattered with countless artifacts: style B terracotta bowls, and a jasper statuette of the same age... probably lying there since the fall of the ancient city.

Finding so many objects from the old times was extremely unusual, even in the Labyrinth. For some reason, the modern natives must have avoided that place, out of fear or respect. But where was he? Konrad had never been there, he was sure. The palace was incredibly well-preserved, despite the plants growing out of every crack.

However, it was the first time Konrad had ever seen a building retaining so well the original decorations. If it had been possible, that place almost seemed... alive?

The walls seemed freshly painted. There were bright curtains at every window, and Konrad even saw a bird feeder for the parrots.

Then Konrad saw that there were people all around him. How was it possible? How could have not noticed them before? They were clearly natives, and their paintings resembled the ones of the savage Daca who had slaughtered his friends... but everybody seemed friendly, and Konrad couldn't see any weapon.

Konrad realized he was in the middle of a marketplace: people were selling fruits, fish, and wonderful terracotta objects...

...but also corn, spices, and the huge eggs of birds that -Konrad was sure- didn't live on El Oleonda. Native merchants from all over the New Haven Seas, or even further, must have gathered there to sell their wares! Looking better, Konrad thought to recognize some of their tribes: a man from Salida Este, with his bright cotton jacket, and a woman from Fatu Hiva, with her peculiar scarf....

...even a Myzec from Cascadia, wrapped in a jaguar skin. However, there was something strange: that place, the way those people dressed and behaved... everything seemed different from the native settlements Konrad had seen around the archipelago. Everything seemed at the same time more ancient, but more advanced and civilized.

Konrad roused himself. All of a sudden, he realized that he was hungry, thirsty, and shaking from the fever. He tried to ask for help, for food and water, but nobody seemed to hear him. He tried in Carnite, in Tyree'De, and even in Lotii. Desperate, he even tried to barter the cipher for some food, but the merchants didn't even notice him... as if he wasn't really there, or as if they were only shadows of a distant past.

All of a sudden, Konrad was alone again, back in the jungle. Back to his time, and his desperate situation. He started crying. The natives, the market, the colors on the building... everybody had disappeared, and he was probably going to die. But... but there was still someone! A man in a blue tunic, coming in his direction!

That man had come for him, he was sure... to bring him back to the city, to that wonderful market, out of that damned jungle! He started thanking him in tears. Maybe that place was the afterlife, but it didn't seem bad at all!

Konrad was outmost surprised when the man answered, in a stumbling Carnite: "Mon ami, I have no idea of what you are talking about... but we'll bring you out of these damned ruins, you have my word!"

--------------------------------

Overall view:

Note: I planned two more parts after this, but probably (due to the deadline approaching), I will probably only publish a conclusive part.
As you can see, here I decided to join two different "versions" of the same build in a single 20x20 build. The use of the medium nougat limited me a lot in the part choice, but I really like this color... and I hope you'll enjoy the result!

[NOD]

Great story with Konrad seeing a vision of the past! The ruin, overgrown with plants, is very nice built. I like the market place in the past version with the happy residents even better. The building has a very beautiful architecture. I like the door and window curtains. It's good that Konrad was found and rescued by the expedition people.

[Khorne]

Yet another fine entry to the story! I think this one is one of the best yet. I really like the duality of the build with one side showing the present and the other one showing the very colorful past. Lots of great figures as well. I really need to buy some more produce pieces. I think I only own one banana piece .

[Keymonus]

On 7/31/2024 at 9:33 AM, NOD said:

Great story with Konrad seeing a vision of the past! The ruin, overgrown with plants, is very nice built. I like the market place in the past version with the happy residents even better. The building has a very beautiful architecture. I like the door and window curtains. It's good that Konrad was found and rescued by the expedition people.

Thank you! I read that several of the ancient buildings were somehow painted and decorated, and I wanted to play a little on this comparison! Despite the small scale and the simple architecture, I'm very happy about the result!

On 7/31/2024 at 9:00 PM, Khorne said:

Yet another fine entry to the story! I think this one is one of the best yet. I really like the duality of the build with one side showing the present and the other one showing the very colorful past. Lots of great figures as well. I really need to buy some more produce pieces. I think I only own one banana piece .

Thanks! This MOC wasn't in the original plan, and it grew almost by chance... but I love it! As usual with ghosts and supernatural things, I kept it borderline between being a vision/hallucination and being something "real". It is something I only did a couple of times, but I love the way it turned out!