2012-07-02: The Awakening - Act VI
The grass beneath his tread was soft, and covered in the morning dew from a sun that was rising in the east. Each step was taken without any specific destination, and there was no greater purpose in these steps beyond wandering; the land was unfamiliar and strange, and there were no clear landmarks to guide the way, and no signs of any sort…so he wandered. His robe dragged along the ground, fraying its edges as he went…but he paid it no heed. Finally at the end of his energy for the moment, he dropped to his knees in the soft grass, and meditated. An answer would come, or a path would be found. As he grew accustomed to the scents and sounds all around him, a new and unfamiliar sound crept to his ears. He drew himself up and brushed grass from his robe, before altering his direction…and headed in the direction of the wail of anguish he’d heard.
It took some time, but eventually he saw a thin wisp of smoke rising in the air; soon after, the smell of cooked meat reached his nose. Thinking to find himself at some sort of gypsy outpost, he was far more confused to hear noises that could only be associated with the sick and dying, and he hastened his pace. He stopped suddenly as he saw a red and white sign affixed to an ankh in front of him. While the ankh served to give him some minor comfort that he was not in completely alien circumstance, the sign brought confusion and curiosity to the forefront.
Quarantine Area! Danger! Entry Prohibited By Order Of Queen Zhah
There was a fence to lend credence to the quarantine order, but the gates were missing, and he found no guard barring his entry. Were it truly this dangerous, would there not be more stringent measures taken? And what of this Zhah, whom the sign ostensibly claimed to be a Queen? It had seemed there was far more to know than he could have imagined.
He was close enough now to hear the coughs and moans of the dying and deathly ill, and looking at the sign once more, he strode brazenly past the fencing, paying the sign no more attention. Perhaps the people here could answer his questions, he thought. It was only to find yet another shock as he approached, to see that what lay before him in the area were naught but gargoyles…and not even gargoyles as he knew them. He observed the strange gargoyles carefully and was already mentally cataloguing their symptoms in his head as best he could, despite his unfamiliarity with them. As he walked through the makeshift camp, he stepped onto finely grained sand and rounded the corner of a building before blanching at the sight before him, and realized that his initial assumption earlier wasn’t too far off about cooked meat. His sight was consumed by a funeral pyre, tended by two healthier looking gargoyles, who even as he watched silently threw another limp body atop it. His jaw set with determination at the sight, and despite his curiosity, he knew what had to be done.
All initial attempts and conventional remedies had failed him; his magic was equally ineffective in curing these gargoyles of their affliction. It had been…an indeterminable amount of time since he had needed to apply himself in such a manner as this, and certainly even longer since being presented with one that would require his knowledge of alchemy. Still, with as focused as most alchemists had become on only the most basic potions, the archaic way he approached it had opened up new avenues, and he checked over the list he’d come up with. He wasn’t absolutely certain it would work, but he knew it was a better chance than they’d had before. Still, it would be dangerous to gather some of the ingredients, if they could even still be gathered. He was unsure if the Blightborn slimes could even be found, but he was fairly certain that Orcs and Terathans were too hardy to have vanished completely. Add that to sugar and vanilla, which any horticulturist should be able to gather, and a cure should be able to be fashioned.
The problem would be with the disease itself; it seemed to constantly change itself and stop responding to what few treatments they’d already used to stifle it, so that meant that the cure wouldn’t be consistent. It was possible that with different quantities of each ingredient mixed in different fashions, the same ingredients could continue to be effective for some time. He now only found himself with one major problem; being without anyone to assist in finding and gathering the ingredients.
Japanese version
彼の足元の芝生は柔らかく、東から登る太陽の光をあびてキラキラと光る朝露に濡れていた。男の足は明確な目的地を目指しているようには見えず、あてもなくさまよっていた。見知らぬ土地、見知らぬ風景。道しるべも見当たらず、特別な建物も見当たらない……。だから、彼は放浪していた。まとったローブは引きずられ、彼が歩くにつれて裾がすり減っていく……。だが、彼は気にしなかった。ついに力を使い果たした男は、柔らかな草の上に膝をつき瞑想を始めた。答えが導き出されるかもしれない、あるいは道が見出されるかもしれない、と。男が周囲の匂いや音に慣れて来たとき、聞き覚えのない音が耳に入ってくるようになってきた。男はすっくと立ち上がり、ローブについた草を払い落すと、身体の向きを変え、苦痛の叫び声が聞こえた方角へ向かった。
しばらくの後、ようやく男の目に薄く立ち昇る一筋の煙が見えてきた。肉を焼いて調理する匂いが鼻に届く。ジプシーたちの居留地かなにかに辿りついたと思っていた男は、病と死を告げる物音を耳にして困惑し、足を速めた。アンクにかかげられた赤と白の看板を見て、男は立ち止まった。アンクの存在は、完全な異国の地にいるわけではないというわずかな慰めを男に与えたが、看板は男の心に困惑と好奇心を呼び起こした。
Quarantine Area! Danger! Entry Prohibited By Order Of Queen Zhah （[隔離エリア] 危険！ ザー女王の命により、 立ち入りを禁ず！）
隔離命令にふさわしい柵はあったが、門は無く、入り口を守るガードも見当たらなかった。本当に危険なのだったら、より厳しい措置を取れるのではないか？ 看板によれば女王とされる「ザー（Zhah）」とは？ 知るべき事は、男が想像していたよりもはるかに多く存在するようだった。
死の病と死にゆく者の咳と呻きが聞こえるほどに男は近づいていた。もう一度だけ看板を見やってから、看板のことなど意に介さぬ様子で大股で柵の中に入って行った。恐らくここの人々は彼の質問に答えられるだろうと男は考えていた。近づいていくと、目の前に横たわっているのがガーゴイル以外の何者でもなく……、しかも彼が今までに知っていたどのガーゴイルとも違うことに気づき、男は新たな衝撃を受けた。男はこの奇妙なガーゴイルを慎重に観察し、彼らに詳しくはなかったが、可能な限り心の中で症状を列記していった。このありあわせのキャンプを一通り見て回るため、さらさらの砂地を歩き、建物の角を曲がった男は、眼前の光景に青ざめた。肉を焼いているという当初の彼の予想は大幅には外れていなかったのだ。そこには火葬用の薪が積まれており、男が静かに見守る中、比較的健康そうな二人のガーゴイルの見張り番が、もう一体の生気を失った躰を薪の上に投げ上げていた。この光景に、男の口元は決意で引き締まった。知りたいという気持ちはあったが、それよりも先に成さねばならぬことを彼は悟ったのだ。
最初の試み、及び従来の治療法は全て効果がなかった。彼の魔法も、苦しむガーゴイルの治療には効果がなかった。このような方法で専念しつづけ、どれほどの時を費やしただろうか……。そして、彼の錬金術の知識を必要とする手法に取り組んでから過ぎた時は、それまでに費やした時間よりももっと長かった。それだけでなく、まるで基本の薬に取り組む錬金術師たちのように脇目も振らずに古典的手法に取り組んだ男は、新たな道を切り開くに至った。男は自身がたどり着いた手順を精査した。これで上手く行くという絶対的な確信はなかったが、今までで最も可能性が高いことはわかっていた。とはいえ、素材の幾つかは、仮に収集できるとしても危険を伴うものだった。ブライトボーンスライム（Blightborn slime）を見つけることが可能かすら男にはわからなかったが、しぶといオーク（Orc）とテラサン（Terathan）が根絶やしにされていることはあるまい。これに園芸家が採取できる砂糖（sugar）とバニラ（vanilla）を加えれば、治療薬を調合できるはずだった。
問題は病そのものにあると考えられた。進行を抑える薬ができても、病自体が常に変異を続け、いずれその薬が効かなくなってしまうのだ。つまり、この病に対しては絶対の治療法がないのだ。だが、同じ素材を用いて異なる配合率、手法で調合すれば、しばらくの間は効果を発揮することが可能だった。しかし、今の彼は一つの大きな問題に直面していた。素材の発見や収集を手伝う者が誰もいないのである。
