Tcri McLaren
"On site? You are a digger? You must have been there when they found Kalkuk. Do you know what happened to my uncle? You must tell me. They would say only that he had been murdered, that Riolla had it done." Claria's eyes teared up again, and all Cheyne could do was shake his head.
"I am so sorry. I know less than you. Until now, none of us even knew his name. But I will tell my father. Perhaps he will want to speak with you," he offered.
Claria nodded, holding the totem to the light, forcing her mind back on the business at hand. Cheyne found that harder to do. Her eyes were so clear, so golden, as they wandered over the crystal.
"Why is it, if you are a digger, you cannot read the language on this totem? I thought that was supposed to be a digger's particular expertise," said Claria absently, picking up a glass to magnify the symbols.
"Because archaeologists are usually not epigraphers. And our linguist, the best there is, has no skill with this tongue, either."
Claria looked up. "Neither do I. I am sorry. I cannot read this writing. It is too old. But the last character- there is something very, ah, very strange about it, almost as though I have seen it somewhere before…" Claria tapped the crystal, pondering. At length, she gave it back to Cheyne.
"No. But if you really must go to the Borderlands, I think I have something here that will do for you," she offered, ignoring both Og and Vashki, who seemed to be highly amused about something.
She looked out toward the street and, seeing no one, pulled a scroll from underneath the counter and unrolled it partway before spreading it full length on the tabletop. It was a fine rendition of Almaaz and the territories to its west, all the way to the Sarrazan forest and a little beyond.
"It's my best work. I took all the old maps I could find from caravan drivers who worked the routes before they were closed and drew this amalgam. This