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The eighth day has passed, and still there's no sign of the artifact. We've covered most of the remainder of the outer guard tower, and scoured the crumbled gatehouse ruins, but not one clue has arisen as to where it may have been buried.<BR>
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It's quiet out here, as if the ruins were paying respects to the Ayleid inhabitants that disappeared here long ago. We haven't encountered anything hostile, but if we do, I think we're ready. The Brotherhood's been in worse scrapes before. Bradon paid good money for the information as to our treasure's whereabouts, and I hope it doesn't turn out to be yet another fiasco.<BR>
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This morning, our camp was set upon by some bandits who were protecting what they claimed was their territory. Considering that we were outnumbered three to one, we did very well. Only Raynil suffered a small wound, but that was easily healed by a potion that Bradon had thoughtfully brought with him on our expedition.<BR>
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After getting rid of the bandit's corpses, we set out to tackle the largest part of the ruin, the remains of the great keep. Two of the walls of the once-mighty structure were collapsed, scattering the telltale whitish rock so typical of the Ayleid architecture in this part of Tamriel. This made our assault on the ruin difficult, as many of the larger chunks of wall were far too heavy for us to move.<BR>
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Bradon suggested that we search the center of the building's foundation for any underground entrances, which was typical for this type of keep. His guess paid off, and after several hours of backbreaking work, we managed to clear an opening just large enough for us to squeeze through and enter an ancient stairwell leading down into the ground. We decided to wait until morning's light to begin our descent into the depths of the ruin.<BR>
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After a restless sleep, all of us were quite excited at the prospect of what might lie ahead. Eagerly, we dipped our torches in a fresh container of pitch, lit them, and entered the inky blackness of the stairwell.<BR>
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The stale air was choked with dust and fine grit, a sign that no one had entered this portion of the ruins in a very long time. We became excited, as that meant no other tomb robbers had gotten there before us.<BR>
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The stairwell eventually leveled out into a corridor of sorts that snaked its way to the north. As we carefully walked along, I scanned the floor and walls very carefully for any type of triggers, tripwires or pressure plates; such was my specialty. The Ayleid were well known for their cunning traps protecting their tombs, and I wasn't taking any chances.<BR>
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Bradon, the scholar of the Brotherhood, was getting more and more excited as we traversed the passage; he was translating the wall carvings and was becoming certain that we had finally found the true location of our prize. After walking for several more minutes, we were overjoyed to see what we were hoping to see: the hallway ended at a metal door with the carving of a spider upon it.<BR>
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Now came the true test of Bradon's information. The door supposedly had a puzzle lock; by pulling the spider legs in a certain combination, it would unlatch. The wrong combination would spell our deaths, perhaps triggering a collapse of the hallway or some other equally deadly trap. With a shaky hand, I pulled the legs one by one in the order I had memorized: the sixth one, then the first one, the second one, the eighth one, and finally the first one again.<BR>
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I closed my eyes, as there were a few loud clicks and then the door popped open. We all breathed a sigh of relief. Pushing open the door, I looked in at a huge room with a pedestal at the center. Sitting on the pedestal illuminated by a shaft of sunlight from a tiny hole in the ceiling was our prize.<BR>
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The floor was covered in a huge mosaic of a stylized spider, all eight of its legs coming to a point and ending up at the door entrance. This was the last of the traps the Ayleid left behind to protect their treasure. Again, if it hadn't been for Bradon's skill at acquiring information, we may never had known how to solve this last line of defense.<BR>
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I instructed Bradon and Raynil to remain at the entrance and to tie a rope around my waist in case of a sudden pitfall. Carefully, I began to walk on the darkened tiles that formed the third leg of the spider. Sweat beaded on my forehead, as the pathway made by the tiny pieces of ceramic was very narrow at the start, and one slip could again mean instant death.<BR>
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But death never arrived. The information had been correct, and I was able to make it to the pedestal and secure the artifact! Quickly as possible, we made our way back and out into the daylight. Once again, the Brotherhood was triumphant and it was time to return home.<BR>
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At the tavern that night, we decided to make a pact. We would stash the artifact in a cave not far from Bruma until we researched it further. An item of its magnitude could be very dangerous if mishandled, and we certainly didn't want to sell it without understanding its true value. Bradon agreed to contract a local cooper to construct a chest with three locks. Each of us would hold a key to one of the locks so none would have access to the artifact without the others being present. For the rest of the evening, we drank merrily and sang many a song of adventures passed, and adventures to come.<BR>
訳文 †
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八日目が過ぎたがアーティファクトの形跡は一向に見あたらない。外にある見張りの塔にもほとんど行ったし、崩れた門楼の廃墟も探し回ったが、それがどこに埋もれているのかを示す手がかりは一つも見つからなかった。<BR>
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ここは静かで、まるで何年も前に消えていったAyleidの人々に敬意を表しているかのようだ。我々に危害を加えるものは何もいないが、もし遭遇するとしても準備は出来ている。前には仲間が悪い傷を負っていた。Bradonは宝の在処の情報にかなりの額を払ったし、再度失敗してしまわないことを願う。<BR>
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今朝、山賊たちに襲われたが、我々がやつらの領域を犯していたらしい。相手の方が三倍も人数がいたことを考えると、よくやったと思う。Raynilがちょっとした傷を負っただけで、Bradonがこんなときに備えて持っていた薬のおかげで簡単に治った。<BR>
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山賊たちを始末してから、一番大きな廃墟、巨大な要塞の遺跡の発掘へと乗り出した。かつては強固だったであろう壁の二つは崩れ去り、散在する白い岩が、これらがTamrielのこの地方でよく見られるAyleid様式の建造物であったことを物語っていた。壁の大きな瓦礫は自力で動かすことが到底無理だったため、廃墟への突入は困難であった。<BR>
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建物の基礎部分を調査してこういった要塞に典型的な地下からの入り口を探してみようとBradonが提案してくれた。彼の思惑通り、何時間かの骨の折れる作業の後、我々が何とか通り抜けられる、地下へと降りる古い階段へ続く入り口を見付けた。我々は日の出まで待ってから廃墟の深部へと降りていくとにした。<BR>
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落ち着かない眠りから覚めると、皆これから起こるであろうことに本当に興奮していた。我々は一心に松明を新鮮な松脂の容器に浸し、火を点け、そして暗闇の中へと階段を降りて行った。<BR>
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淀んだ空気には砂埃が混じり、長い間この一画に誰も足を踏み入れていないことを物語っていた。我々は他のやつにまだ荒らされていないということに興奮した。<BR>
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階段はやがて北へ向かって曲がりくねった廊下へと続いていた。慎重に進みながら、私は床や壁に引き金や仕掛け線、pressure_plateといったものが仕掛けられていないかを注意深く調べた。それが私の専門だった。Ayleid達はその墓を護るために巧妙な罠を仕掛けることで知られていたが、私はその危険にさらされたことがない。<BR>
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仲間の学者Bradonは通路を進むにつれてどんどんと興奮を高めていった。というのも、壁に刻まれた彫刻を翻訳し、我々がついに目的地を見付けたという確信を深めていたのだ。さらに歩を進めると、我々は願っていたものを目にして狂喜した。回廊の先には蜘蛛の彫刻が施された金属の扉があった。<BR>
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Brandonの情報が真実がどうか、本当に試されるときが来た。扉には蜘蛛の足をある組み合わせで引っ張ると開錠されるというパズルによる鍵がかけられているようだった。そして間違えれば、おそらく回廊の崩壊かそんなような死を免れない罠を呼ぶのだろう。私は記憶していた順番通りに震える手で一つ一つの足を引いた。まず六番目、次に一番目、そして二番目、八番目、最後にもう一度一番目だ。<BR>
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目を閉じていると、何度か大きな音が鳴り、扉が開いた。我々は安堵のため息を漏らした。扉を押し開くとそこは中央に台座のある巨大な空間だった。台座の上には天井の小さな穴から差し込む日光に飾られたお宝が鎮座していた。<BR>
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床は蜘蛛を模った巨大なモザイク画で覆われ、その八本の足は全て入り口まで伸びていた。これが、宝を護るためにAyleidが仕掛けた最後の罠だ。ここでも、Bradonの情報収集能力が無ければこの最後の防衛線を突破する術を知りえなかっただろう。<BR>
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BradonとRaynilには入り口で待つように伝え、落とし穴に備えて私の腰に縄を巻いてもらった。慎重に、私は蜘蛛の三本目の足にあたる暗いタイルの上を歩き出した。小さな陶器で出来たその道の最初の部分は非常に狭く、ちょっと滑っただけでやはり即死を招くため、額を玉のような汗が伝った。<BR>
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しかし、死は訪れなかった。情報は正しかった。私は台座へと到達し、アーティファクトを手に入れた！出来るだけ早く外へと引き返した。またも我々は意気揚々と家路に着いた。<BR>
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その夜、酒場で、我々は約束を交わすことにした。このアーティファクトについて研究が進むまでBruma近くの洞窟にこれを隠すことを。これほど強力なものは、使い方を誤ると非常に危険だし、これの本当の価値をわからずに売ってしまうのも嫌だ。Bradonは契約に同意し、三つの鍵で開く箱を地元の樽屋に作らせることにした。そして全員がそろわない限りアーティファクトに触れられないよう、それぞれが一つずつ鍵を持っていることにした。その後は、楽しく飲み、今までの、そしてこれからの冒険の歌をたくさん唄った。<BR>
