Art of Artifacts (Sectos)

[The Guardian]

There is a small exhibit opening up of art and artifacts that were apparently created during the great war of power.  A private collector has been forced to donate them to the Governments as payment for white collar crimes he has committed.  And for a brief period they are on display at a museum near where Sectos hangs around! 

[Sectos Barker]

Great War artifact and art exhibit?! Hell yeah Sectos is in. He even put on a shirt and shoes to be able to look normal and not distract from the gallery, though his tattoo's probably didn't help his incognito portion of the visit.

[The Guardian]

There were quite a few people present. Most of them well dressed and likely rich. He can hear some people talking about the paintings titled "Reach of the Dragon", "The Demon Cast Down", "Echos of the Dead", and some mention of various artifacts. Many of which he'd likely never heard of. "The Dragon's Heart", "The Claw of Ziffnab", "The Tome of Taraneus" were to name but a few. There were also various Qi crystals on display from different regions.

What does Sectos check out first?

[Sectos Barker]

Sectos figured he would keep up the charade of his existence first by visiting the Tome of Taraneus and read about that. He didn't feel too out of place with all the well dressed rich people around, but it did stand out to him. He wondered if this gallery had things up for sale, or if people still needed to act cultured for some reason.

[The Guardian]

The tome of Taraneus is said to be a forbidden tome of magic. One of the first spellbooks of Ayatlan. It was penned by one of the first members of the founding council during the first years of the war. It details his experiments with Mana and magical theory. Legend has it that he found knowledge that drove him mad and was banished from Ayatlan after an unsuccessful political coup was staged.

What happened to him afterward is unknown, but his tome was discovered two years ago. It is on display now before being returned to Ayatlan where it will likely be locked away forever.

[Sectos Barker]

Sectos would see if it were open, or on display with the cover. Hoping to spot some markings, runes, or anything that would stand out he could look into later, but it was fascinating. IF there was nothing he could decipher he would reach out with his own Qi energy to feel if there was left over energy around it.

[The Guardian]

The book was unfortunately closed. The leather on the book looked aged and weathered however. Like it was far older than it should have been. The edges of it were corroded away by something. It wasn't until he reached out with his Qi energy that he'd see runes on the leather, reacting to the Qi energy being held almost light up. Both there and not, shifting and moving over the cover. He felt like he could almost read them, if only he got a little bit closer...

[Sectos Barker]

Sectos eyes would narrow a bit at the reaction and the appearance of runes, could of been a trap. These rich people would stand no chance if there was something that could go wrong... But, he was also very close to learning something he probably shouldn't know. It took a lot of restraint at this point to pull back, but he needed to know more about the reaction to his Qi.

[The Guardian]

When his Qi was released the runes would vanish from the book. The world would seem to return to normal.

[Sectos Barker]

Sectos would look around a bit, he didn't like the way that felt, this tome was dangerous... But the secrets...

He would need to come back to that later, for now he would head to the art and check the painting labeled "The Demon Cast Down".

[The Guardian]

The picture depicted a very stylized reimagining of Sean Barker being impaled by a spear of crystal by an equally exaggerated Earth-Dragon. The scene took place in a blasted hellscape over a pit of decaying bodies reaching up for Barker.

Sectos would also notice his arm was starting to itch as he looked at the painting.

[Sectos Barker]

Sectos scratches at his arm while trying to find the plaque with the info on the painting.

[The Guardian]

The scratching relieves the itching for a minute. Though his other arm would start to itch.

The plaque says artist unknown. But a small descriptor denotes it as the moment that Mathew Amtrum struck down The Demon Sean Barker.

[Sectos Barker]

"They say art is a half truth and an exaggerated lie. Not bad artwork though I guess."

Sectos would look at his arm to see if he had been bitten by a bug or something.

[The Guardian]

His arm looked fine, but he could feel both arms were itching now.