Connor: Translation of the hieroglyphs, particularly the ones inside the temples, has been a constant struggle due to the difficulty of getting to them and then staying there long enough to really study or record them. The majority of what there is to find is, naturally, about the old gods, as the vast majority of the ruins were apparently places of worship, sacrifice, and ritual in the name of the various deities of the land. As mentioned, the date these paintings and carvings seem to stop recording any history (and they are oftentimes dated, as well as signed with names that don't seem to match to anyone still living, which is something Julian can find and report back on if need be) is 100 years ago. It's all very abrupt, as if things carried on as normal for hundreds of years without incident and then all of a sudden, nothing.
One thing of note is the reoccurring story of a much bigger, more populous Copalli that was seemingly destroyed during a great war between the gods many hundreds of years ago. This doesn't seem to refer to the relic guardians in particular, but is the generally-accepted story for how there came to be so many ruins and such smaller cities in the first place... at least, for the time. It's markedly noticeable that after the incident 100 years ago, even more places fell to ruin and cities, people, and most cultural landmarks became even smaller and further-flung. 100 years ago, there were many cities, and big ones. Even the coterie leaders can attest to this somewhat, albeit their knowledge is extremely limited as they all share the same story in that they arrived by ship, passed through a great big city and spoke to lots of people, and then went their separate ways into a jungle that was famous for its unexplored ruins and treasures. Those ruins and treasures are described well in the writing on the walls, labeling some as homes and some as temples, some as what would essentially be grocery stores... all sorts of things.
At any rate, Tezcatli will provide the most helpful information on the ruin hunt, in its way. Outlanders from that expedition (there aren't many still in the game -- Law, Morga, Zephyr, Onni, Sophia, and Dohalim were dispatched directly to investigate, and Lloyd, Kratos and Zelos were there as well) can attest to how absolutely massive and ultimately unexplored the place is. It is a labyrinth with drawings, writing and paintings on just about every wall there is, with countless chambers and floors to search through. Not many of the outlanders or any of the coterie members or leads were able to turn up a lot of information in this particular regard, as the focus was mostly on the incense, items of interest or value, and the monsters (especially Tezcatlipoca at the bottom, and its mirror which Sophia now owns). The hieroglyphics here depict much more than the same fare as many of the other temples, in that one particular room deep down in the bowels of the ruins shows, in vibrantly painted color with painstakingly etched symbols, the story of two twin jaguars, fighting. Both possess mirrors in their chest, and are referred to as brothers (but no names). The story also depicts a skeletal wraith breaking up the jaguar fight with a cataclysm in the earth that separated the two via an impassable canyon. It also shows a tall man in gleaming armor riding upon one of the jaguars' backs, leaping across the canyon and away from the wraith.
Connor will want to be careful about all this, though, as he'll quickly come to find that Tezcatli is even bigger than anyone reported it was. The labyrinthine halls span for seemingly miles in every direction, and if he wanders too far he might not ever find his way back. Don't worry, though, the walls have warnings about that on them as well.
Bruno/Rinwell/Onni: All that's left of the Grand Temple is a "stump" where it exploded like a stick of dynamite after Quetzalcoatl appeared, so it's mostly just the ground floor plus a few ledges higher up that are all singed and not safely navigable. What there is to find isn't particularly useful -- there are some lingering traces of elemental energy, but most of that is now centralized at Viper HQ, where the relic is sealed.
However, the remains of the temple do have a strong general magical influence and is an obvious place of power, which tracks with its history of being a noted ritual site (blood magic and human sacrifice was pretty common, and Quetzalcoatl as a patron deity of the area is referenced frequently in local texts, as well as in many ruins all over the continent, and in library books in Coatepec. As it turns out, Quetz is a Big'un as far as old Copalli gods go!).
One noteworthy thing about the Grand Temple is that it still looks the way it did after it transformed, ie. distinctly Eastern inspired, rather than the sort of architecture typical on Copalli, which makes it very look starkly out of place even in spite of there not being much left of it to look at. There aren't any hieroglyphs or anything on the walls inside or out because of that, and none of the locals have any explanation whatsoever for how or why it transformed, which theoretically begs the question: "what the fuck lol?"
Viper has some explanation for that... sort of, in that she can confirm the building looks like a place from her homeland. How or why it came to look that way when it didn't before, though, has her absolutely hornswoggled.
SO, THE OVERALL QUESTION, WHAT CAN THEY FIND!! Well, the plot, that's what.
To recap, Jayce may have just stumbled on the only visual depictions of the relic guardians known to exist, and the names and information he, Connor and Julian find, combined some old and new map comparison, will point to some henceforth-unexplored areas. Following elemental signatures to one of them will suggest a high degree of likelihood that the earth relic may be there, but the chances of actually making it anywhere near it are slim to none. However, Connor may be on to a possible route there through the Tezcatli ruins.
Any and all of the above are free to check in with the NPCs to confirm any details they find or keep it to themselves and work on their own without them, that's entirely up to the players! However, there will be an NPC journal post toward the end of this month that will contain... uh, without spoiling it too much, an unbidden infodump they might find very useful, so keep eyes out for that.
Plotting for the July story is planned to go up around July 9th, so if any of the above players + whoever else would like to play some special roles in driving that along, we can check in before then to discuss!
jesus.
Translation of the hieroglyphs, particularly the ones inside the temples, has been a constant struggle due to the difficulty of getting to them and then staying there long enough to really study or record them. The majority of what there is to find is, naturally, about the old gods, as the vast majority of the ruins were apparently places of worship, sacrifice, and ritual in the name of the various deities of the land. As mentioned, the date these paintings and carvings seem to stop recording any history (and they are oftentimes dated, as well as signed with names that don't seem to match to anyone still living, which is something Julian can find and report back on if need be) is 100 years ago. It's all very abrupt, as if things carried on as normal for hundreds of years without incident and then all of a sudden, nothing.
One thing of note is the reoccurring story of a much bigger, more populous Copalli that was seemingly destroyed during a great war between the gods many hundreds of years ago. This doesn't seem to refer to the relic guardians in particular, but is the generally-accepted story for how there came to be so many ruins and such smaller cities in the first place... at least, for the time. It's markedly noticeable that after the incident 100 years ago, even more places fell to ruin and cities, people, and most cultural landmarks became even smaller and further-flung. 100 years ago, there were many cities, and big ones. Even the coterie leaders can attest to this somewhat, albeit their knowledge is extremely limited as they all share the same story in that they arrived by ship, passed through a great big city and spoke to lots of people, and then went their separate ways into a jungle that was famous for its unexplored ruins and treasures. Those ruins and treasures are described well in the writing on the walls, labeling some as homes and some as temples, some as what would essentially be grocery stores... all sorts of things.
At any rate, Tezcatli will provide the most helpful information on the ruin hunt, in its way. Outlanders from that expedition (there aren't many still in the game -- Law, Morga, Zephyr, Onni, Sophia, and Dohalim were dispatched directly to investigate, and Lloyd, Kratos and Zelos were there as well) can attest to how absolutely massive and ultimately unexplored the place is. It is a labyrinth with drawings, writing and paintings on just about every wall there is, with countless chambers and floors to search through. Not many of the outlanders or any of the coterie members or leads were able to turn up a lot of information in this particular regard, as the focus was mostly on the incense, items of interest or value, and the monsters (especially Tezcatlipoca at the bottom, and its mirror which Sophia now owns). The hieroglyphics here depict much more than the same fare as many of the other temples, in that one particular room deep down in the bowels of the ruins shows, in vibrantly painted color with painstakingly etched symbols, the story of two twin jaguars, fighting. Both possess mirrors in their chest, and are referred to as brothers (but no names). The story also depicts a skeletal wraith breaking up the jaguar fight with a cataclysm in the earth that separated the two via an impassable canyon. It also shows a tall man in gleaming armor riding upon one of the jaguars' backs, leaping across the canyon and away from the wraith.
Connor will want to be careful about all this, though, as he'll quickly come to find that Tezcatli is even bigger than anyone reported it was. The labyrinthine halls span for seemingly miles in every direction, and if he wanders too far he might not ever find his way back. Don't worry, though, the walls have warnings about that on them as well.
Bruno/Rinwell/Onni:
All that's left of the Grand Temple is a "stump" where it exploded like a stick of dynamite after Quetzalcoatl appeared, so it's mostly just the ground floor plus a few ledges higher up that are all singed and not safely navigable. What there is to find isn't particularly useful -- there are some lingering traces of elemental energy, but most of that is now centralized at Viper HQ, where the relic is sealed.
However, the remains of the temple do have a strong general magical influence and is an obvious place of power, which tracks with its history of being a noted ritual site (blood magic and human sacrifice was pretty common, and Quetzalcoatl as a patron deity of the area is referenced frequently in local texts, as well as in many ruins all over the continent, and in library books in Coatepec. As it turns out, Quetz is a Big'un as far as old Copalli gods go!).
One noteworthy thing about the Grand Temple is that it still looks the way it did after it transformed, ie. distinctly Eastern inspired, rather than the sort of architecture typical on Copalli, which makes it very look starkly out of place even in spite of there not being much left of it to look at. There aren't any hieroglyphs or anything on the walls inside or out because of that, and none of the locals have any explanation whatsoever for how or why it transformed, which theoretically begs the question: "what the fuck lol?"
Viper has some explanation for that... sort of, in that she can confirm the building looks like a place from her homeland. How or why it came to look that way when it didn't before, though, has her absolutely hornswoggled.
SO, THE OVERALL QUESTION, WHAT CAN THEY FIND!!
Well, the plot, that's what.
To recap, Jayce may have just stumbled on the only visual depictions of the relic guardians known to exist, and the names and information he, Connor and Julian find, combined some old and new map comparison, will point to some henceforth-unexplored areas. Following elemental signatures to one of them will suggest a high degree of likelihood that the earth relic may be there, but the chances of actually making it anywhere near it are slim to none. However, Connor may be on to a possible route there through the Tezcatli ruins.
Any and all of the above are free to check in with the NPCs to confirm any details they find or keep it to themselves and work on their own without them, that's entirely up to the players! However, there will be an NPC journal post toward the end of this month that will contain... uh, without spoiling it too much, an unbidden infodump they might find very useful, so keep eyes out for that.
Plotting for the July story is planned to go up around July 9th, so if any of the above players + whoever else would like to play some special roles in driving that along, we can check in before then to discuss!