The God's Game

River explains

Two days later, River Verlice sat infront of Alistair brothers to present his findings.He laid the golden rods and a roll of parchment on table.

River yawned and rubbed his reddened eyes. Last two nights he had hardly slept. Nightmares plagued him and he woke up several times ,panting and drenched in cold sweat. Paranoia and trepidation held him in iron clutches at all times. His appetite had plummeted , making him feel profoundly unwell.

"You look like shit" Raven commented.

Gee,thanks.

"I inspected these thoroughly " River started, completely ignoring Raven. "I think we can use these to track what we are looking for"

"Proceed" Aithan encouraged.

"There are mainly three ways an object can be cursed. First is when one is obsessed with something and they die,without being able to let go of that deep attachment. After death they refuse to move on and possess these objects, bringing ruin to those who get involved with that object or place.

Second is when living beings tie evil spirits to objects. This is commonly done to get rid of such spirits. By burying them , the spirits and their resentment is temporarily put to rest. As long as they remain unbothered , the problem is solved"

"So you are telling," Raven interrupted . " That I woke up some fucking demon entity ?"

"That's what I thought at first too" River pointed at the rods "but that doesn't explain six thousand gold rods"

He gave the men infront of him a look " Have My Lords heard about 'Valley of Fallen Heroes?"

Raven turned to Aithan "that shitty place in West? "

"The West and East is seperated by this barren land , isnt it? " Aithan asked.

"A thousand years ago West and East plunged in to a war" River drew lines on the table top ,trying to depict the East -West boarder. "They were trying to establish margins which eventually grew in to a bloody war that went on for ten years.

"It was not only men who fought , women and children as young as 15 was drafted too. Valley of Fallen Heroes is the mass grave they buried all the casualties in .

These people died a violent death,in fear , mourning the life that was taken from them. They were buried in an unmarked grave , together with thousands and thousands of such souls.

By the time war ended , soil turned damp and red from all the blood spilled .If one was to dig for ten minutes they could unearth a corpse.

Generation after generation, people tried to cultivate this land, with no avail. Villages in the vicinity constantly suffered from plagues and paranomal activities "

"What does the valley has to do with anything?" Raven questioned.

"East and West both suffered because of this. When Shculz and Wedigos prayed both gods gave about same solution . Which is to cover the soil in a layer of pure gold dust and to turn the soil over"

Aithan and Raven wore matching confused expressions. They also seemed to be connecting dots together.

"That completely solved the problem. Plagues stopped in the villages . Although it wasnt still suitable for crops to grow on other shrubs and little vegetation started growing .

Valley of Fallen Heroes is the third case study. That's when a place or an object, usually weapons ,are continuously subjected to violence,death and bloodbath. This type of a curse is specially strong and very hard to manage "

River pointed a finger at the gold rods.

"Gold is the element of Vorine. It has the ability to absorb and purify negative energy. They suffer almost zero corrosion, even after a long period of time .