Laroon - Ahnonay and The Cathedral

We walked back to Takotah II.  Almost immediately Pantaleon began to make preparations for our next journey.  I started rummaging through drawers and shelves to find supplies.  I opened a dresser drawer.  A backpack fell from a higher shelf.  I'd never seen it before.  I didn't see it when it hit my head.

Somehow Pantaleon tricked me and despite my pain and interest, he took the backpack off my hands / head.

"So, Er'cana's done for now. You ready to tackle Ahnonay?"

Pantaleon tightened a strap on the backpack. "Yeah. Let's do it."

We linked to the watcher's pub, and I looked out at the tree once more through the glass.

I watched Panteleon link, and followed behind. We appeared in a small, bright, circular room. The depictions on the walls loomed over us with incredible detail. Very circular. There was nothing else interesting except the door. We approached it and it opened into a hallway. This cathedral was appropriately named. The long corridor was bordered by more decorated walls, heavy on the blues. The far end of the walkway brought us to a book on a pedestal. We looked around for a minute more, then looked at each other, and finally linked through.

This age was much more spacious than Er'cana. Talk about views! Though this was an island, we could see other islands in the distance, across the water. The water was a beautiful blue, and was warm to the touch. The current seemed strong, though, and wasn't exactly amicable for swimming.

The island was shaped in a horseshoe, with the current pushing water into the center, where a monolith protruded out from the center, with a clock face at the top. But it didn't look like any clock I'd seen before. Around the rim was a band of blue cells. I swear this edge was obsessed with the color blue and circular arrangements. The clock face must be measuring time some way that I couldn't figure out.

We looked around the island a bit more, and saw little creatures running around. Quabs, they were called. They were funny looking things, similar to crabs at the beaches back home. Pantaleon and I took turns teasing them and chasing them up and down the coast. After a couple hours of hanging around the island, we decided there was nothing left except for one more book at the end of the horseshoe, atop another pedestal. We linked.

I didn't get it. We were back in the same cathedral. Same designs on the wall, same pedestal and book at the other end. Same age when we linked through again. We scratched our heads. We decided to go hang out with the quays while we thought this over. After all, the sunshine in Ahnonay was better than the dank smell in the cathedral. While sitting on the sand, Pantaleon had his hands stretched out behind him, basking. I didn't notice when a curious quab came up and pinched his finger. But I was totally away of the result. He snatched his finger back and stood up, then ran after the scuttling quab. The quabs aren't very fast though, and Pantaleon was much quicker. He caught up with the quab and punted the boisterous little thing into the water. I couldn't help but laugh. I looked up.

The clock face caught my eye. One of the blue cells around the rim was no longer blue. Like the bulb had burned out. "Do that again!" I shouted to Panteleon.

"But it's already in the water..." he retorted.

"No, with another one. Kick another quab in the water. I want to see something. Trust me."

He did, but as he turned back to see my reaction, he slipped and fell in the water himself. I watched the clock face as two more lights had gone out. So it wasn't just the quabs, but us too, Ι thought. Finally, thanks to my soaking, now swimming friend, we had a lead. I hoped that backpack was waterproof...