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http://zermoth.net/mabi/library/view/en/500-005
Seal Stone Research Almanac : Ciar Dungeon
Contents
1. Preface
2. Determining the Age of the Seal Stone
3. Research Result by Sezaic
4. Overview of the Ciar Dungeon
5. Seal Stone in Ciar Dungeon
6. Results
7. Conclusion
1. Preface
I have studied the Partholon clan for many years through the research of the region's customs and folklore. What stood out to me the most in my research was their fascination with the Seal Stone. So, for a while, I was pondering about this Steal Stone; what is it? what is it's significance? and does it pose a threat or opportunities to mankind?. There, I felt the urge to correct misconceptions regarding the studies of breaking the seal. Once I finally received a contract to publish my book, I published a collection of my research data titled, [A Study on the Seal Stone: Surrounding Rabbie Dungeon].
I was surprised by the public's deep interest with this previous book. Many people sent me encouraging letters, stating that they were able to better understand what the Seal Stone is. There were also letters from those who said that they held misconceptions about the Seal Stone. These letters allowed me see the fruits of my labor as an author and a scholar.
Feeling encouraged from the fact that I was able to reveal the true purposes of the study on breaking the seal, I decided to extend my research to the study of the people in Ulaid. I decided to write another book on other Seal Stones of Tir Chonaill, located in Ciar dungeon.
If my previous book was a deductive report, starting with a general interest in the Steal Stone, I wrote this book from an inductive standpoint, to verify the established scholarly theories by estimating the Seal Stone's age. The content of this book may be difficult to understand for beginners. This is because this book is not a manual but an academic research paper. However, if you are interested in the Seal Stone, you might learn thing or two from this book. You won't regret it.
Finally, I wish to express my gratitude to my faithful volunteer, Sezaic, who provided the research that has been crucial to this book and helped finish this report with constructive advice.
-Baltane 6th day. Jarman.
2. Determining the Age of the Seal Stone
In my previous book, [A Study on the Seal Stone: Surrounding Rabbie Dungeon], I stated that the current theory in academia is that the Seal Stone was constructed to protect villagers from monsters, who appeared after the Mag Tuireadh war. However, this is still only a theory, which is only based on a few historical documents.
Then, how could we test to see if this theory is true or false?
Because uncovering this theory's authenticity will serve as a crucial index between the 3 different schools of thought, it's a must for anyone who studies the Seal Stone to attempt at this challenge. If research shows that the current theory is false, it will disprove that the Seal Stone was made by ancient civilization and will have to be concluded that it was made by an unknown force. This has serious implications, such as entirely changing the foundation of existing schools of thought, especially the school of preservation and protection. Therefore, accurately accrediting the Seal Stone's creator is a problem with monumental importance.
So where do we begin? Where can we find evidence that could successfully uncover the truth or falsehood of this theory. I selected the age of the Seal Stone as my criteria. If we can accurately determine when the Seal Stone was created, and if it matches the time period of the documents which mention the Seal Stone, it will confirm the theory's authenticity.
On this topic, my long time research volunteer, Sezaic, provided his research data.
3. Sezaic's Results
Sezaic has a published book [Theory on Magic Measuring the Historical Age], and has pioneered serious research on the identity of the magic which protects the Seal Stone. He has spent time researching magic that can measure the age of a rock, dead tree and soil, and has once announced that he had found a method to measure the age of most objects, except animate creatures.
Sezaic's report has piqued the interest of scholars who study ancient history and customs, such as myself. On the other hand, because of the magic ability to also determine counterfeit antiques, there is word that the report also drew a strange interest from antique shops. This shows that magic can be used for commercial purposes.
I was convinced that his magic would greatly benefit my research and I expressed to him, my desire to use the magic.
Sezaic saw how passionate I was about this, and he graciously allowed for me to use the magic without anything in return. If this magic works on the Seal Stone, and I could determine its age, this will become a monumental cornerstone in this field of study which will defy all schools of thought.
Little did I know that my initial optimism would soon face sizable challenges.
4. Overview of the Ciar Dungeon
Of the many existing Seal Stones, the reason I chose dungeon Steal Stones, especially Ciar dungeon, for my research is because I had already spent half of my life studying the Partholon clan. I felt that it would be the easiest to apply my new research; as I would have no problem finding documents regarding the Seal Stone in order to collaborate it with the Seal Stone's actual age. Also, I felt that it would give me a holistic understanding of the Seal Stone, such as how the Seal Stone affected people and gain better insight into the region's culture. Finally, the fact the I would be able to compare it with the Seal Stone in Rabbie dungeon was another factor.
So, what kind of dungeon is Ciar?
Ciar dungeon is located in the southern region of Tir Chonaill, and is considered a dangerous area with many wild beasts near it. For the Partholon clan and its descendents, it was an important testing ground for the young men to prove their courage.
Ciar dungeon, in it's ancient language, means 'Black Dungeon'. As with most other dungeons including the Rabbie dungeon, Ciar dungeon's underground maze is recorded to have been created as a side effect from the magic power within the ancient battle fortress Rath, which was constructed in a short time using magic. Also, similar to most dungeons, it is said that the exit and entrance are marked by the statue of Morrighan, the leader of the three goddesses of war. It is also told that the inside of the dungeon still contains remains from the Mag Tuireadh war.
Based on all the research and circumstances surrounding the Steal Stone in Ciar dungeon, it is believed that the Seal Stone was created during the reign of King Lugh, the god of Light, after the Mag Tuireadh war. When you go near the dungeon, there is an eery message that reads:
"Only a man with great strength can remove this seal"
It has not yet been revealed, just how strong this 'great strength' is. (Perhaps this is because no one has yet been able to remove the seal) The people of this region believe that someday, someone will come and remove the seal, and refer to this person as the Ciar Seal Breaker. There is a reference to this Ciar Seal Breaker, a legend that has circulated from the Ulaid region, which says this Seal Breaker will receive increased attack rates and healing rates from the statue of goddess Morrighan. Although there's no way to prove whether this legend is credible, if this Seal Breaker really does show up, there'll be no problem testing this claim.
5. The Seal Stone in Ciar Dungeon
The investigation to determine the Seal Stone's age occurred last Alban Elved. A crew consisting of myself, Sezaic, a few magic scholars and warriors who could protect us from danger traveled through Dugald Aisle towards the southern region of Tir Chonaill, where Ciar dungeon is. During our journey, we encountered some wild beasts, but thanks to our warriors and a shepherd boy, who seemed to be one of the villagers, we were able to safely arrive at Ciar dungeon.
Feeling excited and anxious at the same time, we begin casting Sezaic's magic spell on the Seal Stone. I felt confident that this would open a new chapter in the study of Seal .
Stones. However, the result.......was a failure.
The spell was cast correctly, yet, there was no response. We began discussing and debating whether there was a miscalculation in the magic or whether if the magic simply did not respond during the period of Alban Elved.
In the midst of that dangerous area, where hungry wild beasts constantly roamed around us, we meticulously calculated and analyzed what could've went wrong. However, we could not find any errors whatsoever.
Just when all hope was lost, the magic scholars were able to explain this predicament. Their hypothesis was that the ancient magic that protects the Seal Stone from outside forces must've been conflicting with our magic to reveal its age. Thus, we would have to first remove the magic seal from the Seal Stone first, before anything else. We tried everything we can to do break the magic on the Stone, but unfortunately, everything failed.
The people who resolved this dilemma were the very magic scholars, in their opinions, the ancient magic which protected the Seal Stone from external force conflicted with our magic to make impossible the means for measuring era. That is to say, we should dissolve the protective magic on Seal Stone to use our Era Measuring Magic. We made efforts to dissolve it but all our trials were failed.
However, even from our failed attempts, we were all still able to learn some interesting facts within our own field of study.
6. Results
These facts can be split into 3 different categories, each from our own field of study. I will first explain my findings.
After realizing that the magic to determine the Stone's age will work, I had to drastically change my initial research goal and method. If I cannot directly determine the Stone's age, I will study the changes that were made from construction of the Seal Stone; hence, studying the age of the traces left by the Seal Stone and tracing back to when these traces were modified in order to estimate the time of the Seal Stone's construction.
I concluded that, due to the stone's enormous size, there must be traceable evidence that shows how it was transported here. (For further information on this, please reference my previous book on the Seal Stone of Rabbie Dungeon) A stone this size, which is nearly impossible to move even today, must've left some sort of trace while transporting it even if they had more advanced magic back in the day.
Thus, as the Seal Stone was being constructed, when did its surrounding environment begin to change? The changes caused by the Seal Stone's shadow, broken trees, dirt samples near the Stone, etc. By analyzing these things, I'm hoping that I will be able to trace the date of when the Seal Stone was constructed.
Although, with this methodology, it will be difficult to determine the Stone's exact age, it is more than enough to still use Sezaic's magic to discover crucial evidence surrounding the Seal Stone's age.
We began to study the trees and bushes surrounding Ciar dungeon, along with the soil erosion of the area, and we were able to estimate when the Stone was constructed within a 80 year error range. Although the range is about 10-15 years off our original hypothesis of the Stone's age, it seemed close enough to confirm the existing theory on the Seal Stone.
On the other hand, the magic scholars were able to use the Law of Mana Preservation as a basis to detect the preserved mana on the Seal Stone's protective magic, which is a monumental breakthrough in unsealing the Stone.
The Law of Mana Preservation is a simple law, even beginner wizards know, that states, if a certain amount of mana was used to cast a spell, it will take the same amount to counter the spell. Of course, what's crucial is to account for what is preserved.
The Conservation Law of Mana is a very simple principle that applies to the beginner wizard. If some amount of Mana is required in exercising some magic skill, then the same amount of Mana is to be required in exercising the counter-magic skill of that. Of course, it is essential to understand the coefficient for Mana Conservation which changes by the relation of these two magic skills.
The magic scholars who accompanied me tried to find a counter spell to the Seal Stone's magic, but they soon came to a gloomy realization that too much mana was used on the magic, impossible for scholars alone to break the seal. However, the scholars calculated the coefficient of correlation between the two magic and figured out the mana needed to preserve the spell. Using this, they were able to find the condition for reversing the spell. This condition was 35 strength, which means anyone with a strength level of 35 can break the Seal Stone and become the Seal Breaker. This is certainly a difficult condition, however, it is not an impossible one. We are hoping that someone who meets this condition will show up and become the Seal Breaker.
In Sezaic's case, he was utterly disappointed that we were not able to test his magic on the Seal Stone. After carefully analyzing the Stone's spell, he concluded that only if he could somehow break the spell and obtain a small piece of the Stone, then would he be able to determine the Stone's age without a doubt. In other words, if a person with the strength level of 35 breaks the Stone's spell and becomes the Ciar Seal Breaker, and uses the debris to determine the Stone's age, we can confirm the theory that the Seal Stone was created by our ancestors as some sort of safety device to protect mankind.
Although we failed to reach our initial goal, this does not disprove our hypothesis or the current theory on the Seal Stone. We learned that we will have to temporarily wait for a positive result, which is a significant accomplishment in itself.
7. Conclusion
Prior to publishing this book, I heard of a report that they were able to use a destroyed Seal Stone to determine it's age. The report stated that the Seal Stone's age was precisely what was written in the ancient literature: after the Mag Tuireadh war. However, the ancient literature does not mention this Seal Stone's construction as clear as the Ciar dungeon's Seal Stone; therefore, making a conclusive statement with this report seems a little weak. For this reason, we wait eagerly for the day a Seal Breaker will break the Stone in Ciar dungeon, so that the mystery surrounding the Stone can be solved once and for all.
We hope that this warrior will appear soon and help us put this debate to rest for good.
If there is anyone reading this book who is close to level 35, please go to Ciar dungeon and test your strength. Also, to those reading this book, I hope that the blessings of Aton Cimeni and the favor of the goddess of War, Morrighan, will rest on you...
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