Black-gray palm crows flew through the deep-blue Sky, while stone mountains of gold, red, blue, and purple shimmered across the emerald-green plain. Against the distant backdrop of verdant forests and hills, this brilliantly colored, exposed hill stood out so strikingly it seemed to hide the divinity of Earth Mother herself.
"So this is the stone mountain from the local legends, the one said to hold divinity?"
Priest Tomatl walked to the edge of the many-colored stone mountain, his expression turning grave. He crouched down, picked up a heavy rock from the mountain, and turned it over and over in his hands, examining it carefully. After a moment, he finally reached a solemn conclusion.
"Main God as my witness! These brightly colored stones must be some kind of ore."
Hearing this blatantly obvious conclusion, the old Militia Chiwako smiled and shook his head. He first looked to Tikalo, his face questioning.
"Tikalo, in your fleet records?..."
"The royal fleet's records don't say what kind of mountain this is."
"Old Pu, what do you think?"
"Huh? Mm... my back hurts. I can't see clearly."
"Pah!"
The old Militia spat, then turned to look at the one person among them who could identify ores—the Divine Inspiration Priest.
"Priest Mekat, trouble you to take a look."
"Good!"
Mekat nodded and stepped forward. He searched for a moment, then also picked up a gilt-colored ore, hefted its weight, and tested its hardness. After that, he stared at the faint green showing on the surface of the ore and fell into silent thought. Only after quite some time did he take out the small bronze hammer he carried, knock some blue-green powder from the ore's surface, and taste it in his mouth.
"...Bitter, and it smells awful. There's an obvious stink to it. This is verdigris!