You don’t actually know much about mudpikes. But one thing you do know is that they’re probably made very differently than they were a long time ago.
It was a mudpike out of time, you suggest. You said this was a very long time ago, before cooking with fire was widespread. Modern metalsmithing techniques and more precise woodcutting tools would result in it not only looking very different from other mudpikes, but from anything else in the era as well.
An excellent guess, the Loremaster replies. But the changes are less drastic than you think. The main difference is that the older mudpikes only had two prongs. Modern ones have six, in a circular pattern. And this one had also seen considerable use, as the shaft was heavily scratched. Of course, none of the people present realized it was from the future, merely that it was unusual. But, let me set the scene a little better. I think that will make it easier to move this story to its conclusion.
The Storyteller starts moving some small objects around. Two sticks stand up near one stone; two other stones stand near each other, with a leaf between them and the third stone.
These two stones are Kenton and Afer. This stone is the prisoner. These sticks represent the scorpions, and the leaf is the beetle. Now, we just need something to represent the mudpike… ah, perfect, someone dropped a needle.
The needle moves towards one of the stones.
I believe this will help you see what is going on, the Loremaster continues. Kenton immediately realized the mudpike was what the prisoner was searching for, and held it out to show him. He looked on at it in wonder, and asked if a god had made it, for even as scratched-up as it was, it was beyond what mortals of the day could do.
The leaf then wraps itself around the needle.
But Qlat’s servant took the mudpike, and then looked directly at the three. And then, it spoke.
“Qlat has ordered me to use your vulgar language to explain what has happened, for this has gotten greatly out of hand,” the beetle said, its mandibles clicking with every word. “Let us start with these so-called temples of yours. They claim to speak for the gods, but the gods have little interest in your day-to-day affairs. By itself, this was of no concern to them – creating meaningless rules for yourselves in their name was a mere triviality. However, it has recently become more than that.”
Suddenly, the sticks get closer to the lone rock.
“It seems that a single human has been getting temples to follow his orders. A human who believes himself superior to the gods, and is making moves to gain power to match. He first plans to control your villages even more. To this end, he is causing strife between them to weaken their existing leadership and put his ‘church’ in a position to mediate. This particularly pathetic specimen of a human works for him.”
The leaf turns around to face the prisoner stone.
“So tell us, human. What did this self-proclaimed Master promise you to make you turn on your allies? Qlat knows you believed in this cause, that you yourself have cooked dozens of meals. Why did you give it up?”