SpoilerQ'ilora had been sitting in the Quicksand poring over the ancient and musty tome she had discovered in a vault during her latest sojourn into the ruins recently uncovered by the shifting sands of the Sagolii. The prospect of studying ancient magicks thought lost to time had thrilled the young thaumaturge to no end. Unfortunately, this pursuit of knowledge and power had begun to take a turn for the tedious and perplexing. 

The tome had survived being buried in the sand for hundreds, possibly thousands of years, in remarkably good condition. It was of about medium size and thick, bound in dark inky-blue leather of unknown origin. The edges were decorated in exquisite gold and silver filigree that swirled inwards forming a highly detailed image of a fierce and cruel, yet slender looking monster with large bat-like wings. Some powerful voidsent, no doubt. 

This creature stood with the palms of its hands facing each other and within them had set a silver lock attached to a metal clasp that had held the tome firmly closed. Fortunately for Q'ilora, a goldsmith friend of hers had been able to disassemble the lock, as the key had been no where in sight. However, the words within were written in a script she had never encountered before and she was well acquainted with many written languages, both ancient and modern. 

On the table before her, next to the mysterious tome, lay two different language reference works, a large leather-bound book about the general history of the various civilizations of Thanalan, and no small amount of her own personal notes scattered about. She had procured these books from the library of the Thaumaturge's Guild. 

Sadly, she could find nothing in either reference book that matched the script of the tome she had found and none of the civilizations in the history book seemed to match what she had seen of the ruins. The only thing of which she could be certain was that the ruins were not of Allaghan origin. They seemed younger than that.

The young Seeker had been studying for nearly forteen hours without a break and had made no progress. She moved her work to the Quicksand in the hopes that a change of scenery and a bite to eat would renew her stamina and uncloud her mind. That had been four hours ago and still she had made no progress. In exasperation she stretched her arms out in front of her and onto the table then dropped her dead onto them. She let out a groan of frustration then remembering where she was, looked about, her face flushing with embarrassment.

The Quicksand was bustling with activity as it always seemed to be, but no one was paying her any mind. She was glad for that. With her head still on the table, she turned to face the counter where Momodi stood. The Quicksand's energetic proprietress was orientating a new adventurer much as she had Q'ilora when she had first arrived in Ul'dah. 

That made her smile. It had been almost ten months since she had left her home in the Sharlayan motherland to study the ancient ruins of Eorzea, though she was not a member of the Son's of Saint Coinach. No, she was on her own and had turned to adventuring to supply her own financial backing. Not that she minded, though. She found she rather enjoyed the work and it gave her more opportunities to discover more ruins. It was during one of her jobs that she stumbled across the ruins containing the tome she was now attempting to decipher.

Her eyes had begun to droop as she lay with her head still on the table when she felt a sudden rush of air pass over her head and saw an arrow sprout from the back of the chair at the table across from her. The Elezen gentleman who had been seated there gave out a startled yelp and lurched forward. Q'ilora's eyes snapped fully open and in a single swift motion she rose from her seat and withdrew the ornate scepter from her belt. As she rose, she turned to face the direction from which she believed the arrow had come, but saw no archers. 

All around her, other adventurers had drawn their weapons and were now glancing about the Adventurer's Guild. Some were shouting to each other and others gathered up into goups and charged outside into the dark of night looking for the assailant. Seeing no further danger, Q'ilora turned back to examine the arrow. It had pierced the wood of the chair and protruded from the other side some three ilms. Lucky for the Elezen, he had been leaning forward in his seat engrossed in telling some tale. Otherwise he would likely be dead.

Q'ilora wondered who would want the man dead and why. Then again, this was Ul'dah. Assassinations seemed to be a near weekly event. As she examined the arrow, she noticed a piece of paper attached to the shaft. Overcome by curiosity, she removed the note and and opened it. Her green eyes widened as she read. The message was short but direct.

"The secrets of the desert should remain hidden. Return the dark tome to the vault or perish."

This was not an assassination attempt on some merchant. It had been a warning...for her. Adjusting her glasses, she smiled to herself. She knew that her curiosity would never let her return the tome. She had to know what forbidden knowledge it contained and she was certain she would discover it or die in the trying. 

Q'ilora folded the note and placed it in a pouch on her belt. She then gathered her books, notes, and the mysterious tome and placed them in her pack. She then checked into the inn for the night. She would need to rest for the coming journey. At first light she set out. She knew of only one place in Eorzea that could possibly hold the key to deciphering the tome. She needed to reach the Great Gubal Library.