The Scholar

The Scholar was a virtual representation of an Alamut Hidden One apprentice's genetic memories relived through an Animus.

Description

A Hidden One is tasked with helping a scholar at Ikmah Mountain.

Knowledge needed

• Database: Memory of an Old Civilization
• Database: The Romans in AlUla
• Database: Heritage and Archaeology
• Database: Ramm Valley
• Database: Prehistoric Life

Dialogue

The Mother of Letters

The scholar introduces herself as Lubna bint Aws. She tells you these stones bear centuries of prayers, including those of farmers asking for abundant rain. Then she asks you a difficult question. As these rocks bear many different scripts, she wants to discover which one gave rise to the Arabic script used today.

NabataeanDadaniticGreek

You explain that the Arabic script used today evolved from Nabataean script.

You correctly recall that the Arabic script developed from Nabataean script. Lubna smiles: the very script you have been tracing across the valley is the ancestor of the Arabic script used today. It was the perfect answer.

You answer that the Arabic script descended from the ancient Dadanitic script carved into these rocks.

\"A good guess,\" Lubna admits, \"as many of these inscriptions are indeed written in the ancient Dadanitic script. But that script disappeared with the kingdom that used it. The Arabic script used today developed instead from Nabataean script—the very one you have been learning to recognise.\"

You answer that the Arabic script must have originated from Greek script brought by distant traders.

Lubna shakes her head. Greek inscriptions can be found among the stones of the valley, brought here through trade, but the Arabic script used today developed from Nabataean script.

Soldiers from afar

Lubna shows you an inscription in Latin, the script of distant Rome. She asks if you know why Roman soldiers once garrisoned a fort at Hegra, so far from the heart of their empire.

Guard the Trade RouteConquer ArabiaPunishment

You explain that, after Rome annexed the Nabataean kingdom, a garrison was stationed at Hegra to protect the trade routes and collect taxes.

You correctly recall that, after Emperor Trajan annexed the Nabataean kingdom, Rome stationed a garrison at Hegra to protect the caravan route and collect customs duties along it. It may even have been the easternmost outpost of the entire empire. Lubna is delighted. It was the perfect answer.

You suggest that the fort was a base from which Rome planned to conquer all of Arabia.

Lubna explains that no Roman legions ever marched to conquer the deep desert. Instead, after Rome annexed the Nabataean kingdom, a garrison was stationed at Hegra to protect the caravan route and collect customs duties along it.

You suggest that the fort housed soldiers who had been posted there as a punishment.

Lubna laughs and admits that soldiers stationed so far from home may well have felt they were being punished. In fact, after Rome annexed the Nabataean kingdom, a garrison was stationed at Hegra to protect the caravan route and collect customs duties along it.

The Creature in the Stone

Finally, Lubna shows you her strangest find: the fossil of a great shelled creature embedded in the rock, lying on its back. She says she has found others like it, and every one of them is upside down. She asks how you think they came to be here.

Creatures of an Ancient SeaCarvingsWind and Rain

You explain that these are the remains of creatures that lived in a shallow sea which covered this land in an age beyond memory. When they died, their shells were overturned and buried beneath the seabed, where they became fossils.

You correctly recall that the rocks in the north of the valley preserve the fossilised remains of sea creatures from an age long before any people walked this land. Many were overturned by powerful storms and buried on their backs. Lubna gazes at the fossils with a new sense of wonder. It was the perfect answer.

You suggest it must be a carving, cut by the same hands that made the inscriptions.

Lubna points out that there are no chisel marks on the rock, and no carver would have carved every creature upside down. In fact, the shape is the fossilised remains of a creature that lived in an ancient sea which once covered this land.

You suggest that wind and rain shaped it by chance, just as they carved the great canyons of the Ramm Valley.

Lubna agrees that wind and rain can sculpt remarkable landscapes, as the canyons of the Ramm Valley show. But the weather could never create the same creature over and over again, always lying on its back. In fact, it is the fossilised remains of a creature that lived in an ancient sea which once covered this land.

Outcome

All correct answersAt least 1 wrong answerAll wrong answers

Lubna bint Aws closes her record with deep satisfaction. Your knowledge has enriched a work that will speak to generations yet to come. She gladly hands over the fragment of ancient Nabataean inscription. You now have everything you need to decipher it.

Lubna bint Aws thanks you for your help, despite a few moments of confusion along the way. She passes on a fragment of an ancient Nabataean inscription. You now have everything you need to translate the inscription.

Lubna bint Aws thanks you for your efforts, though your answers did little to help her complete her record. True to her word, she honours your bargain and hands over a fragment of ancient Nabataean inscription. You now have everything you need to decipher it.

Outcome

The Hidden One received a fragment of an ancient Nabataean inscription as a reward for their help.

Behind the scenes

Choices within each step were reordered based on the score given in the application's source code, from best possible choice (score of 3) to worst possible choice (score of 1). Considering the hint included in each step points towards the best answer, it is assumed that is the canon choice.