You quickly tell Lyrrica not to touch the potentially dangerous object. Runes can be trouble just as easy as helpful. You move to take a better look. It turns out it’s not a gravy boat at all, but an old oil lamp like the ones they use across the sea. The runes are from across the waves as well, this time the words of your teacher come to the front of your mind as you identify the Oriac base to the runes. Translating them would be nearly impossible without knowing how to speak Oriac, though. Fortunately, there are other ways to tell if it’s dangerous. Closing your eyes, you feel into the energies of the nexus to see if the power is coming from the object.

To your surprise, it seems that the object is feeding off the nexus! Now that you are close to the tree, you can sense the perverting influence this foreign object has. If left alone, it could destroy the magical energy flow around the region. While the magic would recover and regenerate eventually, the short term effects would play havoc with the ley lines. The animals in this area are already unusually charged with magic as it is. Plus, such a disruption of the natural order could attract some unsavory or opportunistic characters who would try and manipulate the ley lines for their own benefit.

This small hunk of metal is definitely more trouble than it’s worth, but doing nothing could be just as bad as interfering with it. It does look like it will take a while for the object to cause any major harm. You could always defer your decision till later. Either way, remove it or not, you will be dealing with this at some point.

Looking up, you notice everyone else is fixated on you. All of your party, plus the two leprechauns, have their concern laden gazes locked upon your face.

“Liel, you look like you just walked into a cave full of lightly snoozing bears. What's wrong?” Horton asks you with a grim look on his face. It makes sense that he would be concerned. His faith encouraged preparedness against exactly this sort of thing. Realising the decision isn't really yours alone, you explain what's going on to the group, and the risks of interfering or not interfering.

“I won't pretend to understand the things you said about the runes, but the short version is that picking it up could be bad, and not picking it up will definitely be bad?” Horton asks. Lyrrica sniggers at a halfling wanting the short version of things. Horton trods upon her foot as Mal speaks up.

“We know what can happen if we leave it. What is the worst we could expect from moving it?” As always the Nekon is focused on action. You explain that there really isn't a way to tell until you touch it, unless there's a scholar who knows Oriac nearby.

“There might be!” Lyrrica says. “Yesterday I saw a bunch of red clerics come into town. Aren’t they supposed to know a couple languages? Odds are one of them might know Oriac?”

It’s a possibility. You reach back into the flow of magic, making sure that you have time to make this decision. Satisfied that things won’t explode the moment you walk away, you consider the options at hand. You can go collect your reward, maybe Elam would know something about this? You can also go back to town and see if the Order of Truth has anyone who can help you decipher the runes. Or you can avoid trouble later by facing it now and remove the lamp from where it’s syphoning the magic of the tree.