Emedius asked, "May I have a small plate?’
Turning the pouches upside down, he found glittering gold, mostly of small grains, but some with larger nuggets. Uncut gems were also found, small and perhaps not very valuable, but Emedius had little experience with gold and gems in this form, and he asked, "Is there anyone in your City who could shed light on these treasures?’
"Yes," replied Bernardus, gesturing at a man in his council. "This is Aldonis; he has experience assessing the value of unrefined gold and uncut gems.’
"What can you tell me about them?" asked Emedius of Aldonis.
"These grains of gold are placer deposits, taken from a riverbed; the gems are sapphires and rubies of poor quality.’
"Is there anything unique about them that would tell me of their origin?’
"Yes, there was
