The Exploration Service today released preliminary information about the mostly recently discovered artifact site, Site 17. This is the second artifact site that has been discovered with intact structures. The government immediately moved to seal off the site pending investigation by qualified personnel.
"We don't want a repeat of the disaster at Artifact Site 9," said Chief Liaison Officer O'Matt. "As you might remember, Site 9 was discovered by Captain Kyme and her band of Adventurers. They immediately started exploring the intact structure and on the third day... Eye-witness reports state that the ground gently shuddered, making a sound like a soft sigh, and the entire artifact site turned to dust that slowly rose and was carried away by the breeze. After the dust had cleared, all that remained at Artifact Site 9 was a perfectly hemispherical hole 2.16 kilometers in diameter."
Like several previous Artifact Sites, this site appears to have been the scene of a major battle and much of the land is still barren after who-knows how many centuries. But whatever was protecting the core structure seems to have withstood the onslaught – the structure appears intact and vegetation is growing around it. The current consensus is that the attackers disengaged before completely destroying the site and that the site was subsequently abandoned.
