Tanaleer Tavin stood before the door of the exhibit vault. He made a slight gesture and the curator bowed low and stepped to the side. Tanaleer waited several minutes before opening the door. This was his inaugural visit and he wanted to savor the anticipation. Unable to wait any longer he signaled to the curator who pressed a cleverly hidden panel and…
The door drifted open soundlessly. If an emergency should occur while the chamber was open the door would shut in the blink of an eye but today it was the ambiance that was important. Beyond the door yawned darkness, seemingly infinite and silent. As Tanaleer crossed the threshold the blackness was disrupted by a tiny glow which rapidly widened and lengthened to reveal a display case. The case and its stand were fashioned from a material of such translucency as to give the illusion of invisibility, leaving the exhibit housed within to appear totally unconfined and floating in the vast space. The overall effect was illusion upon illusion. Something Tanaleer imagined his "Client" might appreciate, but fervently hoped would never discover.
Clasping his gloved hands behind his back The Collector circled the case, his delight growing. The architect and his team had more than fulfilled their task and he would have rewarded them most generously if he had been able to spare their lives. But, unfortunately, this project had warranted the greatest secrecy. Tanaleer glanced toward the vault entrance. The "curator", all too soon would find the position to be a "permanent" one.
The object upon display, alas, wasn't and would never be part of his collection. It had come into his possession solely for its safekeeping, with the caveat that it be buried deep and forgotten. It been impressed upon him that should these orders not be carried out his collection, which had taken him billions of years to gather would be reduced to a memory and, that he simply could not allow. His collection was the only thing, since the loss of his beloved wife, that made his immortality bearable. So, he had been…persuaded. But, he could not bring himself to just secrete it in some dismal, dank…hole. His very nature rebelled against such treatment of any object but especially this one which, had it belonged to him would have been the showpiece of his entire collection, hence its reverential exposition.
His gloved hand trailed along the side of the case as he contemplated its contents. Stopping he drew a scarf from the sleeve of his robe and brushed delicately at the golden plaque which described the case. With a mixture of pleasure and awe he read the words engraved there, his lips forming the words. Abruptly he stopped reading. Something wasn't right so, he read it again. His breath sucked in with a hiss. Whirling, he crossed to the door. The curator had not left its post. Upon seeing its master's expression all color drained from the its face. Without a word Tanaleer Tavin grabbed the unfortunate creature by its neck and dragged it to the exhibit case. Squashing the creature's noses against the plaque Tanaleer hissed, "There are two 'L's in "Allfather"!