The Nameless City

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm not sure what Vance meant," says Patrick as he walks along. "He just said the skeletons were not Homo Sapiens. Maybe they're something similar, though." He examines the pictures.

[kabukiman]

Make a biology roll

[Mr. Handy]

Patrick can't make much sense of the pictures. "What do you think of these?" he asks, showing them to the others.

[kabukiman]

For you all of you it seems a normal skull.
-Humm, recognizing bones isn't exactly my experty, but after what we saw today, I doubt some deformities will be of much importance.

[Mr. Handy]

"We'll see what the people who found it say when we all meet up back at base camp," says Patrick. "Let's keep moving."

[kabukiman]

The group returns in a depressed mood. Nobody speaks, still affected by what you saw in the temple.

[Mr. Handy]

"I'm going to go check our online security one more time," says Patrick. "If I can't find any evidence of breaches, I'll send our data and footage back to the university. I just don't want to risk it being intercepted. This is a huge find!"

[kabukiman]

Roll system knowledge.

[Mr. Handy]

Patrick examines his defenses with a skilled eye.

[kabukiman]

Everything is ok, nobody has tried to breach it.

Return to the thread: All

[kabukiman]

You return to the gates of the city.
This time, the team is made by Professor Laurence Mathieu, Professor Belinda Mirel, students Tanaka, Ali, George, Claire, and Belinda protegé-Mark. One mercenary is also with you.

(Carlos is in the in the camp, recovering from the shock he suffered last day).
-So what are you waiting?- asks Professor Belinda.
-Well-says Mathieu with no entusiasm- this is it. Let's just avoid the temples.

[Mr. Handy]

"Okay," says Patrick, readying his camera. "Where do you want to check out first?"

[kabukiman]

-Well, I'm thinking that we could go to one of those palaces that we saw yesterday after... the incident

[Mr. Handy]

"All right, but let's approach cautiously," says Patrick. "We don't know what we're going to find."

[kabukiman]

-Of course, of course, we don't want to take any risk.-Answers Professor Mathieu
The group is entering in silence, except Professor Belinda and Mark who are discussing about the city.
-Well, with those house small that we saw near the gates, and the palaces and temples that you say that exist, it is obvious that this civilization was a pyramidal society, probably with a patriarchal theocracy.
-Yes, professor. Do you think that they would make human sacrifices?
-Probably, but they could kill in other ways, by targeting minorities or acusing women of witchcraft.
The group arrive at the palace.
-It's here- says Professor Mathieu- please be careful.
The main door is small, about 1,70m; the locals were probably short. Inside there is a small dark corridor. At the end, there is a room. It has 6 couches (klines- says the professor), with a small table in the middle. Probably a dining room.

[Mr. Handy]

Patrick takes pictures as he goes along, first of the palace's exterior and then of the interior rooms, making sure to get a picture of the furniture. "There must be many other rooms in this palace," he says, looking around for other exits from the room. "It's remarkably well-preserved, considering how old it must be. Maybe it was frozen over until recently."

[kabukiman]

-Well, the doors were closed, so it must had been preserved from the cold and didn't get any mud.
The walls are painted with geometrical patherns. When you arrive at one room, you see other paintings: men hunting animals: some kind of tiger with big teeths; bears that are much bigger than humans. In the room is one bed, and an ark.
-This is scarry-says George- it's like we are some robbers entering in another place home.
-Well, thats what we do-answers Tanaka- a kind of necrophilia.
-That's so gross- says Claire.
-Why are tiger tooths painted in the walls? -Asks Mark-should'nt they be extint when the city was build?
Nobody bothers to answer him.
Ping. Someone is calling you.

[Mr. Handy]

"Maybe the city is older than we think," says Patrick. "Or maybe sabertooth tigers lived here more recently than previously thought. Hold on, I've got a call." He answers the phone. "Hello?"

[kabukiman]

-Hi, this is Professor Rodrick. I have been doing test all this morning about the skull you bring yesterday. Well, I used first carbon 14 to see the fellow age, but I thought it had some mistake, because it was superior to 100000; I made it again, and the same result. Well, with some test I got a Result: the skull is more than 1.000.000 years old. That's right. Biology isn't my expertise, but I think it's an early branch of Homo Habilis who left mother land-I mean Africa- sooner and evoluted outside earlier than our ancesters. So Professor Derby was correct: It should be called Homo (Genus) Miskatonikus (specie).Oh, and the kids who are here, have finish to scann the old scroll the other team found yesterday. It can be sent when you are ready to the university.

[Mr. Handy]

"Thank you, Professor," says Patrick. "I've heard that carbon dating isn't accurate beyond a few thousand years, but I guess you weren't expecting the skull to be that old anyway. These other tests you ran must have been different ones. I hadn't heard about the scroll, so I'll have to check that out. This find is even bigger than we thought." He fills in the others about what Professor Rodrick told him. "Sabertooth tigers don't sound quite so unlikely now," he tells them.