Play@YSDC

Site 3 stands on a rocky plateau on the South-West coast of Gozo, overlooking the sea. It is considerably bigger than either of the other two sites covering around two acres. At the end of a long dusty dirt track, Site three sits in a natural amphitheatre right on the coast. Unlike Site one, the start of the track is not marked as protected by Heritage Malta and there is no real indication there is anything of interest. However further down the track you see the familiar fence and Heritage Malta signs warning people to keep out.

Andy Wade

Andy slowly approaches the gate, carefully looking around trying to see if anything looks amiss and checking that they're on their own.

Andy Wade (SPOT HIDDEN 35%),[dice]0[/dice]

Andy Wade (Track 10%),[dice]1[/dice] - to see if he can recognise and recent comings and goings

Andy takes a look around the ruts in the track makes it look as though the track is or was heavily used, but with the sun baked earth its hard to tell if there has been any recent traffic. There really isn't a gate as such, one of the fence panels is simply held in place with a set of padlocks rather than fixed in place with a brackets. The area looks deserted.

Be my guest
Jacob gestures to them to lead the way

Andy Wade

"Place looks deserted." Andy says as he reaches out and tugs experimentally on the padlock. "I suppose we ought to leave this in place if at all possible, we should try and keep our interest in the sites 'under wraps' for as long as possible. Someone probably comes around to check that no one has broken in every couple of days."

He half turns to the others "Unless we want to force our way in we'll have to climb over or find a gap in the fence." .

We can get up and over these easy enough - they're designed to keep the casual trespasser out, not the criminally determined. Albert cups his hands together and braces himself to boost his colleagues Right then Raffles, up and over with you!

Andy Wade

"Raffles, I assure you I am no gentleman; thief or otherwise" Andy laughs as he prepares to take advantage of Albert's offered boost.

OOC:   Could be funny - Albert and Andy are fairly short

Albert gives Andy enough of a boost for him to get his arms over the top of the fence and heave himself up. Perching precariously on the top of the fence Andy leans over to help Albert and Jacob up and over.

The first thing anyone observing the site will notice is that a great deal of work has been done to reveal the site; work here is much further along than the other two sites. The earth here has been cleared over a large area and in a couple of places to a depth of over two metres with the spoil being added to the ridge which surrounds the site.

The problem is with no real archaeological knowledge between the three of them the trio have no idea what they are looking at.

Right, I suspect we're all virgin's in a knocking shop when it comes to our combined archeological knowledge Albert grins.

Let's take a look around and try not to disturb too much and leave evidence of our little trespass. Not really sure what we're looking for but let's keep our eyes peeled and don't forget to scan the fence line in case anyone turns up.

Hidden,Good Try, These are generalist skills, you have to use them with a specific goal in mind, otherwise they tell you nothing that you can't already see.

Looking over the site, Albert can see a great deal of revealed stonework, whatever was here is quite large and well preserved but it bears no resemblance to the Roman ruins he's seen on 'Time Team'. There does seem to be a fair amount of plant (machinery) still on site, which is quite surprising because it must be rented or leased and will be costing Brichester University money while it sits here idle.

Albert get's to work and starts taking pictures of the site - from wide out panoramics to close ups and everything in between, including the plant hire and the company it was leased from.

Albert thinking:   not really sure what I'm looking for here but hopefully if I shoot it all we might be lucky and find something when we go through the images together later.

Albert starts to move purposefully around the site snapping off shots as he goes.

Albert spends nearly two hours taking photos at the end of which he is happy that he has comprehensively documented the site.

Andy Wade

Andy follows Albert deeper into the site, watching as the other man starts to photograph everything. Andy keep an eye out for any of the 'writing' marks he saw at the other site and for any statuary. These had been mentioned by Liz as being unusual. Otherwise he's happy to follow Albert and help where he can.

Andy cant see any evidence of statuary although he does wonder whether some of the larger plinths might have held statues sometime or other. Looking at some of the photos Albert took of the previous site, Andy does see some similarities he can see some patterns to it, but in his honest opinion it does seem one step away from chicken scratchings.

OOC:   Can I have Spot Hidden from all present please.

Albert is clearly to focussed on taking photographs, and pretty much oblivious to anything else including what he is perhaps taking photos of.

Andy Wade

OOC:   Spot Hidden: Target 35% [dice]0[/dice]

Andy is lost in trying to make head or tails of the "chicken scratchings"

I thing our best chance is to take some pictures and show it to an experienced archaeologist, maybe he will be able to tell us what we are seeing.
Jacob says as he scans the site and the photos.

Spot hidden and Archeology (1d100=72, 1d100=24)

Jacob has this sense that he's seen something which should mean more to him, without really knowing what it is.

There is something in this place, something familiar, I don't know. let me try and remember ... maybe the tattoos or the fragments themelves that I have seen before ...
Jacob ponders

Spot Hidden (1d100=82) - Darn ...
No, can't point my finger on it. I just don't remember ... I need to rest and I'll have a look at the photos in the evening. maybe something will come up.

Liz and Clay pull up outside the site in the car.

Hey, Liz, Clay ... have a look at these photos, do you recognize something, anything familiar, I have a feeling I've seen something in them in the past but can't point my finger on it right now.
Jacob says and hands them the photos.
How was on the public site ?

"It was neat, but it has nothing to do with the sites we're interested in," says Liz. "Someone had graffitied the rocks there. But while I was there, I was able to ask Matthias about Gunderson. We found out that he's apparently been taking antiquities for years, but he still maintains his innocence. He could have had the objects legally if he'd filed the proper paperwork, and he probably could have settled this if he'd just returned the items and paid a fine. I'm thinking maybe the Verbetoi could have done it to stop the digs, but from what we've seen of them, they're not exactly subtle. If he were an obstacle, they could have just killed him. And get this: he's got a villa on the main island, and it's not exactly clear how he can afford it. Let's see those pics." She starts looking through them.

OOC:   There are no photos to look at - Albert is still shooting at this point having shot several hundred pics already, you don't have an opportunity to look at them unless you want to stop Albert. All of which is irrelevant anyway, as Liz is at the site anyway

Clay and Liz get to roll Spot Hidden

Liz notices something.

Clay
.

spot hidden,target = 45 [dice]0[/dice]

.
"Pretty much what Liz said. What's that guys?" Clay says pointing to something.

Clay remembers rushing through the professors house as the Verbti thugs came piling in, but the image burned in his mind is the tattooed man who led them. The stylized horses which ran over his shoulders and across his chest look almost exactly like the ones intricately carved into the large stellae he and liz are staring at. When its pointed out to Jacob he recognises it as being identical to a tattoo on the old man who lived above the tattoo parlour.

OOC:   Albert is finished with his photography by this point

"I see it," says Liz. "We're definitely on the right track."

Right, you are right, I did saw it, the tattoos ...
Jacob says
The old man who lived above the tattoo parlour had an immense muscle power, I wonder ... not believing that I'm saying it, but the symbol of the horse when tattooed on a man gives the man the power of a horse ?! I wonder what gives them the ability to conjure up fire ...
Jacob, now aware to the carvings and their relation to the tattoos tries to find other carving that might reveal more clues about the powers the Verbti thugs use.

Albert walks over and nods "Clay, Liz anything interesting atthe other site?

I'm just about wrapped up here - got several hundred photo's for us to go through. I've just tried to document everything - can't say I've tried to find any meaning in any of this stuff. Hoping we can make connections when we watch them together"

He pauses and looks over to Jacob Sorry Jake, didn't mean to interrupt, what were you saying?

"I dunno what gives them power over fire," says Liz. "I mean, I don't remember seeing any dragon tattoos or anything. Funny, I was just reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Anyway, the site itself wasn't relevant, but I did get some info from Matthias Balbi about Gunderson." She fills Albert in on what she told the others. "We should go back to the hotel to look over the pics. We don't want anyone to find us here."

Clay
.
"Agreed, lunch sounds great. I think we should find where the prof has that villa here and check it out. He may have some more notes. But we need to be ready, if we found out about it so easily, the fire dudes probably know about it also. I'm just seeing another fight with these guys. Were we able to find any fire extinguishers?"

"We'll have to check with Greg when we get back and see if he was able to get them," says Liz. "I sure didn't have a chance to. If we do run into that lot, we'll need weapons too. I can't kill them with my brain. Well, not directly."

So we get back in the cars and head back to Malta to meet up with Greg for lunch.

ooc - I think you missed my last post of Jacob that tries to find other carving that might reveal more clues about the powers the Verbti thugs use.
Everyone was so in a hurry...

Jacob finds hundreds of carvings throughout the site, but on their own they provide little insight.

OOC:   Did anyone take the tattooist's disgusting skin book from above the shop? The "book" combined with Albert's pictures might provide the insight Jacob is seeking. BTW Jacob needs to make a SAN check 0/D3 SAN loss when he realises the connection between the tattoos and Verbti magic