"Well, we have the tour to finish ourselves actually, so how about we stick it out and leave together." Raymond turns and gives Ms. Cressey a smile, trying to be non-nonchalant about their conversation, "if that is alright with you of course."
"Oh, of course," said Amelia, seeming a bit distracted. "Shall I start over with the Roman exhibits, for the sake of our new arrivals, or do you want me to pick up again where I left off?"
"Excuse me fellas, I think I'll head back to the Ship Inn". Salem leaned in towards Chad and Raymond so Amelia was out of an earshot, "our colleagues are still waiting at the Ship Inn so I'll keep in touch with them". Salem glanced at the newly found allies and thought to himself, 'what a strange ragtag bunch of misfits', he wasn't too sure what to judge these characters as they seemed more out of place than himself and his friends. 'Too convenient' Salem thought to himself.
"Amelia would you mind if I look at the giftshop for a moment? It'd only take a second of your time, I promise".
"Sure," said Amelia, turning to Elizabeth, Brook, and Lucius. "Excuse me. I'll be back in a bit to begin the tour." She led Salem over to the gift shop. "Is there something here that strikes your fancy?"
"Disposable camera, a lighter or matches, and do you happen to have a tacky coffee mug that says Dunwich across it or something?"Salem eyes lit up as he passed through the giftshop. "Oh! A few postcards, a pen and notebook would be terrific as well".
Lucius nodded politely to Salem as he departed and looked to the others when they suggested the Roman exhibit. "Ah... yes. That would be nice."
Museum question,Wasn't this a local museum housing historical artifacts relevant to the place at hand? Had no idea it was large enough to have a Roman exhibit.
"Our mugs are not tacky," said Amelia to Salem, "but we do have some." She gathered a disposable camera, a lighter, a mug with a picture of an anchor that said "Dunwich" on it, a selection of postcards, a notebook with an aerial picture of Dunwich on the cover, and a pen with nautical designs and "Dunwich" on it. She put all of these things into a gift bag with similar designs, which she placed on the counter. "That will be seven pounds fifty, please."
Elizabeth, Lucius, and Brook examined the Roman exhibits, which were closest to the door. There was a model of a Roman fort in a glass case. Lucius could see that the fortifications looked like standard Roman ones. Not far from the model was a tall display case containing a variety of Roman artifacts, including a small silver coin and a helmet. Lucius could not recognize the face of the man on the coin, but the inscription referred to him as Hadrian. The helmet was missing its crest. The artifacts did look vaguely familiar to Lucius, but there was something about their style that was indefinably different.
OOC,[b]Elizabeth[/b] and [b]Brook[/b], please roll History. [b]Lucius[/b], I'm afraid this is after your time.
This is a local museum with artifacts that are historically relevant to Dunwich, but it was once a major city and center of commerce, and before that it was the site of a Roman fort. There are Viking exhibits here too.
OOC pass history roll,[url=http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/4037665/]Rolling History (stat 70%) on looking at the Roman exhibits in Dunwich museum (1d100=34)[/url]
Elizabeth Young,[b]Elizabeth[/b] of course recognized Hadrian as the name of a Roman Emperor in the early Second Century AD, known for the construction of Hadrian's Wall. The coin was a Roman denarius, minted during his reign. The helmet looked like a standard legionary's helmet. Normally the crest indicated the soldier's rank. A regular legionary would have a crest that went front to back like a mohawk, but a centurion would have a crest that went left and right instead. The fact that it was missing was not a surprise, as it would not have been likely to survive all this time, but it made it impossible to tell the soldier's rank.
"That's a second century Roman coin," says Elizabeth to the others. "Emperor Hadrian, he who built the wall to keep out us Scots!" She laughs. "Looks like a legionary's helmet. No crest though, so we can't tell the soldier's rank."
Lucius eyed the artifacts curiously. 2nd century... Lucius had come to realize with their travels that there was a defining point in time where they used as a 0 point, although he didn't really understand all the nuances behind this mysterious Jesus of Nazareth and why he should be a defining point. Surely, the defining point should have been the rise of the Roman culture since it was so influential across the lands. But it didn't matter much one way or another, he guessed. He did know that 2nd century must have been after his time. The Romans had managed to secure this area at some point, and from what he gathered over various conversations... Romans were quite a global power. He wondered where they failed and why they had been diminished to an almost forgotten culture with a dead language.
"These aren't like the ones I remember," Lucius said matter-of-factly looking at the helmet. "Similar, yet subtly different. I just can't put my finger on what is so different about them." He pointed to the coin and asked Elizabeth, "Was Hadrian an Emperor from the 2nd century as well?"
"Yes, in the first half of the second century AD," says Elizabeth. "So about 200 years after the time you're more familiar with. He travelled widely, and if I remember correctly he was a good emperor. He also favoured Greek fashions." She pauses to peer more closely at the coin, before continuing: "Look, you can almost make out the beard in his image on the coin."
Raymond simply followed along with the others until the tour caught up to their last point, but listened to the newcomers' discussion.
"Wow, I am quite impressed Ms. Elizabeth. You seem to really know your history. Never really picked up on it honest, sort of funny considering... but it was never my strong suit."
"You're quite welcome, sir," said Amelia, ringing up the sale and handing the gift bag to Salem. "Thank you, and please come again." She came out from behind the counter and joined the group around the Roman exhibits, smiling at Elizabeth. "You are quite the historian, Miss. It's always a pleasure to meet someone so knowledgeable. You could probably do my job if you wanted. Of course, it doesn't pay anything."
"I'm a schoolteacher, so used to low pay," laughs Elizabeth. "But yes, I'm a history teacher, and studied history and archaeology for my degree. So seeing all this is a real treat for me. But I'm sure there will be much still for me to learn. I only know a little about Dunwich already."