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Post by Storyteller on Jun 4, 2016 23:37:55 GMT
This is the central thread for for the excavation of the Temple of Mithras. While we still need to deal with the discovery of the hidden temple, I wanted to add a few other story elements just to get the gears turning.
Venisha - your team has been discovering some unique items that don't match what they were expecting. They have found a few scapulars and other neck and arm bands of Egyptian design but using obsidian where normally one would expect lapis.
Dr. Alexander - at least one of the employees, one Vincent Castellano, has been consistently coming to work late on Mondays and apparently has had 5 different grandparents this year.
Chance and Dr. Slate - You've been compiling the data from the survey of the land and you've found about 5 shafts dug around the site. You're not sure exactly what they were for but they were most likely dug by the company that used to have a building above this site.
Meg - Your desk is piling up with requests from the Mayor of the City of London, the leader of some livery companies and even the Prime Minister for some time at the site. A few prominent celebrities are also requesting some time and you need to juggle these requests.
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Post by Anya on Jun 6, 2016 0:33:17 GMT
After staring in horror at the requests pile up for a few days, Anya'll try to figure out which requests ought to be fulfilled in what order. While accommodating the visitors' schedules, and also considering the order the requests came in, she'd try to alternate between important and powerful people like the PM and the Mayor, which she's not freaking out about at all really, the heads of companies who might want to donate something to the site, and the various curious celebrities. She wants to keep them alternated so it's not obvious to the outside observer which people she thinks are important and which she's just just trying to get to leave her alone.
She'll try to learn as much as possible about the site from the person who heads the site (can't recall his name, the one who asked her to take care of the reporters) so that she can give a decent tour (she's assuming that it's her and not people who actually need to be doing things on site who'll be giving the tour.) She'll ask for daily briefings on what's been discovered and what it means. She'll also ask him what times would be the best for visitors. More than likely, they'll want to see it during the day, when the dig is active, but she figures it's probably a good idea to ask rather than tell when visitors can come. She'll limit the tours to one group daily, and each group should be from one interested party - so the Mayor and entourage, a celebrity and entourage.
She'll also make sure the commissary or whatever has enough water and decent fruit and stuff to offer the guests.
When she starts to have trouble keeping up with all of this and organizing it all, which she will pretty much immediately because this is a new skill set to her and she's not used to being formal at all ever in her life, she'll start doing rituals in the morning to raise her Wits (Mind 1 - listen to Bach, dance, hopefully it'll last all day. Schedule phone calls and tours in the morning, hopefully, before it wears off). If this all works, and moreso if it doesn't, by the end of each day she'll be running ragged.
ETA: She'll also try to figure out who wants to see the site and who wants to be seen at the site, and notify the appropriate journalists for the latter. Between that and regular press briefings, mostly via email, maybe that'll keep the press mostly off site.
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Post by Dr. Stake on Jun 6, 2016 22:27:52 GMT
Are the five pits / shafts laid out in any particular pattern? And have they been filled in?
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Post by Chance on Jun 7, 2016 11:46:25 GMT
Are the five shafts made of the same materials as the other? Does it appear that the shafts were dug by something specific? Are there tell-tale spiral shapes, remains of materials, or other indications such as smoothness?
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Post by alexander on Jun 7, 2016 12:54:45 GMT
Important things first; review medical records and family history to make sure that a) he doesn't actually have multiple sets of grandparents (like through his parents remarrying) and b) he doesn't have any known chronic conditions that might lead to this pattern of absence.
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Venisha
Junior Member
Completely cool with having last-minute house guests. Completely.
Posts: 67 
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Post by Venisha on Jun 8, 2016 1:26:19 GMT
I think it's time for Venisha to slip away to a library to learn about Egyptian uses of lapis and obsidian, and the meaning behind them. All theoretical, of course. If she requires help from librarians or professors, she'll pretend to be an anthropology student at a local university. All of this is on the down-low, though. Can't let the team know that she knows next to nothing about Egypt...
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Post by Storyteller on Jun 9, 2016 1:08:04 GMT
Chance and Dr. Stake; the five shafts seem to laid out in roughly a pentagonal pattern. Without getting a closer inspection it's difficult to say if the shafts are smooth, dug by something specific or anything of that nature. It's a good bet that the shafts were dug a good time after the temple itself. You'd estimate they were dug in the modern era.
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Post by Storyteller on Jun 9, 2016 1:10:51 GMT
Alexander, the employee in question has only one living set of grandparents out in Bath. His grandmother just posted a lovely cat video on her Facebook wall. According to his files he doesn't have any chronic conditions but he hasn't had a full physical in about 18 months.
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Post by Storyteller on Jun 9, 2016 1:19:14 GMT
Venisha, your research indicates that the Egyptians ascribed many properties to lapis lazuli, chiefly protection. Collars and wristbands inset with lapis were often worn to protect the bearers from evil spirits.
Obsidian is a bit different and there are some competing sets of beliefs about it. Some sources say that the Egyptians used only in their funeral rites and jewelry, in order to help preserve the body and allow for easy journey into the afterlife. But some sources give the impression that obsidian was only truly used by spirits and ghosts, that it was a source of power and protection for them much as lapis was for the living.
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Post by Storyteller on Jun 9, 2016 1:39:03 GMT
Anya, your rituals help in juggling the various publicity agents and contacts but the struggle is real. The major issue seems to be one of precedence; it would be best to have the Mayor of London be your first guest but unfortunately he isn't available for at least 3 weeks. That would mean putting two CEO's of the livery companies on hold even though they are available within the week. No one is going to be majorly put out if they aren't first but it's going to be a sticking point.
The commissary can handle a major guest but it depends on the size of the party and how big the press presence is that shows up. Most likely, the biggest problem is going to be handling the press. Any sort of visit will mean that all work stops at the site for at least a day if not more.
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Post by Anya on Jun 9, 2016 2:20:45 GMT
The struggle is real indeed. Before she starts scheduling, then, she'll want to figure out what happens to the workers if there are work stoppages due to visitors (will their time off be paid or unpaid, do the contracts specify they have to finish the work in a certain amount of time to get certain bonuses, etc.) She'll also try to figure out how large of parties each guest wants to bring. And how much of a faux pas would it be to combine groups for a visit? So much, I'm imagining. If the workers are usually doing their thing M-F, could she convince the guests to come on Saturdays?
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Post by Storyteller on Jun 9, 2016 22:07:57 GMT
If work only stops for a day or two the workers will get paid but anything more than that will require them to either use their own PTO or take the time unpaid. The party size really depends on the person in question; someone like the PM will have a group of of almost 50 all told but one of the celebrity figures would probably have about 8-10. Combining groups is probably not on; no one is going to say anything outright but there will be side-eye aplenty. Guests coming on Saturday is fine though.
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