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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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<blockquote data-quote="Silver Moon" data-source="post: 4767496" data-attributes="member: 8530"><p><strong>Chapter Twenty, “The Slaves of Atlantis” September 2nd, 1882, 5:00 A.M.</strong></p><p></p><p>Just before noon a pair of riders head up the walkway towards the house. One is a human male who appears to be in his seventies or eighties. He is tall and thin, with long white hair tied in the back in a ponytail. He is clean shaven except for a thin white mustache and wearing a dark brown suit that falls a little loose on his frame. He has on a white cotton shirt with a brown and gold patterned bow tie. His hat is a somewhat dilapidated pre-Civil War United States Army cap. Well-worn but recently polished shoes are on his feet. Pinned to the lapel of his suit coat is a medal, which many of those assembled recognize as the Congressional Medal of Honor. His horse’s saddle has United States markings that indicate it was originally made for military use. A walking cane sits in the saddle’s rife holster. And lastly, a multi-colored parrot is perched upon his right shoulder. </p><p></p><p>His companion is a blonde-haired half-elvan female who is the human equivalent of early-to-mid twenties. She is attired in a white floral print sundress that is identical in style to those currently worn by Alsoomse and Antoinette, although the flowers on her dress are a bright yellow. While she doesn’t have same voluptuous figure or captivating beauty as the other two similarly-attired women, nobody would ever consider her to be unattractive, with a trim physique, sparkling light blue eyes and a pleasant smile. </p><p></p><p>She quickly dismounts and secures both of their horses to the front railing. She then helps the older man down from his horse and hands him his cane. They walk together towards the front porch, him using the cane in his right hand and her supporting him on the left. As the reach the lobby Alsoomse comes out to greet them, kissing the man on the right cheek. She says to the others, “Our dinner guests are all here now. Everybody, I would like to introduce you to our nearest neighbors, Sergeant Alan McKinnon and his granddaughter-in-law Autumn McKinnon. They live along the river just west of the Timucuan Conservancy. Alan’s other companion will make his own introduction.” On cue the parrot exclaims, “Walter says Hello, Walter says Hello.” </p><p></p><p>They enter the dining room, with Alsoomse removing Walter from Alan’s shoulder and places the bird atop a wooden hat rack that had been brought into the room and placed near one of the china cabinets on the south wall. </p><p>James says, “Please feel free to sit wherever you would like, there is no assigned seating with this meal.” Autumn helps Alan over to a chair at the table with James, Mina and Luiz, but doesn’t take a seat there herself, leaving the other three seats at that table open. Jasper, Obadiah and Jemima, sit at a table with Alsoomse and Sol, leaving two seats open at that table. Autumn joins the two younger members of the Delroy-Kingsley clan, Antoinette and Enoch, leaving the other four seats open at that table. </p><p></p><p>Ruby and George take a seat with Autumn, Antoinette and Enoch where she introduces herself and George to the newcomer and the others she didn't really get to speak with the night before. "It's a pleasure to meet you Autumn, do you come here often to visit?" She replies, "We visit around once a week, James and Grandfather have become close friends. They spend most of the time swapping war stories. We don't get out that much any more, Grandfather has become quite frail. But I manage to see Alsoomse every day at dawn, as she and Antoinette join me for a bath and swim in the river. Jemima used to join us too, but the new house has an indoor tub, so she says that her river days are over." </p><p></p><p>Ruby answers, "I can't say I blame her, I prefer the tub too. Though a dip in the river does sound very refreshing, perhaps I'll have to join you one day, if you don't mind.” Autumn says, "Sure, you're perfectly welcome too. Alsoomse used to bring the teenage girls who were here with her this last summer. Today your furry friend Maska joined us, she seemed to enjoy the swim a great deal. She's a beautiful animal." Ruby says, "Isn't she? Nanuet takes wonderful care of her and she has saved our butts many, many, many times, thankfully. Perhaps soon I'll join you then and bring her with me."</p><p></p><p>Ruby says, “Seems like you ladies are all very close around here. I miss my best friend, I haven't seen her in a very long time. Men are nice but it's not the same relationship as the girls have, you know?" Ruby smiled and patted George's hand. "And I DO need to get some of those dresses you all have, you look fabulous." Autumn says, "That should be easy enough to do, Jemima has a full bolt of the white cloth and the stencil pattern for the flowers. You just have to add the dye of whatever color you want."</p><p></p><p>Once people are seated Jemima and Antoinette bring out the food which is placed upon each of the tables. It consists of broiled fish with a white sauce topping that has oranges and lemons in it; two separate rice dishes, a white rice and a Cajun rice; a mixed vegetable dish comprised of black-eye peas, green beans and pearl onions in a butter sauce; and hot wheat rolls. A hot apple pie is placed in the center of each table for desert. As was done at the meal before, prayers are said by worshipers present to each deity worshiped by those at the table with Alan McKinnon saying the prayer to the Greek and Roman gods. </p><p></p><p>Nanuet, always looking for more food finds a seat at the table where Alsoomse and Sol are sitting. He introduces himself to the newcomers at the table and with a disregard for manners begins shoveling food in is face. "Wow, this is really good, I am definitely going to like it here!" he says smiling with a mouth full of food.</p><p></p><p>Lawrence takes a leisurely walk on the grounds. He enjoys the warm Florida sun on his face as he goes. He hears the lunch bell and slowly makes his way back to the house. "Smells good." Ruby called out in a louder voice, "Lunch is wonderful again, thank you Ladies!" She ate heartily as she always did, no one knew where all those calories went, but Ruby always seemed to be eating or drinking something. "I'm going to get so fat if all the food is like this everyday," she laughed. "Then how can I perform up on stage? Or fit into the lovely sundress Jemima will make me?" She finished off her pie with a flourish. "Seems worth it to me either way." </p><p></p><p>Antoinette tells Ruby, "You're welcome. You can thank Autumn too, she's the one who caught all the fish that we're eating." Autumn says, "Grandfather should get more of the credit than myself. He's the lifelong fisherman who taught me all the tricks to trade, I mearly do as I've been instructed. Plus Jemima is the one who cleaned and cooked them, that's the part of fishing I can do without." Ruby exclaims, "Ugh, well, I for one am glad you are here to do it because that just grosses me out! I'll eat it but I'm not touching it otherwise," she laughed at how silly that sounded.</p><p></p><p>She finished her last bite of lunch then stood and stretched. "Thanks again for lunch. And now, upstairs I think we're meeting?" As the meal comes to a close and the last of the apple pies are devoured the McKinnons depart. Luiz and Alsoomse both head upstairs to prepare for the meeting. Jemima, Antoinette and Enoch clear the tables and wash the dishes. Given the interruption the previous day Sol asks Obie and Jasper to stay and keep an eye on things from the lobby and front porch while the meeting is going on. James announces to the others that the meeting will start in ten minutes. </p><p></p><p>After lunch, Lawrence thanks Alsoomse and Antoinette for the delicious pies they made. He sits on the porch and smokes a cigar as he muses, "Those McKinnons are mighty interesting." After the meal and general conversation, Thomas returned to his room to change from his exercise clothing back into his regular attire. </p><p></p><p>As people enter the library and conference room they immediatley notice the room’s temperature is cooler than the rest of the house, being a very comfortable seventy degrees. There are six wooden easels set up inside the room, one a few feet back from each corner of the long table. On the table are a bowl of fresh fruit, a bowl of dried fruit, two bowls with mixed nuts, a bowl with peppermint, butterscotch and other hard candies, and two bowls with chocolate candies. </p><p></p><p>James Parker is standing at the head of the table and placed before him is the same decanter with the magical elixir that he had set on the table the previous day. Alsoomse has changed out of her colorful sundress and is now attired in into a gray skirt with matching suit jacket over a white blouse. Luiz stands over at the well-stocked bar and invites each person to get a beverage. </p><p></p><p>Thomas headed back downstairs and into the library and conference center, nodding to Parker, and takes a seat (whatever seat Parker indicates, or the closest to the head of the table. He reaches for two apples from the fresh fruit bowl, and begins to eat one as everyone else gathers. </p><p></p><p>Nanuet helped with whatever cleanup he could before he was shooed away. He headed upstairs, his belly full, eager to get more information about the mission they were about to undertake. Nanuet entered the room and took a seat near the back and quietly waited for the meeting to start. </p><p></p><p>As Ruby entered the room she began to head to the bar for an iced tea but instead veered off sharply as she spotted the chocolate. She happily grabbed a few pieces before getting her and George an iced tea then finding George who was already sitting. She was certain he chose those exact seats for some purpose, where the sun was positioned, or the angle at which he could see the front of the room but Ruby had no such concern, she just plopped down next to him. "Chocolate?" she offered him one while they waited for the meeting to begin. George reached for a peppermint, popping one in his mouth. He smiled at Ruby as she sat next to him. He pulled out his notebook, and waited for the meeting, taking Ruby's hand into his own as he waited. </p><p></p><p>"My goodness," Ruby said out loud to no one in particular, "It is so cool in here, what's making it so cold?" Alsoomse replies, "That would be me. The spell will only last for around forty-five minutes, but it should stay relatively cool thereafter with the room closed up. I figured that we might as well all be comfortable." Ruby blinked at her a few times then smiled. She should have realized that everyone here each had a very special set of skills. "Well, I for one am thankful, it's nice to have it be a little cooler, it has been so hot and humid! It's hot where I come from too but not like this. Do we think this meeting will be longer than 45 minutes anyway?" </p><p></p><p>Alsoomse replies, "It could be, I've admonished James for being far to circumspect with all of you about the details. I have always taught him to be cautious, but some things should have been told to you from the onset. For example, if Roy and Abigail had known about the secret staircase passage or trapdoors in each room that intruder might have been captured rather than escaping. I blame that on James being too secretive. And while I understand his wanting to be totally sure of his theories before sharing them he was at least ninety-five-percent confident of his conclusions before now. So he has agreed that the meeting will last until he has satisfied all of you with the answers to whatever questions that you have for him.”</p><p></p><p>The others make their way into the room and to seats around the table. Sol is the last person to enter the room. He takes out a key and locks the door behind him. Looking at James he says, “The upper floors are all now secure. Jasper and Obie will stay on guard downstairs and outside.” Luiz tells those present, “This room has a number of special magical protections, so once sealed it is impossible for anybody to eavesdrop on our conversations.” </p><p></p><p>Once everybody is seated with their beverages James stands and begins, “Yesterday I outlined some of what this is all about. Today we will in the detail and answer any and all of your questions. Please feel free to voice your thoughts as they occur, as what we have to say is rather lengthy and I wouldn’t want you to forget to ask something of potential importance. </p><p></p><p>At the conclusion of this meeting I will again ask each of you to decide whether you wish for your role here to be as a full employee or as an occasional consultant. If you decide the latter option I require you to consume a quantity of the Elixir of Forgetfulness so that the details of this meeting will remain solely with those who are fully committed to this venture.</p><p></p><p>Ruby squeezed George's hand. She was glad he got to think things though the way he needed to the night before. Now both of them would be able to move forward without any reservations in their heart. "Let's get started! You know how impatient I am and the waiting is killing me," she teased before taking another bite of chocolate. The truth was, she was loving all this, the feeling of something much bigger than any of them. </p><p></p><p>James says, “Luiz, since it was you who initiated this effort why don’t you begin?” Doctor Chernovitz says, “This all started with an mystery that has been bothering me for decades. Over twenty years ago I was reading a rare medical book that was written by a French physician in the early 1700’s. The doctor mentioned a rather effective herbal medicinal remedy passed down through his family to cure a type of severe fever while in temperate climates. As I was living in Brazil at the time and participating in exploration of the Amazon River I found this cure to be of special importance. The remedy worked well. </p><p></p><p>One curiosity thought was a footnote on that page which said that this cure was first used by the author’s great grandfather, who had served as the physician at Fort Caroline, and that the cure was learned from the ‘Slaves of Atlantis’. There were no further references in that volume to the Atlantians and so I decided to further research this Fort Caroline. What I discovered was that the French government officially denied that any French fortress named Fort Caroline ever existed. They suggested that any fort by that name must have been by another nation. </p><p></p><p>So I checked with other governments, sending letters to their various diplomatic offices and repositories of history. The replies indicated there was no evidence of there ever being a fortress by that name. However, the letter that I received from the Spanish government not only denied a fortress by that name, it strongly suggested that I abandon this line of research, with an implied threat if I continued to pursue it. They obviously didn’t know me, as their threat had the opposite effect for me, providing he impetus for me to investigate further. </p><p></p><p>Since my main clue was the French physician I returned to France, where two of my children were living at the time. I spent weeks looking through records, and I couldn’t find any birth records, marriage records or medical school transcripts for the author’s ancestor. I did uncover evidence through tax records of that doctor first appearing in France as an educated adult with a family in the late 1560’s. The official explanation was for no other records was that the man may have immigrated to France from a neighboring country and the paperwork recording that was lost. So at the time I considered that to be a possible explanation. </p><p></p><p>At the time I had no other leads, and the United States then began its Civil War with significant impacts upon both of my adopted countries of France and Brazil, some more pressing matters rose to the top of my agenda. But I never forgot about that reference to the ‘Slaves of Atlantis’. Ruby says, "The myths and stories of Atlantis... they include a lot of magic related curiosities, don't they? And that is why everyone would be interested in finding it and if they DID find it, they would want to keep that a secret?" </p><p></p><p>James states, “Most references to Atlantis are from the writings of the Greek philosopher Homer. His known works are The Iliad and The Odyssey. Regarding Atlantis itself, in The Iliad he describes the Atlantian people as a race of tall humans, averaging from six to seven feet in height, and tells of the island nation’s destruction. A third volume by Homer concerns Atlantis itself. That volume is banned in all anti-wizard magic nations as it contains a vast number of arcane spells and that book serves as the basis for the study of wizard magic. But that volume is more than just a spell book, it contains details about the people of Atlantis. And it makes several references to a term that has been commonly mistranslated into western languages as the word ‘Slaves’." </p><p></p><p>Ruby asks, "Oh, what is the word, actually, if it isn't slaves? Do we happen to have a copy of this elusive book? I'm not a great reader but I'd like love to get a little peek at one. For curiosity's sake, of course." James says, "Yes, we have a copy of the book, but unless you are versed in Ancient Greek and Ancient Atlantian I doubt that you could read it. As to the translation of that word, I’ll let our linguistic expert explain further.” </p><p></p><p>Alsoomse says, “Unlike the Iliad and The Odyssey, which were written in Ancient Greek, his volume about the Atlantians is a mix of Ancient Greek interspersed with words from the ancient language of the Atlantians themselves. Much of this language is the basis for magical writings. The reference to slaves is the Atlantian word and not the Greek. The exact translation of this word is not ‘Slave’ but the phrase is ‘Lifelong Servant’. </p><p></p><p>Western scholars deemed that close enough, since in Western cultures a slave’s period of servitude lasted for their entire life. But the few scholars who have studied remnants of other writings credited to the Atlantians, which better explain the master-slave relationship. </p><p></p><p>The arrangement was unlike slavery, as we know it; the relationship was not ownership but rather long-term employment. And the period of servitude was linked to the life of the master and not that of servant. This bond of servitude only began when an adult Altantian became married, at which time the servant’s family would then receiving the first of what would be annual payments.” </p><p></p><p>James continues stating, “In effect, these were indentured servants who came into a contractual form of employment when an Atlantian had reached adulthood and wed. The personal servant in effect being a life-long wedding present to the individual. These servants would each serve only one specific individual, not their spouse or family, and only until the Atlantian died. At that point the contract would cease, and the servant would then return to his or her own distant homeland. In return, Atlantis would annually provide the families of the servants with food and medicines for the duration of the servitude contract. Nothing specific is noted about these servants other than that they were from a very distant land. We can also assume from these writings that the servant’s life spans generally exceed that of the Atlantian." </p><p></p><p>Alsoomse says, "Yes, when a human Atlantian is married they would then get their own personal servant of the servant race." James says, "Our theory and mine is that it was the Timucuan elves that were the servants of the Atlantians. Furthermore, we believe the Timucuan weren’t elves, that their race was one of half-elves, being of both Elvan and Human Atlantian descent. This theory would account for their taller height and also their shorter life spans than other North American elvan tribes.” "Ohh," Ruby said. "That makes more sense.”</p><p></p><p>Alsoomse states, “It is also a linguistically sound theory, as the Timucuan language has no common elements with any other North American languages, but it has many similarities in sentence structure and grammar to the Atlantian language. It also bears some similarities with remote languages from other continents. We have also uncovered evidence that the Timucuan used wizard magics, something that with the exception of a few common low-level spells used by bards, no other Native American Elvan tribes historically did. . </p><p></p><p>Regarding the Saturiwa tribe that lived here in this area, membership in this tribe was not entirely hereditary, as were the other eleven tribes of the Timucuan. Many of the Saturiwa were born from the other tribes and then brought as infants to this tribe to be raised. The name of Saturiwa actually translates as the phrase ‘Master-like’. </p><p>So we believe that Saturiwa were those born to the various Timucuan groups who showed more of the human than elvan characteristics. By concentrating those genetic tendencies here, the offspring would more closely resemble the Atlantian humans, and therefore be more visually pleasing to the Atlantians who they served. That would also explain why the Timucuan people as a whole remained in self-isolation from other elvan tribes, not wanting their bloodlines to be diluted with those who clearly had no Atlantian genetics.” </p><p></p><p>Ruby asks, "Why would their looks matter to their Atlantian masters? And people from Atlantis, they are supposedly... human? And, are there still Atlantian people alive maybe? Where might they live, if there are? What does that all have to do with that rock that came up out of the ocean? I mean, sure, the sea spirit might have been keeping it down under the water but why?" Ruby blinked at the lecturers a few times then took in a deep breath of air, needed after all her question asking. </p><p></p><p>Luiz states, "We don't have answers to those questions. Finding the answers to those questions is what this is about. If we are successful I hope to walk the streets of Atlantis within the next year or two. We believe that our theory about the Timucuan is the first step to accomplishing this."</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Silver Moon, post: 4767496, member: 8530"] [B]Chapter Twenty, “The Slaves of Atlantis” September 2nd, 1882, 5:00 A.M.[/B] Just before noon a pair of riders head up the walkway towards the house. One is a human male who appears to be in his seventies or eighties. He is tall and thin, with long white hair tied in the back in a ponytail. He is clean shaven except for a thin white mustache and wearing a dark brown suit that falls a little loose on his frame. He has on a white cotton shirt with a brown and gold patterned bow tie. His hat is a somewhat dilapidated pre-Civil War United States Army cap. Well-worn but recently polished shoes are on his feet. Pinned to the lapel of his suit coat is a medal, which many of those assembled recognize as the Congressional Medal of Honor. His horse’s saddle has United States markings that indicate it was originally made for military use. A walking cane sits in the saddle’s rife holster. And lastly, a multi-colored parrot is perched upon his right shoulder. His companion is a blonde-haired half-elvan female who is the human equivalent of early-to-mid twenties. She is attired in a white floral print sundress that is identical in style to those currently worn by Alsoomse and Antoinette, although the flowers on her dress are a bright yellow. While she doesn’t have same voluptuous figure or captivating beauty as the other two similarly-attired women, nobody would ever consider her to be unattractive, with a trim physique, sparkling light blue eyes and a pleasant smile. She quickly dismounts and secures both of their horses to the front railing. She then helps the older man down from his horse and hands him his cane. They walk together towards the front porch, him using the cane in his right hand and her supporting him on the left. As the reach the lobby Alsoomse comes out to greet them, kissing the man on the right cheek. She says to the others, “Our dinner guests are all here now. Everybody, I would like to introduce you to our nearest neighbors, Sergeant Alan McKinnon and his granddaughter-in-law Autumn McKinnon. They live along the river just west of the Timucuan Conservancy. Alan’s other companion will make his own introduction.” On cue the parrot exclaims, “Walter says Hello, Walter says Hello.” They enter the dining room, with Alsoomse removing Walter from Alan’s shoulder and places the bird atop a wooden hat rack that had been brought into the room and placed near one of the china cabinets on the south wall. James says, “Please feel free to sit wherever you would like, there is no assigned seating with this meal.” Autumn helps Alan over to a chair at the table with James, Mina and Luiz, but doesn’t take a seat there herself, leaving the other three seats at that table open. Jasper, Obadiah and Jemima, sit at a table with Alsoomse and Sol, leaving two seats open at that table. Autumn joins the two younger members of the Delroy-Kingsley clan, Antoinette and Enoch, leaving the other four seats open at that table. Ruby and George take a seat with Autumn, Antoinette and Enoch where she introduces herself and George to the newcomer and the others she didn't really get to speak with the night before. "It's a pleasure to meet you Autumn, do you come here often to visit?" She replies, "We visit around once a week, James and Grandfather have become close friends. They spend most of the time swapping war stories. We don't get out that much any more, Grandfather has become quite frail. But I manage to see Alsoomse every day at dawn, as she and Antoinette join me for a bath and swim in the river. Jemima used to join us too, but the new house has an indoor tub, so she says that her river days are over." Ruby answers, "I can't say I blame her, I prefer the tub too. Though a dip in the river does sound very refreshing, perhaps I'll have to join you one day, if you don't mind.” Autumn says, "Sure, you're perfectly welcome too. Alsoomse used to bring the teenage girls who were here with her this last summer. Today your furry friend Maska joined us, she seemed to enjoy the swim a great deal. She's a beautiful animal." Ruby says, "Isn't she? Nanuet takes wonderful care of her and she has saved our butts many, many, many times, thankfully. Perhaps soon I'll join you then and bring her with me." Ruby says, “Seems like you ladies are all very close around here. I miss my best friend, I haven't seen her in a very long time. Men are nice but it's not the same relationship as the girls have, you know?" Ruby smiled and patted George's hand. "And I DO need to get some of those dresses you all have, you look fabulous." Autumn says, "That should be easy enough to do, Jemima has a full bolt of the white cloth and the stencil pattern for the flowers. You just have to add the dye of whatever color you want." Once people are seated Jemima and Antoinette bring out the food which is placed upon each of the tables. It consists of broiled fish with a white sauce topping that has oranges and lemons in it; two separate rice dishes, a white rice and a Cajun rice; a mixed vegetable dish comprised of black-eye peas, green beans and pearl onions in a butter sauce; and hot wheat rolls. A hot apple pie is placed in the center of each table for desert. As was done at the meal before, prayers are said by worshipers present to each deity worshiped by those at the table with Alan McKinnon saying the prayer to the Greek and Roman gods. Nanuet, always looking for more food finds a seat at the table where Alsoomse and Sol are sitting. He introduces himself to the newcomers at the table and with a disregard for manners begins shoveling food in is face. "Wow, this is really good, I am definitely going to like it here!" he says smiling with a mouth full of food. Lawrence takes a leisurely walk on the grounds. He enjoys the warm Florida sun on his face as he goes. He hears the lunch bell and slowly makes his way back to the house. "Smells good." Ruby called out in a louder voice, "Lunch is wonderful again, thank you Ladies!" She ate heartily as she always did, no one knew where all those calories went, but Ruby always seemed to be eating or drinking something. "I'm going to get so fat if all the food is like this everyday," she laughed. "Then how can I perform up on stage? Or fit into the lovely sundress Jemima will make me?" She finished off her pie with a flourish. "Seems worth it to me either way." Antoinette tells Ruby, "You're welcome. You can thank Autumn too, she's the one who caught all the fish that we're eating." Autumn says, "Grandfather should get more of the credit than myself. He's the lifelong fisherman who taught me all the tricks to trade, I mearly do as I've been instructed. Plus Jemima is the one who cleaned and cooked them, that's the part of fishing I can do without." Ruby exclaims, "Ugh, well, I for one am glad you are here to do it because that just grosses me out! I'll eat it but I'm not touching it otherwise," she laughed at how silly that sounded. She finished her last bite of lunch then stood and stretched. "Thanks again for lunch. And now, upstairs I think we're meeting?" As the meal comes to a close and the last of the apple pies are devoured the McKinnons depart. Luiz and Alsoomse both head upstairs to prepare for the meeting. Jemima, Antoinette and Enoch clear the tables and wash the dishes. Given the interruption the previous day Sol asks Obie and Jasper to stay and keep an eye on things from the lobby and front porch while the meeting is going on. James announces to the others that the meeting will start in ten minutes. After lunch, Lawrence thanks Alsoomse and Antoinette for the delicious pies they made. He sits on the porch and smokes a cigar as he muses, "Those McKinnons are mighty interesting." After the meal and general conversation, Thomas returned to his room to change from his exercise clothing back into his regular attire. As people enter the library and conference room they immediatley notice the room’s temperature is cooler than the rest of the house, being a very comfortable seventy degrees. There are six wooden easels set up inside the room, one a few feet back from each corner of the long table. On the table are a bowl of fresh fruit, a bowl of dried fruit, two bowls with mixed nuts, a bowl with peppermint, butterscotch and other hard candies, and two bowls with chocolate candies. James Parker is standing at the head of the table and placed before him is the same decanter with the magical elixir that he had set on the table the previous day. Alsoomse has changed out of her colorful sundress and is now attired in into a gray skirt with matching suit jacket over a white blouse. Luiz stands over at the well-stocked bar and invites each person to get a beverage. Thomas headed back downstairs and into the library and conference center, nodding to Parker, and takes a seat (whatever seat Parker indicates, or the closest to the head of the table. He reaches for two apples from the fresh fruit bowl, and begins to eat one as everyone else gathers. Nanuet helped with whatever cleanup he could before he was shooed away. He headed upstairs, his belly full, eager to get more information about the mission they were about to undertake. Nanuet entered the room and took a seat near the back and quietly waited for the meeting to start. As Ruby entered the room she began to head to the bar for an iced tea but instead veered off sharply as she spotted the chocolate. She happily grabbed a few pieces before getting her and George an iced tea then finding George who was already sitting. She was certain he chose those exact seats for some purpose, where the sun was positioned, or the angle at which he could see the front of the room but Ruby had no such concern, she just plopped down next to him. "Chocolate?" she offered him one while they waited for the meeting to begin. George reached for a peppermint, popping one in his mouth. He smiled at Ruby as she sat next to him. He pulled out his notebook, and waited for the meeting, taking Ruby's hand into his own as he waited. "My goodness," Ruby said out loud to no one in particular, "It is so cool in here, what's making it so cold?" Alsoomse replies, "That would be me. The spell will only last for around forty-five minutes, but it should stay relatively cool thereafter with the room closed up. I figured that we might as well all be comfortable." Ruby blinked at her a few times then smiled. She should have realized that everyone here each had a very special set of skills. "Well, I for one am thankful, it's nice to have it be a little cooler, it has been so hot and humid! It's hot where I come from too but not like this. Do we think this meeting will be longer than 45 minutes anyway?" Alsoomse replies, "It could be, I've admonished James for being far to circumspect with all of you about the details. I have always taught him to be cautious, but some things should have been told to you from the onset. For example, if Roy and Abigail had known about the secret staircase passage or trapdoors in each room that intruder might have been captured rather than escaping. I blame that on James being too secretive. And while I understand his wanting to be totally sure of his theories before sharing them he was at least ninety-five-percent confident of his conclusions before now. So he has agreed that the meeting will last until he has satisfied all of you with the answers to whatever questions that you have for him.” The others make their way into the room and to seats around the table. Sol is the last person to enter the room. He takes out a key and locks the door behind him. Looking at James he says, “The upper floors are all now secure. Jasper and Obie will stay on guard downstairs and outside.” Luiz tells those present, “This room has a number of special magical protections, so once sealed it is impossible for anybody to eavesdrop on our conversations.” Once everybody is seated with their beverages James stands and begins, “Yesterday I outlined some of what this is all about. Today we will in the detail and answer any and all of your questions. Please feel free to voice your thoughts as they occur, as what we have to say is rather lengthy and I wouldn’t want you to forget to ask something of potential importance. At the conclusion of this meeting I will again ask each of you to decide whether you wish for your role here to be as a full employee or as an occasional consultant. If you decide the latter option I require you to consume a quantity of the Elixir of Forgetfulness so that the details of this meeting will remain solely with those who are fully committed to this venture. Ruby squeezed George's hand. She was glad he got to think things though the way he needed to the night before. Now both of them would be able to move forward without any reservations in their heart. "Let's get started! You know how impatient I am and the waiting is killing me," she teased before taking another bite of chocolate. The truth was, she was loving all this, the feeling of something much bigger than any of them. James says, “Luiz, since it was you who initiated this effort why don’t you begin?” Doctor Chernovitz says, “This all started with an mystery that has been bothering me for decades. Over twenty years ago I was reading a rare medical book that was written by a French physician in the early 1700’s. The doctor mentioned a rather effective herbal medicinal remedy passed down through his family to cure a type of severe fever while in temperate climates. As I was living in Brazil at the time and participating in exploration of the Amazon River I found this cure to be of special importance. The remedy worked well. One curiosity thought was a footnote on that page which said that this cure was first used by the author’s great grandfather, who had served as the physician at Fort Caroline, and that the cure was learned from the ‘Slaves of Atlantis’. There were no further references in that volume to the Atlantians and so I decided to further research this Fort Caroline. What I discovered was that the French government officially denied that any French fortress named Fort Caroline ever existed. They suggested that any fort by that name must have been by another nation. So I checked with other governments, sending letters to their various diplomatic offices and repositories of history. The replies indicated there was no evidence of there ever being a fortress by that name. However, the letter that I received from the Spanish government not only denied a fortress by that name, it strongly suggested that I abandon this line of research, with an implied threat if I continued to pursue it. They obviously didn’t know me, as their threat had the opposite effect for me, providing he impetus for me to investigate further. Since my main clue was the French physician I returned to France, where two of my children were living at the time. I spent weeks looking through records, and I couldn’t find any birth records, marriage records or medical school transcripts for the author’s ancestor. I did uncover evidence through tax records of that doctor first appearing in France as an educated adult with a family in the late 1560’s. The official explanation was for no other records was that the man may have immigrated to France from a neighboring country and the paperwork recording that was lost. So at the time I considered that to be a possible explanation. At the time I had no other leads, and the United States then began its Civil War with significant impacts upon both of my adopted countries of France and Brazil, some more pressing matters rose to the top of my agenda. But I never forgot about that reference to the ‘Slaves of Atlantis’. Ruby says, "The myths and stories of Atlantis... they include a lot of magic related curiosities, don't they? And that is why everyone would be interested in finding it and if they DID find it, they would want to keep that a secret?" James states, “Most references to Atlantis are from the writings of the Greek philosopher Homer. His known works are The Iliad and The Odyssey. Regarding Atlantis itself, in The Iliad he describes the Atlantian people as a race of tall humans, averaging from six to seven feet in height, and tells of the island nation’s destruction. A third volume by Homer concerns Atlantis itself. That volume is banned in all anti-wizard magic nations as it contains a vast number of arcane spells and that book serves as the basis for the study of wizard magic. But that volume is more than just a spell book, it contains details about the people of Atlantis. And it makes several references to a term that has been commonly mistranslated into western languages as the word ‘Slaves’." Ruby asks, "Oh, what is the word, actually, if it isn't slaves? Do we happen to have a copy of this elusive book? I'm not a great reader but I'd like love to get a little peek at one. For curiosity's sake, of course." James says, "Yes, we have a copy of the book, but unless you are versed in Ancient Greek and Ancient Atlantian I doubt that you could read it. As to the translation of that word, I’ll let our linguistic expert explain further.” Alsoomse says, “Unlike the Iliad and The Odyssey, which were written in Ancient Greek, his volume about the Atlantians is a mix of Ancient Greek interspersed with words from the ancient language of the Atlantians themselves. Much of this language is the basis for magical writings. The reference to slaves is the Atlantian word and not the Greek. The exact translation of this word is not ‘Slave’ but the phrase is ‘Lifelong Servant’. Western scholars deemed that close enough, since in Western cultures a slave’s period of servitude lasted for their entire life. But the few scholars who have studied remnants of other writings credited to the Atlantians, which better explain the master-slave relationship. The arrangement was unlike slavery, as we know it; the relationship was not ownership but rather long-term employment. And the period of servitude was linked to the life of the master and not that of servant. This bond of servitude only began when an adult Altantian became married, at which time the servant’s family would then receiving the first of what would be annual payments.” James continues stating, “In effect, these were indentured servants who came into a contractual form of employment when an Atlantian had reached adulthood and wed. The personal servant in effect being a life-long wedding present to the individual. These servants would each serve only one specific individual, not their spouse or family, and only until the Atlantian died. At that point the contract would cease, and the servant would then return to his or her own distant homeland. In return, Atlantis would annually provide the families of the servants with food and medicines for the duration of the servitude contract. Nothing specific is noted about these servants other than that they were from a very distant land. We can also assume from these writings that the servant’s life spans generally exceed that of the Atlantian." Alsoomse says, "Yes, when a human Atlantian is married they would then get their own personal servant of the servant race." James says, "Our theory and mine is that it was the Timucuan elves that were the servants of the Atlantians. Furthermore, we believe the Timucuan weren’t elves, that their race was one of half-elves, being of both Elvan and Human Atlantian descent. This theory would account for their taller height and also their shorter life spans than other North American elvan tribes.” "Ohh," Ruby said. "That makes more sense.” Alsoomse states, “It is also a linguistically sound theory, as the Timucuan language has no common elements with any other North American languages, but it has many similarities in sentence structure and grammar to the Atlantian language. It also bears some similarities with remote languages from other continents. We have also uncovered evidence that the Timucuan used wizard magics, something that with the exception of a few common low-level spells used by bards, no other Native American Elvan tribes historically did. . Regarding the Saturiwa tribe that lived here in this area, membership in this tribe was not entirely hereditary, as were the other eleven tribes of the Timucuan. Many of the Saturiwa were born from the other tribes and then brought as infants to this tribe to be raised. The name of Saturiwa actually translates as the phrase ‘Master-like’. So we believe that Saturiwa were those born to the various Timucuan groups who showed more of the human than elvan characteristics. By concentrating those genetic tendencies here, the offspring would more closely resemble the Atlantian humans, and therefore be more visually pleasing to the Atlantians who they served. That would also explain why the Timucuan people as a whole remained in self-isolation from other elvan tribes, not wanting their bloodlines to be diluted with those who clearly had no Atlantian genetics.” Ruby asks, "Why would their looks matter to their Atlantian masters? And people from Atlantis, they are supposedly... human? And, are there still Atlantian people alive maybe? Where might they live, if there are? What does that all have to do with that rock that came up out of the ocean? I mean, sure, the sea spirit might have been keeping it down under the water but why?" Ruby blinked at the lecturers a few times then took in a deep breath of air, needed after all her question asking. Luiz states, "We don't have answers to those questions. Finding the answers to those questions is what this is about. If we are successful I hope to walk the streets of Atlantis within the next year or two. We believe that our theory about the Timucuan is the first step to accomplishing this." [/QUOTE]
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AGELESS Campaign Episode 2 - Temple of the Cat-Goddess
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