The Gaming Outpost

Lancome’ stood in the crumbling verge of the gravel road that ran from Mountain Dig Site #2 to the Village of Blessing with a broad smile fixed on his face. Beside him, Maggie chattered and leaned on his right arm intermittently as the bus loaded with villagers chuffed up the long S-curve from the valley to the peat moors running north of the village. The bus skidded to a stop in the crude loose gravel dirt mix, and sturdy men began getting off with some energy.

As well, they should Lancome’ thought a tad bitterly. He was paying them near double overtime because they professed to be afraid of the Old Man of the Mountain.

One of the bigger, more solid sorts hiked over to him from the bus, and the others waited by the bus.

“Your lordship. We’re here as we said we would.”
“Excellent.” Lancome’ said, and truly it was.
“A couple questions, mylord.”
“Yes.” Lancome’ said to the fellow.
“No need to work by arc light, and you’ll be personally supervising things, eh? The men do so enjoy having your lordship and his knowledge of artifacts. Makes its right interesting, it does.”
“Of course, of course.” Lancome’ aggreed with a big head bow to be obvious to those on the other side of the road.

Peter Murray, the lead inquistor looked gratified, and turned to yell the others into motion. Shovels were taken off, helmets were put on, and the whole mob with alacrity went to work.

Lancome’ made to follow them until Maggie grabbed his arm and held him still.

“What was that about?”
“Ah,” Lan laughed. “Old legends.”
“Yes?”
“Are you really curious, darling?” He said with a small smile that he used when he was a bit embarrassed.
“I’m an archeologist, so yes, I suppose I might be.” She laid on the sarcasm with a shovel.
“My people, my ancestors, they came to these islands and took over. Now we won because we were faster, had steel swords and breastplates to their bronze spears, and we were more organized. But they needed a better explanation than we were better soldiers than them.”
Maggie nodded.
“Something to sooth their pride.”
“Exactly. The story goes that my ancestor…”
“The one with the table knife.”
“Right. He won his island, and several others, and he gave the others to his subordinate commanders. But the great peace treaty was held here. And while here, my ancestor was attacked by a Shadowman.”
“Ooooh.” She raised her eyebrows and smiled.
“Exactly. A local boogieman used to using fear. Well, my ancestor was not afraid of much of anything. He killed him. And the locals proclaimed that not only had he killed the man but the Shadow Grim living in him.”
“Let me try this…..so your ancestors and you are considered to be talismans against some sort of supernatural evil?”
He sighed and nodded. She giggled and climbed into his arms. He had to work not to fall in the loose footing.
“My hero.”
“Your hero is about to drop you.”
“Pooh.” She said, but climbed down.

Arm in arm, they went to watch the dig commence. Most of the men had some experience peat digging, and this was not much different.

Lancome’ supervised loosely by watching with his lady, and answering questions about where to start the fifty yard alpha trench, and the thirty yard L-shaped beta trench.

During the next week, the funds and the dig holes dipped. With relief, Lan noted that the next week cash had been put into his account from his grant from X-Ray Depth, Inc..

With that, he hired another dozen workers to go to work on Mountain Dig Site #1, which was on the western side of the ‘Mountain’. The underground images revealed a box-like shape on the side of a large curve that could be an entrance.

Maggie came in to the office tent to find Lancome’ with his boots on the desk, and a glass of wine in his hand. It had been a long day with several breakdowns of equipment, and one man cutting his left hand wide open with a mis-aimed shovel. That meant that Lan would have to pay for the man to get well while getting no work from him.

“Lan, trouble.” She said, and he shot to his feet at her serious tone. She saw this and went out. Regrettfully he put the wine down, and followed her.

The men in the late afternoon were just standing about alpha pit. Lancome’ wanted to yell at them, for he hurt too, since he had to sleep here whereas they got to go home to their beds. But he saw the scared looks on their faces, and kept his mouth shut.

He went up to the hole, and looked down. A large black tile, about a foot square, showed up in the middle of the pit, forty feet down.

“Oh.”
“What?”
“A magic seal.” Lan replied shortly to Maggie, and headed toward the ladder tied into the south wall. He scrambled down it as everyone watched him silently.

He walked over to it. Looked down on it, and laughed.

“He who takes this seal up, and breaks its protection shall be rended by demons, and cut by knives.”

He reached out, and pried it loose, and headed back to the ladder. Up it he went, slower because he had only one hand to use. Once on the top, he turned as if surprised to see everyone still standing there.

“What? Get back to work! Now!”

They did, and he took it back to the office to study it with his wine. Maggie followed him.
He poured her some wine.

“Now I’ve unleashed the Shadow Grim I suppose.” He said lightly.
Maggie took the wine, and just shook her head.
“I’m just so surprised you’re that disrespectful to your ancestors. You, unlike most others, seem to like them.”
He sighed.
“I do, sort of. I mean they were dumb, but brave. For such idiots they accomplished a lot.” He reached out and touched the seal. “But I have to show fearlessness befrore the men, or they would all quit.”
“Not just your ancestors were brave.” Maggie said softly.