Amaranth — Roleplayer Guild

The initial meeting had ended and each of the adventurers had either paired off for the night or disappeared in a (figurative) puff of smoke. Lysandra von Brennenburg was one of the latter. The whole event had become far too dry for her tastes. She hated the planning and hashing out of details. She was a woman of action, NOT idle chatter. The only reason she tolerated social events at all was because they were an adventure of their own sort, but that one in particular had exhausted her attention. She needed a stiff drink and a cab back to her family's English flat. It was snowing and it had only gotten colder in the several hours since Lys had initially arrived at the Estate. She had some trouble finding a driver at this time of night and in this weather but eventually her deep pockets won over some poor fool and he agreed to drive her back into town. So here she sat, clad in her fur coat and leaning against the chilly stone that marked the entrance to the estate grounds. Her mind mulled over the day's events one by one. Dinosaurs. The Garden of Eden. Lucian. Elle. Both of which joining Lysandra on the journey. The thought caused her to puff some warm air out of her nose into the frigid night air. It was going to be interesting if nothing else. She could hear the others in the distance talking. And by others she meant she could hear Lucian and the other woman having a lively chat. Lysandra bitterly wished she had something to drink. It was such a childish thought, to be jealous of a man's attention. Lys kicked a small pile of snow with her foot as she did her best to push the thought away. After what seemed to be an eternity, she heard the sound of automobile engine, coming to save her from own thoughts. 

A few hours later, Lysandra ascended the stairs to her family's property, her suitcase in one hand, her bottle of local wine in the other. She was prepared to accept the next day's headache when a strange thing happened. She tried the doorknob as she went for her keys to the apartment. It opened. She froze and listened. Nothing. Lys quietly set down her bottle on her suitcase and peered into the room. The light was off. A dog barked. She flinched and felt the hairs on her neck stand up. 

Moments passed that felt like an eternity. Lysandra steeled herself and crept into the apartment. She could see a light emanating from the study. She closed her eyes and mentally thought to herself if there was a gun somewhere she could get to. There was not according to her memory of the contents of the place. Instead she slid open a drawer and withdrew a kitchen knife as quietly as she could, before sliding it into her coat's inner pocket. A weapon secured, she moved deeper into the flat to confront the intruder. The door swung open. Lysandra stared at the plain-looking man dressed in a suit, going through her father's bookshelf. 

She demanded to know who the man was. 

'Guten morgen, fraulein. Isn't it a bit late for you to be out? I was beginning to think you were not going to show up.'

A German. Interesting. 

"What are you doing in my apartment?" Lysandra spat, clearly in no mood for polite introductions.

'Your family is well-known in German high society, fraulein. And Germany is about to change. I- We need your family's help to secure its future.'

"If this is about the war-" Lys began before being cut off. 

'Nein. This is about the future! We know what you have discussed earlier tonight. The Garden of Eden. The location of which has been a mystery of equal or greater import than the Ark of the Covenant. If we, us-' The man made a gesture indicating he was talking about not just them personally, but Germany as a whole. '-possessed the location of the Garden alone, it would do much to extend the staying power of Greater German Empire.'

Lysandra thought for a moment. What would her father do? He had tried to keep his work as neutral as possible during the Great War. There was no more German Empire. The November Revolution had made sure of that. The Weimar Republic was not an Empire. 

"There is no more German Empire. What are you talking about?" Lysandra asked, bluntly. 

'Not yet.' The man replied enigmatically. 

Another revolution? Lysandra was not sure if she was ready to support that, especially for some shadowy group who broke into her family's home. She wished she knew what her father would say in a time like this. 

"I would not even know what I am supporting. I cannot make a decision like this. Especially in support of someone who has just broke into my home." 

'You will find nothing missing and nothing broken.' The man stated as he stood up and opened his coat, apparently in a gesture to show that indeed, nothing was stolen. Instead, Lys noticed the holstered 9mm Luger hanging from the man's shoulder. She tensed up ever so slightly. 

She mustered up all of her quiet rage at having her night of solitude so rudely interrupted.

"Get. Out."

'Ja, ja. Have a good night, Fraulein. We will see each other again soon I'm sure.'

And just like that, the man left. Not before moving her suitcase and bottle into the apartment. Having nothing illuminated and slightly dazed from what had just happened, Lys replaced the knife in it's drawer and tossed her coat on to the rack before flopping onto the couch with her wine bottle. She cracked it open and took a larger-than-ladylike swig and closed her eyes. Another swig and she kicked her heels off. When she had purchased this bottle, she was curious as to the taste of this local variety. But her curiosity had long since been overpowered by a need to pass out. So she downed another drink and let her head rest on the arm of the couch. What a nightmare of a night. From a boring meeting to a freezing multi-hour drive home into a home invasion turned weltpolitik speech. 'We will see each other soon.' What did he mean by that? Bah, nothing could be done about it now. 

No use worrying about it... Lysandra thought as she drifted off into a fitful sleep.

Lysandra kept her characteristic cool and remained tight-lipped, preferring to let the others vocalise her thoughts to save herself the breath. She was careful not to let her internal excitement break the icy mask that her expression gave her. If what the Baron claimed was true... This could change everything. IF it was true. Lys let her well maintained and painted nails rap on the table in a calculated gesture meant to show that her time was something that could not be wasted. She had no intention of leaving of course, her father had sent her here as a personal gesture of friendship to the Baron, something that Lysandra could not so easily ignore. Regardless, she watched the servant retrieve a crate and place a tablet on the table. Immediately, Elle leapt to her feet and rushed over to it and the younger man. That was just like her. Still, Lys couldn't help but peer over at the tablet as well. It was in Aramaic, at least from what she remembered of her ancient languages, though she couldn't claim to read it very well.  

Lysandra mumbled something in German under her breath and sat down. Her cursory glance at the text seemed to agree with what the Baron had claimed. The servant then removed a large skull and placed it on the table. It seemed to be a dinosaur skull, though it looked curiously well preserved if that was the case. Indeed, the Baron confirmed it was a Sauropod skull. However he also said it was a mere fifty years old. Fifty?! That recently? How? Interrupting her thoughts, Lysandra heard the door open and the Butler that had escorted each of them in cleared his throat. He introduced another woman, and Lys glanced over and flashed her least venomous smile, doing her best to make the visibly-nervous newcomer feel a bit less left out in the cold, figuratively and literally. 

Back to the skull. Lysandra stood up and strut her way over to skull. Most of her archaeology experience was practical, but still everything seemed to appear legitimate. Plaster bones were fairly easy to tell apart, especially if you had any experience dealing with the real things. The harder fakes were ones comprised of sets of real bones grafted together, or placed in a grave together. However, this was one piece. One very real piece. Lysandra tapped her chin. 

"So, we are not only going to find the Garden, but also perhaps... living dinosaurs?"

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