Chapter 1: The Tome is found
I was doing my internship for archaeology on a couple of islands on the Pacific rim. While it wasn't the most glorious or lucrative of career choices, it was something that I did get simple pleasure of. Finding artifacts and piecing together the lives of people many generations past did interest me and give me satisfaction. It would also afford me the ability to travel the world and see many things most people would only dream of seeing in one lifetime, such as the Pyramids, Machu Pichu, Angor Wat, and other various culture wonders.
The current project was far less spectacular than any of the above and I was stuck for 3 months digging up simple artifacts and tools of an island culture that was of moderate influence and wealth in history. The other part that wasn't so great about this particular civilization is that it was buried some 2000 years ago by a pyroclastic flow caused by a nearby volcanic explosion and thus, was completely buried by dirt. Days and days of back-breaking digging would yield only minor items of very little consequence. With only myself and a handful of other people working on this, it felt more like a Russian gulag without a reasonable reward in sight.
In about the third week of laboring, we discovered a large, what could only be described as a mansion, in terms of other huts/hovels in the area excavated. This residence was obviously the home for the leader or shaman of the tribe. This got me very excited that we might actually find some items of real historical value and maybe something in writing to hint at the daily lives of this poor group of wiped out aborigines.
At the end of the day, the team decided to retire, but instead myself and another woman in the group decided that since we had nothing else to do, we'd dig and see if we could clear out a little in a side room of the dwelling. As we started to clear out the doorway of dirt, some of it fell away and we found the room mostly open and clear, with very little damage being done to the items inside. Jackpot! We had found exactly what we were looking for and there were objects of wealth and knowledge inside. At the back of the room there was a Tome that was clad in what appeared to be metal and leather bindings, almost in perfect condition, which I knew to be impossible. It just didn't fit with the other items in the room, too "modern" looking. As me and Katie both stared at it and then each other in wonder of how this could be here or what it was, we knew we had to open it and see what treasures it held.
Since I was more gung-ho about it, I gently pulled open the cover and it opened without falling apart. In fact, it gave a little resistance to me. "Can you read it?" I asked Katie, to which she replied "No, I'm not familiar with that language, are you?" , "Yes, I am, it's an old Hindu dialect that I had learned a couple years back. Hopefully I can remember most of the words and translate decently enough".