The sun beat down relentlessly on the golden sands of Uldum, the heat draining all of the moisture from the air and making the place feel like an oven. On the surface of a sand dune, several gnomes struggled to move a piece of digging equipment off of a cart, their efforts instantly making them sweat as they wrestled the heavy machine down and began sliding it across the sand towards the dark opening of an ancient tomb nearby.
The gnome overseeing the dig was named Spanner Copperzap, and he watched his men as they moved the machinery. As they approached the opening to the crypt, a dark shadow passed over the sands, something in the air having blocked the sun for a moment. The gnome shielded his eyes, looking up in time to see a skeletal gryphon begin its descent towards the sands. The gnome smiled and nodded; it was the patron of the digsite and that meant he and his men were about to get paid.
As the gryphon landed, a strange sight greeted the gnome. It had taken him some time to come to terms with the fact that he was working for a death knight, but even stranger was the way the dead woman acted sometimes. As the creature alighted on the sand and hissed at the nearby gnomes, Spanner realized that the woman on the creature had been riding side-saddle of all things. In the air!
The woman slipped from the back of her dead mount, glaring at it once as it hissed at her before turning to walk towards the gnome. She was not wearing armor or even visibly carrying a runeblade, but that was not the oddest thing. The woman was wearing a dark black, fashionable dress, and as she walked across the sand she unfolded a black parasol, as if to shield herself from sun that likely no longer bothered the dead. A living woman would have fainted dead away in the heat if she were wearing such a dark and stylish dress, but a dead woman clearly had no such issues. The gnomes eyebrows shot up as he noticed she was even wearing designer boots, pretending to be a lady.
Beckyann approached the overseer, offering him a chilly smile and then turning to look at the other gnomes as they moved their equipment through the opening into the crypt, "Good day Overseer. I trust that progress remains steady?"
The gnome smiled, knowing that the dead thing beside him shared something in common with him; an interest in archaeology and the burial places of the dead. When she had approached him with a commission to begin a digsite at the ancient crypt, he had jumped at the opportunity and thus far both parties were quite pleased with the results.
"It does Miss Eastberg," Spanner replied happily as he gestured towards the other gnomes. "With the latest funds you sent, we were able to purchase the drills needed to break the last tomb seal. As per your instructions, I've copied down all of the inscriptions on the burial chamber doors so that their destruction will not result in the loss of the knowledge there."
Beckyann smiled, genuinely, truly smiled as the gnome finished, looking towards the entrance. She absolutely loved to study the burial places of different cultures, and the crypts and tombs of Uldum were ancient beyond belief. Who knew what treasures they would find within, treasures that she could use to fund further studies and learn more of the secrets of the ancient dead. It was a hobby that she loved, and it even gave her the chance to play at being the lady patron of such an expedition, even though she and the gnome both knew what she really was. Sometimes it could be fun to pretend though.
Seeing the smile on the dead woman's face, the gnome grinned and looked up at her, "There is something else Miss Eastberg. I didn't write about it because...well I thought you might like to be surprised."
Beckyann looked down at the gnome and tilted her head in curiosity, "Oh? You've unearthed a treasure?"
The gnome grinned, unable to contain his excitement any further, "Yes Ma'am! We've found a number of death masks! They're even still inscribed with the runes and prayers for the dead that they originally bore! They're priceless and I've never seen ones in such good condition before!"
The glee on Beckyann's face was telling as she shifted in place, her parasol dipping and letting a little sun illuminate her face. For the briefest moment, the gnome could image what the young woman might have looked like before she'd died. What her beautiful smile could have been like when the joy of life was in her.
Spanner returned the smile, equally excited about the find. He suspected that if he and his crew did a good job at this digsite, the woman would hire him for future digs and he could study more rare burial places and possibly get even more digging equipment from their patron. He never asked where she got the coin for the expeditions, as he likely didn't want to know. He seriously doubted that Acherus funded such outings. He shrugged away such thoughts and gestured towards the opening, beginning to walk that way.
"Come on Miss Eastberg! I'll show you what we've found," he said over his shoulder.
Behind him, Beckyann paused, her glowing eyes taking in the half-buried crypt entrance, her senses reaching out to feel the location of the dead far below the sands. It would be a marvelous trove of knowledge if she was any guess. The perfect way to spend some free time when duties did not demand her attention. It was the only hobby she had that she could truly indulge in these days.
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