Job; Excavation

job info:

He was on a roll and feeling good for getting so much done in a relatively short period of time. Shaku had made friends with the nobles of Era and Oak Town, not to mention the renown he had earned as some "master chef" in all parts of Fiore, which made him *known* basically through all towns. Right now, he had to strengthen his bonds with the towns that hadn't already known him, but he was going to start with the ones who didn't know him, like the scholars of the Forgotten Deserts. They were just as important as the nobles, these men were the scholars of the sands, and as such, would make great allies in his crusade later on. To accomplish the goal of gaining their trust, Shaku would go onto volunteer his manpower to help excavate some relics at a site they were working. They're all looking for some ancient creature, and he was sure that he would be the one to find it, even if it took him all day, week, maybe month.

Hopefully it won't take me that long, but I can't go in there expecting to find it by the end of they day either... he thought to himself quietly has he walked over the the man in the tent, hunched over in intrigue. Hearing that the tent had been over, he turned his head, revealing his bearded and weathered face. The first thing Shaku noticed was the deep scar covering the man's left cheek, but he would inquire about that when the job was done. "Oh! Another young man sacrificing his time for back breaking work to uncover the secrets of the past! Glad to see some youngsters come forward and help us geezers with the labor" the man said gratefully before handing him a small brush and shovel and gestured him away. Sighing while he exited the tent, he looked upon the large square of sand that had been roped off, marking the area in which they knew the relic was. Still, it was a lot of land to cover for a handful of volunteers. Better start now... he thought while crossing the barrier.

Another old man was hunched over, smack dab in the the middle of the roped off section of sand, gestured the "come here" wave with his hand, prompting Shaku to do just that, not wanting to upset any of the other scientists or volunteers that may be present here. "Boy, let me tell you about the culture of the place before you decide you 'really' want to excavate here. From what we've gathered so far, the denizens of this ancient city weren't the most peaceful of people. On the contrary, they were quite vicious and primal when it came to war, judging from the rough weapons they carved from stone. Anyways, we have a reason to believe they would take prisoners from wars between nearby factions and sacrifice them to a single god they believed ruled over everything at the time. The evidence of that was the fact that the stone tablets we've found depict one 'being' being surrounded by bowing 'mortals' and being offered the souls of the deceased as a way of being pleased." he began, taking a sip of water from his canteen and continuing.

"Ah... where was I again?" the wrinkled old man said, in slight embarrassment before Shaku responded, genuinely intrigued about the people from times before. "Sacrificing the souls to their worshiped being is a way of satisfying it". "Oh right, sorry about that kiddo. My memory is obviously not what it once was. So anyways, this was rare in an early civilization such as the one we're studying right now in the this very desert. Not the fact that they sacrificed people, that was actually common back then. No, the interesting part was the fact that they weren't sacrificing the body, blood, flesh, they were sacrificing the very essence of the man or woman. Instead of being honored throughout the village, the ones who were 'destined' to be sacrificed were treated terribly, ignored as if they were less than human. This completely contrasts the whole belief that those who were in line to be sacrificed were honored." the old man informed him more, with Shaku growing more and more interested the more he heard the man speak.

"That's part of what makes this old culture absolutely intruguing to us. The fact that they didn't follow the same kind of religious rituals as most of the other civilizations at this time. In fact, it was like they did everything wrong. What we hypothesize is that the 'being' isn't really  a beacon of hope and salvation, of good fortune. We believe that the being they were sacrificing the men and women to was one of malice and power, one that they believed would end all of their lives if one of them wasn't offered up on a plate to the 'beast' every so often. Quite fascinating stuff, but not for the faint of heart. So, knowing this, are you sure you still want to be here" he said, giving Shaku the option to back off with his pride. "If anything, I want to help out even more!" he exclaimed enthusiastically. "That's the spirit! Good luck to you then, boy."

With a smile on his face, Shaku got up and walked towards the north eastern most point of the rope enclosure, his shovel in hand ready to dig up as much sand as he needed to acquire the relic he needed to get out of this sun and earn good favor with the desert scholars. Falling to his knees, he began the plunge downwards into the earth with his shovel, removing sand and tossing it aside, digging, digging, digging until he heard a *clink*. The mere noise of him hitting something made his spine tingle with the excitement that a child feels when opening his birthday gifts. Using his brush now, he quickly flicked the tool back and forth to reveal what seemed to be a long string of bones connected together, kind of like a back bone or something similar. "Someone! I've found something!" he exclaimed, hoping that the man he'd bet about half an hour earlier would come to his aid and tell him what he had dug up.

The man he'd met half an hour prior to his minor discovery scurried over to his side with a magnifying glass and gasped after a full minute of examining what could be assumed was a piece of a skeleton that was left behind by some creature that roamed this age. "Boy, you have stumbled upon the skeleton of a creature we thought to be myth, until this piece of tail" the old man said excitedly, well, as excitedly as an old man can say things in their age. "Tail!? That huge thing is part of a tail!?" Shaku responded, genuinely befuddled at the fact that this enormous piece of bone was actually part of a tail. "The smallest part of the sand scorpion's tail, what the members of this village domesticated and ate for survival." the old man informed, smallest part! Whoa, I wonder how the scorpions today got so small... he thought before the man gestured to go dig in another area.

He was a bit off track and he knew it, thinking about the tiny and large scorpions of today and the past respectively instead of thinking about the mission at hand. When all is good and dont, I'll have to research the Forgotten Desert scorpions a bit more... he thought while merrily brushing his way through the ocean of sand that greeted the rusty metal shovel he was using. It was at this point when he noticed just how hot the sun was, beating down at him and scorching the earth beneath his knees, it was actually a bit unpleasant. Oh well, sweat is the least worrying bodily fluid that will be shed by the time this plan is all carried out and done he thought, his merry expression turning into one of sadness. Not because of all the people that will die in the chaos, no, that was all part of it. The sadness was thinking of the people being oppressed by the the council and they don't even realize it.

Wiping his arm over his beading forehead, he exhaled sharply, a bit peeved at the fact that he hadn't hit anything for a full hour now. Maybe I'm just digging in the wrong place. Maybe if I dig somewhere else, I'll have a better chance of discovering something of worth. Or I can do this the same way I have been for the past hour, the more I dig in this one place, the higher the chance of me finding something increases. Eh. I'll take those odds, as slim as they may be. I want to earn their trust, not turn into their lackey. Shaku thought as he continued to dig downward, seemingly so much sand that he'd burrow a tunnel through the center of the planet. *Clink* That wonderful sound replayed just as it had when he had struck the bone on the opposite side of the enclosure, even sending the same chills of excitement through his body has if being hit by a small charge of electricity.

As he brushed the sand off, expecting to find a tooth or something similar, his face lit up as he kept having to brush sand off. Eventually, he realized that he had stumbled upon something big, something scorpion like, and that's when it hit him. "Professor, everyone! Come! I need your help with this!" he yelled out, causing the disgruntled volunteers to reluctantly come to him, a group which included the researcher from the tent, the head honcho. As soon as the old bearded man saw the fossil, his face lit up with surprise just as Shaku's did, not even five minutes ago. "Son, you have made quite the find. Please, you must tell me your name so I can credit you in the archaeologists journal!" he said, raising him from his knees and shaking his hand. "I'm Shaku, Shaku Hitsumo, pleasure to have done the world of archaeology such a big favor" he said, not even fully realizing the scale of such a discovery. It was as though he'd discover big foot or something from the commotion they were making. After being paid by the same man who asked for his name and too his photo, he was off, another job done and another group befriended. It's not long before phase two can finally commence he thought with a devious smirk on his face that he couldn't help but wear. Everything was proceeding faster than he had initially anticipated.