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[archeologue]

Grave sites are splendid repository of priceless artifacts. The golden mask of Agamemnon from Schliemann's excavation of the royal shaft graves at Mycenae. King Tutankhamun's glorious, some say cursed, tomb. Beautiful Etruscan jewelry from the tomb of Tarquinia.

[His eyes gleam with excitement as he talks about the treasures.]

I wonder why there are no graves on this planet. It is a universal truth of archaeology that where there are settlements, there are graves. It may be internments, ashes and bone fragments of cremation, wall burials, sky burials, but all peoples must deal with their dead. And yet for all the ruins here...nothing.

[He's convinced that there must be burials somewhere. But it would suit his purposes just fine if he discovered a burial site (and the grave goods within) with no one else in a position to know or suspect.]

My apologies, where are my manners. I am Dr. Belloq, archeologist from Earth, year of our Lord 1936. These communicators, remarkable devices. It's very strange to think that to some here, I am a part of ancient history.

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[lindir]

[It takes Lindir a moment to sort out what the man on the device was saying regarding grave sites and tombs, so he hesitates before speaking.]

...Do you mean to say you wish to find these artifacts within the graves of others? Why would you disturb them?

[It's obvious he finds this distasteful. Then after a moment he also remembers his manners.]

Well met, Doctor Belloq. I am Lindir of Imladris.

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[archeologue]

Bonjour, Lindir of Imladris.

[He notices Lindir's dislike of graverobbing excavation of burial sites, so he gives only one of the two honest answers he has to that question.]

The artifacts are tangible pieces of history. When you touch an object that a man who is now only ashes and dust once cherished three thousands years ago, it's like for a brief moment you can hear him whispering to you. [Metaphorically. But Belloq has a penchant for the dramatic.] To see and touch and examine the things ancient peoples left behind is the closest we can come to communicating with the dead.

[Also, they're worth a great deal of money to the right buyers, but since smuggling artifacts is illegal here, Belloq doesn't advertise that.]

[lindir]

[He seems a bit confused, both at the greeting and the explanation.]

Can you not simply ask your elders? There is no need to...

[Wait.]

Forgive me, for a moment I had forgotten that mortals are not so long lived.

[archeologue]

Mortals? Are you saying that you aren't mortal?

[That gets Belloq's intense attention. If this man has the secret to immortality like perhaps the Holy Grail in his keeping, Belloq would very much like to acquire it if he can.]

[lindir]

Of course I am not. I am one of the Eldar, or Elf-kind as your people might say.

[Wasn't it obvious?]

[archeologue]

One of the Fair Folk? I thought they were only legends. [But Belloq has seen strange things as an archaeologist, and has chased legends before. He doesn't disbelieve Lindir, but he's still astonished. And looking at Lindir more carefully now, noting the fair features, the pointed ears, Belloq supposes that if asked to imagine what one of the feerie folk would look like, Lindir is a pretty close representation.]

Tell me, are the legends of hidden kingdoms and fairy treasure real as well?

[lindir]

We are also called such, though we are not legend at all.

["Fair folk" was not a new term, but "fairy" was. He could only assume it was an abbreviation of sorts. He looks thoughtful at the other question, wondering what he was referring to.]

You may be thinking of the hidden city of Gondolin, which fell long ago in the First Age. In these times, where we live is not strictly secret, though there we may hide themselves well, and some, like the Silvan folk of Lórien or the Woodland Realm do not permit strangers on their land. My Lord Elrond is more permissive of guests.

Of the treasure, the Silmarils were either destroyed or placed far beyond our reach. If you wish to call the events of those days 'legend', I cannot fault you. That is what they may seem to mortals whose lives are so brief, but I assure you they were and are real. Our people remember them.

[archeologue]

I have never heard of Lord Elrond, and the elven realms are hidden sufficiently well that, if they exist, they're considered merely folktales across Europe.

But tell me more of these Silmaril. [Treasure.] You say they passed beyond your reach. What do you mean by that?

[lindir]

[He straightens up slightly, in pride.]

My Lord Elrond is the Lord of Imladris, also known as Rivendell. I do not know this "Europe" of which you speak.

As for the Silmarils, I mean just that. One was thrown into the Sea, one was cast into a fiery pit in the earth, and one was set by the Valar into a Star.

[archeologue]

[This is starting to get very peculiar. A treasure set into a star strains his credulity. Unless it's a metaphor of some sort.]

Perhaps you know it by an older name. Maybe Romae provinciae?

[lindir]

That name is not familiar to me either. I fear I do not know what land you hail from.

[archeologue]

[He thinks of the resort pamphlet then and its talk of other worlds, other universes.]

Perhaps our lands are too far away. Like asking a Viking if he has heard of Tenochtitlan, the city of the Aztec.

[lindir]

I only know the lands of Arda, and those places are not among those I have studied. Neither am I a Viking, for that matter, though I do not know what that might be.