Leo nodded and shook the man's hand. "Yes, I am. Though please just call me Leo." At the next question he indicated his neice. "This is my niece's area of expertise. I've general curiosity about many things, but no actual training in this area." When they seated themselves, Leo adopted a posture that made it apparent he wasn't the one directing this conversation. He appeared curious and interested though didn't seem likely to add to much about a conversation on artifacts.

"I would love to take a tour, if we are allowed.  I am extremely interested in both the era and the area.  I primarily focus on the anthropological aspects of cultural life.  Most of my consultations deal with translation of hieroglyphics from artifacts and ancient tablets.  I would love to see any of the artifacts that you have on display."  She gestured to the pieces in his office collection.  "Out of curiosity, do you handle the import or storage of other African pieces?  We have several collections from other regions, primarily tribal in nature."

"It is a definite pleasure to have an American visiting scholar here with us. I'm sure you'll find much of interest here - at least, with respect to the Egyptian culture. I'm afraid that we do not have anything to do with other regions of Africa, however. You might look into the British Museum for something on those areas," he said. He didn't sound like he thought other regions of Africa were worth much interest.

Leo nodded at the response though didn't interject. The British Museum might be fun, in fact. He'd been there before, but there was always something new every time he visited.

Rosalie smiled.  "I have dual citizenship and actually spent the majority of my childhood here in London when my father wasn't dragging us about to various expeditions.  My father is American, as is most of my family, so I suppose that is home for now.  Do you do business with any companies in New York?  The museum usually prefers to check references before conducting business with new people."

"Welcome home, then. We don't work with any 'companies,' per se. You may wish to contact James Henry Breasted, Professor of Egyptology and Oriental History at the University of Chicago. Our foundation played a role in supporting his 1919 expedition. You might wish also to contact Howard Carter. We supported his expedition as well, and he has spent no small amount of time in New York lecturing on his findings. He may still be there for all I know. He's served as an agent for collectors and museums, including the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Detroit Institute of Arts," he said.

"If after checking with your references, your museum wishes to work with the Foundation, have them contact me." He handed Rosalie a business card.
This message was last edited by the player at 03:58, Sun 20 Mar 2016.

"Thank you very much.  I shall have them do just that."  Taking his card, she gave it a glance to see if it was the same sort they'd found in Jackson's possession, then offered it to Leo.  "It is a curious thing, Mister Gavigan.  I believe I remember my late cousin mentioning the foundation.  While his travels focused primarily on South America and parts of Asia, he did write a book on various curses, including those of Egyptian origin.  Were you acquainted with my cousin, Jackson Elias?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 18:09, Mon 21 Mar 2016.

"Ah, yes! I do recall Mr. Jackson Elias. I thought the name a mere coincidence; I receive many visitors, and it is not an uncommon surname. He sought out an interview with me in pursuit of some information to support some rather strange theories he had about ancient cults operating in modern day London," he said.

"At first, I thought perhaps he was publishing fiction, but it turned out he was rather serious about the matter. How is Mr. Elias doing?" he asked.

"No, he was quite serious about his work and made a good living at uncovering matters of the occult. Unfortunately, he has passed, and very recently.  He would be pleased that you remember him."  She smiled sadly.

"He must have seen you when researching his book on the witch cults of England.  I'm sure he had a great many theories, many of them outlandish or shocking.  I would understand him begging an interview of you to discuss Egyptology or relics of that nature, but what could you possibly tell him on the cults and witchcraft of England?"

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry to hear that," he said, his voice filled with sympathy and surprise. "Such a young man...I don't quite know what to say." He paused for a moment.

"As for English cults, I know precious little about such things. He came here earlier this year to ask about an ancient Egyptian cult that faded away quite long ago, and proposed to me that it was operating in modern day England. I wouldn't call it an English cult even if it was operating here."
This message was last updated by the player at 01:59, Tue 22 Mar 2016.

"I suppose that would make a difference, then.  Is this cult, this ancient Egyptian cult, something that you knew about?  They have so many myths and stories of their gods and the creation of life and of the world, priests and priestesses to worship their deities, but I have yet to come across any tale that speaks of a cult within one faction or another."

"You know, in Ancient Rome there was a cult dedicated to Isis. This was suppressed, as the degree to which Egyptian society expressed sexual freedom was found appalling in Roman society. Cults arise at various times in our history. There was an old group that your cousin asked me about, and I had some level of familiarity with them, yes. Not the Isis cult, but something more obscure. But they've been gone for hundreds of years, so I had a hard time imagining that they are back. Yes, perhaps someone with a little too much knowledge has been imitating them, but cults don't come back like that. It's one thing for pagan Rome to show some interest in Egyptian gods, but with the pervasiveness of monotheistic religion, I don't believe that there will be much of an appetite for worshiping obscure Egyptian deities," he said.

Leo had little to add to the conversation that was in his niece's area of expertise, but he could at least study the man they were here to see. It was often something he did when not involved in the conversation - try to get a read of the person while someone else engaged them.

09:44, Today: Dr. Leonardo Elias rolled 75 using 1d100 with rolls of 75.  Psychology (78).

PM:

"It does seem rather unlikely, doesn't it?" Rosalie agreed with a slight smile.  "In this civilized day and age, no one would really believe that there were barbaric cults practicing in major cities around the world -- certainly not cults that engaged in ritualistic sacrifice or believed in orgiastic magic.  I wonder if he found enough information on them to put in his book.  Do you remember the name of this cult?"

"Ritualistic sacrifice and orgiastic magic...I'm rather inclined to believe you've read one too many pulp novels, Miss Elias. I doubt that he found sufficient information on any such group, as this cult ceased to exist before even the time of Christ. They were called the Brotherhood of the Black Pharaoh. No disrespect for the dead is intended at all, but I simply can't believe the notion in good faith," he said.

"No disrespect taken, Mister Gavigan.  As I said, it seems an incredulous notion.  Not even I believe all topics that my cousin covered.  Some of his subjects were speculative on the mythical rather than factual.  I don't recall the name in any of his writings, so I suppose you're correct in stating that sufficient information does not exist."  She shrugged to show it didn't matter.  "Anyhow, that's simply an aside and I didn't mean to derail our conversation.  Perhaps we might take that tour?"

Leo nodded at his niece's suggestion. "That does sound like fun. Though I haven't studied history as much as the two of you, I do still enjoy hearing the stories surrounding artifacts."

"I'm afraid there isn't much of a tour to be had," he said, rising to his feet. "We do have quite a lovely library that I can show you to, where you'll find much of interest with respect to Egypt as well as working areas for visiting scholars."

"Our collection of books is quite thorough," he said, leading them down the hallway. On the opposite side, there was a large and well appointed library. Through a doorway, they could see that there was another room that appeared to be its equal in size that looked identical.

"This was the first room of our library. As you can see, we had to expand as our collection grew into that other room. You'll find books here that you'd be hard pressed to find elsewhere. If you need assistance, we have a librarian on staff that should be about somewhere. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Leo quietly followed Gavigan as he took them to the library area. When asked about needing more, Leo shook his head. "I haven't need of anything else, though I do want to thank you for the time you've spent with us."

Leo looked over at his niece to see if she might have something to say on the matter.

"Not just now," she replied to his question.  "We'll have a look about your library before we go.  If we have questions, we'll know to whom to direct them.  Thank you very much for your time, Mister Gavigan."

"You're very welcome," he responded genially, leaving the both of them in the library to peruse the contents to their satisfaction.

---

OOC:
What do you two have in mind?

Rosalie strolled into the library, genuinely interested in the foundation's collection, but really waiting until Gavigan had exited and she and Leo had relative privacy.  Once they were alone, she turned to her uncle.  "Did you wish to visit any other place in London?"  She left the real discussion for the car.



OOC:

I don't have anything else planned.  Leo?

Leo shrugged. "I think there are always fun things to do in a town like this. But I'm more interested in travelling to the countryside. Visiting some old friends and the like."

OOC: I'd like to take a good look at the library, see if anything there is of interest. Particularly anything that could be linked to any of the books that Leo has already read.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:30, Wed 06 Apr 2016.

OOC:

Can I get a Library Use roll?