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Description
March 27, 1885; Taral, District of Alaska

The harsh Alaskan winds blew against their faces as they fought against the snow. Evelyn squinted her eyes as she tried to follow her map and navigate the tundra. Her expedition team trudged behind her, clearly more irritated than she was by the weather. It wasn't like she was comfortable in this winter storm either, grant it, but she had the thrill of discovery driving her forward. If her sources were correct, she'd have a fascinating find in her hands soon enough.

“Damn this infernal snow!” General Allen cursed behind her as they walked.

Evelyn smirked and rolled her eyes. “You really must learn to lighten up, general,” she told him.

“With all due respect, Ms. Arlie, this wind is what needs to lighten up! We should've just stayed back at the Yellowknife camp with Mr. Bremmer and waited until morning.”

“We'll get back to the settlement as soon as we finish excavating.”

“You scientists, I swear. Sometimes I don't understand the risks you'll take for discoveries.”

“The world moves forward the more knowledge we find in it, general. It's our responsibility to take risks.”

“I hope it's worth it. What do you even hope to find here? One of those mammoth creatures that they say roam the ice?”

Evelyn laughed at that. “I'm not after myths and folktales, general. Those creatures are long extinct. No, I only chase prizes whose existences I can confirm from proper sources.”

“Such as?”

“My sources tell me that there's a large burial site for an ancient tribe of Paleo-Indians that had settled in this area years ago. I hope to uncover the fossils and perhaps learn a bit about the culture.”

“This had better be worth the money you all paid me.”

“It will be, I promise.”

The team kept up their trek through the bitter wilderness, following Evelyn as she carefully followed the path she had drawn for herself on the map. They eventually came across a large icy cliffside, one which had a dark hole down at it's base. A hole just large enough for a person or two to slip inside. Evelyn smiled.

“Over here!” she called to her men. She stowed away her map and rushed forward, making sure she was the first one to hop down into the unknown. By the time all the others had descended down into the caverns with their equipment, Evelyn already had a torch lit and was already crawling around the twists and turns of the caverns hoping for a discovery.

The cave walls had clearly been altered over time, with weather and nature eroding and warping the stone and layers of dirt and ice being piled up on the floor. It was hardly what it used to be in prehistory. Still, there were traces of its former glory still left behind. Paintings on the walls left by ancient man littered the cavern space, many faded away but many still clear and perfectly preserved. Evelyn gazed in awe at all of them, piecing together the stories they told.

Many were the usual depictions of mammoth hunts and bear attacks that she was used to seeing in many other sites around the world. Others were more religious in nature, showing tales of Gods and Spirits that time had long forgotten. Evelyn wondered how many of them held their origins in the First Civilization like so many myths and legends did.

The farther down she went, she began to notice that the ground seemed oddly warped. Not in the same way that nature's forces had made the rest of the cave. It was subtle, but the slight indentations in the ground seemed far too organized to be made by nature alone. She reached for her shovel and carefully began to pull away the dirt and rocks until she found something quite different from the rest of the soil. She grinned ear to ear. She had found her jackpot.

Bones.

She carefully dug out a few of the fossil remains. She slowly lifted a dirty, millennia-old skull from the earth and examined it.

“This is a fascinating find!” she said to herself. “This must be the tribe's burial chamber.” She swung her torch around to observe the line of ancient graves and the cave paintings that hung above them all, Most likely pictures of their lives and important moments they had witnessed. Towards the end of the line, she noticed another chamber beyond. Feeling brave as usual, she stepped forwards into the darkness, and looked in awe at the room she found herself in.

It was much more cavernous than the rest of the burial chamber. The walls were littered with paintings and symbols, all surrounding one grave mound in the middle of the room. Evelyn took in every last paint stroke. She saw depictions of a hooded woman and her journey through life. The woman seemed to start out in a little nomadic tribe, one that was tragically attacked and burnt by a rival party. She and her wolf companion walked the snow until they found a cave with what seemed to be an older woman, who started teaching her new fighting skills. They both set out into the ice, killing vicious raid leaders who terrorized the many settlements of the land. She became their leader, their chieftess, and she led them across a vast ocean of ice until they stumbled into a new, greener land. The woman then confronted a great foe, one who seemed to hold an object of great power in his hands. She killed her enemy and received a message from a winged spirit, who then vanished, leaving her and her people to live in harmony for years to come, until the chieftess passed away, and the people mourned her, burying her in this very spot…

Evelyn’s breath was taken away. The chieftess was clearly very loved by her people. She looked after them, and they looked after her. Evelyn almost felt bad for intruding on these grounds. Part of her almost wanted to tell the general and her party that they could just leave now. But the scientist in her knew that she couldn't do that.

She began to carefully dig down, looking for another jackpot. She carefully pulled away all the dirt and rocks, knowing that there was no such thing as too slow or too cautious when it came to handling such delicate operations. She went down and down until she found exactly what she was hoping for: another fossil skeleton. She smiled and began to brush away the dirt from the bones. She stood and observed the chieftess’s remains from afar.

“Beautifully preserved,” she said. “Your people buried you well, ma'am.”

Something amongst the bones suddenly caught her eye. She noticed a hunk of rock amongst the bones and the traces of artifacts that had been buried with them. She pulled up her skirts and slowly bent down again to get a better look. She carefully pulled it out of the ground and held it in her hands. It seemed to be a dagger of sorts, one of ancient obsidian that glistened a bit in her torchlight despite its age. She brushed the dust off of it, noticing a little carving at the base of it, a shape that almost seemed familiar…

She brushed the final layer of dirt, and her eyes widened. She gasped at what she saw. The shape in the carving was one that she had seen many times before. She wore the same symbol on her belt. Her grandmother Aveza had done the same decades prior. It was the symbol that defined their lives, their goals, their philosophy. It was unmistakable. It was the teardrop-esk symbol of the Assassin Brotherhood.

Evelyn could hardly believe her eyes. She looked at the skeleton of the chieftess, then at all the carvings on the wall. It all started to come together in her head.

“Oh my God…” she said, looking back to the skeleton. “You… you were one of us… That's… that's fascinating! I… this means Brotherhood has existed even in such animalistic times! You and I, ma'am, we're more connected than any other of my finds. Wow…”

She carefully put the dagger back in the grave. She laid it on the fossil’s chest. She sat there in silence for a moment, the only sounds being made coming from her expedition team getting set up outside the chamber. She stared at the skeleton’s eye sockets for a while, letting this connection sink in. It seemed no matter how far Evelyn went, in space or in time, she could always find someone to connect with. Hers is a Brotherhood that linked the world together, even in place a like this. Even in the rough times that Evelyn had been struggling through for the past two decades.

And it made her smile.

And so before she stood and turned to rejoin her group and began managing the dig in full, she stood and lowered her head. She closed her eyes and crossed her arm across her chest in respect. She smiled.

And she whispered softly to her ancient friend, “Requiescat in pace, my sister.”

Description
March 27, 1885; Taral, District of Alaska

The harsh Alaskan winds blew against their faces as they fought against the snow. Evelyn squinted her eyes as she tried to follow her map and navigate the tundra. Her expedition team trudged behind her, clearly more irritated than she was by the weather. It wasn't like she was comfortable in this winter storm either, grant it, but she had the thrill of discovery driving her forward. If her sources were correct, she'd have a fascinating find in her hands soon enough.

“Damn this infernal snow!” General Allen cursed behind her as they walked.

Evelyn smirked and rolled her eyes. “You really must learn to lighten up, general,” she told him.

“With all due respect, Ms. Arlie, this wind is what needs to lighten up! We should've just stayed back at the Yellowknife camp with Mr. Bremmer and waited until morning.”

“We'll get back to the settlement as soon as we finish excavating.”

“You scientists, I swear. Sometimes I don't understand the risks you'll take for discoveries.”

“The world moves forward the more knowledge we find in it, general. It's our responsibility to take risks.”

“I hope it's worth it. What do you even hope to find here? One of those mammoth creatures that they say roam the ice?”

Evelyn laughed at that. “I'm not after myths and folktales, general. Those creatures are long extinct. No, I only chase prizes whose existences I can confirm from proper sources.”

“Such as?”

“My sources tell me that there's a large burial site for an ancient tribe of Paleo-Indians that had settled in this area years ago. I hope to uncover the fossils and perhaps learn a bit about the culture.”

“This had better be worth the money you all paid me.”

“It will be, I promise.”

The team kept up their trek through the bitter wilderness, following Evelyn as she carefully followed the path she had drawn for herself on the map. They eventually came across a large icy cliffside, one which had a dark hole down at it's base. A hole just large enough for a person or two to slip inside. Evelyn smiled.

“Over here!” she called to her men. She stowed away her map and rushed forward, making sure she was the first one to hop down into the unknown. By the time all the others had descended down into the caverns with their equipment, Evelyn already had a torch lit and was already crawling around the twists and turns of the caverns hoping for a discovery.

The cave walls had clearly been altered over time, with weather and nature eroding and warping the stone and layers of dirt and ice being piled up on the floor. It was hardly what it used to be in prehistory. Still, there were traces of its former glory still left behind. Paintings on the walls left by ancient man littered the cavern space, many faded away but many still clear and perfectly preserved. Evelyn gazed in awe at all of them, piecing together the stories they told.

Many were the usual depictions of mammoth hunts and bear attacks that she was used to seeing in many other sites around the world. Others were more religious in nature, showing tales of Gods and Spirits that time had long forgotten. Evelyn wondered how many of them held their origins in the First Civilization like so many myths and legends did.

The farther down she went, she began to notice that the ground seemed oddly warped. Not in the same way that nature's forces had made the rest of the cave. It was subtle, but the slight indentations in the ground seemed far too organized to be made by nature alone. She reached for her shovel and carefully began to pull away the dirt and rocks until she found something quite different from the rest of the soil. She grinned ear to ear. She had found her jackpot.

Bones.

She carefully dug out a few of the fossil remains. She slowly lifted a dirty, millennia-old skull from the earth and examined it.

“This is a fascinating find!” she said to herself. “This must be the tribe's burial chamber.” She swung her torch around to observe the line of ancient graves and the cave paintings that hung above them all, Most likely pictures of their lives and important moments they had witnessed. Towards the end of the line, she noticed another chamber beyond. Feeling brave as usual, she stepped forwards into the darkness, and looked in awe at the room she found herself in.

It was much more cavernous than the rest of the burial chamber. The walls were littered with paintings and symbols, all surrounding one grave mound in the middle of the room. Evelyn took in every last paint stroke. She saw depictions of a hooded woman and her journey through life. The woman seemed to start out in a little nomadic tribe, one that was tragically attacked and burnt by a rival party. She and her wolf companion walked the snow until they found a cave with what seemed to be an older woman, who started teaching her new fighting skills. They both set out into the ice, killing vicious raid leaders who terrorized the many settlements of the land. She became their leader, their chieftess, and she led them across a vast ocean of ice until they stumbled into a new, greener land. The woman then confronted a great foe, one who seemed to hold an object of great power in his hands. She killed her enemy and received a message from a winged spirit, who then vanished, leaving her and her people to live in harmony for years to come, until the chieftess passed away, and the people mourned her, burying her in this very spot…

Evelyn’s breath was taken away. The chieftess was clearly very loved by her people. She looked after them, and they looked after her. Evelyn almost felt bad for intruding on these grounds. Part of her almost wanted to tell the general and her party that they could just leave now. But the scientist in her knew that she couldn't do that.

She began to carefully dig down, looking for another jackpot. She carefully pulled away all the dirt and rocks, knowing that there was no such thing as too slow or too cautious when it came to handling such delicate operations. She went down and down until she found exactly what she was hoping for: another fossil skeleton. She smiled and began to brush away the dirt from the bones. She stood and observed the chieftess’s remains from afar.

“Beautifully preserved,” she said. “Your people buried you well, ma'am.”

Something amongst the bones suddenly caught her eye. She noticed a hunk of rock amongst the bones and the traces of artifacts that had been buried with them. She pulled up her skirts and slowly bent down again to get a better look. She carefully pulled it out of the ground and held it in her hands. It seemed to be a dagger of sorts, one of ancient obsidian that glistened a bit in her torchlight despite its age. She brushed the dust off of it, noticing a little carving at the base of it, a shape that almost seemed familiar…

She brushed the final layer of dirt, and her eyes widened. She gasped at what she saw. The shape in the carving was one that she had seen many times before. She wore the same symbol on her belt. Her grandmother Aveza had done the same decades prior. It was the symbol that defined their lives, their goals, their philosophy. It was unmistakable. It was the teardrop-esk symbol of the Assassin Brotherhood.

Evelyn could hardly believe her eyes. She looked at the skeleton of the chieftess, then at all the carvings on the wall. It all started to come together in her head.

“Oh my God…” she said, looking back to the skeleton. “You… you were one of us… That's… that's fascinating! I… this means Brotherhood has existed even in such animalistic times! You and I, ma'am, we're more connected than any other of my finds. Wow…”

She carefully put the dagger back in the grave. She laid it on the fossil’s chest. She sat there in silence for a moment, the only sounds being made coming from her expedition team getting set up outside the chamber. She stared at the skeleton’s eye sockets for a while, letting this connection sink in. It seemed no matter how far Evelyn went, in space or in time, she could always find someone to connect with. Hers is a Brotherhood that linked the world together, even in place a like this. Even in the rough times that Evelyn had been struggling through for the past two decades.

And it made her smile.

And so before she stood and turned to rejoin her group and began managing the dig in full, she stood and lowered her head. She closed her eyes and crossed her arm across her chest in respect. She smiled.

And she whispered softly to her ancient friend, “Requiescat in pace, my sister.”