March 18th, 1999
Two weeks ago, famed researcher Professor Ernest Pinnock died, leaving his extensive journals to the British Archaeological Society. One of them contained detailed information about Pinnock's greatest - and previously unreported - find. In the mountains of Sri Lanka, near the mouth of the Mahaweli Ganga river, lies the tomb of Tea Muasa, dating back to at least the 14th century. Pinnock had visited the site and verified its existence, but never ventured inside the structure.
Without resources of its own to easily investigate the tomb, the society contacted you to make the trip. They seem to have hammered out some kind of agreement with the British Museum over care of any recovered artefacts, but material wealth has never been the principle focus of your expeditions. The opportunity to be the first to explore a new, undisturbed site far outweighed any other considerations, and you were en route to Sri Lanka within the week.
After an uneventful flight and landing at Colombo airport, you organised transport across the island to the site of the tomb. A train ride, typically crowded, went east up into the hills and mountains as far as Kandy, and then south to the town of Nuwara Eliya. From here it was a simple task to organise a caravan to the Mahaweli Ganga. There appears to be little local stigma attached; many of the people from the nearby villages have never heard of Tea Muasa. Those that have dismissed him as an ancient ruler long gone.
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