The Camazotz Expedition This is a good introduction adventure with which to begin an archaeology campaign. Some adventures are written with information all over the place (a Keeper’s nightmare) so this is a compilation of information for easy reference. Also included is a description of the beginning of the campaign to get things started. The authors of the Mesoamerica supplement found this adventure to be deadly but I didn’t find it that way. I played the final battle about ten times and only once was the party wiped out. One of the players should take the part of Dr. Emilio or Emiliana Santana (represented here as a female). She (or he) receives a copy of the section on Donald Stillbridge for reference, as well as access to the source book on Mayan beliefs. Donald Stillbridge While conducting routine research in the Archeology library in Merida, you (Dr. Santana) found some crudely bound notes of a late-nineteenth century explorer named Donald Stillbridge. His passion was Mesoamerica, particularly Mayan areas. He is known within archaeological circles as a kind of renegade who derides intellectuals (“deluded bookworms” was his pet name for them) and went out on his own to see first hand what the Mayan people were about. While his methods were criticized at the time, his results rarely were. Among the Mayan of th eYcatan, he could travel freely for he spoke their language and was well versed in their culture and recent history. His one and only formal publication was an article on the contemporary Mayan people that appeared in several archeological journals in the English speaking world in 1885. The notes are on coarse paper with a string binding. The front and back covers are each composed of two sheets of heavier paper that are glued together. These show great wear and tear and significant water damage. The contents were written by hand in black ink. Throughout, Stillbridge employed short, incomplete sentences that efficiently convey information and ideas. On the other hand, the book is a chore to read and is certainly not an entertaining work. Readers who peruse the journal soon learn that Stillbridge was well-traveled. He visited most major Mayan sites and many minor ones. He was obviously well versed in native customs and culture and was fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Yucatec, and had a strong working knowledge of Portuguese and Italian. In all his notes one site stands out above the rest. The site is Xamanik and according to the notes and a crude diagram, it is located in Quintana Roo near the coast across the stretch of water between the Yucatan shore line and the island of Cozumel. Once a thriving town and later a religious site, the ruins are now a collection of overgrown mounds and tumbled stones. Near the center is a large, overgrown cenote that, no doubt, was once the primary water source for the community. Stillbridge made a sketch of the area and also documents the presence of a large ‘caracol’ (astronomical observatory) much like the one at Chichen Itza. Long abandoned, even before the Spaniards arrived, the site has remained essentially undisturbed for centuries. Stillbridge reports stelae and monuments bearing crisp, clear, Mayan pictographs, scores of relics and artifacts, and much more. Furthermore, he briefly interviewed Mayans living in the region about the site and all insisted they avoided the area for it was ‘bad land’ and ‘haunted.’ Stillbridge dismissed this as the usual superstition, but concluded it was a positive sign. Since the natives obviously avoided the area, they didn’t tamper with the site, and it was in pristine condition. He was there a short time, two days, the 8th and 9th of July in 1889. It is an ideal place for a dig. The Situation It is late May 1922. The current semester at MU is coming to a close and people are making plans for the summer. Dr. Santana, on loan from the Universidad de Yucatan, has been teaching an anthropology class based on the Maya of the Yucatan this semester. She has taught some folklore, bits of words in Yucatec (their native language), and some history of the region (including the main cities of Merida and Valladolid). And she has expounded on the history of archeology in the area. Her last lecture concerns Donald Stillbridge (have her read the selection to the others). Dr. Santana and the head of the department have made a petition to the administration and they have accepted. Based on Donald Stillbridge’s journal she has proposed that a picked group of staff and students go to find the site of Xamanic. The University of Yucatan has been trying to get a dig permit but the Mexican government is still too unstable since the revolution of 1910-11. However permission has been informally granted to survey the site and clear vegetation. They cannot dig though as a full permit cannot be processed yet. The truth is that the government is too distracted to care and since Dr. Daniella is accompanying the group they feel the site will not be abused. To them, she is responsible. The participants will receive a $200 bonus each if valuable artifacts are found, studied, catalogued, researched, and turned in with documentation to the Archeology Department of the Universidad de Yucatan. Grad and undergrad students will receive credit for going on the trip. Laborers, clearing tools, and burros, will be obtained in Merida. You will stay at Dr. Santana’s hacienda while preparing for the trip. You will visit the site at Chichen Itza on your way to your own site, Xamanic. There are no excavations going on there but a man named Sylvanus G. Morley is surveying it off and on while petitioning the government to dig there. All the players must now select their equipment based on MU’s budget of $200 per person. The Journey The journey begins on June 2nd1922. You all report to the Arkham train station at 9:00 AM. Your equipment is crated and waiting for loading on the freight platform. There is a man standing by the crates. He is Alexandre Dumas. He will be the expedition cook and quartermaster. He is talking to some porters who will load the crates when the train pulls in. The expedition leader hands out train tickets to everyone. Your destination is Miami, Florida. The trip will take two days. You will have to sleep in Pullmans and eat in the Dining Car. The trip is swift and comfortable. You can read, eat and drink, talk, play cards etc. You arrive at 5:15 PM June 4th at the Miami Depot. Mr. Dumas supervises the unloading of the equipment. It will be loaded onto trucks and taken to a harbor warehouse. You pile into a taxi and go to the Majestic Hotel to relax, eat dinner, etc. In the morning, everyone must be in the hotel lobby with their personal luggage at 7:00AM sharp. You take a cab to the harbor and find yourselves next to the Margaret S., a small steam ship that has been chartered to take you to Progresso, Yucatan. Your equipment is already being loaded into the ship’s cargo hold. Mr. Dumas is already there watching the loading. The sea air is very refreshing and there is a light breeze blowing. At 8:30 AM you are shown to your staterooms. They are sparse but comfortable enough. Each room has a port hole, bunkbeds bolted to the floor, a table and two chairs, a dresser for your clothes, and a place to hang large garments. At 9:00 AM on June 5th the ship departs. You all go out on deck to watch the tug take the ship out of the harbor. Then the ship goes under its own steam, heading SW towards the Yucatan. The voyage itself is uneventful. You meet the Captain, a man named Jim Mayo at lunch in the Dining Hall. The food and drinks are good and the officers and stewards are very pleasant. The distance from Miami to Progreso, Yucatan, is very short and the trip takes less than two days. You arrive at Progreso at approximately noon on the fourth day of your trip, June 7th, 1922. The ship docks and unloads cargo while you go to the Harbor custom house. (Have each investigator make a credit ratings roll; hassling will depend on the results for each individual). Finally everyone gets through customs and takes a taxi to the Casa Blanca Hotel. Progreso is a small, quiet community; nice and clean. The next morning, at 8:00 AM you take another taxi to the train station. Your equipment is already loaded and Mr. Dumas is waiting on the platform. The train leaves at 8:30. The trip to Merida is only 23 miles and takes only one hour. Along the way you pass an impressive ancient city. Dr. Santana explains that it is the city of Dxibilchaltun. It has been cleaned up a little but never surveyed or excavated. Dr. Santana also explains that the Yucatan covers an area of 15,989 square miles and has a population of 62,447, according to last year’s census. You arrive at Merida at approximately 9:30. Your equipment is stored in a warehouse by the station. After that, Dr. Santana hails a taxi and takes you to her family’s hacienda where you will stay while final preparations are made for the expedition. You are very impressed with Merida. It is very clean and pretty, and is often called “the white city.” Dr.