Amnesia: The Dark Descent [Part One]

The Archives

Pushing on the door, Daniel realised how different it was to the other doors. Instead of being a little rusty but generally easy to open, he found it was really quite heavy and hard to push. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was in fact painted a faded red. Finally opening it, he propped it open behind him. 

"At least if something starts chasing me, it wont be able to get through that." He mumbled, checking it was study.

Now inside the Archives, Daniel looked around. To the right was an open door with a sign saying "Libra Raris". Daniel figured out it was latin, and tried decoding it. 'Libra' obviously meant 'Library' and 'Raris' could mean...

"Rare Library!" Daniel exclaimed, proud of his intelligence. Smiling, he entered the open door and found a table, another piece of paper resting on the top.  Gingerly, he picked it up, bracing for what new revelations might be made.

16th May, 1839

The unflinching African sun has continued to plague our expedition, making it impossible to dig until dusk. How professor Herbet managed to find the location in these vast plains of nothingness remans a mystery to me. When I asked him about the tomb again, he told me about the legend of Tin Hinan, "The mother of us all". An interesting story in it's own right, but I can't help feeling there's more. Later that evening, we uncovered a passage beneath the dunes leading to a sand-covered stone structure. The professor was confident it was the tomb we sought and ordered the others to clear the way - late into the dark cold night.

 Tomorrow I shall lead the men into the ancient structure, hoping to reach the burial chamber. No matter what the professor is keeping from me, the dig should held something interesting to take back to London and the British museum. 

 Daniel re-read the note. Well, it seemed more like a journal entry. He saw the handwriting as his own, and was quite happy that his assumptions were correct. He was obviously an archaeologist of some sort, he was part of an expedition in Africa. 

"Interesting..." He said, referring to the paper itself. If this was in fact his journal entry, surely it should be in a book of some sort? Not just lying on it's own. Shrugging, he left the rare library and entered a separate room, named 'Catalogi'. 

"Catalogues." Daniel said happily, proud of his Latin. On the shelf inside the room was yet another note. 

"If i'm not the fastest reader by the time I get out of here, no one ever will be." He no longer harboured any fear when he saw a letter, and absently skimmed over it. 

It was some sort of contract between a man signed 'Wilhelm, house of Gerich." stating he is now completely owned by Alexander for three  years, in return Alexander will recommend his services to the Prussian royal court within the 'Order of the Black Eagle', whatever that is. 

"Time wasted." Daniel said, but kept the note anyway. You never know when it will come in handy. There was a table in the room, and when he opened the draw a tiny tinderbox rolled towards him. 

"I need to use these before I run out of pockets." Daniel laughed.  To the right was a plain door named 'Studium'. 

"Into the study!" Daniel pointed to the door and walked through, pretending to be marching. He was getting sick of finding nothing, but the idea of finding out more about himself, and ultimately Alexander, kept him going.

On the far side of the room was another table, another tinderbox in the draw and another journal on the table. He skimmed it over, it was the next entry about his African expedition.

17th May, 1839

My hands tremble as I write. I feel a need to document my tribulation for I fear that my memory will fail me if I linger.