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[Introduction]
[History] [Location] [Game
Aids]
Mattias
Wheldrake began in the 1890s by importing Egyptian mummies for
conversion into paper and fertilizer. When the market dried up after
a cholera scare, all that saved his business from total collapse were
those little oddments that had sometimes accompanied the shipments,
or that his workers had pried out of the mummies before sending them
on to their inglorious final destination. Sometimes the buyers of
these oddments requested he obtain more bearing the same markings.
One man paid a tremendous amount for the papyrus wrapped around the
item Mattias was trying to sell him. When a woman asked if he could
obtain a mummy she referred to by name, he realized he was onto something.
It was Mattias who obtained the
Alexandrist and who, failing to recognize it as valuable, brought it
home "as a mascot". He died peacefully in his magnificent
new town house.
His descendants adapted to the
changing circumstances of their "industry," persevering as
increasing regulation and changes in the law rendered it completely
illegal. All ended up in asylums or died while working late at night
in the study. After the town house was converted into the present
shop, two died in the basement.
The business is currently run by
Mattias' great-great-granddaughter Gail and her partner Michael. It
is Gail who has truly brought the business up to date, meticulously
keeping double accounts and laundering the money through a series of
front companies. There is a network of customs officials, waterfront
workers and a reputable transport firm, all under her control. The
smuggling also involves some links with organized crime, but Gail has
managed to limit all interaction to cash payments. Her business has
doubtless been considered too small and too specialized to merit any
serious takeover attempts, and if any of the local gang bosses are
gullible enough to believe the rubbish some of her clients spout,
why, that's their problem . . .
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