(Untitled)

[snap_time]

The inn pulled Larry out of the museum a few hours ago. Not long after that, he decided to take advantage of the free time and try to get something on paper

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[imageofamun]

Here, Larry, have a Pharaoh.

Tutankhamun has slipped away from his servants and couriers again and ended up in the Inn once more. He's been spending most of his time outside, because even though he's not used to temperate zone winters, it's a great opportunity to spend some time outdoors without having to risk assassination at the same time.

The Inn unaccountably has been providing him with barbarian garb to wear outside. He does not object; it transforms back into Egyptian clothing when he comes back in.

Now, as he walks back into the Inn, he sees a man seated at a table doing what looks like scribework. Curious, he walks over to the table and, craning his neck, peers at it. It resembles a chariot, in a way. At least, it has wheels.

"We would be pleased to know," he says in an interested voice as he points at the picture, "what that item is."

[imageofamun]

There's no way that Tutankhamun is going to ignore an opening like that. He sits down and gazes at Larry with genuine curiosity. "What did happen the first day on the job?"

[snap_time]

Larry lets out one of those sighs that practically says 'what didn't happen?' all by itself.
"The dinosaur chased me. The lions nearly ate me. One of the monkeys stole my keys, urinated on me, bit my nose - and tore up the instructions the guys I was replacing had left for me. Before I had a chance to read more than three of them, of course. The Hun mannequins chased me into the elevator. And the diorama dolls variously tied me up and shot projectiles at me. It... wasn't my best night ever."

[imageofamun]

"Huns? Mannequins? Elevator? Diorama?"

[snap_time]

There's a brief pause before Larry facepalms. "Right, self, time gap, keep that in mind. Anyway, mannequins are basically statues - the simplest versions are just torsos there to hold up clothes while someone makes them, but the museum's are more detailed than that. Dioramas are... similar, but on a smaller scale, so that more of the appropriate scenery can fit in the case as well.
"Huns were... sort of your average barbarians, only there was a good-sized empire around for them to harass, so they got a bit more notoriety. And elevators are more machinery - they're for getting people from one floor of a building to another when they can't or don't want to use the stairs."
He's better at explaining technology gaps than he thinks. It's an unexpected bonus of the job, perhaps.

[imageofamun]

"Mannequins sound useful." He still has no clear notion of dioramas. "Where were the Huns from? Around Egypt? Or...elsewhere?

"I like the idea of elevators." He doesn't know what they look like, but there's something very appealing about a device that gets you from one floor of a building to another without long staircases.

[snap_time]

"...I want to say they were from a bit farther to the east, but it's been a while since I had to read up. I could be slightly off on that."

[imageofamun]

Farther to the East works. Actually, any direction would work; there are enemies in every direction, in Tutankhamun's time.

"What were the three instructions that you had time to read?"

[snap_time]

"'Throw the bone' - that was for the dinosaur, it chases one of its own ribs - 'lock up the lions or they'll eat you,' and 'check your belt, the monkey probably stole your keys.' The old guards didn't give me the things until right before I started, that night, or else I might've had a chance to get through the whole list."
And to process how weird the job was, at least a little bit, before the weird got to chasing him.

[imageofamun]

"I suppose that the old guards feared that you would think them mad." He doesn't bring up quitting, because that isn't a possibility in his world.

[snap_time]

"Yeah, they said they'd figured I wouldn't believe it until I saw it. It scared me badly enough that I almost quit - twice - but now that I'm more used to it it's really not that bad."
In fact, he'd go so far as to call it pretty damn awesome.

[imageofamun]

"Would you have believed it?" Tutankhamun asks curiously. "I am not certain that I would have believed this Inn if I had merely been told about it."

[snap_time]

"...I really can't say. I probably wouldn't have believed it entirely, since that sort of thing doesn't happen on a regular basis. But I could've at least braced myself for the possibility."
It would've been better than nothing.

[imageofamun]

"I am not certain..." Tutankhamun bites his lip, momentarily looking younger than his fourteen years. "I suspect that if you had been warned about everything, you would have thought them mad, believed that they were teasing a newcomer, or wondered what in the name of all the gods of earth and sky and the underworld that they had added to their beer."

[snap_time]

"If not all of the above. It's a lot to swallow, especially without any precedent - there's a reason I don't really tell people about it unless I'm here."
In the inn, the most common reaction is 'ooooh, can I visit?'

[imageofamun]

Tutankhamun thinks about this for a few moments. "Yes, I can understand that. Being thought mad or drunk or a liar would not be pleasant." He glances at the sketchbook. "Have you thought of other creations?"