#v: and family means nobody gets left behind ( canon d )

[rcsettastone]

INTRODUCTION I.

D R .  E L É N A  P A V I A (  r o s e t t a  s t o n e  )

a gold snake curled around orange fruit. cat-eye sunglasses and a large hat that obscures one eye. the shadows of trees. your hair pulled back in a neat bun. low tide. black dresses with expensive earrings. old books with scribbles in the margins. a collection of sea shells. empty wine bottles and only one glass. raising your argument, not your voice. handwritten letters. an unknown silhouette behind a curtain. white silk nightgowns. standing in the sea to look at the moon. red wine and messy hair. twirling a pendant in your fingers. dancing on a beach. calls from unlisted numbers. hushed conversations. knowing what it is to have something taken from you.

age: thirty-one

sexuality: heterosexual (?)*

gender: cisgender female

allegiance & role: cambra historian & translator

a brief history: eléna is born to late-stage parents in southern spain on an andalusian horse ranch. while she loves both her parents, her father in particular - a large man with loud charisma - is her hero. at a wedding held on their ranch, a then-child eléna meets the man that would eventually become her Benefactor after she takes a cryptex from his room to play with. he in turn takes an interest in her due to her intellect and curiousity, and over the years checks in on her and the pavia family with increasing frequency. he sends her various puzzles, mental games, and monetary or material gains to her parents. simultaneously, eléna becomes increasingly aware of her father’s problems with alcoholism & gambling.

as she grows older, she aids her father in hiding some of the severity of his debts from her mother -- but as a result, their relationship begins to decay. at age 15, eléna is told by her benefactor that if she can achieve the exemplary marks he sets out of her, he will fund her attending university - transportation & accommodation included. after matching and exceeding what he wanted from her, eléna chooses to attend university in barcelona away from the family/life she has grown disenchanted with (read: her father). during this time, she sends back money given to her as an allowance by her benefactor to pay for her father’s continuing (albeit lesser) debts. she throws herself into schooling to the point of reckless obsession. with no friends or allies around her aside from the benefactor, she foregoes her health or any semblance of a personal life in order to please him and prove her worth. for a time, this single-minded recklessness proves effective, but is similarly efficient in draining her of energy and ability. with time, she begins to buckle under the weight of what she has pursued, developing insomnia and risking failure in at least one class. while it is never confirmed to her if the subsequent opportunity was brought to her by the benefactor, she cheats on a final exam after a classmate approaches her with concerns - and eventually the key to the examination. after graduation, she is given opportunities unsuited for someone as young and inexperienced as her due singularly to her connection to the benefactor. she has her daughter at (age undecided) -- the father is not in the picture, and does not play a role in their lives. nonetheless, due to the increasing financial aid of her sponsor to facilitate a proper home and childcare for her daughter, her career flourishes. with the birth of clio and an increasingly strained relationship, her father swears off drinking and gambling, and eléna ceases sending money back home.

having been sent to a dig in cairo, eléna at one point leaves her daughter with her parents in andalusia. upon coming home, she finds her father fallen victim to his old vices. but this time the ensuing argument reveals far deeper sins. in his inebriation and remorse, her father expresses her late birth was due to the full life he had lived prior to becoming a father and moving to the countryside -- - he was once a criminal and renowned thief. the only reason he had left this life behind was at the behest of her mother, and so they had purchased land far away from cities and temptation. the things he taught her and the childish games she had once played - learning to pick a pocket, the extensive treasure hunts, how to cheat at cards and never get caught - all made sense. 

she walks while her father begs forgiveness on his knees. he pleads for her to forget what he’s said, feign ignorance, go back to secrets. instead, she leaves with her daughter tucked into her arm, swearing he will never see her or his granddaughter ever again. 

eléna currently still receives money every month from her benefactor, which has increased substantially since her university days -- an unspoken seal to keep her quiet. it is enough to allow her to outright buy a large apartment in barcelona and far more luxuries than her cambra salary should allow. while she protests when he asks when he asks for another thievery, she has yet to not bring back what he requires. while he has never touched her inappropriately, eléna fears that and much more from him, should she fully refuse to participate in his charade any longer. she has been mulling over stealing a piece from ialis to sell illegally herself - only to finally accrue enough money and opportunity to remove herself from the control of her benefactor forever.  

fun facts:

putting this in the fact section as i’m unsure if i’ll make it canon yet, but my current thought (and the next big blow eléna couldn’t see coming) is that her father knew her ‘benefactor’ before they even met. something along the lines of he and his crew once stole art from the benefactor’s black market team/gang, and he’s been somewhat complicit - albeit full of anguish - in her being used by her sponsor.

her daughter clio is named after the grecian muse of history. haven’t fully decided on her age, but i’m thinking most likely 4 or 5. loves her more than anything, but does not talk about her with colleagues.

she loves to dance, and is exceptionally good -- but her adoration and skills only improve when she’s drunk. consider her the real life woman dancing in red dress emoji.

she has ABSIT OMEN tattooed on her outer right thumb/palm. it’s a latin phrase meaning “let an omen be absent.”

if that last fact didn’t clue you in, she’s surprisingly superstitious. she got her tattoo in that specific location as if it might prevent harm from the archaic, arcane things she touches.

lapsed roman catholic; spiritual. 

she smokes, but only when on location for a dig. she refuses to pick up a cigarette back in spain, lest she carry some of the fumes around her daughter.

film photography is a big hobby of eléna’s. she has two cameras with her on ialis.

catch her doing yoga and/or meditation every morning, because she believes in the link between physical and spiritual/mental wellness.

like the history nerd she is, she has a cat named artemisia, affectionately known as mishy.

she has the uncannily quick hands - aka part of the reason she’s been able to successfully steal and smuggle out the various artifacts and objects over the years

your resident card queen - any game you’ve got, she’s the reigning champ

plots / connections under the cut !

JEWEL OF THE NILE. ( open to : cambra ) a coworker that has become what might be the only deep friendship eléna has with someone from cambra! to the level that they’ve actually met or at least know of her daughter uwu. basically gimme someone 

ROMANCING THE STONE. ( open to : taha & local guides ) a previous fling that was had while on location on another dig. they definitely did not imagine they would run into each other again -- bonus points if they don’t even know they’re both archaeologists/involved in the same field. how they are now is completely up for discussion!

THE MUMMY. ( open to : big bois ) i mean, look. i’m not gonna lie to you here. do i want the rick to eléna’s evelyn? absolutely. that’s pretty much all i gotta say about this.

RETURN OF THE MUMMY. ( open to : silly bois ) did you think i wasn’t gonna mention the jonathan to her evie? incomprehensible. give me the looser, more-fun potentially brother-like figure

SCORPION KING. ( open to : all ) eléna is complex, particularly when you start looking at her extracurricular thievery, but she is still a soft, quiet woman. you see a figure standing in the shallows at night looking at the moon? that’s her. this muse sees these sides of her and for one reason or another grows rather protective over miss moon-gazer

NATIONAL TREASURE. ( open to : preferably younger ) she is Cambra’s Official Mom, but this individual is someone she particularly looks after or checks up on -- could definitely be in taha too!

RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. ( open to : all ) okay so this is kind of dependent on plot drops/how the game develops, but please give me someone to... break rules with her. cambra or taha, when eléna starts noticing something Else is going on on ialis island, her interest is going to extend far beyond 

TEMPLE OF DOOM. ( open to : all ) angsty exes, in short. this might work better with cambra, but could also work with someone else with the right plotting. we could go any direction with this, but my guess would be eléna ended the relationship due to her inability to become emotionally vulnerable/getting Scared of her Feelings

THE LAST CRUSADE. ( open to : all ) the current flirtation. walking to town together, or coincidentally bumping into one another at the main square and smiling from across the way. sitting too close. unnecessary compliments. wondering how long the tension is going to last.

SKULL ISLAND. ( open to : cambra ) a longtime coworker that is curious/suspicious/concerned over how the good dr. pavia always seems to keep herself at arm’s length from everyone... and nobody seems to know all that much about her

JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH ( open to : all ) someone as superstitious as eléna that can bond with her when the Strange Happenings start to occur on the island

* you may note there is a question mark next to eléna’s sexuality..... WELL. while her muse gives me tragically hetero vibes, every time i try and play that out it.... never works out the few times i try and do it. so. honestly don’t consider the door fully shut for any plots just bc your muse is nb or female, i just may need to think it over more!!!

wanted threads: drunk dancing by the fire, eventual skinny-dipping, getting trapped somewhere like the caves or a spontaneously collapsed pit, ur muse is getting in a fight with a local over a misunderstanding borne by the language disconnect and eléna comes in and smooths things over, stealing a book or notes from the taha camp

[amillixnvoicesarch]

[continued from here] @walterobrien

              HE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND what was going on at first, that much was APPARENT by the slightly bewildered look he bore upon his features - such as when he needed to SOLVE A PROBLEM and was RUNNING OUT OF TIME.                             “ did you need someth- ”   his words cut off as she’d snuggled up against him on the couch         this was certainly a surprise.                        ( WHY WAS THIS HAPPENING, EXACTLY ? )

              BROWS FURROWING SLIGHTLY IN THOUGHT,  walter slowly ( and perhaps rather awkwardly ) brought his arms up around paige.

             It had been a LONG DAY and while Paige was usually a little more guarded around Walter these days she simply couldn´t help but crave human contact. Today´s case had been another CLOSE CALL and the fear of losing him was still gripping tightly at her.

           She sighed as she leaned against him, feeling a little less anxious when her arm wrapped around her. 

            “You.” She then whispered, letting her GUARD down. “I need YOU.”

[amillixnvoicesarch]

“apply pressure to the wound, don’t let go.” ( paige )

    hurt meme.

      They often got into situations that were dangerous and allof them had stared danger in the face before, so there was nothing new there.Still, it wasn´t a nice thing to watch, to see any of her friends puttingthemselves into danger and even THINKING about losing one of them.

        She simply couldn´t.

      At Arizona´s words Paige nodded, hands only shaking SLIGHTLYas she pressed her hands against the wound as best as she could. Her eyesmet with her cousin´s then and she swallowed, HARD. “Is he going to beokay?”