Chapter 30: Tomb Raiders

The 'Jimmy Sprocket' series enjoys worlwide popularity, and fans in every nation wait eagerly for the next volume to be published. Ai Pei, one of Rex's contacts in Shang Simla, has an idea to capitalize on this anticipation. He asks Rex to pen a Jimmy Sprocket book for the Chinese market.
Agreeing to this wrong on many levels, but Rex is desperate to be writing something, anything, and the Jimmy Sprocket story comes to him easily. Of Course 'Jimmy Sprocket and theGhost Town Blanket' will not bear Rex's name on the cover and no one will ever know he wrote the unauthorized volume.

Tamsin and Rex make another trip to China do deliver the manuscript, and do some gem collectingg and insect hunting while they are there.

They return home for Sheridan's birthday.

The mayor awards Tamsin the key to the city in a ceeremony in front of Roth Hall.

 She's a bit surprised by the attention her work has been getting. To her, it was always just paranormal research, she never thought about the community service she was performing.

Rex gets another tattoo. The winged sword encapsulates his mixed feeling about writing the Jimmy Sprocket book; the freedom from his writer's block, the guilt of stealing another author's character for an illegal market. But like his role in authoring the book, the meaning of his tattoo is obscure to all but him.

He would feel better about his authorial theft if it had truly broken his writer's block. But after completing the Jimmy Sprocket title, Rex finds himself still unable to write something of his own.

"I don't understand it," he cries on Tamsin's shoulder, "It used to be so easy. Words flowed out of me like they had their own life. Now when I sit at the keyboard, nothing happens. I'm a failure."

Tamsin embraces her husband, "You are not a failure. Look at what you've done with your museum."

"With your money," Red complains.

"If I dumped a pile of money in that old barn, it wouldn't be a great museum. You made it what it is, you curated all the exhibits, and you continue to add to the collections. You should be proud of that."

Rex sighs, 'I am. But -"

"But you are so hung up on being labeled an author that you can't enjoy being who you are?" she quips.

Rex smiles, with some bitterness, but it's still a smile. "You're right, I shouldn't be so hung up on it."

While they travel, Rex is free of his worries, so Tamsin suggests a trip to France. The first thing she wants to see there is an ancient burial mound.

They discover an entrance to the ancient tomb, and Tamsin insists they go inside. Rex is more reluctant.

"It's an historical landmark," he says, "We should leave it alone."

"I want to see what's down there," Tamsin says.

The first thing they encounter is a locked door. "Pull that statue out to cover that floor switch," Tamsin suggests.

"Floor switch?" Rex asks, "That can't posibly open a padlock on a chain." But it turns out Tamsin is right, the stone's pressure on the fkloor plate releases the padlock and the chain drops to the floor. "Weird," Rex breathes.

In the newly opened chamber they find another statue for Rex to drag onto a floor plate, while Tamsin sticks her arm into a hole in the wall.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Rex asks, "There could be snakes in there."

"There could be treasure," Tamsin answers.

Tamsin swipes an ancient vase from the floor.

"Stealing artifacts from ancient burial sites has to be a international crime," Rex notes, "I really think we should leave this stuff here."

"Nonsense," Tamsin answers, "No one's been down here for millenia, they'll never miss it."

"And how are we getting this loot past customs?"

"You're a museum director," Tamsin answers, "You're bringing in new acquisitions."

Eventually Rex's inner collector overcomes his hesitation at looting the old tomb, and he becomes as enthusiastic as Tamsin in raiding it for its treasure.

Avoiding the crowded hostel, the couple prefers camping out in the countryside.

Their tent provides a bit more privacy than the hostel beds.

Tamsin explores a more modern tomb today. The Champs les Sims mausoleum looks much like the one in Riverblossom Hills.

But like the mausoleum in Shang Simla, this one is patroled by angry zombie bears.

They spend their last night in France in the Nectary. Tamsin lights a cozy fire while Rex reads his latest book club book.

"Be careful," Rex warns, not looking up from the page, "You'll burn yourself."

It's true, fire does burn.

Done reading and playing with fire, the couple makes the last night of their stay a romantic one.

Tamsin rates her husband's performance very high.


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Challenge Notes:
Before Rex moved into the house, SP novel writing push had him start on a novel. I couldn't let him finish it once he moved in, but I didn't make him scrap it. When he got the opportunity call to bring a book to China, I accepted and he got to finish 'Jimmy Sprocket and the Ghost Town Blanket'.
In France, I did have Rex accept the first tomb adventure, because I knew there were good gems down therefor the museum, and because poking around tombs is a very Tamsin thing to do.
The rest of the time was spent picking up gems and insects, and excavating dig sites.

Here's a couple of outtakes:

Paparrazzi. I love it when people say the paparrazzi in Sims makes celebrity more 'realistic'. Because in real life the paps can follow celebrities to bed and snap photos.