Story Arc

The Gobi Desert Tomb’s Curse

An archeologist is excavating a tomb in the Gobi desert. His team open a huge door and find a casket made of stone inside. He opens the lid and finds a cell phone, which rings. Setting: A remote excavation site in the Gobi Desert, led by Professor Adrian Kessler, a seasoned archaeologist devoted to preservation.

Inciting Incident: His team opens a massive stone door, revealing a casket.  Instead of a mummy adorned with a gold necklack they find a burner cell phone. 

Twist: Adrien already knows that Marcus is on the other end of the phone and he will hear his laughing when he answers.  His team finds the webcam, confirming they were beat and are being watched. 

Conflict: The rival team, led by ruthless financier Marcus Vale, seeks profit from selling artifacts and greatly enjoys outsmarting his primary rival.  The tech left by this team to satisfy Vale’s need to torment his rival is the key to Kessler’s team being able to track down the artifacts. However, neither team was prepared for the series of bad luck that seemed to follow the artifacts, leading to the theory that the desecration of the tomb led to the items being cursed.  One of the artifacts removed from the tomb (gold necklace on the mummy in the casket) contains they key to open the…

Discovery: Kessler’s team notices an antechamber missed by the rival team, meaning they also missed the giant gold chest inside. 

Resolution: Don’t know yet – would have to dive in much more! 

Hero profile: Adrian Kessler, Archeaologist, university professor specializing in ancient desert civilizations.  Haunted by the destruction of sites he once studied, motivating his preservation-first ethos. Sometimes too cautious, reluctant to take risks.

Secondary Characters: Xuan Tran (Tech Wizard), digital archaeologist during the day, hacker at night.  John Briggs (Muscle), logistics and protection specialist.  Special forces.  Impatient with academic debates, prefers action. 

Villian Profile: Marcus Vale, wealthy financier and leader of rival excavation team.  Same college as Kessler, however full under the allure of treasure hunting over preservation.  Was extremely successful early on, further affirming his opinion that his approach is better over Kessler’s.