..(Chapter I)..
***
Boring. That isn't the correct term to describe my life. I've seen it all, been there and done that. I've been blown apart, kicked, shoved, thrown, beaten and dragged along on some of the most outrageous expeditions the world had ever seen. Do I regret anything? You could say that. For what? I regret ever having to live in that hellhole known as prison. Then again, if I never did see those filth-encrusted walls, I would have been reduced to nothing but an old man in a flower shop. From the time I was propelled out the window of a flower shop on some dank street in Italy by a gas explosion, my life changed; for better or for worse.
I've seen it all; Greed, corruption, deception, murder. And yet, a little glimmer of hope arises from the pandora's box of humanity.
My name is Vincenzo Satorini. This is my life. This is my story.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. The industrial revolution was steadily growing and inventions were spewing out of every factory in every industrialized nation, yet at the same time Europe was thrown into the frenzy of war. But enough with this history lesson. With the new technology and vehicles, explorations were easily becoming more prolific.
And thus, these inventions changed my way of life. My life was changed in part by one man. No wait, make that two. Two old explorers with enough money that you could choke a whole herd of elephants with it if you wanted. Thattus Thatch was a bit of a kook in my eyes, but he sure did know his stuff. He was my employer on my first archelogy expedition to Iceland to retrieve some legendary story book to find the lost city of Atlantis. I thought it was just plain a waste of money and that said book didn't exist, but hey, a job was a job. Boy did I end up eating my words.
The second man, Preston Whitmore, is one whom I admire. Not because of his intellect. Oh hell no. That guy was crazy as a fruit, but, I do owe him my life. I was imprisoned in Turkey for supposedly blowing up a rival entrepanuer (which I am completely innocent of, honest). The prison I was held in was like a Hell on earth. No food and barely any water; I was about an inch from death when a couple of Whitmore's minions came and busted me out. Little did I know that those minions were also my comrades-to-be on my upcoming journey.
The expedition was nothing special. Basically we wandered all over the entire country of Iceland before Thatch threw down his stuff and said: "Dig". I was skeptical, I'll admit, but I'll never pass up a chance to make things go boom. A couple of hours and 2 tons of dynamite later, the expedition crew was posed in front of a camera, the legendary Sheperd's Journal cradled in Thatch's arms.
That little book changed my life. For that I am thankful. Now only time will tell what happens from here on in.