Staff of obedience

Disclaimer:

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This is my first story on Chyoa. This is a work of fiction, 18+ age restriction and all that. This story is public so feel free to add to it (just make sure your story branch is coherent and doesn't contradict earlier chapters). The main arc might be slow in the start, so if that's not your thing then you can skip ahead. Feedback is welcome. Enjoy!

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Amanda was picked among only 10 lucky individuals to go on an archelogical expedition to the desert area surronding egypt. She had long admired old egyptian culture, with it's curious details. Like how the women wore black mascara and revealing silk. But perhaps that was more of a hollywood description of the elite back then, and not really realistic. But still, she envied the vision of a beautiful woman with an air of authorothy sitting on a throne and commanding people. It stirred something inside her that sometimes made her think she got some wierd BDSM fetish, but she usually just brushed it off as a peculiar quirk of hers and didn't really assosiate with the fetish aspect of it.

Anyway, the expedition excited her. Especially since she was not a historian by trade. She was more of a support staff for the archeologists. It was more of a coincidence she got picked to go, as she offered a vauge impression of her role: she was somwhat guide, somewhat accountant, somewhat planner and somewhat in charge of equipment and various objects. She had leveraged her experience as a backpacker when applying for the job, offering the normal bullshit of how she had so much experience that could be relevant for this trip. Somehow it worked, and she was on a plane to Egypt.

Most of the expeditionn was not that exciting. It was sort of boring and not at all like she envisioned. And the leader, Chris, was nothing like her childhood sweetheart John McBeth who she had been friends with forever. He was sweet and caring, but when he confessed his feelings for her it had come rather sudden. In the end she didn't recipicate them and they had a falling out, and hadn't been in much contact the last month. She would love to patch things up between them, but how do you do that after an awkward love confession?

When she was not buissy organizing equipment, money and finding local travel guides, she would just be by her self and read a book, daydream or something else to keep her mind away from the fleeting existance of academic mumbo jumbo that was far more than she could understand.

One dry day with a moderate breeze, they set out of their white large tent they had slept in, located outside of town. They had hats to block the sun and the breeze helped, but it was still a hot day. What they found at the dig site however, made all the pain worth it. There, in midst of nowhere, lay a perfect golden staff with a snake head at the top with powerful, bright red ruby eyes. The condition had almost made them all think it was brand new, had it just not been for the ancient corps that with a golden medallion around it's neck and the ancient bandages around it's base. The medallion was faded, and nowhere near the quality of the staff. It also seemed unlikely that someone would plant this staff here at this remote dig site. Amada's eyes stared deep into the "eyes" of the snake staff. They were georgus. She couldn't enjoy them for long, however, as Samanta reminded her about her job as a "mule" and atifact keeper. She reminded her to use gloves, and NEVER touch artifacts without them, mostly as not to make fingerprints and ruin it with the oils that grease all human hands. "Uuuhhh. Whatever." Thought Amanda.

Later that night, beneath the star filled clear sky, Amanda rose up when everyone else was asleep. After turning and moving about in her sleeping bag in a failed attempt at sleep, she felt like checking the stock of the expedition. All equipment, goods and artifacts was located in a different tent nicknamed "the warehouse".

She peeked inside the warehouse, snd tried to count artifacts instead of sheep, in hopes that tiredness may overwhelm her. 50 objects later she gave up the counting. She walked inside and studied the various artifacts. After all, this might just be her only chance, before they are stored away in some museum or vault for hod knows how long. She played with a bowl, ignorimg Samantha's warning about gloves. Then she spotted the staff. Why not study it closer, when Samantha was not there to rudley interrupt her?

She grabbed hold of it. Nothing special happened. On some level she was disappointed. She studied the eyes. Yep, still mezmerizingly beautiful. She was about to put it back when something wierd happened. When she removed her hand, the part that had been in contact with the gold of the staff was covered by gold! She blinked. The gold on her hand was gone. "Wow, I must be really tired. Hallucinating." She thought. She didmissed it, not knowing the staff had now marked her as it's bearer untill the day that she died. All because of the direct skin contact, that the others had avoided. Her destiny tightly interlinked with the goal of the staff.

She put the staff away and went back to sleep. It took some time, but she finally maneged to fall asleep. That night, she had a dream. A dream she would forget the next morning, but the first of the staffs many subtle manipulations. The staff was more patient, building it's influence slowly. After all, it had no other options, as it's influence was weak. Slowly, it would nudge Amanda in the right direction, untill it could take greater control. Untill it's goals where Amanda's goals. Untill it's thoughts where Amanda's thoughts.

But it all started with her dream that night.