Those with a genuine interest in the Ancients tend to go down one of two routes: Some work their way through a university course and use their qualifications to try to get into an official research program. For those who cannot get into a program or do not trust authorities sufficiently are forced to operate on their own. Unlike actual archaeological scientists, these are the “Ancient Hunters”. Instead of following actual knowledge from real scientific work, this is the group who thinks they understand the “real” story being suppressed. That there is actual suppression of some ancient artifacts considered dangerous by the authorities does not help.

The term “Ancients Hunter” is applied loosely – and with everything from contempt to veneration – to those who dream of penetrating the mysteries of the Ancients. Most are wannabees who read obscure datanet sites and spout the latest nonsense theory in the hope of becoming interesting. There are those who take this to an extreme and have become minor personalities after being interviewed for crank documentaries. Some have made a considerable amount of money and may wield considerable influence over the more impressionable members of society.

The proportion of Ancients Hunters who actually do anything is rather low but there are those who make a real effort. For some, this is a matter of scouring the ‘grey market’ for artefacts on sale or first-hand accounts of those who have had encounters. Others will try to actually see Ancients sites for themselves. There are some that are publicly accessible, although they are heavily secured, and which can be visited like a museum. Of course, any artefacts will have been removed long ago. To some people, finding a functioning Ancients site or useful artefact is a bit like a winning lottery ticket; they are more interested in making money or winning fame than figuring out any secrets contained within. These tend to be selective and subject to constant scrutiny, due to the sensitive nature of the research.

In this context, there are multiple local Ancients Hunter communities as subsets of the larger one. Most ‘serious’ Ancients Hunters hold the wannabees in contempt. They might ask for assistance or information but do not believe they owe anything to people who are not willing to get out and put some work in. Useful contacts and respected peers are few and far between and in many cases one group will be at odds with others. Outsiders usually have to penetrate the outer layers of wannabees and fakes until they come across someone with real knowledge – or who thinks they have. Many of these people are secretive or will want something in return. Travellers searching for information on the Ancients may end up paying a lot of money or doing favours for someone whose knowledge turns out to be worthless or untrue. This is the world of the Ancients Hunter; those who truly believe it is worth it will pay the price.

Status within the Ancients Hunter community is a nebulous and subjective thing. A given ‘expert’ might be considered by some to be the ‘real thing’ yet be dismissed by others as a wannabee. This has as much to do with politics as belief – some ‘experts’ feel the need to bash others to increase their own status. In other cases an expert might be dismissed because they say things the observer would prefer were otherwise. However, overall there is a sort of hierarchy. The greater someone’s status the more likely it is they will be taken seriously. This is not always a good thing. Some dealers masquerade as wannabees to avoid unwanted attention and reveal their true nature only to a select few.

There is no official promotion system or formal rank in the community. The ‘ranks’ in the Ancients Hunter Status table represent a general perception of status and how it might be achieved. Quite often a genuine researcher becomes known and finds he has status within a community he knows nothing about

The term ‘grey market’ is generally applied to distribution of legitimate goods through ‘alternate channels’ but it has widened to include trade in Ancients artefacts. Indeed, to some any reference to the grey market means Ancients or unusual alien items. This is not entirely incorrect; the items may well be genuine but are being traded outside what authorities would consider ‘proper channels’.