Broken Library
Tenebrae - Wednesday, June 04, 2014, 7:50 AM
-=--=--=--=--=--=--<* A14: Quill's Repose, City Library *>=--=--=--=--=--=--=-
A large hallway, circular in design, is what lies beyond the large doors that let visitors in to the public library. Two guards stand in these doors at all times, employees of the city Watch, hired by the library for protection and to prevent theft of books. The head librarian is more of the same--a retired Watch member, herself: Lady Octagna is a great oruch whose lined face bears with it, as well, the scars of old battle. These days, she battles over books and the impudence of Society, Engineering, and Temple students alike, who spend long hours toiling within the Library's walls and basement.
A sign above proclaims the loan of books to be illegal, and that books may not travel further than the doors. Loud noises are hushed by the Lady Octagna, whose grand stature is said to be second to none. Her movements are rarely heard, though they are often seen, marking her quite agile in her elderly age. Rumors, too, place her as a crumudgeon'd ally of Madame Gelfure, the two of them going back years, with a tradition of lunches or the occasional breakfast.
The hall has marble floors, and two staircases lead upwards, one to the left and another to the right. Bright blue carpets cover the steps to lend to the quiet atmosphere of the great library. Straight ahead of the entryway, a tall archway leads into the main library, with study tables between rows and rows of books. The upper levels contain the city records to the left, and the right is a closed off area for library staff.
The symbols of Navos, the Scribe, may be seen in the markings of columns, in the relief of marble. Marble is the prevalent building material, giving the rooms a regal, official and solemn feeling. A few benches line the walls of the circular hall, and a desk sits to the right of the entrance, a secretary always attending it to help guests, even late into the night. The occasional Seer or Temperance may also be seen, offering advisement and wisdom within the great halls.
Autumn seems to be going through several books at the same time, taking notes.
Mikilos mutters absently to himself as he roams the shelves, grabbing books almost without looking, and tossing them over his shoudler to land atop a hovering pile following behind. Such behavior is typically frowned upon, but wizards tend to be an exception. And it's not as if the overly tall elf is actually breaking any rules.
Autumn eeeps softly and moves over towards Mikilos "No! Don't hurt the books! You must treat them with respect!" She looks very concerned over the abuse of the printed word. It looks like she's about the tackle Mikilos if that's what it'll take to stop him!
Mikilos blinks slowly, and straightens up to his full height, looming over the unfamiliar woman. "Miss, I am insulted. To even -suggest- that I would purposefully harm a text. I may act with callus familiarity, but they are not eggs. They won't break."
Autumn gasps in shock, her jaw dropping! She then rushes over to the pile of books "Look here!" She holds up a book accusingly "You dented this cover!" She sets that one down carefully, picking up another "You slammed the spine of this one, causing damage to the bindings!" She adds that to the pile and then with almost a sob, opening a book that as a page bent from bumping into another book's cover "This page... This Page! Have you no heart?? What's wrong with you???" She carefully unfolds the quarter inch of paper and then presses the cover down to preserve it.
Mikilos blinks again, and frowns mildly. "Don't clutter the order. And that cover is suppsoed to be indented. Helps it fit into place with the addendum. The second uses ironwood sap for a bindng, it's quite stable. And as for the third..." The wizard peers for a moment, and frowns. "...well, I may have acted in a bit of haste. Excuse me." Murmuring quietly, the wizard runs a fingertip along the page, a soft glow following the touch, the crease fadeing away.
Autumn shakes her head adamantly "No, the dent you put in that cover is clearly from when you threw it!" She points out how it matches landing across another book. She waggles her finger in Mikilos's face "I ought to take you outside and give you a beating!" She frowns mightily, waves of frowniness washing over the poor Dawk Elf!
Mikilos blinks once more, and peers around slowly. If they'd been invented, he'd be looking for the candid camera. "Miss, who -are- you?"
Autumn muffs at Mikilos "I'm Autumn! And who might you be, Abuser of Books??" She then turns her attention to the other books on the table, to make sure none of them are injured.
Moonshadow has arrived.
Mikilos continues to loom over Autumn, not that it's doing much good, near a fair pile of books recently depositied upon a table. It seems the elf wasn't quite so careful as he might have been while making his selection. "Mikilostravia Abrioudelanarchie Mithralla, Lord of Estranillia, Magus of the Fifth. Collector and owner of the fifth largest book collection in Alexandros." He frowns a moment. "Unless you count Von Steel's comic book colelction. Which I don't."
Autumn turns back to Mikilos and gasps "You're a Magus AND a collector?? You of all people should know better! Shame on you!" At this point, she actually /does/ kick the Dawn Elf in the shin! She then goes back to neatly piling the books as she checks them for damage.
Managing to sneak her way in, and lean upon a bookshelf, An oruch female seems to watch this with a good little bit of amusement. Once she kicks him in the shin, the oruch woman then has to speak up. "Don't do that...you'll break him."
Mikilos gahs, quite failing to dodge, and rubs at his shin. A frown is given to the larger female, one that speaks of 'Not Helping'. "How dare -you-? I -do- know better. I am quite familiar with the stress tollerances of my readings. How dare you suggest books are too fragile to be used, and should instead be treated as some... some... viewing exibit!"
Autumn turns her wrath back at Mikilos "I never ONCE said they were a viewing exhibit, but YOU were the one tossing them over your shoulder without any care how they landed on the table or if they landed there at all! You tossed them around the way a slob would toss their socks, without any thought or care!" She then tries to kick Mikilos in the other shin!
The Oruch lady stands up and slowly makes her way forward. "and kicking him on the shins is going to make the books feel better?"
Autumn shakes her head "It's not about making the books feel better, it's about teaching him a lesson in how to properly handle books!" She scowls at the Dawn Elf and goes back to checking the books.
Mikilos is slightly better prepared, having identified the Shin Kicker. But he's still not the most agile, and one shin already wounded doesn't help matters. "Oh fer.... Did I miss? Did one singular text not go where it was ment? They were perfectly well cared for! Here they... well, no... just a moment." The elf ponders a few seconds. "Ah, that will work..." Muttering a fresh set of arcane phrases, the wizard gestures, and a series of tiny blue motes pour from his fingertips. Hovering a few moments, the tiny lights swirl and move to outline a humanoid form, standing near the pile of books. "My arcane servant, perfectly capable of retreiving each book and placing it with all due care into the pile. Without assumptious interuption, he does quite well. The texts were never in any danger."
Autumn looks mollified that proper care will be used on the books now, perhaps. She looks at Mikilos suspiciously "How do I know you'll be nicer to the books in the future?"
Mikilos manages to deadpan. "Shin scars."
Autumn gives Mikilos an incredulous look "Are you telling me that I scarred you for life??"
Mikilos tries to maintain a straight face, but is having trouble. "I splatter very easily. I'd show you the scars, but you still havn't introduced yourself. Besides, it's a public place, and they frown on that sort of thing."
Moonshadow blinkblinks, and shrugs....then turns and heads out of the library.
Moonshadow has left.
Autumn crosses her arms "I did give you my name, I guess you were too busy hurting books to notice..."
Mikilos mimics the arm crossed pose. "I asked who you are, not a mere monikier. But if you consider yourself to be nothing more than a name, so be it." He does get a bit of a distracted look, searching back though his recent memory...
Autumn glowers at Mikilos "Do I need to kick your shins some more?"
Mikilos frowns back. "I'd recomend against it. I have a policy against kicking ladies in the shin, but shin kicking isn't very lady like behavior. Anyway, what are you doing here, besides interupting my research?"
Autumn says carefully "I was /nicely/ reading the books, doing research into the history of the city."
Mikilos mmms. "Ancient, moderate, or recent history? I happen to have been present for a fair chunk."
Autumn gestures to the table where she was studying "Recent and then working backwords."
Mikilos frowns mildly, but shrugs, glancing to the indicated table. "If there's any particualr topic upon which you wish clarification, I can make a few recomendations of targeted reading. As chaotic as the past can be sometimes, the present is oft ever moreso, and thus too with recent history." The elf sighs. "Von Steel alone makes for volumes."
- TinyMUX Disconnected ***
MAIL: Mailbox purged.