Chapter 1: Interesting Times

[PixelWitch]

Cled


The Orc looks to Q, then to Andran and Davore, then to Little Miss, not understanding a word any of them said.


As his Magus Mistress takes the pages and heads off into the library again, he simply gives a non-committal shrug of his colossal shoulders and slunks along after her.

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia





She smiles back at her bodyguard as they make their way along the shelves. "Hulbrad Fortesque has been busy while we were waiting, it seems. This is so intriguing. I do hope we find more answers today. With such efficient lists between us, it might take no time at all!" She tells him, sounding excited though her voice remains politely hushed. They are in a library after all.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Yrva Andran


Andran cannot help but snatch the page and scuttle off a few steps to read it. Her eyes scan over the work, back and forth, up and down, through a different spectrum and finally satisfied she'd absorbed every last bit of information from the page, stuffs the paper into her mouth. Jaws working quickly, she tears through it in seconds. The sounds of her jaws working are enough to suck the sound out of the room and in the unnatural silence she looks up at the rest of the Chroniclers.


"Excuse me curious equals..."


Her labrum moves slightly, pulling the last bit of paper in as an end to the sentence. She gives a little smile to Cled before following after him and the young Cryolyte mortal.

 

[The Fuzz]

• In Character
• OOC

• 
  
  
  Davore
  
  
  
  
  
  "I accept. I'll return with more information."
  
  
  I'll need to avoid speaking in Urd so much while the bodyguard is here. Impolite, see.
  
  
  
  
  
  Musing to himself, Davore peruses the shelves in search of the reference numbers.
  
  
  Under his shirt, the skin of his shoulders roils and warps, developing a long, serpentine hump. After a couple of minutes, the skin splits slightly, and a thing comes out, long and serpentine as was promised. Whimsy gave it feathers, which are currently damp and rumpled, but which will dry to shades of green and ivory. The thing has a small head with a frill currently folded down, and tiny, shiny black eyes. More eyes are nestled here and there among the feathers, all along its length. Vestigial clawed limbs allow it to scramble up and drape itself around Davore's neck, and it sinks its teeth into the joint of his shoulder, drawing sustenance from his bloodstream.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  Servitor Thing #1 (of a potential 4)
  
  
  The feathered watch serpent. Green and ivory colours, dotted with eyes, it will softly hoot a warning if it sees anything other than Davore moving. Dependent on Davore for food and biological regulation, not truly capable of living by itself.
  
  
  

 

[PixelWitch]

Cled


He hears the skittering and glances down to his side.


Oh, you again.


"If either of you find books in Trollish, at least let me know..." he shrugs.


Oh yes, arm. That.


He offers his elbow crook to Andran again. It seemed to calm her last time. Better keep it that way.


"What are we looking for? I might not be able to read, but at least know what it looks like..."


He was starting to feel like a useless lug with all these books in languages he wasn't familiar with. And he wasn't half bad at speaking other tongues either...

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia





The Magus nods to Andran as she joins them, smiling lightly as Cled offers the multi-limbed lady his arm.


"Oh, that's an idea." She agrees, slipping out her notebook and scribbling down the markings he would be looking for on the volumes.


"These are what we're looking for. If you spot any matching them, let us know." She smiles, tearing out the page and handing it to him.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Yrva Andran


Quite nearly cooing, Andran takes the arm again. Like a stable platform, the Orc was a nice center to build from. There always had to be an intial starting point with webmaking, her room here using a nice pole as the starting point to weave outward from. The same philosophy applied to relations as well. A nice stable arm now and months later a nice companion. All she had to do to get what she wanted was to maintain the lines and cast a few more when it was called for.


"I'm surprised you haven't gotten a translation device crafted yet..." Her grip tightens, smiling up at the towering figure. "I'll be sure to see if I can get one for you as quickly as possible. Urd on the untrained tongue can be a harsh...tchk....harsh thing to hear day and night."


Andran's feet remain on the ground, keeping her small frame below the Orc's neck while her legs began to search over shelves nearby. The tipped appendages gently flowing over each book, scroll, and stone for any hint of what they were searching for. "Mortal friend is lovely Urd speaker, where did she learn?" Andran speaks loud enough for Cecilia to hear before switching back to Urd. "You carry your words with a corruption of dialect, it honors which Ascendant taught you"

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia Arrington





The Magus smiles brightly at Andran for the compliment on her language skills. "You are most kind to flatter this non-native speaker so. I have always hoped to do my tutors proud, especially those who sharply corrected my accent and phrasing. What of yourself, Yrva Andran? Are you a native speaker in Tradestongue or is it learned?"

 

[Teh Frixz]

Yrva Andran


"My honored mortal mother is Ascended one. Her life was given in the spires and I was taught her language as well as my superior Urd. She remains with my the noblest of Fathers, Yrva Hardwin, on his estate. Where do you and your..." She stares up again at Cled, clicking her mouth pieces in the warmest of smiles "Hail from? I know you are magus but little else."

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia Arrington





"Well, Cled and I crossed paths somewhere other than our homes. I was in need of a bodyguard while on my research trip and he has been most helpful and very polite. I hail from Arrington Spire personally. It is where my family live and where I also studied. I think perhaps if you want to know more about Cled here, you would be best gaining that knowledge personally from him."


She grins at Andran. "He could use more people to speak with when so many use a language he is yet unfamiliar with, don't you think?"

 

[Teh Frixz]

Yrva Andran


"Yes, his body is proudly borne and his arm mighty, yet his tongue lacking" Andran coughs, switching back to tradestongue. "Mister Cled, would you care to be taught Urd" Her arm brings over a scroll to page through idly while she waits for an answer.

 

[PixelWitch]

Cled


The Orc's subtle expression turns from incomprehension to consideration.


"Can't hurt to learn a few phrases, I guess," he responds offhandedly, "Can teach you Trollish too. If you like. S'where I came from before Little Miss and I met,"


A smirk of bright shark teeth in the magus's direction, "She gets herself into trouble when I'm not around to tell her not to touch everything..."

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia Arrington


"Hey! I'm not that bad." Cecilia laughs, swatting gently at her bodyguard's upper arm.

 

[Teh Frixz]

Yrva Andran


"I'd want that. Brusque and...tchk..exotic. Want very much!" With a comedic snap, she lets the scroll rush back into itself before returning it to the shelf, out of place everywhere except her mind. "A bad person would not be here...under free will and good grace of Hulbrad"

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia Arrington





As Cled and Andran speak of learning languages, she focuses on the rows of scrolls and books, looking for any of the entries the next memory stone may be hidden within.

 

[PixelWitch]

Cled


He scritches his thick skinned head, wondering where to start, "Feels nice to speaks Mother's Tongue after so long..." he rolls the language around in his mouth to himself after such a stint of it's silence.


"Well, easiest to start off with would be 'Hello' I guess, which is 'Greetings'..."


The sharp change from Tradestongue to Trollish is startling. Trollish sounds so... musical. Lyrical, rolling off the tongue with melodious temper, dipping and rising with the vowels. It also sounds like the words are someone sneezed and insisted that it was a word, no really.


He casts an eye around for memory stones, hoping to be of use.

Spoiler

Rolling for a look about the shelves for what we're on the trail for. Intuition (4) + Awareness (3)


[dice]1927[/dice]


[dice]1928[/dice]


EDIT: WOO

 

[Silvertongued]

• Fortesque
• Davore
• Andran, Cecilia, Cled

• 
  
  
  The stone collections the indices reference are deeper into the library. You have yet to examine them, and they could prove to be informative.
  
  
  Alternatively, you could examine the box of trinkets that Mal was cleaning when he discovered the book. Perhaps there was a reason that the book was so grievously misfiled.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  The serpent rolls out from under your shirt, its languid movement leaving the slightest of dark clawprints in its wake. Those shiny black eyes focus on your face, blinking once, before the creature rears up on your shoulder, staring out into the darkness. It is silent, for now, but instinctively keeps a watchful stare.
  
  
  As for reference numbers, the note that Q had given to you denotes a series of Urdish digits that signify a location deeper into the library. You must admit, it may prove to be somewhat difficult to arrive at without a guide, as Hrune is nowhere in sight.
  
  
  Then again, she has been proven to have freakish hearing...
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  The reference number that Q has imparted to you is a scrawl of some Urdish digit, the strangeness of Urds duodecimal numbering system a minor inconvenience for those used to working in decimal.
  
  
  That said, it does seem to be somewhat of a walk further down through the rows, if the largeness of the number is anything to go about. All you have to do is remember what direction to go in....
  
  
  

 

[The Fuzz]

Davore





How amusing.





He speaks softly.


"Hrune? I find myself in need of assistance, and would like to know if this index location is known to you."

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia





"I believe they may be further this way along the row." Cecilia muses, though she glances about the shelves. "Though I do recall being told not to wander far without a guide of the library. Perhaps we should call for one of them."

 

[Teh Frixz]

Andran


Willing to push the envelope further, Andran had snatched away the index number, knowing quickly the location in reference to their location but the whispers of lost tombs and the pull of strange Hulbrad lures was wonderfully terrifying. She stops before going any further.


"'Greetings'....'Greetings'....'Gletings'...Someone call a guide, I have little want to go further without one. Be quick. Must get to work on a project to send. Loss of funding...embarrassment...'Greetings'...'Greetings'...'Greetings'"

 

[Grey]

Fortesque





Hm. Q elects to start with Mal's box of trinkets - could be a clue or other useful item in there. It's also closer than going to the stone repository. He doesn't entirely tune out the nearby language lesson, but his mind is not on his co-conspirators.

 

[Silvertongued]

• Davore
• Cecilia, Andran, Cled
• Q

• 
  
  
  The sound of your voice, soft as it is, is quickly muffled by the velvet darkness around you, and silence quickly rushes in to fill the void of its passing. Several beats pass, and you hear a dry, quiet voice behind you. Your watcher hoots twice lowly, the first intonation carrying a note of odd confusion.
  
  
  "As is you wish Honorable Ascendant Lybar. Which index location do you seek?" comes Hrunes gentle but flat tones.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  The sound of footsteps briefly echo around the corner as the young servant Harrison shows himself. He seems a tad flustered, hair in slight disarray, and he bows awkwardly.
  
  
  "Your wish is my command honorable Ascendant," he says stiffly, pausing to look at Cecilia and Cled. Another stiff bow follows, this time directed at the mage and her bodyguard, and he speaks again, this time in tradestongue.
  
  
  "Whatever thy wish, esteemed guests,"
  
  
  Helmine snorts, forked tongue tickling Cecilia's ear.
  
  
  "Reminds me of a young Dell," remarks the serpent in a dry tone.
  
  
  
• 
  
  
  The box of trinkets that Mal had been cataloging is filled with random odds and ends. Chipped cups, stray pages (most of them illegible with time or ill care), odd screws and bolts, what appears to be the remnants of a very small sarcophagus, and a pair of knucklebone dice.
  
  
  

 

[ZombieKitty]

Cecilia makes a soft sound in the back of her throat, not quite managing to stifle her laugh at the resemblance in manner. She tickles the serpent under her chin. "You should have seen her when we first met. She was far more awkward then. You didn't meet her until long after that." She murmurs, smiling fondly.


Nodding to Harrison, she speaks. "We could use a guide to this particular section. Would you lead us to the shelves that hold these, please?" She asks, showing him the first part of her list.

 

[The Fuzz]

Davore





"This one, faithful assistant."


He offers her the index number, and very gently detaches the watcher from his neck, holding it up to get a better view of Hrune.


"If one were to ask how you arrived at this particular location, would an answer be forthcoming?"

 

[Grey]

Hulbrad Fortesque





Q glares at the contents as if willing them to give up their secrets.


[dice]2671[/dice]


[dice]2672[/dice]