unfinishedlibrary | perhaps you have learned it without a book

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perhaps you have learned it without a book - MOONLIT RIVALS LOG 1

Who: Readers and Actors galore!
What: The Story begins- and so do preparations for the Masquerade!
When: The three days prior to the Masquerade [ooc timeline: 1/23-2/5]
Where: The city of Montica
Content warnings: Please include any warnings in headers!

First Quarter Moon

Now that most of the Editors know what to expect, the draw into the Story is likely more obvious this time. There’s a subtle urge that encourages their feet to turn towards the Stacks; a slight shimmer in the air that thickens the closer they get to the book laying open on an innocuous library cart.

Those who resist the Story’s pull will be drawn in eventually. Whether the compulsion is successful, or whether the Librarian passes by to sweep them in - all Editors will enter, and all will experience the Story’s start together.

(Editors who have gained the skill Ex Media Res will be able to resist the Story’s pull and hang out in the Library. Drop us a note if they’re using this skill!)

Our Beginning

The Story begins as night makes its transition to morning. Montica is a city that never sleeps, and some Editors may find themselves taken aback at how the absence of sunlight has done nothing to deter the nightlife.

In particular, at the hour our Readers arrive, there is a clean-up going on at the centre of town. People are grumbling as they sweep debris from the streets, and those who are familiar with supernaturally-powered fights will recognise this scene for exactly what it is: the aftermath of some powerful entities having had at it. Hang around too long and you may find yourself with a broom or hammer thrust into your hands, the expectation that you’ll help having been made clear.

Those who leave the clean-up will find themselves welcome in the city’s inn, where visitors hover by the windows, chattering excitedly about the fight that had just broken up. Some people think they’re lucky to have seen it - others think they’ll be luckier if they go the next few days without seeing another one.

The inn is warm, full of gossip, and by some marvel still has private rooms available to rent. Readers will find themselves with enough coin in their pocket to afford quite a bit, this time around - but don’t go spending it all at once. Those who are astute will hear the talk of a masquerade going around, and if you want to attend, you’re going to have to dress appropriately.

Welcome to Montica

Montica itself is a city built from stone, with the buildings packed closely together along cobblestone streets. Flowering vines creep along trellises, their gentle fragrance perfuming the air. The sky is clear and smog-free, the water flows cleanly, and a sense of magic drifts comfortably in the breeze.

The city is almost evenly bisected by loyalties, a hard divide running clearly through the centre of the town. Only a small ring in the centre is considered to be neutral territory - though that’s becoming more and more disputed with each passing moon.

To the north, buildings seem to have a fondness for silver. It seems they’ll take any excuse to work the precious metal into everyday items, from cutlery to window fastenings; and some particularly zealous citizens proudly don silver jewellery and pins in their day-to-day wear. In this section of town you will find the dwellings of the old vampire clans, littered with antiquities and casual opulence.

To the south, the people are fond of spices. Garlic flowers pepper garden beds and the dried bulbs hang from doorframes, and there’s hardly a meal cooked without it. Some industrious workers are busy building small moats of flowing water through this half of the city – you’d better mind your step, lest you get in their way. Located amongst these homes are the dens of the werewolf packs, warmly furnished and brimming with life.

No matter where you are in town, whether you’re surrounded by silver or dodging moat diggers, whether it’s day or night or nebulous twilight, there’s one topic that’s on everyone’s lips: the Umbra Masquerade.

It’s a once in a human lifetime event, and the city is abuzz. Some of the elderly may have been once before, in their youth - but likely at an age where they were too young to remember. There are stories about these masquerades, of the favours that can be won and the deals that can be made. More than one wealthy family attributes their successes to parties of the past, and while the werewolves shouldn’t be there – who’s going to stop them?.

The Market

At the centre of the city are Montica’s most dreary buildings. Markets are held here during the day, bright banners and exuberant stallholders calling out their wares. People of all kinds shop here, and it’s the best place to find quality goods. Some patrons give each-other hearty side-eyes, some sneer and mutter insults under their breath - but by and large, this a neutral zone, and the regular citizens treat it as such.

Behind the fuss of the market, astute observers will note the broken and boarded-up windows hidden by the bold stalls. Some buildings are outright abandoned, damaged beyond repair. It becomes even more obvious as night falls and the number of stalls thins, the night vendors setting up with wary looks in their eyes.

Right now the market is bustling with vendors sending goods up to the Umbra Clan's mansion. There is a constant stream of traders passing back and forth, hurrying to get their contributions in place before the ball. Regular goods are still for sale, but the busiest stalls are those selling - of all things - masks with varying levels of decoration. They’ve cleverly set up outside of stores selling clothing; beautiful dresses and tailored suits visible through the cracked and dusty windows. Editors will find they have enough local currency to afford something modest. If their tastes skew toward the more extravagant then, well – they better get to work.

The Umbra Mansion

The sprawling building stands tall, overlooking the city of Montica. Vines budding with fragrant flowers grow up the sides of the building, curling around windowsills and balconies in a curated fashion. A large hedge maze sits at the rear of the mansion, behind the grand ballroom; and the gardeners are in top form today, brandishing tools at anyone who looks like they're about to enter it. It's one of many things being tidied up and decorated for the ball, so you'd better not get in their way.

The mansion's front doors open to a foyer that is connected to an upstairs level by two grand staircases. A gilded chandelier hangs down between them, casting rainbows across the wooden floors as the sunlight strikes its crystal ornaments.

Those wide, curved staircases lead to a mezzanine that overlooks the ballroom below. Doors to private rooms branch off from here; all of them locked.

During the daylight hours, the mansion sports large windows covered by thick curtains that are drawn firmly shut. Those who try to peer through them will find an additional layer of security in the form of tightly-fastened metal blinds that block any slivers of sunlight from eking through.

On all three days the mansion is crawling with people setting up for the masquerade. Over there, someone’s hanging strings of lights. Over here, a florist is carefully arranging flowers. The kitchen is busy, human cooks overseeing the production of hundreds of canapes – and on the third day, over in the ballroom, are a band of musicians getting prepared for the night.

Security is lax everywhere except the underground floors, where the clan sleeps. The doors that lead to the underground complex are barred from the inside, and human guards keep watch outside of them to redirect any wanderers.

[The info/plotting post can be found here!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Cassandra is painfully aware that she's not terribly inconspicuous here, and not good at subterfuge either. Still, she takes some time here to watch and listen, nibbling at a meal she doesn't really need for a week or so. She's not unaware of shapeshifting as a concept - she can't be, given Awakened Beings - but she's still not used to people being changed for the Story, even after the last one. So she doesn't immediately recognize Hikaru, even though she's probably seen him in passing in the Library.

Hikaru, however, does.

And so one of the tall and pale beings last seen flirting with - and taking - a boyish looking girl with catlike grin upstairs comes back down, dabbing his lips, he blinks, and then a wide and vapid smile spreads across his face.

"Ah, bonjour, mes ami!" he says to Cassandra, sliding into a sitting position across from her. "If I am not mistaken, we have met before, yes? In the Great Library, to read the plays of Shakespeare?"

That... is certainly a thing the Editors were doing.

Edited 2026-01-31 06:50 (UTC)

Cassandra had not actually gotten through any of the Shakespeare; it had been too intimidating. Still, she gets the hint. "The Library, yes."

"Ah, but some may confuse that with the personal library of the Lord Umbra with it's many medical manuals," warns this friend in a stranger's body. "I thought it best to be more specific about what we were reading. Well met, if under an ill star... Cassandra, was it?"

He orders a small steak of rare venison. It's more for the rare than the venison.

"And please, call me Lucas Azuresky. What have you found out?"

Cassandra had heard talk of a masquerade, but she hadn't realized the Umbra attached to it was a person.

When he asks her name, she nods, then notes the name she gets in return. "Lucas Azuresky." She frowns slightly. "Is that—" she asks - and then immediately shuts up. Asking someone in a strange territory if the name they've just given her is an alias is stupid, even if they're an ally. Possibly especially if they're an ally.

She shakes her head ruefully. "Not very much," she admits. "I think I'm too conspicuous."

Noting the question, he says, more softly, "If it helps at all, my nom de guerre can be written the same way as my real name, in my mother tongue. The pronunciation changes, but the idea is the same."

It probably doesn't, unless she knows what signing his posts in the Library as "光青空" signifies. Light. Blue, Sky.

"Well, here's what I think: We're here to prevent a pointless war."

"So it's an alias, but also not," she murmurs. A lie that isn't a lie. Sort of.

And then she frowns again. "Between the sections of the city?"

"Yes... and no," he says. "There are two manners of being in a cold war over access to and the loyalties of the humans here. The central district is theoretically neutral ground between them. Do you know what vampires and werewolves are?"

Edited 2026-01-31 08:01 (UTC)

"Cold war?" Her first thought is a fight in the north, probably involving Isley the Silver King, but she's fairly sure that's not what he means. As for vampires and werewolves... "Only through the book I read," she admits, "and the way it was told made it sound like a..." Story. And they are currently in a Story. Cassandra feels dumb.

"I wonder how large the central district was, in the beginning. Or how much respect the two other sections had for it." Because it doesn't seem like they have all that much now.

"A war fought by diplomats and spies rather than by armies. Soft power plays... for now," he clarifies. "But liable to turn violent shockingly quickly. And I think it was far more respected in the past, and we are seeing it in accelerating decline."

He pauses, cutting up pieces of his steak.

"The north streets are paved with silver, which burns werewolves to touch. The southern ones running water vampires cannot cross and garlic which is poisonous for us to inhale the fumes of. Things have deteriorated badly."

He sighs, heavily, wearily.

"...did you happen to read or see performed Romeo and Juliet?" he asks.

Edited 2026-01-31 08:45 (UTC)

"...Diplomats." Cassandra is learning things today.

"I'd wondered about the silver and the spices and the water." She knew there had to be some reason they'd been so prominent. Although... "Why running water?" If the problem was vampires being unable to tolerate water in general, then surely standing water would work as well, so it must be something other than that.

And then she shakes her head. She doesn't know what Romeo and Juliet is.

Hikaru could guess about the water but will not absent enough facts to speculate on.

“…there is going to be a masquerade ball, a fancy costume party, held by the Umbra vampire clan in the north part of town. The major werewolves are likely to attend in disguise.”

“And I think it very likely that the heirs of both houses will meet and fall in love, as did a young Romeo Montague and a young Juliet Capulet in a play about how their warring families drove them to suicide and only that tragedy stopped the fighting.”

He pauses.

“Obviously we don’t want this story to end the same way.”

Edited 2026-02-02 17:24 (UTC)

"Costume party?" Hikaru could also guess that Cassandra has had little to no experience with this sort of thing. Hikaru would be correct.

She pauses, taking in what she's been told. "Do you think there will be violence at the costume party?"

"I think that violence at the costume party would be inadvisable. Not that some won't attempt it, but that it is well defended. By myself, among others, and no one here but me knows my brand of war-magic. Anyone who tries is going to get wrapped in a wall of ice for a time-out."

He pauses, and thinks.

"...but the neutral zone will be relatively undefended with everyone who is anyone at the ball," he realizes out loud. "And I think werewolf businesses that allow well behaved vampires, and vice versa, might want a skilled arm at a sword to defend them."

Edited 2026-02-03 03:26 (UTC)

Cassandra thinks for a moment. "I could help defend this area, if necessary."

And then, of course, she has to ask. "Magic?"

"Magic," he agrees, "for the sake of argument. I can shape an energy I take into my body by breathing into many useful forms. Fire, Wind, electromagnetism or 'Metal', Water or ice. Some others from my world also learn to cause plants to bloom or else use vegetable toxins, the Wood element, but I'm terrible with Wood magic."

He nods. "There are a number of places that could need the help. The Laurelthirst is... well given what I know about it's defenders it's likely a werewolf owned queer bar among other things, but that makes it more likely to need the help, especially if Amalia and Claire along with their Blood Moon Theatre Troupe will attend the ball."

She has to think on that for a bit. "It's external energy? Not internal?" She still has to mull over the elements.

And then there's yet another new term. "Queer?"

"External energy, internalized, and then released," Hikaru clarifies. "I suspect most of the people here can do it; I suspect that the vampires can breathe if they need to get this because I can."

And then there's that word.

"Hmn. I... How do I explain this? Right, let's start here. What does your society expect from men, and from women? Does it have a place for people who consider themselves neither?"

So you take in energy, and that energy allows you to manipulate elements? Because they're external?" She doesn't think she's quite got it right.

Cassandra's first thought is that her society expects men and women to die horribly, but that's clearly not what he's asking. "The only men I remember being around are the Organization's men, and their role is to create warriors, experiment on them, keep the trainees in line, and extort money from human settlements. I'm not sure what it's like for humans in the settlements."

She doesn't really remember being a human anymore.

"Warriors are all women except for the first generation. We're expected to fight and die. I...don't know if there's anyone who considers themselves neither.

"Warriors are women by definition, except for the male generation."

Edited 2026-02-03 05:04 (UTC)

He takes this all in stride.

"A very different definition than my own," he says. "But still. It only matters that you have one for this."

"Queer is a word - once very long ago an insult, but now wholly our own - for those who do not and cannot meet the popular definitions, one way or another. Male warriors, female Organization members. Normally this is more about who they're allowed to love and marry, but that's the gist of it."

And let her realize he said our, not their.

"By taking in the energy, we can convert it to other forms and release it, which always involves exhaling or speaking."

Edited 2026-02-03 06:53 (UTC)

"Male warriors did exist, but only for one generation - they switched to girls after that. Female Organization members... I've never seen one. I'm not sure the men would allow it."

They'd probably be every bit as cruel as the men. Or worse, since they'd have more to prove.

She does notice the our, but she's not sure what to do with it. "So it usually means men who pair with men, and women who pair with women? And people who are neither men nor women, or... reversed, somehow? Or... something." She's not sure she's even understanding the concept.

"I'm used to manipulating internal energy. But I don't know if you could consider that magic."

"Some Mundane scholars would consider it magic, others wouldn't. Get three wizards in a room and they'd have 5 theories."

But at the other part, he nods. "And queerness usually is about romantic and family pairings, yes. I suspect part of the Laurelthirst's draw is that such behavior goes unremarked on. Nor would not wanting to deal with it at all."

"Wizards? Is that what you call people who use magic?" Though that's not really the point of the discussion.

"I suppose some would consider it external, because we gain the ability after having yoma flesh implanted inside us. But then it becomes part of our bodies if the operation is a success, so I don't know."

She takes another moment to mull over Hikaru's words. "It's a safe haven. Or it's meant to be."

“It’s the word for scholarly breathworkers, who learn the theory. There are other kinds… though I don’t think they’ve thought of implanting monster parts in casters, that’s. Novel.”

“A safe haven, for vampire or werewolf or mortal, for men loving men and women loving women and folk who do not love that way. Any of which would be a reason it needs defenders, though here the first three most of all.”

Edited (Insufficient yes-and.) 2026-02-03 07:51 (UTC)

Novel is a very polite word.

"So not all people who use magic use breath?" Cassandra's honestly having trouble picturing using breath for magic; she just pictures someone spitting acid, which is probably not right.

Cassandra nods, looking thoughtful. "Because people here don't like vampires and werewolves and mortals getting along, or people loving who they think they shouldn't." Honestly, the concept of same-sex love isn't unknown to Cassandra; the Organization didn't approve, because they didn't want warriors to develop any kind of strong bonds with each other, but that didn't mean warriors didn't.

perhaps you have learned it without a book - MOONLIT RIVALS LOG 1

Our Beginning

Welcome to Montica

The Market

The Umbra Mansion

II

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note: essentialist gender definition talk

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