unfinishedlibrary | Careful of the stacks

Entry tags:

Careful of the stacks - LIBRARY LOG

Who: EVERYONE!
What: A bunch of Editors walk into a library...
When: October 31st - November 13
Where: The Unfinished Library
Content warnings: Please add them as needed in the comment titles!

Welcome to the Library, Editors.

As the new residents drop into the Library, they are bound to have questions. Unfortunately it seems no one (except perhaps someone on the phone) appears to have any answers. But there is a nice little cart with a carafe of too weak coffee, a pot of too strong tea, assorted creams and sugar packets, and what appear to be leftover boxed shortbread cookies. There’s a sign inviting people to help themselves but reminding them not to take any food or drinks into the stacks, or touch any of the books with their grubby cookie hands. But aside from this little display and the nametags they’re all given, which do reappear whenever removed for the first week (where do they keep coming from?), the Editors are more or less left alone.

The Library is eternal, or at least it seems that way, unbothered by its new inhabitants. It certainly does not seem like this is anything unusual within its operation. Are there other sections of the Library with Editors, tucked into a different part of the stacks? Have there been Editors here before, and the ones here are simply a replacement? It’s impossible to say, just that the Library seems quite prepared for them. The refrigerators are stocked with appropriate (if generic) foodstuffs, any tantrums in front of the circulation desk are completely ignored, and attempts to set the Library on fire fizzle out before anything can even catch.

However, after a few days, some of the scenery in the Library seems to be changing. Little singing bowls and white noise makers pop up on various shelves and counters, yoga mats appear tucked under the bunk beds (plenty for everyone, somehow), and some of the rooms have started playing relaxing, meditative music over unseen speakers. More confusingly, there are also small UFOs hanging by string from the lower ceilings of the contained rooms, which on closer reflection are revealed to simply be two paper plates glued together and painted silver. In the beginning they’re quite sparse, but by the end of the second week they are everywhere and impossible to ignore.

At the start of the second week, there is a possible hint as to why, for at least part of it. On the table by the circulation desk there is a sign: “This Week’s Recommended Reading: Invasion of the Body Snatchers!” Next to it, there is a sign up sheet: a waitlist to check-out the ‘reading.’ (There is no explanation or apology for it actually being a movie.)

[ooc note: The Library prompts from the TDM can be considered canon to the game. Remember any of the locations listed in the setting are fair game. Have fun!]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Kai is clearly a bit grumpy about needing the help, but he also doesn't argue. He knows they do. He's just... never been very good at being the person to recruit help. That was always Bashasa's thing- he was the kind of person you could see yourself following to certain death, and for a while they were all sure that was exactly what they were doing. Kai learned a little bit from him, eventually, but it's far from a natural instinct.

Of course, that is the big question- why? Kai rubs at his face under the veil, frustrated. "I'm not sure we're going to find out what they have planned for us until it happens, at this point," he says, and he hates admittedly it but what choice do they have? Better to admit they know nothing than to act like they do and screw things up further that way.

"If they're going to do something with us I wonder when it will happen. Probably when we least expect it, to be fair..." There's a reason he sleeps with his weapons, and it's absolutely not some form of anxiety why would you even ask.

He twitches his fingers, careful to not scratch at anything as much as he would really like to. "... How have you been holding up?" It's not a total swerve, but it's an important point to touch on.

"Probably." That is always how it works. (The only reason Kai doesn't sleep with weapons is because he is his weapon. The Saredi taught their demon kin to fight with their natural talents more than swords, and for him at least it's worked.)

He looks over at Nara'a, not sure how to answer that question. He definitely doesn't want to. "...About as well as any of us, I guess," he says, by way of answer, "You?"

He fully expects to get the exact same sort of answer back.

He pauses - he should have expected the question back. There's a brief flicker of pain in his eyes, and as much as he wants to answer 'fine', he knows better than to lie to an ally.

"... Struggling a bit, admittedly. I don't do well with small spaces - and while this library is vast, it is enclosed. My people are hunters, and if I don't get outside every so often I'm going to start climbing the walls."

Hunters, huh? Kai files that away for later while trying to focus on the current problem. "There is a garden, if you've not seen it, but I can also easily see how that wouldn't be enough." It, too, is an enclosed space. "...And I can say from experience that climbing the fence there will keep you busy for a while."

...He's trying to make a joke. He's not sure how successful it is.

"I've tried busying myself there and bringing the produce in to help with our limited food supplies. It's... a bit helpful, but not enough." His shoulders slump slightly. "And from the sounds of it, trying to get over the fence is a fool's errand."

He recognizes the joke, but he's frustrated. He'd laugh otherwise, but not now. "I'm an adventurer, I'm meant to wander."

It definitely is futile, but Kai is stubborn has tried it more than once. But he can see that's hardly the only probably.

He doesn't say anything for a bit- he's not great at this kind of thing, not with people he doesn't know well. He knows what Ziede or Tahren would need to hear in this sort of situation (Dahin is a bit more hit or miss), but he barely knows Nara'a, doesn't know anything about his world, and doesn't even have a solution to offer in place of words. He doesn't like it.

"...I'm sorry," he says after a moment, "I wish I had an answer for you." But he doesn't even have answers for himself.

Oh. ... Oh. "No, it's not your fault. You're... you're doing your best." Ah, did he mess it up? He might have messed it up. "... I'm just frustrated, I'm not..." He glances away and hunches his shoulders slightly.

"I'm not trying to say you have to solve all of my problems."

"I know." Kai shrugs, trying to wave it off, even though he's definitely still thinking on it; he's not good at this kind of thing, but he doesn't want Nara'a to feel like he can't talk about it either. He knows how stifling that can be, even if he's probably the wrong person for it. "I'm still sorry. I know it's not easy."

He's been trapped in worse places that this, he realizes. This isn't the Changeling Demon Court, and therefore for him he knows he could be much worse off. Maybe that's the fragile thing keeping him together.

He nods and tucks his hands in his pockets. "Could be worse. Could be alone." Or... well. He can think of things worse than being alone. Like being with people and then having them ripped away from you, not that he knows what that's like.

"... Do you want something to eat?" He finally breaks the silence again, looking up.

"...Yeah." They could be alone. It's weird, to admit that he's not. If Nara'a wasn't so damn trustworthy he might feel like that anyway- and there are others who he's mostly sure aren't responsible. But he's paranoid, and honestly how much he believes them is almost worrying.

The change in topic is good. And something concrete to focus on is even better. "Yeah. Sure." He doesn't need to, but it's easier if he does. And mostly he just wants to not be talking about this anymore.

He nods and gestures for Kai to follow him. "I think there should still be some of the things I brought in from the garden. We can eat those, though I'd prefer if there was some fresh game around..."

He could hunt it now, just not with a bow.

Kai falls instep next to him, matching his pace; he's the taller of the two, but he doesn't rush at all, very in control of each of his steps. "I've had worse," he says with a shrug, "I don't know if it helps to think of it like rations, but that's sort of what it feels like."

"I have as well - some of my friends actually like a bread that's made with fish if you can believe that - but rations are fine. I've been in the middle of wars before, I know what those meals are like."

Usually a little better before a big battle where people are expected to die, but...

(See, during Kai's war, they were always expecting today. No last stand meals for them.)

"Bread with fish?" Good news, Kai is sufficiently revolted by the idea, "What? Were they trying to make the worst thing imaginable?" He's... almost joking. It can be hard to tell with him.

"I don't think so... they come from a nation of scholars, you see. More concerned with the nutritional content of the food rather than the taste..." If it wasn't for the Last Stand he'd have had to cook all of his meals in Sharlayan on his own.

"Huh." Kai considers that. "Well... I guess I see their point. Even though I can't imagine it being worth it." He doesn't know nearly enough about nutrition to make any sort of real comment on that. (It sounds like a very mortal problem.)

"It is not, in my opinion. But they come from a place of even a higher degree of being academic than I ever imagined. Then again, I grew up in the woods." He laughs a little bit, tail flicking. "So I suppose even my attempts at being an academic would seem laughable by most there."

"Huh. I know some people who would love that." Would Dahin eat something disgusting if it meant he wouldn't have to stop researching? It was hard to guess. Dahin loved pursuing his work, but he also loved good food. "But I think I'm right there with you. I've never been much of a scholar."

He's learned a lot, and he's clever- he's had to be, to survive. But it's a different kind of knowledge that's won in practice versus the shelves of a library (though maybe this is different), and he suspects Nara'a is similar in that regard.

"Mm. I just wanted to be able to manipulate the elements when I was younger. Blew my eyebrows clean off the first time I channeled fire aether. I had to make do with books I got from merchants, so I didn't start with teachers..."

Maybe that makes him less of a scholar in the eyes of the Sharlayans, but his friends have never made it an issue. "But a lot of my training has been from individual tutors, or learned on my own. ... I do sometimes wish I had the aptitude for healing, but even I have limitations."

That gets a laugh from Kai, a real one. "I know how that goes. I, uh, sort of flooded things the first time I did anything."

That might make it sound like he flooded a river or got a floor wet; in actuality he flooded an entire castle. And it was in a crevice, so now there is a lake where the Summer Halls used to be. (A lake that has turned into a death well, but that part is only sort of his fault.)

The bit about healing catches his attention, though. "Healing magic? That's not something Witches in my world can do." They primarily conduct with nature energies and spirits of various sorts; Ziede best with wind, Tenes with the earth, that sort of thing. He's not sure there is a thing as 'healing magic' in any real reason- a demon's ability to heal their body not withstanding.

Ah. Well. Different elements, same basic principle. "Healing magic is common enough - conjurers are an important unit in every military. Arcanists also have some healing skill, though most focus on elemental gem-based attacks. Stronger healing magic tends to be fairly... controlled by their own groups. That said, I can heal a little... it's just not very strong. Unless I'm fighting as a reaper, in which case... there's likely something seriously dangerous going on."

Not that red mage or paladin are slouches, but when something needs to be dead fast, melee is what he's going to default to. "Different disciplines have access to different abilities. I happen to be one of the rare few who doesn't stick to one."

That's interesting, and... not at all how it works for Kai and his magic. Though he definitely expected that at this point.

"How many different disciplines do you know?" He can understand why it's not common; diversifying means having to learn a lot of different things with less time to perfect them. He found that out, often to his detriment, in the war. Most others didn't even really have the option, except for a change in weapons.

"Formally trained... a fair few. I've..." He feels something moving in the back of his mind. "I've tried a number that are dedicated to taking hits for others. I settled on drawing on my own desire to protect, rather than my anger or other emotions. If I need to be at a range, I tend to use a gun. What I need for that did not make it here with me." As for melee... "I've tried fighting with a few things at close range, but none seemed to click until I took up the scythe. As for magic... I am trained in black magic, but red magic is more comfortable for me."

Healing, though... it's just not in his skill set. "I'm certain there are other methods of fighting I haven't tried, but for now I've stuck to what seems to click with me. ... I do wish I had a gem to summon a carbuncle with, though. They're mischievous creatures, but they're also adorable."

Kai listens, talking all that in. That is quite a few things, yes. The titles mean nothing to him, but he can get some basic ideas from what descriptions Nara'a offers. "So you've have bodyguard training?" That's the best equivalent work he has for it; they don't call people 'tanks' in the Rising World. Though, his choice of weapon is... confusing. "A scythe? The farming tool? Or do you mean a sickle sword?" Those were reasonably standard in the Arike forces, and no one would ever mistake the two, but perhaps it's a translation issue. He has no idea what language Nara'a is hearing from him.

"That's more that most people would manage, I think." He's an oddity, knowing two kinds of magic and able to fight hand to hand. Nara'a, it seems, has an even more diverse skill-set. "What do they look like? ...I assume you don't summon them just for being adorable."

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