so good night unto you all - LIBRARY RETURN

[libraryassistants]

Who: The Editors, one and all
What: The fight is over, the pieces remain... and the Editors head back 'home'
When: Dawn of the Final Day Sunrise after the attack
Where: Leaving Montica, back to the Library
Content warnings: Please make sure to put CW in headers!

By the time morning comes around again, the fires are beginning to die down, thanks to the many efforts of the citizenry to keep them under control. The rebel vampires too have been largely dealt with. These two seemingly insurmountable obstacles were only possible thanks to a combination of factors: the Umbra not being as blind to their human servants as their opposition would have thought, defectors from the Orlocks who were able to counter-act some of their magic, the following Amalia gathered and deployed from Laurelthirst, some suspicious (though welcome) help from suspiciously new arrivals, and of course, House Guildulf throwing their own into the fray to ally with the vampires for this confrontation.

A unity the likes of which Montica has never truly seen.

As the sun rises, there are few left who are able to fight at all; the rebels are beaten, and even the forces built up by both the vampires and werewolves are exhausted or diminished, leaving no one able to take advantage. Citizens of both sides flee indoors, and the remaining rebels are forced to vanish into the woods once more, weakened and unable to strike again any time soon. But there are still repairs to be done, physically and otherwise. Will this unity last beyond tonight? Will young love and youthful hope prevail? Those are the questions that settle over a weary Montica, as light pours into the city once more.

And then, the world begins to fade, static taking over the senses, as the Editors return to the Library.

Welcome back, Editors

It looks much the same as they left it, though the makings of a masquerade are no longer arranged as finely, a few scorch marks here and there, and for some reason there’s some amazing optical illusions on the floor panelling that makes them look like actual manhole covers. Alas, no sewers lay beneath. It may still take Actors a bit of time to shake off the old-new memories, and for some reason the fluorescent lighting seems harsher on the skin than it has any right too. Good thing that the stacks cast long shadows.

The customary tea cart is set up in the Lobby again, and it seems some improvements have been made. The coffee still isn’t strong, but’s far more drinkable than it has been, and there’s an added decaf option now! The tea has still been overstepped, and the stale cookies have been replaced by scones that are hard as rocks, but clearly someone’s getting the message that there are improvements needed. Clearly the tea cart was the place to start.

If someone for some reason doesn’t want stale scones, there’s also a child sized food truck in the lobby, with a sign out front boasting a variety of tamales, including: black beans and cheese, birria, chicken, fire scorpion, man suffering to death via battle wound, and beef. Upon approach, what look like fuzzy puppets pop up to… take your order? They don’t say much, or rather, they make a single noise over and over that seems to be them communicating, but the tamales are good. Just… don’t try to look in the truck. They’ll screech, vanish, and then no tamales for you.

Meanwhile, the bulletin board has a cheerful sign decorated with colorful blocks, declaring: “Join us in the Children’s Area for Lego Club!” Upon locating the room in question, Editors will discover boxes among boxes of legos of various shapes and sizes. There are some ‘how to’ guides for various builds (including a ‘research space ship’ and a ‘vampire’s castle’), but also plenty of encouragement for people to make their own creations! Unlike normal creations, these will actually stick around for a while after they’re finished, and there’s a nice little table where people can display and share what they’ve made.

The Assistants, it seems, are nowhere to be seen: the ‘back in 5’ sign is still in place at the help desk. Still, even without their ‘helpful’ guidance, some facets of the Library may come more easily to some in the aftermath of Montica’s troubles.

[Due to the resolution of the Story, any skills tagged Archivist in the skill tree cost one less skill point (minimum of 1) until the next Story. This can stack with a normal Archivist bonus!]

Comments

[curzed]

The mystery of where Roboute is, is one of the ones that can be solved immediately. Getting snuggly with a Stormwing tends to be very visible, as is her spectacular fleeing.

And as the Lord of the Ultramarines lurches away, thoroughly discombobulated by his first brush with living someone else's life, trapped inside someone else's life, Curze is watching. Trailing, at a bit of a distance. He's not saying anything yet, he's waiting for the right moment. For most of the fog of another existence to fade back into the bitter realities of their actual lives.

He's patient. There's time.

[guilliman]

It's not very long at all, before the disorientation resolves enough that Roboute becomes aware of his brother following him. There are but a few reasons he can think of for why he's doing so, and far fewer that he has the inclination to deal with right now.

So.

He allows himself another five minutes of much more focused, deliberate walking. Forcing himself to treat the experience like he has every other trauma he's experienced in his centuries of life. Taking it apart. Piece by piece. Categorizing. Compartmentalizing. It won't last forever. But it can get him through this next few minutes.

And then he stops, and sighs, and knowing that he's almost definitely not going to be that lucky, reaches for the simplest and most desirable possible reason Konrad might be here.

"Fear not. I have your knife."

[curzed]

He's patient, and he waits. That the Library brought Guilliman here and then immediately launched him into another person's life, even if it was only a false narrative, seemed callous. It would taunt him, as it had Sanguinius, with an impossible thing. A proper family. Children of his own that weren't transhuman war machines.

A reasonable chance at peace.

Though he'd never endured it, Curze could guess. Remembered all too keenly how their winged sibling had acted upon returning from his first story. Maybe this time there would be less reason to escalate into violence, but there was no reason to push too soon and find out otherwise.

"I have others." Of course he has others. He has MANY others. "I had thought to leave it in the Story, see if a sequel would ever arrive and find out what happened to it." His tone is terribly, terribly dry. "What harm could leaving that primitive city an adamantium knife possibly cause?"

[guilliman]

So, like... does that mean he's letting Roboute keep the knife? He'll give it back as soon as Konrad might ask, of course, but he finds himself reluctant to do so before then.

"Ask Appienne," he says, voice dry but underlaid by a vicious satisfaction.

Then he snorts, a sound he's made a thousand times before, now seeming much more bestial in hindsight.

"Though if you come to point out some perceived hypocrisy, you can save your breath. You made his death kinder than Guildulf would have."

[curzed]

He hasn't asked for it back yet. "No. I have no need to claim hypocrisy. Justice was served. And a few nights later, served further still by the second-born son." And himself, again, fully in support of what to some would seem to be disproportionate retribution.

Curze didn't believe retribution had a 'disproportionate' setting. "Were any of it real, it would be generations before those rivals dared try anything again.. if ever." If any had been missed. If there were a few skulking about to even think of rebuilding.. "Besides which. He was not you, so hypocritical actions are impossible. He did what was necessary to ensure the safety of his pack."

The Night Haunter considers Roboute for a moment, head tilted slightly to one side. "Tell me, brother." The only thing he found personally ridiculous, was the romance that he'd smelled developing. "What is it like, being trapped in the mind of a mortal man?"

[guilliman]

"You were concerned about him as well." Himself. Konrad. Magnus... "Sigwulf was Sanguinius?"

He nearly gets caught upon how difficult that's going to be to approach -- oh, his poor brother! -- and then Konrad pulls him away from it.

"Ah." He sighs again, and rubs his face with his hand. Appreciating, at least, having full mobility again. "Small." He turns his head up, eyes still closed. "Quiet." Opening his eyes, looking upon his nightmare kindred. "There was a limit to what he could do. There was an end ahead of him."

The mournful envy in his voice is an answer without an answer, though he's certain the Eighth will make him say it.

[curzed]

He was concerned, but he's not about to say so. His grip on what is and is not appropriate for dealing with others is tenuous, and whether his worry over them was insulted pride that anyone dared make a primarch ordinary, or actual personal concern he didn't know and didn't want to investigate too deeply. "He was. Roberte's pet witch identified him early. And you."

Not that Curze hadn't already been looking.

"Do you miss it? Would you stay, had you the choice?"

[guilliman]

"I will miss it." Truth. "But I would not have stayed." Another truth. "Sola mors officio liberat, they say, you know."

Only in death does duty end.

"And I do not think our Father would have allowed it, if I had dared to try."

[curzed]

They will all die in harness one way or another, pulling the burdens they've been bound to by their creation. "Father has little say in the matter if we're still left here," the pale figure says, not entirely ungently. "Allowing ourselves to be tainted by alien ideas, foreign powers and memories. Three of us are lost causes already, but you? No, I think he would not waste all this time of his precious Regent playing house with a pack of mutants."

It's an unnecessary trial that risks too much for it to be part of anything the Emperor would allow. What if Roboute returned unwilling to continue his duty, and chose to leave? Nothing could really stop him.

[guilliman]

Roboute hmhs. "Tempting to believe. And it may be so. But for the one I know, I will trust few limits to be absolute."

Since when was Guilliman the fatalist of the two of them? Or is it just when it has to do with his own fate?

How about he changes the subject?

"You were considerate. In a way you did not need to be. I do thank you for that."

[curzed]

Curze's fixation on fate is the things he knows are coming. All else is a mystery even to him, the hows and whys but not their final, grim destinations. The Emperor's interference here would not be a final conclusion for any of them, and slips through the cracks. "Not when the Warp is involved," he can allow.

Who would have thought one's natural strengths could be 'indexed' and muffled, before this place?

Less comfortable, anything like thanks. He doesn't know what to do with that, even he knows 'you're welcome' is a.. wrong answer. "These stories are temporary illusions. Allowing permanent harm to come from them would be foolish." That's his reasoning and he's sticking to it. "..Magnus has asked me to remove him from the tale, should something similar happen to him." There's caveats to that, Magnus meant romance alone, Curze takes it to be everything Actor. "If I am able to, I will. For you as well if you wish it. In turn, if I am likewise trapped in another life, I do not wish to remain so. By any means required."

[guilliman]

Roboute nods, smiling grimly. Not when the Warp is involved. "Just so."

"Has he? I shall do so, if I am able to in a reasonably clean and painless way. For you both."

Would he like that same service rendered? He considers. "This was uncomfortable. But I will benefit from the experience. I would not like to remain as a worshipper of the Ruinous Powers of the Warp, or a xenos. More applicable situations may occur to me, as I become more experienced with what may occur."