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

[aetherweaver]

He smiles at her. "That you do. And I am glad to be one of them, as long as you'll have me." He lets go of her hand and lets his ears wiggle. "As I hope you are glad to be one of mine."

[codeswitchcraft]

She smiles and this time it reaches her eyes.

"I am, I promise you. I am very glad to be your friend, Nara'a."

[aetherweaver]

"Good." He looks over what she's been working on. "Is this some place from home?"

[codeswitchcraft]

She nods, smiling. "'Tis the Beauforte, the castle my dear Edmund was raised in. I spent two years fostered there, from when I was fourteen until I was called home to spend my mother's last days by her side. It is as much home to me as the one I grew up in. Some of my happiest hours were at the Beauforte with Edmund."

[aetherweaver]

"I see." He examines it - it's hard to see in its blocky form, but it does seem beautiful. "Why were you fostered there? If it's not too rude to ask, of course. You don't need to tell me anything you don't want to."

[codeswitchcraft]

Siobhan is silent while she decides how much she wants to tell. Then, "Our lands lay next to each other. My mother was friends with his parents. She sent me there to help foster an alliance between myself and Edmund. My father didn't approve, but he was only her consort, so she overruled him."

[aetherweaver]

He very carefully does not let his face twist. Politics. Something he leaves to others more practiced in statecraft. Still, it sounds difficult. "I see." He sort of does, at least. "My upbringing..."

He looks around, finds some sandy-colored base plates and sticks a few small bushes on it. "Was mostly spent in a place like this. I was not noble, I was far from politics... I had no idea how much of it I would see when I left home. I only wanted to learn how to control elemental aether." He looks between the two sets of blocks.

"I imagine... that if you were happy, and you care enough to try to recreate it, that you miss it quite a lot."

[codeswitchcraft]

"I do," she says. "And the people there. But I was on a mission for my goddess, so I could not tarry there too long before turning south, toward the village that Hikaru and I had just reached when we were brought here to the library."

[aetherweaver]

"... I'm sorry." What else is there to say? He can't do much about it, and even if he could he probably shouldn't. "... What are your gods like? Mine are..." He hesitates. "... It's complicated."

[codeswitchcraft]

"So are mine," Siobhan says. "There is what I thought my gods were... and what it seems they actually are. But my personal patron is named Thorne, the fey warden of the wild. She created the wild places and all the beasts that inhabit them. She is a superlative huntress and when one has her blessing, one will always be able to find food in the wilderness--though that says nothing as to if the food will let itself be eaten."

Endwalker Spoilers

[aetherweaver]

"I see. That sounds much like Nophica, the Matron, who created life. My personal patron is Thaliak, the Scholar. Those under his rule are said to always wish to know more. There are twelve gods worshiped in Eorzea."

He hesitates. "Or... they are still worshiped, and yet they are no more. They are not what we thought they were, but the faith of man remains unshaken."

Re: Endwalker Spoilers

[codeswitchcraft]

Siobhan nods. "Hikaru and Laina have a similar patron: Gnomon, the Keeper of All That is Remembered. On Mundus we have Fourteen and there is another, the Fifteenth, that we abjure. And yet our gods are not what we thought they were either."

[aetherweaver]

Now that is interesting. "What... what are they, in that case?" Primals? Something else?

[codeswitchcraft]

"That I cannot speak to," Siobhan says, solemnly.

Endwalker Spoilers

[aetherweaver]

"I see." He won't push further, in that case. "Ours... were constructed mostly of belief. And now they are gone, at their own request."

Re: Endwalker Spoilers

[codeswitchcraft]

"Oh," Siobhan says, in a small voice. "Our recent troubles on Mundus began because someone tried to kill one of our gods and very near succeeded. Did kill a very real part of it. Ours are very real and not at all dependent on belief."

[aetherweaver]

“I see.” He thinks for a moment. “Presumably yours are more benign by design than ours were. It is true that different worlds have different rules and different methods.” Not that the Twelve were malicious, but not all of the other primals were so benign.

[codeswitchcraft]

"Ours are meant to be benign by design, yes," Siobhan says. She purses her lips, "I have been informed by the highest authority that even She Who Must Be Abjured serves a necessary purpose and is not evil but plays such a role as if she were on stage."

It's clear that she doesn't like this idea, even as she accepts it as some form of truth.

[aetherweaver]

“… Those that live in the darker places may exist for a purpose, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t push against it when needed. I think that there is a place for it… dark and light need to have a balance.”

This might not be a good metaphor for her, but he’s trying to understand.

[codeswitchcraft]

"And her worshippers are still foul, because they take what she does as playacting seriously," Siobhan says very firmly.

[aetherweaver]

"Tch. Sometimes people don't know what is real from what is false." He sighs and rubs at his face with the back of his hand. "I love people, but not all of them are... the smartest."

[codeswitchcraft]

"Agreed. And the ones who would worship the Tyrant Queen rather than bribe her to ignore you are more foolish than most," Siobhan says firmly.

[aetherweaver]

He nods and looks down at the 'scrublands' he's made. He picks up some other pieces and starts making a wall of orange, jagged and rough. "... I'm sorry people are like that."

[codeswitchcraft]

"So am I," Siobhan says.

She regards the Jardine she's made to surround her Beauforte.

"I'm glad that if I had to be placed in a romance for the sake of a story it was with someone I see as a friend," she says.

[aetherweaver]

"Same for me. I could have... ended up in a bad position." He scratches at his ear for a moment. "I don't know what I would have done if it was... someone I didn't really know."