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

[awreck]

Wreck nods, understanding the sentiment of the possibility of an entirely other life that might have happened. Unfortunately, that's exactly why he doesn't want to talk about it, at least with regards to himself.

"Useless, huh?" Wreck looks Nara'a over, remembering the snippets he'd shared of himself from back home. How he really was a hero with powers of his own that no one else could take away from him on a whim. "I somehow find that doubtful, but if it's really true I guess we all start somewhere."

He sighs softly before he can stop himself. "And besides, what good is a carcass without someone to cleanly strip the meat of it and cook it up? We all have our talents, so they say. Glad you didn't die, though, since I can only assume the prey you were hunting was equivalent to some end game video game boss."

[aetherweaver]

He laughs a little bit despite himself. "Well, now I'm much more useful, but I still can't hit anything with a bow other than the ground or occasionally a tree. And hunting with bows was the preferred method in my clan. As for the preparing of the game, that did fall to me."

Wreck gets a bit of a smile. "At the time though it was just local wild game. Later in my career I would slay monsters and gods, but not when I was young. Instead I was cooking the meat and attempting to channel aether. I blew my eyebrows off the first time I tried and I'm lucky I didn't burn myself. I thought I'd end up a middling thaumaturge at best, and then... well. Many things happened."

[awreck]

It's grounding to Wreck, hearing that Nara'a really did start life as... well... a normal person. Nothing quite extraordinary at the time, just a normal person in a normal clan doing normal... clan things. It was the most humble beginnings backstory he'd ever heard.

"I can't use a bow, but I'm all right with arrows."

Wreck holds a hand palm-side up and an inky arrow that looks like something one might see graffitied on a wall shimmers to life, hovering over his open hand. The arrow seems to distort and desaturate the environment within the immediate few inches of it before it fades away.

"Not good enough to go hunting, but you know. I could do special effects and make it look like I'm good with a bow. I'm better with a greatsword, but you'd probably kick my ass if I'm being honest."

Eyebrows take what, six months to grow back? Wreck could never, even if he'd spent the last six years prior to coming to the Library wearing a mask. Even if no one else could see, he'd know.

"How long did it take you to try again? You know, after your eyebrows met with a terrible fate."

[aetherweaver]

That’s… fascinating. He watches, eyes obviously interested, but Wreck is talking again. “A greatsword? I’ve some skill with that. Enough to get myself into trouble, but I prefer longsword and shield when I do take that position in battle. As for beating you… we could test that, if you’d like.”

Maybe not right now. He’s too mentally exhausted at the moment. “As for when I tried next… no more than a week. Maybe even a few days. It took about a month for me to get some of my eyebrows back, but I was determined to get the spell correct.”

He pours some water into a glass and slides it over towards Wreck. “What about you? Tell me a story from when you were young?”

[awreck]

"Nonnnnonono nope." For extra emphasis, he quickly waves one hand in front of his face. "There's no way I can be convinced to spar with someone who can kill gods or whatever. I've spent six years getting my ass handed to me on a regular basis, so I know my limits."

He huffs, although it's probably clear he's not genuinely upset or concerned.

When Nara'a mentions it only took a week or less, Wreck is impressed. That's some determination, and probably why Nara'a ended up so strong in the first place. It takes a certain quality to pick yourself up after failure, and not everyone has it.

"A story from when I was young?" He takes the water with a nod of thanks, although he's not sure he has a story interesting enough.

"Does something from my teenage years count? Really, I was just your run-of-the-mill idol, and there wasn't anything particularly special about me. But... it was fun. Getting to make people happy, being the reason people would watch an ad or a music show. Well, not the reason; there were two of us. I miss those days."

Wreck traces the rim of the glass with his index finger.

"Being an idol was the only unique thing about me. Before that, I was just an ordinary kid who did okay in school and spent most of my time doing school work or going to cram school. I don't have any idea how I got signed on as an idol when I was pretty average from the start."

[aetherweaver]

He chuckles. That's fair, honestly. He's not surprised... he just misses sparring. But the story gets a little bit of a blink.

"You were an idol? ... I'd like to hear you sing some time. I'm... not particularly skilled at singing. I like watching people sing, though." He knows Ardbert was a fair singer, but... that's not his particular gift. "I've known a few idols, but I didn't grow up with music."

A few campfire songs, but not a lot of skilled singers. "But maybe they saw something in you that you couldn't see yourself."

[awreck]

"Hate to disappoint you, but I'm more of a dancer. I guess I can sing okay? For whatever reason, fans really enjoyed finger tutting. It took me forever to nail it, but it's something like this."

He shifts his hands into a few different geometric shapes. Even though it's been six years, each transition from one step to the next is quite smooth, although he feels a little embarrassed demonstrating it. He's in his mid-20s, and it almost feels childish recreating something from when he was a teenager.

"It looks easy, but it was almost as difficult for me as ballet. It takes a surprising amount of coordination. Found that out the hard way." Maybe the thing that made him stick out was his adaptability? That, and even if it was difficult to learn, he had managed to perfect it. So maybe there was some truth in what Nara'a suggested.

He tilts his head a bit as he gives Nara'a a curious once over. "Did you really not grow up with music? I'm surprised to hear that. Music seems to be so deeply integrated into society in general. To the point where it seems like a real feat to be able to say you grew up without it."

[aetherweaver]

"I see." It definitely reminds him of Honey B. Lovely, but he has no idea if the comparison would go over well. "Coordination for most things is pretty difficult to work on. I can't imagine the kind of training it takes to be an idol... I don't think I could do it. Even aside from the singing and dancing I... I'm not that much of a people person. Or... well, it takes me some recovery time after dealing with a lot of people."

His tail flicks uncertainly behind him. "I mean there were songs, a little bit of instrumental stuff... not a lot, though. It's not like there was music playing in our home like some people have. We didn't have an orchestrion. And we didn't live in a village or a city where there would be other people who would play music."

[awreck]

"You'd be fine" says Wreck with a quiet laugh. "I'm not much of a people person either, even if I did enjoy making people happy. The best and worst part about being an idol is that you don't get to be yourself. You're supposed to be an entirely manufactured persona, who's always beautiful for the cameras, and who's never angry or sad. Someone who makes things look effortless."

B is for beauty both devious and sweet. Beware the sting of your pitiful defeat. help

When N'ara mentions not having an orchestrion, Wreck suddenly seems to be viewing Nara'a as if he's 2,000 years old. Some songs, some instrumentals. Sure, that checks out. That's normal. The orchestrion, though?

"Is it... normal for people to have an orchestrion where you're from? Those fell out of use ages ago where I'm from." His tone is amused, if only because he just didn't expect to be reminded that orchestrions exist.

[aetherweaver]

"... I know what that's like, to some degree." Being a hero... people expect things from you. Not always things you can deliver.

But then he's questioned on the orchestrion, and... "Yes? You have music rolls you can put in them and it will play music for you. They're quite common where I'm from, though I'm not certain how they're made... I'm not quite good enough with intricate parts like that."

[awreck]

All the more proof Nara'a would have been a perfectly fine idol. Perhaps even one who could manage to maintain some semblance of integrity in a cutthroat, exploitative environment. Then again, hasn't he already done that by being a slayer of gods and stopper of world-ending events? To Wreck, it sounds like Nara'a is at the very least a world-famous celebrity. As he should be if he's consistently saving the world.

"Wow.... We used to have CDs for music, but that's kind of been abandoned in favor of having music be digital and portable. I'd say I'm old-school because I own a vinyl record player, but an orchestrion is wayyy, older than that."

Wreck taps his chin as he tries to date them, but he has no idea when they fell out of use. He certainly wasn't born before then, though.

"These days, you can really only find them in a museum. And I can't even say it might be because your world is full of magic and aether or whatever when my own world is full of its own version of magic."