[Cherry Heart] Library of Babel

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

 

The Library of Babel. Legends mentioned of a library of ages past, built and assembled by an ancient race as a monument to knowledge itself. It is said that the library contained untold amount of knowledge of the arcane and held many secrets, yet it was always mentioned that it’s almost impossible to find anything one seek there without a guide of your own.

A massive stone and clay building had recently been unearthed in a desert on the southeast of the land, but at the moment, it seemed that only a few floors were in any way explorable as the rest was still covered In sand. Yet…no one actually had dared to enter the place as there had been a case of mysterious deaths on the people tasked on the excavation and study of the building. The rich people club that was behind the entire project had issued a request of investigation for this case, which when resolved would be rewarded well from them.

 

Around one hour after Yelena made a call to confirm the takers of the quest had made their choice, a horseless carriage arrived before the guild’s hall to take them to the desert. The trip took several hours, and it was already afternoon when the group finally arrived on the site of excavation. Greeting them once they arrived would be Sir Fitzgerald, the leader of the excavation project and the main benefactor of the project itself. The graying man in his fifties was clearly overjoyed when the group had finally arrived. He waited until they had properly disembarked before approaching them to introduce himself.

 

“Ah, you arrived sooner than I thought. You must be from Cherry Heart, am I right? I am the one in charge of this project - you can just call me Fitz.  

 

You came at the right time. I have halted further excavation earlier when another of our worker disappeared within the confines of the tower, which really made any other actions too risky to conduct now. With the method we use for this excavation and the general state of the tower itself, we couldn’t afford to bring too much people inside, especially with the method we use to enter it.

 

Your directive is simple, explore this library and find the cause of these disappearances. And…I have a personal request for you to fulfill too, but I’ll wait until you’re ready to enter. Rest up for now and ask me for any questions you think you might need. I’ll prepare for your entrance in the meantime.”

 

Once done addressing the guild members, Fitz left them and went towards some of the workers situated nearby. Meanwhile, the tower itself was only a hundred meters away from the group, standing imposingly tall, yet if one looked at it from a glance, it would be clear that there actually was no doors leading inside on it. The construction platforms on one side of the structure might have the answer.

 

It was getting closer and closer to night time, and the tower looked more imposing as the sun slowly set behind it. There was little room of doubt here though. They’re already here, and whatever lurking inside of its darkness had taken too much victim. Though, perhaps one might about why the quest didn’t have a higher prestige count, but that was not exactly something that should matter.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Alright, first things first.

Reiterating a bit, there are two missions here so far, the main and optional one. Completing the main one (seek out the culprit of the disappearances and deaths inside of the library building)  is enough to end the quest with a success, but completing the subquest (will be elaborated in my next post) will have a different effect to the ending of this quest.

 

Right now you can ask around regarding anything, whether it’s about the deaths, what exactly this place is, the method of entering the tower, the condition on the tower itself, legends, and other such questions, or you can investigate the tower and the platforms more closely. I’ll post again once everyone posted, or once Aix has posted with his guest character.

 

Speaking of, I’m aiming that this quest progress around twice a week, so if it’s possible, a round should not be longer than four days. Steps will be taken so this rate of progress could happen, so hopefully this is kept in mind for the future of this quest.

 

Enjoy your exploration~!

 

 

 

---

[Christian Exodia]

Erin, upon being accepted onto this mission, felt a bit of joy and a bit of relief. Hopefully this could be the start of a new adventure in her life, and one where she could be happy and free of hunger; strife; pain; and all other ailments that she had to deal with. This sort of life was immensely more enjoyable to the one she experienced before, where all of these were a commonality, especially when... she did not want to think about that, lest bring tears and bringing attention to herself. She brought little audience to herself while both outside of and in the carriage, despite the fact of being a new figure to the guild itself.

 

Well, all ailments other than the... curse... of sorts that plagued her, she guessed, one that she had not really told her compatriots about yet. She continued to shiver while on the way, still ever trying desperately to keep herself as warm as possible, fluffing her coat and rubbing her hands together. Is it really a curse though? She postulated in her mind, speech clear in there due to not being limited by her curse-d stutter. A mental shrug was all that came up to answer such a question, but, otherwise, the journey was very much a point of observance: How the rest of her group acted.

 

Once the carriage had made its stop, Erin popped out. Her little self thanked god for where she was, because the warmth around her would almost make her feel somewhat normal for a time... at least more normal than usual. The chill still remained, sure, but the warmth reduced its effects. It would always do so... until the warmth made her feel pain. Regardless, she still shivers a little bit but cracks a light smile, ever hiding the chattering teeth under her tight lips. It would be a nice time in the warmth of the desert sands, but less so once they entered the cool of the building.

 

Erin then looked back up at the overjoyed professor, Sir Fitzgerald, as he babbled on the importance of the mission.

 

Fitzgerald: “Ah, you arrived sooner than I thought. You must be from Cherry Heart, am I right? I am the one in charge of this project - you can just call me Fitz.  

 

You came at the right time. I have halted further excavation earlier when another of our worker disappeared within the confines of the tower, which really made any other actions too risky to conduct now. With the method we use for this excavation and the general state of the tower itself, we couldn’t afford to bring too much people inside, especially with the method we use to enter it.

 

Your directive is simple, explore this library and find the cause of these disappearances. And…I have a personal request for you to fulfill too, but I’ll wait until you’re ready to enter. Rest up for now and ask me for any questions you think you might need. I’ll prepare for your entrance in the meantime.”

 

Eager to continue, but still curious on the opinions of others, Erin looked back on her other compatriots. It was their call to go in; Erin was too new to really call much. After all, she was only 12, and did not feel she qualified to 'lead' the group by any means. She still shirked back a little bit, tightening her lips to let the others speak. 

[Makο]

It was a rather pleasant nap, wasn't it?

 

Sayla hadn't exactly paid much attention to how long she had been asleep in the carriage; she was such a deep sleeper that it always took a swift kick to the head to get her up back home, which she took in stride. After all, she'd never be able to wake up without it anyway. Despite this, timing had it that she managed to wake up a few minutes after the carriage had arrived, with a long yawn and... a tumble out of the carriage door onto the dirt, headfirst. With a thud, she shook herself off and was back on her feet in no time.

 

By the time she was finally awake enough to start paying attention, the old man had already finished talking, ending with the statement to "rest up" and some other drivel. The man walked off, and... Sayla found herself standing their, dumbfounded. Throughout the duration of her little journey, she had entirely forgotten what the objective was, or why she was even here, and she had completely glazed over everything the boring man was saying to them.

 

"Aha!"

 

She let out a small exclamation, quickly pulling a small piece of paper she had kept in her breastplate; she knew herself well enough that, prior to leaving for the journey, she had jot down a small note that contained the instructions for this particular quest. This has happened before, so it never hurts to be prepared. Unrolling the paper, she looked over her surprisingly neat and orderly handwriting.

 

EXPLORE TOWER. FIND OUT WHY THEY'RE GONE.

 

...She could sworn she had written down something more thorough than that. Though, had she needed any more information, she was confident she would have added it, so she supposed that this was all that there was. Slapping her hands together to fold the paper, she tossed it behind her and turned towards her compatriots.

 

"Well, there's not much we can do by sitting around out here, is there? Might as well just head in now!"

 

Despite the potential danger, she found herself rather excited, flashing a toothy grin.

[Alaina]

After having finished her first mission, Strio had decided to strike while the proverbial iron was still hot. As such, she had immediately signed herself up to take up another quest. Unfortunately, both her feline and nudist companion had wanted no such part in this kind of adventure, and so Strio was to make new comrades here. That was good, yes, as it meant there were more people that would see her display the splendor of the mighty coronid people. And here she was, en route to go aid another massive building in dealing with some kind of haunting problem. Strio considered the possibility of learning how to become a true exorcist and start a business of it. Yeah, that sounded like a good idea. 
 
As the group traveled towards the library in question, Strio couldn't help but marvel the sights around her. The Valais Mountains were large and expansive, and offered a variety of sights themselves, but here Strio could see the endless fields of sand known as deserts that weren't quite present at her home. While the actual sight itself was as boring as it could be, Strio was in awe of it. Not just that it existed, but also by the stark contrast it had with the environment of the town in the mission prior. To be able to go to so many different looking places in such a short amount of time, the land under the mountain certainly was quite something else. 
 
As the trio had managed to get to the library, they were greeted with a man named Fitz. As he began to explain the situation to them, Strio was sure that she already had the whole thing down pat. It was most likely going to be as simple as the last haunt she had done, and thus, there were no further questions that she needed to ask. As the man left to prepare for their embarkation into the library, one of her comrades had already seemed enthusiastic to enter the mission grounds. "You're quite right," she said towards the dog girl, with Strio having a similarly enthusiastic grin on her face as well. "We should make haste into dealing with this problem. Tell us Sir Fitz, what would you request of us while we are hunting down the cause of this problem?"

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

“Tell us Sir Fitz, what would you request of us while we are hunting down the cause of this problem?"

 

“Cutting straight to the point eh, young lady? It seems that you and your friends are really eager to enter this mission. Alright then, I shall tell you about my request and then lead you inside.”

 

Fitz gave a smile towards Strio as she asked her question, and from his expression, the eagerness of the three girls before her, as young as they were, was apparently something that he found to be quite pleasant. He then gave the signal for the Cherry Heart guildmembers to follow him, and as the four of them went towards the other side of the library tower, the older professor started to talk.

 

“I have done my study on the existence of this library for ages, assuming that this is the famed Babel of course. The ancient people that built them was…how should I say, apparently quite paranoid, or perhaps they were just eccentric. See, in a library this big, finding a specific content would be quite hard, and they decided to make it even harder by putting similar books filled with nonsense and gibberish for every valuable books they put.

 

Of course,” he paused for a bit, catching up on his breath. He was quite carried away with his story it seemed. “assuming that this wouldn’t make it hard for them to find what they need would be illogical. So…they made a key. Books are the key to the world, they say, but in this case they made several books, imbued with magic that could find any book they desired of. I…am unsure on how exactly it worked, but my studies did end up with me noticing the existence of these keys to the king of all libraries.

 

So, that is my personal request. While you’re all working on finding the darnedest culprit of these terror attacks on us, please find one of these books. Assuming the insides were not in a messy state, the book would definitely be put in separate location from the other books.”

 

The professor concluded his story, and not long afterwards, they ended up on the other side of the library, where they could see construction platforms with workers working on to help restore the tower itself on them. Fitz explained that they were worried about the structure collapsing suddenly, which was another reason why they desperately needed mages to deal with the mystery attacker – they couldn’t send too much people inside.

 

“And ah, about that…let me introduce you three to Sir Shel.” Fitz approached a robed man nearby that was busy looking at the reconstruction project, and brought him to the group. “He’s our way of entering the library, and another reason why we couldn’t send too much people inside.

 

Now, please hold each other’s hand. It would feel quite funny, but just bear with it. Everyone’s first time would feel similarly as awkward.”

 

After giving his instruction, Fitz took several steps backwards, and Shel gave him an odd look. Perhaps he was not entirely sure about sending the group inside, but he decided to not question Fitz for now. He put his attention on the group once more, and started to recite a spell as a magical circle formed under the Cherry Heart mages. A big blob of darkness then emerged from the circle, and it sucked the entire group in before disappearing. Shel, looking completely tired now, collapsed onto the ground once the deed was done.

 

“You sure that they could do it?” The exhausted Shel asked Fitz, who simply giggled in response.

 

“Ah youth, ‘tis such a wonderful thing. Really eager and ready for anything, and will charge head on whether it’d be a good thing or not.” He was looking at the top of the tower, at first seemingly not noticing Shel’s doubt. ”These young mages…I think they can do it. Actually, I believe they’re the only ones that could do it. Only Cherry Heart, that guild of legends…would have the confidence to send in people this young to deal with our issue.”

 

---

 

The Cherry Heart group would find themselves in a room filled with candle light. A monument of sort, depicting four crystals of different colors was at the center of the room, and it would perhaps be the first thing they noticed. Near where they reappeared, they would find a note from Shel that said they should not worry about getting out while necessary, as the paper note would transport them out of the library once it’s destroyed, or as long as the content inside it became unreadable.

 

There were two corridors that they could go to, and they would notice that the corridor would be very long due to the candles that lit it, somehow perhaps even longer than possible if they remembered the size of the library from the outside. The wall on the room was filled with paintings, paintings of an unrecognizable race of people, if such kind of people even ever existed, or perhaps it was simply just artistic rendering of the races found on the continent. They seemed to be minding their own business, and that’s it. Should the group move, they would find themselves to feel the atmosphere became tenser, perhaps as if someone or something was watching their moves.

 

On the two corridors, surprisingly written with a modern alphabet, was some sort of a note on the wall. S_R was what depicted on one of the entrances, and the other had WT_ written on it. The blanked letters were apparently was there before, but something had scraped them off, leaving the rest.

 

Wherever they would go now, they would definitely feel that something was very off about the library itself now.

 

---

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Here it is, now you’re inside of the library, yaaay! So of course I threw a puzzle immediately. The two corridors would lead into two very different storage rooms, and I’ll write about them more on my next post. Although, if any of you needed a description for your posts, then feel free to ask me. The corridors are pretty long but uneventful, anyways. at least for now

 

Right now, what you can do is to examine anything on the starting room, talk to each other regarding what kind of thing you’re getting yourself into, or try figuring out (or immediately charging ahead) which corridor would be the one you needed to go through. Or maybe do something balls out of the wall.

 

As always questions can be immediately directed to me.

 

Good luck, and have fun!

 

 

 

---

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

This was it. After several months of passing up quest after quest, she eventually found one that detailed the unearthing of an ancient library. Her chance to discover much about the first half of her life had finally presented itself. There was much she had the potential to learn: who her birth parents were, whether or not she had any siblings, where she was born, what happened to her family, how the people that lived in her settlement had fared, and most importantly, why she felt the urge to travel to the city of Prunus. The answers to all these questions and many more answers could be found inside that library, if they were ever to be found at all. Her finest hour was just beginning...

...and yet Megoshi Sagara was already sleeping on the job. To be fair, it had taken several hours to get to the excavation site, and the carriage certainly took its time. This may have explained why Megoshi had taken the plentiful amount of time to rest. But no-one seemed to have bothered to wake her back up again, and it wasn't as though they hadn't noticed her presence either. Nope, everyone else that was on the carriage with her had already disembarked long before she even began to open her eyes again. Realizing that she was alone for the time being, Megoshi woke up with a start, and rushed her exit from the carriage before it could set off with her still on-board, only to fall flat on her face onto the desert sand below. However, still flustered about the possibility that she was left behind, Megoshi scurried to her feet and ran as fast as she could. Dr. Fitzgerald, the person leading the exhibition, had probably finished droning on about what to expect by the time Megoshi arrived, though considering what he'd said would've gone straight through one of Megoshi's ears and out the other, she wouldn't mind missing explanation. She did mind practically being abandoned.
 
While the sun began to set, Megoshi immediately regretted allowing herself to be left behind. She didn't want to have to journey this ancient library alone. She needed answers about her origin, and she was never going to get them if no-one was there to help her fight the constant temptation to drift back to sleep for the umpteenth time. This was actually a common occurrence for Megoshi, as her top-eyelids were always the heaviest things in the world to her. But this time she shook it off and kept running, not bothering to wrap her arms around her breasts to restrict their bouncing. It was always something she found embarrassing, but Megoshi feared that concerning herself with something so trivial would only slow her down... something she couldn't afford. She eventually caught up to the rest of the party, stepping onto a magical circle that had formed around them just in time to be transported into the library as well. She heaved and wheezed after all that running, but took the time for her eyes to adjust.
 
...

Here, Megoshi found herself in a separate room that contained what appeared to be monument at its center. It depicted four crystals of different colors, and it was the first thing she noticed. Candle light surrounded this room, as well as the two long corridors that extended from it. From a glance, both of the corridors seemed be much longer than Megoshi could possibly comprehend, considering that she'd seen the size of the library from the outside. The atmosphere around the ancient library had suddenly became tenser as well, as though something was watching the party's every move. Something was off about this mysterious place... she could feel it. However, Megoshi was ill-concerned about the tensing atmosphere for the moment; she was more concerned about addressing the other fine young ladies now that she had the chance.

"You guuuuuuuys," the poor sleepy girl moaned, "Could you not suddenly decide to all leave me behind? Please?"
 
It was a good thing she had yet to notice the puzzle that had presented itself, or Megoshi would've fainted right there and then. She was never very good at puzzles, and her brain having to keep her body going seemed to be a monumental task in and of itself. It was safe to say that she'd be of no aid.

[Makο]

It seemed like that man had talked for an eternity as they approached the tower, spilling details on ancient race library shenanigans or some such. Being perfectly honest, Sayla had hardly been listening to the bulk of what he was saying, instead trying to parse through the new information for anything that might be important for her to know.

 

Surprisingly, not much. The objective hasn't changed.

 

However, they did meet a certain Sir Shel, who would apparently be the one helping them inside. Certainly, she'd preferred that they warned her before using that blasted spell; transformation magics always made Sayla's skin crawl, perhaps as a side effect of her Lord's own distaste towards them. She often pondered where it came from. Opening her eyes again, she saw that her and her entire party had been transported to some room within the library, lit by candles and furnished with a note that probably detailed how they would exit. She gave herself a long stretch, in a distinctly wolf-like manner, and hopped in place.

 

"God, that old man talks a lot. Right then, something about a... book. Magical key books, or whatever. I'll be perfectly honest; I never did all that well in reading comprehension. I was always more of a math person. So! In that case."

 

She took a few steps forward into the candlelit room, looking around at the myriad of fantastical objects and detecting the strong scent of melting wax from all the candles. She gazed at the two hallways in the room, looking them over carefully. Save for the differences in labeling, they appeared fairly identical. And with no other obvious clues to go on...

 

"How about, this one."

 

Pointing towards the hallway labeled S_R, she took a few wide strides torwards it.

 

"I'm heading this way. I feel like it's the better option to split up and look for clues anyway, and I don't particularly feel like standing in this wax-drenched room for all that long."

 

Just as she had took a step into the hallway, concealing her body, she poked her head out.

 

"Oh, and can someone keep that sleepy looking pup from dozing off? We don't want her sleepwalking into trouble or nothing."

 

And with that, she was off, at a brisk but manageable pace. She could clearly outrun all of them, should she felt the need to, but it seemed like she was waiting to see if anyone else would join her.

[Christian Exodia]

Erin looked in wonder throughout much of the area as she followed the other two young girls and Sir Fitz. This library was quite grand, magnificent even, not helped by her size... but still. Grand anyways. That much she knew. The cool and warmth of the desert sands led to a much more sheltered environment, where much of her chills returned. Her teeth chattered ever so further quickly, and her shivers became ever so stronger. She felt an odd sort of power in this situation, but she cast it aside. Maybe it was just the fact that she was surrounded by ancient knowledge, but the texts felt powerful. Irregardless of everything else... Erin just looked around.

 

Sir Fitz, droning on with his story, was an interesting thing to watch and listen. Still feeling the immense power of the texts she was surrounded by, compounded with the chill she felt, kept a close eye on the story. The story was essential to both experience... and pay, as much as she did not want to admit the influence that had.

 

“assuming that this wouldn’t make it hard for them to find what they need would be illogical. So…they made a key. Books are the key to the world, they say, but in this case they made several books, imbued with magic that could find any book they desired of. I…am unsure on how exactly it worked, but my studies did end up with me noticing the existence of these keys to the king of all libraries..."

 

The words 'king of all libraries' was an interesting topic, something that really piqued Erin's interest. So that's why we are here... to find this 'King of All Libraries'... and possibly whatever rules it... She kept following the group, towards the back of the three. Her intent was to scan the names through the area... 

 

“And ah, about that…let me introduce you three to Sir Shel.”

 

Erin looked toward Sir Shel, the robed figure who seemed to be of the magical persuasion. She looked to follow each and every one of his instructions, taking the hands of Strio, but having her other hand not used... until Megoshi bolted into the circle. Erin quickly grasped for her hand as the circle began to glow and transport each of them to the true area of the quest. 

 

Hearing Megoshi moan and seeing her start to list off, Erin sighed. Shivering, she used a little bit of her magic around Megoshi. Erin then encased a glove in ice and held it to the back of Megoshi's head.

 

"Maybe a l-little outside s-stimulus w-would help..." Erin, holding one hand still to the back of Megoshi's head, walked forward. 

 

The cold of the evening felt a little more comfortable to Erin. It would allow more... general freedom for how she was. She could acclimate a little better because it was what she was used to on a normal basis. Seeing Sayla move towards the S_R door, Erin kept a little bit of apprehension. She did not want to see somebody lose... even though, regardless, this was apparently an easy mission. Erin moved, trying to make sure she kept moving, towards the WT_ door.

 

"C-come on... Megoshi..."

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

Suddenly, just as she was about to drift back to sleep for the umpteenth time that day, Megoshi felt a sharp cold on the back of her head. An icy hand formed around it, and Megoshi gasped in shock as she thought something was onto her, but breathed a sigh of relief as she realized it was only a companion.

"Jesus, you scared me for a second there," Megoshi stated, "But thank you... I guess I needed that."

With the other companion wanting to get moving, Megoshi was gently nudged to move forward, but she didn't complain about it... not like she usually would. After all, there was no way she could procure the answers she'd be looking for without someone being there to stop her from feeling asleep. So for that she was somewhat thankful for the sediment. But then she thought of a certain something; her companion called her by name, and yet Megoshi couldn't return the favor...

"How do you know my name, anyway?" Megoshi asked her companion.

[Alaina]

Strio nodded intently as she listened to what the man had to say, trying to figure out what she was to do about a request like this. Find a magic book? That seemed like an easy enough task for her to complete, though she wasn't entirely sure what the book she was looking for looked like. Or what it's contents were. Or anything really. But it was finding a book, so it couldn't have been overly complicated. Nodding at this internal resolution of hers, Strio got ready to be transported alongside the rest of the group to the building they were going to. As they were swallowed by some sort of dark transportation magic, Strio couldn't help but feel a tad bit on the nauseous side, the type of magic clearly not agreeing with her. 

 

Shaking herself back to her senses, she noticed that now that they were in some sort of large building now, with corridors that extended almost infinitely in either direction. Seeing the note left by the one who had transported there, Strio decided to take it, and examine just what the group was supposed to do now. Seeing that there were two ways to go here, Strio pondered on which way would be the correct one, before one of their companions had decided to take off in one direction. Seeing as the other two had already left in a separate direction, Strio decided to follow the girl as to make sure she didn't get lost or dead or any combination of the two. As she continued down the corridor however, she couldn't help but feel this strange an ominous feeling about the place. It was similar, yet different, from the feeling that she had had while she was in the mansion in the mission prior. That could only mean that the idea that this place was haunted might not have been too far off. 

 

[spoiler=Tldr]

Strio followed Sayla down the S_R corridor. 

 

 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

It seemed that the group decided to split their way. Erin persuaded Megoshi to follow her to the corridor labeled W_R, while Sayla, who decided to enter earlier, was followed by Strio into the S-R corridor. After a long walk without much going on for them, they would soon find themselves o wildly different rooms, that perhaps was not even something they would expect to find inside of a library.

 

In the room at the end of the S_R corridor, there was a grasslands. As if they had been teleported into another place outside entirely, even the doors, three of them, were only standing on open air, without anything they were attached to. Aside from grasses, the occasional trees, and flowers, if they looked around at the vast land they found themselves in, they would not find any other living being there, not even insects.

 

Of course, the biggest question would be: where were the books? They would also find that both of the other doors were closed off by metal bars. Perhaps they could try breaking the bars on their own, but the door frame looked quite fragile. It might be possible the door would cease to exist if the frame was broken. Other than that though, there was also a crystal monument inside of this ‘room’. It was a solitary crystal, colored green, and under it was written something. While it was written in ancient glyph, any attempt of reading it would reveal what it had to say into the mind of the attempting reader.

 

“There is no need for books in this place. Everything here is the book that you seek, and only by looking closer will you read more than one of its page.”

 

Even after death, new lives will be birthed into this world. The lives that composes nature is a grand library on its own, waiting for someone that is willing to read the contents. For you, seekers of knowledge. Do you seek the secrets hidden within this place? Secrets of the ever-reborn life, secrets that grant the world its color.

 

Then, gave us some essences of your own lives.”

 

A closer inspection on the base of the crystal would reveal the existence of a small, empty vial. It might need to be filled with something. But, would it be something that would lead them out of this room? Meanwhile, on the soft, grassy land, if they were vigilant enough to notice details, they would notice several footsteps not belonging to them, leading towards a solitary tree. Perhaps, with a strong sense of smell, they could notice the presence of someone else too, hidden somewhere in the vast plains. Would it be a good idea to pursue the stranger?

 

Whatever the choices they made, the eyes on the sky continued on watching their next moves.

 

---

 

Meanwhile, for Erin and Megoshi, they would find themselves inside an actual room filled with aisles upon aisles of books. However, peculiarly the room was seemingly built atop a frozen lake, and close inspection on the books would see that most of them had been frozen solid, yet the room itself had normal temperature outside of that. On one side, there was a fireplace with several seats and tables, and the fire seemingly had been recently be lit. The doors to the next rooms were unsurprisingly locked too. The paintings similar from the ones on the starting room was adorning the wall, still with their eyes seemingly staring at the two girls that entered the place.

 

Looking at the bottom of the clear ice sheet, they would find a white crystal similar to the ones they saw on the starting room. However, reaching it might prove to be an issue, if it was what they were aiming for. It was unclear how thick the layer of ice was, and they would risk breaking everything if they were not careful.

 

Or maybe they could check the aisles? In which case, they would find that the books were labeled with a form of alphabet that on a closer look, was just a fancy variation of the A to Z alphabet they would be familiar with. All the books were frozen however, and unless they could thaw them, they would be completely unreadable. The only thing readable on the room could be found on the table near the fireplace. It was a golden book labeled with H, that disappointingly was written in an unknown language, but there was something readable being written at the end of the book.

 

“The end is not an end, it is a new beginning.After the fourth, five will open the new world after the end.

After the fourth closes the story, five marks the start of a new tale.

 

The five beats of the world, an endless waltz in which everything dances to its rhythm.”

 

It was vague, if it was even a clue. The golden cover of the book was peculiar compared to the other books that were stored there, at least. Perhaps that was something. They were in no rush of time, at least. It might be better if they think on what they should do next more carefully, or perhaps examine the place more closely.

 

---

[spoiler=OOC]

Well, hopefully this is not confusing.

 

As always, questions, additional details, and similar things can be asked directly to me, via Skype or PM. There are several ways of leaving the rooms and proceed, and don’t worry, going out of order won’t get you kicked back to the start. Although something would definitely happen.

 

I think the clues given now are not enough to finish the puzzles in the main way, so if your characters go search for potential more clues, I'll elaborate more on things on my next post. Or maybe, depends on what your characters do...I might give some spices to make things more fun.

 

I guess that’s all for now, good luck!

 

 

---

[Makο]

As Sayla found herself–and the following Strio–exiting the absurdly long hallway out into the main room that surely didn't fit in to the world they had just walked out of. In a sharp contrast to the dull, rocky, musty, candle-filled hallways and rooms that were lined with books, the room they entered was a wide and bright open field, under the open sky. A few clouds here and there, the occasional tree or flower, and a light breeze were surprisingly not the most unusual things about the room; the 3 floating doors in the center of the field, along with some form of a crystal monument, was the most unique thing about this particular area. Upon walking in, upon feeling the freeze and the grass on the ground, Sayla stretched long and wide, eventually transferring to a downward dog. Hopping up, she appeared to be quite pleasant.

 

"This is a nice change of pace, really. I was getting tired of all those musty books and terribly scented candles; I've really been due for a breath of fresh air. Although..."

 

She stopped for a moment, looking around and letting her senses do their thing. Aside from the breeze, the room was quiet; eerily quiet. Not a flap of a wing nor the step of a rodent could be heard. At the same time, the scents of your usual suspects were absent as well.

 

"...I'd prefer if everything weren't so sterile and lifeless. It's as though nothing as ever lived or breathed here."

 

Making her way through the field at a considerable pace, rarely making sure that her companion could keep up, she approached the doors and the little monument. A solitary green crystal with a vial at the bottom, it didn't appear to have anything of note attached to it, save for a small inscription on it. Leaning closer to read it, it was written in a language she had clearly never been taught; nor anyone from the wider world, come to think of it. However, it soon became a non-point as a voice filled up Sayla's head.

 

“There is no need for books in this place. Everything here is the book that you seek, and only by looking closer will you read more than one of its page.”

 

Even after death, new lives will be birthed into this world. The lives that composes nature is a grand library on its own, waiting for someone that is willing to read the contents. For you, seekers of knowledge. Do you seek the secrets hidden within this place? Secrets of the ever-reborn life, secrets that grant the world its color.

 

Then, gave us some essences of your own lives.”

 

Sayla shook her head once the voice stopped, looking back at her companion.

 

"Oi, you really got to get a load of this."

 

As she motioned towards the inscription, she stopped dead still. A new scent had come across her; faint as it was, it gave a very clear indication of direction. It led towards a nearby solitary tree. Now on alert, she also noticed a set of footprints leading away from the monument towards said tree. As she slowly began to creep towards it, she turned towards her companion.

 

"Look. Whoever set this up left this as a riddle, but they didn't do a very good job. The answer is painfully clear.

 

I'm going to need you to cum in that vial. Use the hilt of your sword if you have to, whatever gets it done. I'm... going to go check something out. Good luck."

 

Without so much of an acknowledgement from her partner, she was off in the direction of the scent she detected. So there was something living out here; somewhere, somehow. And if it had any notion of intelligence, one might be able to find something out from it. She had been only traveling in the direction of the scent for a few moments until, how of the corner of her eye, she saw the dashing of a shadow away from her.

 

The hunt was on.

 

With her Wolfen instincts kicking in, she immediately and sharply abandoned her previous course and took off after that shadowy figure. Oddly enough, it appeared to be no more than that: a shadow. Regardless, it was smart enough to run, and it certainly ran in intelligent patterns, so it must've known something was up. The chase was brief and intense; the figure was fast, and knew its way through the field, but Sayla was ever so slightly faster. Upon getting within striking distance, she leaped up with all her strength and grabbed at the shadowy figure. And she succeeded!

 

But for a brief moment.

 

Within moments of her victory, the shadowy figure dispersed into nothing, leaving Sayla with nothing but an armful of hot air. Though, it didn't last for long. A few seconds later, a loud series of roars rang out from all around her, as it seemed like jungle trees, plants, and canopies sprung up around her. While they didn't spread far, but they spread fast, and soon enough, Sayla had been entirely encompassed by a tropical rain forest. The panting Sayla wiped some sweat from her brow.

 

"Uh oh. I might've pissed something off."

 

[spoiler=OOC]Almost all of this was discussed with and approved by Nai. Just in case that matters.

 

[Christian Exodia]

Erin looked over to Megoshi, ever shivering. "I o-overheard it while joining the G-Guild. You had f-fallen asleep on a bench and s-someone was rousing you awake." A light smile crept over Erin's lips, but quickly faded as the chattering teeth forced her to take a more neutral tone.

 

Once through the corridor, Erin and her companion found themselves in a room of ice and fire. A massive collection of books, many frozen, cascade the shore of a frozen lake... with a singular fire roasting at the end of the room. Despite everything, the room was still at room temperature, a fact that highly annoyed Erin.

 

One single scroll at the end of the room remained unfrozen. At least... we have some clues... A calm thought came over the mind of Erin as she approached the scrolls herself. 

 

“The end is not an end, it is a new beginning.After the fourth, five will open the new world after the end.

After the fourth closes the story, five marks the start of a new tale.

 

The five beats of the world, an endless waltz in which everything dances to its rhythm.”

 

Each word danced around Erin's tongue, with her characteristic shiver and stutter, out towards the two. Regardless, Erin was quite confused by the nature of the riddle and everything. They had no clue other than this. 

 

"Megoshi... a-all I can g-get from this i-is to start reading... We need to g-get the books towards the f-fire." Erin went slowly to try and more efficiently enunciate her words so she wouldn't stutter so much... even though she still did.

 

"And d-don't fall asleep." Erin went to start pulling a few random books to try and thaw out with the fire. The cold did not much affect her, but it still stung a slight bit.

[Alaina]

Walking through the door, Strio was immediately greeted with the sight that immediately told them that this library was far more than initial impressions would lead one to believe. From the musty corridor, her and her wolf like comrade were now standing in some boundless field of green as far as the eye could see. The sight was most definitely jarring, and not entirely what Strio was expecting to see here, but nevertheless, she marched onward with her comrade. In addition to the boundless grasslands, doors were in the room, though they seemed incredibly misplaced, being both barred off and not even connected to anything. As her comrade mentioned the lack of life here, Strio nodded saying, "quite. This place feels far from natural, so we should keep on guard here."

 

The last thing that stood out in the room was a singular crystal, green of color to match its landscape. As the duo walked over to it, she looked at the inscription, not so much reading as it was just understanding the contents that were there. While the contents of the message weren't exactly clear, it seemed less like a riddle and more like an offer, as the empty vial seemed like it was there to claim something of the girl's. What exactly it would claim, Strio was unsure of, yet whatever it was, judging by the crystals at the start of the dungeon, the payment from this offer was most likely something necessary for them to journey onward. While Strio was mulling it over, though, her wolfen comrade seemed to have figured it out. 

 

Looking at her, ready to listen intently, her face went flush with horror, disgust and some form shade of embarrassment at the girl's "solution" to the issue at hand. "I wi-, why wou-, I- I will do no such thing Miss! Especially not with something as-,"  however while she was stammering out a her clear repulsion to this idea, it had seemed that the girl had already seemed to take off to go do something else."Hey! You get your pelt covered hide back here you-" of course, it was of no use as the girl was already not paying attention to her and going off on some kind of chase. Not really paying any mind to what she was chasing or why, Strio started to take off, bolting it straight for the girl to give her a piece of her mind. 

 

The girl was fast, most definitely, and it didn't seem like she was showing any signs of slowing down, making it difficult to the running Strio to catch up with her. However, the girl came to a halt and as such, Strio's pace increased as she made a beeline for the girl. However, while she hadn't quite noticed the rumbling noise, it was almost impossible to not see what followed said noise. While she was approaching the girl, from around her, all kinds of flora sprouted out and around them, causing the, uncharacteristically high strung, coronid to jump in surprise, drawing her sword and igniting it in the process. Pointing it at the flora, as if expecting something to leap out at them at any moment, she shouted out to the other girl, "what have you done?!"

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

“The end is not an end, it is a new beginning. After the fourth, five will open the new world after the end.
After the fourth closes the story, five marks the start of a new tale.

The five beats of the world, an endless waltz in which everything dances to its rhythm.”
 
Megoshi could only scratch her head in confusion as this was read out to her. Riddles were never her strong suit; she was always more of a girl that would just do what she was told... and fall asleep right in the middle of a task. However, she had just thought of something...
 
"Can I... perhaps... burrow that book for a minute?" asked Megoshi, hoping that there was something more to that golden book in her companion's hands.
 
However she... procured that book, Megoshi had been looking through it in an attempt to find something in it. All the pages were written in ancient hieroglyphs that neither of the two would have any hope of deciphering right at this stage, but as she looked through the golden book, a certain one of those hieroglyphs stuck out to Megoshi. Perplexed, Megoshi set the book down on the floor and lay across it, only to examine this specific hieroglyph more closely.
 
"Could this symbol be the same one that's on my back?" she mused aloud. She wanted to verify that that was the case, but that would mean taking off her robe in front of her companion for one. And there wasn't really any reflective surface that she could use anyway.
 
Megoshi shrugged her shoulders and got up and yawned loudly, before grabbing the frozen books off the shelves and setting them down near the fireplace. But she'd wondered how she and her companion were expected to read these books; even once they'd thawed, the pages would still be wet, and prone to effortless, perhaps accidental smudging. Speaking of companion, Megoshi looked over at the poor girl and noted that she'd been shivering this whole time. Just by aesthetics alone one would assume the air in this room would cut to the bone, and yet Megoshi was still warm. Megoshi wished she could offer her robe as additional clothing, but didn't like the idea of going topless.
 
"You look cold," the older girl stated, letting out another small yawn as she did so, "Is everything OK?"

[Christian Exodia]

"Can I... perhaps... borrow that book for a minute?" Erin looked to Megoshi, the girl finally piping up again after all of that words. She had asked to have the book, so Erin gave it to her. Her hand, shaky as ever, gave it over to Megoshi. As she kept thinking, she looked around the room. At the fire, at the books, and at any little thing possible for the moment. Looking for the clues, looking for the signs... looking for literally anything that could help... while Megoshi just had the book and was staring at her hand.

 

As she lost focus, she began to shiver harder. The control she had over such shivering was gone. Her shiver became harder and harder, as her focus got onto other things. Even as the fire burned nearby Erin kept shivering. It didn't matter how warm a normal room could be, except next to a fire, but Erin kept shivering.

 

"You look cold... Is everything OK?"

 

Erin looked to Megoshi, an obvious look of concern is on her face. Erin sighs, tries her best to keep her teeth from chattering, and explains. "My magic... never manifested correctly. As a child, my magic was... essentially abused. My tribe was attacked and slaughtered by bandits in the mountains. To prevent an uprising, all remaining children with magical potential, which was me and only a couple of other children, was used and abused so I couldn't effectively develop it without magical help. I have not been able to seek council until now because I have been wandering and trying to survive. I had not felt... safe... until recently. Now, I am with a guild. Not only am I here to gain money, but I am also here to learn about how to fix my magic.

 

As you could guess, my magic is Ice magic. Which is why I am shivering: Stunted growth for this long in Ice magic... has a few side effects. Namely, I haven't felt warmth in such a long time. Walking through the desert sands felt about as comfortable as I have been in years. The icy touch you felt earlier to jolt you awake... was just a taste of what I feel every waking moment."

 

Erin shakes her head. "But we need to focus and solve this puzzle first. Please do not fall asleep, I can't do this alone."

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Was...it really a good idea to lower the standard for the mages we sent into the library?"

 

"It is not something I can be sure of yet. I have the high hopes that these mages from Cherry Heart would at least be able to traverse the first of the room sets inside of the Library.

 

As long as they could meet...it, then all will be fine. In fact...I believe that...inexperienced mages will be a lot better for the purpose of dealing with the thorn on our shoulders so far."

 

 

The featureless shade watched as the two girls argued in front of the Crystal pedestal, however it was not expecting the dog-like one from the two to hunt it down after scenting its peculiar scent. The distance at first made it confident that it could get away from the dog's grasp, but she was a lot faster than it thought, and before long she managed to capture it on her grasp. The shade disappeared as soon as the contact was made however, and perhaps as a form of self defense, the prairie shook as a jungle suddenly manifested on top of the grassland template, heralded by the roaring of beasts and birds of prey.

 

It was now a land brimming with life, from insects to small birds, and perhaps, even bigger creatures also lived there. At first, the trees that manifested looked normal, but a closer inspection would reveal carvings of the same figures that had been painted on the walls of the first room and its corridors.

 

However, before either of them could actually investigate the new place, several new friends greeted them. Tigers, and a bear. Three tigers appeared around Sayla, and two more and a bear appeared near Strio and the crystal pedestal. There weren't normal animals, however. Their appearance was more like as if they were drawings turned into life, and even in the three-dimensional world, they looked like they lacked depth at all. Nevertheless, they seemingly had the ferocity of the original animals, and all was intent on attacking the intruders to their forest.

 

In the meantime, the sun started to set as the jungles appeared, and the eyes of the sky that had been watching the two became more apparent, although whether they could see the two or vice versa was debatable with the canopy of the forest obscuring the sky for the two mages.

 

 

A bit of suddenly after Erin and Sayla decided the book left on the table, a small earthquake shook the room. It managed to crack some part of the ice lake the two were standing on, but so far it seemed that the frozen lake would still be able to support everything on the room for now. The quake shook the shelves too however, and there were now three piles of fallen books (amongst other, more scattered fallen books) near the second, sixth, and tenth rows of shelves from the thirteen that was there. Peculiarly, there were a golden glint coming from all three, so perhaps the piles were something worth checking out.

 

However, it would also reveal the corpses of what looked like the workers from the excavation project that had apparently been shoved in and hidden between the frozen books on the shelves. While they were frozen, they shared the similarity of having their throat slashed and their eyes plucked out, so perhaps they were the victims of the mysterious killer in the library. However, peculiarly they were also visibly carrying weapons on themselves, and while it would've faded away mostly, a cursory check up would reveal that most of these weapons were enchanted by magic.

 

In the meantime, the painting continued to stare at the two girls, and the Crystal pedestal shining at the bottom of the lake started to shine brighter and brighter as time passed.

 

---

[Admiral_Stalfos19]

"Oh, wow. I'm sorry to hear all that. I couldn't imagine being abused like that... could I?" as she listened to he colleague's back story and responded to it, Megoshi rolled her eyes upward in confusion; something about what the colleague was saying seemed to click with her for a second, but then she immediately shook her head, in a manner that looked as if she was perishing the thought, 'None of this makes any sense...'
 
Eventually she decided that, for now at least, she'd concentrate on trying to help solve this dreaded puzzle, all the while still struggling to stay awake. It was here that she felt the ground shake beneath her feet, and the icy floor began to crack right in the middle of where she was standing. Thankfully the frozen lake was still plenty stable enough to support the weight of everything in this room despite that, and the sudden earthquake was enough to keep Megoshi awake for the long run. However, something was amiss with this whole thing, and she couldn't shake the feeling that she was being watched.
 
Ignoring the piles of books on the floor, Megoshi looked around and assessed whatever damage was present within the walls... only to see a disturbing sight within the shelves. The frozen corpses that had revealed themselves during the aftermath of the quake were shocking enough just by being present to begin with, but close observation served to disturb Megoshi even more. Now more awake than ever, Megoshi scrambled through the piles of books in hopes that whatever was glistening with them would get her and her companion out of here more quickly.
 
"Something's wrong," she told her companion in a flustered tone, "We need to get moving and solve this thing right now!"

[Alaina]

As Strio awaited a response from her wolfen comrade, of which she was still livid with, the girl soon had her attention taken away by the appearance of something else. While the trees were definitely something that were to be examined, the high strung bird girl had had her attention taken up by the more pressing issue. That being, the giant bear that seemed to be coming her way. "Oh my-!"she shouted in response to this bear. From what she could see elsewhere, there also seemed to be lions, and lord knows tigers might have been around as well. Still in an irate mood she shouted once more, "What did you do?!" 

 

The answer to this question didn't actually matter to the bird girl. Nor did the fact that the creatures seemed like strange fakes of what they were supposed to be. What mattered was that there was a bear he trying to claw off her face. And so Strio made sure that it wouldn't be able to do so. Having her blade drawn and ignited, as the creature came to charge at her Strio jumped to the side of it to avoid the initial attack, before charging in to slash at the side of the creature. 

[Christian Exodia]

"Heaven, or whatever exists, knows I am ready to shed this burden. It is annoying to feel this constantly, but I am almost used to it at this point. Hopefully, now, I can--" Erin was immediately interrupted by the earthquake. The ice nearby seemed to crack and become unsafe, and the bookshelves simply began to shake and rattle. Books flew off the shelves in high numbers, but particularly from a certain set of rows. The second, sixth, and tenth rows made large piles, each with glints poking through. 

 

Erin looked towards each pile, and to the Crystal Pedestal, and to the broken ice floor. She looked also to Megoshi, who was deep in thought at that specific moment. Thankfully, she looked wide awake for the moment because of said earthquake, so Erin looked to capitalize on said moment.

 

But Megoshi already beat her to the situation. She had run to the piles and looked within for what was found. Seeing the girl so... awake... shocked Erin, especially because of how asleep the girl had been so far. 

 

"We-"  "We need to get moving and solve this thing right now!" . Erin did what she was told, taking another pile. She frantically grasped at books, feeling the urgency in Megoshi's tone, looking for the golden one in that pile. While she grasped the golden book and was looking up, a block of ice became more apparent. What was more apparent, and more gruesome to Erin... and hit a bit more towards home... was what was inside such a block of ice. The dead human, with its throat slit.

 

As her hand held the golden book tight, she screamed. Her scream was bloodcurdling, like one of recurring trauma, that shook through the whole room. Grasping the book tight, she ran from the pile to the center of the room, the scream still echoing as far as it would go.

[Makο]

The sudden appearance of the jungle around her only kept her instincts sharp as a tack, as she stood panting in the woods. This sort of stimulus always got her blood racing, the thrill of the hunt and the exhilaration of combat. Sayla wasn't a particularly violent girl in her growth, but as she stood out amongst the top of her particular class group, she gained a sort of love of the fight, with the constant life and death struggle always giving her a rush that nothing could match. Although, she wasn't particularly obsessed with it. It might be considered a hobby of sorts, for lack of a better term.

 

Speaking of, it seemed she'd be enjoying her hobby today after all. Three "tigers" had appeared near her, in all of their non-lifelike, artist-interpretation-may-vary glory, and were clearly aggressive in how they carried themselves. They were out for blood.

 

And so was Sayla.

 

Ignoring the prattling of her companion, thinking she could talk later, Sayla took this opportunity to slink down and practically leap towards one of the lines, quickly slashing towards the bottom of its neck with her gauntlets. First blood would be hers.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Sayla went for a quick first strike, and the target that she was aiming for was quickly disabled. Ink came from the wound on its neck, and while it was still alive, it was not in a position to retaliate with Sayla still focusing on it. Meanwhile, the two other tigers quickly noticed Sayla's movements, and while at first they were surprised at their prey shifting into their hunter, without spending much time they shifted back into being the attackers, and pounced at Sayla as she was still focusing on her first target, attempting to pin her to the ground and tear her apart with their bared fangs and claws.

 

Meanwhile, things went differently for Strio. The bear, an angry one at that, was apparently less than amused with her presence, and went right ahead to attack her. However, the bird girl managed to dodge its swing by hopping to the side, and just as it went to turn around, the bird struck her with her flaming sword. Within seconds, the "bear" became immolated by fire, and it turned to ashes just around twenty seconds later. It seemed that the creature was indeed a drawing made out of paper.

 

With the death of the bear however, the sky, if any of them could see it, turned dark as clouds covered the sun that once illuminated the room. The eyes of the storm were raring and ready to strike. With the rising moistness and dampness of the atmosphere around and inside the jungle. It seemed to be pretty clear that a big rain would come soon. As the change was happening however, the inscription on the crystal altar changed too, and if either Strio or Sayla read it, what would be imprinted on their mind would be:

 

"Pages of this book have been turned, and to replace what has been lost, new lives will spring.

 

If you seek the knowledge about life, then keep on reading. Secrets of nature shall be granted to ones that gave their own to us.

Else, return this book its shelf.

 

Do not do harm this book, or else..."

 

If either of them read the newly-changed inscription, the ground would soon shake, and tentacles that acted like spikes pierced the ground at random places near them, seemingly aiming to impale them. Whether they managed to dodge it, or whether they even awoke the creature, it was clear that there was something sleeping right underneath them all these times.

 

---

 

The book that Erin managed to take was labeled as D, and while it was still frozen, perhaps they could try thawing it off without breaking it. If they managed to do it, they would be able to read a similar sounding inscription that they found in the previous book. The book, while it was still being written in the incomprehensible language that had been plaguing the other books, had several illustrations inside of it. Those were...actually quite gruesome. While not exactly graphic, what were depicted inside were the fetuses of different creatures, along with what seemingly sliced tissue samples being stapled to some of the pages, although it wasn't really clear due to the state of the book when it was found.

 

The other two piles still had the gold glimmer on them, and there was a chance that the other books could be found on both piles, although there was also a chance that one or both of them were duds that would trigger something else.

 

Whatever their choice would be, the state of the surface they were standing in did not seem to support idling around for too long, and the bodies stuffed on the fridge only made things more worrying if they would like to take their time with this.

 

"At first, there was nothing.

 

The beginning is always an end to something else, and thus, that is the burden of the first.

 

Four marks death, but even it would embrace the first without mercy.

 

Like a mindless abomination, it EAT with no consideration.

 

And thus, the first light disappears, swallowed by the cold darkness."

 

If either of the two read the passage, a rumbling noise, like what you would hear from a hungry person, would be audible on the room for several seconds before stopping. Perhaps they weren't the only two people here all these times.

 

---

[Alaina]

As the blade of the bird lady struck through the side of the bear, things seemed to go incredibly easy. The bear soon caught fire from Strio's blade, with it spreading across its entire body far easier than it ever should against a living creature. In hardly anytime at all, the beast burned to the ground, turning to ash as if it weren't even really a living creature to begin with. Being a bit curious about the whole thing, Strio was about to call out to her rather flippant ally, when oddities continued to happen in this odd room of nature. While they were under some amount of shade due to the canopy of the trees, it seemed that the shade around them seemed to deepen, as the light from her flames became more pronounced in contrast. Nevertheless, rather than looking into this matter further, she instead went to go aid her wolfen companion, who seemed to be having a bit of an issue with the tigers that had assailed them earlier. Rushing after them, Strio ran into the patch of the woods that Sayla was in and struck her blade at one of the tigers pouncing at her ally.