Scatter the Pieces [IC]

[Starwulf]

"The C section in History you say? How interesting. I seem to remember something, right in the back of my mind" here he trails off, unsure as to what's floating around inside his brain If you'll give me a few moments to think, I might be able to call that information forward. Hopefully it's something important he says, a bit unsure of himself.

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Knowledge: History Check: (1d20+6)[21]

[SPoD]

When Eztra realized that there was not a creature pelting body parts through a window, she slumped to the ground in relief. She hadn't realized how tense she had been at the thought of more violence, but the tiny stars winked out one by one as she buried he face in her mittens.

Sorra and the others were investigating the lantern, asking questions, looking at books. She knew that she was supposed to be helping. That's what you did when something unexplained happened. But there was so much unexplained...so much without answers...what was the point? Were they going to find a book titled Why Giants Attack? Or perhaps Violating Sacred Covenants for Fun and Profit? She almost laughed bitterly at the last thought, but she caught herself in time. No laughing today.

After a few minutes, her momentary depression had passed and she rose to join the others in their search. She looked at Sorra and Samuel. "Do you think the giants did this...over a history book?" Eztra had not thought it possible for an explanation to make less sense than an unanswered question, but there it was.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

"C for Casli..." Magdi muttered to herself, "Not that poor Nohar was around in the 200s." she sighed, staring at the sooty slightly dribbly mound, "I never thought to ask him about his family. We always talked about silly things like height jokes and how to disguise accidental damage on book jackets - and the weird excuses the scholars came up with sometimes for not bringing a book back on time."
When Eztra asked her question Magdi turned.
"Mr Casli used to give books out to anyone he was a big believer in freedom of information... I've never known him to say "no" to anybody... And now he's burned a whole section of his books. And himself." she winced, Do you suppose he honestly meant to do that too?" she asked nobody specifically. "I suppose if he was frightened that they might be able to coax the information out of him..." she tailed off, "I don't like thinking about it. Could he have known the giants were coming...? It doesn't make sense. Why wouldn't he have warned us? Did it happen too quickly? Were they making terrible threats? It just..."

She stomped her little feet and let out a small growl. "Why did you do it, Nohar?" she pondered aloud as she paced back and forth behind the others, clustered around the shelf. "Am I forgetting something important?"

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For want of something to do I'll do a Local Knowledge check, if that's ok, to see if Magdi remembers anything notable about Nohar Casli from local gossip or whatever. Feel free to ignore this if it's not relevant!
Knowledge (Local): (1d20+8)[23]

[PollyOliver]

"I don't know," Sorra says to Eztra, staring at the burned-out shelves. "Maybe not just because. But it had to be important. And why is the only thing we have to go on." Why might lead to where, and then....

She shakes her head to clear it. "Sam, can you think of anyone else who might have been in this section? It might have just been this book, but I don't think he'd burn all the shelves if it was."

Sorra looks down again at the book in her hands. Of Heaven and Earth. She frowns at it. Volume II.

"Do you remember if volume I was here as well?" she asks. "Or any others?"

[Eleanor_Rigby]

Magdi paused her pacing momentarily and shuffled forward to look at the book's cover. "Celyni Aedlara... if the first volume, or any subsequent ones, was written by the same author then I'd guess they're lost now too."

[SPoD]

he shakes her head to clear it. "Sam, can you think of anyone else who might have been in this section? It might have just been this book, but I don't think he'd burn all the shelves if it was."

"I can think of a reason he might have burned them all, actually," Eztra says tentatively. "What if the location of the information that he was looking to conceal could be inferred from its absence? Sort of how like you knew there was a Volume I of that book, simply by virtue of the fact that there's a Volume II."

She pauses and looks back at the makeshift firepit. "There's another thing: It seems very unlikely to me that a bookbinder would bind the second volume in fireproof board...and not bind the first the same way." Left unspoken was the fact that there was no green binding board left sitting in the now-extinguished fire.

"I think it's possible that it wasn't this book he was trying to protect at all, but rather its mate. And if that's the case," she takes a deep breath and then exhales, "I think he may have failed."

[Eleanor_Rigby]

"But why risk leaving volume I intact if the information within it was so dangerous? she closed her eyes trying to think of a reasonable next step. It all felt a bit pointless now, especially if Eztra was right and Mr Vasli had deliberately burned himself alive and not even achieved his goal.
"I wonder if there are any surviving books on Aedlara Clyeni, the author?"

[Ajadea]

Magdi

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The first thing that comes to mind is a convoluted story about a traveling circus, the second edition of The Theory of Creation Magic, ten packets of chewy molasses candy, and a troll's left ear. You heard it from students gossiping in the library. Apparently, this was meant to explain why the aforementioned book came back three weeks late without its autographed cover. Nohar winked and sent the student on the way without fining him a single copper piece.

Nohar had been here 'forever' according to this kid dwarf who kept showing up in the Philosophy section during the oddest hours. He was here before all of the other librarians who worked here. He knew every last nook and cranny in the library better than the palm of his hand-where to go if you're hiding from your teacher, the partially hidden really steep staircase in the back of Culture [Elven] that took you up to Medicine and Healing Magic [Myrain], the absolute best place to host a study group or a secret chess tournament, the only balcony in the library you can test your spells off and never hit a single shelf, that one really nice place that had a stunning view of the Northern Lights, all of it. If you had a question, you went to Nohar Casli.

Not that you could find him often-like all his gnome kin, he could leave and return without anyone ever knowing of it.

Nohar was nearly as mad about life as one of the worshippers of Nauhasae, though he didn't much care for the goddess herself. He wouldn't commit suicide. But...he would die to protect something, or someone. He wasn't afraid of death.

Samuel

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The 200s wasn't a particularly active period in Erlise. Mostly, people sat around and cannibalized bits of Nidassan culture into Erlisan culture and built cities. Hartha was dealing with a surge of rebellious slaves. Kammesh was dealing with the little issue of a diarch who wouldn't step down despite being rather firmly thrashed, which started a minor civil war and let Hartha conquer the majority of South Kammesh. The elves were probably doing something interesting, but they are notoriously close-mouthed about anything that could be considered cool that happened less than 2000 years ago. That makes the presence of this book more interesting certainly, as the 200's were a good deal less than 2000 years ago.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

"Maybe they'd have something in the Elven Culture section..." Magdi mused, still wondering about the author. "Of course, the whole section's probably all in Elven...it was just in front of a really steep staircase I think..."
She took a few steps forward, glancing about her hoping the stonework wouldn't come down about her ears.

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Er... Knowledge Check [Architecture and Engineering] to try and find the Culture[Elven] section...?
Knowledge: (1d20+6)[8]

[SPoD]

"But why risk leaving volume I intact if the information within it was so dangerous?"

"We don't know what happened here. We don't know that he made a choice at all. Maybe he dumped both volumes in the fire just as someone came in, and they were able to snatch one of them out before all the pages burned. Or maybe he didn't remember which volume of the book the information was in. Maybe...maybe the information was repeated in more than one book, and he had burned all the other ones first."

"Or maybe..." she thought for a moment before finding a slightly happier scenario, "Maybe the important stuff was in Volume II, and the attackers took the other book afterwards, so they would have an easier time tracking down another copy?" She didn't really believe that last idea, but she thought it would be good to give poor Magdi hope that maybe his death wasn't in vain. Everyone else's was, but maybe not his.

Still, even her optimistic suggestion had a darker side: If the people who did this didn't get what they wanted out of it, then some other town was at risk of suffering the same fate. Eztra's stomach turned at the prospect.

[Starwulf]

"Ahh, yes, now I remember!" Samuel nearly shouted as he had an epiphany of what book they had the cover of There was one particular book, that was an Elvish book I do believe, which is very, very rare, simply because as we all know, Elves are notoriously close-lipped about anything they've done that didn't happen 2,000 or more years ago, and the 200's were considerably LESS" he said the last word with great emphasis "then 2,000 years ago. so, whatever was in that book, it either, as you all have deduced, made reference to another book that contained very important information, or it itself contained important information. Given the librarians love for books, if it had been that rare and important, I'm not sure he would have burned it, even if it was what the giants were looking for" taking a breath as he finished, Samuel looked around at his companions to see their responses

[SPoD]

After Samuel spills forth with a short dissertation--as seems to be his most common response to things--Eztra decides to take more of a look around on her own. "I don't think we're going to learn anything standing around speculating," she says. "Magdi, you said something about a staircase?"

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Taking a Search around the room, for what it's worth, to see what I can see...

Search: (1d20+2)[15]

[SPoD]

Elves are notoriously close-lipped about anything they've done that didn't happen 2,000 or more years ago, and the 200's were considerably LESS" he said the last word with great emphasis "then 2,000 years ago. so, whatever was in that book, it either, as you all have deduced, made reference to another book that contained very important information, or it itself contained important information.s

After stepping away from Samuel and searching for a moment, Eztra turned his words over in her mind. Of Heaven and Earth. 200 years ago. Was there something...? Did something happen? A conjunction? The Dead Man, perhaps? She couldn't remember. If her teacher was here, he would probably know, but...but if her teacher was here, she wouldn't need to know.

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Probably grasping at straws, but Profession (Astrology) to see if there were any notable astrological convergences 200 years ago, particularly ones that might be coming up again.

EDIT: Whoops, botched my roll code. will roll in OOC.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

It took a few moments before Magdi realised Eztra had asked her a question.
"A staircase...?" she blinked,"Oh right. Yep... staircase behind Elven Culture. Yes, it was a dinky little thing, almost completely vertical... don't know that we'd want to go up that one after the storming of the city. I thought I might be able to find it again but... no luck. Anyway the Elven Culture section was right in front of that... not that it was too easy to see. Here, I'll try and help you look..."

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Search: (1d20+4)[24]

[Ajadea]

Magdi is able to recall and lead you to what was the elven culture section. It is somewhat more intact than the previous room, though the looming bookcases do not look particularly stable. Books are scattered over the floor, and it seems one of the shelves has already fallen down. There is indeed a door hidden behind one of the bookshelves. The handle is more of a pair of holes in the wood than anything else, but as the door is, apparently, a halfling-style sliding door, it still should not be overly hard to get it open. Given that the bookshelf it is hidden behind looks particularly unstable however, opening the door may not be the wisest idea.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

"Well... here we are." Magdi announced somewhat needlessly. She crouched down and looked at the little passageway.
"Now I wonder which of the four of us will be squeezing through there?" she grinned, observing its scale.

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Maybe another go at that architecture and technology knowledge check, just to see if there's a way to get in without it caving in. (1d20+6)[24]

[SPoD]

"Hey, guys! I think Magdi found a secret door back here," Eztra called to the other two. Looking at the bookcase wobble, she added, "I think maybe we should just knock the shelving down ourselves rather than wait for it to fall on us. I mean, it's not like it'll be any messier than the rest of this place." She motioned to include the room, then the library, then the rest of the city.

She looked to Sorra for confirmation that this was an acceptable plan, then began examining to see where or how the shelving is secured to the wall.

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Trying to figure out if the bookshelf is attached to the wall, or just standing next to it. In other words, can it just be pushed over with sufficient Strength, or is there anything holding it up

[SPoD]

The shelf was tall and looked heavy, and the stars knew that Eztra was no warrior to push it over. She looked at her companions; Samuel was probably the strongest, but he was sporting a physique that could charitably be described as, "slim." Eztra attempted to see how the shelf was attached to the wall, but finding no fasteners, she turned her attentions to the floor.

Cracks in the tile were making the shelving unstable. If a few cracks made it unstable...

She felt it uncurl in the back of her skull. It had been quite upset at the lack of a proper outing earlier and now saw an opportunity to be useful. She knew she couldn't keep it in much longer; if she didn't let it out once in a while, it would find its own way. A waiter's cup smashed, a carried bucket splintered. It would make her pay for it later.

She looked at the other three again. They would have to find out eventually anyway. She took a deep breath. "Magdi, I need you to leave the room for a moment. That goes for the rest of you, too." She was more forceful than they had seen her act up until that point, even gently guiding Sorra away from the doorway. She ushered them out to the entranceway of the Elven Culture section, turned around, and looked at the place where the bookshelf rested on the tile.

Well, she thought, I can't pretend to be normal forever.

"Floor," she began, addressing it, "I know you've had a very bad day. We all have. And I appreciate that it's your job to hold things up. You've been doing it very well. But right now, I need that bookshelf TO COME DOWN."

The word escaped her lips and erupted into the air like a thousand fiddles scraped across a washboard. This was not speech, not as mortals understood it, nor was it any form of spell. This was a direct request from one part of the universe to another, using a tongue that most of the molecules that made up the cosmos had long since forgotten. Whether in obedience or due to the shriek of the sound itself, the tiles shattered into dozens more pieces, filling the air with ceramic dust and debris.

In the long pregnant moment that followed, Eztra watched the bookcase to see if it would tip.

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Using my Baleful Utterance invocation to shatter the ceramic tile. If some cracks are making it wobbly, shattering them may make it tip over and fall. The shatter spell itself is automatically successful against unattended objects, but the question of whether or not it will help tip the bookcase is of course the question.

[Ajadea]

The tiles hum and burst as one, the force of the magic ceramic explosion sending the bookshelf down with a loud THUD. Books, scrolls, and bits of tile go flying everywhere, the floor makes an ominous creaking sort of sound, and Eztra gets a faceful of chalk-white tile dust. The shelf is down, though, which is the important thing. The door is now very easily accessible.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

Magdi stared wide eyed, ears en point. "And there was me thinking you were "just" a rich tourist!" she joked once the dust had settled somewhat, giving Eztra a congratulatory pat on the elbow (at Magdi's height people's backs could sometimes be awkward to reach and their shoulders were usually inaccessable) as she skipped through the doorway. "That ought to teach me about making silly assumptions, eh?" she sidestepped a few loose books and picked her way through to the passageway. "Shall I have a look inside?"
The goblin stuck her fingers through the little holes drilled into the door and cautiously slid it open.

[PollyOliver]

Sorra lets Eztra push her to the doorway, but does not budge much past that, peering into the room as the other girl starts to talk to the floor.

Has she cracked? Sorra thinks, hoping the poor child is okay and simply knows something she doesn't.

She ducks away as the floor shatters, and then mimics Magdi's gesture as she walks past to the newly-revealed door, putting herself between Eztra and Sam and whatever might be behind it as it opens.

[Ajadea]

The stairs are really steep, going up at least nine feet within fourteen steps and taking a sharp right turn into darkness. They are really quite narrow too. Three feet across would be a charitable assumption. The steps are about 8 inches wide each, not much shorter, and made of stone that looks to be as damaged as the skin of the single slain frost giant. But the edges of the cuts and pinprick holes in the stone are worn smooth as river rock-perhaps by the thousands upon thousands of little feet that must have walked these stairs. There is no railing to hold on to in order to assist with the treacherous-looking ascent, only the smooth stone that makes-no, made up so much of the Spire. Not a single rune or flash of color from old paintings, not a torch bracket or lamp shelf, not even graffiti or candle wax from students graces the wall.

'Dinky little thing' is a very good description of the stairs, it seems.

[PollyOliver]

Sorra holds her sickle up before her and edges a little closer, eying the staircase dubiously.

"It's awful small," she says. "Does anyone know where it might go?"

[SPoD]

Eztra watched the bookcase fall with a crash, sending debris everywhere--not that anyone would notice the difference between this room and every other in the city. She exhaled, not realizing until that moment that she had been holding her breath. "Thank you, Floor," she said as she bowed, "You may rest now."

Then, she waited for it. What were they going to call her? Witch? Demon? Accursed? She had heard all in her time. Or would they go the other way, proclaim her a saint or an archon and prostrate themselves? No, not these three. She turned when she didn't hear their condemnation; they must be speechless with shock and horror. She wiped ceramic dust from her eyes, ready to bear the worst they had to—

Magdi stared wide eyed, ears en point. "And there was me thinking you were "just" a rich tourist!" she joked once the dust had settled somewhat, giving Eztra a congratulatory pat on the elbow (at Magdi's height people's backs could sometimes be awkward to reach and their shoulders were usually inaccessable) as she skipped through the doorway. "That ought to teach me about making silly assumptions, eh?"

She ducks away as the floor shatters, and then mimics Magdi's gesture as she walks past to the newly-revealed door, putting herself between Eztra and Sam and whatever might be behind it as it opens.

Eztra did not expect herself to be the one speechless with shock. They didn't care. They honestly didn't care that she could talk to the floor (even if her vocabulary was sharply limitedd). They were just happy she had gotten the bookcase down.

Eztra closed her mouth, smiled, and followed Sorra to look at the stairs up.

She shakes her head no in answer to Sorra's question.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

Magdi examined the staircase ruefully.
"I've not used it before," she confessed, "But I think it's supposed to lead to the Medicine and Healing Magic department... the Myrain bit maybe?"
She glanced back at her companions, somewhat reluctant.
"My eyesight's probably better than yours for a dark stair like that, no offense, but it's quite steep. It's probably just as well it leads to a bunch of medical books. I might need them." she tried to laugh it off.

[SPoD]

Eztra looked at the stairs carefully. "I think, in all honesty, that I will fracture my leg if I try to climb that," she said quietly. The stairs looked slippery and hard; it almost hurt her bones just thinking about it.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

"Well I suppose if Nohar did try to hide something specifically from giants they'd probably not have been able to go through there to find it..." she rested her palms on one of the stairs and tried to look upwards, straining her eyes in the darkness, hoping she might see something quite low down that the others couldn't. She didn't want to climb those stairs either. She'd do it if she thought it would help make sense of the nightmare that had occurred on All Saints Day though.

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A thinly veiled allusion to Magdi's goblin dark vision abilities.

[Starwulf]

Samuel stares at Etzra in a bit of awe and shock as well, stunned to discover someone else in this little group had command of magic. "That was quite impressive Etzra, I had no idea you had command of the mystical energies. And to use it in such a spell at that! I've never seen anything quite like that. My own are much more" here he pauses slightly, then raises his voice and adds a bit of an inflection to it "Destructive, and they rely primarily on the elements. I only posses a few minor non-destructive spells, and I certainly can't speak to inanimate objects." Then, thinking for a moment, he turns toward Magdi. "I realize you can see better in the dark then others, but the rest of us can't. If you want us to follow you, perhaps I can use one of my few non-destructive spells and summon a globe of light.

[SPoD]

"That was quite impressive Etzra, I had no idea you had command of the mystical energies. And to use it in such a spell at that! I've never seen anything quite like that.

"it's not a spell," Eztra said very quietly, almost too quietly to hear. "I don't know anything about spells."

She did not elaborate further.

[Eleanor_Rigby]

Magdi backed up. "Well we don't have to go up right away," she said in a slightly higher voice than she'd meant to "I uhm... might have a little look around for a book that might mention the author of the book Nohar was holding." she cleared her throat, and sidled over to the closest pile of books, not looking at the others. "I uh... walked a little more briskly than I meant to aswell... might have got a 'hem... got a stitch or something." she crouched down and started digging through the dusty tomes, trying to hide the sense of shame she felt for chickening out of climbing those forboding steps.

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I'll go ahead and do another search roll to back up her story. Search: (1d20+4)[6]

The goblin muttered to herself and shuffled along a little further. At Eztra's response to Samuel she glanced up at the Hartali girl, "Well, whatever it was, you were very assertive," she smiled.