The Holy Capital of Stokbon, the time was afternoon and the weather was partly cloudy. The city held many districts and had a castle, a arena, a marketplace, and a slum. All the usual for a city of it's size and importance to the continent. Among the citizens, adventurers, mercenaries, and merchants, was a shadowy woman that moved swiftly through the city streets. Some thought she was a crazy noble due to her high class dress, but others were pretty sure she was a dark mage. Those who used such magic and obviously showcased that fact were not loved by the populace. Elizabeth had been thinking about last night at the underground catacombs. The voice and the endless winding tunnels of bone. She had done some further explorations but there was no sign of the crystal skull. Also the catacombs other passages were writhe with monsters. It was a truly more advanced area than she had thought from her first trek. Even good tactics and preparations did not make up for such a gap in power. She would need some followers to assist and more power for herself. Especially if the holder of the voice would require her to use more force to subservient it. Although what was really piquing her interest from the event was that the skull was named after the Ny-Rakath. A creation of H.P. Lovecraft. Could it be that in this dimension, the terrifying dark beings of his work were real? Had he like several others that Elizabeth suspected known of the dark gods of the other dimensions? She needed to know more. Elizabeth wanted to know how these beings may fit into this world and how they would impact her own plans. So she decided to head to a central hub of knowledge for the area. The grand library of Stokbon. Elizabeth would start her research here, and work her way to other sources. Upon reaching the library steps she looked it over from the outside. It was adequate enough. There should be something useful in this place. Moving into the great building, Merkaba would see scholars everywhere. The place was absolutely bustling with activity. Well, Stokbon certainly had it's share of readers didn't it? Making her way through the multi floor halls of books and tomes. Merkaba would seek any dark magic books, or histories about demons. Maybe even this worlds myths. She was not a starnger to researching so she would not ask anyone for the location of such books. Unless they were also of her craft. She needed to find references to this creature as it could be a link to her dark gods if not just the skull.
If Roland’s time with Nezuel proved one thing it was that he was seriously lacking in information regarding the magic in this world. The introductory descriptions given during character creation were vague and led Roland to believe they lacked usefulness but his time with the mage had proven otherwise. Sadly, the forlorn mage hadn’t been helpful in his description of his craft, despite his attempts to be. In fact it had left Roland more confused, than before. This wasn’t a good sign as he was sure to encounter more types of magic in the future and he needed to be prepared to deal with it. So he had asked the various individuals in the large city of Stokbon where would be the best place to learn more about the magic in this realm. Most directed him to the local holy temples, understandable for a holy city, but Roland and clergy of most religions rarely got along. So he pressed his questions to focus on more written accounts, and he was directed to the local library and promised that there would be at least some answers to his questions. It was surprisingly hard to find even with the best of instructions, but after an evening of searching he finally managed to locate it. He wasn’t sure what he had expected once he reached the libraries steps but the bustling pace of the various scribes who darted from stack to stack was admittedly not it. He struggled to make his way out of the more mundane collection of tax records and geography to the historical and religious sections, asking directions several times from the various scholars in the expansive building. Eventually he found himself in less popular section that was filled with a variety of different tomes which all seemed to be focused on a specific branch called Astramancy. He pulled a few of the lighter looking ones looking for brief descriptions, what he found wasn’t exactly helpful. Apparently the magic had no specific set of spells, but rather greatly depended upon what deity or being the power was derived by. Scowling, he pushed himself out of the section taking a few of the more basic tomes under his arm. He concluded that there were likely more basic magic classes he could find that would be easier to wrap his head around first. Specifically he moved to look for a book regarding the subject Nezuel had talked about, Thaumaturgy. During his search he came across another player character, a female with white hair, and red eyes, which if Roland had to guess was a practicing mage. Roland quickly affixed his most winning smile as he approached her, “This place is quite large isn’t it? “He asked rhetorically before continuing, “You wouldn’t happened to have come across any books regarding Thaumaturgy or voodoo have you?” He asked hoping she herself would be a better wealth of information than the tomes under his arm.
The first thing Merkaba would set out to do in this enormous place of knowledge. Would be to find her way to a area of the library that focused on magic studies, magical devices, magical history, and myths and legends. It may be that even in this world the mythos of Lovecraft was considered but a legend. Even if it was real. The dark witch walked silently through the aisles upon aisles of books, many common, others rare, some newer, some very old. As her red eyes ran up and down the selves, she began to see that while it was a impressive collection of tomes. It actually was lacking what she felt would be the very oldest of books. The age of some of these dated back maybe a few hundred years. Nothing that looked anywhere near a thousand. Damn, those books were likely kept in a separate place either here or elsewhere. To prevent damage or theft. Continuing anyway with her search in hopes of finding something useful. Merkaba entered a section of the library that had much fewer scholars. Here it was almost isolated save for the rare figure in dark robes. Yes, this was the area for darker magics. It impressed the witch that the capital city even held these tomes for visitors to view. Black magic tomes and beginners guides for those who sought the wondrous path of darkness. Some of the more specific grimoires looked to be have had there curses and hexes of protection broken n order to make them safe for reading. None of these books, however, no mater how dark they seemed, covered anything for a seeker of the highest levels of dark art mastery. Malefimancy, Necromancy, Demonmancy were all here but only one or two basic books about the later two. Hemomancy was literally one book that discussed what it did, how it originated, but nothing about how to properly perform anything useful to anyone who wanted to use it for their own ends. Pitiful censored library. This cake was certainly a lie. The only people who would care for this garbage would be scholars and beginner mages that had no ambition. Merkaba decided to look for the mythology section. At least those "legends and tall tales" may have something about Ny-Rakath. Continuing her search some more. A man would suddenly approach her. She tried to ignore him as her eyes scanned for something useful here. He smiled and asked something about Thaumaturgy and voodoo. More importantly Merkaba spotted a book that read "Ancient Demons of Forgotten Lore" along it's side. Finally! Snatching it greedily and opening it she began to flip through the many pages. Oh yes there was a man standing next to her wasn't there? Whatever, Merkaba placed the book onto a nearby table, passing by the guy completely. Sitting down and losing herself to her research. If the man were to look over her shoulder she would not even care. She was strangely in her own little world right now. As if being led by her dark gods. @Roland Rutledge
The white haired girl whisked past him without so much as a glance, instead eyeing a particular book on the shelf opposite of him, grabbing it and cracking it open immediately. Roland stood in stunned silence for a few seconds in one of the rare moments that he was at a loss of words. Recomposing himself he eyed the ghastly figure in front of him as she buried her nose deep into the book she held. “I think I know her type.” He thought silently as he began to walk around her, “A bookworm with no manners, likely a librarian type, the kind that kicks kids out for being too loud.” A mischievous smile slowly crept onto his lips. Sure he had come here to learn about magic, and sure the girl in front of him was likely a mage, but he doubted he’d get any information from her unless he got her attention anyway. So, he dropped his mission in favor for a bit of fun, after all he could always look for answers later. He completed a circuit around her catching the book’s title as he did so, “Ancient Demons of Forgotten Lore” it said, but its sheer voluminous size and small print indicated it wasn’t the child’s book the title made it seem that it would be. Instead as he had walked behind her, he saw a series of intricate drawings, and notations that looked closer to that of a math journal than book full of tales. Still he had what he needed and headed back to the location she had pulled the book from looking for anything similar. “Alreigh’s Compendium on Magical Lore, Beasts of Yemon, Carthuse’s doom….” Roland quietly rattled off as he eyed the section concerned that any of them would serve well for what he had planned. After several minutes for searching he found a smaller book hidden in the bottom shelf, squeezed between two large encyclopedias. He pulled it forth revealing a hand sized decrepit tome with a small summoning circle symbol emblazoned on the front. Opening the book revealed its title, “Zymandul’s Guide to Archaic Beings” quickly flipping past this led to a brief introductory paragraph that detailed the lives of an older race that lived near the shore and worshiped older gods from the sea. Roland shot a quick glance at Merkaba, making sure he was still being thoroughly ignored before turning his back towards her announcing his find out loud, seemingly to himself, “Ah, this should be good for a laugh! ‘Zymand’s Guide to the Drowned Gods’ surely this game can’t be serious.” Of course he ad-lipped the ‘drowned gods’ bit to help entice the plan along, being inspired by the mention of the sea based culture. He then pretended to read the book as loudly as plausible, meaning he made sure to clear his throat, and lick his fingers as he ‘fumbled’ with every page as he did so. After a few moments of this, he announced, “What rubbish, this is all just a rip off of Lovecraft.” In dramatic fashion he began to rip apart pages of the book in small sections quickly creating a pile of confetti at his feet, “Come on Ms. Librarian, let’s see you ignore me destroy your book….” Roland thought mischievously as he continued to destroy the tome in his hands. @Merkaba
Merkaba was turning pages quickly. The book had many legends and it was going to be important to separate what might be rubbish and wive's tales from actual history being told in the form of legend. Ancient history was not the focus of Elizabeth's research in the prime dimension but her occult knowledge may be helpful here. Ny-Rakath... where could she find a lead. She needed to find something about Lovecraft's writing or maybe one of the predecessors that followed suit. Anything regarding the outer gods or Cthulhu would be good. Merkaba simply needed something to branch her search off of. The man from earlier was walking around her being a general nuisance. What did he want? Oh right, voodoo or some such... whatever. He was unimportant. If he was seeking knowledge on the darker sides of magic. He would have to prove himself with actual work. Like she was doing. The darkness does not hold your hand like so many stories may say. It grants power but if you are weak you won't keep it for long. Several more pages of random tales. Looking at some of these was revealing to the witch however. It seemed that this continent was indeed based on the prime dimension's North America. The regions here were almost exactly like those of the fifty states. Interesting. So this was a world set after great calamity. How unfortunate that the dark gods did not claim this place when the human filth had fallen. Then she found something. It seemed vague but it spoke of a ancient cult that was supposedly disbanded long ago. A cult that praised Cthulhu! Perfect! She needed to read this some more. Even if they no longer existed they may have had some respect for the goat headed monstrosity called Ny-Rakath as well. Merkaba saw that the section was very short to her dismay. It was trying to write them off as forgotten and that there was nothing more to say other than they were mad and would do anything fro their dark god. Wonderful censured material. Merkaba heard the man that would not leave her alone tearing out pages from a book nearby. She attempted to ignore his ranting and focus on the passage. “What rubbish, this is all just a rip off of Lovecraft.” Rip... Rip... Rip... Merkaba continued reading... Rip... Rip... Rip... Merkaba kept reading... Rip... Rip... Rip... Sigh... Merkaba closed the book and sat motionless for a second. She had the information, regardless how little that she could get from that book. She needed more information about this cult somehow. For now though... a idiot was making a scene. Standing up and leaving the book on the table. The dark lady would look for at the confetti that was once pages of a book of probably a hundred years age. Her red eyes raised to his face. If that book had any Lovecraftian lore in it. He had just taken away additional clues for her current objective. Worse still, it was obvious he did it on purpose. "So because a literary construct is beyond your meager comprehension... you would rather tear it apart like a monkey than use a brain cell. What a pity." In truth, the witch knew he was doing it on purpose but could not let the chance to make a snarky retort go untaken. Not caring to continue this. She would pass by the man ignoring him again. Perhaps it was time to find another place to research. The library here was simply far too censured and controlled in it's material. As for the man, he could keep tearing up pages all day until the security dealt with him. She had no desire to attack or enact harmful revenge for his possible destruction of useful material. Doing that here would just cause her problems. Surely they had devices here to track curse or hexes used as well, so she let him be. Whether she would bump into him again she seriously doubted. Now to deal with looking into this cult. Also... ther was a quest she had been meaning to try. Grass Gnolls would make a fine little trial of her growing powers as well. Merkaba would need to take a break from her search for that. @Roland Rutledge
Dempsey entered the library quietly, feeling a little out of place. she was not accustomed to such somber environments, and instead preferred places that tolerated, or even openly encouraged unruly or boisterous behavior such as bars, dojos, and crowded market squares. This place was different, so quiet that she could hear the scuffs of boots on the stone floor, the soft rustle of pages being turned, and the occasional soft spoken words echoed through the halls like a shout. She had quite a bit of research to do though, and she would have to choke back her sudden attack of agoraphobia and delve deeper into the cloister-like building. She was genuinely impressed with the sheer size of the Stokbon library, and at first had trouble even finding the librarians desk. She approached meekly and made a quiet inquiry as to where she might locate readings on various subjects. The pale and elderly man simply handed her a slip of paper with brief directions and s series of numbers that he obviously couldn't care less whether she could actually make sense of. she took the slip hesitantly and began making her way into the bowels of the seemingly ancient library. Somewhere in the distance, the sound of paper ripping rhythmically both distracted and annoyed her, but she figured someone had a good reason, and continued onward toward her search. She was interested in cross referencing some texts on alchemy with a scroll she's been given by the silent monk who'd trained her in the art of mudras, hoping to gain more insight on both skills, and possible means to somehow combine the two skills. Truthfully, she just wanted to spend the day in peace and quiet, reflecting on her adventures so far, and if she learned something in the mean time, all the better. She knew that she'd be spending a lot more time in this place now that she'd taken her first steps on the path of being more than a mindless brawler. She was happy with her progress thus far, but she couldn't help but feel that more often than not she was patronized and regarded as a child, if only for the lack of more involved and advanced skills. When she made her character, she hadn't put that kind of though into it, and simply chose skills that looked interesting or sounded fun, and even among those, she'd neglected Alchemy until she was practically forced to invest in it. She would begin her studies in earnest, and someday emerge as a different person that would demand respect for more reasons than her ability to 'punch things real good'. Her inflection ended as she reached the row of books that had been her ultimate destination since setting out for the vast library. She paced slowly down the aisle, and it was at this point that her phase dove decided to emerge from hiding and land on her shoulder, settling in and letting out a contented coo. This startled and distracted her momentarily as she wondered if animals were even allowed in this place. Probably not, but it was unlikely that anyone who cared enough to make a fuss would see her this far back. She dismissed the thought offhandedly, deciding that there was no point in dwelling on things she couldn't control. Instead, she referenced the slip of paper she'd been handed and began searching for corresponding texts, until she had a stack of three in hand. Next, she looked for somewhere to sit, and settled on a table in an out of the way corner. She reasoned that she'd need a bit of room to spread out her study materials, and that the wooden chairs that lined it looked slightly less uncomfortable than the benches that dotted the walls of the library. She was just about to begin when a familiar voice floated from somewhere nearby; "So because a literary construct is beyond your meager comprehension... you would rather tear it apart like a monkey than use a brain cell. What a pity." Dempsey recognized the voice, and was not surprised to find Merkaba here; she was the one whom originally recommended the place to her. She decided to indulge herself with one little distraction before beginning, and let out a loud almost-whisper: "Merkaba! Hi! I found the library!"
Rip… Rip… Rip… As the pieces of paper fell at Roland’s feet he couldn’t but help flashing a toothy grin at Merkaba when she finally relented acknowledging his presence with a snarky remark. Of course, immediately afterwards she returned to her disdainful attitude to his presence there, passing by him once more pointedly ignoring his blatant destruction. Whoever she was, clearly dealing with people were not high on her priority, and Roland was now content to leave it at that. Wiping the mirthful grin of his face he peered downward at the mess he had made with the old book contemplating its value. Roland realized that while it was true, that the book could have very well been the only copy of this tome. "Comprising of one’s and zero’s I know the original data that the book stored was not actually erased but rather converted into a different format, IE pieces of paper. Still somewhere in the database for the game the information on the textbook still exists." Roland thought which led to an existential line of questioning. "If I destroy the book in game, is it really destroyed? The practical answer is, no, it still exists in the core of the game's code. However, as the game will likely not recycle the exact information again into a format to be read by humans, in a sense I destroyed something that will never be read again." "In turn, one could take the same principles to the NPCs in the world, I suppose. When one dies, it would have consisted of much of the same traits of the book, but the specific code of that NPC would never be seen again. Any and every dialogue, and interface option would forever be erased from the game’s environment. If one considered this in regards to and NPC verses a human’s virtual life-". Roland shook his head, ending the thought process as he placed the book back in a random shelf. He was clearly wasting his time standing here pondering esoteric morality. Looking back at his interactions with the girl, likely his playful taunting was merely a tactic to distract himself from the tedious chore of researching the in game magic system here in the library. He eyed the books he had set aside earlier, which detailed some of the beginner level magic schools. “I guess I know what I need to do.” He said softly as he grabbed the tomes with a sigh. He’s have to sit and actually read them, clearly there wasn’t going to be someone willing to sit and spell it all out for him spell by spell. It would be a pain, but quite honestly he had the time. “I wonder if I can find a tavern at least dry enough not to ruin these,” Roland said to himself out loud as he wandered away, thoughts shifting to yet another diversion that would ever prevent him from actually doing what he had set out to do. Pausing he thought he heard someone behind him, “Probably that girl talking to herself,” he thought as walked away suddenly remembering the last tavern he had been too whistling a tune he had heard while he was there. As he passed through the library’s alcoves the interactions with the girl slowly faded from his mind as he swiftly forgot ever meeting her here. (OOC: Roland exits)
