Chronicles of The Omniverse Archived Tiranoth: Dainshire Plaza

Fishman

Broseidon
Benefactor
The evening sun had just started to touch the horizon and run a streak of red across the sky. Traffic had just begun to pick up with the hum of cars, the clopping of hooves, and the shuffling of feet. Where the shadows stretched, the air cooled considerably, setting a chill into the skin of those who had it.

Making his way down the sidewalk, along with many others, was a man. His flesh clung to his skin like wet paper, revealing every curve and crevice of his skull, but he dressed nicely in a blouse, breeches, and a smooth, dark coat. He had a scarf wrapped around his mouth, covering the bulk of his features.

Normally, this man worked in the docks, but today he decided he wanted to go to a library.

And a very specific library, at that.
 
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Saercyi would be lounging behind the front desk of her library as she normally would, a book in hand and a cup of tea setting near her on the back area of the desk. It was a quaint library compared to the rest of Tiranoth as none of her tomes were inscribed to the Hex Library. Most of the books pertained to magic, alchemy, beasts, fauna, mathematics, philosophy, druidry, epics, tragedies, plays, and a small selection of books in a language that has been said to not be native to anywhere near to Tiranoth. Scholars and mages would often come by to attempt to decipher the manuscripts but Saercyi would never allow the books to leave the store, they were precious to her. She shifted in her seat to get more comfortable, reaching down to take the cup of tea in her fingers and bring it to her mouth. It wafted trails of steam from the liquid as she sipped it, sending a sweet smell into the already sweet smelling room. To any who could smell it would have a hint of mint, roses, and apples that filled the small space of the library. It was a quiet night, no one in the library at the time, but she sat waiting.
 
Walking in, the first thing that the young undead saw was the elven woman. He paused at the door briefly, as though concussed, but then gathered himself. "Hello," he mumbled, walking inside. He took a glance around the establishment, and though he hadn't any eyes to use, he saw everything perfectly.

"I've never seen this place before," he told the young elf. "How long have you been here?"
 
Saercyi would look up from her book, her eyes glowing a bright blue in the darkness. She'd smile gently at the undead youth, the kind of smile that radiated warmth. "Hello. Welcome to my library." She'd hear him express his thoughts and close the book as she set it onto her counter. "I've been here for roughly nine years. Is there anything I could help you find? Most of my books pertain to things of magic and nature, I have works of fiction as well if you'd like. Or perhaps you wanted to see something more rare?" She asked, folding one leg over the other as she kept her eyes on the youth. Her gaze brought on an uneasy feeling of being looked through, her true sight looking beyond the youth before her.
 
The undead had many sources of unease now. He pulled at the collar of his coat, as though to fan himself before realizing that it wasn't doing a thing because he was dead. Slight embarrassed, he patted down his collar. "Nine years? You don't say. Maybe I just don't come into Dainshire much. Um, I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, really. I suppose I'm getting tired waiting around at work. Having some reading material might help with... with the boredom."
 
Saercyi hummed to herself, pursing her lips as she stood up. She moved around the counter as she moved along the shelves, looking at the titles of the books as she went. The way she moved was slow and graceful, each step so smooth that she appeared to be floating along the ground on her bare feet. "Well if it's to alleviate boredom, may I suggest a work of fiction? Do you prefer heroism or dramatics?" She asked, looking back up to the youth as she moved along.
 
"I... what do you like?" he asked the woman back, following her to the shelves. Her liveliness and her movements were so unnatural to him that they were mesmerizing. "And what are these other books? I can't recognize the languages on the covers at all."
 
"In terms of fiction?" She asked, stopping by a shelf to pluck a book from it. It was bound in a block cloth material with gold lettering on the spine, 'The Dragon's Fang'. "It would likely be this one. Drama, romance, and enticing conflict. Hard to go wrong." She'd offer the book to the youth before plucking another book from the shelf. This book was bound in white scale of some kind, thick flowing symbols scrawled along the spine and front face. "These are of my own collection, in the language of my people. There are none like them in this world, and I guard them closely. If you would like you could attempt to decipher the language, so long as you do not attempt to leave with it." She'd state, still smiling as she offered the white bound book as well. "It's your choice."
 
The young man took the first book and tucked it under his shoulder. "That... I'll take your word for it," he told her in a stutter. "I think I've seen this around. I-I could be mistaken, though."

When she handed him yet another book, he took it and looked it over. He opened it up and flipped through the pages, eyeing the strange symbols. "Has anyone ever been able to decipher them before?" he asked her.
 
"There are only two that I know of capable of doing so, but none are fluent enough to read it just yet. It takes them hours to advance one chapter." She'd express, keeping her eyes fixed on the youth as he looked through the pages of her book. "If you'd like to borrow the other book however, I will need a few details. Would that be alright with you?" At this point she was teasing the boy, her warm smile turning a shade of sly. She'd begin floating off to her counter, expecting him to follow her as she walked behind it to grab a library card. "All I would need is your name, place of residence, and a signature. It'll be in my own special ink, that way i'll be able to find you anywhere. So if you're late on returning my book i'll just come and scold you." She'd slide the card and a fountain pen across the top of the counter to the boy.
 
He did just as she expected, placing the white-scaled book down, but keeping the other that she had given him. "That... that's completely fine," he told her, attempting to return the smile, though the skin of his face was so stiff and thin, it came out flat and awkward. He wrote down all the information: name of Colin Gibbs, a young man who lived around Uisgare, near to the harbor. His signature wasn't the most glamorous, especially for what the elf would have been used to with undead customers who had decades of time to practice their penmanship, but it was passable.

"I-I'll be sure to be prompt, then," he laughed quetly. "W-wouldn't want the mates at the harbor wonderin' what I've done to bring a cute lass to our part of town."
 
Saercyi would take the card and look over it for a moment as she listened to Colin's comments. "Yes and I wouldn't go easy on you either. It would be a real dent to your pride to be berated by a woman in front of your friends." She'd remark with a smirk, not looking up from the card as she turned to enter the door behind the counter. "Excuse me. I need to copy this and file it away." The door would shut behind her when she walked into it, leaving Colin alone with the various books and near silence.
 
"Not just any woman," he said under his breath as she walked away.

When she vanished, the room felt as though it got a little colder. Colin was sure he wasn't familiar with that sense anymore. To fill the silence, he walked around and gazed at the books, trying his best to decipher what he could, but he never was a scholar in life. He wasn't certain he would do much better in undeath.
 
In the small moments that she would be gone and Colin would begin to search the books he would notice that there was one other living creature in the room besides Saercyi. A large, bigger than normal, bear would be curled up in a corner breathing lightly. What would sound like an air conditioning unit to Colin had actually been this bear.

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Colin paused.

He saw new things in Tiranoth all the time. Every type of undead, some dragons, fish women, demons... but he couldn't recall having ever seen a bear within the city. A living one, at that. Without much caution, he approached it and knelt down before the creature.

"Well, how strange you are. You must belong to the Elf woman."
 
"Saercyi. My name is Saercyi, Mr. Gibbs. Oh, and do be careful of Neynin, she enjoys her beauty rest." Looking up from her laying position Neynin would look up to Colin, her eyes glowing unnaturally with a blue light. The bear would rise from the floor, the wood creaking in response, and the true size of her could be measured. Just standing on her four legs, without rising up too far, Neynin stood taller than Colin. Hot air would puff from her nostrils before Neynin would begin to stomp her way between the shelves, the space between being appropriate for a creature her size. She'd stomp over to the counter and move behind Saercyi who had returned. The door to the office behind the door would open as if on its own to allow the bear through. If he watched closely enough the door would increase in width to accommodate the massive bear.

Saercyi would look up to Colin, her smile ever present. "Come, I have your card. I suggest keeping it on yourself if you feel you will be unable to make it here by the end of the week limit. That way I may come and procure the book from you." She'd wait for Colin to approach the counter before passing him his library card. Down near the bottom, where his signature would be, there was a small rune. It would be easily assumed that this is what she used to trace whoever had her book. "And if I find that you attempted to steal my book and toss this card away, I ask that you remember that you have given me your signature, written in my personal ink. I shall let your knowledge of magic and contracts adventure down that train of that. Needless to say, i've never lost any of my books, Mr. Gibbs." The last comment brought a small change to her smile, making her seem more like a predator than a simple librarian.
 
Colin marveled at the creature as it passed him and carried his gaze to the elf woman. "Saercyi? Sae... that... right, I never asked. Forgiveness." He bowed his head shyly as he approached the woman, hollow skull looking onto the card. He took it into his bony hands and turned it over briefly.

"N-Noted," he said, shrinking a bit before her gaze. "I'll be sure to bring it back. I swear!" he reassured her. "On my unlife."

He tried so hard to grin, though the skin at the edges of his lips strained and threatened to tear. One would expect the man hadn't smiled since rising from the grave.
 
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