Solo Questions & Answers Pt II

[Alric Lysane]

22nd Fall 521 AV – The Library & Alric’s Home Finally he felt as if he could be and about actually doing anything, setting off into the world still filled with sniffles but at least having lost most of the cough and the aches and pains. The world wasn’t swimming anymore either which was an advantage when as he was weaving his way through the streets. He had an order to retrieve and he hoped that it hadn’t been scrapped and his miza taken for naught. He was sure Remmy was on the level but one never could tell in the cesspit of Sunberth. At any rate there was nothing he could have done about it and so it was in the hands of Lhex. As he trudged he pulled his cloak about himself somewhat tighter than normal – he was better but he didn’t want to catch another chill that would finish him off. He went over the speculations he had rolled around in his head whilst confined to his shanty shack. He had had little else to do but drink, eat, sleep and think and so his thoughts had turned inevitably to the job he had been asked to fulfil this season – Craven hunting. The more had thought of it the more he had become firm in his belief that the chaotic past – much more chaotic than the Sunberth present – would be where he would find what little answers may remain. He pushed his way into the Library and cleared his throat to stave off any coughs. “He returns, been a while. Thought you’d been killed” “Many have tried” he sniffed. “And looks like illness almost succeeded” “Thanks for letting me know I look like shyke” he half-smiled. “No one looks good after having the chills lad. Still, nothing better for being alone athome than a book to read. It was an interesting one to copy too…few things in there even I hadn’t read before” “That so? Care to enlighten?” “No…no I think it best you find out for yourself. I left a few markers in for you to use, scrap parchment mostly, there were a few blank pages anyway and I always give accurate copies…so have fun using them for notes. Think you’ll need them. Want some quills?” “How much?” “Standard prices, they’re mine but I can always get more” “Sure thing… why not? Five quills and some ink then” He handed over the miza and took the items packaged up with the copied book and looked at Remmy for a time, blinking bleary eyes. Despite his residual illness he could feel his curiosity tingling once more. This sounded like something of great interest. He wondered what he would discover. “These are just legend right?” he asked an nonchalantly as he could manage. “Find out for yourself” He sniffled, nodded and left, trudging back the way he had come, back to his shanty home. Barrel in front of the door, fire blown back into blazing and logs added he sat at the table, angled so reading were easier by the flickering glow of the fire. He took out the scrap pieces of parchment and lay them out in a small pile, ink pot and quills nearby. It wouldn’t make much for notes but he fancied he’d be reading anyway at least once before he’d be writing anything. He traced his fingers across the spine and cover, reading the title in the middle. “Tales of Obel, Ordreck and Olsten - Collected Accounts” he said to himself, opening it to the first page and beginning to read.

[Alric Lysane]

He was no master investigator or researcher, but he was possessed of some common sense and a few scattered memories of his past and the advice imparted by his parents. He knew that more would surface in time and with effort, but he was not entirely sure whether he wanted to remember it all after what he had experienced so far. He’d take the good and leave the bad if he could but it had been intimated that that was not the way it worked. So he’d have to like it or lump it and in many ways he knew it was a positive thing. Truth and knowledge mattered much to many, even in Sunberth despite its anarchic darkness, and he’d await further revelations with a cautious curiosity. “And then we have this,” he muttered to himself, looking upon the book before him, “a collection of tales and legends, comments and perhaps some history. We start from the beginning, then the end and then see where it goes” he continued. He flicked through the first handful of rough pages, he knew it was usually best to start by trying to discern some sort of structure to whatever you were studying – be it a building or a book. Either way to get at its hidden gems you had to know the layout, try to fathom the routines and rhythms of the thing and infer from it as best as you could. The first thing he noticed was that there was no real contents section. Flicking through more pages he saw that there were rough headings and sections of commentary breaking up what looked to be personal accounts or stories but nothing that could be called official structure. That makes it harder, means you need to delve deeper before you might be ready to try to wrestle enough information to be useful. A longer and more tedious business usually he noted to himself. He pushed the quills, ink and parchment sheets carefully away for now – he would not need them for a while with this new discovery. No, he would have to read at least once all the way through, at least a surface scanning, to know how to approach and narrow his focus. He settled in by the light of the fire and read. He kept it quick and surface for now – he’d read it thoroughly and fully the second, third and fourth time through. For the first reading he looked for titles, headings, central themes and particularly noteworthy quotes that might act as guidepost references for additional forays into the text. It took a while longer than he first thought it might, the order of the copied text had either been badly screwed up by Remmy – something he doubted – or it had never been particularly decent. That in itself was noteworthy as it meant it had been put together by an amateur. Or at least that was the most likely thing – it was also possible it had been put together by a master seeking to hide information in the clutter. For now he went with the former as it made more sense – Sunberth had not been a very literate hive of scum and villainy on quite some time. Not even sure it was that much inclined even directly after the Valterrian and the emergence from shelter he noted with a nod to himself. By the end he had at least worked out that there were four sections really – one each for the three central characters of the title and a last one for random stories, anecdotes and surrounding contextual knowledge. It was a rough and ready structure though, with no defined boundaries between them and they bled into each other a bit from what Alric could reason from a skim-reading. He took a few chimes to light his pipe and puff away at it for a time, scratching his chin, staring at the flames in the hearth and frowning in thought. He hadn’t thought this investigating thing would take as much work as it had. To be true he had some skill in the art but this had tested him beyond his previous limits. “Never would’ve traversed the Dust Beds multiple times for starters, just to be sure. I wonder why things are different this season?” he mused aloud to himself before puffing a few more times, smoke curling around his face, and deciding to press on with the deeper read before the day became too late.