[Wright Library] The Weight of Books (Elem Bree)

[Avari]

Season of Spring, Day 8, 512 AV

Zeltiva had fallen on unsettled times after the great storm that had toppled its towers and dragged its piers below the sea, as destruction and disorder left their marks on every part of the city. Several days after the storm and resulting tidal wave, though, the redoubtable city was showing signs of rebuilding and renewal, even in the midst of suffering and struggle. Nowhere was this regeneration more evident than around the University, where artisans and reimancers bustled around the ancient buildings, busily devoted to the arduous and painstaking task of restoring the granite edifices that had collapsed during the storm. The presence of these artisans, reimancers, their assistants, and other workmen only added to the atmosphere of well-ordered, controlled chaos as students and professors were forced to dodge and sidestep them on their way to classes or rest.

To Avari, though, this chaos was all the good, for it served her purposes at the University just fine. In normal times, the Konti had feared that her somewhat shabby appearance and evident unfamiliarity with the campus would have drawn attention and curiosity when she only wanted to be left alone. With so many new people helping with repairs, though, no one gave the slender figure in a grey cloak, worn leather breeches, and broad-brimmed hat a second glance. She unobtrusively made her way through the crowds of people toward the library and opened the heavy doors into the somewhat disarrayed, but still awe-inspiring Wright Memorial Library.

The usual hush of the library was broken now, with hammers ringing and repair crews calling to each other and shouting orders across the vast space, heedless of the scholars and browsers attempting to study at desks or bent over catalogues. The ceiling loomed high above them all, and throughout the cavernous library the bookshelves that seemed to stretch on for miles, filled with books on hundreds of subjects in half a dozen languages. The scent of old paper, parchment, vellum, ink, and dust pervaded the air, the perfume of erudition, now mingled with the odors of sweat, lumber, and metal. Avari had visited the Opal Order library once and haunted her family's library as regularly as a ghost, but Wright Memorial Library dwarfed both of those like an ancient tree compared to year-old saplings.

She had to keep her jaw from dropping as she surveyed the magnificent library with wondering eyes. For a moment, Avari simply stood to one side of the doors, out of the flow of traffic, and admired the wealth of knowledge and scholasticism before her. If she could find the book or resource she was searching for anywhere, it would be here.

The thought brought the Konti back to her mission. After the strange encounter she'd had back in Fall with the two shadowy thief-like fellows who had introduced her to the worship of Yshul, she had been wondering how she could find out more about the goddess of thieves on her own. Unfortunately, it wasn't the sort of topic on which you could just find easily on any street corner or within the pages of just any book. If any goddess would have a secretive, slippery nature, it would be Yshul. Somewhere in this library, though, there had to be at least one book of legends about Yshul, or an account of her worshipers, or something that could add to Avari's scanty knowledge of the goddess.

She stalked forward through the aisles of bookshelves. Now that she was closer, Avari could see how books were tumbled this way and that and even the shelves themselves had been knocked askew by the impact of the storm. Along the walls, she noticed scaffolding had been erected so artisans could restore damage along the walls. Now and then, she even had to step over fallen fragments from the ceiling as she walked through the library.

Keeping her mind on her goal, Avari focused on the small signs on the ends of each bookshelf, denoting how the books were classified according to subject matter and title. There seemed to be some sort of complicated index system of alphabetical order and subject classification, and Avari tried to navigate it as best she could as she strode along shelf by shelf. Disappontingly, "Yshul" was not under Y, nor did she find "Goddess of Thieves" listed under G. "Thieves" wasn't under T in the Deities and Divinities section, either. Bewildered and frustrated, Avari turned around and around in the middle of the library, wondering if she had gotten herself lost or wandered down some wrong turning by mistake. She started tugging at books at random along the shelves, wondering if she might stumble upon what she was looking for by chance, considering that she clearly was having no luck finding it by design.

Honestly, how difficult could it be to find a single book?

[Elem Bree]

Elem had arrived at the Wright Memorial Library ready to learn. Although Zeltiva was rife with Konti, he felt an affinity for time honored recollections to complement personal attributions. Outside of the healers from Mura, his interaction with the race was rare. There had been Nira'lia, who had all but slipped in and out of his life, and Avari, whom he had seen with her beau at the Ball. A feisty one, for sure. He idly remembered how she had run off after the stabbing culprit.

His goals were set and fairly clear:

-Seek out information on Konti Isle

-Research the island and its city, Mura

-Learn what he could of Rak'keli and the Opal Order

With a clear plan and a day free of studies or work, he set to pulling books as he could find them. He had searched out the statuette of Rak'keli, Her face unmistakable to the young man. Following the shelves there, he found a small cache of treasure. A book called simply 'Mura' , a prayer book written to Rak'keli and several others. The prayer book and the Mura title were pulled carefully from the shelves as he made a mental note of where he had pulled them from. He still sought something of the Opal Order, however.

The other two books hanging in his left hand, his eyes scanned countless titles, leading him deeper into the shelving. The Library had taken a beating from the storm's force, but thankfully it appeared that most of the volumes remained dry. The thought of a blank book and a quill came to mind, but as it had not prior, he would just have to read and retain.

[Avari]

An irritable twitch was developing at the arch of one eyebrow and the signs of an incipient frown were curving Avari's lips as she stalked through the aisles of bookshelves. To her frustration, though, the aisle in which she currently found herself was full of volumes like Anecdotes of the Great Doctors or A History of Opal Order Matriarchs and Patriarchs. Eorar the Charoda would probably like these books, Avari thought wryly, assuming he wasn't making a fortune off whatever brilliant techniques he'd used to appear so convincingly human at the Winter Ball. Avari, however, had no use for them, not now and probably not ever.

Her impatient gaze scoured the long rows of books, discerning and dismissing the titles with the same rapidity with which she assessed potential pickpocketing targets on the streets. Avari was starting to feel the same rising anxiety that she had experienced when she ran off as a child into the Silverwood and got lost amid the trees. This was unfamiliar territory, and she needed a guide.

When her eyes ran into an obstruction as they traveled down the shelves, her frown deepened. A tall, dark-haired man was standing in front of the bookshelves, blocking her view of whatever came after the section of volumes about the Rakanivas. Absorbed in his search, the man turned slightly in her direction. There was something familiar in his strong-boned, benign features, and Avari's irritation changed into uncertain recognition. She had met him before, she was sure...but where?

She thought again about the Winter Ball, and suddenly she remembered. In her mind's eye, it was night outside the Archives Building, with bright candlelight and conversation spilling out from the windows of the West Wing. As the professors gathered inside the building to discuss their crisis, she, Eorar, and this fellow were pressing their ears against its doors to listen in on the professors' conversation within. Avari shivered, remembering the many chilling, unanswered questions from that night. The Konti had pushed them aside as best she could, but they arose every time she looked toward the bay and saw the obelisks rising from the waters.

This fellow had introduced himself as a student at the University that night, or an assistant of some sort, she remembered. What was his name again? Alan, Ellen...something like that...

"Elem!" she blurted aloud.

Hastily, Avari clapped a hand over her mouth, before a stern librarian came looking to silence her. Her expression brightened, though, at the thought of running into someone who worked at the University and probably knew his way around it very well. He certainly didn't look as lost as she felt among these inundated shelves.

More discreetly, she hesitantly reached out to tap his arm with a gloved hand in an attempt to get his attention. In a lower voice, she murmured to him, "Excuse me? Elem? That is your name, isn't it?"

The Konti smiled nervously. "I'm...well, you may not remember me, but we've met before, on the night of the Winter Ball. We both snuck out of the ball to hear what the professors were whispering to each other. That was a pretty...exciting night, wasn't it? Very eventful."

She ducked her head self-effacingly in a show of helplessness that she hoped looked charming to him. "Anyway...I was trying to find a book on a particular topic, but I can't make sense of this library's layout at all! I was wondering if you might be able to help me. Just...you know, point me to the right section where I should be looking or something like that. I'd be..." Here she lifted her eyes to meet his. "Very grateful, indeed."

[Elem Bree]

Elem!

His name being called out so abruptly in a place of relative silence was startling, to say the least. His grip instinctively tightened on the books he was holding, not wishing them damaged by a blunder. His first thought was that someone from the Infirmary was hunting him down for something. He surely hoped not. He was wondering already if he would need to move his belongings into the Infirmary, but his bed would promptly be used by others and that would simply not do.

Almost as startling, a hand tapped his arm. Looking over and down, he saw this hand was gloved and attached to Avari. He wondered if Konti and their love of foreseeing had anything to do with his recent thoughts of her. Who could say? He smiled in kind to the Konti before him, hearing her scattered queries about his memory and her recollection of the Ball.

"I do remember the Ball. I remember you as well, Avari. You were there with a bald man. I don't recall his name. Yes, being touched by a Goddess and having my entire life changed was certainly something I remember."

He sucked at his teeth a little, his tone pleasant and lacking sarcasm. He couldn't remember if she was present when Rak'keli was there, but he lifted his right hand, showing the illuminated glyph-like symbol of Her mark on it. He found her next display incredibly interesting. her boldness at the Ball in sneaking out to overhear the conversation and her doubly bold pursuit of the man who had stabbed his patient seemed completely different from the coy act he experienced at that moment.

Perhaps she was just not used to asking for help. Her look when she mentioned being grateful. That he had seen before. Usually in the desperate pleas of mothers, believing he might charge them for healing done for their children. He thought it repulsive that someone in their past had made it clear to them that their bodies were to be used for payment, but it was a harsh world he lived in. It certainly never made him harsh, only filled him with compassion for people.

"I'm happy to help you. What exactly are you looking for?"

If he did want something in return, it would be Avari's firsthand knowledge of the White isle.

[Avari]

Avari couldn't help wincing a little when Elem Bree addressed her by her full first name, but she drew her breath appreciatively when he lifted his right hand and showed her the shimmering, swirling gnosis mark of Rak'keli imprinted upon his skin. Having grown up on an island where half the inhabitants bore those glittering serpentine sigils on their foreheads or hands, she couldn't mistake it for anything else. This was the first time she had ever seen a man marked with Rak'keli's gnosis, though, and it did feel strange seeing the mark upon a human male's dark skin instead of a Konti's pale, smooth hands. In these unsettled times, though, she supposed that the more healers there were, the better, no matter what their gender was.

From his words, she guessed that he must have received the mark on the eventful night of the Winter Ball. A great many momentous things seemed to have happened that night. She sighed regretfully for a moment, sorry that she had missed seeing Rak'keli appear to mark Elem. Then she recalled that maybe the sight of a Konti thief might not be terribly welcome to Rak'keli, considering her followers in Mura all said that the goddess lived to kick the ever-lovin' life out of tricksters and schemers. Perhaps Avari being in the back alley behind the West Wing at the time had been a fortuitous happenstance, after all.

Elem's eyes were on her, awaiting an answer to his question, and Avari mentally scrambled to assemble her wits to respond properly.

"My congratulations to you for earning Rak'keli's favor," she said formally, bowing her head. With more enthusiasm, she continued on, "Oh, and thank you for helping me! You're very kind. I figured that you students must practically live here while in the throes of studying, so what better guide in this warren could there be?"

Her smile faded somewhat as she contemplated how to phrase her request, and she absently rubbed her chin. Any follower of Rak'keli, even a mere fledgling like Elem, probably would balk like a stubborn mule at being asked to help find out more about the goddess of thieves. In fact, he'd more likely call for the authorities and have Avari dragged off in chains.

On the other hand, Elem might not necessarily recognize the name "Yshul" by itself. Avari certainly hadn't heard of the goddess until that fellow Lion in the building with the dark blue door had brought out her statuette and spoken of her. The Konti decided to try her luck.

"I'm looking for books or journals on a particular goddess I...heard about once," she ventured. "Her name is Yshul."

The name fell heavy from her lips, though she tried her best to conceal the significance it had to her. Ever since learning of her worship, Avari had been longing to learn more about Yshul in any way she could. Someday, soon, she would go back to the mysterious building with the blue door, but before then, she wanted to arm herself with a little more knowledge and wisdom first.

She gestured behind her with one arm. "I was looking for books about her in the Religion section back there...at least, the sign said that it was the Religion section. But all I found there were a lot of books about folk songs and traditions, not gods and goddesses. Of course, I don't know if the sign is just wrong or got knocked askew during the reconstruction. Would you mind pointing me in the right direction, Elem Bree?"

[Elem Bree]

Elem smiled and also bowed to Avari when she congratulated him. "Thank you. I was never religious until this happened. Now I don't know how I couldn't be." Her next words caught him a bit by surprise, his eyebrows arching and a slight look of surprise gracing his features. "We students? I had assumed that since you were at the Ball and now here in the Library that you were one as well. That's what I get for making assumptions, I suppose."

He watched as her mind seemed to chew at something and her mouth moved under the lips in preparation for the revelation of it. She named a goddess he wasn't familiar with. Yishool. His own mind searched his vaults of knowledge and came up with nothing. Everything was fairly new to him as far as the Gods, short of Laviku as he had heard about Him for most of his life. "Never heard of this Yishool. What does She represent? Might help with the search. We can go back and dig through the section anyway, though." His smile was genuine and his curiosity piqued.

He began to walk in that direction, assuming that Avari was nearby. The rows were a little tight for the awkwardness of shoulder to shoulder. His mind worked as his eyes worked the titles. "Elem will do, by the way." Reaching the section in question, he paused. "Could you tell me a little about the White Isle?" Best to get his own request in before it was too late.

[Avari]

Avari followed where Elem led, watching alertly to see where she might have lost her way in this huge library. Aha! She remembered going down this row of shelves with all those books with green leather spines, but where she had reached the end and decided to make a left turn, Elem paused at the fork and then turned right instead. The Konti brightened as she walked behind him to the correct section, happy that she had been lucky enough to come upon someone knowledgeable about the library's layout.

"Sure, an exchange of knowledge sounds fair," she replied cheerfully, standing on her tiptoes and trying to peer over Elem's shoulder. "It's the least I can do for such a gracious guide. Who knows where I would have wound up in this immense cavern of books if I hadn't run into you?"

She flashed a smile at Elem, before turning her attention to the bookshelves. Somewhat absently, she went on, "So, what do you want to know about the White Isle? It's where my people were born and still live, for the most part; its first and only city is Mura, and it is very beautiful and peaceful. It gets its name from the way its trees turn white and silver in the winter. Supposedly, Mother Avalis, Father Laviku, and your own patron goddess Rak'keli all live on Konti Isle. It's said that Rak'keli lives in the Opal Temple in the very heart of Mura, where I guess she runs the Opal Order. You'd probably feel right at home there; the Order is full of women marked by Rak'keli, just like you."

Her voice drifted off as she looked up and down the shelves one by one, looking for anything that might have reveal more about the goddess in which she had an interest. She frowned and shook her head when she only saw rows of books on dozens of gods and goddesses, some of whom she recognized and many others that she had never heard of before.

"Hmph," Avari grumbled. "Plenty of books on your goddess here, but not so many on mine. Yshul is a goddess of…" She hesitated for a moment, thinking of how to put it to a young, law-abiding fellow who cared more for healing than stealing.

"Profit," she blurted out. "And ingenuity. I don't see anything like that here, though."

With an expressive shrug of resignation, she slowly pulled out a large, ponderous tome entitled Brief Histories of the Gods: A Complete Compilation from the end of a shelf. "Oof, this is heavy! This ought to have something, though, right? It wouldn't be complete if it was missing a goddess!"

Avari flipped toward the back of the book and her eyes lit up when she saw a short entry on Yshul near the end, squeezed in between "Yahal" and "Zulrav." "Ooh, look at this," she murmured, perusing the tiny entry rapidly. "It lists another book as its source! Elem, can you check if this book is in these shelves somewhere? It's called Behind the Silken Mask. Think of it as another exchange of knowledge. I'll tell you more about the White Isle, if you'd like. Especially the Ivaskis. Sound good to you?"

[Elem Bree]

Elem's eyes scanned titles as he listened to Avari spin her tales of the White Isle. He tried to imagine the trees, seeing their reflection in the water. His heart skipped a beat at the thought of visiting. The Opal Order. Elem's eyes turned to Avari as she spoke of this. The Goddess lived there? Along with Laviku and Avalis? He could not fathom why he had never heard such a thing before. His excitement could be bottled and sold.

His focus returned on Avari's search. Her barter of information made him want to search for every book on the subject she sought. His mind was already making itself up about sailing to the White Isle himself. He would have plenty of studying and preparing to do for the rest of the season, however. Her mention of Profit and Ingenuity as tenets of this Goddess she sought made Elem wonder if she knew that much about it at all. She wasn't a student, but...oh well, it wasn't really any of his business.

Turning to eye the massive volume that she managed, he could see her flipping through it toward the back. Her quick perusal and her own sparkle over the subject made his wander further over how important it was to her, regardless of how rude it was. He heard the name Behind the Silken Mask and his guesses about profit and ingenuity seemed murkier. "Of course.", he said, in response to her request. He would learn soon enough what this Yshul was about when he found the book, he imagined. Especially to hear about Ivaskis, whatever they were. He nodded with another polite smile and disappeared around a shelf in search of the tome.

[Avari]

Avari tried to follow behind Elem as he gave his polite smiles, uttered his polite words, and then politely proceeded to hurry away around a shelf. His longer legs outpaced hers, though, and she was left to stare at his retreating back as he turned the corner and disappeared. From the way he was visibly quivering with excitement about Rak'keli and Konti Isle, Avari had expected another flurry of questions about her homeland, and she was oddly disappointed when he gave her nothing but a terse "Of course." Well, she hadn't approached Elem because of his witty banter, and she appreciated his eager willingness to help, which was all that mattered.

Trailing after him, she decided that the less he said, the less she would share with him. Out of sight of the young student, Avari tugged at the hem of her tunic and the waistband of her breeches, adjusting the fit and looseness of her frayed garments. For sure, one thing she wasn't about to share with him were her plans for any book about Yshul that he found, which went a little further than simply looking through its pages or taking notes on the material inside.

"Elem?" she called aloud, peering around the corner of the bookshelf for the young man. "Elem, where are you?"

Her call was immediately greeted with a soft, sibilant chorus of "Shhhh!"'s and hisses of displeasure from nearby students also roaming the bookshelves pursuing their studies. The startled Konti winced and backed away. She contented herself instead with merely watching out for him and following where he had gone. Until he showed up again, however, Avari decided to wander along behind him and scan the shelves herself for anything else that might be pertinent to her search.

Noticing a step-stool nearby, she climbed atop the steps and peered along the higher shelves, hoping that her new vantage point would give her a better view of the wealth of books within the library. Her eyes widened when she noticed a slim black book just above her head. "Behind the Silken Mask" read the words along its spine in tarnished golden letters.

Excitement rose in the Konti, and she hopped up and down atop the step-stool, attempting to reach it with outstretched arms. At last, her fingertips grazed the edge of the book, and she managed to tug it out of its snug berth between two other leather-bound books. Before she could get a good grip on it, though, the book slipped out of her fingertips and tumbled freely down the bookshelves, smacking her directly on her uplifted face.

"Umf!" she mumbled, catching hold of the book before it fell even further. "Even her book has to be all elusive. Like a thief in the night."

The phrase cheered her up a little, and Avari quickly took hold of the book and glanced around furtively to make sure no one was watching her. No one was currently ambling down her aisle of bookshelves, to her relief, though she could hear students and other browsers approaching from other rows of shelves on either side. With quick, surreptitious movements, she lifted up the hem of her tunic and shoved the slender book under her shirt, letting it rest above the waist of her breeches. She swiftly smoothed the front of her tunic once the book was safely hidden and tried to do the same with her fast-beating pulse, which had quickened in the thrill of finding the book on her own.

When she was sure she looked normal, Avari climbed down the step-stool and took a few deep breaths, rubbing her face with both hands. She ventured a few steps between the bookshelves, looking from side to side.

"Elem?" she whispered in a lower voice. "Elem, are you here?" Duplicitously, she added, "Did you find the book?"

[Elem Bree]

Shuffling off to other aisles, Elem started perusing the titles to see if he had any hope of finding this book. He had tried categorically and failed. Alphabetically was also lacking. It was possible, however, that the book wasn't at this location or someone had already borrowed it. Whatever the case, he was finding himself slightly frustrated with the search. He could certainly sympathize with Avari, whose stature would surely only make matters worse.

As he turned on his heel to surrender, he heard the harsh chorus of hushing that came from students. His ears and attention followed the harsh eyes that pointed in the direction from where he had come. It was sometimes all too painfully clear when people were in the Library who lacked the discipline of students. She had been forthcoming with him about the White Isle, though. He returned shortly, finding her asking the questions of him slightly before he appeared. The oddity of that situation would have to wait as he noticed she was pink in her face. It was more apparent due to her silver scales than it would be on a human girl.

"Why are you blushing? Was that you they were hushing?" He snickered a bit at his unintentional rhyming, approaching the wispy Konti. "I wasn't lucky at all. Did you have better fortune finding it?" He was within arm's reach of her, noticing the pink in her cheeks also had remnants of minor swelling. Perhaps it was not shyness at all that had caused her to change color so suddenly. It would most likely be apparent that Elem was more closely inspecting her face this time.