The Library

[King Thedriol]

The library is a beautiful building at the heart of Calamere consisting of two floors, each filled with books that tell about all there is to know. You walk into the library through a long archway that comes out in the centre of the ground floor. Straight ahead of you are the coiled stairs that lead up to the first floor, and all around you are shelves upon shelves stacked with books. Tables are dotted about, and people sit quietly reading or writing. Upstairs are the books that tell of the continent's history. King Thedriol is here to answer any questions you have about anything to do with The Golden Lands, the Kingdom mythologies, or Calamere in particular. He is seated in a comfortable chair by the fireplace, his dark hair combed neatly back out of his face as he bends over a thick book on dragon lore, with one hand resting on a goblet of mulled wine. You peek nervously over his shoulder, and catch a glimpse of a verse about dragons:

O dragon old of might and power,
Wisdom great and courage strong,
T'would do thee well, for t'is thine hour,
To take a moment, heed my song.
When death is close a warning's given -
I've been told your heart is pure.
A pure heart will hold fast in heaven,
For you the Lord opens his door."

He slams the book shut as he notices you reading, and turns around to look at you with stern eyes. Scratching his beard thoughtfully, he asks in a regal voice, "Yes?"

The City's Librarian is: Renyrain

[cien]

Cien ran her finger down the spines of the books. Speed reading was one of her acquired abilities which she often put to full use. In this case...

Puru-puru whimpered softly below her and it wondered worriedly why Cien was hanging so precariously on the top shelf. It was one of her habits to read the books on the topmost shelf of the last bookcase first, since the books there were usually the oldest and most historically informative (albeit the most boring and long-winded...). It was also one of her habits to casually swing herself up to the shelf she couldn't reach and hang there until she found the book she wanted. She always left Puru-puru safely on the ground as it was afraid of heights.

Sighing, she jumped down and landed lightly on the ground. Puru-puru happily bounced towards her and nuzzled against her. Cien smiled and picked it up. "Sorry," she whispered. Looking up, she closed her eyes. "Can you feel it, Puru-puru? The hearts of all these books?"

[Arikain Galarond]

Arikain held the door open for Rose to hasten into the library, trying not to let the bitter, biting cold get to him. He shivered slightly, and ran his thumbe over his other four fingers to try and warm them a little. He hoped - although he doubted - that maybe they'd be able to get something warm to drink in here. At the very least he suspected that tehre would be roaring fires and wamr chairs... He smiled.

Waiting for Rose to go into the building, he stared out at the clare night's sky.

[cien]

Cien turned when she heard the door open. She felt a familiar presence and Puru-puru whimpered slightly. Slipping it into her pocket, she walked in the direction of the door.

[Rose]

Rose ducked under Arikain's arm into the warmth of the library. He looked cold, but he hadn't complained once. Rose felt slightly guilt of wearing his cloak and had offered it back to him numerous times on the journey.

She heard Arikain walk in behind her and the door swing closed. She couldn't move, not because of the cold, but in awe of the magnificent library infront of her. She had never seen so many books in one place.
"Wow..." she said out loud, and turned to look up at Kain wondering what he made of the library.
As anticipated, there was a large fire at one end, surround by plush armchairs. Rose caught sight of Cien and waved, wondering if she would come over to talk to them. Perhaps she could tell Arikain where Brynna was, as she had known her for longer.

She took off Arikain's cloak, for in the few minutes she had been standing in the libaray, she had warmed up a lot and her cheeks were flushed a light pink, suited to her name. She handed the cloak back to Arikain, who looked much warmer and apologised for the fact that it now smelt of her perfume. It was a flowery secent, and not the most manly of fragrences...

The door opened again as someone else entered the libaray, and Rose was stepped to one side, trying in vain to avoid the draught that reminded her of how cold she had been a just few minutes before.

"Shall we go over there?" she said in a low voice to Arikain, not wanting to disturb the peace and quiet of the library. She pointed towards the cluster of shelves and chairs surrounding the fire. It looked nice there.

[cien]

Peeking around a bookcase, Cien spotted Rose and someone she didn't recognise. Returning Rose's wave, she wondered if she should go over, there was a definite aura around the both of them that she did not want to disturb. She saw Rose motion towards the fire... it did look inviting. Puru-puru made a few muffled sounds and Cien smiled. "Alright. Just for a while."

[Rose]

Rose sank down into the sofa and lay her head back on the cushions savouring the warmth of the fire. She watched the flames flickering and dancing in an amost hypnotising way and she only just managed to tear herself away from the fireplace and scan a nearby shelf for a book. she picked out a small thin book about magic from one of the bottom shelves, she didn't particularly feel like reading lines and lines of small print but this book contained lots of detailed pictures, so she took it back to the sofa and flicked to the first section. Thought Magic.

[Lady Brynna Halider]

Brynna stumbled into the library. She was pretty tired, and din't want to go home for the evening - so she'd come here.
"Rose!" She cried happily, cheerful to see a familiar face. "What are you doing here?!" Realising that she may have sounded rude, she quickly stammered, "I mean, I thought you went home..." Slightly embbarrassed, she ran an idle hand thoruhg her hair and turned to one side - and noticed her cousin standing near the door.

"Arikain?!" She yelped, shocked. he hesitated, and thennran to fling her arms around him. "Where have you been?" She cried, tears stinging the corners of ehr eyes. "It's so good to see you again!"

[Arikain Galarond]

"brynna! i've been looking for you!" Color rose to Arikain's cheeks as he saw the cousin he'd not seen for so long, but as she ran over to engulf him in a bear-like hug, he wrapped his arms around her and swung her around in a circle before depossiting ehr gently back on the floor.

"brynna, this is rose," he smiled. "Rose, this is my cousin brynna... i think I've mentuioned her before?" he suddenly noticed that the two girls had spoken. "So... you two already knwo one another?" he asked,. confused.

[Rose]

Rose closed her book with a snap as she heard her name called and swiveled around on the sofa to see Brynna enter the library. She smiled at the reunion and watched Brynna being swung around by Kain. They both looked so happy and surprised to see each other, they probably had a lot to catch up on. Rose shifted uncomfortable; she didn't want to get in the way and looked around for Cien but couldn't see her. Kai spoke introducing Rose,
"Yes, we've met on the road here" she replied "Kain told me he was looking for you, but I didn't know where to find you, you never mentioned where you were staying at the tavern..."
She was standing now, leaning against the back of the sofa.
"Well, you've...you've probably got a lot to catch up on" she said, suddenly feeling light headed, which was probably caused by the heat of the fire.
"I think I'll just pop outside for a few minutes, I feel a bit dizzy..." she said, and hurried towards the door, stumbling in her anxiety to be in the cool night air.

She leaned back against the outside wall, closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. In a while she began to think straight again although she still felt a bit faint. well, at least it's given them time to catch up! she thought. Someone hurried into the library glancing at her in suspicion on their way in. Rose knew it wasn't doing her any good standing in the cold, but she couldn't really face the heat of the library until she felt better.

She noticed an apothecary shop down the street. It was late, but there was still a light on.
She hurriedly crossed the street, she decided she would only pop in quickly; she didn't want Brynna or Kain to worry if they found her gone from the front of the library.

[Lady Brynna Halider]

Brynna nervously watched Rose leave the Library. "Oh dear.." She murmered unhappily. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt... I hope I haven't made things awkward for you two?" She gave Arikain a sidelong glance. The Arikain she remembered was hopelessly shy, and would never have had the nerver to ask someone out for an evening!

"We met on the way into Calamere... She seems very nice... So how do you two no each other?" She asked, briefly filling her cousin in on the details.

[Arikain Galarond]

"No... no, it's OK!" Arikain agitatedly watched Rose leave. He hoped he hadn't upset her. He slightly absently patted Brynna's arm, and the returned his gaze to his cousin. "Well, we have years to catch up on... do you want to go and get a drink in the tavern? I've heard it's supposed to be quite good!"

He held out an arm to Brynna and noticed that she looked very tired... He wondered if she could still use her gift... He gave her a sidelong glance. he would ask her later - but not in the public library. "Come on, let's go." He said.

[Lady Brynna Halider]

Sighing heavily, Brynna took hold of Arikain's arm and followed him out of the library. Happy as she was to be reunited with her cousin after so many years apart, she couldn't help but feel that she had intruded upon his evening.

"The tavern is very good." She agreed, nodding her head emphatically. "We should go there... We have so much to catch up on!"

[Rose]

* * *

After returning from the apothecary shop, Rose walked back into the library, an apology already formed in her mind for Brynna and Arikian. She looked around, they had already left, but to where she could only guess. After all, excluding the library, she only knew two places in town. She grabbed the nearest book to her and sat down on a chair feeling uncharacteristically sorry for herself. She idly flicked through the pages. The book was obviously a children's fairytale- containing more pictures than words. Rose stopped on the last page, showing the main character- which looked like some sort of half man half badger creature riding into the sunset. She closed the book and simultaneously walked over to the window. She looked across to the castle grounds and had an idea. Dropping the book onto the nearest shelf, she left the library, quite oblivious to the glares she was receiving from the library attendant.

OOC: I cannot spell today!!! If I hadn't done a spell check on this post, I doubt anyone would be able to have read it!

[King Thedriol]

The King marched into the library, a somewhat studious expression on his face, and he smiled at the various people reading and talking quietly.

Going over to the noticeoard, he pinned up a large sign:

"The Library of Calamere would like to welcome Bellalee as the new librarian. We hope she has a pleasant time here!

King Thedriol and all others who visit the library"

[renyrain]

Bella walked in to the library ready for her first day of work. she walked over to the little desk near the front and pulled few items from the velvet bag she was carrying.
there was a small figurine, a bell, and a little sign. it read:

for assistants please ring bell.

then she went over to the fantasy section and got a book by her favorite author and settled down to read at her desk.

[Kon Koros]

Koros walked into the Libery, wondering what he ws doing there. A little dark blue animal, resembling a rat, said " Nyu." That ment to find a book about this town. He saw a little sign that said for assistants please ring bell. "Hmm... Handy." he said, ringing three times in such a succesion it seemed like two. He wispered to his animal companion "Gouki, why don't you do this? I could see if anyone has anything useful in the bar."The animal looked at him like he would chew his ear off if he had to to it himself.

[renyrain]

Bella was just putting her book back when she heard her bell ring. She hurried over to great the customer.

"Hello, can I help you find something?" She asked the men standing at her desk. She couldn't help smiling from ear to ear, this would be the very first person she help in this job.

[Kon Koros]

Koros looked a bit...umm... disturbed at the Librarian's huge smile. He said to her " I need all the infomation you have about this country." He then took the animal off his shoulder and put it on the ground. He then whispered to it, "Gouki, why don't you just see if you can find and useful infomation?" It changed into a midnight blue fox and ran out of the building. He turened to the Librarian and said "Why are you smiling like that? Your not supposed to like your job."

[renyrain]

"Why shouldn't I like it? I Love books and your the first person who asked for help." Bella said as she lead the man over to the section with all the books on the Golden Lands.
"This whole shelf is about this land. is there particular thing you need to know? Sir." she added just for good measure.