Faila Ranae Role Play

Walking somehow behind the group I am very confused. "What in the world is going on?"

 

I raise my sword as I stalk through the shelves. That bang could've easily been a threat. Sethrial led the way, which was fine by me. I didn't need to get robbed or eaten by some randomly spawned magical creature.

"Not a bloody clue," I murmured to Mimos. "Hopefully nothing horribly dangerous." Fighting wasn't really a strong suit of mine. Knowing what to do when I got close to someone didn't come naturally, so I had a tendency to swing my blade all over the place in hopes it would eventually stick itself into the enemy.

I raised my voice, "Do the spell-thing a bit louder."

 

We turn a few more corners through the forest of books and come to a clearing where several shelves have fallen like dominos. Sticking upright out of the topmost shelf is a beast of a spear I can only assume is Woldo. It gives a halfhearted flop in my direction. That answers that.

 

As you stand around looking at the spear skeletons begin to emerge from the surrounding shelves. They are ancient and dusty, dressed in moth-eaten robes and holding rusty swords. One of them fixes its empty eyes on you and says in a voice like creaking wood, "You have made a mistake in coming here, mortals. The living are no longer permitted in the hall of magics. Prepare to die."

 

"Buggar off!" Skeletons can't be that hard. My mouth moved before I had a chance to think about what I was doing. The skeletons seemed to consider Woldo their weapon. Or they didn't want us in the library. Both possibilities were equally likely. I drew my other sword and waited for them to come to me. Charging them was definitely a bad idea; I might not have anybody to guard my back.

"Oi, Woldo! Get over here!" It worked for Sethrial, so it could work for me. Maybe I could toss it to Kwon. The stupid thing didn't even roll, though. Cursing at it, I sidestepped a skeleton and swung wildly at its spine.

 

[DM here! Thank you to everyone who played in the quest today! It didn't go exactly as planned, but that was mostly my fault for now balancing it correctly. My bad. I'd like to hear your input on how to make it better, both for if we ever play that game again and for future games in this quest. On with the show!]

The skeletons and their master are skilled and ruthless, and the magic they are imbued with makes them powerful opponents. Perhaps too powerful. When it becomes clear that victory is not possible only one recourse remains, and you run. You make it through the doors, skeletons and necromancer on your heels, and slam them shut just before a disembodied voice says "The library is now closed. Thank you for visiting the Universitarium Arcanum. We hope to see you again soon."

 

*HISSSSS*
A large brown and grey cat sits in the grass outside the Library. Though at first glance it seems to be a normal cat, as it stands, the vertebrae in its tail are clearly visible and flesh falls off of its flank. A clear stitch-line runs around the neck, and the fur there and at the legs abruptly changes color. It seems that the cat has been sewn together from several others and returned to life... or some semblance thereof.

A purr that barely conceals a growl emanates from its throat, "My master would have a word with you, you foul, flea-bitten mortals."

 

"Kitty!" I squeal. "Such a cute kitty. Cute talking dead kitty. Yes you are, aren't you?" I rub its ears and chin and find them very soft and just a bit dirty. I'm not going near the rotting sides or tail. Those aren't prime petting spots anyway.

 

" Well, that was, tiring. Glad I finally have Waldo back, feels good to have something that is familiar back in my hand." I've mostly ignored the talking cat, giving it only a passing glance and a bit of a sneer at it's rotting parts. I'm still trying to get an understanding of what has happened and how much time may have passed since I was last in the fresh air. I hope that those skeleton's can't get out of there. Just in case though, maybe we should get out of the area, I'm not so sure how much I would trust a rotting cat that calls us flea bitten. Not all of us are flea bitten. . ." I say the last sentence a little whimpery, having felt a bit insulted at being called flea bitten.

 

The cat pushes back at your hand, clearly enjoying the attention but not wanting to admit it. Between raspy purrs, he gets out, "I'm not..*PURRR* cute. I'm... *PURRR* evil."

I coalesce out of the darkness right behind the cat. Ashen faced, I grin at you all. "The books in there are fascinating, but they're murderous on the late fees. Oh, and I wouldn't trust Stenmur there either."

I pick him up with a partially skeletal hand and start petting him, at which he promptly sinks his claws into my forearm.

 

"Cat...." Sethrial has taken over petting the creature, so I sit in the grass next to the cat. Hopefully its owner is close behind. No sooner have I fallen to the grass and he appears out of thin air. Thin darkness, rather, but I'm no scientist and it might as well be air for all I know. "You missed a spot sewing up the cat." I point at its flank with a snicker.

 

"Be nice," I admonish. "The guy with the cat is trying to make a dramatic entrance. It isn't his fault that cats like to pull out their stitches." I pet the kitty some more. I don't care what he says. It's impossible for a cat to be evil; they're too sweet.

 

"So, Who are you stranger? And what do you know of this library?", I ask, ignoring his sudden entrance and skeletal hand.

 

"Some call me Frank. My friends called me Avi. As to what I know of the library... I wouldn't be caught dead in it after dark. I did find some interesting, at least to me, books in there on my last visit. Stenmur here is a product of some of my study." I pull something that smells like rotten tuna out of pouch on my hip, offering some to the person petting my cat. "Here, he likes this stuff."

"I stole a few books from in there myself."

 

Cough... Well that was fun... As he sits in a corner picking his teeth with a bone... let's go agin... the new comer jumping down on to the ground seas laughing...

 

OOC: I have absolutely no idea what this is meant to say.

 

"This is for you." I dragged the stolen books out of my pack and presented them to Avi. "Potions, and I haven't a clue what the elvish one says."

I eye Stenmur and elect not to pet him. I'd probably get a hand stuck in one of his many stitches.

"The skeletons locked us out," I said pointedly to the newcomer. "Bashing the daylights out of the doors doesn't work, either. Tried it earlier."

 

I set the stolen Potions book into a bag on my hip, "Much obliged, mate." The elvish one, I turn over in my hand a few times, studying the runes on the spine and cover. "I'm not quite sure what this is either. The dialect is old, looks like a variation on Grey Elvish, although possibly something else. These two characters," I gesture towards a pair of runes in what appears to be the title, "got combined into one in Sindarin ages ago. This will take me some time to translate. Quite interesting."

 

"No problem." I cock my head, "Sindarin?" I was doing well to skim through the book written in my own tongue. He seems pleased, though. I stare at the cover of the book, following his sentences, but I'm not keeping up. When he pauses, I dig my hand into the pouch on my belt and, praise to fate, find an old apple wedged in the bottom. It's past its prime, but I scarf it down anyway.

 

" There you are! I was wondering where you got off to you naughty boy. " I move over to give the newest member a big hug and kiss.

" Guess what I found inside any idea how it got there?