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Entry tags:
book quest part 2: the bookening
WHO: Waver; Kirk; The Medicine Seller; anyon else who'd like to join
WHAT: Part two of this
WHEN: A few days after the Crystal post
WHERE: Various points in the Gallows
NOTES: Mention of blood magic
WHAT: Part two of this
WHEN: A few days after the Crystal post
WHERE: Various points in the Gallows
NOTES: Mention of blood magic
Waver had been pleasantly surprised by the response he got to his initial question regarding where one might consider hiding missing books, and equally surprise that the contents were not as big a turn off as he had anticipated. Far more important than either one of those things though was that there were several people willing and ready to help explore the highs and lows of the Gallows itself.
A. The Old Templar Tower
Towers had come up time and again, and the idea of going and mucking around in all of them seemed to be an exhausting task. It had to be done though, and there were a number of old chests found in the tower itself.
It was a total crapshoot if any of the old, rotting chests would have anything. Moreover, how easy they were to break would define the whole experience. Looking at the chests, doubting their contents, Waver sighed.
"Did anyone think to bring a hammer or something?"
B. Exploring
There were books. Lots of them. But not all, and to that end Waver had been unhappy with what were otherwise stellar results. The only clue as to where the others might be had been in a little note found on a far older inventory list in handwriting that he didn't recognize.
On the note had been speculation that some of the mages had hidden a number of books, but the question of where was yet to be determined. Waver was quick to pass the note around, and hope that someone might have an idea of where to go.
C. Wildcard
Mix and match, and tag around. Part D/finding the books will be posted later on after some of A and B have been done.
A
"Don't necessarily need a hammer," Kirk said. "If we can find a bit of loose stone and use it, when we can crack these things open. Decrepit as they are, if we hit the weak points, they should come apart pretty easy."
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"Hm. See any good candidates?"
His eyes went around the room, looking for crumbling points in the walls.
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"This should work. If not, I'm sure we can find something equally heavy," he encouraged as he went back to the box. He lifted the brick back and forth a few times to get his line before bringing it down hard against the sharp blunt corner.
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"Yeah, I'd say that worked," Waver said, crouching down beside the chest and carefully lifting the lid.
Inside the chest were two upturned spines, caked with thick dust. Waver ran his finger along them, revealing the titles. Well, what was there of them, the lettering had also worn off, and he needed to all but press his nose to them.
Pulling away, dust on his nose, Waver grinned over at Kirk. "That's two down."
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Honestly, he needed to stop questioning their good luck quite so much. It would bite him in the ass soon enough.
"How many more are we still missing?"
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Waver pulled the list that he had left aside on the floor back over to himself, consulting the titles. He mentally crossed out the two they had just found, and gave a little approving huff. This was good luck.
"Just six. It could be a little needle in the haystack from here on out, but even if they don't turn up, that's a lot better than what the original list was."
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He nodded as he glanced around the room again and then back out into the hall.
"Well, do you think we should keep checking around here, or do you have a lead that the other volumes might be elsewhere?" Kirk asked, though if it were up to him he would choose to explore here a bit longer. They might not find books, but there could be something of other value.
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"Maybe one more sweep of this area, and then we can move on to the next."
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"No stone unturned, right?" Kirk said, though his smile suggested he was more than happy to give that last sweep and make sure they didn't miss anything interesting.
"How are you settling in Kirkwall?" he asked him as they made to move up the stairs, his fingers brushing the tired brick.
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"Good enough, I guess. It helps that I got here earlier than most. Yourself?"
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A shudder passed through him as he thought of the Gallows. The place never sat right with him, not once.
"Are you and Iskandar going to room together?" he asked. He knew the two were close, being from the same world and such. "I can't imagine he fits well in the Gallows," he said a with a wry little smile.
For his part, Kirk was taking careful steps, titling his head to listen for a shift of loose stone - be it one or a patch.
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Waver's confident that Kirk can fill in the usual everything's more compact in Japan thing. There's more stones to touch and--
--one moved!
"Over here!"
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He jerked up when Waver called out, turning and hurrying over, shifting to crouch down beside him.
"Careful now," he cautioned. "I don't think there would be any traps here since the trunk was clear, but let's not risk it if we can help it."
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Waver had actually never asked that of anyone. Not that he was keen to re-hash all matter of Grail War related nonsense, but he didn't know what Iskandar had and had not shared. Everyone just went with the two knowing each other from home.
"I'm going to move to one side then, if you wouldn't mind doing the same on the other."
Which Waver did promptly, bracing his side against the wall.
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He shifted his weight just as Waver did, looking to the magician and nodding to show he was ready.
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With that nod, Waver tugged the rock out from it's spot with slow, careful movements. Nothing too fast. Nothing too slow. And--
Volia. Two more, and a crumbled up list.
"It isn't a jackpot, but it isn't anything to scoff at either."
B
When he was passed a note, he inspected it curiously.
"Perhaps the best course of action would be to peruse the records to find out who was, most likely, last in possession of them?" He suggested slowly, passing the note onwards.
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"That sounds like a good idea. But first we'd need to find the records." Were they cleared out already? "If they exist. Someone might not have gone through the usual process to check these out."
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"I mean those who were accused or at least suspected of practicing from the books."
Which could have been half the gallows, but it was a start.
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"We'd need to start with a list of names then."
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"First then, disciplinary records," he said slowly. "And then who would be able to take the books without drawing too much notice."
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"There, this is it," he said, starting to flip through the pages. "Found it!"
He opened the book wide, and leaned over slightly so that the Medicine Seller could pop his head over Waver's shoulder to read.
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When he'd finished, he gave a small nod of affirmation. It wasn't the first time he had to find things out through records - though he generally preferred when the sources for the information he needed were alive or at least around in some capacity.
"The next step then would be to find if any of them are available to be questioned."
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"Wait. Would assigned rooms be an easier way to start? The books could have gotten left behind."
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"If you like, I can start matching names to numbers, and then we can proceed?"
He was eager to get going - largely driven by curiosity for how the whole thing turned out. Likely bad, but he was rather used to such sordid affairs. What he wasn't used to was pursuing something other than a Mononoke with this kind of... well, one could call it a fervor perhaps. Comparatively so.
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"That sounds like a good plan. I'll flip through anything else to see if there's additional information."
The drive was a pleasant surprise. Waver himself had only agreed to do this little mission because he ached for something to do, and this seemed like a challenge without being it being terribly physical in nature.
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He was also meticulous in his work. There were a lot of records to sort through, and his keen eyes spared no detail his ever-constant scrutiny.
Hours later, he had something workable for Waver. At least, places to check on the first three floors - which were rather numerous. Meredith, it seemed, was also a thorough individual, though that applied more to seeing Blood Magic in every shadow than it did to taking notes.
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He managed to come back with a canvas bag with two hammers, two chisels, and a few small, sharp knives. There was a paintbrush in there as well, all the better for removing dust or bits of masonry work.
The bag was placed down beside the desk as Waver looked over all of the Medicine Seller's work. A low whistle escaped, and there was a look of admiration and respect in Waver's eyes.
"It would have taken me a day to compile this," he said, shaking his head as if to chide himself for being so hypothetically slow. "Where do you think we should start?"
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"Your kind words are welcome, nonetheless."
It was nice to be appreciated.
"The lower floors would, perhaps, be the best starting point," he said after the ache had receded from his knuckles. "They are the most likely to have secret ways and hiding spots."
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"C'mon then. Might as well go together."