Library of Rain

Manas sighed at Rain's strange requests. “Very well, I can have those things prepared for you by the end of the day. Come back here to pick them up at nightfall.”

 

Rain nodded in agreement before walking out of the room. She would need to do a handful of things before attempting to save Ariana. The first thing was to test out her skills. Before, she had made assumptions on how they would work. Looking back, the chances of something going very wrong when she raided the Temple of Agro were uncomfortably high. Suffering for a few days due to the Pontiff’s skill was a small price to pay for her lack of preparation.

 

Even with proper preparation, it would be risky, leading to her second list item. She needed to lend Lon a book so he could get his skills, just in case she didn’t make it back. 

 

Rain looked up at the sky. She had about three hours until nightfall, enough time to find the right book. After winding her way through the streets for a few minutes, Rain checked that no one was following her, then used her power on a small side door.

 

Back in her library, Rain took a deep breath. This place, frightening at first, now felt familiar and safe to her. Stepping past the pile of gold, Rain entered the library proper. 

 

Rain had noticed in the past that the books seemed to move around when she wasn’t here because they were never in the same place when she looked for them again. Some books, like the one that whispered sweet promises, were easy to find; others could take a while. 

 

Fortunately, Rain didn’t have a book she was looking for today. All she needed was a book that looked like it might give a heroic skill. Or one that looked like it might fit Lon. 

 

Walking back and forth through the shelves, she found nothing that felt like it would do the trick. By the time she had finished her first walk through all the shelves, her neck was starting to hurt from looking up for so long. The shelves were all quite tall, and Rain had spent most of her time with her neck craned back so she could see the books on the higher shelves. 

 

Taking a walk around the outside of the room, she looked at each of the books on individual pedestals. The one with the eye made her shiver; the memory of its words sliding into the back of her skull was still fresh. But if she was being honest, it had given her a valuable skill. The description of the skill had even told her that she could improve it if she read more of the book. 

 

She didn’t dare risk reading more, though. Her mental corruption was already too high. She may be getting used to the things she felt and saw crawling under her skin to the point she barely noticed them, but Rain wasn't willing to risk whatever might happen to her if she raised it further. 

 

None of the other books she passed met her criteria either. Rain remembered seeing a white book with golden symbols that might be promising, but she couldn't find it no matter where she looked.

 

Frustrated, Rain decided that the book didn’t have to look like it would provide some heroic skill; it just had to fit Lon. Deciding to do one last search, Rain found one book that looked promising. High up on a shelf was a stitched leather book with a string of claws attached to the spine. 

 

Lon’s full name was Talon, and claws were a kind of talon. It would have to do. Looking for a way to climb up to the book, Rain noticed a ladder that hadn’t been there before. It had tracks on the bottom, and its top connected to a channel on the top of the bookshelf that Rain was sure hadn’t been there. 

 

Deciding that the library was just being the library, Rain slid the ladder over to the book she wanted and climbed up to retrieve it. The book had a primitive feel, with roughly stitched leather and the string of claws dangling free from it. It had no title anywhere in sight, and Rain didn’t dare to open it for fear of accidentally reading some of it. 

 

Looking over the book again, Rain decided it would have to do. She brought the book to her room and placed it inside her chest. Hopefully, it wouldn’t disappear before she could lend it to Lon.

 

Rain left the library and returned to the Fiddler’s Retreat as darkness fell. She found the boy with the fake name Arlos there waiting for her. He led her around back where the things she had requested sat: a soft-looking chair that Rain couldn’t wait to try out, a small fluffy ash-gray critter with large eyes and a poofy tail sitting in a small cage, a map of the Mid Ring and a strip of black cloth.  

 

“Here’s the stuff you wanted. Is it satisfactory?” 

 

The boy didn’t seem to like having to give Rain the items she asked for. If she had to guess, he probably didn’t like her in general. 

 

“Thank you. I can take it from here.”

 

The boy didn’t bother answering Rain and just left. Rain wasn’t complaining, though. She didn’t want to haul the chair farther than she had to. Rain waited for the boy to turn the corner before immediately pulling the chair through the nearest door into the library. Returning, she gathered up the other items before going back to the library.

 

When she approached the cage with the uffter, the little fluff ball started screeching and backed as far from her as its cage would allow. Rain had to admit that she was a little disappointed. But in the end, she hadn’t asked for the uffter as a pet. She needed a living creature to test her skills on. One that couldn’t speak.

 

As she brought the quivering creature into the library, its squeaking grew more frantic as it seemed to want to hide from everything around it. In the end, it curled into a little ball at the bottom of its cage and went still.

 

Rain hoped it would be alright for a little while. It wouldn’t do for the little guy to die before she finished her tests.

 

Leaving the library once again, Rain made her way to the Low Ring. Still not seeing anyone watching her, she used a door to enter her library again. She was glad when she saw that she could open the door. She had worried that because a living thing had entered through another door, a new door wouldn’t be possible until the uffter had left the library. 

 

Now for the real test. If she carried the uffter through the door, would it come back through the door she had entered in the Low Ring, would she leave through the door it had entered back by the Fiddler’s Retreat, or would they be split up, appearing out of the doors they originally entered through?

 

Checking that the lump of fur was still alive, Rain picked up the cage. She took a breath for her moment of truth and left the library. The result was very anticlimactic, with her just stepping out of the door holding the uffter in its cage.

 

The little critter seemed to relax as it left the library but still didn’t uncurl from its ball.

 

Rain smiled at the success of her experiment and asked Mr. Purple to show her “Door to the Library” skill.

 

[Door to the Library: To access the Library of Oru, push your will into any door, and it will transform into a portal. Once the door closes, the portal will also close. When you're ready to leave, you can exit through any door, and it will take you back to the same one you entered from.]

 

It looked like Her skill only cared about the last door she used to enter the library. This was perfect. Now for the second test. It was time to see if “Path of Wealth” would also allow her to transport others.

 

Grabbing her little furry victim, Rain threw a coin a few feet away and warped to it. The moment she did, she felt her cage get lighter. Looking back to where she had been, Rain caught sight of the tail of the uffter as it dove into a pile of ash. 

 

Sighing, Rain decided to try and see what she could take with her and what she couldn’t. It turned out that the only things she could take with her were her clothes and any item she was carrying. If the item touched the walls or floor, it would remain behind as she moved. 

 

A bit wiser and a few vers poorer, Rain decided to get some sleep and give the book to Lon in the morning.