The Land of Encyclopedias and Elitists [Finished]

[The Jenn]

"I don't tend towards being a snot. It's never really helped me with anything." No, the only things an attitude ever got when he was growing up were a stressed out sister, a silent brother, and a tetchy Master. None of those things were particularly desirable.

His one hand toyed with the feathers dangling from his wrist while 'H' spoke, stroking along their edges and fiddling with the tips. "I know enough about the War's history to make that believable on my end. I don't know anything about the school itself, so hopefully we don't get an alumnus or something. But yes, that sounds like a good plan. I certainly can't think up anything better."

He was privately quite startled that the man was going to help him gain access to the books first. How did he know that Parzi was going to hold up his end of the bargain? He was, of course, but that wasn't the point. He could very easily be a dishonest person. Was this man just that trusting? Or that desperate?

[Kari Muffin]

He was that desperate.

"No proud Esterberry would admit going to Morris. If they did, I'm sure they wouldn't let them near the archives as awful as that sounds." Harold shrugged. If you didn't have an ego the size of the Capital they wouldn't let you near anything important. You were obviously too dumb to protect something important--even if pride had nothing to do with smarts.

He would have rolled his eyes but he was still thinking. "Good then. We need to go to the front desk first. Then someone from there will lead us to the archives under lock and key."

Harold got up from his seat, looking down at the pile of books he had been searching through. He picked up one of the smaller ones, slipping it under his arm for later. Not really seeing if Parzi was going to follow Harold turned to leave. He actually knew where he was going, and briskly moved to front of the library.

The front desk was situated in a rather orderly manner. Books were neatly stacked, papers were piled up with small painted paperweights on them. A large log book was sitting on the table, closed, a stamp and a fountain pen dipped in ink arranged besides it. Everything seemed to have a rightful place.

But there wasn't a sign of people.

A small bell sat on the counter top. Harold made no move for it.

[The Jenn]

Parzifal stood after 'H' and nodded, wrapping the wires that held his feathers loosely around his wrist for convenience while walking, and followed the man. He moved quickly, his walk a bit faster than the bird would have expected, and he had to take care not to lose sight of the man as he weaved through aisles filled with books and scrolls and stacks and the occasional person. It was such a large library. No other realms could boast book-repositories like Esterberry.

He stopped beside and very slightly behind 'H' in front of the desk, glancing around for an attendant. No one made themselves readily apparent. He sighed slightly and glanced at the lavender-haired man, then took a step towards the bell and tapped its surface, eliciting a small 'ding' from the metal inside. Hopefully it would alert someone of their presence in a timely manner. If not... the situation might become rather awkward.

[Kari Muffin]

"I'm commiiiiiing!" said a rather cheery voice from somewhere. There were several loud crashing sounds and a bit of shuffling before someone came into view. A door clicked open, and a small feline slipped out of the room that sat behind the counter. A wide smile was on her face as she slipped up to the desk.

She titled her head as she looked at the Tulgey mix. He had a rather strange set of piecing didn't he? "Is there something that you want?" she asked as she continued to inspect the young man, taking very little notice to Harold standing in the background.

Harold raised an eyebrow. That woman was the attendant they had been looking for? She seemed a little... spacey for someone with such an important job. Perhaps she was part of the family that ran the library? The two who directed people around must have been.

He watched Parzi and waited.

[The Jenn]

Parzi blinked at the commotion from the back that resulted from tapping the bell. Hopefully whatever crashed hadn't been a stack of books or papers. That would be hell to clean up later, especially if papers had managed to scatter themselves. Ugh. Sorting. He'd done enough of that for a lifetime. His master's notes had all been hideously messy.

"Yes, actually, and I was wondering if you could help me." Parzifal relaxed his stance, trying to release some of the tension in his shoulders, and turned up the Diamond charm with a smile. He wasn't exactly unattractive, and his suit gave him that natural advantage, so there wasn't any reason not to use it. Whether people knew it was in effect or not, it still worked to sweeten the deal.

"You see, I'm working on my senior-level thesis at Morris and our library just didn't have the materials I needed for my research. My instructor sent me over here to meet up with someone who could help me find the materials I need, but he said that most of them would be part of the library's private collection and kept elsewhere. I'm studying the wars and specializing in magic during the Second Wall period, so you can see how it might be tricky to find accounts of the subject."

Gah, he hoped that had been alright. He just barely managed to refrain from glancing over at the human man next to him.

[Kari Muffin]

"Yeah, that's a pretty rare subject to specialize in," she said with mild amusement as she looked at the Esterberry. Well they seemed to be together. Generally Morris sent their students out with someone else who was... responsible for tough decisions.

"Okay, you can come with me. You and your tutor need to stay close though. If another Esterberry sees you in the restricted archives things will get interesting to say the least." Like she would lose her respect, dignity and probably her job.

With that she slipped through the small door that let her out of the service desk, grabbed a set of keys and walked quickly. She didn't wait to see if Parzi or Harold were following her or not.

She would lead them through a path of shelves. Two lefts, three rights, and another left before they came to one of the four corners of the library. There was a door that blended in well to the wall that she slipped one of the keys into. It clicked opened, and she slipped the door open.

She reached into the door, pulling out two lanterns.They weren't typical lanterns actually.They were Corvie constructions made just for the library. She clicked a button on one of them, the little light blub inside light up. She offered it to Parzifel, keeping the other for herself.

"You have an hour. You need to use these special lights when we're in there. I'll show you to the proper section... any questions?"

Harold was tempted to say something, but if he did there was a chance she would be suspicious. Hopefully Parzifel would use his Diamond charm on the girl. They needed more than an hour to get anything done....

It also seemed a bit too easy. Normally they made you sign a variety of wavers and the like. Unless... unless she was going to stay with them the entire time.

Harold's eyes widened, but he had a plan. He reached out and took a bit of dust off of the lantern. It was a good thing that Esterberries rarely dusted things besides books. With the dust he whispered a message to Parzi as discreetly as possible.

You need to convince her to leave us alone or she'll be breathing down our throats.

The woman didn't seem to notice anything as she was staring at Parzi, waiting for a proper response.

[The Jenn]

Parzifal smiled in thanks at the woman and followed her through the path of shelves, eyebrows raising slightly as they approached the concealed door. Huh. One of these libraries would probably be a fascinating place to explore, if it wouldn't get him arrested for nosing around or some other such unpleasantness.

He accepted the lantern with a polite inclination of his head, eying it curiously. "Of course, and thank you. These are quite interesting." From the way that she held the other lantern... he had a sinking feeling that she planned to accompany them the whole time, and that Harold wouldn't be able to show him the things he needed if that occurred. Besides, an hour was hardly any time at all! That wouldn't do. His tongue fiddled briefly with his lip piercings as he thought.

The voice whispering in the dust made him start, but he passed it off as if he'd just thought of something. "Oh, but Miss, something just occurred to me. What if one of the library's other patrons needs to access this area, or make an inquiry? I don't know if I could keep you from the front that long in good conscience. It would be terribly selfish, and I'm sure that you have quite a few more important things to do that babysit a student. Besides, if I misbehave, they might not let me come back to school. I really couldn't afford it, not when I'm so close to graduation." He offered her a self-deprecating smile and a slight shrug of his bare, bony shoulders. "My advisor would sooner knock me out than let me do anything to damage his reputation with the school. He told me that up front, when he agreed to accompany me on my research."

Hopefully the combination of his charm, form, and rank would let this work...

[Kari Muffin]

The woman's ears twitched at the man's observation. He was very charming about it... and it was a hard point to argue, considering she was the only one who was available for the front desk until two hours from now when the next person took their shift. Maybe she could let it slide just this once? He did have an Esterberry with him. He was an older man... probably taking a course for continued learning... why he would go to a lowbrow college baffled her but that wasn't her problem, was it?

"As long as you don't tell anyone one. I don't want to lose my job," she said as she walked into the dark room that held the book. "Pay attention though, the things you want are pretty deep and it's a complicated path."

She lead them down the dark aisles, it probably took twenty minutes to get to the wall they were searching for. She reached out a paw, pointing to a series of three large, cracking, leather bound books. "These three books have the most information you're looking for."

With her job done, she walked off into the darkness, humming, warning that she would be back in an hour "or so" since she was going to be busy at the front desk.

Harold didn't speak until he was sure the women had left their rage of hearing. "We don't have a lot of time," he said as he glanced at a few of the titles. Even the three books were in Esterberry.... which seemed a little odd. "Where do you want to start?"

[The Jenn]

"Of course, Miss. You've been so very helpful. The last thing I want is to endanger your job." Parzifal inclined his torso slightly in a pseudo-bow that he knew was usually well-received, one hand on his chest. Sage had always blushed when he did it, anyway, and his sister told him she thought it looked elegant.

He followed her through the eerily dark aisles of books, the smell of old pages and leather and glue almost intoxicating. Despite himself, he was getting excited. The thrill of being allowed into the restricted section of an Esterberry library was enough to speed up his breathing a tiny bit, and his eyes kept flicking from one section of aged books to another. His master had gone into the inner bowels of an Esterberry library only once, and he hadn't been permitted back with him. Apparently the manager was repaying a favor and it was all very hush-hush.

Now, the books he may need to continue his research were within his grasp for a very limited time, resting innocently on an aged shelf. "Thank you," he said softly as she left, and then walked towards the books as if magnetized. The inner scholar in him was dancing.

"I can't read the regional language, so I'm going to need your help to translate. If you can read it, I can copy it." He always had a pen and his small notebook with him, kept in the pack he took around while away from home. Carefully, he reached out and slid the oldest-looking book from the shelf. "Let's start with this one."

[Kari Muffin]

The book he picked up had no words on the spine, Harold took it when it was offered to him. It was indeed, written in pure Esterberry when he opened the page. This book seemed to be someone's diary accounts of what they had seen in the Wood.

"You're looking just for magic, correct?" Harold asked as he carefully flipped through the pages. "And hold the lantern up so I can see the pages properly."

Harold continued to leaf through the book, finding information on anything but the magic used at the time. Most of it was recounting what the Queens of the time had done to each other and what horrible things the Tulgey had done in masses. There was a brief mention of "strange" and "power" magic being used, but nothing specific. He read several lines aloud for Parzifel, wondering if they could locate information on those specif events.

"Let's just... grab a few books and find a table to sit at? It might be a while before I find something that has decent content."

If Parzifel did choose to listen to Harold, there was a small table not too far from where they were standing. It had several supplies on it for the few people who were allowed to come into storage, along with some paper and a pencil so if people decided to be funny the couldn't cause any lasting damage to the books.