RavensDagger

  Chapter Two Hundred ay-One - Fortress of Knowledge

  “This is it,” Caprica said. “It’s not the most impressive of buildings from the exterior, but the library has been a part of Goldenalden sis very founding. It was actually the sed building issioned by my great-great-grandfather after the stru of the royal paot that the pace from back then would be at all reizable today.”

  I gawked at the library; it seemed like the polite thing to do. The building was, unlike most of the other buildings in Goldenalden, still clearly part of the mountain. Stone rose up around it on all sides but the front, as if someone had turhe mountaio wet d had pressed aire edifice out of it.

  The front was different, made e stone sbs stacked together, and with a pair of nades e doorway. There were windows too, but they were the thin, slitted sort that I’d seen on castles before, not the wider windows you’d expect to see.

  “It looks a bit strange,” I said. Especially pared to the far more ordinary buildings surrounding it.

  “The library was built at a time when Sylphfree was still very much pgued by dragons and their offspring,” Caprica said. “It was desigo be a repository for crucial knowledge, books, maps, and scrolls. I think it served as a school ooo, for young nobles.”

  “Was it meant to be hidden?” Awen asked. “The rocks look like they were moved by a geomancer, maybe. I’ve seehat look a little like that before. The Ostri build huts out in the desert near Mattergrove the same way, though those aren’t as big.”

  Capriodded. “The Ostri are the desert folk, right? I imagihat this is somewhat simir. Ahe building would be hard to see from above if it weren’t pced in the middle of the city. Thick stone walls, det natural camoufge. It was all designed so that a creature flying above wouldn’t notice it. I do believe that at the time, the padins--the order being much smaller four or five geions ago--were skilled with magics that allowed them to hide better as well.”

  “So the library was hidden in pin sight,” I said.

  “More or less. e on, it should be open at this hour.”

  We followed Caprito the library, some of her guards f up o the entrah inside and out.

  I was expeg the interior of the library to be fairly fancy. Maybe some big room, with plenty of lighting, but instead it was retively cramped within. Thick walls and lots of small rooms except for a big stairwell right in the tre where stoeps led up and to the floors above.

  A ter to the side had a nice librarian sylph behind it, perusing a big tome that looked like it was filled with names and addresses and the names of books. A system to tell who had taken out which book, maybe?

  “Hello,” Caprica said as she walked up to the ter.

  The dy behind it stared with wide eyes. “P-princess,” she said. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. How I help?”

  Caprica smiled. “I have a few guests here, friends from... well, all over, really. We were looking for some information. Ah, Captain Bunch?”

  “If you’re a friend, you should really be calling me Broccoli,” I chided softly. “Then I keep calling you Caprica, because if I’m your friend, then you’re my friend too.”

  Caprica’s cheeks actually warmed a little, which I found very cute, but I wasn’t about to tell her that because it was far too rude. “Thank you, Broccoli.”

  “Ah, very well then, what is the captain looking for?” the librarian asked.

  I leaned onto the ter, a big grin on. “I was told that the library here had a sort of record of all the csses and skills.”

  “We hardly know all of them,” The librarian said. “But we do keep a record of both.”

  “! I got a skill retly that I was w about, I don’t really know what it does, or even what I did to get it. Could you help me?”

  “Are you looking te it into somethier, or do you just want to know what the skill does?” she asked.

  “Uh,” I said.

  Caprica ughed demurely. “I think perhaps we look at both options. What was the exaame of the skill again?”

  “Proportion Distortion,” I said. “The description only says that it help me fit in and out, which is very vague.”

  “That is rather on the vague side,” the librarian said. She pulled out a notepad and scribbled something on it. “I’m afraid that I’m not the most qualified to assist you. Five me. But there is an archivist on the sed floor, the blue room. He should be able to assist you, and is more familiar with the stacks, besides.”

  “Thank you!” I said.

  “Awa, is there a se of the library with, um, blueprints and meical things?” Awen asked.

  “Those would be in differeions,” the librarian said. “But I help you find both.”

  I turowards Amaryllis. “Are you going to look for something too?” I asked.

  “I don’t have anything I need in particur here, though I wouldn’t mind perusing, if that’s permissible. Or perhaps I look at whatever spells they have publicly avaible here.” Amaryllis’ eyebrows rose. “Actually, disregard that. I’ll e with you, Broccoli. If this archivist knows anything about skills, they might know of some skills that I could merge to help me reach my goal.”

  “You mean yoal to turn people into meat puppets?” I asked.

  “Please, please don’t call it that,” Amaryllis said.

  We started up the stairs, only one of the guards following us from a slight distance. “Meat puppets?” Caprica asked with an amount of that robably warranted.

  “Amaryllis has a cool Puppeteering css,” I expined. “She trol puppets really well.”

  “I’m still far from skilled enough to call anything I do with the art profit,” Amaryllis said.

  “Puppetry is an iing hobby,” Caprica said. I had the impression that she really didn’t care all that much, but was being niyway.

  “Anyway, Amaryllis’ main css is electricity-based, and people’s nerves use electrical currents to signal their muscles to move, so she’s bining the two to make spells that allow her to puppet people’s bodies with magic.”

  Caprica blihen stared at Amaryllis.

  “It was an idea I had,” Amaryllis dismissed. “It’s still very experimental.”

  “That sounds quite terrifying,” Caprica said.

  “It’s of limited use for now,” Amaryllis admitted. “I think most strong batants would be able to work around it. Some magics ter it entirely, and it doesn’t prevent a spellcaster from casting spells, not uhey still o gesture to cast. That’s not ting adversaries with strange biology. We frequently run into bizarre creatures in dungeons where my skills would go to waste.”

  “Yeah, but then you just bst them with lightning, that usually works too,” I said.

  “True,” Amaryllis replied. “The puppeteering skill is meant to be used as more of a force multiplier. If I trol someone’s body, then I take them out of the fight with far less effort. It’s greatest advantage, I imagine, is in subterfuge and from a more psychological perspective.”

  “I see,” Caprica said. “Is everyone in your crew quite so fearsome?”

  I ughed. “No, of course not! I only have ing magic going for me, and some weird bun martial arts. Awen mostly uses her meic’s skills to fix and use her crossbows. I think she’s still w on her Gss magic. We’re not actually all that focused on fighting and stuff.”

  “I suppose that's one of the advantages of being more exploration-focused. Though from the reports Bastion filed, you were in quite a few high-risk adventures.”

  “Not that many,” I dismissed. “We had entire days go past where nothing happened.”

  The archivist’s room wasn’t too hard to find. Not only did it have a coloured door, there was also a pque o it that read ‘The Archivist’ which was very handy. Grinning, I stepped up to the door and kwice. “Hello!”

  My ears twitched as I heard some shuffling oher side before the door opened. A man stood there, a sylph who was on the shorter side, with frumpled robes and a big scowl on. He adjusted his gsses and fired off a gre at the three of us. “Yes?” he snapped.

  “Hi! I’m Broccoli, and I was told that we could find the archivist here? For skill stuff?”

  “For skill stuff,” he repeated before scoffing. “Let me guess, one of you three unlocked some skill you’ve never heard of in your short, poorly educated lives, and now you think to bother me about it?”

  “I mean, essentially, yes,” I said. “I got a new skill and I have no idea what it is or does, and I was told that the people here could help?”

  “Then search the stacks, that’s assuming you’re literate at all?” he said.

  This man was being very rude, but it wasn’t o be rude baeone, even if it might feel better in the moment. “I think all three of us are able to read, yes,” I said. “But if we weren’t then we’d still ask you for help. It’s not fair to discriminate against people like that.”

  “Ah yes, because why would I discriminate against a bun and a harpy of all things?” he asked.

  A hand grabbed onto my shoulder, and I half turo find Caprica smiling past me while carefully pushing me aside. “Hello sir,” she said. “As I uand it, you’re unwilling to assist these two?”

  The archivist frowned. “They hardly look like they belong here, do they?” he asked.

  “I see, thank you for your time then,” she said before turning. “e on, the library is teically run off of the royal coffers. I’m certain that the head librarian would make time for a quick visit.”

  The archivist snorted. “Are you doherihen?” he asked.

  “You wouldn’t happen to know if the head librarian is in, would you?” Caprica asked.

  “If he is, I doubt he’d want to speak with...” he paused to stare at Amaryllis and I. “Ruffians.”

  Capriodded, theuro the soldier waiting behind us oop of the steps. Judging by the way the archivist blinked, he hadn’t noticed them. “Could you inform the head librarian of my uping visit? A minute’s warning is better than none.”

  “Yes, Princess,” the soldier said before doing an about-fad running off.

  “Princess?” the archivist asked, his voice losing some of its surety.

  “Yes,” Caprica said. “I was esc these diplomats around, showing them the great luxuries of Goldenalden when one had a question that we thought an archivist like yourself could answer.”

  “Oh,” he said. “Well, I’m certain I answer any question,” he replied.

  Caprica looked very unimpressed. “I think you’ve answered plenty of questions,” she said. “Captain Broccoli, Lady Amaryllis, if you wouldn’t mind following me, I’m certain we get everything sorted out in no time at all. I’m very sorry for this ehing, you don’t deserve such treatment.”

  “It’s okay?” I said as I followed after her. Had that ehing been... speciesism? I reached up and tugged at one of my ears. I’d been told I couldn’t do things because I was a girl before, but never because I had big ears and a tail. “He was very rude,” I said, even though I khat the archivist could probably still hear me. It felt very... vindictive.

  “I’m sorry,” Caprica said. “I wish people weren’t like that. Once we find the head librarian I’m sure we sort everything out.”

  “It’s fine,” Amaryllis said. “I think we expected some level of such treatment on arriving here.”

  Caprica’s frown suggested that she was very muot pleased with that answer.

  ***

  RavensDagger

  MondayHeart of Dorkness 1500?Tuesdayamon BunPast the Redline3500? Tuesdayamon BunStray Cat Strut3500?WednesdayHeart of DorknessFluff3000? WednesdayDreamer's Ten'Tea'Cle Cafe 1000?ThursdayStray Cat StrutDreamer's Ten'Tea'Cle Cafe2500? Thursdayamon BunStray Cat Strut3500?Fridayamon BunFluff3500? FridayHeart of Dorkness 1500?SaturdayHeart of DorknessPast the Redline3000? Saturday 0?SundayTop secret projects that I'll forever deny actually exist Sunday 0? Total18,500? Total11000?Fluff’ll be starting up in February! I want to build up a bit of a backlog before I start posting, and I want to try a few different starts to the story before I start posting in ear. There’s also Past the Redline, which should be ing out... uh... one day? No dates on that one!

  In other news~

  Stray Cat Strut is on audible!

  You should really check it out if you like my audiobooks, it’s genuinely great (nearly perfect reviews so far, too!)

  Also, I’ve officially sold amon Bun, Stray Cat Strut, and Fluff to a publisher, and I might have sold Dead Tired and Lever A to another, ued publisher too! So that’s... really exg! Expect audiobooks and proper books ing out for all of those soon!

  Oh!

  Since I had a looooot of time to read i month, I binged a few stories. I figured I’d share some of them:

  Tricked into a New Lifehttps:///series/385749/tricked-into-a-new-life-god-must-be-screwing-with-me/This story is trash. But it’s the kind of trash that’s just a lot of fun to read... does that even make sense? Anyway, the start is awful, but eventually it bees a lot of fun!

  Hero Past the 25thhttps:///fi/11361/a-hero-past-the-25th

  A Royal Road story that I had never heard about. It’s kinda fluffy, very silly, and has a few good moments of ess. I haven’t fihe st volume yet, but what I’ve read so far has been fun!

  I read a bunch of other stories, but most of those were maihings that are popur enough that they don’t need my help end them!

  On that final note, I hope you all had a great holiday season, and that 2022 is an awesome year!

  Thanks for stig around, and I’ll see you in the chapter!

  Time for stories!