(no subject)

[oblivium]

THE STOLEN TOMES

OOC NOTE [click to expand]

ooc note

Exploration logs aren't events per se, nor are they mandatory. They're another type of prompt, not unlike the Notice Board's -- albeit (typically) a bit more fleshed out. And they serve multiple purposes! We use them to explore uncharted territories, specific establishments in Stygia or an NPC's motives, for instance. They do sometimes moderately correlate to the overarching plot, and will most of the time offer some kind of reward: artifacts, new transformations, clues, boons, etc. These prompts are generally available during less eventful months and for an undetermined amount of time. Just like the Notice Board's, they might create great opportunities for CR building. You're absolutely welcome to share your discoveries!

---

You are approached by the chief librarian of the Academy, who explains that several important books have vanished, and that theft is suspected. Rather than admit that they have been lax in their duties, the librarians ask you to investigate the losses.

“Can I count on your discretion? We have been losing books. Well, not exactly losing … we think our books are being stolen. Naturally, it would not do for the Academy Elders to learn that we librarians have allowed important volumes to go missing. I’m asking you as a favor to discreetly find out what’s happening. We can’t offer much, but you would certainly have our gratitude.”

You enter the main hallway and are met with rows upon rows of colossal balconies, which stretch impossibly further than what the exterior of the building would suggest, housing seemingly endless rows of nearly identical bookcases. The shelves are filled with tomes both famous and obscure, innumerable in subject and author. All around, strange orbs of light seem to dance and glimmer about, as if sentient, through the bookcases and main hallway, as if to invite you forward. Books, both single and in small collections, levitate through the air, moving about as if to organize themselves back into their place - wherever that place may be. The scene is wondrous, chaotic, and oddly serene. The librarians lock the main doors behind you, and for a few hours, the library is quiet, allowing you to explore and search the place.

► STORAGE ROOM
Reams of parchment, blank vellum, quills, and ink are stored on shelves in this small area.

► CHIEF LIBRARIAN'S OFFICE
The head librarian’s chambers contain book-lined shelves, a desk, a small bed, a table, and chairs. It is homey and crowded, with decanters of fine liquor, jars of aromatic weed, and a collection of handcrafted pipes. The wall behind the desk looks a little odd, as if altered or repaired in the recent past.

► DOCUMENTS ROOM
The walls of this room are lined with shelves containing varied documents—old manuscripts, maps, records and the like—as well as several tables and chairs for study. Stairs go down to a basement that ends at a locked door. It contains various items including food and water, three tall statues, cleaning supplies... and skely-tons. One of them carries a rusty key in its mouth, which unfortunately doesn't unlock the door there.

► BOOKS YOU MIGHT COME ACROSS

► Under The Silver Moon: This book contains information on lycanthropy and the effects that it may bestow upon you. The author of this book makes lycanthropy sound like a REALLY good idea.
► Cooking with Grandma: This seemingly pleasant sounding book goes into great detail explaining how the flesh and bones of older humans can be used to make delicious food.
► Call of the Void: A strange tome written in an unknown language. Attempting to read it causes headaches and dizziness.
► Mnemotical Magic: This tome has moving pictures of funny situations and animals. Which seems like a humorous pass-time soon reveals that the magically animated graphics are powered by a curse, probably. Directing an open page to a person will also make them repeat the depicted action; if the page shows a dog wagging its tail, for instance, the targeted person will feel the urge to mimic exactly that.
► Bargains of the Netherworld: A mysterious memoir recording the author's descent into madness before murdering his family.
► Incredible Creatures and How to Kill Them: Details weaknesses monsters are known to have.
► Claiming the Crown: An Experienced Guide to Assassinating Royals. How to brew a poison, how to create a disguise, tips on wielding daggers, and more!
► Half-Human, Half-Darkling, All Man: Porn. It's porn.
► Nightwalkers: A well used guidebook of general information on creatures that hunt humans such as Nightweavers, Werewolves, and Hags.

If you go back to the Chief Librarian's chambers and investigate the wall, knock: it's hollow. There's a safe on the other side: unlock it with the key, and you'll find a diagram detailing three highlighted areas in front of three different statues. The basement. In truth, there are three pressure switches in front of each statue on there; when all three are pressed simultaneously, the locked door opens on a secret passage. However, if any weight is removed from the switches, the door is once again locked. Parties with 4 or more characters may make easy work of this predicament, but smaller parties may have to improvise and use books or furniture in lieu of other characters.

When all four switches are triggered, the hidden passage is revealed... and as you reach the end, you realize, too late, that it's a trap. The Chief Librarian stands before you, the glimmers of the library congregating around him; books begin to float, most likely the stolen tomes.

“It was a joy watching you run in circles. It would have been much quicker to just lock you in, but I'm in dire need of entertainment. I've been under the scrutiny of the Elders for a while, you see. So many of these tomes are filled with lies... It is my sworn duty to revise and redraft, but they would rather follow in those damnable stingers' footsteps. Well, no matter. These books will disappear with you, and the truth will finally adorn the shelves. You've been a most excellent decoy. May you rot in peace now as I continue my work.”

The door locks behind you, and the Chief Librarian lurches forward, transforming into a giant, monstrous beast. A werewolf, particularly weak against silver. If you're bitten or scratched, you'll experience your first transformation on the next full moon, which will also negate the alterations you may already be going through.

Once you've defeated the Chief Librarian, report to the Academy's Elders. They'll investigate the scene and reward you with a Slumberbook, which soothes and calms the listeners’ Shadows if read aloud. If you ask about the stolen tomes, now scattered across the ground among ripped robes, they'll hesitate and mention that 'the truth will rise when you gaze upon the cantilever stairs.' And with that, you're encouraged to leave, but not without an invitation to come back whenever you wish to browse the available collection of books.

being a were doesn't limit you to lycanthropy. you may choose to turn into any beast you like. available changes include:
► sharper canines, pointier ears, and claws
► longer hair, patches of fur anywhere on your body
► uncontrollable urge to turn into beast on full moons
► berserk-like behavior during transformations
► enhanced strength and agility, five senses heightened
► can turn others by scratching or biting them
► pack instinct
► memory loss and exhaustion after transformation
► transformations may be triggered by strong emotions
► may be cured by piercing the were's hands with silver nails

Comments

[zhanmadao]

[ mo ran almost physically recoils from chu wanning's words, surprise twisting his features before he frowns deeply. he feels a pang of pain and he doesn't know if it's his own or his teacher's. instinctively, he lightly squeezes the hand he's keeping on his chest, to offer comfort. ]

Why do you say that? Have I ever given you reason to think so?

[ he wonders earnestly, his heart worn on his sleeve. it's impossible to think he's lying. he thought they were doing well, that he was being decent company for the other, that he was managing to show how much he treasures him through little things, like making him food, or buying exactly the fabric he wanted to make the kind of curtains he liked. has he unconsciously given any reason for his teacher to doubt his sincerity? has he fallen short, once again? ]

Shi Mei's help surely would've been handy, but that's about it. I don't know if Shi Mei and I would've still gotten along in the first place, after so many years apart.

[ he smiles softly. mo ran drifted away from him and he wouldn't even be able to explain why. surely the realization of his true feelings was a big part of it, but there was something else: he struggled to trust him for keeping secrets that always impacted chu wanning, like the one of his wontons. ]

I saw you dead, shizun. Your body was in a coffin in Frost Sky Hall and I watched over it. Your lips were blue and you were so cold, shizun. And your hands, because of me--

[ his voice breaks, the rims of his eyes quickly growing red and he clutches at both of chu wanning's hands with his own, as if to keep him safe and warm, his fingers gathered on his chest. they were maimed and bloody, all just to save him. he holds them firmly, brushes his thumbs over them, and his heartbreak keeps traveling their bond, unrelenting. ]

There's nobody else I wanted to see more. I was overjoyed when we found each other here. So much so that I thought it was a beautiful dream, seeing you alive. It was beautiful and it was terrifying, since you told me once that the most wonderful dreams are hardly ever real.

[ he speaks quietly, warmly, keeping the other's palm pressed above his heart, as if giving him way to read him through his heartbeats. he is also being crafty, in a way, carefully testing something he's believed to be the truth for a while: that it wasn't shi mei saving him in jincheng lake and speaking those words, but chu wanning. ]

[rumination]

[ the earnestness in mo ran's voice, bleeding through their bond, shakes chu wanning to the core. mo ran had always been so delighted to see shi mei, be in his presence, that it's hard to remember mo ran said he hadn't even seen shi mei in the years since chu wanning died. did his disciples drift apart that much?

but chu wanning can't admit he was wrong there, or had different ideas about what mo ran meant, so he glances away, ears burning but face set. not that it matters when mo ran brings up his death. chu wanning doesn't remember much of it, other than the worry and fear that he was too late to save mo ran, that nothing he'd done had worked. the hatred of his weak body, a complete failure, the depleted spiritual power so he couldn't fly back to sisheng peak and had to carry mo ran up those stairs. he doesn't regret it— he just wishes he'd been able to get mo ran up them quicker so there wouldn't have been any wonder. ]

You were my disciple. [ and so much more. chu wanning would have attempted to save any of his disciples, but mo ran has always been special. ] If I could not save you, what use would I have been? [ what use would chu wanning have been to himself? could he live in a world where mo ran was not? mo ran, who had so much in him, who was bright and quick and charming and would influence the world, unlike chu wanning. ] You had potential and deserved to fulfill that, not die there, forgotten and unacknowledged. My hands were unimportant. [ and everything else.

he can't pull them back since mo ran is holding them close to his chest, and that heartbreak is traveling through the bond. chu wanning doesn't understand why, and the lack of understanding makes him uncomfortable. why would mo ran be brokenhearted over chu wanning? even if he is glad to see him, they're still just mentor and disciple— mo ran has to know chu wanning would protect him here.

he does flinch away from the mention of those words. when he'd said them that time, he'd believed them, and they hold true now. the best dreams hardly ever come true. if things are beautiful and perfect, there's something wrong. happiness doesn't come for men like them.

but mo ran isn't asking about that.

he's asking about something else.

chu wanning looks away finally, eyes dropping to the hands resting against mo ran's chest. his pale, cold hands with their scars and calluses, captured between mo ran's larger hands, warm and sun-kissed and so strong. ] It was true then. And it is true now. I am thankful you're here with me, but we are still trapped in this strange, terrible place.

[zhanmadao]

[ it is heartbreaking to hear chu wanning measure his worth through his sacrifice, his use through his self-denial. all the times chu wanning was badly injured or maimed in their most recent past life were still because of mo ran: the way he'd shielded him in the coffin, how he went through torture to save him from the blood hourglass, so on and so forth. ]

Your hands, you, everything that makes you... hardly any of that was or is unimportant, shizun. [ he speaks honestly, warmly, and he's getting dangerously open. ] Your use cannot be measured, simply because it is too big, with all the things you've done for others simply because it was right. [ through their souls, he is able to perceive chu wanning's insecurity, especially now, how he thinks himself undeserving, simply because he cannot help everyone, cannot fix everything. it is too big a burden he put on himself.

how pure is someone like this, mo ran's inhale is shaky, once again overwhelmed by how good chu wanning is. for someone as dirty and corrupted as mo ran, isn't it a gift even just to be allowed to secretly nurture feelings for him?

he smiles, his dimples appearing yet again, eyes holding galaxies and they're all shining for the one in front of him. it was indeed him, at jincheng lake, abandoning his most blissful dream to face pain solely to save mo ran. it reinforces mo ran's will to do better, be better. ]

And yet there is kindness to it. Even in this strange, terrible place, we're together. The days I've been spending here with you are pleasant. [ the curse is a very little price to pay, when in return he gets moments like these, where he can hold chu wanning's hands and bask in his presence, like one would do with sunlight. ] It was dark without you, shizun. [ he knows it's too much now, he's getting greedy, but he can't help bringing one of the older man's hands to his cheek, and he leans into his palm, closes his eyes. ]

I couldn't bear to live in a world without you. [ it's awfully quiet even in his deep voice, almost wanting to give chu wanning an excuse: he could always say he didn't hear him, if words like that sit too heavy on his chest, or sound too sentimental for him. but even if his teacher were to search their bond, he would find nothing but fondness and sincerity there. ]

[rumination]

[ chu wanning's face flushes, even the tips of his ears going red, and he can only hear a loud, rushing sound in his ears. he tugs his hands free from mo ran's. ] There was a racket outside. I couldn't year you.

[ there was no racket; the streets outside were and continue to be quiet, and chu wanning knows his lie is absolutely terrible, but he hopes mo ran won't call him out. he gets up from the edge of the bed and turns around, tripping over his feet and barely catching his balance. ]

We should clean up better. Stop leaving things on the floor.

[ there's nothing on the floor. mo ran cleans up chu wanning's mess, organizes the tools and his blueprints and the scraps of metal chu wanning tends to leave around wherever he puts them. mo ran's an excellent roommate. ]

I'll make dinner. Congee. [ he can do that. kind of. he doesn't always burn it. and there is the zongzi mo ran made earlier. mo ran should eat something; that's what one does when sick. (he thinks. chu wanning never paid much attention.) ] You need to eat something.

[ he disappears into the kitchen then, focusing on cooking something. he really can make congee, even if it's terrible, and spends some time in the kitchen being louder than he should be. a little while later, he reappears, a steaming bowl in his hands. ]

[zhanmadao]

[ mo ran expected as much and, if anything, his smile turns softer, even if he misses the presence of the other's hands in his own already, as if missing a limb. it's like dealing with a shy child, even if chu wanning wasn't this thin-faced even as xia sini --rather, bolder in a way, like when he called mo ran gege. it's endearing, warmth blooming in his chest as he observes him fondly while he loses his balance and he has to bite on his lips not to grin too wide. the yuheng elder, suddenly defeated by his own feet. ]

Yes, shizun. I'll do better.

[ he agrees, even if he never leaves anything around; that is his teacher's job, living in utter chaos. mo ran always makes sure everything is tidy and clean and he organizes the other's materials as usefully as possible.

while the other possibly makes a mess in the kitchen that mo ran will have to clean later (yet not even that takes the smile off his face), he pushes himself off the bed to recover at least a layer of his upper clothes. he wobbles on his feet, so, before he makes more work for chu wanning by having to be scooped up from the floor, he simply puts that on without tucking it in his pants, trying to keep the two halves of it as close as possible. sitting on the bed again with his back propped against a pillow, he loosens his hair, inky locks spilling across his shoulders and to the front. he rubs at his scalp a little, feeling sore, making his hair a little messy. with his hand slowly falling from his head to his lap, he slips in and out of a light doze, courtesy of the medicine, no matter the noise.

when chu wanning approaches again, his eyes flutter open and he gives him a sleepy smile that drips sweetness with how his self-control is wearing away because of the ointment, dimples deep and eyes focusing on wanning like he can't see anything else. ]

Thank you, shizun. It smells really good.

[ chu wanning's congee is very hit or miss; when it isn't burnt, it's generally only half-cooked, and bland to a fault. but the sole fact that chu wanning cooked for him, no matter it being to escape from his honest words, makes it precious. he reaches to take the bowl from him, even if he seems a little out of it. ]

[rumination]

[ chu wanning knows the congee he makes doesn't smell good— he didn't burn it this time, but only barely, and it will taste about as good as it smells, but he doesn't say anything like that to mo ran. he can just let it go for now.

easier, that way; he doesn't have to hear mo ran insist he'll eat it and enjoy it just because chu wanning made it.

when mo ran reaches out to take the bowl, chu wanning holds it a little closer to his body, hands still gripping it. ] We don't have a tray. So I'll hold it, and you can eat. [ which is awkward, even though there's a spoon. but he's committed now, and scoots higher up on the edge of the bed so he isn't holding the bowl out at arm's length. ] I'll make some trays for us. We have some extra wood. [ that'll be easy to do, even if they'll disintegrate eventually.

and then mo ran won't have to worry about holding bowls like this while trying to eat and suffering from his illness or medication. not that it will be like this for long— he hopes. they have to find a cure for it, since so many people seem to be suffering from this curse. and none of it fair or justified, just a random curse that hit people. he expected no better from the afterlife, but it still hurts his heart. and he can't save them since there's no information other than what people have discussed. talking about feelings, confessing your love. if only a curse were cured that easily. ] Eat, eat. And then you should nap. [ what else would madam wang or tanlang elder say? warm water, perhaps? are the windows open? is the weather bad for it?

why is healing so difficult? ]

[zhanmadao]

[ there's a moment of confusion when chu wanning takes the bowl back once mo ran reaches out and, for a second, his teacher really does resemble a cat, almost playing with him. then chu wanning explains and mo ran laughs softly, giving a nod and reaching out for the spoon instead.

he straightens up and gets the first spoonful, smiling around it as he chews. the rice isn't thoroughly cooked, but it's hot and it's made directly by his shizun, so there's nothing else mo ran could want. ] Trays would be really handy. But hopefully I won't be sick for long and we won't need them often. [ he says with his expression soft. ]

It's really good, shizun. [ he claims after the next spoonful, expression so bright that it's clear it's no lie. of course it's no perfect cooking, but it doesn't really matter. he wants to think chu wanning put care into it (he would say love, but he's not that sick to have become crazy) and that'll help him get better soon. ]

Will shizun go back to the library while I rest? [ with the kind of expression he's wearing, if he was a dog, his ears would be drooping now. he looks like a forlorn puppy, at the idea of being left alone again. ] You should eat my zongzi. You've barely had a bite because of me. I'll be happy if you finish them and that'll help with me recovering. [ he words it almost childishly, as if he wanted to guilt chu wanning but honestly he's just doing it to see him bristle again. the way he left to make the congee was far too endearing, mo ran almost wants to watch more of that. maybe he's really feeling better. ]

Shizun, stop going to the library to research the curse. Don't leave me by myself.

[rumination]

[ while mo ran eats, chu wanning tries to think about anything else. everything else. the curse. the armor he's creating. but mo ran is bright and beautiful and distracting, especially with those earnest expressions and soft questions. chu wanning's never been one to coddle or indulge his disciples, especially when there are things he has to do, but mo ran is very different, as is this place.

he considers the question, all of his little requests. what would it hurt to stay with him? he knows mo ran needs people, so it's a shame that it has to be chu wanning as the familiar face, who doesn't deal well with people and prefers to keep his own company. it doesn't help that this entire situation has left chu wanning flustered and unprepared to deal with his feelings.

mo ran's always known how to wear him down. and this is no different. ] I'll stay and eat the zongzi, and we'll figure out when good times are for researching.