[x] Rush to the Library and clean what you can before Sister Naomi catches you slacking
Day 1
Evening
Surprisingly, the ever-baffling labyrinth carved into the rock under the Synagogue did not make your journey as difficult as it could have been. Perhaps you'd found a shortcut when you accidentally turned left instead of right in the first corridor? Maybe it, too, knew the wrath of Sister Naomi and was helping you out of sympathy? Had it always been this long and your panic was making it seem shorter? Whichever it was, your aching muscles flooded with relief as you slowed to a stop in front of Library Gimel, wheezing. You didn't run very much. You stumbled in, gasping for breath and grasping at the front desk.
"Why hello, Maiden Anna." You freeze.
No. That voice, that sickeningly sweet tone.
No, not here, not now! "I was
wondering when you would appear. For a moment, I thought you were planning on skipping your duties.
Again."
"N-never!" You say, legs shaking from more than exertion. "I was d-doing something for Fa-Father-"
You look up. Less than an inch from your face is another, consumed by a disgustingly saccharine smile, a tiny button nose, and eyes best described as slits. She always wore that unnerving smile, like she was living some sort of dream.
"Don't give me that shit, little bitch." Sister Naomi quietly threatened, still grinning like some sort of psychopath. "I told you, clean the Library by dinner. Now, can you tell me what time it is?"
"E-evening." You're quaking in your tunic. Just your tunic. Oh God, you're in nothing more than your tunic. You aren't wearing your robes, or your headdress, or anything you're supposed to be wearing.
I'm going to die, you conclude.
Sister Naomi is finally going to lose it and kill me.
She nods, still far too close to your face for comfort. "That's right, it's evening. Dinner-time. And is the Library clean?" You shake your head. You honestly have no idea, considering that the only thing you've seen of the Library so far is Naomi's evil smile, but since you weren't here to clean it you assume it's dirty.
"Correct. Now, to me, that sounds like you're slacking." Her grin widens. "You know what I do to slackers, right?"
You shiver. You knew
very well how she treated slackers. You're pretty certain it was borderline sadistic.
"Good." She leans back, moving out of your face. You release a breath you didn't know you were holding. Then you gasp and choke for air, as you still haven't recovered from your mad dash. She completely ignores your desperate attempt to fill your lungs, instead chucking a duster and pan at your head. "Lucky for you, I checked with the kitchen staff before I came over, so I know you haven't had dinner yet. Finish tidying the place up before prayers are over and I'll make sure Miriam saves you something."
You pick up the cleaning equipment, nodding profusely and rubbing the newly-formed sore spot on your temple. You immediately dash towards the closest bookshelf, dusting off the tomes on its shelves. It takes you a few minutes to finish it, but when you do it's spotless. You don't think you've ever dusted anything that quickly before. Looking around, you see the other dozen or so you need to clean and sigh before going back to work.
Partway through, you check to see if the terrifying woman behind the front desk is watching. When you realize she's turned away, you quickly whisper a spell under your breath.
Research Roll (1d4): 2 RP Gained!
Spiritual Lvl ??? - (2/???) RP
You feel a little lighter, less fatigued. You've practiced that spell a hundred times before, you're certain you've mastered it. Even so, the subtle relaxation that flows through your muscles is refreshing. Enough so to fill you with determination. You redouble your cleaning efforts.
Almost an hour later you come away, having cleaned off every book from
Aard and You: How to Keep Toxic People Away to
Zoroaster's Magical Revolution. Your arms are tired, you back is sore, and you have a stupidly proud grin on your face. Take that, dust! Not even you can withstand the power of Magic!
"Oh, you finished dusting the lit'." Naomi looks up from a table she's scrubbing. "Just make sure the Collection in the back is secure and we can call it a day."
You nod, setting your tools in a bin behind the front desk. You walk back between the rows of neatly organized books, heading towards a wooden door along the far wall. You stop before it, examining the aperture for any flaws. The locks along its edge seem sturdy, and a rap of your knuckles against it prove the metal is still tough. The numerous symbols engraved on its face are smooth and legible, so the Seal is still in effect.
Guess this barrier is still working. You touch a drawing in the center of the door, a beast with four faces on its head, one facing each cardinal direction. Above its head is the same flaming crystal from the wheel-creature, and like before the drawing moves and lightning silently arcs to your skin.
When you pull your hand away from the door, you turn around to see a dozen large display cases. You take your time examining each one.
The Demon Claws are undisturbed, that's good. Most of the restricted tomes are here, but there's a few missing. You see the note left where one is supposed to be. "Borrowed for a few days, will return ASAP. - H.P. Absalom" Okay, guess you didn't need to worry about those. At least he left behind the
Deckronomicon. Last time he had that, he forced you to undergo ten rounds of that stupid ritual with him.
Seriously, what Demon manifests their power as a children's card game?!
It doesn't take you much longer to ensure that, yes, everything was where it was supposed to be, and those that weren't had been taken out by Father and so didn't count. You happily return through the eldritch portal to Library Gimel, which you immediately exit once you see that Naomi has already left.
After a quick dinner and a pit stop by the laundry station to pick up your robe and headpiece, you head back to the main hall you passed through on your way to Father's quarters. Most everyone else is leaving, and you have to push through the crowd to enter. You find an empty pew in one corner and begin your evening prayers.
-:-:-;-:-:-
[x] A Curious Child
The back alleys of Temple City were a network of twists and turns that would easily lose anyone unfamiliar with them deep inside. One could enter a path in the North-East district and exit onto the Southern thoroughfare without ever leaving the convoluted maze of side-streets. In fact, it was that very avenue on which a certain child walked, grinning like a loon. Strapped to the side of his stained overalls was a small bag that clinked every so often with the sound of coin. The boy hummed to himself a tune he couldn't quite remember, sounding to anyone who passed by like a discordant mess. And yet the child was not in any way perturbed by his off-pitch music. No, he was far too excited to be bothered by anything but his destination.
He arrived behind the Horse Bar. It was called that because, he claimed, it was a bar with a horse on its front. None could argue with such sound logic, and when they tried he ignored them. They were fools, he assumed, since they used strange words as they pointed at the fancy stage the horse danced on. They said the stage was made of words, but he was no fool. Words were words, not pictures.
He removed the pouch from his hip, looking through and counting the coins inside: one brown, a yellow, and three gray of varying sizes. He knew the brown ones weren't too special since the Bread Lady wouldn't give him anything for it. The gray ones were different: the bigger they were, the more he could get with them. He'd walked away with a whole loaf when he gave her one as big as his palm. He had no idea what the yellow ones were worth. Maybe, just maybe, what he had would be enough for a night here.
He put the pouch back on his hip and marched inside, smile still on his face. The first thing he felt was the warmth of the room. It was like a blanket was wrapped around him, except better because there were no holes where the cold got in. Then the smell of warm food hit him. Bread, and something else. Something rich and savory he'd never tasted before. His mouth began to water.
The room was almost empty besides a few laborers in one corner, laughing loud enough to fill the whole space. As he crossed the room, he noticed a man sitting on a raised portion of the floor. He held a strange instrument in his hand, like a guitar but with more strings. He sang a strange song the boy had never heard before, only strumming every so often.
And since it fell unto my lot,
That I should rise and you should not,
I'll gently rise and softly call:
"Good night and joy be with you all!"
The child strode to the front desk, where a young woman sat reading a book.
"Ma'am?" asked the child.
The woman looked up, and for a moment looked around in confusion. Only when the boy called for her again did she peer down and see him standing there proudly.
"Oh my," she exclaimed, smiling brightly. "And what can I do for a strapping young boy like yourself?"
The boy preened under the praise. "I want a special room." He lifted his pouch towards the counter, straining to reach it. The woman picked it up and looked inside. Her smile seemed to dim somewhat.
"I'm sorry, I don't think this is enough for one of our suites. Maybe I can get you a meal or a normal room?"
The boy shook his head. He knew when he was being gypped. He was smart and had learned beforehand how much this place had cost from a kind old beggar he'd met along the way. This, of course, was just before the man had fallen asleep and the boy, being the intelligent and opportunistic child he was, robbed him blind. "'One yellow piece to the lady at the front, and she'll give you a room and take care of you.' That's what he said."
The young woman smiled at the boy, but he thought it looked odd. "Who told you that?" She asked sweetly.
The boy shrugged. "I don't know. A beggar told me what to do, but a few people in the North talk about how well they sleep with the lady from the Horse Bar." He smiled at her, radiating an odd sort of innocence. "I wanted to sleep well, so I came here. You have a good reputation, miss!"
The woman suddenly wore a very odd face. The boy was not familiar with faces like that, he was much more used to smiles, frowns, and glares. This looked like a smile, but she didn't seem happy. She seemed angry, but he couldn't tell what it was towards. He shrunk a little, just to make sure it wouldn't be him.
The lady at the front finally sighed. "Go out back," she says. "I'll be there in a second."
A few minutes later, the boy was sitting on a box behind the Horse Bar. He was beginning to think that he'd been gypped, but he could fix that if he just ran in and started screaming. Everybody on the thoroughfare believed you if you were a kid. The boy was not afraid to use those around him as a weapon.
Just as he thought that the door of an adjacent building swung open. The lady from the front stood there, looking impatient. "Well, come on."
He got up and walked through the door. Inside was a bare room with a lamp, some books, and a bed. The lamp had an ugly red shade over it, the books were dusty, and the bed looked ready to fall apart and smelled too strongly of flowers.
"In here," said the lady, walking through a second door. The boy followed, entering a much more decorated room. A bed, much smaller than the one in the other room, sat along the back wall. Bookshelves stretched from floor to ceiling, packed tight with dozens and dozens of different books. On a desk were a collection of pens and piles of paper filled with doodles. Little paper animals and people hung from the ceiling by string, each one in a different pose.
"Wow," says the boy, excitement and wonder filling him.
The lady closes the door, moving to sit on the bed. "I don't let many people in here, but you're a special case." She motions to a table beside her bed. On it is a bowl of soup and a single piece of bread. "It's nothing wild, just what we'd already made in the kitchen, though I expect you'll like it all the same."
She was right. It tasted delicious! The boy shoveled the meal down, alternating between dipping the bread in and using a spoon. It wasn't long before he'd finished the whole thing. "Thank you, miss." He said, burping loudly.
"You're welcome," she said, smiling. "I wish all my customers were as grateful as you." The boy yawned, surprisingly tired after his meal. "And now that I've taken care of you, it's time for you to sleep well."
The boy nodded. His eyelids felt so droopy. His belly was warm and happy. He didn't even complain when the lady picked him up and set him in her bed before leaving. He was amazed, for a moment, that she had a blanket with no holes, and how warm it was. Then he closed his eyes and sleep overtook him.
-:-:-;-:-:-
Day 1 Completed
Day 2 Begins
-:-:-;-:-:-
Anna: Research the night through or sleep (Current hours awake: 40)
[] Research (4d4 RP)
[] Sleep
Perspective Change and Morning activities for Day 2?
[] Stay as Anna
-[] Morning Prayers
-[] Request Duties from Naomi
-[] Patrol Halls for Deviant Furniture
[] Play as Den
-[] Study Tome
-[] Research Manuscripts (choose Stat to focus on)
-[] Explore the City
-[] Investigate the Taint
P.S. Character Sheets Updated