[Zena]PRP- Guide to Hidden Knowledge (Amalric/Briinah)

[Elf Princess Flannery]

Private RP between Amalric and Briinah

Location Zena- Zidel library

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Amalric hadn’t decided yet what — if anything — he was going to say to his aunt and uncle, where he was going to go, or what he was going to do, post-expulsion. But he knew he had business to attend to before he left Zidel no matter how much he wanted to put the city behind him. Such business included Zidel’s library. Daurelts Academy was large enough that it maintained a private branch of library open only to its students and faculty, but worked in conjunction for much of its selection with Zidel’s public library.

In his years at the academy, he had taken up student work as a clerk and scribe for the library, and though he had been stationed primarily in the academy sector, it hadn’t been all that rare that he was called upon to assist in portions open to the public as well. He had made the mistake of storing one of his satchels — the contents of which he used mostly in conjunction with both his work and the study he prefered to do there regardless — overnight often enough in one of the back offices for safekeeping and that he not forget or lose items on his way to and from the school. Thus, his things were there now. He was no longer employed.

But the girl at the desk did not recognize him.

Iceling, his age or younger if that was sensible — perhaps another student hire — with a disinterested and distrustful eye for him.

“You don’t understand,” he repeated for what felt like the seventh time but might have only been the third, “I worked here, and I know exactly where my things are. If you speak with Mister Keat-”

“You don’t look like a student…” Her eyes drew over him, lingering on his hair. “Perhaps if you waited outside…”

Heat flushed to his ears, and under other circumstances, he might have been stammering over his tongue to find words in the presence of an attractive female peer. As the case stood, however, his prickling frustration, edging uncomfortably close to a loss of temper, won out over anything else. “It’s Amalric Belwater. B-E-L-W-A-T-E-R. I think I will wait here. Until you ask one of your superiors…” Warmth crawled up his neck. “Please,” he added, and breathed out. “Please ask. If you could.”

She eyed him.

He wasn’t certain she looked convinced, but after a time, she did eventually shrug and push up from her position behind the desk with half an eye roll as she headed back—presumably, hopefully, to ask about him. He sighed, relaxing a fraction and letting his eyes wander to the library itself as he waited. He would miss it more than any person he had met in his time here.  

[Elf Princess Flannery]

Her first attempt to use the library had been a failure. She was overwhelmed and the boy at the desk had been cold and less than helpful. She was worried he would be working again and she didn't want to confront him. She walked in this time, determined to get aid from the librarian, or anyone who looked like they knew their way around. She needed a lead, anything, on the dread sermal. The library was the best place to look. It had the largest archives of anywhere. If she couldn't find what she needed here, she didn't know where she would look next.

Briinah heard someone arguing on her way in. She was relieved to see it was not the same boy from yesterday. He looked older, perhaps a senior, or a graduate? He was looking longingly into the library she wasn't sure what that was about.

She tucked her hair behind her ear and went to him. "Excuse me, are you able to help me find something in the library?" her voice waivered and she wished she had sounded more confident. Her palms were already sweaty and she was half expecting him to not respond at all. She wasn't going to simply accept the map of the library this time. Whoever he was she was going to get him to help her one way or another.

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Libraries were quiet places. As such, despite there being the scattered few persons about, there wasn’t much talking and it would likely have been reasonable to assume anyone in his direct vicinity voicing a question was probably addressing him personally. This didn’t stop him from starting at the voice and glancing about. Who—?

But no one else was there.

His eyes landed on the speaker. He flushed. “Ah…” She was unfairly pretty. Had she been any more naturally intimidating, he may not have found his tongue at all, but even as every other intelligent thought in his head flit out to leave an embarrassingly blank slate of nothing, it registered that she was nervous and asking for help. He couldn’t be an arse and just stare uselessly. What had she asked again?

The library. They were in the library. Could he help her find anything there?

Hastily, because he didn’t know how much time he had already spent staring mutely at her, he nodded. “Please,” he said. “That is—yes. I can. I could. I will, if you like.” Though it would probably occur to him later that perhaps he ought to have stayed near to the front desk if someone was going to be back looking for him shortly, it was the furthest thing from his mind in that instant. He tucked a lock of hair behind his ear. “What, ah…what exactly are you looking for?”  

[Elf Princess Flannery]

When the person didn't initially respond right away a nervous sweat broke on the back of her neck. His delayed response did nothing to lessen the awkwardness in the air between them. The way the words fell out of his mouth next did not inspire much confidence. She thought she had heard him say he worked here, he didn't act much like it. Or perhaps everyone who worked in the library was this socially odd? When he managed to finally form a sentence she was ashamed that she didn't immediately have a clear answer.

"Thank you!" she let out a breath of relief. "The thing is, I'm not exactly sure what I am looking for. I need to do some research about beast attacks and strange disappearances. At the same time, I need to find references to some specific legends. Perhaps something on their origins." Her cheeks flushed a little with embarrassment. She realized how odd these topics were. Briinah could only imagine what sort of opinion he was forming about her.
"I, ah... Have never been to a library before..." her face was in full bloom, "I honestly don't know where to even start."

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Beast attacks and strange disappearances…

Well that wasn’t very specific, Amalric thought as he listened. ‘Some’ legends, too, she said. Did this girl know what she was looking for, or was she chasing an idea? The listening process at least helped to distract from whatever other issues he might have had dealing with her otherwise: he could focus on the problem, not ‘the attractive young woman.’ The latter of the two were always more difficult for him personally, by no fault of their own.

“What sort of ‘beast?’” he asked. “Large, small? And what region? Attacks on livestock? Crops? Persons? Caravan trails? Towns? And are the beast attacks and the strange disappearances something you’re looking for as related matters, or entirely separately, or both? And what sort of disappearances—are you looking for a person? Or an animal? Or a myth?”

He turned, and pointed up. “On the second floor, if you turn left after you make the stairs and left again around the immediate corner, you can follow the wall long to the back corner where there’s a reference section for all manner of facts you might want on beasts and habitat, though it’s penned mostly for the sake tamers, trainers, and farmers. For specifics I would have to know the beast you were looking for.”

He gestured in the opposite direction, this time on their floor. “If you are after a legend, there’s an entire half a wing dedicated to fictitious literature, of which fable, lore, and myth take portion. If you know the legends you are after I can be more helpful, or if you could tell me about them, I might recognize it. But…” He looked to her. “If you are looking to find a record of persons who might have fallen victim to beast attacks in a manner that causes you suspicion, it might not be a poor place to start in the public record. Though of course not everyone makes it to paper, many towns submit birth and death records which are copied and kept in the central library. They’re entirely dry, generally, as you might guess with little but names and dates, but if something of particular concern occurs—a natural disaster, or a disease, or an attack worthy of larger concern, there are often inserts with more specifics. The number of persons affected, the type of catastrophe…some submissions contain more information than others, of course.”  

[Elf Princess Flannery]

Briinah was more than a bit blown away by the amount of information he dropped on her. This man must have known everything about this library! He was so knowledgeable!
"How lucky I am to have met you!" She said with relief. "It might be easier if I show you what I have to work with."
She turned to the pack on her hip and her hair fell in her face, "I know what I am looking for might sound strange but normal circumstances would not have lead me here." she said as she rummaged through the bag. She pulled out old and slightly crumpled pieces of paper.
Briinah brushed the hair behind her shoulder and handed him the ancient parchment. "I got these from an old hag. They may not look like much, but they are my only clues to discovering the origins of the Dread Sermal legend."

She took a moment to actually look at the person before her. She could appreciate his long hair. It was dark and he looked a bit goth but he had nice features. She remembered to smile so her staring didn't seem rude.

"Ah, well, I have read them over and over the past few days but I need more information." She pointed, "One of these is about the forest spirit Panthera, I think it is somehow connected to the dread sermal but I'm not sure how. This one is the story of the dread sermal, it is really similar to the one my grandfather told me growing up so it's nothing new to me. This log here is a collection of accounts of sermal attacks and possible dread sermal sightings. I was hoping to see if I could back it up with other information."
Her chest tightened, she wanted, no needed to find out more. She was afraid to hope too much. He hadn't laughed in her face yet, maybe she could find another clue, anything to help connect the dots.

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Well, at least she was excited. Amalric blinked, and flushed at the initial comment. He still couldn’t believe she’d never set foot in a library before—but earnestly it wasn’t implausible at all. There surely hadn’t been any in whatever village she’d come from, and it wasn’t that he was judging her for it, it was simply difficult to imagine never having properly appreciated them before. What a loss.

But, she was here now.

He attempted to move his attention back to what she was actually up to—fiddling with papers? He took up the first offered him, his gaze flitting briefly from her hair, to the parchment. Dread sermal, hmm? His eyes scanned the sheet, and then watched as she produced and listed the other portions of information she had with her and had been over. By the end of it, he tipped his head.

“You’re looking for the origins of the legend?” he asked. “Or for confirmation of their existence, or one attack in particular?”

She had a good deal with her already, and this didn’t look to just be a ‘research’ mission. Yet, while he was capable and happy to point her in the direction of stray ‘more’ information, he didn’t feel he’d be at his most useful unless he knew what had brought her to the library in the first place. He felt the deep suspicion that someone close to her had simply been attacked — or killed — by something she didn’t understand and suspected it to be this beast. But she hadn’t said as much, and if that was the case, it was a very different matter than coming into the library because she wanted to learn more on the lore and legends of the beast—which is all she had actually said for certain so far. ‘Origins of the legend.’

He snorted. “I think I will be most useful if you could tell me exactly what you’re hoping to find here, and then I can tell you whether or not you are in the right spot, and where to begin looking if you are.”  

[Elf Princess Flannery]

Her cheeks warmed with embarrassment. She could hear the doubt in his voice and she could imagine she probably looked and sounded like some paranoid country bumpkin. The culture in the city was different she hadn't put in much effort to blend in since she arrived. The realization made her feel exposed. Briinah feared he would laugh, or refuse to help her.

She squeezed her sweaty palms into nervous fists and took a deep breath. "I, know it might sound crazy... and I don't need you to believe me... but I will tell you what brought me here." she paused for a moment to take another deep breath.

"My name is Briinah, I am from Dernd, Sauti. Our settlement is small and the community is close. Growing up my father told me about the legend of the dread sermal and he and my mother believed it was true. I didn't think men could turn into huge cats or be possessed by spirits of old gods like the legend suggests." her face looked pained and her eyes clenched shut. "Until I saw the beast myself, and it killed my mother..."
It was still so open, the realization of her absence didn't feel real. She wouldn't have her mother there for her marriage, or her first child, or any other important time for the rest of her life. It was too much to think about now. She pushed the urge to cry deep down inside her.

"Now, all I want to do is find and kill this creature without it possessing me. I thought I heard that there was some kind of enchanted bow or alloy that it was weak against. Something that would vanquish it for good instead of body jumping and terrorizing people." Her eyes grew dark and she slowly looked up to see his reaction. How crazy did she sound? Would he see she was genuine? Would he even be able to help her? She shook her head.
"I am not looking for some miracle manual for how to kill a dread sermal. I am just looking for clues, anything that could lead me to the truth of it."

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

Amalric was unaccustomed to girls being nervous around him. At academy, the vast majority of the student body was iceling and upper class, with even the occasional scattering of nobility. So it certainly stood to reason that most were confident, well-presented—and wanted little to nothing to do with him. This girl, though, was evidently anxious, and it was a strange and peculiar relief not to be the more nervous of the two—anymore. Though admittedly, her nerves evidently stemmed more from anxiousness about not being taken seriously as opposed to anything to do with him.

Just as well. He didn’t think himself intimidating and didn’t aim to be.

As she drew a breath, though, and then began, Amalric couldn’t help but feel for an instant as though he had walked into a longer tale than he had anticipated. My name is Briinah, I am from Dernd, Sauti. Our settlement is small and the community is close… Was she going to tell him her entire life story?

“My cousin’s name is Brinah…” he noted absently, a murmur of commentary more idly uttered as a wandering thought than directed at her specifically as he listened. At least it didn’t seem he was getting her full life story. It was superstitious nonsense, but being of Sautian descent—despite his upbringing in Coeld, Zena—he was familiar with much of their folklore, and it wasn’t an unheard of tale to him, but just that just the same: lore.

A fascinating concept to be sure. But magic did not function as a shape or a spirit shifter. It dealt with the elements, core composites of natural energy, and could be explained. Thus, so far as he was concerned, it was fact that there was ‘no such thing’ as a dread sermal unless what was involved was magic fundamentally beyond the current understanding of it with capacity to perform in ways currently unthinkable.

He didn’t think it likely.

But neither did he think the girl was insane. Evidently she had seen something, and had enough information to work with that this answer seemed plausible to her—and far be it from him to completely dismiss the possibility of new and unstudied magics. It was certainly an exciting thought, just not a plausible one in this instance from his perspective.

“Well,” he said at length, “I think if you are concerned with a beast you believe to be in a particular area you may be best off hiring an experienced hunter—speaking with those in the area who have traveled the lands and taken game in the location you expect it to be may have far more valuable information than you’ll find here on bookshelves. But…” He notched his head, encouraging her to follow before leading the way along the ground floor, past the staircase and then off to the left, “…I am certain I can find you something on the legend, on sermals, and on magic wards and negations if you like. What convinces you this beast is not simply an especially large sermal?”  

[Elf Princess Flannery]

She stiffened when he suggested hiring a hunter. She thought he would leave it at that and send her away. She knew the hunters, they were hunting the beast this very moment. She was relieved when he lead her to another area. "Yes! Thank you. Anything would help really. I have seen sermal tracks and this one was the largest I have ever seen. But the thing is, I saw it after it changed back into a man. He was wild looking and had the eyes of a beast." she shivered at the thought. "He was standing over my mother's body and was covered in her blood. I chased him as far as I could but I lost him and had to tend to my mother. I just wish I had been strong enough then." She hoped she hadn't grossed him out too much with details. "The hunters are still looking for him. I tasked myself with finding a way to safely destroy it, or lock it or anything. It is why am hoping to find something to go off of." her voice was weary and she felt cold as if the blood had run out of her. She looked up and around at the looming bookshelves. How did people get to the ones on the top? Did they have to climb them? or did they have some magical way to take them down? She felt dizzy looking at it. "I think if I could find some resources on the legend, and magic wards that would be useful. I know nothing about wards but I will find someone who does." unless he knew about wards too?

The Only Black Uke

 

[Miss Chief aka Uke]

“Mm.” Amalric nodded as she began. He was happy to help, and-

I saw it after it changed back into a man.

Immediately, Amalric’s brow furrowed, his gaze moving to her with some combination of disbelief and concern, molded a moment later into at least an attempt at neutrality.

“You…saw ‘it’ transform?” he asked. “That would be truly phenomenal. The magical implications alone—of being able to shift an entire body, the energy it would take, to transform, reshaping every molecule but in a functional fashion, while retaining enough mind orchestrate the process and without drying the body’s reserves to a husk…”

It wasn’t possible. Logically, Amalric was near certain. It simply wasn’t how magic as they knew it functioned, and even if it was — for they did work with the natural elements and thus perhaps if all of the internal composition of the body was the same it could be reconfigured with enough precision — it would take too much energy. It was one thing to move about or adjust the natural state of free form elements standing alone. But a body…

It was a fascinating thought. But not plausible.

And, he reminded himself, this was not about his personal fascination with magical function—he probably shouldn’t be thinking of anything or anyone that this girl thought was associated with her mother’s death as ‘phenomenal.’ He cleared his throat.

“The man may be a murderer,” he said. “But he unless you saw him transform yourself — in which case I would like to immediately accompany you to research this ‘beast’ of earth shattering magical potential — I would concern yourself less with the myth and more with the man. Or beast, for that matter. Did her injuries suggest a beast attack?”

Since she was so convinced this man was a sermal, perhaps an animal had gotten to her, and this strange and unfortunate man, with his ‘wild eyes’ whatever that meant, had attempted to help and given her the spooks in the process. Amalric couldn’t begin to know without more details, but it all felt deeply curious and suspicious. He did, however, lead the way down the east wing of the first floor and back along several long lines of shelves.

“You’re in the right spot for information at least…I have a rudimentary understanding of basic wards, but for anything in depth I would suggest a more experienced sorcerer.”  

[Elf Princess Flannery]

She was a bit irritated he didn't believe her but his suspicion and caution seemed founded. She didn't really expect him to understand the situation. "Look, when I found him he was standing over my mother who had practically been ripped apart, covered in her blood. He is an enormous man with dreads like an alkidike as if he was some kind of wild person. Her wounds were from a sermal, I have seen what they do to a deer carcass. I am convinced he was there to kill my mother, she always feared it. I didn't think he was real until I saw him. And he just turned and ran, I was too in shock to catch him and the hunters lost his trail across the border." Recalling the experience was exhausting. She hated that he had been so close and she let her mothers killer escape. But she knew better, she would not face him unprepared.
"Something here has to help." Briinah looked around at the stacks of books "I can't go home till I have that monsters head"

The Only Black Uke