(Skyseas of Gensokyo) Nazrin Quest (Part 10)

[Oldmansour]

>Place hand on knob, but pause. Woman like this probably doesn't like people entering her office unbidden, be they expected or not.
>So, knock first and announce ourselves.

[DracoOmega]

>Place hand on knob, but pause. Woman like this probably doesn't like people entering her office unbidden, be they expected or not.
>So, knock first and announce ourselves.

>You move to open the door, then think twice on this and knock instead.
>Her voice is quicker in responding than the first time. "Come on."

[Oldmansour]

>Double check our head to makes sure we're not still foamy, or at least not dripping, then re-enter.

[DracoOmega]

>Double check our head to makes sure we're not still foamy, or at least not dripping, then re-enter.

>You give your head another feel. Still little matted bits, here and there, but there's nothing to do done about them without a bath or something. You think you're about as clean as you're going to get, so you open the door and enter.
>The librarian is already standing as you do so, the book she reclaimed from the fairy nowhere to be seen. She looks you over with a critical eye and the corner of her mouth tugs downward, but then she heads straight for the door without further comment.

[Oldmansour]

>Not generous with words, this one.
>Get out of her way, then follow along behind her.
>And keep a casual eye out for any more fairys that aren't as... 'mature' as that Dai girl is.

[DracoOmega]

>Not generous with words, this one.
>Get out of her way, then follow along behind her.
>And keep a casual eye out for any more fairys that aren't as... 'mature' as that Dai girl is.

>She does seem rather taciturn, but at the moment you could put up with just about any personality if the person possessing it had some answers to give you.
>You step aside to let her pass, then follow behind. Once again, she leads you to the 'restricted access' door but this time manages to unlock it without interruption. Behind the door lies a narrow stairway descending a considerable distance. The walls are sparingly lit with soft lights in geometric sconces and the ceiling is low; you cannot see the bottom from this angle.
>The librarian proceeds downward without pause.

[Oldmansour]

>"How far down are we going?"

[DracoOmega]

>"How far down are we going?"

>"The bottom," she says.

[Oldmansour]

>"Does that mean a really old book, or a really dangerous one?"

[DracoOmega]

>"Does that mean a really old book, or a really dangerous one?"

>"Old."

[Oldmansour]

>Small grin. She doesn't use two words when one will do, does she?
>Nod and continue.

[DracoOmega]

>Small grin. She doesn't use two words when one will do, does she?
>Nod and continue.

>It seems not.
>You nod and continue down the stairs.

>In the end, they turn out not to be especially long, though the steep decline and confined space exaggerates the sense of isolation from the rest of the library. The stairs end in a somewhat wider hallway with a small handful of doors along its brief length and another at its end. The stately grandeur of the library's upper floors is exchanged here for simple functionality - skillfully built, but with little ornament. It is quiet and cool and the air is strangely dry. No one can be seen.

>The librarian proceeds to the door labelled 'Rare Books' and produces another key, with which she deftly unlocks it.
>"Don't touch anything," she says before stepping inside.

[Oldmansour]

>Give the place a quick sweep with our extrasensory perception to make sure there's no traps in there for unsuspecting youkai.
>Then enter.

[DracoOmega]

>Give the place a quick sweep with our extrasensory perception to make sure there's no traps in there for unsuspecting youkai.
>Then enter.

>Your treasure sense is definitely buzzing more down here than it was above ground, but you'd need to be a little more slow and deliberate to discern anything that could count as a trap; you don't have any preternatural awareness on that particular front, as handy as it might be to have. You follow the poltergeist inside.

>The room is modestly spacious compared to the landing, though still retains its cloistered feel. It is arrayed neatly with locked glass and oaken cabinets, inside of which rest thick tomes and slim aged volumes, bound in leather and hide and even metal, each bearing the scars of time to one degree or another. Many are in quite good condition, though others are so tattered that their spines are barely readable. Nestled between the cabinets are several small reading desks, each with a brass lamp and straight-backed chair, but there is little other furniture or decoration in the room. It also appears to be empty, save for the two of you.
>As you enter, you note the librarian pass her hands between a pair of etched metal fixtures attached to the wall, looking rather like two halves of a silver moon.
>"Put your hands in there," she says.

[Oldmansour]

>"This some kind of lock?"
>Place hands where indicated.

[DracoOmega]

>"This some kind of lock?"
>Place hands where indicated.

>"It's a scrubber," she says. "The books here too valuable to handle without using one..." She throws you a dubious glance. "Particularly in your case."
>You place your hands between the two metal fixtures and almost immediately feel a firm buzzing across the surface of your skin. Looking to your fingers, you can actually see the tiny smears of colored gunk left from your earlier toweling start to dissolve cleanly away. Your hands begin to tingle oddly.
>As you endure the curious sensations of the arcane device, the librarian moves off to one of the nearby book cabinets and unlocks it. With so little hesitation that the gesture appears nearly instinctive, she reaches towards the left edge of the second shelf and extracts a thick black tome, its spine cracked and worn in numerous places. Holding it gently in hand, she takes the book to the nearest reading table and spreads it open with practiced care. The brittle and yellowed pages crinkle slightly as the spine groans its protest.

[Hanzo K.]

>"Hey, think this'd work for my hair too? It'd save me the trouble of cleaning it myself, that's for sure."

[Oldmansour]

>Don't suppose that had any effect on our blight marks, did it? Have a discreet glance.

[DracoOmega]

>"Hey, think this'd work for my hair too? It'd save me the trouble of cleaning it myself, that's for sure."

>"This is a library, not a salon," she says with a note of thick distaste. "And your head is three times too large."

>Don't suppose that had any effect on our blight marks, did it? Have a discreet glance.

>You haven't yet developed any blight marks on your hands, which is where the tingling seems isolated to.

[Oldmansour]

>That'll be awkward, if we can't shake this before that happens. We should invest in gloves.
>"Well, had to ask."
>Approach her location.
>"Just how old is that book?"

[DracoOmega]

>That'll be awkward, if we can't shake this before that happens. We should invest in gloves.
>"Well, had to ask."
>Approach her location.
>"Just how old is that book?"

>That might be a good idea. You'll add it to the list along with a longer skirt.
>She makes no reply.
>You walk over to the poltergeist and the book she is carefully leafing through. The wrinkled and sometimes damaged pages are covered with thick blocky lettering and inset on occasion with stylized botanical line drawings. The text is rather hard to read due to the size and density of its writing and style of its characters, though the ink is surprisingly bold for its obvious age.
>"A proper dating is difficult," she says. "At least 600 years. The author is unknown."

[Oldmansour]

>Was that before or after the continent was colonized by mainlanders?

[DracoOmega]

>Was that before or after the continent was colonized by mainlanders?

>You're fairly sure that predates the colonization of Estval by a considerable length of time. It might even be before it was discovered.

[Oldmansour]

>"That would be before Estval was visited by people from this continent, wouldn't it?"

[DracoOmega]

>"That would be before Estval was visited by people from this continent, wouldn't it?"

>"Yes," she replies, still paging through the brittle parchment of the tome with gentle care. She pauses on one page long enough to scrutinize it in some detail, the concentrated frown on her face slowly deepening, then she points a finger at the text.
>"Here."

[Oldmansour]

>Must be in a language we can comprehend then.
>Have a look.

[DracoOmega]

>Must be in a language we can comprehend then.
>Have a look.

>Comprehension is a relative thing, but it does seem to be written in largely the same language the two of you are speaking; some of spellings are archaic and take a couple attempts to properly make out - the lettering isn't helping, either - but you think you can manage if you take it slow.
>You look to the indicated section. It appears to be an encyclopedia-style entry on some kind of plant:

>Queensfoil

>Also sometimes known as Elil's Promise, Purple Starbloom, or Aoboshi, it is a short stocky plant with numerous small star-shaped doubly serrate leaves. Faint blue striations can be sometimes observed on the underside, most prominently alongside the principle veins. It favors flat, shaded terrain with moist soil, thriving especially on the margins of fens and marshland, though it is sparse in distribution and few in number, found chiefly in the climes of Rokuzawa and Kokuryuuji, and - as some claim - in the kappa lands which lie beyond the Aokage. It is most commonly seen without flower, producing small six-petaled blue-violet blossoms only once every seventh growing season. Shamanic tradition of Kiyomura regards this regular flowering as proof of the continued vigil of a nameless god who long ago protected their people from rampaging youkai. Superstition aside, the plant has a number of medicinal properties.

>When taken as a tincture, it soothes headaches and mitigates morning sickness, and the aroma from an infusion of its leaves, dried and ground and steeped in warm white vinegar, can cleanse congestion of the sinuses when kept beside one's bed overnight. Moreover, a preparation of its flowers, steeped slowly in a brew of one part Athran's Vigor to four parts Aqua Veritatis is a potent ward against foul vapors, fortifies the blood, staves off maladies of the spleen and liver, and reverses the ragged blackening of the veins. Alchemically, it is a water-affine somatic with low reactivity and very mild abbrogative and palliative properties, whose usage is generally eclipsed by Riverwort due to its much wider availability and ease of application. Dried Queensfoil, in small quantities, also makes a palatable seasoning for meat and savory stews.

>Next to the entry is a somewhat crude but serviceable illustration of a plant in faded ink; it largely matches the textual description.

[Oldmansour]

>Do we currently possess pen and paper, and if so, the artistic skill to make a copy of that sketch?
>Come to think of it, how many languages do we speak?

>Blackening of the veins.... No way. Would we describe our blight as 'ragged', thought?
>The locations mentioned in this article, do any of those names mean anything to us? Or the other ingredients used to make the tonic to reverse vein blackening?

[DracoOmega]

>Do we currently possess pen and paper, and if so, the artistic skill to make a copy of that sketch?
>Come to think of it, how many languages do we speak?

>Blackening of the veins.... No way. Would we describe our blight as 'ragged', thought?
>The locations mentioned in this article, do any of those names mean anything to us? Or the other ingredients used to make the tonic to reverse vein blackening?

>You possess none of those things, though you suppose you could try to muddle by without the latter if you had some of the former.
>Just one with any fluency, though the one is normally enough: the central nations and their colonies all share a common tongue. Other languages are generally either old, highly regional, reserved for arcane or liturgical matters, or all of the above. You think Rhashaval may use a different one in daily life, but it's also a fairly exotic and isolated place.

>You don't think there's a clearly defined clinical definition of that word, but you suppose using it to describe your blight markings wouldn't be out of the question.
>None of the locations mentioned are at all familiar, nor are most of the ingredients. In fact, the only name in that whole entry that means a thing to you is riverwort, a rather common herb used as an ingredient in a number of everyday concoctions. It's not particularly valuable.

[Oldmansour]

>"This 'blackening of the veins' sounds about right. And I think the time period might be right, too. But, I thought information on this era was fragmentary, all but lost. Where did this book come from?"