Log View

Source	Contents
Bright Journey	It's pretty quiet in the Great Holy Library of Great Forks--a pretentious name for a place that's not even the biggest library in the city. But what it doesn't have in quantity, it sometimes makes up for in quality...and the place is still certainly not small. Its columns and stonework were all the rage a couple centuries ago, but are a bit rococo nowadays. Still, the ponderous pomp of its architecture suits the books in the stacks reasonably well. Right now, it's dim and quiet here. The library is open, but it -is- a bit drafty in here, and what with winter celebrations being prepared by nearly everyone, there's only a few with the time to read. Bright Journey is one of them. She has on a charming, rustic bottle green dress with minimal golden jewelry, outside the collar at her throat. Her heavy black cloak is flung over the next chair over, while she sits, legs demurely crossed, leaning back with a thick, leather-bound book in hand. It's not dusty--mostly--but it looks like it -should- be, with the roadworn look it has. A bottle of wine and a glass sit on the table beside her, no doubt in woeful violation of library rules. She's mostly engrossed in her book, but it's so quiet around here that she would surely hear someone arrive.
Tiziri	Wearing a rather stylish dress with a fancy silver brocade design on it, and pants below, as well as long sleeves, Ardent Vagabond is here as well. She's currently perusing a part of the library where the tomes are devoted to ruins of creation. Specifically, she's reading one that focuses on the local area. Though it seems she is a bit of a wanderer while she's reading, perhaps making her way towards a table to sit, but it's a bit meandering and she isn't paying much attention to where she is either.
Bright Journey	After a few minutes, it may become clear that Bright Journey isn't, in fact, reading whatever book she has. Instead, she's been perusing the fancy-dressed young lady as she wanders about, book in hand. Bright has a fond, warm little smile on her face as she silently watches. She makes no effort to hide, though, and her attention is probably noticeable sooner or later. Whether Ardent Vagabond noticed Bright Journey or not, Bright coughs delicately in an effort to get Ardent's attention. Even that small sound travels around the stone walls as Bright delicately slips a leather ribbon placeholder--evidently a part of the book itself--into place and closing the book around a finger.
Tiziri	The cough attracts the attention, and the young woman looks over with a blink and starts to smile. "Hello." She greets quietly, respecting the environment they are in. "We met at the festival, yes?" She inquires, head tilting to the side rather far, almost like a tick she isn't aware she has. "Weird how meetings can happen in places completely different from before." Tiziri says with a bit of an impish sort of look on her face. "There's a certain poetic coincidence to it." A pause as she too places a mark in the book. "What brings you here today? Any interesting research you're willing to disclose?"
Bright Journey	Bright Journey offers a friendly smile as she sets the book down. "I thought I recognized you, my dear, despite the frantic day that was. As nice as it was to meet you, perhaps it'll be even nicer to actually have a chance to get to know you!" Bright inclines her head in acknowledgment. "Personally, I'm running on the reasonable theory that someone keeps making me run into other interesting people all the time. Although, to be fair, I meet a -lot- of people. It's not what I was trying for, here in an almost deserted library, but lo and behold, here we are. I must wonder if the gods will it." She smiles impishly. "I'm sure if we look hard enough, we can find a temple that will tell us whatever we want to hear. The truth, on the other hand, is a bit more obscure." Bright holds up the book she'd been reading and grins. "Nothing esoteric, I assure you." She chuckles faintly. "I have -other- libraries for that. The problem is trying to look up anything more recent than ages ago. This kind of place is much more suited to, say, travelogues of journeys to the West, like this one. A few of my friends expressed interest in travel, and I'm curious now too." Bright certainly notices the far-head-turn, but doesn't have anything to say yet. If she has any discomfort due to it, she's not going to say it out loud.
Tiziri	"Well, you know the name I go by. So it is hard to say I'm not interested in travel." Ardent Vagabond says with a wider grin. "Especially being here in a near deserted library. I'll admit, it feels like this is the sort of place we're most likely to find something unusual, at least that's my reason." That grin doesn't fade even a bit then. "So where were you hoping to travel? Anywhere specific?" She inquires. "My name isn't for nothing. I've been traveling for a few years now, and loving every moment of it. So I do know a bit about what it is like in a lot of places."
Bright Journey	"In truth, I'm not entirely sure where yet," Bright Journey replies. She smiles and shrugs, seemingly genuine. "I don't know yet because I'm not entirely sure even what we're looking for. A friend of mine feels a tug to go out west, and I admit I've never been outside the Scavenger Lands myself. I think it's high time we went and saw a bit more of the world." Bright leans back a moment, looking thoughtful. "Well. I mean, this -is- a public library. But on the other hand, if the librarians have any professional pride, perhaps there's a hidden section they don't put on their flyers." Bright grins cheekily and stands up, downing the last of her current wine glass as soon as she's on her feet. "So what kinds of unusual do you normally go for?" Bright walks to within a quieter conversational range, then starts looking around as she speaks. "I don't exactly see any doors that say, "Danger: Occult Sorceries Within" here. But there's plenty of areas to check, if you're so inclined."
Tiziri	"You need to look for things like that from an angle." Ardent Vagabond says. "Don't look for signs of the obvious. Otherwise it wouldn't be occult. Far better to look for the hints within hints within hints." She notes without seeming to think twice about it. "Afterall, sometimes the most well hidden things are those that are the most obvious. The talk about a special secret in a city you've heard about? Obvious. But what if it isn't obvious? what if everyone presumes it is obvious?" She muses. "Or not. That's the fun of research."
Bright Journey	Bright Journey looks at Argent and chuckles quietly. "Yes...well, I'm starting to think you might have actually dealt with the occult yourself. Reminds me of how many times I've tied my own brain into knots trying to figure out something. And always wondering if I overlooked something simple while trying to derive everything into something more complex. "So, two questions, Ardent Vagabond--do you mind if I call you Ardent? First, are you a thaumaturge? Or even maybe a sorcerer? I can't help but be curious. And second, what should we be looking for? A plain, unmarked door? One that says 'Keep Out'? One that says 'There Are Definitely No Occult Tomes Beyond This Point'?
Tiziri	"Tiziri is fine, it's probably the more real name." The young woman says. Then without missing much of a beat she says. "Rather than look for the things that are said. Look for those which are unsaid. Or the things said in places one might not think to look." Ardent Vagabond seems like she's being a bit evasive now. Though possibly accidentally? "Look in the places you wouldn't usually see things. People tend to research by looking for things where they'd expect. But what happens if you're researching the West, but some mention of a library in the South comes up?" She gives by way of example. "Usually, you'd probably overlook it. That's a simple example, but a good way to explain the best methods of research." Here Tiziri looks up for a moment, "As for me? Well, I'd say I'm a scholar. A scholar of many things. But a scholar. I'll also admit I recognize something about you. Something more than a bit revealing, but which proves you have a certain sort of power too." A pause, and an engimatic smile on her face. "Your eyes." A pair of heartbeats follows and then she says "Also, I can deduce from your friends I've since learned more of that there's more, and you probably suspect that too."
Bright Journey	At this, Bright can only nod in acknowledgment. What else is there to deny? Bright looks at Ardent...or, well, Tiziri, with a firm, searching look that wasn't on her face a moment ago. "You're right, of course. Personally, I'm something of a scholar second. My real talents lie in who I know, but I certainly know a fair bit of sorcery myself." She grins. "The book on the table really -is- a travelogue, though. I've sunk my mental teeth into occult grimoires and such before, and I surely will again, but that's not why I came here today." Bright looks around, squinting in focus, searching carefully. "As for research, you're describing what some of the tomes call lateral thought, intuitive searching, or disparagingly, random guesses. Which aren't really random, of course. All theory is educated guessing, is it not? But I digress. Lateral thought is trying to come at a problem from other directions, by thinking of tangential ideas and following the threads backwards to see if they relate." Bright laughs a bit, crossing her arms and looking at Ardent Vagabond. "Honestly, my intuition isn't bad, but I don't know how much luck I had without -any- notion where I was headed. It sounds to me, though, that you may already know if there are any secrets here."
Tiziri	"Honestly?" Tiziri says. "I don't." She laughs softly. "That's why I'm here. Hoping something jumps to mind that inspires me. And if not? Well, I have the advantage of learning about other places I might end up going. See, I like seeing new places. Or new old places." She grins again. "That's pretty much my goal. See what strikes my interest. And if I should happen to stumble upon some passage about a rumored jeweler of the fourteenth Shogun's second consort? Well, who knows? That might be interesting. Truly, my sobriquet isn't an accident. I really do care more about the journey than anything. Everything I learn along the way is just a nice little benefit." Here she studies Bright again, "So is there something specific you are looking for, perhaps I can help? Sometimes having a goal is nice too, and becomes tangential to that journey I'm on. After all, it's not my goal, but who knows what insights I'll discover in the meantime!"
Bright Journey	"Oh, heh," Bright responds, a fond smile on her face as she remembers something. "No, no, I don't have any more answers for you. And believe me, I don't mean that as in 'I don't want to tell you', I'm serious. I really don't have anything I haven't already said. And neither does my friend yet, I think. She just said she felt a pulling and she needed to go west. We kind of liked the idea. But I don't think even she knew why she's going, at least not yet." Bright laughs as she peers around a stone pillar. "I can't help but notice you didn't actually -say- whether you're a sorcerer or not. But if you are, you know that sort of strangeness is nothing. A normal day." Bright's words are flippant, but she's certainly paying close attention.
Tiziri	"I've never been to the West yet." Ardent Vagabond starts to say. "I came from the Dreaming Sea region, so I know something of the maritime, but not really. Things that way would be entirely different. And honestly, I hope to see it someday too!" She even sounds and looks a bit excited about admitting that. "I never really did anything with sailing, my experience is far more in its exact opposite, the desert." She laughs more. "As for that other bit. I know." She smiles in that enigmatic way again. "There are implications there... indeed. Sorcerors are known to be a bit... strange as you say. I know I'm pretty strange too. That things I saw don't seem so weird."
Bright Journey	Bright's voice is at its driest as she replies. "Oh, trust me, my dear. Stay in Great Forks long enough, and the weirdest day you've had so far will just be another day of the week soon enough." She smiles briefly. "There's so many things I never dreamt of in my own childhood, you know? I haven't actually been too far afield--I was born in Nexus and we moved out to a small village when I was...what? Five or six? Not sure. But Great Forks is grand in a way Nexus was not...at least, what little of it I remember. And I'm sure other places, like the Imperial City, are far grander still." Bright walks forward, leaving Ardent Vagabond behind and making her way to a small, inconspicuous door, out of the way and behind a pillar. "You know, my dear, I looked in this direction at least twice and could have sworn nothing was here. Maybe it was magic, but I think my eyes just thought it would be more wall back here, just like every other wall." Bright reaches for the handle, then thinks better of it and simply, gently pushes the door. It creaks awfully loudly in a place this quiet, but perhaps the librarians are elsewhere. Beyond lies a hallway, dimly lit and....well, not disused, but certainly rarely used. The light doesn't reach the end, but there's still at least two visible doors leading further inside. "Well, well. Coming along, Tiziri?"
Tiziri	"Maybe." Tiziri says with a weird sort of honesty. "I do come from the Dreaming Sea after all, and weird is part of the territory." She winks then. Though it really feels like she still doesn't entirely believe it, or believes there's something even weirder. she quickly is distracted too! "Oooh! I'm all about checking out new doors I didn't notice. This sounds great! Let's go!"