escordvi | open | drawn to that library magic

Who: cyrus and you!
Status: Open
Where: archives, minstrel & cask, surusthana cafe, the definitely not shadows house, wherever you want to be
What: open log for cyrus for the month of january! includes gen hangouts and quests!!
Warnings: n/a

❄️ QUEST || I. waterlogged writings.

[ it's been a couple of months of settling in - adjusting to life on and off the high seas has been a wondrous adventure for cyrus albright, but he shows his true colors as a paladin when this particular quest comes to the attention of a scholar.

therefore, tucked into a corner in the archives of elah is cyrus, ruffled sleeves re-tied to his elbows, wearing a pair of thin white gloves, and surrounded by books. i mean surrounded. a few of the books are floating in suspension, and most curiously, wrapped in something that's giving off a frosty chill, but for the most part, the professor and academic is hard at work. lift each page with delicate, delicate fingers. take a thin piece of cloth from a small stack beside him, apply a bit of something magical, slide it between the wet pages. rinse, lather, repeat. he seems to be enjoying himself, a smile on his face as he works his way through each book, meticulously, gently.

upon noticing any company - which could take forever, to be perfectly honest, as he is very absorbed in his work - cyrus glances up and offers a smile. ]

Oh, hello! Wonderful timing. Do be careful - would you mind terribly to do me a bit of a favor? I've got a ledger that needs filling.

[ just off to the side, there's a whole different book, a quill stuck between the pages. cheerfully, he nods towards it. hello! help. c: ]

⚡️ QUEST-ISH/MISC: || II. waterlogged writings....2!.

[ maybe you're an early bird, because the next day, coming into the archives early might lead you to a sight - that would be cyrus albright, quill still in his hand, head down on the oak table in front of him and cheek nestled against his arm.... fast asleep. has he been here all night... ]

❄️ III. QUEST || the house that watches.

[ well, nothing catches cyrus' attention like a good mystery, and it's on a chilly afternoon that he makes his way towards the manor, following a trail of shadowy soot - he leans down, brushing his fingers through the material and rubbing it between his fingers, looking thoughtful. ]

A fire spirit, perhaps...? [ not quite, no. either way, he glances back at the house, adjusts his clothing - finely dressed, well heeled, and perfectly fit to enter a manor despite his, well. lack of shadow - and then looks to his companion. that's you! ]

Well. The game is afoot, isn't it? [ cyrus sounds delighted as he says this, clapping his hands together once. ] Let's set off to undercover and we ought to find the answers we seek - out of the shadows, into the light.

Are you well prepared? [ did you think you weren't getting dragged in? you are ]

🔥 IV. GEN | minstrel & cask (night hangout) .

[ in the evenings, cyrus can be found hanging out at the minstrel and cask, clearly people watching. he's got a glass of red wine he occasionally swirls in one hand, chin propped in the other - really giving a Beautiful and Handsome Stranger Mysteriously Drinking Wine At The Bar Before We Have Our Romance Meet Cute kind of vibe. he's alone, but doesn't seem to mind it.

you might feel a gaze on you in the bar here and there, assessing. and, if you glance his way, cyrus smiles - warm and friendly, and lifts his glass in greeting. otherwise, he goes back to observing with a soft focus, attentive to the different people in the room. maybe he's learned something interesting...

and of course! if he recognizes a friend, there's immediately a smile as he pushes out the stool beside him with a foot, whole expression warming up. ] Fancy to sit a spell? Hello, my friend.

[ come hang! or get looked at by a weirdo who knows ]

🔥 V. GEN | cafe (day hangout) .

[ throughout the month, cyrus can also be found in the surusthana cafe hanging out and doing a variety of things including - perusing the network with his shellphone, reading a book, writing what look to be letters, settled in the chess match corner and looking pleased at the concept of an opponent, or enjoying cups of tea and the atmosphere. occasionally, he brings by a few books for the stock of the store - even a few reproduced books and travel journals, carefully handwritten in his beautiful handwriting. he'll talk your ear off about book-binding if you ask, so maybe don't. or do? who knows.

either way, this is the gen hangout at the cafe prompt! come hang out with me 🥺 ]

🔥❄️⚡️ V. WILDCARD .

[ want to do a different quest? hit me up! want to do something specific? let's do that, too! hmu on protags at discord or plurk to plot and i'll happily write you a closed starter. c: ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yes! It's the least wet one.

[ cyrus says - joking, of course, but he does nod his head towards one of the books that's up. it's a lovingly bound notebook, a quill tucked between the pages, resting against the spine. he's made copious notes so far, lists of the books he's been working on and their conditions in his elegant, loopy handwriting.

g'raha is more than allowed to touch, so long as it's that one! when he does, the book remains open under his hands. ]

If you'd not mind, I need to record the name and summary of this one, as well as the condition. The quill's not enchanted or anything of the like - the book's only a new trick - so I could use all the help I could get... I'd be in your debt.

"The least wet" might be a matter of opinion at this point.

[ G'raha is going to reach for the one that Cyrus has pointed out. As he opens it, G'raha begins to understand what it is that Cyrus is cataloguing. He wonders if others are documenting their progress in such a way. It isn't a bad idea. ]

I don't mind helping at all. Are you documenting their condition fist prior to restoration or after?

[ this makes him laugh, a light noise, amused. ]

Wouldn't it, just! [ these poor books... but he looks appreciative to g'raha helping, and carefully resumes changing out the blotting paper on one of his books, warming it with a touch of that heat from the fire magic, very carefully controlled. ]

For the most part, I've only marked note of their condition if there were books that were particularly damaged or especially undamaged - since the outliers might have a specific reason for being so, it's best to be safe. But otherwise, I've noted the time I placed or changed the blotting papers, the condition, places that might have damage that needs to be restored, and then title, author, and brief summation if I'm able to do so.

This one, I need to mark this page - page twenty-seven - as having smeared ink on the pages. The words are still somewhat legible, enough that someone ought to be able to retrace them... once it's dry, at least.

My, someone is quite organized. Though my experience deals less with tomes and more with what we call tomestones.

[ Though he is the one that has to compile all the paperwork on his findings. Paperback tomes are only created after they have been able to pull the information off of the tomestone. Prior to traveling to Tural, G'raha had simply been sorting all of the remaining documents in the Annex.

Before that he had been... Well. On the First, technically. But there had been less to restore there and more recreating or preserving.

He takes the ledger and begins to jot down notes based off of what Cyrus is saying. ]

You can always come back to the summation. To get an accurate account, one would need to read the entirety of the work, yes?

I'd hardly be a scholar worth my salt if I weren't! Though, perhaps, I may just be more of a scholar were I lacking one...

[ a system of organization, that is. he's joking on his own people, his fellow nerds, and also the large pile of books that are standing up vertically at the table, floating everywhere. he tends to explode outwards.

but, ah! g'raha says that, and he smiles over the book he's working on drawing, nodding. ] Correct! I'm a quick reader, but one can only get so much from a quick glance... though, some of these I feel as though I've passed through three or four times, at this point.

[ quiet passes for a moment later as he changes out the blotting cloths, gently heating them with a delicate touch of fire magic, and sliding them between the pages. over comfortable, companionable silence, he asks, a glitter of curiosity in his voice: ] A 'tomestone', you said? Sort of like a stone tablet, or something different...?

I think it could truly go either way. Most of my workspaces are, ah, rather cluttered. Books, mostly. Mistress Krile oft would scold me for leaving too many stacked up. Lyna would call them a hazard.

[ Though recalling it all just makes him chuckle more than anything else. Were anyone to ask, G'raha would say that he misses his adoptive sister and his granddaughter/ward dearly. Seeing Krile had been too brief and he's had to resign himself to the knowledge that there is... Little chance he will see Lyna again.

He doesn't dwell on it though. Instead he looks up and over at the other scholar. Of course he understands the whole "quick reader." G'raha is similar, though his eyes are just more so trained to immediate find the most important information during research. ]

Yes, I noticed quite the same. It makes me wonder why so many copies of the same book were needed. Surely there couldn't have been that great of a demand for these volumes.

[ And if there had been, well that might say more about the society here. The one that, perhaps, existed before? Ah, but never mind that so much. He is being asked about tomestones. ]

Unfortunately, I believe that stone tablets would be easier. Nay, these are contraptions that made out of metals that may contain a library of information within. One end of would need to plug into a source for the information to be extracted.

[ pfft. that's familiar. his study's no different, a towering mess of books and research projects and gods only knows what else - it gets him to laugh too, shaking his head from where he's changing out the blotting papers on a book. ]

You're in good company - It's a lucky miracle I live alone. [ though, it's been ages since cyrus has been home, but that's neither here nor there.

as g'raha continues, his expression shifts - changing to a wide eyed delight. almost like a little kid, bright with curiosity and wonder. ] I see! And is that your duty, to extract them...?

Ah... That. [ Living alone. G'raha begins to fuss with the pen a little. ] I fear I have never truly done such a thing. There have always been individuals around me in some way, shape, or form.

[ All things considering, it is probably for the best. Too many times has he ignored basic needs in favor of research or investigating a site. Or simply overworking himself to the point of exhaustion.

Though he is smiling at Cyrus and the enthusiasm! ]

I am a subject matter specialist on all things Allag. Rather than extracting such information, I would be called in to provide insight or further clarity.

open | drawn to that library magic

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject