Although the three libraries of Marsolin were quite the impressive sight from a distance, walking in front of the entrance of the tallest of the three buildings was an even more overwhelming experience. There was a large open plaza in front of the stairs that led into the library. The other two libraries were a little bit behind it and to each side of this library. Each of the other two libraries had their own open plaza in front of it, and roads connected all three plazas. The Ruby Observatory was built out of marble which had to have been imported from quite far away, seeing as this region didn’t seem like it would contain a lot of marble. At the front flanking two massive oaken doors that looked like it would take half an army to open there were massive stained glass windows that showed off a mage and a starscape. The stairs leading up to the library were massive and looked like they might be hard to climb.
“Not very good for accessibility,” Mana remarked, “what if someone is old, has a bad leg or is in a wheelchair?”
“I’m sure they’ll have a solution for that, I doubt a library wouldn’t be accessible to old people,” Cobal replied.
“I guess.” They climbed the stairs and walked through the large open doors into the main hall.
The main hall was bustling. Where the walls were mostly made out of the marble that was visible from the outside, everything else in here seemed to be made out of the same oak that the doors were made out of. There were several counters with people working behind them, helping people out. Scribes and others were hastily walking across the large hall and deeper into the building there seemed to be several rooms where people were either working or discussing something. Perhaps some sort of meeting rooms. At the center of the hallway, in front of the meeting rooms, was a massive staircase that led up to the first floor. It started somewhat slim at the bottom but widened as you climbed up the stairs, being about twice as wide by the time you’d step onto the first floor. At the bottom of this massive staircase was a small desk setup with two people sitting behind it. It seemed like you needed to have some sort of clearance to go up to the first floor. Many people went up immediately though, so Cobal figured the required clearance wasn’t all that hard to get. Cobal was so lost in admiring the impressive hall that he didn’t realize Eliana was already talking to one of the scribes behind the counter.
“So you’re looking for a specific scribe that works here, named Kayzel, do I have that correct?” The young scribe looked at Eliana who nodded. “That’s right, tell him that his old friend Eliana is in town.”
The woman went through a list of papers and eventually found what she was looking for. “I believe Kayzel should be working here today, I’ll check the upstairs offices to see if I can find him for you, please wait in the main hall.” With a smile she got up from her desk to go find Eliana’s friend, while another scribe that had been working at a desk behind the counter came up to take over for her while she was gone, helping the next person in line.
It took a little while before the scribe came walking back down the main staircase. After looking around for a moment she spotted Cobal and the others and walked up to them. “I’ve talked with Kayzel and he’ll meet with you in a couple of minutes. He was in a meeting which would take a little while longer. If you don’t mind, I can bring you to one of the visitor rooms where you can wait for him.”
They followed her off to the side of the staircase and into the small corridor that led to several of the rooms that Cobal had assumed were meeting rooms. It seemed like they were specifically for visitors, as the scribes that worked here had offices on one of the higher floors. “Could I bring you some tea or coffee?” She asked as they got settled.
“What great hospitality,” Eliana remarked.
The woman smiled. “We’re entirely funded by those who are willing to invest in our library, so it’s in our best interest to treat everyone well.”
“Well, I’ll have some coffee,” Mana said. Cobal and Eliana both ordered some as well, and the woman left to go prepare it. She came back a little bit later with their coffee, as well as some fresh bread.
“I could get used to this,” Eliana said to her, winking at her.
“Well, if you become a scribe at the Ruby Conservatory, you can have all the bread and coffee you want.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Please don’t let a whirlwind of a woman anywhere near the books here,” an unfamiliar voice said from the doorway. Cobal looked up to see a middle aged man he didn’t know. This must be Kayzel, he thought.
His guess was quickly confirmed by Eliana loudly proclaiming, “Kayzel, you got older!”
“And you barely aged,” the man responded. A broad smile appeared on his face, showing off a few of his wrinkles. For as old as he looked, his hairline was still immaculate and the gray hairs that started to peek through the black made him look that much more dashing. He didn’t look like the bookish type at all. “It’s so good to see you again.”
“I’ll leave you to it,” the woman said, closing the door behind her.
“So, who are your friends?” Kayzel asked, looking expectantly at Mana and Cobal.
Mana and Cobal exchanged a look.
“This is Cobal and Mana, they’re travelers I met on the open seas.”
“Be honest with me, did you sink their ship and force them to join up with you?”
“What do you take me for?” Eliana responded, feigning being offended.
“Yeah, she would never do something like that,” Cobal added. “We joined out of our own volition. After she locked us up for hitting her ship. And then made us work for her and fight for her.”
“Listen, that’s all in the past now,” Eliana said.
Kayzel just shook his head. “And what brings you all here then? I can’t imagine you’re here to come and study something, so it must be either because you miss me or because your companions have something they want from this library.”
“You hit the nail on the head Kay.”
“So you’re here because you miss me?”
“What do we need to do to get access to the entire library?” Eliana asked, ignoring his joke.
“Well, that kind of depends on what you mean by that. To get access to the main floor, you need to be a guest of a working scribe. I can arrange that much for you. If you want access to the upper floors, you need to be sponsored by one of several senior librarians. If you want access to everything here, you need to become one of the senior librarians.”
“And could you ask one of the senior librarians to hear us out?” Cobal asked.
Kayzel shook his head. “Unless I can give them a good reason to do so, I doubt they’d waste their time on anyone who shows up.”
“That’s not a problem, is there a senior librarian that you think can be discreet?”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“I would like you to tell them that Cobal Blueyerd, third prince of the Blueyerd Kingdom, is here to visit.”
Kayzel’s eyes widened and he gave Eliana a shocked joke. “Is he messing with me?”
Eliana shook her head. “This kid is a proper prince.”
“Kid?” Cobal asked.
“I said what I said.”
Kayzel turned his attention back to Cobal. “I didn’t realize I was in the presence of royalty, I humbly apologize if I’ve been offensive in any way.”
“No need for that Kay,” Eliana interrupted him. “We’re not technically here on official business, he’s just some kid for all you know.”
“I’m in my twenties.”
“Again, I said what I said.”
Kayzel stood up. “Well, I’ll go and retrieve senior librarian Lysa Drant, if there’s anyone who would know what to do in this situation, it would be her.”
“Can she be trusted to not reveal our identity to anyone else?” Mana asked.
Kayzel nodded. “I believe so. At the very least, she’s probably one of the most professional people in this place.”
“We’ll trust in your judgment then,” Cobal said.
After waiting for a good while, Kayzel returned. “Lysa would like to speak with you in her office,” he said.
“Sure, lead us to her then,” Eliana said. They followed Kayzel out of the meeting room and towards the main staircase. Kayzel walked up to the two men at the desk in front of the staircase. “These three are guests of mine and they’re going to meet with Lysa Drant, can you get them a visitor’s badge?”
The man behind the table nodded. “What is the reason for your visit?” he asked.
“Do you want to know what sort of books we want to read?” Cobal asked.
“That’s what it boils down to, yes. We like to keep track of what sort of things people study here.”
“It’s a few things. We want to learn about the history of this town, lost forms of magic and some herbalism.”
“That’s a lot of difficult topics, but if there’s any place in the world where a daunting task like that is doable, it’s here in Marsolin.” He got up. “I’ll go get some badges, please wait here for a moment.”
Kayzel looked at Eliana. “What have you gotten yourself into?”
“It’s a long story, but to give you a quick summary we ran into some problems. Some of our friends have been paralyzed by strange magic and Cobal and Mana need to learn about a specific ancient magic that they’ve encountered.”
Kayzel paused for a moment and it seemed like he was considering a few things. “So is she who I think she is?” He asked Eliana.
“Yes, but let’s not discuss that out in the open.”
“And why do you want to learn about the history of Marsolin?” He asked.
“We have some leads on the people that caused our problems to begin with, and they lead to this place.”
“I see, well let’s hope Lysa Drant can help you out.”
A few moments later, the guard returned with a few necklaces that had small metal plates on them with a symbol etched into them. “These are for guests specifically, when you leave, please hand those in here or at one of the desks. They allow you to access the first floor, which is also where you will find Lysa Drant’s office.” The man smiled. “Thank you for waiting and good luck with your business in the Ruby Observatory.”
Cobal smiled. “Thank you for your help, we’ll be on our way now.”They passed the guards and went up the staircase. There, they found themselves in a hallway that seemed to go all the way around the central chamber. The central chamber had doors leading to them that were open, and Cobal saw rows and rows of books inside.
“The offices are this way,” Kayzel said, leading them down the corridor towards a bunch of doors that led away from the central chamber. Even the hallways were lined with bookcases.
Kayzel saw Mana and Cobal looking at them and explained. “Everything in this library is peer reviewed before it is allowed to be put on the shelves. Those who wish to get their books peer reviewed will be allowed to leave them here, on these shelves outside of the actual library. That way the senior librarians and the scribes that are assigned to go through new books can read them and judge if they are proper and should be allowed into the main library.”
“So basically it’s a place to put your work in hopes that someone picks it up and approves of it?” Cobal asked.
“More or less. There’s too many books and scrolls coming in for someone to manually check all of them. The important ones go straight into one of the librarians’ offices of course, but anyone with a bit of inspiration can drop off a book here. That’s why it’s so full.” He motioned at one of the doors that had a metal plaque on it which read Senior Librarian Lysa Drant. “We’re here.”
Opal Kaharis 