After leaving Lysa’s office, the first place the duo visited was the counter on the ground floor where they’d asked for Kayzel earlier that day. Eliana had quickly left them as she was allergic to books. Those were her words. She would go and find Grac to update him on what they learned. The two of them had already set their eyes on Solin Manor and were going to do some investigative work while the other two did the studying.
There was a different person behind the counter than earlier this day. This time it was a young gnome, barely peeking out over the counter when Cobal stepped forward.
“Good day sir,” the high pitched voice said, “how may I help you today?”
Cobal smiled. “A good day to you too. We just came from senior librarian Drant’s office and she told us to ask for Melchir or Salandra, are either of these scribes available?”
The young gnome grabbed a ledger from the side and thumbed through it. “It seems that scribe Melchir has been gone for a few days, visiting family in a different city. Scribe Salandra is currently in the Topaz Slumber for a meeting but should be available either late evening or tomorrow morning.”
“Is there any chance you could ask her to meet with me tomorrow morning then?” Cobal asked.
“Certainly, although I cannot offer any guarantees.”
“That’s quite alright, it’s not like it’s a long walk from the inn to the library.”
“Very well then, and who is requesting her presence?”
“Cobal.”
“Very well, I’ll make sure she gets your message, is there anything else I can help you with today?” He also looked at Mana who had been quietly standing next to Cobal so far.
“Well, the two of us are here to look into a few things. For starters, I would like to have some information on strange and lost magics. I am aware that this is a broad question, but if you could get me started that would be nice.”
“Ah, strange magic, not the most uncommon request we get here. Let me call a scribe for you to help you on your way. Is there anything else you want help with before I go fetch someone?”
Mana shook her head. “We have other things to look into, but this is the main priority, besides what the other scribe you mentioned is going to help Cobal with tomorrow.”
“Very well, I’ll be right back.”
With that, the scribe at the counter exited through a door behind him where Cobal could see movement. Perhaps there were some scribes on standby or something? He would ask someone about it some other time. While they waited, Cobal turned to Mana. “So what do you think?”
“I think we’re definitely on the right track. Lysa seems to know what she’s talking about, and the circles in the book she showed me looked very similar to what we came across on our travels. I think we found out who we’re dealing with, it has to be this Jasmine order.”
Cobal nodded. “That’s the impression I got as well.” He looked off at the exit. “I wonder if there are some of these cultists in that manor we learned about on our way here.”
“Solin Manor?”
Cobal nodded. “Yeah, that’s something I’ll look into after I find a way to help Dylon and the others return to normal. What is Solin Manor and why are there bandits operating out of it. Although I hope Eliana and Grac find out some things as well.
The scribe returned a few moments later with another scribe following closely behind him. “Good morning, my name is Sephe, how can I help you two today?” The man looked to be quite old already yet seemed to be quite energetic for his age. He had a kind smile on his face when he walked over to Cobal and Mana.
“Nice to meet you Sephe, my name is Cobal and this is Mana. We’re looking for information on strange and ancient magic.”
Sephe smiled. “Ah, a familiar topic for sure. Is there anything in particular you’re looking for?”
“Well, we’d like to get a bit of insight into what this place has to offer in general if that’s alright, and we’d also love to learn about anything involving written magic. Spellbooks and magic circles, things like that.”
Sephe scratched his beard for a moment before nodding. “That can both be done, please follow me.”
They followed Sephe up to the main stairway. “As you might have seen already,” Sephe said as they ascended the stairs, “there are mainly meeting rooms on the ground floor. It’s not so much a part of the library as it is a place for people to meet up and discuss research. For actual books you’ll have to visit the first through third floor. Anything above that you’ll need to get special permission. On the first floor you’ll find most of the senior librarian’s offices. The walls are lined with books that have yet to be accepted into the library proper, but are available for people to read regardless. Then you’ll find the vast majority of our books on the second and third floor. Books on rare magic you’ll find on the third floor, so if you’ll follow me up the stairs I’ll lead you to the correct section.” They followed Sephe up two more sets of stairs and found themselves in a massive room filled with nothing but rows and rows of books, only interrupted by a few rows of tables where scribes were busy copying books or reading them. “This right here is where most of the books on magic can be found. The previous floor also holds a hefty amount of books on magic, but for the more advanced stuff, this is probably where you want to be.” He looked around. “If you want to get some help while you’re searching, I suggest you ask one of the scribes on this floor, most of them will either be able to help you or find someone who knows more than them.”
“Thank you so much for your help.”
“Not a problem at all, if you need anything else, don’t hesitate to call for me. It’s nice to take a break from copying from time to time.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Now then, if you’ll excuse me,” and Sephe walked off, back down the stairs.
Cobal turned to Mana. “So, where do you want to start?” She turned to him and he could already see the wonder in her eyes. He smiled. “Should we just do some preliminary research and look around for what they have to offer?”
Mana nodded. “I think that’s a good idea.”
Cobal laughed. “Definitely, and it’s not because you want to explore, is it?”
Mana let out a very unbelievable ‘no’ before they split up. Cobal was determined to find some information about the magic circles. He likely wouldn’t be able to understand most of it, but if he could get some books that were useful for Mana, that would be good enough for now, considering he would have to wait for tomorrow to do his own research anyway.
After a frustratingly unproductive afternoon, Cobal went back upstairs to the third floor where he found Mana pouring over books. Not the most unfamiliar sight to him, as she’d been studious since the day they met, but the pile of books was definitely more impressive than usual.
“How are you doing?” He asked.
She looked up, lost in her thoughts for another moment before realizing it. “Oh, nothing concrete yet about the circles, but there are tons of interesting things in these books. Did you know that magic can vary wildly from person to person and that there are so many exceptions to the rule that they stopped keeping track?”
Cobal thought back to his own – short lived – time studying magic under Diriak before being sent off to practice with a sword instead. His teacher had always been very strict about rules and how magic followed a specific set of knowledge. Without using the specific rules as outlined in his books, he wouldn’t be able to use magic. Cobal already understood that there was more to it than his teacher seemed to think, but Mana implied that his understanding was still shallow. She was probably right. “Make sure you don’t get too lost in your own interests, we’re here for a reason.”
Mana blushed. “I know, I’ve been working diligently.” She looked at his empty hands. “Did you come up with anything?”
“We’re not talking about me right now,” Cobal replied with a grin.
Mana chuckled. “So not much luck on your end?”
Cobal shook his head. “This isn’t my thing after all. I tried finding some books that might be useful for you but even that proved difficult. This place offers far too much, it’s hard to find what you need.”
Mana nodded. “It’s both a good and a bad thing. They have super specific information that’s hard to find out in the world, but good luck figuring out which book is in it. I suppose that’s why they have so many scribes walking around. If each person only needs to know the details about a small section of the library it becomes a lot more manageable.”
Cobal saw the look in her eyes, she was right at home here. He smiled. “Don’t worry, once we get my brother back and stop this war from breaking out we’ll return here and you can browse the entire library without worry.”
Mana smiled. “I would like that. Perhaps we shouldn’t bring Eliana for that trip though.”
Cobal laughed. “She would probably get bored to death here.”
He sat down opposite of her. “What have you found so far?”
Mana turned around the book she had open. “There’s not a lot of mention of the magic circles, which Lysa already told us, but I did find this reference.” She showed him a page about runic script. “Look at those symbols in the top left.” Cobal looked at them but it didn’t really meant much to him. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”
Mana took the paper with the magic circle out of her bag. “Look at these.” Cobal looked at the magic circle and then back at the book. “They’re the same.”
Mana smiled. “Bingo. This scholar of runic symbols talks about the same runes that are used to create these magic circles in the first place. This means that if we can find out more information about these runes we can perhaps even learn the script itself. That would mean we could accurately parse what each magic circle does.”
“That would be very useful,” Cobal agreed. “But is there enough information about those runes in this book?”
Mana shook her head. “No, this is just a basic reference book that talks about different forms of magic. It does however mention a scholar that studied these runes.” She pointed at the bottom of the page where a name was written. Iarn Starvis.
“So if you can find any books or scrolls written by this person then perhaps you can find out more?”
Mana nodded. “I think that’s where I’ll look next. Perhaps I can find some of his books here. It mentions that he used to work here in his youth.”
“I think that might be a good plan. But should we wait until tomorrow?”
“Why?”
“I spoke with Kayzel earlier and he invited us for some dinner and drinks at his favorite restaurant in town. Eliana is coming too.”
Mana’s face brightened. “I’d like that, maybe he can tell us stories about Eliana when she was younger.”
Cobal grinned. “I bet she’d hate that.”
They both laughed. “Let me put my books away for now and grab my coat, then we’ll head to this restaurant. Is it nearby?”
“It’s opposite of the Sapphire Respite, it’s called Baliar’s Nook.”
Opal Kaharis 