now with 100% fewer homicidal robots

[kingincognito]

Who: Joshua + anyone involved in the portal project!
What: The portal is finally ready!
When: Mid-May
Where: The center of the Grove
Warnings: idk it's portal shenanigans, I'll add warnings if we need them!

[ It's taken a couple of months, but with the combined effort of a few good brains, the portal is finally as ready as it's going to be. Calculations have been made, plans have been formed, and now all they have to do is put the sun and moon stones in place, and pray.

Literally, because it's been in his notes that faith could have some power in helping them get where they need to go. Hopefully.

Midway through the month, Joshua puts out a message through the netbooks. ]

To everyone that has helped with the portal:

Our efforts are ready to bear fruit. I would like to try activating it tomorrow. Let us meet in the center of the Grove at noon, when the sun is at its brightest.

We know not what awaits us should the portal be successful, so I would prefer to err on the side of caution. If you can fight, please come prepared to do so. Also, we will certainly need hands to relay anything we might want to bring back. If you are Corrupted, however, I am afraid I must ask you not to be involved as a matter of safety and security. My apologies.

[ And, come late morning the following day, Joshua is there, umbrella in hand to protect himself from the sunlight. He has gathered boxes and crates for any potential recovery of items, should the portal work properly, as well as basic medical supplies just in case. Small bouquets of flowers are placed around the base of the portal, in what might be a startling abundance. Better to have more than needed than not enough. ]

Comments

THE DIVINE LIBRARY

[sticksandbonesmods]

The grand doors open slowly, eons of disuse having jammed it shut almost. Despite the age, however, the inside is remarkably clean. The wide windows allow radiant sunlight to pour in, and the cosmos are- not painted within the ceiling, but floating above, swirling in domes. It feels light, airy- though it's dead silent, it feels right.

The lobby seems to be a place of rest, leading up to a rather small desk where one might imagine a receptionist, but no one is there. There is a soft noise further in, and one can see that the library towers overhead. There's a lot of ground to cover.

As you investigate, roll 2 d20 and place the results in your header, in order.

7, 18

[eidxiety]

Ain is going to fly aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall the way to the top floor of the library because it sounds funny—

[sticksandbonesmods]

Ain will find himself in... Oh shit, Modern History? It's all about the Current Age of Man. Sometimes greedy men and women will try to enact Late Stage Capitalism and cruel policies and pollution.

They don't tend to live long. God I wish that were us.

As for his efficiency...

He finds the books to be really readable, actually! But you specifically requested non-plot important, so really he's just learning a lot about other continents. It's neat stuff about cultures, countries and figures he's never heard of.

Eventually a cart rolls by. ... What's pushing it?

[eidxiety]

i can't have plot books imma mod :(

Ain will however read his books on late stage capitalism. Fascinating stuff really, probably a good thing Elrios exploded how it did or they too might've had late-stage capitalism. Crazy. He will put all books back in their spots very neatly and make a mental note to come back and read his history books later because it sounds fun.

Anyway, he's going to look at the cart. At first he thinks it's an automaton of some sort, so he's looking for a little Nasod pushing it. Where is the little Nasod.

[sticksandbonesmods]

No nasod...

But there is a delighted squeak and then one of these little dudes waddles around, a book balanced on her head. She squeaks happily, slides the book down onto a shelf and adjusts it into position with her little paws before sliding it into place and then plops herself before Ain's feet, reaching up. Uppies, please!

10, 19

[succiduous]

Gnosis will investigate the reception desk. Is this where the checkout cards are, where is the receptionist, is there any cool junk to go through? etc

[sticksandbonesmods]

We'll circle back to the first roll, since he's investigating the receptionist desk first!

He'll find that the chair is more like a very plush stool, and is covered in red fur. There's a ledger for every section of the library, of names and a lot of paw print stamps... And some very pretty flowers in a bowl. They look like they're made of sparkling blue glass but smell fresh and fragrant. He'll also find a little teacup, but it's empty. The receptionist seems to favor mint.

[succiduous]

look you gave him an unmanned desk in a library, you know he's nosy

Anyway, is there a little desk bell he can ding annoyingly until the receptionist comes? The flowers are pretty but he mentally notes this down as "things for Flamebringer" and carries on reading through the ledger. If there is a bell he will ring it occasionally while he works.

Very studious this one.

[sticksandbonesmods]

It's buried under papers but there is! And at the first ding, he can hear a squeak and lots of... pitterpatters?

And then a rather large creature- larger than the others around- waddles down the hallway, spots Gnosis and immediately beams, and runs the rest of the way.

He squeaks and chitters happily, and now that he's closer Gnosis can also see he's wearing little gold spectacles on a chain on his muzzle. Gnosis will also find he can understand the creature perfectly-

Welcome, welcome! Oh, it's been so long since we've had patrons. What are you looking for?

4, 12 I should have used trader-

[kingincognito]

Joshua iiiis going to investigate the books closest to ground level first, since Ain is flying to the top!

Re: 4, 12 I should have used trader-

[sticksandbonesmods]

Joshua finds himself in a section dedicated entirely to Tales of the Gods. Unlike other sections, this is a solitary room with the shelves lining the walls while a mural of the Golden Sun, Crimson Sun and Silver Moon shines above. This room seems almost- ceremonial? Flowers hang from planters, ribbons and draped shimmering clothes adorn the windows and banisters, and it's serene.

Love echoes in this room.

Propped open on displays are three books, gold, crimson and silver.

[kingincognito]

It doesn't take much for Joshua to realize that this room feels different. It's almost like walking into the apodytery again, and he pauses for a moment, taking it all in. This place had been the Fallen Sun's before... well. Falling. The love put into this room is palpable.

It makes his chest ache, in an odd way.

His eyes eventually settle on the books, and the significance of each color is not lost to him. It's there, painted directly above his head, but it would be clear even without that.

His fingers itch to take them all. And he might, eventually. But for now, his hand moves to the crimson book.

[sticksandbonesmods]

The book does not move from the podium right now, but perhaps if he asks the attendants later they may help.

Onyx is Suri, but before that he was Crimson. Before that he had another name, but it was scratched out. If he investigates closely (rolls an 18 or higher) he may make it out... but it's very hard.

He reads.

It was the Crimson Sun who oversaw life grow. Who taught beavers and burrowers and diggers how to do so, and let them thrive. Who, when humans began to rise, gave them shelter and fire. It was he who guided humanity to medicine, to farming, to cultivation.

He wrote magic into the world, and the Stars spread it to mankind. He watched over philosophers and poets and teachers, and did so with great fondness.

Man and Guardian alike turned to him for advice and guidance, and his guile trapped many a monster, ensnaring them for the safety of others.

Kings begged for his wisdom and love.

Flowers bloomed from his blood spilled on the ground, and when tragedy struck he wept for all lost.

And then something shifted.

14, 9

[alphacraft]

Odile is going to check out the windows and any doors. She's not interested in what's outside, just security.

[sticksandbonesmods]

Odile finds the Botany section! Alongside the shelves there's several planters with informational displays, and even a small indoor pond with aquatic plants and the same displays. Sunlight-orange and silvery gold fish swim under the aquatic plants, and the air quality is to die for, honestly.

Odile can tell that these plants are all native to the Realm of the Gods, but there's a few any mortal may be familiar with.

[alphacraft]

Fascinating. She takes a look at the informational displays for plants that seem especially odd.

6, 8

[cryptograms]

Books. Ford is obviously going to be all over those later, but for now... that soft noise is actually kind of puzzling? He's going to go investigate that part first.

[sticksandbonesmods]

Ford finds himself in the Marine Biology section! The library seems to warp into one half library, and one half aquarium. From the ceiling are even multiple leviathan sculptures. ... It's a very big room. The books offer more information on this than he can shake a stick at, but the rest offer tanks to observe fish from both the mortal realm and the Realm of the Gods alike. It's cool and soothing inside, but still just as quiet.

... Oh except for the little squeaks. If Ford investigates, he'll find himself staring at three bibcoons and a pushcart of books. One sits atop the cart, tossing books down one by one while the other two put them on shelves. It's very hard because their legs are very small and they do not have thumbs, but team work makes the dream work!!!!!

[cryptograms]

An aquarium...! Oh, he is going to be all over this later, just you wait.

But for now, he's got some raccoon-like creatures to address! It's not hard to see that these are clearly fine, upstanding library employees. Or volunteers. Or at least over-zealous patrons that don't know how to let the librarians do their job, not that Ford knows anything about that.

"Excuse me!" he greets, though he keeps his volume library-appropriate. "Are you part of the staff here?"

3, 15

[jesterlies]

Books books books bOOOK SBOOKS BOOKS BOOKS!!!

Shadow Milk knows his way around a magical library, so he passes by most. What he is interested in is anything that looks forbidden. Anything that is carefully tucked away, in shadowy corners. A little toooo high up. Or perhaps obvious fake shelves hiding secret rooms.

[sticksandbonesmods]

... Well. Uh.

He hits the fucking jackpot, because he finds a door marked in an ornate writing, "THE HALL OF PRESENT WRITING" that's just... endless desks. And atop each desk is a tome, with golden quills writing upon them automatically. He'll find that each one is a different thing, and even the handwriting is different.

All knowledge, all fiction, all thoughts and feelings as they are being written in the mortal realm are being recorded here, raw and free, for safekeeping.




But that's small potatoes, probably.

[jesterlies]

This is literally what the inside of his head looked like when he was the Fount of Knowledge. BORING. He wants nothing to do with this.

Well, except maybe he will poke one of the quills and see if it responds to him. Can he lift one?

17

[kingincognito]

Hi hello, as per his thread with ????? Joshua is now seeking out attendants!

[sticksandbonesmods]

The attendants can be found all over the place, honestly! Working together to put books in order, cleaning things, or just napping on each other. How can they help?

[kingincognito]

Good! He will approach one that seems to be cleaning, as there are a lot of books here to be properly shelved, and he doesn't want to disturb the ones napping. Sleep is important.

"Pardon me. Might you have time for a question?"