After a moment of paralysis following the supposed end of their practical examination, Lasutro left the room, and found themselves in a partial daze as she was led out back into the streets of the city, where she wandered for a little over an hour before coming back to their senses in front of the Risen Albyon. Quickly making their way up into their room, where she, with last of their energy, hopped onto the bed and let the freshly released exhaustion wash over them as she drifted into the comfortable darkness of sleep.
When Lasutro woke the next day, she found themselves going through the motions of the practice and study she had been following for the past weeks, although with a reduced vigor. And despite the anxieties she felt building in the back of their mind, Lasutro managed to stay more or less positive, mostly avoiding the painful churning that manifested itself in their gut the few times she had focused on it. A little bit into the late afternoon, following a short visit, at least as short as she could manage, to Mayr’s Mystical Merchandise, both to thank the satyr for his help and purchase a few more books, including Unorthodox Spell Applications For Singular Affinities, partially to spite the mage but to no avail, they made their way into Maps,Tales And Ink.
The building itself was plain, in the sense it had a look to it that suggested that it was as once as good looking as its peers in terms of its aesthetic a century or more ago, but now it stood in some act of defiance to the more dramatic architecture of the more modern buildings that surrounded it. Interrupting the intangible flow of that permeated the designs around it, making it stand out more than its neighboring buildings. And while some aspects of its age held on to a part of its former charm it was largely mitigated by how out of place it managed to be.
The building's interior itself, while marked in part by the same old architecture of its exterior, was far more beautiful, at least to any lover of books. The shelves stood tall, ending only a meter from the roof despite the height of the room,in addition to being far too close together for the comfort of any unmotivated individual to traverse. And although out the clustered shelves the scent of the aging paper and leather hangs in the air.
As Lasutro made their way deeper into the near labyrinth of bookshelves, flipping through the pages of the occasional book that caught their eye, sometimes taking it further into the store other times returning it to its place on the shelf. By the time she reached the end of the store where the tightly packed shelves spread apart, and a lingering smell of incense permeated the air around them. Taking around the sights around them and every minute or so setting down their growing stack of books to inspect a prospective one, Lasutro wandered the apparent end of the store halfheartedly searching for the owner or a clerk of sorts.
When Lasutro finally decided to cut themselves off, and search properly,she took a step behind a pile of books that were stacked up in front of a shelf she had previously ignored in favor of what she considered to be a rather fascinating autobiographical tale. A tale supposedly written by a wandering sword master who, after falling asleep below deck in a ship they had thought abandoned, ended up in the young kingdom, at least at the time of their writing, of Thordea. There, half buried by a previously unseen collapsed pile of books, she found an older gnome, their short graying dirty blonde hair covered in a thin film of dust transferred from the collapsed books and a grin on their sleeping face that bordered on the ridiculous.
While nudging the gnome with their foot, Lasutro asked if they were alright,and over the course of what felt like minutes became increasingly worried that despite the gnome’s appearance, she had stumbled upon a dead gnome instead of a gnome prone to incredibly deep sleep. Just as she was about to really shake the gnome with a panic, they shot up onto their feet, pushing aside some of the books that once covered them and nearly causing another of their piles to collapse. At which point they let out a sigh of relief before turning to face Lasutro and nearly falling into the same stack they had been worried about.
Following a moment of recovery the gnomish man introduced themselves “Hello, I’m Nezmip Wildado the third, I, um, yes, own this, um store. Did you need something specific or… ” They trailed off, in a halfhearted attempt to get Lasutro to fill the silence, before they began dusting themselves off and restacking the fallen books that had previously buried them. Nezmip continued their work without mind, when the sudden realization hit them and they returned their attention to Lasutro “I have maps! Maps and Ink too! Not just all these books, well some of them are books of maps that include details about things in the locations the maps correspond to, but some are just books of maps. What was I saying again, uhh…” They trailed off again, their wrinkles deepening for a moment as they contemplated their previous thoughts before waving their hands in front of their head and once more returning their attention to the partially thrown off Lasutro. Who, in a similar manner to Nezmip, shook their head before posing their own question. “Ah I was wondering how much for that stack?” she said in tone with a similar, but lesser hint of awkwardness, to how Nezmip had spoken in, as she pointed at the variety of books she had grabbed and set down previously.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
After a quick glance, Nezmip turned to face Lasutro again, mumbling to themselves what Lasutro believed to be some mental calculations “Seventeen large silver piec–No, fifteen large silver, yes, fifteen large silver pieces for that lot. ” Pleased with the price, considering the sheer amount of books she had picked up, Lasutro quickly took out their coin purse and began counting out three large silver and three small gold pieces. When she handed the coins over to Nezmip, they rapidly made their way over behind one of the shelves that stood parallel to the just visible wall. After waiting for a moment for Nezmip’s return, Lasutro helped themselves to their new books, as she moved to take their exit, she was stopped by a large crash. When she turned to face the sound she found no obvious disturbance, and as she went to leave once more she was instead interrupted by Nezmip’s voice.
“Wait! I found something you might like and I’ll even throw in some of my good ink and a small journal!” they called out, and Lasutro stopped, unable to resist their own curiosity of the mysterious item. Turning to see behind them, Lasutro looked down upon a heaving, and out of breath Nezmip, who grasped a worn tome, bound in traditional brown leather in their hands. The pair stood in a partial silence, the sound of Nezmip’s heavy breathing filling the air for a moment before they spoke again. “I, I figured,if, you, were reading those, sorts, of books, you’re a wizard, of some kind. And I , thought, this book, might be worth the read, for someone like you. ” Nezmip paused, taking another moment to catch their breath again, “I’ve read it a couple times and, still can’t get a handle on it, and I never seem to remember it, when I meet other wizards here, but I did today. Ooh and before I forget, it is missing a few pages, but even as a layman I know its worth for you lot, so call it one large gold and you’ll get that journal and ink I mentioned. I know you wizards love that stuff.”
As the words flowed from Nezmip’s mouth through the musty air and into Lasutro’s mind, Lasutro unconsciously reached for their purse once more. When Lasutro finally realized what she was doing, she made no effort to stop themselves as a feeling in their gut, a sudden insight, screamed at them to take the book. Despite that feeling, Lasutro resisted the concerning urge that rose with the heat of their blood filled with a greed she had never felt before, as Nezmip took the large gold piece from Lasutro’s hand, and dashed over to one shelf Lasutro had seen absent of books of any kind. When they returned shortly later with the two other promised items as well as the tome that had, despite almost certainly having no magic, filled Lasutro with a draconic greed, although now wrapped in brown paper and twine, along with a small satchel large enough to house all of Lasutro’s new books.
Filling their new satchel quickly with all their purchases with the exceptions of the well sized bottle of ink and their wrapped tome, Lasutro readied themselves to leave the shop once again. As she did so, she found Nezmip stopping them again, although this time physically. Just as she prepared to shake them off and shout at the aging gnome, they handed over a note and said “I know you wizards can be stubborn but I hate to see an old book go to waste, so, here, take this. It's some of my family’s knowledge on the keeping of older books, trust me that book won’t take to damage like a newer tome. So keep it wrapped up until you have somewhere to put it.” And as soon Nezmip finished speaking they shuffled back over to where Lasutro had first found them and returned to their work.
After a brief glance back at the gnome and tucking the note away, Lasutro made their way out of the store through the Labyrinth of bookshelves only just barely managing to not drop their new bottle of ink on several occasions before returning to the now familiar streets of the city. From there she hurried back to their room at the Risen Albyon once more, fighting the temptation to tear the old book from its thin layer of protection as they did so. Once inside, Lasutro made the decision to keep the older tome in the bottom of their pack, wrapping it with cloth for extra measure. When she finished, Lasutro began reading one of the larger books from their purchase, stopping only once to eat before she stopped and went to sleep.
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Although the initial anxieties Lasutro held in preparation for the Academy’s examination had faded, as the days that followed passed she found a different but altogether similar anxiety, start to weigh on them. In the silent moments of their day, the last words of the proctor of their practical examination repeating in their mind. Just as these moments started to bring with them a terrible sense of dread, Lasutro found themselves in possession of a fanciful letter.
To some surprise, which was largely mitigated upon closer inspection by its fanciful writing and the wax seal of the Academy, Lasutro happened upon the letter as she went to continue reading one of their newly acquired books. The discovery itself was caused by the simple attempt to open the book she had been reading the previous day, an action that resulted in the letter removing itself from the pages it had been hidden in.
As soon as the realization of the letter’s purpose hit Lasutro she began to open it almost feverishly, breaking the wax seal with a force that was so unlike them before yanking out the letter inside and reading it. Their eyes danced across the paper with such speed, she could feel them push against their eyelids. By the time she finished reading all she could think was “I got in !” A thought that pushed aside all others as she was filled with a momentary joy that lasted a little more than a minute as their rational thoughts took focus once more and she re-read the letter, making a mental checklist of the coming tasks to complete before their departure to the capital of the empire: Udriaph.