First Enterance: Alustin Haber up in the library

[librarian_errant]

Books and libraries are things which Alustin is quite familiar. He is also quite wary around them, knowing they are some of the most fascinating and dangerous places. He also knows this is not his library, which is not entirely unexpected. Kanderon--head librarian and planar mage--did in fact warn him he'd be going to another world to deliver a book. But she had also said that world had a lower ambient magic threshold than theirs and so to be cautious with his use of magic.

Alustin can feel the strong ambient magic of this library and so is getting the feeling he is in the wrong place.

Distracted by his thoughts (always a dangerous thing to do in any library), he doesn't realize he's nearly stumbled into a pair of nesting books until they rise into the air and attack him. He dodges the first few dives in time before turning heel and running, yelling warnings for any to here. He's hoping that if he gets far enough away the books will break off their attack.

So far he has not been lucky.

[ting tag: Alustin Haber]

Comments

[the_cupbearer]

Ganymede spends quite a lot of time in the library at Milliways, and has seen some strange things in these walls, even stranger than he'd have guessed much earlier in life.

He supposes books dive-bombing some poor man is one of those things that will only be summed up by the choice intonation of fucking Milliways. As it is he keeps his chosen book tucked firmly under his arm as he reaches up to knock one of the books out of the air; he puts one booted foot on it just to keep one of them from attacking. The other can be caught in a moment.

"Are you alright?"

[librarian_errant]

With another person in the mix and its mate trapped, the other book pauses in the attack and flies higher, out of reach.

"Yes, quite alright. Completely my fault for not watching where I was putting my feet," Alustin says cautiously peering around his arms which were guarding his head. "Perhaps you can help me. I am looking for the Bodleian Library? Specifically the Netwon archive?"

[the_cupbearer]

His eyebrows lift.

"You are emphatically not in Oxford, much less at the library," he chuckles, shifting the book under his arm, and the spare shirt draped over it. "Apologies for that."

[librarian_errant]

Alustin has no idea of where or what Oxford is, he just has his directions to deliver a book to the Bodleian Library.

"Well, this is potentially awkward. Would you please tell me where I am?"

He does keep one eye on the flying book and another on the book currently trapped by this pleasant man, though he keeps both his physical eyes on Ganymede.

Magic can be so useful sometimes.

He does hope the captured book is not being damaged.

[the_cupbearer]

"You're in Milliways. Think of it as a pocket, a sort of...sidestep to where you were going," he says, bending to pick up the trapped book and shifting it to his arm.

"Never been here before, I take it?"

[librarian_errant]

"Ah, I see," Alustin replies with a broad content smile. He doesn't really. Well, the talk of sidestepping places makes perfect sense to him. It's just the bit about Milliways, whatever that it.

"No. I can't say that I have. And what is Milliways?"

[the_cupbearer]

"Nominally, the bar downstairs," Ganymede says, tongue tucked into his cheek as his handwaves over a shoulder. "But also, ostensibly, the library we're standing in."

[librarian_errant]

"Oh interesting," he muses as he rubs his chin in thought. Kanderon will not be pleased to know her gatespell went awry. "Yet it would seem there is magic here, as well as magical books."

"Oh please forgive my manners, I am Alustin Haber, librarian errant for the Great Library of Skyhold. How may I address you?"

[the_cupbearer]

"Well, you may address me as whatever you'd like, but then whether I answer is entirely dependent on if I like it," Ganymede says. "In most cases a name would do just fine."

[librarian_errant]

ALustin offers another easy smile and a slight nod of his head, though internally he's wondering just what or why that reply occurred. Still, he is adept to changing social situations, one has to be in his line of work.

"Too true. However, names can have power and some do not wish to offer them freely. Do you have a preferred name you'd allow me the grace to use?"

[makesthings]

Sameth's wondering about robots and droids and so has headed to the library when suddenly books are in the air. He immediately calls up a spell to freeze them.

His Charter Mark glows as he watches the books, his hand at the ready for another Mark if the books don't settle down as he notices the man trying to stop them.

[librarian_errant]

"Oh smartly done!" Alustin exclaims like a schoolmaster who is impressed by a well-crafted solution, which he honestly is. He also is curious how Sameth managed to do what he did, as while ALustin can feel the aether being manipulated, as well as having the physical evidence, there was none of the usual signs of affinity that Alustin is used to.

"If I may ask two questions fo you. Is this the Newton archive? And what affinity are you using to hold the books?" As he lists his questions, Alustin pulls out a couple of sheets of paper from his bag that have sigils written on them and offers them up to the books. The books seem to sniff the pages before snatching them up and seemingly eating them.

[makesthings]

"This is the Milliways library and affinity? I'm using a Charter spell, the magic from my world,"

As the books eat the pages, Sameth releases the spell on them.

[librarian_errant]

"Milliways?" He muses, having no clue what Milliways might be. But thinking further on the youth's words, Alustin's attention is caught my Charter spell. How intriguing.

"Affinities are how mages from my world conserve power. They are the aspects of the natural world we are more in tune with, thus can cast spells with less energy when applied to the affinity."

[makesthings]

"Then the Charter is the affinity for all mages in my world but there are different aspects of it. Milliways, the Bar at the End of the Universe."

Affinity is a good word for talking about magic.

[librarian_errant]

Curious and curiouser.

"If I may ask, a charter in my society is often a legal document a group agrees upon which outlines rights, privileges, and/or goals of said group. Is this Charter you speak of one as well?"

[makesthings]

"Yes and no, its within the land itself and the people but its also an agreement of sorts."

This isn't the best explanation.

[librarian_errant]

"How very intriguing!" He taps his lips in though with a finger, trying to understand how such a thing might happen with his understanding of magic which unfortunately fails at the task. He'll need more information for a proper understanding, but first...

"And I realize I'm offering questions without even offering my name first. I am Alustin Haber, librarian errant of the Skyhold Library."

[makesthings]

"I'm Sameth, Wallmaker and Prince of the Old Kingdom. What's a librarian errant? I've never heard of that before,"

It seems like the Clayrs would approve of that idea, he'll have to tell Lirael.

[mane_event]

Simba is not lost. Simba totally intended to end up here. Definitely.

(He's lost.)

But he knows what books are, he thinks. They are the things that give humans knowledge that it's pleasant to listen to while napping.

Which is why he was prowling the stacks looking for a human to read to him.

He was not expecting a human to come screaming through the stacks, pursued by books.

(Are books alive????)

Simba, the brave and powerful lion, behaves exactly as you'd expect.

He screams in fear and runs away in the opposite direction.

[librarian_errant]

The man is very fast for one of his species and soon nears Simba. With another target, the books hover as if unsure what to do and it takes the distance fo a few more stacks before Alustin realizes the danger may have passed.

He slows to a fast walk and ducks behind one of the stacks before looking for the lion cub. Spotting him, he calls out, "Hello. Over here!"

[mane_event]

Simba is hiding valiantly regrouping behind a different stack, peering out cautiously to check that the coast is clear. When he hears the call, he looks left then right, and then darts over.

"Have they gone?"

[librarian_errant]

Alustin peer between some books as he doesn't like to assume things.

"I'm afraid not. Terribly sorry about that. My fault entirely. I wasn't watching where I was going and almost stepped into their nest." He snaps his finger then and offers a big smile, hiding most of his teeth as he learned from Kanderon the sphynx that some species, especially those with big teeth, take displays of teeth as a threat. He sticks his hand in his bag without looking and rummages around a bit. "I do have an idea though."

He pulls out several sheets of paper, two of which have sigils on them, and with a brief gesture with his fingers, they fold themselves into paper birds which then fly off towards the books.

[mane_event]

Simba starts when the birds fly off, his legs twitching as he fights the urge to run off after them. Instead he watches them fly off to see what will happen.

"I didn't know books could do that," he says.

[librarian_errant]

The books dive at the bats and seemingly eat them, which in turn seems to mollify the nesting volumes as they flap about a little drunkenly before flying off back the way they came.

Relieved, Alustin turns his full attention to the cub. "Not all books, no. Magical ones certainly have the potential, but again not all magical books will behave like that."

[mane_event]

"Oh."

This raises the question as to what's a magical book and what's a non magical book, but 'magic' covers a lot of ground.

"What was in the birds that you just gave them?"