claiming the attic! @ Azurenight sorry about the wait! i had a back to back 16hr shift recently and have been quite dead from that
New books, old books, cursed book, hatchling wand, new books, old books, cursed book, hatchling wand, new books, old books, cursed book, hatchling wand....
Titania repeated the list under her breath as she made her way up the stairs to the attic. Surely something in that list would be there? Attics seemed like an ideal spot to hide cursed books, at least.
Once she reached the attic door, she slowly swung it open, grimacing slightly at the creak of old hinges. She watched something quickly scuttle under cover. Hm. A little spooky, but nothing she couldn't handle.
Giving the room around her a cursory look, the first thing she spotted was the ominously glowing book in the corner, near an old upholstered chair. She couldn't help the little shiver that ran down her spine. This
had to be the cursed book, right?
I FOUND THE DANGEROUS TOME
Well. If one thing was here, perhaps others would be too? Had the cursed book gone missing itself or had the hatchling taken in?
Looking around the old chair further, Titania almost stumbled over... something on the floor into an old spider web, letting out a small shriek of surprise.
She looked up to see a rather large spider staring at her from the remains of its web. It blinked at her, but otherwise made no moves. She apologized to the poor thing for ruining it's hard work and looked to just what it was she had tripped over in the first place.
I FOUND A LARGE SPIDER
A... gas... mask..?
Now why on Earth would something like that be in the attic of a library? An old relic maybe? Or maybe it served a purpose. It
was quite musty in here. Perhaps she should ask Aelwen.
I FOUND A ... IS THAT A GAS MASK
As she walked away from the chair, Titania noticed more movement on the other side of the room. Was that what had moved before?
No. No, this was much smaller.
As she moved closer to investigate, she found that the movement was merely a small gecko. Oh, poor thing! A dusty old attic wasn't an ideal home for such a little creature. She gently scooped up the small lizard, nestling it in one of her pockets for the time being.
I FOUND A GECKO
Looking up, Titania spotted a still smoking, old incense pot. ...Was that why the Attic smelled the way it does? Was this an attempt to get rid of the musty smell?
...Was this why the gas mask was in here? Maybe she should ask about this as well.
I FOUND AN INCENSE POT
She shook her head. Focus, Titania. She had other objects to find. She had an idea of what the movement from when she first entered the room was, as she saw the faint glow of small pink eyes watching her from beneath a folded rug.
She called out to the little hatchling and listened to their plight. The poor thing was nearly shaking with nerves. They mumbled apologies about not having wanted to cause trouble, excuses that they didn't know the wand had been broken. They asked her to not tell Aelwen.
"Well-" Titania considered the plea for a moment.
"Unfortunately, Aelwen already knows about the trouble with the wand, so I can't quite keep you from trouble there..."
She thought about it a little more. She could understand the hatchling's point of view. She too had been young once. Perhaps instead of more punishment, the child's energy could be redirected elsewhere?
"
But, perhaps I can make a case for you. If you don't want to do any book sorting, perhaps you can do a little cartography work for me? It's a lot of being outside and drawing."
"It would keep you out of more trouble here and, well, hopefully it'd be a little less boring than book sorting. If you aren't bored in the first place, you're more likely to stay out of trouble to begin with."
I FOUND THE IMPISH HATCHLING I SHOULD LET AELWEN KNOW