Heart as Cold as Stone
Remi … was not who the Lorekeeper had expected to see today. After the glare he’d gotten in the strange ice cave, he certainly wasn’t expecting the warm smile now. A pale brow arched in invitation to explanation, and the pup obliged with what Jigano had decided was his usual selfless attempts to help others—to his own destruction. He wanted to tell the boy to go home and tend to his own preparations and protections but…
He did need another pair of hands, or at least someone to watch his back. And since no one else had yet arrived, he couldn’t afford to be picky. And the young man had had plenty of time to think about this before coming out in the snow. And he was an adult, able to make his own choices… Jigano let out a slow breath, not quite a sigh, and met Remi’s smile with one of his own, offering a brief bow of gratitude. ”Welcome, Remi. Your help is appreciated.” Especially after how we parted, he thought ruefully, but kept that to himself.
Before the silence could stretch to the point of being uncomfortable a second person arrived, though in far worse shape than Remi. Jigano’s eyes widened at Isla ‘s appearance and he moved swiftly across the room to take her free hand carefully in his own if she would let him. ”If I’d known you wished to join in this, I would have moved the meeting to evening,” he chided gently, but the smile in his eyes was warm and grateful. ”I don’t think we’ll need much doctoring out here, but if we find the book… we may very well need a healer’s skill within its pages. Thank you, my friend.” He bowed over her hand before releasing it – and her – to Remi’s care with a nod to the young man she called friend, trusting him to support her while she recovered from her journey.
He rose just in time to see
He waited a few minutes longer in case any others strayed in, but they seemed a large enough group already and so, with a grin that was just a touch eager (how long since he’d sought out an adventure on his own like this? Not since the mountaintop…) and with new friends around him, he started off on the hunt.
”It seems to have moved from someplace at the back of the Atheneum towards the front,” the Lorekeeper explained as he led the way towards what he thought was the most recent disappearance. ”The oldest – or at least, dustiest – item I found abandoned near one of the collapsed sections.” His sharp features took on a frown – and an alertness as they neared an area of shelves overflowing with books in a spill of color, cardboard, and leather. ”I’ve found other things once I started looking, but it hasn’t moved in a straight line, so while I think it’s near this area, I’m not entirely cer—“
New friends!
The only warning was a creak of ancient wood and then the whistle of displaced air as a large black tome, still trailing rusted chains, tumbled from the top of a shelf a body length above their heads. It came open as it fell, a flash of white extending from its spreading pages to encompass the entire world. By the time it landed with a heavy thump on the flagstones there was no one around to hear it – or to watch it ruffle its pages in an unseen wind, the cover slamming shut with an eerily satisfied sound like closing jaws.
As for those who had been standing in the Atheneum a mere moment before…
They were still standing, but the Atheneum had disappeared. In its place was a large clearing in a barren forest, the black trees thin and skeletal beneath a cloudy sky. Scattered around them were more than a dozen statues – human, or something similar enough. A few had pointed ears, others were short and full-bearded. The strangest thing, though, was that while the statues had been chiseled by a master-sculptor, they had been dressed in linen and leather that fluttered in the light breeze. Their armaments, too, were of wood and metal – some new and shining, others looking rusted and worn by time. Their expressions ranged from confused to defiant to terrified – one was even a child, a girl of ten or eleven, crying silently into the chill light that bespoke a perpetual twilight.
The first thing Jigano noticed was how different his balance felt, and how chill even the breeze was against so much bare skin. After his last foray into a book world he wasn’t entirely unprepared to find himself in a different body, but not even all his control and discipline could stop the soft outburst that fell from his lips at realizing what had happened this time. ”Gods least fortunate!” he swore, looking down – at a lush body, curvaceous in all the right places but otherwise toned and tight – and leaving very little to the imagination in a skimpy excuse at armor and fluttering white cloth that bared significantly more leg than he was comfortable with. His hair remained long and white, his eyes blue, and his features recognizable – give or take the pointed ears and three fingers on each hand – and he (she?) found himself (herself?) holding a staff with an improbably intricate top piece of gold.
Remi was luckier, perhaps, at least in being properly covered with full, functional metal armor and clothes beneath it. There was a flowing white cape at his shoulders, but he was human and still in his proper form. Of the three he was least changed, though he now held a gleaming sword and large shield with some sort of symbol painted boldly across it.
Where Jigano had gone slender,
Isla was half-hidden in the shadow of a statue, wearing less armor than Jigano but more clothes, covered neck to toe in thin leather and silent silk in dark colors that seemed to blend in to their surroundings. Long knives sat at her hips, short ones were crossed in a bandolier over her chest. She looked mostly human, at least, but stood only four feet tall, with over-large eyes and webbed ears.
”Alright, this is normal… I think,” the bard started to reassure his companions, looking around to take his bearings and try to pick out who had become… what. ”We’re taking the part of characters in the story, which should allow us to experience it—What was that?” He tensed as a dry slithering sound of scales on stone shushed through the clearing. Very large scales.
And he caught the reflection of a twisted head moving in one of the statues’ shields from the corner of his eye.
”Gorgon!” he shouted, dropping into a crouch and clutching the staff close as he turned his gaze to the ground, spinning to face the direction the shield was facing. ”If you catch its gaze you’ll turn to stone! These aren’t statues – they’re victims!” More importantly though – this couldn’t be the start of the story. Dropping straight into a fight? It was possible but-- ”The damn book is cheating,” he growled, casting desperately around for a fallen shield to use in his defense. ”We have to take it down without meeting its eyes directly!”
Of course, no sooner had he spoken than the half-man, half-snake like creature with the writhing serpentine hair lunged for Isla, claws outstretched as it hissed in eagerness, its intentions clear: to grab her by the head and force her to meet its gaze if she didn't move fast enough to escape.
1. Isla
2. Samuel
3. Remi
3. Kalt
{{Within the confines of this book, normal Caido racial abilities and drawbacks do not work. Your characters will be relying on their wits and their weapons only. Good luck!}}
Next update: 1-15-19 OR when everyone has posted
