Moving the rubble had been back-breaking labor beneath the Longheat sun, but cleaning up much of the ruined mess had resulted in one good thing, at least: a number of old books and scrolls had been uncovered, many of which were damaged, but some of which were intact.
Those that could be easily read and categorized had been set aside for repair and reshelving, while those that were too damaged to fix had been stacked separately elsewhere, to provide Sam with raw materials for repairing other books.
And then there was the much smaller and more interesting pile of intact texts that could not be easily read, their languages unfamiliar to any Loreseeker of the guild, including the Provost. Jigano had brought those down to the Guildhall personally, tucking them into the shelves of his office for later perusal as time permitted...
And thanks to his broken arm, he had more time than he really wanted at the moment.
Which was why he had made himself comfortable, with fresh tea and some of Amalia's baked treats, before settling in to his overstuffed chair in his office and selecting a scroll that seemed to zing when his fingers drifted over it. It didn't look particularly fancy, perhaps a page from a personal diary, but the feel of something there had sung to him until he lifted it from the shelf and carefully, with gloved hands, spread it out across his desk. The language remained indecipherable, but maybe...
Nibbling his lip thoughtfully, cautious of what had happened the last time he'd used them, the lorekeeper removed the magic spectacles from his pocket and slipped them on, squinting through the good lens to peer at the writing and wondering if it would give up its secrets...
Or if he was just being foolish.
Those that could be easily read and categorized had been set aside for repair and reshelving, while those that were too damaged to fix had been stacked separately elsewhere, to provide Sam with raw materials for repairing other books.
And then there was the much smaller and more interesting pile of intact texts that could not be easily read, their languages unfamiliar to any Loreseeker of the guild, including the Provost. Jigano had brought those down to the Guildhall personally, tucking them into the shelves of his office for later perusal as time permitted...
And thanks to his broken arm, he had more time than he really wanted at the moment.
Which was why he had made himself comfortable, with fresh tea and some of Amalia's baked treats, before settling in to his overstuffed chair in his office and selecting a scroll that seemed to zing when his fingers drifted over it. It didn't look particularly fancy, perhaps a page from a personal diary, but the feel of something there had sung to him until he lifted it from the shelf and carefully, with gloved hands, spread it out across his desk. The language remained indecipherable, but maybe...
Nibbling his lip thoughtfully, cautious of what had happened the last time he'd used them, the lorekeeper removed the magic spectacles from his pocket and slipped them on, squinting through the good lens to peer at the writing and wondering if it would give up its secrets...
Or if he was just being foolish.
