The day was bright and warm, the cold winds of Leafchange not yet striking hard across the land. Still, a cool breeze broke the lingering heat of summer and reminded those out and about that a change was coming, and sooner than anyone was ready for. In the distance a few clouds broke the horizon, a promise of a distant autumn shower bringing life-giving rain back to the Hollowed Grounds after the Longheat drought, and in the Settlement and Sanctuary people moved with purpose and industry to prepare for the coming harvest and the winter beyond – and the Festival of Lights before season’s end.
The Atheneum was a large structure with a domed roof, recently repaired (though the repairs were a rough shadow of the original architecture). It stood within the Sanctuary, near to the Temple, and it was filled with books in various stages of newness and decay. The first floor was a maze of shelves, while the second floor consisted of a platform around the outer wall, and more books on that wall as well.
Beside the wide double doors was a box for Outlander comments and suggestions, and not far away a tall man with long white hair sat at a table, reading a slim book while beside him a blue-tipped white feather quill wrote furiously of its own volition in another open volume. A small gryphon, snowy-owl and snow leopard mixed with blue-tipped primaries and markings on her face napped on the table nearby. Her companion occasionally hummed softly, snatches of song without words as he focused on the task before him.
The Atheneum was a large structure with a domed roof, recently repaired (though the repairs were a rough shadow of the original architecture). It stood within the Sanctuary, near to the Temple, and it was filled with books in various stages of newness and decay. The first floor was a maze of shelves, while the second floor consisted of a platform around the outer wall, and more books on that wall as well.
Beside the wide double doors was a box for Outlander comments and suggestions, and not far away a tall man with long white hair sat at a table, reading a slim book while beside him a blue-tipped white feather quill wrote furiously of its own volition in another open volume. A small gryphon, snowy-owl and snow leopard mixed with blue-tipped primaries and markings on her face napped on the table nearby. Her companion occasionally hummed softly, snatches of song without words as he focused on the task before him.
