Isla ran into the fray, courageous and without hesitation to save her friend. As Sam ducked, she swung and connected with the flaming wasp, her chair leg making a satisfying THWACK against the burning paper and crushing the fiery insect to the floor where it smoldered and twitched.
Slowly, wincing at the bruises that would cover his side in a few hours, the bard managed to pull in a breath and roll gingerly to his feet. With a wry smile of reassurance for his friend – he could almost feel the panic coming off of Sam – he waved away his injuries and limped back into the second room to make sure there would be no more surprises.
Jigano looked at the remains of the hive with grim dislike, reaching out to touch the broken spine of a pageless book used to armor the outside of the hive with gentle fingers. ”We’ll have to remove these,” he said heavily. ”Sam, perhaps you can reuse some of the materials in your bookmaking?” It was that or kindling, though perhaps the fire would be safer until the understood more of the creatures that had devoured and used the books to build their nest. But as he was turning to leave a glint of silver caught his eye, half-hidden by the hive. He bent down and tugged at the little piece of metal, freeing a steel key from where it had become partially stuck to the wasps’ home.
Only one door remained, its lock a perfect match for the key Jigano now held. He took a deep breath, then released it carefully as he oiled the key and worked it into the ancient tumblers. At first it seemed they wouldn’t budge, but with a faint grinding noise they clicked and the key turned in the lock. Tense, ready for another fight, the bard pushed the door open onto…
A larger room than the others, with shelves of steel instead of wood. Broken, rusted chains and shackles had been anchored to many of the shelves, and broken locks littered the floor. But these shackles were square, not round, meant for no human limb. ”The sentient books,” Jigano breathed, holding up his lantern to glint from the shelves. ”They were kept here, once! They must have escaped somehow, after the librarians were dead or fled and this place lost. As we find them we can return them here for safe keeping! Well, once we figure out how they got out in the first place.”
Further inspection would reveal a fault in one corner that likely led up to the main floor. It would take work and a bit of masonry to fix, but in the meantime Jigano led the Loreseekers back out to the main table. ”Alright,” he looked around at his gathered friends and guildmates, pride shining in his eyes in spite of his bruises. ”We’ve answered a few questions today, and, I think, found ourselves a home. Now it’s time to make it someplace we can be proud of. There’s a lot of cleaning to do, so let’s get started with brooms and buckets, and maybe see if that chimney is still in working order to get a fire going. I trust you all to find a task that suits you, so: who wants to do what?
This is the last round of the PQ! Thank you all so much for joining the Loreseekers' Guild!
Sweeping out the dust and cobwebs, piling the debris in the fireplace, polishing mirrors, scrubbing shelves and flagstones – what task – or tasks – will you do for the next few hours to make this a comfortable Guild Hall?
