Part LVIII: Exploration
Date: Yippah 16th, 114 A.U.
The first orange beams of the morning slowly crept over and through the stiff mountains as the sun slowly began to emerge from the sky, shedding its rays on where Sereth sat, knees folded against her chest, on the top of the small crag overlooked part of the camp, and played her guitar, trying to find herself at peace with the world. But it appeared that the world was instead at odds with her, breaking whatever peace she had managed to keep to herself from the long journey from her archaeological dig to the ancient citadel with the reviled Emperor of Arquenia. An Emperor that had tortured her sister and shaped her mind beyond recognition. Sereth knew the truth. Cortna was gone, lost in the cage that had been created for her. And she would never return.
Sereth strummed harder, pouring out all her anger into her piece which vibrated across the mountains and cried out the pain and damage that had been wrought to the world. Burn. Everything would burn. Everything would burn into the world was made right.
“Sereth.” Sereth jolted up and nearly dropped her guitar as she spun around.
“Sorry for frightening. It is I, Hazael,” the tall winged elf said.
Sereth stepped back. “Oh, well it’s you… well, what do you want?”
“Jaigran plans on having guard today,” Hazael said.
“Well, I would assume he would, being the Emperor and all, but watchadoes that mean for me? It’s not like I’d try and kill him,” Sereth said, flippantly. Well, actually, if I had the chance and the means, I might be tempted to kill him if he had no guards, but…
“He plans have sister for guard.”
Sereth dropped her guitar, fingers flinging downward so that she managed to barely catch it before it hit the ground. Sereth’s head snapped up as she gazed at Hazael. “He what?!”
“He try to jolt you. Worried that you be rebel like her. Wants to keep you from doing it,” Hazael said. “Put on mask. No look distracted.”
Sereth pursed her lips hard. “I would…” she said. “With my bare hands… och, I don’t a know what I would do. Something else.” She sat down on one of the rocks. “I don’t even want to kill him, and… and all of this-” Her voice broke off.
“I know,” Hazael said. “But must hurry. Cannot be late.”
“No, I suppose I can’t,” Sereth said, slowly putting her guitar over his shoulder.
“Carry you, shall I, so you arrive quick?” Hazael asked, putting out his hands.
“Aye,” Sereth said. “I… Thank you.”
“What I can do, I do,” Hazael said.
There was a resounding crack, and then the ancient lumber collapsed, falling from its hinges into a pile of rubble on the floor as two of the guards instantly thrust their fire-sticks into the darkness behind the door, causing all shadows to flee. Sereth pointed out with her flashlight and moved the beam along the walls and ceiling of the new passage.
“Get on with it,” Jaigran snapped.
“Ah yes,” Sereth said. “If my memory hold me right, I believe that this was part of an older bit of the citadel. It leads to a cellar of wine, if my memory holds me right. Good wine, it was. When it’s been held down there for so long, it-“
“Yes, yes, get on with it,” Jaigran snapped, looking around as if he expected an assailant to creep up on him. “I’ll take your word on it. If there’s nothing to see here, then move along.”
"Well, begging your pardon, Emperor, I don’t know if there’s anything there or not,” Sereth said. “I don’t exactly know what we’re looking for, so-”
“Our object won’t be in the cellar,” Jaigran snapped. “At least it shouldn’t be. We’ll investigate all other places before we look there. Trust me, Sereth. It won’t be down in the cellar.”
“As you wish, your Majesty,” Sereth cautiously said, trying to keep herself betraying her weakness and looking at her mute sister.
“And it won’t be any dark places either,” Jaigran said, obviously not done yet. “Higher in the Citadel, where there’s light. We’ll only go down into the underground portions of this Citadel if we’ve looked everywhere else first.”
“Y-yes, Emperor,” Sereth said. “We can go to the uppermost parts of the Citadel first.”
“Aye, we will,” Jaigran said. “Lead on, elf. Show us the other portions of the Citadel.”
“And this here was the Great Library of Tzel-Maret,” Sereth said, pushing past the rotting door into the great room featuring shelves full of moth-eaten books, fragile enough to shatter at a mere touch.
“What set it apart from other libraries,” Jaigran asked, seeming to have relaxed more to be partly enjoying her tour.
“Well, it used to feature a lot of the historical records and reports of the kings,” Sereth said. “That is the primary reason that many historians believe it to have been the elven capitol at one point. It was an outpost as well, so it featured a lot more foreign works than the other libraries in the country. As a matter of fact, if I have all my facts correct, I believe that it was well known as being an outpost for travelers from all around the place and was traditionally a place of diplomacy. Not that that specifically relates to the Great Library, I suppose, but it might explain why there were so many foreign books in this library.”
“Interesting,” Jaigran said, slowly picking up a book and blowing off the dust. A couple pages blew off with it. Jaigran looked at the book for a couple moments before slowly letting it slip through his fingers and collapse on the floor. Jaigran looked up.
“Search the library,” Jaigran ordered. “Report anything unusual you find.”
Date: Yippah 16th, 114 A.U.
The first orange beams of the morning slowly crept over and through the stiff mountains as the sun slowly began to emerge from the sky, shedding its rays on where Sereth sat, knees folded against her chest, on the top of the small crag overlooked part of the camp, and played her guitar, trying to find herself at peace with the world. But it appeared that the world was instead at odds with her, breaking whatever peace she had managed to keep to herself from the long journey from her archaeological dig to the ancient citadel with the reviled Emperor of Arquenia. An Emperor that had tortured her sister and shaped her mind beyond recognition. Sereth knew the truth. Cortna was gone, lost in the cage that had been created for her. And she would never return.
Sereth strummed harder, pouring out all her anger into her piece which vibrated across the mountains and cried out the pain and damage that had been wrought to the world. Burn. Everything would burn. Everything would burn into the world was made right.
“Sereth.” Sereth jolted up and nearly dropped her guitar as she spun around.
“Sorry for frightening. It is I, Hazael,” the tall winged elf said.
Sereth stepped back. “Oh, well it’s you… well, what do you want?”
“Jaigran plans on having guard today,” Hazael said.
“Well, I would assume he would, being the Emperor and all, but watchadoes that mean for me? It’s not like I’d try and kill him,” Sereth said, flippantly. Well, actually, if I had the chance and the means, I might be tempted to kill him if he had no guards, but…
“He plans have sister for guard.”
Sereth dropped her guitar, fingers flinging downward so that she managed to barely catch it before it hit the ground. Sereth’s head snapped up as she gazed at Hazael. “He what?!”
“He try to jolt you. Worried that you be rebel like her. Wants to keep you from doing it,” Hazael said. “Put on mask. No look distracted.”
Sereth pursed her lips hard. “I would…” she said. “With my bare hands… och, I don’t a know what I would do. Something else.” She sat down on one of the rocks. “I don’t even want to kill him, and… and all of this-” Her voice broke off.
“I know,” Hazael said. “But must hurry. Cannot be late.”
“No, I suppose I can’t,” Sereth said, slowly putting her guitar over his shoulder.
“Carry you, shall I, so you arrive quick?” Hazael asked, putting out his hands.
“Aye,” Sereth said. “I… Thank you.”
“What I can do, I do,” Hazael said.
There was a resounding crack, and then the ancient lumber collapsed, falling from its hinges into a pile of rubble on the floor as two of the guards instantly thrust their fire-sticks into the darkness behind the door, causing all shadows to flee. Sereth pointed out with her flashlight and moved the beam along the walls and ceiling of the new passage.
“Get on with it,” Jaigran snapped.
“Ah yes,” Sereth said. “If my memory hold me right, I believe that this was part of an older bit of the citadel. It leads to a cellar of wine, if my memory holds me right. Good wine, it was. When it’s been held down there for so long, it-“
“Yes, yes, get on with it,” Jaigran snapped, looking around as if he expected an assailant to creep up on him. “I’ll take your word on it. If there’s nothing to see here, then move along.”
"Well, begging your pardon, Emperor, I don’t know if there’s anything there or not,” Sereth said. “I don’t exactly know what we’re looking for, so-”
“Our object won’t be in the cellar,” Jaigran snapped. “At least it shouldn’t be. We’ll investigate all other places before we look there. Trust me, Sereth. It won’t be down in the cellar.”
“As you wish, your Majesty,” Sereth cautiously said, trying to keep herself betraying her weakness and looking at her mute sister.
“And it won’t be any dark places either,” Jaigran said, obviously not done yet. “Higher in the Citadel, where there’s light. We’ll only go down into the underground portions of this Citadel if we’ve looked everywhere else first.”
“Y-yes, Emperor,” Sereth said. “We can go to the uppermost parts of the Citadel first.”
“Aye, we will,” Jaigran said. “Lead on, elf. Show us the other portions of the Citadel.”
“And this here was the Great Library of Tzel-Maret,” Sereth said, pushing past the rotting door into the great room featuring shelves full of moth-eaten books, fragile enough to shatter at a mere touch.
“What set it apart from other libraries,” Jaigran asked, seeming to have relaxed more to be partly enjoying her tour.
“Well, it used to feature a lot of the historical records and reports of the kings,” Sereth said. “That is the primary reason that many historians believe it to have been the elven capitol at one point. It was an outpost as well, so it featured a lot more foreign works than the other libraries in the country. As a matter of fact, if I have all my facts correct, I believe that it was well known as being an outpost for travelers from all around the place and was traditionally a place of diplomacy. Not that that specifically relates to the Great Library, I suppose, but it might explain why there were so many foreign books in this library.”
“Interesting,” Jaigran said, slowly picking up a book and blowing off the dust. A couple pages blew off with it. Jaigran looked at the book for a couple moments before slowly letting it slip through his fingers and collapse on the floor. Jaigran looked up.
“Search the library,” Jaigran ordered. “Report anything unusual you find.”
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