It was not an easy three days
of travel. The journey itself was easy enough, every fifty to a hundred feet
they marked their path so they could find their way back to the port. Trent
had been short tempered from the get go and by the end of the first day his
attitude and the ever present fog had soured the group. They traveled the
second day mostly in silence, there were bits of whispered conversations but
nothing that lasted longer than a few sentences. By the end of day three they
had all retreated into their own thoughts and followed Haruff in total silence.
Twenty minutes into the
fourth day they found the library. It was large enough that the fog obscured its
total height but what they could see was stunningly beautiful. A mixture of wood
and stone that appeared to have escaped the wear and tear of time. As they
approached the heavy wooden main doors they were able to see representations of
every language they knew and several that even Squints had never seen. Haruff
pulled the door open and they ventured inside.
The interior was even more impressive
than the exterior. Their vision no longer limited by the Fog, everyone but
Haruff was able to take in the architecture, the paintings on the walls, the
tile work on the floor that appeared at first glance to be an ancient map of
the world. The book stacks started almost immediately and rose high into the building.
They could see ladders hanging off the shelves. A fair skinned elf with ice
blue hair came around the corner to greet them. He wore a plain white robe that
had one large pocket in the front that was filled with a book. The Ice haired
elf smiled at them and clapped his hands in excitement. “Oh my yes! This is a
wonderful day, it had been so long since we’ve had any visitors.” He ushered
them further into the building as he walked by them to close the doors. “Come
in, come in, come in. Keep that nasty fog outside where it belongs.” He turned
back to face the group. “Before we begin I invite you to wash all that
negativity and anger off here, I promise you’ll feel better once you have been
cleansed.” He gestured to a basin of water and waited for each of them to clean
their hands and faces. As they did they discovered that the ice haired elf wasn’t
lying. The sour silent negativity was rinsed away as their hands and face
dried. The ice haired elf nodded again. “Good, Good, now welcome to the City of
Scrolls. A misleading name if ever there was one, because it’s a library, but
as far I am aware it is the largest library on the planet which means whatever
you came here to find, I can almost guarantee that it is here to be found.” He
shuffled back to the front of the group. “Now then, how may I be of assistance?”
He asked with a huge smile on his face.
Squints stepped forward with the
book he had brought from Lidarion. “We’re ah, well. We’re looking for the five
scrolls that detail the sigils of the paragons. He said. Do you know where they
are?” he asked.
The ice haired elf nodded in
excitement. “The five scrolls are easily one of our most treasured manuscripts
here. Come! I will show you.” He said spinning around.
The group scurried behind him
to keep up. “What’s your name?” Brooke asked. As they weaved through the
stacks.
The ice haired elf laughed. “You
may call me Obla’reth.” He replied.
After a few more moments of
scurrying through the library they came to positively primal wooden doors,
marked with some sort of ancient language. Squints was beside himself with
curiosity. “Obla’reth what language is that? I saw it on the front door as
well.” He asked.
Obla’reth smiled nodded. “Yes
you did, it’s the language of the titans, the first sentient race we have evidence
of on this planet.” He explained.
Squints shook his head. “I
thought the Titans were nothing more than a myth, bed time stories for
children.” He replied.
