Co-Saga: The Great Library, a Discovery Made
Feb 19, 2006 2:53:16 GMT
Post by barnibusquentin on Feb 19, 2006 2:53:16 GMT
A musty breeze dashed through the basement of the library. It rustled papers and disturbed the near complete silence of the underground room. Barnibus grabbed a piece of loose yellowed paper and is glided toward the ground. He turned it over in his hand and looked at it. The page was brittle with age and scrawled with a spidery hand. It was the details of a long lost occult ritual. Barnibus shook his head and placed it on top of a massive stack of similar sheets. He blinked and rubbed his eyes before taking a long slug of acrid coffee. It tasted disgusting but it was the only thing that had kept the Old Man running for the past few days. The clock on the wall gonged once, one o-clock, but, whether am or pm Barnibus didn’t know.
He and Kain arrived in the sprawling city of Wellington two days previous. It had been a sunny, but somewhat frigid day when they first walked though the gates. All around them massive ultra-modern buildings sprouted like grass from the ground. The disgusting stench of humanity and smog permeated the air. It had been so long since Barnibus had been in a big city; he forgot what they were like. After months in the solitude and peace of the forest, it sickened him. The streets bustled with activity and no one seemed to notice two more strangers. Barnibus bit back his emotions and the two picked their way through Wellington and at length found themselves in the town center. Barnibus swapped a street vendor a small ruby gemstone for two bottles of water. He passed one to Kain and sat down on the lip of a gargling fountain.
“I’ve forgotten how much I hate cities,” the Old Man remarked, taking a sip of the refreshing water.
Kain nodded a reply. The two talked for a few minutes. The black silhouette of a crow passed overhead and it seemed to bring Barnibus back to their business.
The Old Man pointed to a large gothic building on the opposite side of the square that looked more like a church than anything else. There was a great bronze plaque above the front entrance reading “Trent National Library: Wellington Branch” in serif block letters.
“The Trent library has extensive archives. It’s been said they have documents going as far back as the first settling of Eden. I hope to find some information from the early days of Eden that will shed some light on our situation.” Barnibus handed Kain the Big D’s credit card. “I’m going to be in there for quite a while I fear. You should get a hotel room and see if you can find any information around the city. You might have to get into the underbelly of Wellington. But, I’m sure you can ask the right people the right questions. Places like this never really shake off the past. There are still pockets of ancient cults and sects buried in the modern. Anything weird might be related to what we’re looking for. You’ll know it when you see it.”
Barnibus took another sip of the water and began walking towards the library. “Oh, and you’ll know where to find me if you run into any trouble you can’t handle.”
The Old Man hoped Kain would be able to find something…although he barely knew what he was looking for himself…he just hoped when he found it, it would be obvious.
Barnibus flipped the page of the weighty tome he was glancing through…nothing…he turned the page again, before something struck him. He frantically turned back and began scanning through the words. They were in some lost language, but the Old Man managed to translate bits and pieces of it through his research.
The page had two pictures; one was in the upper left hand corner and the other on the opposite page. The appeared to be metallic ovals, gripped on the side by claw like feet. Scrawled down the side of the page were a number of arcane runes. Barnibus could read them:
[glow=navy,2,300]Stability[/glow]
[glow=red,2,300]Summoning[/glow]
[glow=blue,2,300]Transport[/glow]
[glow=white,2,300]Healing[/glow]
[glow=black,2,300]Death[/glow]
His eyes widened in fear…how could he have?
He knocked over the pile of books to his left, searching for one. He grabbed the leather bound book and threw it open on the desk.
And oh great lord of beyond.
Bear our sins; take us into your arms.
Once when the time comes, return.
On the day when all is aligned
We shall heed your command and
You shall come again.
We await…
It was an ancient prayer to a god of death. We shall heed your command the words stuck in the Old Man’s mind. There was some meaning to them, but something was still missing. He flipped through the rest book. There it was, a page spanning diagram. It showed the orbits of Eden’s local system. They were all in perfect alignment. Barnibus was willing to bet that was the alignment the prayer spoke of.
He searched through the books scattered across the floor, looking for a specific title. There it was.
Richard McManless: A treatise on occult practices and communication with the dead
Barnibus scanned through the pages…
Many cultures throughout history have believed in an after life. A number…communication with the dead…the ancient Naitatdzesh (Nay-at-adz-zeesh) practiced ceremonies on significant solar and stellar alignments where they could speak with the dead ancestors…believed it would allow them to interact with their gods…they were destroyed during the crusades…still exist today as a small cult…
Memories and information flashed at the Old Man
“He is unimportant…”
The gateway to Volgondia…
The smoldering insides of the staff….
The cackling attacks of the assassins…
With a shocked suddenness Sisyphus’s plans fell into place. The plans, they were for a gateway. The runes, stability, summoning, transport, healing…death. Barnibus had used many of the same runes constructing his gateway to Eden. The summoning and healing runes would allow Sisyphus to summon creatures and keep them alive. But from where? There was no planar rune…the answer was death. Sisyphus was summoning creatures from beyond the grave. The rune of transport would allow him to come back through into life. After the breaking of the wizard’s staff Sisyphus was able to find the way to Eden’s otherworld. The cult of the Naitatdzesh had contacted them and mistakenly believed he was their death god…they had brought him back.
Barnibus stuffed the books and papers under his arms and ran from the library. Despite his findings he was left with more questions than answers. He burst out of the heavy double doors and into the blackness of night. A few people, less than savory in their appearance, still loitered around the square.
“Kain!” Barnibus screamed, hoping the young man would hear him. “We’ve gotta get back to the beach. I’ve found some things the others need to see!”
He and Kain arrived in the sprawling city of Wellington two days previous. It had been a sunny, but somewhat frigid day when they first walked though the gates. All around them massive ultra-modern buildings sprouted like grass from the ground. The disgusting stench of humanity and smog permeated the air. It had been so long since Barnibus had been in a big city; he forgot what they were like. After months in the solitude and peace of the forest, it sickened him. The streets bustled with activity and no one seemed to notice two more strangers. Barnibus bit back his emotions and the two picked their way through Wellington and at length found themselves in the town center. Barnibus swapped a street vendor a small ruby gemstone for two bottles of water. He passed one to Kain and sat down on the lip of a gargling fountain.
“I’ve forgotten how much I hate cities,” the Old Man remarked, taking a sip of the refreshing water.
Kain nodded a reply. The two talked for a few minutes. The black silhouette of a crow passed overhead and it seemed to bring Barnibus back to their business.
The Old Man pointed to a large gothic building on the opposite side of the square that looked more like a church than anything else. There was a great bronze plaque above the front entrance reading “Trent National Library: Wellington Branch” in serif block letters.
“The Trent library has extensive archives. It’s been said they have documents going as far back as the first settling of Eden. I hope to find some information from the early days of Eden that will shed some light on our situation.” Barnibus handed Kain the Big D’s credit card. “I’m going to be in there for quite a while I fear. You should get a hotel room and see if you can find any information around the city. You might have to get into the underbelly of Wellington. But, I’m sure you can ask the right people the right questions. Places like this never really shake off the past. There are still pockets of ancient cults and sects buried in the modern. Anything weird might be related to what we’re looking for. You’ll know it when you see it.”
Barnibus took another sip of the water and began walking towards the library. “Oh, and you’ll know where to find me if you run into any trouble you can’t handle.”
The Old Man hoped Kain would be able to find something…although he barely knew what he was looking for himself…he just hoped when he found it, it would be obvious.
Barnibus flipped the page of the weighty tome he was glancing through…nothing…he turned the page again, before something struck him. He frantically turned back and began scanning through the words. They were in some lost language, but the Old Man managed to translate bits and pieces of it through his research.
The page had two pictures; one was in the upper left hand corner and the other on the opposite page. The appeared to be metallic ovals, gripped on the side by claw like feet. Scrawled down the side of the page were a number of arcane runes. Barnibus could read them:
[glow=navy,2,300]Stability[/glow]
[glow=red,2,300]Summoning[/glow]
[glow=blue,2,300]Transport[/glow]
[glow=white,2,300]Healing[/glow]
[glow=black,2,300]Death[/glow]
His eyes widened in fear…how could he have?
He knocked over the pile of books to his left, searching for one. He grabbed the leather bound book and threw it open on the desk.
And oh great lord of beyond.
Bear our sins; take us into your arms.
Once when the time comes, return.
On the day when all is aligned
We shall heed your command and
You shall come again.
We await…
It was an ancient prayer to a god of death. We shall heed your command the words stuck in the Old Man’s mind. There was some meaning to them, but something was still missing. He flipped through the rest book. There it was, a page spanning diagram. It showed the orbits of Eden’s local system. They were all in perfect alignment. Barnibus was willing to bet that was the alignment the prayer spoke of.
He searched through the books scattered across the floor, looking for a specific title. There it was.
Richard McManless: A treatise on occult practices and communication with the dead
Barnibus scanned through the pages…
Many cultures throughout history have believed in an after life. A number…communication with the dead…the ancient Naitatdzesh (Nay-at-adz-zeesh) practiced ceremonies on significant solar and stellar alignments where they could speak with the dead ancestors…believed it would allow them to interact with their gods…they were destroyed during the crusades…still exist today as a small cult…
Memories and information flashed at the Old Man
“He is unimportant…”
The gateway to Volgondia…
The smoldering insides of the staff….
The cackling attacks of the assassins…
With a shocked suddenness Sisyphus’s plans fell into place. The plans, they were for a gateway. The runes, stability, summoning, transport, healing…death. Barnibus had used many of the same runes constructing his gateway to Eden. The summoning and healing runes would allow Sisyphus to summon creatures and keep them alive. But from where? There was no planar rune…the answer was death. Sisyphus was summoning creatures from beyond the grave. The rune of transport would allow him to come back through into life. After the breaking of the wizard’s staff Sisyphus was able to find the way to Eden’s otherworld. The cult of the Naitatdzesh had contacted them and mistakenly believed he was their death god…they had brought him back.
Barnibus stuffed the books and papers under his arms and ran from the library. Despite his findings he was left with more questions than answers. He burst out of the heavy double doors and into the blackness of night. A few people, less than savory in their appearance, still loitered around the square.
“Kain!” Barnibus screamed, hoping the young man would hear him. “We’ve gotta get back to the beach. I’ve found some things the others need to see!”