Open Dusty Books and Faraway Dreams (Azelle)

[Shylia]

A cloaked figure stepped into the huge building that stood in front of him, brushing droplets of rain off of his clothes. Once he found that he was safe inside from the downpour, he removed his hood. He ran a hand through his red hair, green eyes scanning the room for any sign of direction.

He'd come to this place because this was one of the few libraries in Lhavit that carried the books he required. Shylia was fascinated with other cultures and places, and traveling was what the man most aspired to do. The books that were in this particular library contained all sorts of information on every major city in the world, and the young man was very keen on doing research before he decided to set out anywhere.

He managed to find the library, after a few twists and turns. As he passed the elderly woman at the front desk, he gave her an expressionless nod, and then continued on. He looked at every section until he found the one he so desired.

The man scanned the titles of the books in the section, looking for one that caught his eye. He'd heard that Ravok was lovely this time of year, but of course, travel in Kalea was very difficult to an inexperienced wanderer. Shylia had some experience with exploring, but only from the books he'd read and what little traveling he'd actually done.

Once he found a book that he was satisfied with, he stood and flipped through the pages, his eyes crossing every line; he was completely absorbed into the book now, and unaware of his surroundings.

[Azelle]

Tap, tap. The sound of footfalls echoed off the unadorned surfaces of the tower library. Though she attempted to mute the sound in an effort not to disturb others, the tap of the solid soles of her shoes resounded. Despite her efforts, even the slight noise of her cloak was audible in the otherwise silent room as Azelle stepped foot into the library. Light of skin and dark of hair and garb, little colour showed from the young woman as she swept into the room.

The comparative clamor drew a look of disapproval from the librarian as she passed by, but she appeared somewhat mollified as Azelle dropped into a curtsey and whispered a quiet apology. “I’m sorry. I’ll try to do better next time.” Basic relations aside, Azelle casually scanned over the room, looking for anything that might hold some interest. While nothing in particular seemed to stand out, she breathed a sigh of relief in that it at least appeared to be well ordered.

While the large facility may have been lacking in ornamentation and décor, it was definitely fit for purpose. Sections were well labelled, and leather bound tomes filled the walls. Though a number of tomes were missing, presumably being used by the few figures sitting at the tables, either reading or writing intently. Unsurprisingly, the greatest crowds appeared to be those in the reimancy section, most likely the recently initiated students revising the theories that they would need to use while grasping the fundamentals of the craft.

Smiling at their apparent diligence, Azelle headed away from them, into the much less used geography section. At first she stepped forward towards the shelves themselves, her eyes seeking anything that might prove to be of particular interest, but the simple bindings, combined with her lack of comprehension of which might be important made that a difficult task. She knew that she wanted to get through most of them eventually.

Just as Azelle was about to pick one at random, she glimpsed the only other figure in that section of the building, an unfamiliar man to be sure, but that was not what caught her attention. He appeared well prepared for travel, and more than that, seemed captivated by the text that he held. “If it’s that interesting to him, perhaps it would be a good place to start myself.” She whispered under her breath as she approached.

She stood beside him a few moments, looking over his shoulder as he read, before eventually tapping him on the shoulder, a slight smile as she asked “What are you reading? It looks interesting.”

[Shylia]

A distant 'clack, clack, clack' could be heard, but Shylia was so intrigued with his book that he didn't even see the girl enter until she appeared beside him.

“What are you reading? It looks interesting.” she said, after tapping him.

He jumped in surprise, a hand twitching toward the dagger at his side, but when he realized that it wasn't a threat, he relaxed.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people like that." he warned. "You could get hurt." Even so, he turned the book to the side so he could read the title.

"'Travel in Kalea: Ravok'." he informed. "It's quite interesting. I'm just about finished with it, though, so here." Je handed the book to the girl and began searching for another on the shelf, a hand moving to his face to stroke his goatee in thought.

[Azelle]

Azelle cocked her head in curiosity at the sudden reaction, oblivious the presence of the dagger, as well as the defensive nature of the movements. She continued looking at the book curiously, though his words garnered a degree of interest in and of themselves.

“When you say I could be hurt as a result of not announcing myself, what do you mean?” Her curiosity compelling her to attempt to comprehend the reasoning behind the actions. While a fairly good student, few of her lessons had been on the human mind itself.

As it was offered, Azelle took hold of it, and made her own inspection of the book itself. Admittedly quite plain, as most of them were, but it did seem like the sort of thing that she felt that she would enjoy. Taking a seat, she opened the tome, and began scanning through it casually to begin with.

“Perhaps you could tell me a little about what parts of it you found to be the most use, or which parts of it you thought would be the most pleasant areas to focus on?”

Once her casual flip through the tome was completed, she removed some parchment, ink and a well-designed quill and laid them on the table before her. Once preparations were complete, she began reading the introduction in earnest as she waited for a recommendation on just where she should focus her notes.

[Shylia]

Shylia lifted an eyebrow as she spoke again. "Well, you see, if you come up behind someone unannounced and then proceed to physically interact with them without their knowledge, they could get the wrong idea and think that they're being harmed. I nearly sliced you open just now, young lady."

He picked up another book from the shelf, a different city on the title this time. She spoke a third time, asking about the book.

"This is simply my own opinion, but I find the culture simply riveting. Any culture that differs from my own is enthralling to me. I think that would be a fair place to begin, if anywhere."

He was about to say something else when suddenly, a large black cat raced around the corner and nearly knocked him over. He made an exclamation of surprise, and when he found that it was a panther, a low growl sounded from deep in his chest and he unsheathed his dagger.

"Attack and you will perish." he threatened in a dark voice, his eyes brimming with caution.

[Azelle]

Azelle nodded in acknowledgement, and pulled over another page, scribbling down a copy of his words and then set it aside, then, looking up the culture segment of the tome, she flipped towards it and began casually reading through.

“I see… Perhaps you should leave your weapons elsewhere. I meant no ill will, and if that startled you, it could be dangerous to keep hold of it while in the city. Regardless, which of those that you’ve studied have you found to deviate the most from that of Lhavit?”

As she finished speaking, Azelle heard a thump as the feline connected with the man, her first instinct was to prepare a sheet of res, but she resisted it and simply watched the creature.

“Facinating.”

Having never seen a panther before, the sight of it captivated her as she tried to determine just what it was. She looked at it a moment, and wondering just what it was and what it was doing here, she tried to determine an explanation. Finally coming up with one, she turned her head towards it and directly asked it a question.

“Ahh, hello. I’m Azelle, are you the familiar to one of the mages here?”

As she awaited her response, the man threatened the panther. She turned to him with a look of disapproval.

“If it’s intelligent, it probably already knows that attacking someone in the city is illegal, and your statement would be quite rude. If it isn’t, then it won’t understand you anyway.”