"Any luck?"
"None but stone and dust... for now" he responded, with a slight hint of disappointment in his tone. Could it be that this place was looted clean centuries ago ? Someone must have stumbled in here at some point, though if one had, it would be a long time ago. At least that's what the thick layers of dust made him think.
Thinking that it would be pointless to just try and search every room in this place while grandmother was fixed on her choice of direction, he just followed to the enormous hall that opened before them. It was pitch black still, but the echoes of their own voices and footsteps that slowly reverberated, revealed the sheer size of this room. Shelves everywhere, made from that petching stone material and taller than any man. They were littered with what appeared to be books and other random items. A library ! A place or study or research! While not a treasure per say, and not easily converted into tangible wealth, the place made the Morpher's eyes shine with pleasure. Knowledge was power, that much he knew, and hidden in all those tomes there must have been secrets or fragments of information that may prove invaluable to one such as him.
Yet it would take months of work to find the good parts, that was certain. Even more so, when he picked a random book, only to find out in the oil-lamp's dim lighting that he couldn’t read the title, let alone its crumbling pages. The scribbled lines made no sense, written in some language long forgotten. It was no surprise. Even if there was some obscure kind of knowledge hidden in those books, it would be carefully coded. No one likes giving away secrets.Yet it was definitely worth a try to grab a few books before the vultures came searching. Perhaps he would be lucky and not spend ages to decipher a book about ancient pastry recipes.
With James's suggestion to search around, Daegron broke from the rest like everyone else did, not straying too far from the lamp that rested on a desk nearby. The shelf closest to his right was mostly intact, and packed with books haphazardly resting in piles or rows. It felt to him that they were put there in a rush; for some reason, whoever was frequenting this library, did not take time to put them back to their respective shelves. As he reached to grab a random book, a drop of water fell from above, wetting his wrist. He looked up curiously, only to spot a huge stalactite looming above. Nature had found it's way through the massive stonework; some underground stream perhaps flowed above them. With a muttered curse he watched as the book he'd just grabbed crumpled into moldy pieces. It was apparent now that the tomes that laid before him were destroyed.
Moving on further to his right, passing a line of shelves that were barely standing he stopped in front of another desk. There were piles of papers stacked, a few sheets scattered all over, a few charcoal pieces and a couple of books. Whatever was written on these aged parchments was long gone, yet the books looked to be in good condition. He curiously opened one of them. Their dusty covers were made from leather and still stood the test of time. He casually browsed it's contents and was pleasantly surprised. There were drawings, sketches and strange symbols all over, and small scribbled paragraphs that he guessed to be explanations. His greedy gaze shone once more as he looked around, pushing the tomes into his bag with a cunning smile. An idea formed in his mind, that someone was studying here, ages ago and taking notes from the tomes that stood waiting for a curious hand to grab. He mused at the idea of finding some hidden piece of knowledge, and moved on to search for more.
As the flame of an oil lamp danced behind him, carried around by one of his companions, the Morpher spotted a little something atop of an almost destroyed shelf on the nearby wall. It wouldn't be too hard to climb up there, using the shelves as if they were a ladder. He set his left foot on the lowest shelf and pushed his body upwards. His next step wasn't so certain, much to his dismay. The next shelf broke, almost making him loose his footing. Stubborn as always he pulled his body up with his hands, while his fingers tried to grip the smooth stone surface. His right foot finally landed on a solid step, and after testing his balance for a few ticks, he forced his stocky figure upwards once more. There was an ominous cracking sound as he lunged forward and spread his hand to reach the object. It was roughly egg-shaped, probably made of metal and slightly larger than his fist. And when he finally grabbed it, the shelf he was standing on collapsed, sending him straight to the ground. With a shuffling sound, a curse and a thud, he landed hard on his butt, prize in hand.
"Find anything interesting yet?" said the tailor behind him and he instantly stopped examining the markings on it's surface and hurriedly put the object in his bag.
"Crumbling tomes that make no sense, dust and stone... what about you ?" he answered and his eyes fell on something moving in the rubble that he'd just caused.
He leaned closer to see and something startled him making him scurry a few stems behind.
Behind the broken shelves a slight opening appeared, not wider than a couple inches. And from that hole, a busy crowd of centipedes, beetles and other large sized insects poured out...
Laughing at his own stupidity he added:
"And insects... lots of stinking insects..."