[The Owl's Den]Books and Knowledge

[Crylon Stonecraft]

15 Summer 518 As he stepped out of the Ravasol, Crylon eyed the shop before him. He had mentioned his interest in reading and things, and the Ravasolaman had taken him there. The first thing he noticed was that the structure was two stories which was not overly common in Ravok. Not that it was rare, of the multi storied buildings in the city Crylon had seen most were two stories, but smaller one story buildings were much more common outside the richer areas. Or at least so he thought from the bits of the city he had examined. Expanding his vision however to take in the surrounding buildings, Crylon saw the building was not truly odd compared to those around it of similar shape and size. Flowers decorated its outside, and a sign with an owl called it “The Owl's Den”. With nothing further to garner from the building itself Crylon headed inside, a place which he was surprised to find after the Ravasola's vague description... Devoid of books. This was one of those bookstores without any books apparently. A few laid here and there at the wooden checkout. Along with that he could see a wooden door which divided the room. And after a few moments scanning about Crylon noticed the staircase off to the side leading upstairs. Upstairs, Crylon decided, must be where all the books where. “Hello, I am Crylon. I am here to look for books.” The man at the checkout, an owl standing on the wooden top near him, simply nodded in response. Crylon paused for a moment, not quite sure if the man was mute, did not like to talk, was thinking, or was annoyed at Crylon. Or perhaps simply did not like Isur or non-humans Crylon added to himself as an afterthought. Crossing the room to the man Crylon pressed on. “Yes, books. Construction? Making? Building? You have these? Excuse me, common not my first tongue. But I am a maker, smith. Would like to learn... Other making. You know of where to find?” The man paused for a moment, his eyes flicking for an instant to Crylon's arm before taking in the Isur in his entirety. “An Isur? I read a book about Sultros before. Seemed... Interesting.” Crylon was not sure if this was meant as a compliment or not, but he decided to take it as one. And if nothing else it indicated the man did like to speak, just not to or about people. Other far off places though, this he brought up. “Yes, Sultros is where I hail from. Grew up there. Stone buildings cut into the mountain... I have book written by one of my family, speaking of its... Buildings, architecture, and such. Is one of my prized possessions. Most prized. Perhaps we speak of it more once I finish looking?” The man nodded, for an instant appearing slightly interested before losing the desire to speak. “Your a smith? Like to build? Yes, the book spoke on that as well, common with Isur I believe. But if you have a book already on buildings... Perhaps building of other things. The second floor, right hand side, third bookcase down, try there. It has some topics you might find interesting.” Crylon nodded, eyeing the man and the owl once more before heading upstairs to find the mentioned books. WC: 556

[Crylon Stonecraft]

“Oh, and we have a sale going on. Buy two books, get one free. Only good for one free book.” Crylon nodded, heading upstairs as instructed. Upon arriving Crylon began to look around rather than heading straight to where he had been instructed to look. He quickly saw that the upstairs area included much more than just books, but also many other supplies. Scrolls, quills, ink, empty books and things for writing in. And another section filled with completed books and pieces of writing. Second floor, right had side, third bookcase down, had been the mans instruction. Once he arrived there and saw the titles he understood it was a section devoted to building, making, and construction, or at least it seemed as such from the words he could see. Akin's guide to fine boatery: For pleasure and profit! How to for railings. An apprentice smith's journal on the subject of his training... Pallin's wild's guide part One. The last caught Crylon's attention, and he pulled it from the bookcase. He quickly saw from flipping through that it was more of a simple journal of observations and things learned by a local woodsman, not a proper writer. The first few pages indicated it was part one, about building a camp, and that other parts were expected to come after to expand on other areas of surviving the wilds. However looking about Crylon did not find any other pieces of work by the same man. This seemed to imply he had lost interest in writing and not made more... Or perhaps his guide was not good enough to keep him alive, and he had perished in the wilds before completing another part. Still, from flipping through he saw a few crude diagrams and designs, with pages after them to explain their uses and how they were made. This seemed simple enough even for Crylon to follow with his lack of wilderness survival training. The first chapter was on fire pits. Digging them out, below ground, so that the fire was not easily visible from afar... Drainage channels below, so that the fireplace did not flood in rain... Lining it with stone or dense dirt, to avoid flames and sparks getting out and setting close vegetation on fire... Nothing however about actually making a fire, or other such topics. A limited journal perhaps, focused on teaching one specific thing. There was also a small crude diagram, showing an image from the side as if looked at from within the ground, and another from above as if looking down at the fire pit. Flipping forward Crylon found the next chapter was titled Get off the ground! This showed several diagrams for raised beds, some standing alone and others between trees and the like. After the images the actual writing started off simply enough by stating “Everyone always talks about two things, fires, and roofs. As if without those you would die instantly. But what I have learned, is that the ground is petching cold! At night, it steals your body heat way more than the petching fire helps, and it does not warm the ground itself. I think it is more important to get off the ground, even more so than a roof to keep out rain, especially if you build it under a tree. So first things first, get off the ground, then you can worry about roofs and fires.” It seemed to make sense, but Crylon had to admit his knowledge was limited, and so he did not know how much his words held up. But it surely could not hurt. Setting aside the simple journal Crylon had decided to purchase, he continued to look about for other books to buy. WC: 620