36th Spring 516
The Wizard's Thumb stood tall before her, large doors the only thing between her and the vast amount of knowledge found inside. A monk passed beside her, looking at her with a look of faint disgust at the woman who simply stood there, staring, waiting. Somehow, stepping inside seemed the strangest thing to do, the scariest, even.
She had heard the rumours, after all. The bitter sweet stench of roses and dead bodies; the creatures that grew and manifested on the floors; the explosion hazard of course. Darker things too, except those were whispered, not shared fully and distorted to become things of nightmares. Or, since they were in Nyka, things of the Aperture, for surely nothing in this tower could face the pure... something found in the crack that made the city what it was.
Taking a deep breath, she moved forward, lace trimmed gloves lightly pressed against the heavy doors. One hand moved to hold the seafoam green dress, so fitting for the fashion of the spring season, while the other pushed, opening up into the lobby area. It was small, plenty of light streaming in onto the desk, where a pleasant clerk sat smiling. He seemed busy with paperwork but looked immediately up when Alija approached him, frowning a little at the unfamiliar face. He went straight back to a smile, and Alija tried smiling back.
"Which floor holds Magecrafting?" she asked, fiddling with the fabric of her dress. His eyes showed a little shock, but he didn't question it, directing her to the right floor. She was glad he didn't say anything else. After all, beneath that dress lay muscles, not too large, but still there. She was a smith, and it wasn't hard to tell. That and the smudge of coal dust that ran down a jaw bone, faint but still visible.
Alija hurried up flights of stairs, wishing there was an easier way to travel up them. But she had to go up the many flights of stairs anyway and reached the sixth floor soon enough. There weren't too many there, only a few sitting at the tables in the study hall and through doors she could see another collection working on something. Alija didn't consider herself experienced enough to try. She wanted to learn the old school way - with a book and quill.
She brought a blank book in her backpack, planning to use the ink and quills provided in the study hall. Settling down on one table, she placed the book on it, open to the front page and slung the backpack over the chair, leaving the place occupied as she moved over to the bookshelves. There were plenty to choose from, and Alija truly didn't know which one to start with. Lingering about the shelves and tracing her finger down the spines of the books, she searched, hoping someone would come and help her.
