Scribble, scribble, scribble... Craaamp! (Solo)

[Vala]

Spring 15th, 511 AV Scribble… scribble scribble… a couple more scribbles… The page quickly filled with flourished words as Vala’s quill flew across the page. She was in the zone. Her head didn’t even have to move as her eyes darted from the original book to the copy; her left hand was also at the ready, ready to turn the page. Today she was copying a book on the flora of Wind Reach – A Field Guide to the Flora of Wind Reach’s Twin Lakes Skyinarta. Trying out a new technique, Vala had outlined the entirety of the book with calligraphic guide lines, so she wouldn’t have to take breaks in between the pages to bust out her straight stick. This turned out to be a bad idea, a really, really bad one. Sure she still had to wait a couple chimes to wait for ink to dry, which she efficiently used as time to clean up her quills to prevent any gunking, or if she was feeling particularly masochistic she even dressed (sharpened with a knife) a couple quill nibs, but it led to a scribe’s number one enemy – hand fatigue. Sure she had a good run: twenty pages flew by in a matter of a bell, but as if struck by lightning, it was all over, that and Vala was writhing about in pain. “By the love of Priskil why does this hurt so much?” She exclaimed in a very, very angry whisper. “Gaaaaah,” She groaned like a slug monster. A passing librarian shushed her; Vala’s head slumped onto the counter, her skull hitting the stone, making a very loud and painful thock. The waves of pain from her pale noggin helped her forget the maniacal claw that her hand had turned into. “Vala? How’s the copying going?” Kirna asked, as she leaned over to reception desk to check on her assistant. “Not good I assume?” Vala picked up her head, now cradling her right hand in the crook of her left arm. She frowned, shaking her head side to side like a child. Kirna couldn’t help but giggle at Vala’s sad little pout. “Come on enough of that for now.” It was then Kirna would have held out her hand to lead Vala to a new task but she remembered how iffy her assistant was with touch so she let her hand drop to her side. “Follow me Vala, I have something I need you to take care of.” Vala nodded as she stood up, trying not to sob pitifully. “It’s ok hon. I know how it feels. Just keep massaging your palm and forearm, it will go away eventually, just push through. And don’t worry, you won’t need your right hand for your next task.” Vala smiled weakly. “Yay…”

[Vala]

With an extravagant flourish of her arm, Kirna revealed… the mess. Surprise!!! : Mild Exaggeration It was almost enough to distract Vala from the pain in her hand, almost, but just not quite. “Wuh…uh-wait, what?” Vala stuttered, pointing at the disastrous pile of books and scrolls from the cooking section. “Is, is, is this supposed to be my…?” Vala winced as she pulled back the fingers of her right hand, trying to get them moving again. Kirna offered her an apologetic smile. “Yep, that’s your assignment. It seems one of the mages, a ‘master’,” Kirna air quoted master as she rolled her eyes. “At air reimancy, had a little fit and summoned a quick whirlwind that did well… this.” Kirna picked up a battered book, its poor pages all askew and even slightly ripped. “Oh, it seems I forgot to have you bring a cart… I’ll get one for you actually. So Vala, I know this seems like a lot, but all you have to do is put the books back on the shelves, and any books like this one, that are all beaten up, you just place on the cart that I’ll get you. I’ll be back in a few chimes, ok hon.” Kirna offered Vala another comforting smile before walking off. Kirna was right; the cramp was starting to dissipate. Vala shook out her right hand, trying to stimulate the blood flow further. Vala let her head drop back; she was not in the mood for this. Even with the last vestiges of crippling muscle pain still wracking her hand, Vala still missed her chair at the desk. It had been a godsend when she had been pulled off shelving duty with enough yasi doing their bendi’s at the library to take care of it, but this was almost as bad. Vala wondered why she was suddenly regulated to such mindless tasks: What have I done wrong? Vala cried out to the heavens. Before she could bemoan her fate any further, the squeaking of little cart wheels announced Kirna’s imminent arrival. Vala bent down and quickly snatched up a couple books that looked especially abused to fill up her thin arms. “You were waiting for me? I’m sorry it took so long dear. Here you go. Take your time: remember quality over quantity. I’ll be back in a bell or two to check up on you.” Vala resisted the urge to say, Why not just make it tomorrow? That’s how long this is going to take me! as Kirna walked off. Normally Vala liked Kirna, she was a fair and caring boss, plus she was a super smart and classy lady, but today, well today Vala stuck her tongue out like a child while making a silly face at Kirna’s back. Muttering under her breath, Vala whined, “This is so unfair. First I get a cramp, after trying to be more productive no less, and then this. I get assigned to some menial clean up job. Gah, life sucks.” Loading her armful of books on the shelf Vala plopped down on the ground trying to come up with a plan before diving into the pile. For such a narrow aisle, it was a little surprising that the pile off books hadn’t completely barricaded it. Actually, at a closer look it was obvious where the mage had been standing; the eye of the storm was quite clear of books, it was the surrounding circumference that was littered. There was also an evident, semi-cleared path where the mage had been dragged out. Vala shivered, glad she wasn’t one to dabble in such dangerous arts, especially ones that could get her sent to the infirmary. Vala’s mind compiled the facts - Approx. 150-200 books on the ground - Approx 30% of the books needed repair - 5 ½ bookcases affected - Cart could hold maybe 40 books at a time – will have to make several trips - This was going to be as boring as watching paint dry… With the facts in row, Vala made a plan of action. 1. She would separate all the broken books onto the cart, just to clear up the space before she began shelving. 2. Pile the remaining books into stacks of general call number (the number on the spine of the book telling where it should go). As not to waste time going through everything and moving about like a headless chicken. 3. Shelve until brain melts. Vala had no intention of sorting while bent over or sitting; both options were bad for her back and or restricted mobility. Vala scuttled off to find a bench of sorts. OOC : Not sure how advanced a Mizahar library would be. I tried to keep it vague, but even if they didn’t use the dewey decimal system I still assumed the library would at least have a simple organizational method, such as call numbers.

[Vala]

“Ripped… Torn…Torn, Torn, Ripped…Really torn.” Vala tried to be gentle as she plucked out the broken books from the pile, but it was hard to stay sympathetic after being so close to such cruel carnage. Vala stifled a sob as she tenderly saved another book, whose spine was crushed open underneath a heavier tome. “It’s ok dear… we’ll help you. Just hang in there, you can make it!” It took her half a bell to sift through the upper layer and fill an entire cart full off damaged books. It was a sorry sight of dog eared pages, loose bindings, torn vellum. Vala allowed herself a moment of weakness, a few sobs, as she pushed the cart back to the reception desk. The tiny wheels squeaked painfully, as if announcing to the entire Enclave of its morbid load. Vala reached the desk, feeling drained. She took her time as she emptied the cart onto the book repair counter. It was full from just half a cart – it was rare to have such a heavy influx of broken books at any given time. An older librarian, manning the table, spoke out in a quiet subdued tenor, so associated to that of a mousy bookworm. “You can close that record book and put it away. That will give you more room to put the extra books that need repair on the record table.” Vala looked up from her puzzled frown; she had still been stuck on how to fit all the books on the counter. “I’m sorry, what was that ma’am?” Vala asked politely. There was something about the old ladies that made Vala think of knitting and hard candies… they also made her want to act better behaved. The lady smiled, standing up from her stool to walk over to Vala and put the record book away herself. “I just said you could put the rest of the books needed to be repaired here. With so many ruined books we’ll have to focus on fixing at least half of them before we can get back to recording anything. Here let me help you, I can even repair a little.” The lady, though seemingly frail, was quite agile. She moved books almost faster than Vala. “You know this reminds me of that one time…” Vala’s right eye twitched as her mouth gaped open. She knew it; it had been a trap. Before she could get further sucked into the lady’s long winded story, Vala quickly finished putting the remaining books away and tried to think of an escape excuse – fast. Nothing. Well nothing creative. She went with brutal honesty. “I’m sorry ma’am. Kirna really wants me to get this done asap; something about hooligans making things worse. Thank you so much for the help!” Before the lady could get another word out, Vala was off, pushing the squeaky cart through the stacks. When Vala reached the mess again, she maneuvered the cart to the side and sat back down on the children’s stepping stool that she had found… and stole, er, borrowed from the children section. Vala decided that she would fill up the cart with the remaining books that needed to be repaired, but wait until she had finished sorting the rest of the books, and by then, hopefully, the old lady’s shift would be over. Something about too nice, little old ladies gave Vala the creepers.

[Vala]

If there was one thing Vala was grateful for today, it was that the air reimancer had his little whatever in the blacksmithing section. It was one of the better stocked areas but Vala only came around there when she needed to shelve something, even then she still wasn’t too familiar with the organization, for that she wasn’t grateful. Barely a stone throw away was the glassblowing section of the library - a close call. Why an air reimancer would be in the blacksmithing section eluded the busy librarian, but she was relieved that he hadn’t freaked in the magic section. If she had to spend any more time than the chime it took her to put something away, in the reimancy section, she would probably have a fit of her own. Though, by now, Vala wouldn’t have had the energy to have a fit; her arms ached from picking up so many heavy books. Thankfully her calloused finger tips were impervious to most paper cuts. Only the most vial of books even managed to just nick the softer flesh. The pain was nothing new to the mousy book worm. Vala was beyond pain, hunger, or any other affliction of the flesh; Vala was on autopilot. Her dead pan eyes scanned the book, deemed it either acceptable or mangled, And then put it into its respective pile. It took two bells before the aisle was almost fully clear. Most patrons were conscientious enough not to try and pass through. The few that did need a book from the section were lucky enough to receive a withering glare from Vala. She didn’t hate them, she just resented the job and was projecting her unhappiness on the damned enough to breach her radius. She held back for one - Kirna. The head librarian walked over to Vala, who was bent over the last small hill of books. “I see you’re doing great here Vala, keep up the good work.” And with the spare encouragement, she was gone. Vala rolled her eyes, secretly craving more acknowledgements for her effort. She could feel her chest tighten and the thought of having to do such grunt work for the rest of her life. Using the last of her self respect, Vala closed her gaping jaw and tried to finish the job she had been assigned, it wasn’t like she had anything else to do with her life. Without even realizing what she was doing, Vala begun muttering under her breath, to the stacks of silent books. “It’s not like I hate doing this you know, shelving and organizing that is…” Vala picked up a pile of books she had made on the floor, balancing them in her thin arms. “It’s quite relaxing actually, at times. Especially when it’s been a long day and I just want to go on autopilot.” She began putting away the books into the shelf. Since she had organized it into general piles earlier, she didn’t have to move around much, the books she had centralized to three shelves or so. “And Kirna even said, her and several other senior librarians, well they said if I built up my skills a lot more I might even rise to Avora status here, an actual Avora with access to actual Avora food and salary, and even an Avora status and respect… but is that what I want? Do I really want to be a librarian for the rest of my life?” She asked as Vala put away the last book in her arms. She shook them out to encourage more blood flow, she didn’t want another cramp. “Do I even really want to be a glassblower anymore?” Vala’s head twirled around, her heart beating fast, fearing someone alive had heard her little confession. She picked up another stack of books, confident it had fallen only to mute ears. She was alone in her own little world. And with that weight finally off her chest, a torrent of words just continued to flow from her quivering lips. “It’s been so long since I’ve made anything, but I know I still can. I’m really good at it to – why hasn’t anyone chosen me as an apprentice? I’m good I know I am. I made all those amazing beads with Feyra too, so I know I’m good. Am I good?” Vala stuttered, her words broken by the onslaught of uncertainty. “…I’ve done nothing but good works haven’t I? I have the skill… but I have skill here too. Even Kirna said… Kirna said I could make a good librarian. I do everything perfectly, even this stupid drudge work. A dek could do this task. Why is she making me d this? It isn’t fair you know. I’m smarter; I’m better than the others: I know I am. Is it me? It can’t be me… I work so hard; I try my hardest every time. It isn’t fair… it isn’t me.” Using her forearm, Vala wiped away the single tear running down her cheek, book still in her hand. “It isn’t me. It isn’t…” Vala finished shelving the rest of the books in two bells. Her heartfelt conversation with the stacks - things that could never judge her, could never hate her, could never be disappointed with her – giving each step, each movement a new lightness. Even with her eyes a little red rimmed, she felt good when she returned to the reception desk.

[Vala]

The table was full. The cart was full. And it seemed everyone had disappeared into the Enclave’s shadowy abyss… leaving Vala all alone with nothing but repair work to do. There were two options here: 1. Vala ignores the pile; her official assignment was done. 2. Repair a couple of the easier books. Option one was the most inviting but it also came with the risk of Kirna finding her twiddling her thumbs and possibly getting assigned more Dek work. Option two was not inviting at all, but if Kirna found her then she would possibly accrue some brownie points from the woman. Vala’s decision completely hinged on whether or not Kirna came round. Motivated by her earlier conversation with the stacks of books, Vala decided to return the favor to the silent keepers of knowledge (that and she really wanted to get acknowledged for all her hard work). She dragged over a stool to the overflowing repair table and cleared off a small space for her to work. Some of the larger stacks she made wobbled precariously. The easiest repair jobs tended to be fixing the simple edge tears – the problem would be finding the books with said tears. Vala picked up the first book she saw. She regretted it instantly, once she realized that she would probably have to fix the mangled binding first. Or would she? Vala read the title and opened to the index; it was a simple, fairly straightforward encyclopedia-esque book on blacksmithing. Vala didn’t recognize the author name, it didn’t even look Inartan; it was probably copied from another language. Most books in circulation were copies; which was a smart move for events such as this. She carefully flipped through the pages, finding at least five instances of ripped pages, which she marked with paper scraps as makeshift bookmarks. Since she could fix one tear at a time, having to wait for the first one to dry before getting to the others, Vala realized how long the entire process of fixing all the books was probably going to take her; Vala’s already iffy mood took a little dip. Reaching under the book repair counter, Vala pulled out the basket with all the tools she needed to repair edge tears. The fairly weighty basket held an assortment of special repair papers, weights, pressboard, tweezers, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff she had yet to learn about as an assistant librarian. Vala first pulled out a blot board and placed the book on top, gingerly opening to the first rip, the simplest one. The next step would require a good eye and an intuitive touch; neither of which Vala had yet to develop for the papers. She flipped through the stack of repair papers, touching them taking her time to feel their texture and weight, as well as keeping her other hand, constantly feeling a page between her forefinger and thumb. It took her several chimes before she finally settled on one. It wasn’t the best match, there was one closer, but Vala couldn’t tell the difference, yet. With the paper picked, the rest was fairly easy and just mechanical movement. Again, with little experience, Vala had to concentrate very hard to rip a length of the repair paper, similar to the length of the rip in the book. The rip was no longer than a finger, and almost perfectly straight – an easy one. Even though it looked easy, Vala still had some trouble. Her first attempt was too short; she got it just right on her second try, which was not just right for tear repair. Vala had to try one more time to get a strip a little longer than the actual tear. Before she got to the glue, Vala made sure to put a piece of waxy paper between the torn page and the page beneath, to prevent them from getting glued together. With everything ready for the gluing process, Vala picked up a thin, beat up brush and dipped it into the open, blue glass, glue bottle, and then proceeded to meticulously paint the repair strip with glue. Then with the help of tweezers she put it on the tear with a little end hanging off. She didn’t like that little niggling bit, but she knew that it was going to get cut off once everything dried. Picking up a intricately etched, glass pressboard, courtesy of a Wind Reach Glassblower, Vala pressed the drying repair paper hard into the other pages, and then picked up two weights to keep a constant pressure to flatten it, and help it dry tight. There were not that many weights, pressboards, or blot boards; there were enough for five books to have tears repaired at a time. Which would probably mean Vala might have to try and step it up with harder tasks – which Vala welcomed with a tired pout. Vala picked up another book and continued with the same steps. She was half way through her fourth book when Kirna came around – finally some recognition. “Good initiative Vala. I wish more librarians were as hard working as you.” Kirna’s clear voice, carried well to Vala’s eager ears. “Thank you ma’am” Vala blushed from happiness. “I can’t wait till you become a true librarian. I can feel it coming soon…” Vala’s eyes opened wide, in discomfort, as she tried to mask it with a nervous smile. She wasn’t ready for those thoughts yet…

[Flicker]

Vala’s XP award: Calligraphy 1 Copying 2 Organization 4 Intelligence 1 Book Repair 3 Vala’s Lore award: Lining a book for calligraphy Hand Fatigue Groaning like a slug monster The consequences of allowing air reimancers to practice in the library. Don’t judge a book in need of repair by its cover Repair papers-not picking the right one. Making a good gamble and getting the reward I love how into "training" and library threads you are! Let me know if I missed anything.