1061/Library Adventures Pt. 2

Library Adventures Pt. 2
Date of Scene:	01 December 2014
Location:	Mushroom War Earth <MWE>
Synopsis:	The library: More exciting than expected.
Cast of Characters:	Kirito, Tomoe, Staren, 622, 626, 635, 636

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Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
When we left our heroes, they had just gotten into the library after fighting off some terrifying shadow monsters, the exit was about to be closed behind them, and then some mysterious voice yelled, 'GET THEM!' followed by a bunch of unseen someones above them dropping something large towards the party! Simon looks up in shock as...

...A net falls towards the group. It's just a normal net, though, and at least half the people here can probably cut or force their way out, assuming they do not thrash and get entangled and entangle everyone else around them in the process.

In the dim lighting, and with the attention being focused on the awful things outside, no one noticed the GREATER awfulness lurking within. Yes, the most terrible of all terribles... Some kind of... Small people with wings? And pointy hats?

...What even are these things?

Regardless of the success or lack thereof for defending against a falling net, a taller figure steps out of the shadows. He has more human dimensions, but his eyes are squinty, his mouth too-thin and too-wide and too-full-of-sharp-teeth, and his hat is also pointy. "Fools! How dare you trespass on the domain of ETHAN, the KING OF THE FAIRIES!"

Indeed, Simon's library appears to be infested with fairies. Based on Simon's puzzled expression, it does not appear he either recognizes this so-called king or has any idea why there would be fairies in his basement library. "...King of the Fairies, huh? Sorry to have to bring this up, but this is actually my library-" "SILENCE, POINTY-NOSED PEASANT!" Ethan yells. The king's own nose is fairly pointy.

Simon just mutters, "Wow, rude." and goes quiet.

Staren has posed:
    "So, we can just come and go easily now, huh?" Staren snarks as he heads down the stairs. And he feels uneasy again. "Do you hear something?"

    And then, a mysterious voice shouts and a net drops! Staren turns to look around, drawing his beam saber to deal with the net. There are... winged gnomes? Huh. Staren watches for a moment, not wanting to reveal how fragile the net is yet. "...Actually, this is Simon's library." If the King interrupts him, Staren just turns up the speakers on his suit to megaphone levels. "But we just want the books. Perhaps, once we are done removing them, you could have the building?"

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu does, indeed, slice through the net with a good chop of the sword. The sword is soon stuffed back in its scabbard, replaced by Agni again when the fairies become obvious to him. He looks around and this very unhappy look shows up on his face. His head turns when Ethan shows up, and starts shouting at them and the person they're guarding, and acting like a big pompous buffoon.

    His anger is replaced with incredulity, the completely comical encounter this has turned into throwing him off some.

    "We don't have time for this," he complains, and then he tries to wander off into the library, looking around for more threats. He does not seem impressed by Ethan in the slightest. "Who makes a home in a hellhole like this, anyways? Are they allergic to common sense?"

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    OH SHEEEEEEE--Oh it's just a net. There are times when using a firearm instead of a sword has its disadvantages. This is one of them. Quentyn has the sense (Or training?) to freeze and not entangle himself further. He turns his head just enough to get a good look at Ethan. Then looks to the others in the party, wordlessly pleading for rescue.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra looks up and gets a facefull of net. She actually does flail for a few moments as she searches for the edge of the thing. She also seems to be bracing for something-electricity, poison, razor wire, something exoctic and seems surprised when she finds nothing of the sort. She stands there, awkwardly, squinting in the darkness as she tries to figure out who is shouting at their little group.

    Fairies. At least that's what they look like to HER.

    "You've got fairy squatters down here." Kyra says with dismay. "I didn't think to bring any cold iron today, unfortunately."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is now looking at the king of Faries and this gets an amused look on her face she looks at Than for a moment and folds her arms as she looks them over for a moment.

"We came seem to have found fairies but not like Kirito or my self. WE are here seeking information locked away in the bpooks here we do not seek battle or to over throw you."

Kirito has posed:
    "'You've gotta be kidding!'" Kirito had yelled out. Because... who expects to be ambushed with a net in a library?!

    It's falling so slow by Kirito's sense of things though that it may as well not be moving. He shifts his stance, and engages a Sword Skill! The black longsword shines cerulean briefly, the air fills with a high-pitched humming noise and --

    WHOOOOOOSH!

    With a single, clean cut, Kirito parts the net. Or at least, he cuts himself an exit point so when ti drops over him, he just--

    Gazes up.

    Lets the cut net drift down over him, failing to trap him at all...

    Stares up at the strange assortment of fairies flitting about. And... their king.

    Kirito glances between Ethan and Simon... slashes at the air in his traditional way before sheathing the sword across his back, and promptly folds his arms whilst sprouting a look somewhere between amusement and exasperation. 'Oh come on,' his eyes seem to say.

    Finally, the boy snorts, and taps his pocket. "Yui, wake up!"

    Light gathers near his shoulder, congeals, and *BLIP!*

    There's a new fairy about. A young girl in a simple dress with a skirt designed to resemble flower petals. Her black hair's done up hime style, and her bright black eyes scan about left and right in wonder. "Good morning, papa! What kind of place is this? I'm seeing fairies!"

    Well, if nothing else, Yui's intrigued! Excited, even!

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
Ethan twirls his star-tipped wand menacingly at the various protests. When the mighty 'drop a net on them' tactic is defeated somehow, he says, "Before my fairy magic, you are all grass before a maelstrom! And that storm is me!" One of the fairies closer to and above the group whispers to one next to him, "Why do all our kings use that line?" "Shh! It's tradition!" Simon's eyebrows come down a bit as he says, "Now hold on a minute. It's like my VERY powerful and VERY dangerous friends here said. This is my library, and we're not going to fight you for it. Maybe we can arrange for you to live here though if you're set on sticking around-"

Ethan flutters his wings and stomps with both feet, hopping up and down furiously, and yelling, "ENOUGH! I do not negotiate with PEASANTS! Only other KINGS!" He points his wand at Simon and unleashes... Sparkles.

Simon blinks. He glances to one side, then the other, then blinks and focuses on Ethan again, as the sparkles do absolutely nothing. "Uh-huh," he replies non-commitally.

Everyone is freed from the net by one way or another, though those who cut it probably helped a great deal in that department. Ryu's wandering may take him right off a ledge if he's not careful, though with Kirito's night vision magic still active, everyone here should be able to see where they're going at least a little. The library is pretty big, just not fully stocked for a room of its size. The sneering fairies up above, with their ball-like heads and pointy hats and pajama-like outfits don't seem pleased with Yui's presence, but then they don't really seem pleased about anything. Are all fairies here jerks, or just these ones?

Simon is lacking cold iron as well, just like Kyra, because it's not something he usually carries with him or really has any of to begin with. He does have one thing, in his arsenal he can use, however...

One hand reaches down and grabs hold of the gleaming golden Crown hanging from his belt, as he calls out to Ethan, "So you only negotiate with KINGS, huh?" He's a king kind of, isn't he? He has a Crown after all. The temptation to use the Crown is there, but with a monumental effort, possibly helped along by Yui's presence reminding him of a little girl of his own he wants to protect, he pulls his hand away, slips his backpack off his shoulders, and knees down to sort through it. "You guys keep him busy," Simon whispers. "I have something I can possibly use in a situation like this. I just need to... Find it."

Ethan peers suspiciously, but seems at a loss of what to do now that his boasts and his sparkles have proven ineffective. And he eyes that crown that he saw the blue-skinned man toying with... "Perhaps I shall permit you to have some of these tomes, in exchange for leaving that bauble behind..." Simon pauses in his rummaging long enough to call out, "Not happening!" and then focuses back on his backpack.

Staren has posed:
    Staren doesn't have to reveal his powers as Ryu cuts them all free. He holsters the beam saber without activating it.

    When Ethan says he only negotiates with KINGS, Staren says, "Terms accepted." And draws and aims a Federation phaser... but then... innefective sparkles, and Simon starts up negotiations. After a moment, Staren lowers the phaser. As the discussion proceeds, he walks over to Simon and kneels by the man to whisper:

    'We could prepare a fake crown to give them next time. We'll just tell them... it's cursed and we need to purify it before it can leave your posession, or something.'

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    As Ethan preps an attack, Quentyn preps a spell to cast on Simon (Stoneskin, for anyone attuned to such things!)--aether visibly gathering around him. But when it just proves to be sparkles, the white mage blinkblinks and just lets the spell dissipate without casting. So for now Quentyn just listens, and swaps magazines on his rifle yet again (incendiary in a library? Probably not a great idea!) Lacking the night vision spell, he changes his lantern back from the focused beam mode to just generally cast light around.

    Quentyn steps over to Kyra, reaching a hand into his hoodie to scratch the back of his head. "From horrors of the night the *this*..." But he shrugs and grins, "I guess we should be happy it's this easy. Hey, mix up something and toss it to him."

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    The funny thing about being in new worlds? It's really hard to know what you're supposed to take seriously and what you can blow off. Fae can actually be pretty dangerous where Kyra is from, especially those dark elves. With the net cut, Kyra neatly, brushes it off of her and folds her arms over her chest, watching this fairy king Eth-wait.

    "Ethan? What kind of fairy king name is Ethan? That is not nearly fairy enough. What's your real name, Ethan?" She stares at Ethan, not even flinching as he casts "magic" at Simon. If her hunch was right...

    "...riiiiight..." Kyra drawls, pausing to look as Yui pops up onto Kirito's shoulder. "Man, you're just full of surprises, aren't you Mister Swordsman." the redhead teases, deliberately not using his name for maximum annoyance. Her gaze strays to Simon as he speaks that line, no doubt with his crown in mind, and quickly starts shaking her head.

    "I got a better idea." Kyra mutters to Quentyn before stepping away, gesturing to her fellow white mage with a flourish. "Then it is my grand honor...!" she says laboriously, "...to present to you Galianda's King of Sniping, Quentyn Westwind the First. He may take the mantle to discuss your terms, "Ethan" King of Fairies!"

Ryu (636) has posed:
    When Ryu remains unpestered. He carefully pokes around, making sure he doesn't stumble into any pits or knock anything over in his explorations. He lets the others talk or negotiate with Ethan, who seems absolutely obnoxious from Ryu's perspective. Maybe he just doesn't like fairies?

    He soon returns, though, after he realizes they're talking about kings. The dragon man steps up to the group again, squinting at Ethan suspiciously. His gaze travels from the Fairy King and then to all of his subjects. That handgun is still held in one of his hands.

    "Seems clear enough," he tells the others when he gets back over to them. When he notices they're all trying to negotiate with Ethan, he lets out a long suffering sigh, but relents to the party's intent to handle this peacefully.

    He shuffles over to stand near Simon, holstering the handgun and crossing his arms. He gives a surly frown in Ethan's direction, like some sort of bouncer or bodyguard, as if just waiting for an excuse for this to get violent.

Kirito has posed:
    Kirito almost interferes when the sparkles are unleashed! ... he was kinda expecting a transformation spell or something. But instead... nothing. He and Yui both look on, stunned, then...

    Yui tries very, VERY hard not to laugh. Kirito's face scrunches up in a similar effort!

    The Spriggan has something to say. He has an idea. "There's more where she came from." He whispers back to Kyra, sprouting a mischevious grin.

    And then it's Loud Speech time! "Is war with the Spriggans and Salamanders what you want, Fairy King Ethan? Tomoe and I hail from distant lands of fairies ourselves. We've come to help Simon reclaim his heritage, which all of you trespass upon!"

    He's sure to inject some FIRE into his tone and take a single step forward. "... Without meaning to, and I just have to take on look at what's outside to know why you're all in here. So, Your Majesty! Will you hold a proper audience with the champions of other Fairy lands, or would you rather diplomatic relations break down?"

    Tomoe, at least, will know EXACTLY what Kirito's pulling here.

    "By the way... what ARE those beasts outside? They can't be friends of yours, I hope..."

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe humms and she looks at them and she seems why she's not concerned but she's not being hostile for a moment. She has to wonder for a moment a she looks at them for a moment.

"Other kings humm?"

She wonder just how pushy she's going to be abnd she pauses for a moment and she looks at him for a moment and sighs this is going to get messy at this points. She's also wondering about this world talk about whiplash, things out of love craft and now /this/. Then Kyra and Quentyn get an plan and she just /grins/ really and she is jsut playing along with Kirito at this point.

"Yes Forgive my lapse of memory upon this topic."

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
"I already gave you my name!" Ethan snaps. Given the level of mutation and magic that has been exhibited on this world, it is entirely possible that Ethan was once a normal human, and he somehow just got put in charge of these fairies (who may also not actually be fairies for all anyone knows). Or maybe fairies here are just lame and have disappointingly mundane names. When he is introduced to a 'king', and threats and declarations and flowery speech are all employed, Ethan seems suspicious of the veracity of the claims being made, but not dismissive. He may be a pompous fool, maybe ineffectual, but whether he is dumb, crazy, or just had weird fairy-thoughts going through his head is unknown at this point. "Oh-hoh!" he says, as he gauges this supposed king.

"I do sense magical power coming from you and your companions... It is possible that you might be who you say you are. As for the fiends outside, they are no allies of the Fairy Kingdom! I know not their origins, but they took up residence beyond these walls at least within the past four seasons." Ethan strokes his chin thoughtfully, gazing upon Yui, and the aggressive one returning from his brief exploration, and the one introducing the king, and the one making warnings about diplomacy breaking down, and the one that seemed to draw weapons in preparation to fight only to put them down when the old blue-skinned man started to speak... Out of all of those present, it seems as though deference has been shown most to Simon.

The reasons why are probably not what Ethan is thinking of, but the speech about reclaiming Simon's heritage, and the fact he has that interesting Crown... Yes, he thinks he knows what's going on here. They are all protecting the real king, as his royal guard, and will even make false claims to do so! That fairy girl there must be one of the citizens of the lost kingdom that this 'King Simon' rules over.

Thinking himself quite clever, Ethan decides to negotiate further. He might benefit from seeming to be cooperative, even if his TRUE intentions are more malign. He flies up from the lower level, where the pedestal and the interesting book are located, and lands on the same level as everyone else. "Very well! If you complete my trial, then you shall have all these tomes and have proven your worth to the King of the Fairies!" He points out the door, up the stairs that they all just came down, and says, "If you slay those-" Then Simon finds what he's looking for, stands and turns around quickly, and then rips open a salt packet from some fast-food place and tosses it in Ethan's face with a, "Hah!"

Ethan just stands there at first. Then his features twist and disfigure horribly, eyes bulging, inhumanly-wide mouth stretching, screeches emitting from his maw, as he yells, "AAAAAAAAGH! IT ITCHES!" He starts scratching his face energetically with both hands, just raking his sharp fingernails over his skin up and down, before running out of the library, still yelling.

The other fairies are left to just buzz around in the air, lost, before flying outside and disappearing after their king. Simon just discards the empty packet and says brightly, "Just being here has jogged my memory already. I'm remembering all kinds of things I used to study, like the myths of the weaknesses of fairies." He stands there smiling for a few seconds then starts heading towards the nearest book shelf. "Let's start packing up these books!"

Ryu (636) has posed:
    As Ethan flies up to meet the party, Ryu can only feel even more surly and unhappy about this situation. That it continues to be a negotiation at all bothers him some, because he can already tell this Fairy King will be a huge pain to deal with. Warily, the blue-haired young man listens to the Fairy King as he begins talking about a trial.

    Ryu tenses when Simon shouts and something is thrown in out of his peripheral vision. The salt landing on the Fairy King's face makes the soldier's eyes widen in surprise.

    And then there's a very negative reaction, and Ryu is stepping aside for the Fairy King to run out of the place. The soldier's anger is all gone, replaced with surprise. Great surprise. He looks at Simon with a newfound respect, but also a bit more uneasiness, because it's clear the man knows plenty about magical creatures.

    Ryu lets out a sigh, stepping up to the ledge overlooking that pedestal. He stares down at it quietly. "Huh." Then he jumps down without a second thought, because he's tough enough to do so, and lands with a heavy THUMP. Once his legs and feet stop tingling, he gets up to a stand from his landing crouch, and steps over to the pedestal to get a look at that very odd book. He even reaches out to try to pick it up, if no one stops him.

    "You think this is what we're looking for?" he wonders up at the party.

Staren has posed:
    Staren rolls his eyes. A trial, seriously? 'We /could/ just fight them. They can't be that strong.' Staren mutters.

    And then... salt! Staren blinks. And then Ethan... has been dealt with. "Salt? Fairies are weak to /salt/? I thought that was vampires. And slugs." Staren observes. "And here I was just gonna /stun/ him..."

    Staren stands up and turns to look at the shelves. "Don't you want to look around and try to figure out what you did by your book collection? ...Ah, maybe with those /things/ outside isn't the best time..."

    Then Ryu shouts. Staren wanders over. "What? We're not looking for a /specific/ book... we're trying to help Simon remember what he used to do."

Kirito has posed:
    Upon hearing the terms - presented as a Slaughter Quest, no less - his expression goes a little bored. He's heard lines like this SO MUCH, it's hard to keep his focus through some of it! But he does seem to e checking his gear and getting ready for that when--

    The King becomes Lightly Salted Ethan.

    Kirito winces. "W-well, that's not what I had in mind..." He aims a frown at Simon, along with Yui, In fact, Yui?

    She floats up in front of Simon's face, puts both hands on her hips and full-out berates him! "That was awful! We were about to strike a deal!"

    Kirito's just rubbing at his face now.

Kyra Hyral (626) has posed:
    Kyra smirks over at Kirito as they suddenly seem to be on the same wavelength. Between the two of them, SOMEBODY has to be convinced that there's a king amongst their group, all without Simon having to put on his sanity-draining crown.

    Kyra still looks skeptical. Her experience in her own world is still getting in the way of her accepting a fairy king with a dull name like "Ethan." But as he continues to speak and remarks about their magical power, Kyra brightens. Obviously he was convinced-convinced enough to demand that they prove their worth by slaying-

    Slaying what, Kyra will never know, but it's alright as she learns that Fae are also weak to salt. "Huh, I didn't know fairies were allergic to that. Very useful information, that. Salt is so much easier to carry than cold iron."

    Walking to a shelf, Kyra starts to unpack the contents of her backpack...which apparently consist of several chunks of material that resemble bricks, "I guess I'll just have to leave this here and make more later." She seems vaguely disappointed.

Tomoe has posed:
Tomoe is looking at the king for a moment she peers at them for a long moment and will let the oitehrs doing the talking, she's the meat after all and it shows., She however tilts her head a little bit and she looks with some levle of horror as ethan is effected by something she huiders a bit and is totally now picking up books but they are vanishing, where? into her inventory that's where she's just going to collect as many a she can at this point.

"Kirito let's grab what wer can before we hgave more trouble we can't worry about that now..."

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Kyra found a quick way to wipe a grin off Quentyn's face! But he only looks panicked for a moment. He straightens up and straightens his glasses with his off hand. Then he hesitates. Well now what does he say? He opens his mouth as though to say *something*, but promptly closes it again when Simon attacks with salt. That's that!

    "Um... what do we pack them in?" Big rifle, sidearm, adventuring equipment bag (ok really it's just a bookbag, but it looks kind of full), and medkit... there's probably not a lot more little Quentyn can carry on his own. And over to Kyra while scratching the back of his head again, "Give me a heads up next time, yah?" He looks at the bricks curiously. "Your explosives?"

    By and by the student wanders over to Ryu and looks at the tome Ryu points out. "Yah. That's an artifact if I ever saw one."

Simon Petrikov (622) has posed:
Simon looks over to Staren and says, "We're here for both. Getting the books now and then reading them later is a lot safer. I don't think we should stick around here any longer than we have to." He peers down towards Ryu and calls out, "Ah, yeah! The Enchiridion! I remember that one! Yeah, bring it up! Thanks, Ryan!" When Yui gets up in his face, he looks off to the side while he berates her, and then back to her. "I'm not sure he was trustworthy. Err... Not to be rude, but were you always with our group?" He doesn't recall seeing her when they started out, but it has sort of been a frantic journey getting here.

Simon confirms the salt thing for Kyra - he wasn't aware vampires were vulnerable to salt, as Staren mentioned, but that could be a difference between worlds. The Enchiridion provides no trouble when picked up by Ryu. It's definitely magical in nature, in addition to being a really cool-looking book. Tomoe proves to be a godsend in packing up books, though the others also are able to carry a lot more than if Simon had made the trip by himself.

When the group leaves, the creepy whatsits outside seem to be gone, and there is no sign of the fairies. Perhaps these two things are connected. The journey back is rough, but without further incident.

And probably no one wants to come back here any time soon, so it's good that they got everything on the first trip.

There will be a chance to look over all these books later, and for Simon to explain about the artifact that Quentyn has identified, once they're all safe. The results so far are looking positive, if Simon has started to remember just from this brief visit! Mission accomplished!

Staren has posed:
    Staren blinks. "The Enchiridion?"

    "She's Kirito's daughter." Staren explains. When he sees Tomoe and Kirito packing up the books, he smiles, "Yes! That's brilliant!"

    And so, the mission is accomplished! yay!

Quentyn Westwind (635) has posed:
    Quentyn seems to be particularly curious about the Enchiridion, crouching down at the edge as though to get a better look. He scratches the back of his head and gives a bit of an awkward smile to Simon and Ryu. "Hey, can I take a look at that for a little bit? I kinda like these things and maybe I can write a report on it for class credit..."

Ryu (636) has posed:
    Ryu picks up the Enchiridion, as well as any other books that happen to be within reach and look sufficiently important. He's not going to find any of the more obscure tomes that could be useful, tending to overlook any that look plain or more old than the rest. He manages to find a large book bag somewhere in the library with some searching, and uses that to carry a load of books back out of the place with everyone else.

    Before they leave, he forks over the artifact to Quentyn, since he asked nicely.