Scene #5655: Tale Of The Moon Calf

Owner	Pose
Carna	Enark was goaded into action by a number of events. From that other-Staren lambasting Staren for not making use of Escher, to the parallels between the Doomsday Clock's imagery and the mural on the ceiling of part of the Library of Murdered Knowledge, to the need to find Crow, to simply having a lot of questions and very few answers. However, without Crow's assistance, postponing such an investigation by getting the bits and pieces they need at a given moment piecemeal, with the Shadow's ability to infiltrate the Library undetected by hostiles, is no longer viable. They have to make a serious effort to explore and take control of Escher. And wandering blindly through a near-infinite library full of mimics and apparently now fish people and who knows what else that has taken up residence over the last nine billion years is a recipe for disaster. Too many times they have been forced to flee from unexpected threats instead of being able to take them down and make an area secure. Lumiere is not a place so easily conquered through the tried and true heroic method of 'just wander around until you run into trouble'. They need to be prepared from now on. And the best way to prepare, is to know where they are going and how to get there. He has thus asked Asterios to join him in his study. It's a large, if crowded, room off the side of the Library proper. One among probably many hidden rooms tucked away. Every wall has a book shelf along it. And every book shelf reaches high, up towards a distant ceiling. There is furniture crowded around, a recliner chained to the floor with several iterations of broken sign posts reading 'Wilson. Do Not Touch.' lying around it. There are some modern amenities. At a desk is what look like a robotic arm, leg, and torso, only a bit anachronistic in their design and components.
Asterios	It's a rare event in the multiverse for something called a 'Berserker' to be called on for any duty except one in which an enemy is in terrible need of a smashing. But then, Asterios is somewhat of a rare thing for a Berserker. Those who know him well can see something more than a beast about him; his spirit is gentle at its heart, and his mind is far more acute than his stilted speech often implies. Regardless of the task at hand, however, all that he cares about is that someone he likes needs his help. And so there is a minotaur in a library. Honestly, it's not exactly that strange if you think about it. This is Lumiere, after all. 'Weird' does not even begin to describe this particular realm. The minotaur does not seem perturbed by much of what he has seen here; his standard of 'normal' is about as skewed as you can possibly get. Still, for some reason, he seems... somewhat more haggard than normal. The darkness around his eyes is slightly more pronounced, even considering the deep, black pools around his uncanny, red irises. Perhaps he's been working hard lately? Or perhaps... another reason. "E...nark?" Asterios calls as he enters the study. It's... Cramped. He accidentally nudges a pile of books with his elbow but manages to turn and catch them before they can tumble over and add yet more mess to the floor. He steps more carefully from then on. "...Enark. You wanted. Help?"
Carna	Enark looks up with a smile. Then a frown. "I apologize. I should have cleared some room for you. I can just, err..." He gets up from his desk and starts trying to push aside some couches and so on. He stops when he tries to push the chained recliner and it lunges at him, snapping its cushion-jaws filled with sharp teeth. He leaps back in a panic. "YOU SEE!? THIS IS WHY I WANTED TO PUT UP SIGNS, WILSON! IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT FOR BREAKING THEM!" he yells back at the mimic once he has some safe distance. As the mimic-chair starts settling down, Enark turns back to Asterios. "At any rate, thank you for coming. As it seems we shall shortly be investigating this place more thoroughly and trying to take command of it, to make it another base of operations for us explorers, instead of having to rely solely on a nearby church and the town that is growing around it, it seemed wise to have some maps of it. I can navigate myself, both by instinct and memory, but much may have changed over the eons, and unlike you, I am not adept at map making." He smiles again, hands propped on his hips. "I was quite impressed with the maps you made me and C--" he stutters briefly, but plays it off as, "I mean, that you made me for Christmas. Thank you for those!" He also finally takes a good look at Asterios and notes the slight differences. "Are you alright?"
Asterios	That chair! Is a mimic! It's probably a good thing that Enark is there to try and calm it down, because Asterios was thiiiiiis close to just straight up piledriving it out of pure reflex. "Wil...son? Is a chair?" Asterios frowns, scratching a hand into his tremendously voluminous fluff. "Hm. Will not sit there, I think. Is okay. Can stand, no problem. Plenty of room." There is not plenty of room. Asterios is large. The room is also large, but perhaps not... Not /that/ large. And it's also full of stuff. Stuff that is where Asterios therefore cannot be. "Is. No problem. You called, I come. We are friends. Yes?" That seems to be the end of it in Asterios' mind. Some might call it a simple worldview, but it's hard not to say it's also an admirable one. The minotaur nods his head once as Enark makes his request. "Aa. I see. Yes, this is. Good. Good map means you know where monsters are, where not to be, what not to touch. Small problem when dealing with most creatures, do not go where you want them to be. But large ones, more predictable. Traps, always predictable. Can do this thing, would be happy to." There's a beat. Enark brings up the minotaur's wellbeing. Asterios... frowns a little bit. "Aa. No, I am... ok. Just. Dreams. Bad dream, couldn't sleep well. Is normal, sometimes. Happens."
Carna	Enark's frown deepens at that news despite Asterios's dismissive attitude towards the dreams. "I apprecaite your willingness to cooperate. Your maps will surely be very useful. However, are you comfortable telling me what these dreams were about? They might be important. You are not the first person to mention having strange dreams to me recently. I would like to determine if they might have any bearing on future, past, or present events." He gestures towards the furniture scattered around. There is at least one item sized for a giant Priscilla to sit upon, if not more. Surely there must be something in Asterios's size too!?
Asterios	Enark... Wants to hear about the dream. ... Asterios is silent for a long moment. The minotaur's eyes turn downwards, glaring as if conjuring the memory is enough to make him want to drill a hole into the floor. "Nn. They. Do," Asterios says, at last confirming Enark's hypothesis by at least some degree. "Not in a way, that I like." Asterios shakes his head and moves to find a place to... sink into. That's a good way to put it. He sets his weight down amidst a vaguely chair-shaped pile of tomes, a brief puff of dust rising from the mess as it's disturbed. He doesn't cough or sneeze; he'd be a pretty unfortunate minotaur if a bit of dust sent him into a coughing fit. "It is. Not a time that I like to remember," Asterios continues, eyes still downcast.
Carna	Enark flinches at the abuse of the books as furniture, trying very hard not to try to bother the unhappy minotaur about going and sitting on the nice giant-sized couch over there. He just folds his hands together and smiled in a pained manner. "You do not have to, if you do not wish to. I just thought they might be... Prophetic, or an impression of the past that could apply here, to Lumiere. But no matter. How about we discuss what you need in order to make maps instead if that is more comfortable for you." He looks around for loose paper and pen, immediately aware that he does not have any giant pens or giant paper. "I am assuming from the maps you provided already that you do not actually need to see an area to employ your cartography skills. Some sort of senses or some such. Do you know how far they extend?"
Asterios	Look. That chair in the corner just sprouted /teeth/ and got very angry and bitey a few minutes ago. Asterios does not want to have bitemarks on his bottom thank you very much. Besides, it's not like these books were in any particular order. ...Right? ... "Aaa, it's... Mmn. Not a good time. Was back in Labyrinth. Hunting... Friends. Rather not think about. In detail." It's... a sensitive subject, apparently. Asterios doesn't particularly enjoy feeling the crushing despair and guilt more than once a day. He watches Enark as the scholar scurries about his workshop in search of a pen and paper. Asterios just kind of... Looks a little puzzled, to be honest. "No, it's. Not like that. I went to those places. Walked corridors. Alone. Dangerous, maybe. But am used to those places. Where was too dangerous, made map based on what I could see and what I knew about. Mazes." "This place," Asterios looks up in the vague direction of the library's upper floors. "Could probably do. Something similar. Would be some work, a little wandering. But sight, sound, smell, these things can tell me. Much. Even places out of sight. Not sure how far it goes, though."
Carna	Enark pauses. "Oh. I thought maybe it was some form of... Echolocation or radar or some such that applies to structures. Or a psychic sense. Or scrying. Something of that nature. Hm. Well, they are still very good maps." He scratches his head and discards the materials he has gathered. "Well. Well! Let us hope, then, that there are no other labyrinths for you to wind up in here. I mean, aside from the one we saw in that Mausoleum. The Red Trough. ...Though, Staren did want to go back there. But we have already been there once before, so it can not have gotten worse or anything since our last visit, right?" He smiles uncertainly, but hopefully. "As for the Library of Murdered Knowledge... It err... It goes on for... Basically forever. As long as there are Living humans capable of learning things, all forms of knowledge are recorded. Memories, dreams, books, scrolls, computer programs, all of what-have-you. Exploring ALL of it is is probably unnecessary. But we do need to at least determine which parts we are going to seal off from the rest to create a secure center of operations. Then we can send out further expeditions from there when we do not have to worry about being ambushed." Enark moves back over to Asterios and hesitantly pat-pats him. "In summary, you do not have to explore everything. We will need your expertise in determining where to set our borders so that we can go above and still have somewhere safe to easily return to."
Asterios	Asterios blinks at that. "Oh," he says, understanding slowly dawning on his fatigued brain. "Oh! I. See. But, floors are set, once grown, yes? Will not. Change." The minotaur makes a contemplative noise and scrubs his chin through his mane. "In. That case. Then there is something I can do. Aa. Would be more than enough for what you want. I think." "There is a magic. Don't know how it works," Asterios helpfully explains. "I can. Conjure the Labyrinth. Or rather. I can transform the world around me into a maze. This, I can control. Can map, pretty easily. If you just want home base, known borders, safe paths, then that I can do. No problem. Instant home. Just add. Mana." Beat. The minotaur stares into the ceiling again. It frowns. "Though, will still be some monsters. Some traps. Can't get rid of them all, or wouldn't be a Labyrinth. Should be able to deal with, though." Another moment passes as the bull man makes yet more thinking-noises. "Enark. I saw. Myself. But with moonlight. And sunlight. Do you know, what could be?"
Carna	Enark hmmms. "We need more permanent fortifications. Can you sustain this labyrinth of yours indefinitely? Finding doors and hallways leading to the rest of the Library that we can seal to close off 'safe' areas from the rest is part of what we are after. With Staren's help, perhaps we can scout the parts you set up with his drones first, to check for traps and monsters, and when we have a safe route, we can seal the passages and doors and other access points. Sort of... Extending our reach through 'bridges' built out of your labyrinth. We reach from a place we have made safe to a place we would like to make safe, without dealing with all the nonsense between the two points. Through a maze corridor of sorts? Can you do that? Designate the labyrinth be certain dimensions?" He finds a place to sit down again as he thinks. "It technically expands as-needed as Living people gain knowledge. But I do not know if there is a limit to the amount of knowledge it can hold or a limit to how much it can expand. And I do not know if it has changed in terms of floors, or will in the future. Things got rearranged at times... I wish some of the older Blue Scholars were still around to ask. They would know more than I." He waves the matter away. "The sun has not had a presence in Lumiere for a very long time. It certainly has mythological connotations, but I do not know if there has ever been an actual Underworld Sun or something of that sort. However, we do have a Moon, and there is some 'Power' associated with it. Is there any connection between you and the Sun in your own world? Myths? Legends? Armament? Family lineage? The culture you came from? I do not wish to assume too much about you. There are stories of 'the Minotaur' on many worlds, but I can not say if there is any accuracy with the... Genuine article, so to speak."
Asterios	Asterios thinks for a long moment, considering the problem and the scenario as Enark presents it. After a while, the minotaur nods. "Yes. Can control labyrinth, somewhat. If goal is just to get from place. To place. Then that is not hard. Then, when at place we are going, can make more permanent defenses. Yes? In the meantime. Chaos Labyrinthos can... open the way. Make impossible paths. Possible. Mmn, was not how it was supposed to be used, but... I think, it is okay." Probably. This definitely won't somehow bite them in the ass. As far as the other question goes, though... The minotaur seems to grow... wistful. "Mmmmmn. Mother used to... tell me. Grandfather's name was... Helios. God of the Sun. But... My father-- not King Minos-- was the great. White bull. Don't know much about it. But if... The sun has not been here. But the moon has. Then... Mmn, don't know. Maybe there is... Somewhere, a connection. Maybe the Bull? I don't... Know for sure."
Carna	Enark nods sagely. "As long as you feel comfortable using it that way. And it is fine if you do not know the answer right away. A white bull might have a connotation of some kind with the Moon. Mythology is rife with symbols for all sorts of things. Lumiere probably has symbols no one has even guessed at in a very logn time. We are only just now starting to unravel some of the mysteries, and each new discovery brings us new questions. I am certain we will find the answers in time. We just have to be rely on PIP!" Enark smiles for several seconds before remembering that Asterios is not a Blue Scholar and has no idea what that means. "Patience, Inquisitiveness, and Persistence. PIP. A slogan or motto of sorts for the Blue Scholars. ...Or was it Patience, Inspiration, and Persistence? Or Patience, Inquisitiveness, and Perspiration? Blast! I can not remember. It's been too long." He waves the matter away. "Either way, I will do my best to research any associations in the event I can help you understand your dream. It might be important. And I suppose I should ask others if they have been having odd dreams as well. Thank you for all of your help so far, Sir Asterios. It is most appreciated!" He smiles as he stands up and brushes himself off. "And thank you once again for the maps you gifted for Christmas. When we return below, I am certain they will be of use."