The Library

[S u r i]

Re: The Library

Lyinne looked at her picture and the other notes before taking them and crawling out of the room. She walked to the librarian's desk and sent her a telepathic message, "Phix, when can we expect the newer reports on the portals? I'd like to see them soon."

After her question is answered, she'd go pay the team with the otherworlder a little visit.

 

[Chibichibi]

Re: The Library

Phix snorted. "As soon as all the bureaucratic nonsense is over with. We have to wait for the reports to be analyzed and reviewed before we get them."

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Library

Hoten notices the patterns in the writings, and all of the disappearances, bookmarking the pages and piling the books into his hands, before he rushes over to Grave "Grave, read." he says, holding a few of the books up with his mind to the bookmarked pages. "Every member of every race has disappeared at one time or another. This can't be a coincidence, considering there was virtually no proof of where they went or what took them. This means that whatever is happening to their world, it's happened to ours in the past."

 

[S u r i]

Re: The Library

"Nonsense, indeed. Well, I'll be going to pay this otherworlder a visit. Nothing on the reports really say anything concrete," Lyinne nodded to Phix and then smiled before crawling out of the library. She was on her way to the holding cell, where she could hopefully learn a little more about the otherworlders.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: The Library

Bibble keeps scritching at the wall, her mind whirring as it follows patterns in the numbers, theres a few blanks in the variables that shouldn't be there, and shes starting to mutter quiet oaths as some of the math doesn't add up like it should...

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

"Really? Let me take a look." Grave paused in his lecture to take a look at the passages highlighted by Hoten. Taking the book into his hand, he frowned as he skimmed the contents, familiarizing himself with the described cases. "One time's an accident, two make a coincidence, three are a pattern..." He muttered as he dug into the details of each case. "There has to be something those disappearances have in common. Nothing happens without a reason, and we need to know what, how and why these portals appear. This might help us answer one of those questions..." He let out a sigh. "Though it doesn't bode well at all if it's true." He began to compare the reports, pulling out a small notepad and a pencil out of the pocket of his clothes and writing down every similarity he noticed, as well as the number of cases that featured these factors.

 

[Caulder]

Re: The Library

"I should report these findings to Ms. Ramielle. Be back in a moment." Hoten says, grabbing several of the books he had been reading and focusing on the holding cells, and Ms. Ramielle, teleporting there in a heartbeat, leaving his other books for Grave to go over.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: The Library

Bibble ran over to find Hoten. She'd found something in the math, the variables in her theory only fit if this had happened before, And as fas as she knew it hadn't. But as she was rounding the corner she only caught a glimpse of him before he snapped off to lord only knows where with a slight pop. Scampering up to Grave she asked hurriedly "Grave! has this happened before!? Please say yes pleasepleasepleasepleasepleaaaasse Say yes. I have an Idea but I need to know if you found anything first!" All of this poured out of the eccentric little mages mouth in a torrent.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

Grave glanced at Bibble, feeling a flash of irritation for a split second before it died out. He didn't like being interrupted during work - while he focused easily, he tended to completely block out any outside signals and thus was easily startled. Combine that with his tendency to work with volatile magic and the reason for his dislike became obvious. "I can't say for sure. Hoten found some notes on incidents that look somewhat similiar, I suppose, but there's no confirmed connection. I'm trying to see if there are any common factors between those mysterious disappearances described here. You can take a look if you want to." He gestured towards the books left by Hoten, those he wasn't going through at least, before returning to his notes, frowning some more as he went over potential matches.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: The Library

"Sooo Thats a Yes!" Bibble tore off back to her wall to fill in some missing numbers that hinged on this one fact. Chalking in the new values she took a step back from the 10 foot column of arithmetic and started to snicker... She was going to need an assload of copper, and a mile of wire, It should work. Probably. Hopefully... Bibble tore off to the alchemy labs without a word to gather what she would need for the prototype...

 

[Hopeyouguess62]

Re: The Library

The professor gives Phix a polite nod as she enters the library, sweeping past rows with shelves full of musty tomes. Following her path is a small floating cart containing six ancient texts, carefully preserved and devoid of dust and contaminants. The books are bound in varying hides, hides that have so aged as to escape classification. A small aura surrounds the books, betraying an enchantment to preserve them from contamination or even natural aging. She reaches Grave.

"Where did the rest of your team go? No matter, I will assist you here."

"These are texts from ages long past... the work of ancient humans, elves, dragons... there is even a tome written by an elder selkie kingdom. They are rather dry histories from my collection, but they mention in detail incidents in which these rifts have occurred previously. You may need help from the library staff with some of the more difficult translations."

"There is also a book here which is not of this world, but which was carried back through a rift approximately eight millenia ago. The original attempts to translate it have been lost, but the manuscript remains. My research suggests that it discusses an ancient battle."

"The oldest dragons on the faculty remember the last time these troubles occurred, but the rifts back then were very short-lived. Their research suggests that the old rifts were unintentional... we cannot afford to make the same assumption of the current situation. Finally, from this manuscript and a second-hand account we can surmise that these are a militant people, if not warmongering. Apparently a 'George' on the other side of the rifts mortally wounded an elder dragon before the dragon was able to return."

Professor Ramielle indicates the books on the cart behind her. The otherworldly book is in front, with a single, cryptic word on the front: 'Iliad.'

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

Grave jumped slightly, startled again. He was in the middle of counting all the common factors he managed to find so far, frowning deeply. He turned to face professor, his expression turning into one of mild suprise as he took a look at the books on the cart. Using telekinesis, he carefully lifted the otherwordly text from the cart before slowly opening it, trying to understand what was written inside - without luck. "An ancient battle..." Cynder muttered under his breath. "So it's a kind of chronicle? I guess they must be pretty serious about their own history." The mage mused before setting the book aside. Without a complete translation, it wasn't that useful, especially if it didn't cover the rifts. "If they are that eager to fight, and somehow are creating the portals, then we're probably in big trouble." The pyromancer let out a sigh. "So, the reports on those incidents... Do they mention anything these rifts had in common? I was trying to find a reason why they were appearing, and figured that if there was something that was the same every single time, it'd probably be what I'm looking for."

 

[Hopeyouguess62]

Re: The Library

"Unfortunately that's where things get complicated. I've yet to find a definitive source from the last time this happened -- and the problem seemed to fix itself with a small amount of time." The professor lifts one of the ancient histories off the cart for further study. "Also, if this is a military operation it's not what I'd call a united front. The otherworlder we have in the holding cell is not a warrior and has no idea how she got here, unless she's extremely good at deceptive thought. And that's unlikely as she has no magical aura or ability."

"Besides, our last encounter with another world was millenia ago. There's no way of telling what has happened in their world in the past seventy-eight hundred years, or if time passes at the same rate on either side of the rift, or even if it's the same world we encountered last time. But it gives us some reading to do and premises to work with."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

Grave sighed as he processed the information. "So in the end, we know nothing. All we've got are some old reports, whatever the otherworlder is going to tell us, and our own theories, which are pretty much guesses at this point." The pyromancer utilized his power over matter again, lifting the tomes off the cart and placing them on the table, next to the books he had yet to study. "I'll go through the accounts we have here and try to write down anything that might be even remotely significant. I'll report back once I'm done or find something particularly interesting. I assume that Hoten is with the field team now?" Cynder paused for a moment, recalling something. "Oh, and watch out for Bibble. I think she decided to look for answers in theories on teleportation, then asked me if there were any accounts of something like this happening before. She set off immediately afterwards, running to god knows where. I suspect she had some kind of a crackpot idea." He sighed, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. He wasn't exactly the right person to say such things about others. "I just hope she knows what she'd doing... I had some pretty dumb ideas before, but at least I knew what I was trying to achieve. It can do wonders for keeping you alive."

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: The Library

As if Grave's words were prophecy in their utterance, a small explosion shook the ground followed by a flash of blue-white light, and anyone near a window would have seen Bibble flying through the air backwards before hitting a tree and scrambling behind it as a shower of molten copper and caustic chemicals followed her half a second later. Destroying most of the tree and almost eviscerating Bibble, who was patting out small fires that had started on her thick leather jerkin.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

Grave paused, listening carefully to the sound of the explosion. Years of violent experiments gave him a keen ear for explosions. "A detonation, fairly powerful but non-lethal, unless counting possible shrapnel and other hazardous factors..." He sighed, standing up and closing the book he was working on. "There's a possibility of fire depending on what she was working with. I'll go and make sure she's fine, maybe run some damage control if necessary." Though he still continued to perform experiments that made people question his chances to contribute to the gene pool before meeting a premature and painful end, it couldn't be said that Cynder didn't learn from his mistakes. For example, he was fairly experienced at dealing with the fallout of a research project gone awry. Walking up to the nearest window, he scanned the area outside before noticing Bibble and groaning. "Oh joy. This is going to be fun. At least it doesn't look like her ears got messed up." Shaking his head, he disappeared in a flash of blue light, reappearing a few metres away from the unfortunate inventor. "Need a hand?" He asked dryly, a little wary of getting close to the puddles of molten metal and lethal chemicals.

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: The Library

Bibble groaned as Grave appeared and offered some help, "That shouldn't have happened" she cursed as she stood up and noticed a shoulder pad was still aflame. Squealing and smacking the fire out Bibble gestured at what looked like a large erected copper circle, or rather what was left of one. the dessicated arc was melted in some places, blown away in others. The two barrels to either side that copper wire fed into had blown open, leaving a black smoking trail wherever what was inside them had come into contact. Small puddles of acid and a strange metal were interspaced around the courtyard, causing small fires wherever they met vegetation.

Bibble held out a small book with what looked like a small archway drawn on the front, the golden embroidered thread along the bottom reading "Teleportation and Gates, Fundamental Mechanics"- "It should have worked~, I set the exit point to an active gate to nix, thinking that the gate would seek out anything to connect to, but the power fed back through the batteries and exploded" Bibble gestured to the barrels "Those are my own design, though dangerous they will hold lightning for a small time before becoming inert. OGOD! is anyone else hurt!?!" Bibble flailed while she looked around at the aftermath of her experiment gone awry

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

"I'm pretty sure if anyone got hit they'd have screamed in agony at least once." Grave deadpanned, though his face was locked in a serious frown. "Next time, you might want to build your gate in a more secluded area." He sighed. The Dean had literally beaten into his head that if he really had to experiment, the pyromancer had to ensure that the area was less than popular, to minimize the risk. Now that he knew better, he had to admit it was stupid to try things like that near other people. Still, he was a little impressed by those barrels... Holding the power of lightning inside an object for a period of time? As much as they seemed to be a safety risk, the idea was quite intriguing. Perhaps with proper seals and containment techniques, they could be safer. "And by the way, a little hint: nature always follows the path of least resistance. This applies to everything, fire included. It would be more likely to connect to a random point in our world than link us to a different one, unless you deliberatly made sure it wouldn't happen." That was a sad truth - you wanted something, you often had to bust your ass to get it. "Still... It would appear that aside of power, there is something specific required to open a rift. Think you can find out what that is?" He paused. "In a safer place, that is?"

 

[Courage Wolf]

Re: The Library

Bibble sighed, "I was hoping against that, thinking if the two worlds were close enough together that if there was an intentional gate on the other side causing these rifts that this would lock one, but..." Bibble gestured around. "If I was going to try this again, I would need more information. We need to get our visitor to speak, and preferably in a language we understand"

"If your interested, all the math is still on the library wall, and here are the notes on this prototype. I have another copy" Bibble handed Grave the notes on the work and waited. Hoping to follow Grave's lead now.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: The Library

Grave shrugged. "From what I've been told, our visitor is as ignorant as we are, if not more." The pyromancer shook his head as he accepted the notes. "I don't think we'll learn much from interrogation attempts." He had to admit that Bibble worked fast. Not only managing to copy her notes on the prototype - Hell, he never did that whenever experimenting - but also building and testing the damn thing so quickly? "Let's get back to the library... You'll probably have to explain the damages sooner or later. In fact, the sooner the better. I'll take a look at what you've figured out so far, but I have the records of previous incidents to go through first." He took another look at the destroyed device and the various puddles of various liquids around the area. "Actually, scratch that. We probably should do something about this first. Can you use telekinesis?" He wasn't exactly certain what Bibble's abilities are - their classes were different, mainly because they've picked different majors, and he didn't know the girl well. "Or maybe you've got some idea how to neutralize this stuff?" Cynder tried his hand at enchanting and alchemy at one point, but the former just blew up in his face and he was only moderatly successful at the latter... If he put a lot of effort into it.