Thar Shaddin

"If it is alright with you, not just yet." Misumi moved toward her usual workspace. "I cannot take this large book out of the Hall. It is our oldest record book, speaking of when the City was established. I think I remember something in it mentioning visitors from Darleone Island."

Misumi placed the large book upon a desk and took a seat. Another table was nearby, giving Yyan a place to settle should he choose. Producing her notebook, Misumi opened it as well, before carefully turning the thick vellum pages.

"Yes, see? Here..." What she had found was a visitor's record, a sort of immigration registration. The registration listed the person's name, their age, their point of origin, and the means by which they had arrived at the city. In this case, there was mention of a small group of elves. One of the names was Salovuje Nefemir, aged 226 - venerable for a race that lived for only 300 hundred years if they were lucky. "Salovjue Nefemir, age 226, point of origin Darleone, arrived on the Astalder. Hmm..."

Misumi thought for a moment, then stood and moved to another series of shelves. "Perhaps we can find the ship's manifest. Also, there was only one public house at that time - the Port Star. We could see if she stayed there." Misumi's fingers ran lightly over the spines of books until she found the manifest documents. "Ah, here it is."

Pulling the book out, she opened the port records and scanned through it until she found the manifest for the Astalder. "It says the Astalder ported at Dock 2. Passengers included this Salovuje." The way Misumi said the name implied that the Salovuje listed was not the one whose memory book she had found.

"She is listed as having three trunks with her - contents claimed were clothing and books. So why is there only one book..." Misumi closed the manifest ledger and placed it back on the shelf and wandered back to her desk. "Let me put this up and I am ready to go." Misumi tucked her notebook back into her pocket and then hefted the large tome, returning it to its home. Misumi looked at the book as it rested on the shelf.

"You know, there were several fires over the years at the Port Star..." Misumi wandered off, moving to the records, which housed deaths. On a hunch, she pulled the book for the year the elves had arrived. "Oh, Yyan... look." Misumi turned to see if Yyan was with her. Listed in the register were the names of all but one of the elves- cause of death, fire. "I wonder what happened... let me just check the news account and I promise ... I'll be ready then."

Instead of sitting, Yyan moved closer when Misumi moved the larger of the two books to a desk and began paging through it. He stood on the other side of the desk so that he wouldn’t crowd her and found an interesting time trying to read the scrawling handwriting of the visitor’s record upside-down. He did the same with the manifests; thankfully the latter was in a wider, less ornate hand. When Misumi made a distinction between the Salovuju of the memory book and the passenger on the Astalder, he lifted an eyebrow at her in curiosity.

Yyan chose not to interrupt her train of thought, but he did follow after Misumi through the aisles. When she found the registry listing the Port Star deaths, he had to laugh at her apology. It’s no trouble for me, Misumi. But it sounds like you’re on the trail of something. What are you looking to find?

"Well," said MIsumi as she moved to the area housing the news archives, "a few things. The Exodus certainly did not happen a mere 300 years ago. The way the stories tell it, we are looking at a minimum of what... six or nine hundred years in the past. So, this Salovuje must have been the granddaughter of the one whose memory book we found. "

Misumi pulled a ladder across the shelves behind her and carefully moved up to the top of one of the tall shelves. Once there, she found the archive she sought. Pulling a little table from a compartment on the ladder, she placed the archive there and then sat perched on a ladder rung.


"The manifest says 'books', plural, and Salovuje -the first one- had other books in her possession. That was in the memory book. I figure, IF the memory book survived and made it to here, then what about the other books? The ones in Salovuje the second's belongings. The first Salovujue was a scribe. If Salvuje two brought the memory book with her then maybe those other books could have been records books..." Misumi peered down at Yyan.

"Records books from NUMEN. You see?" Misumi couldn't keep the hushed excitement from her voice. "Just imagine what information might be in them... coordinates, information on ... on.. everything..." She carefully turned the archive pages, scanning through the headings quickly, but sighed. "It only says the source of the fire was unknown and mysterious. There is no mention of a survivor... how odd."

Misumi tucked the archive back in its home and moved down the ladder, until she stood beside Yyan. She looked up at him. "So, we have the name of a possible survivor of a mysterious fire in which the possible granddaughter of the woman Salovuje died. The ..." Misumi's eyes opened wide and she spun around to the news archives once more. Pulling the most recent edition, MIsumi hastily flipped to the obituaries section.

"Oh, Yyan...!" She exclaimed softly as she pointed out a name. It was not quite the same, but most names ended up modified in some way. "We were bequeathed a large consignment of books from this estate." Even in her haste, Misumi put the news archive back where it belonged.

"Come on!" She grabbed Yyan's hand and moved through winding stacks until she reached a small door. This door was unlocked with a standard key. Within were several crates marked with lot numbers. Taking up another manifest sheet, MIsumi skimmed quickly down the lot numbers and then pointed at a crate.

"It's that one..." She looked at Yyan, bottom lip caught by her teeth and eyes wide.

Yyan slipped the coin he had been toying with earlier into a trouser pocket as Misumi seized his other hand. She led him up and down the towering aisles like a bloodhound on a scent. His own curiosity was piqued by notions of records from the first lands, but he kept excitement in reserve. By rights, such important documents should have been turned over to the Hall of Records ages ago. Why was this not done then? And more importantly, why now?

His thoughts drifted back to Elemire’s words, about Misumi being Salovuje reborn. The memory book, the encroachment of shadows, all of these events seemed… almost timed somehow. And the records of Numen, if that is what they turned out to be, would be appearing at just the right time, when Misumi most needed them…

She let go of his hand to unlock a small storage area. Yyan’s palm seemed to tingle where she had touched. “It’s that one,” she told him, pointing at a nondescript crate and staring up at him with wide eyes. Yyan bent down, grabbed the wooden crate and dragged it from the storage room out into the open. The top was secured with nails, but the wood was pliable enough for him to wedge his fingers into the seam. With a hard tug, the lid came free.

Inside were more books. From a cursory examination of their covers, Yyan couldn’t tell if there was anything truly unique about them, so he stepped aside for the expert.

Misumi brought the log book with her when she moved to peer into the crate. In comparison to most, the crate was filled mostly with straw packing material. Four large books sat on the straw and Misumi could not help but feel a little disappointed. Three of the four seemed to be university manuals, while the fourth seemed to be a novel of some kind.

"The life and times of Kern Jarrell, Minstrel." She read out as she jotted down the title. Opening the book, she looked through the contents. "This appears to be a song book. Would you like to look at it while I catalog the other three?"

The disappointment was clear in Misumi’s expression, and Yyan almost laughed at himself, getting caught up in the excitement like a novice. He reminded himself to keep his enthusiasm in check next time. However, he took note of the brief prickling he had felt in his hand. It could have been nothing, a trick of the mind resulting from his sudden excitement, or it meant something. He didn’t try to surmise anything more; time would reveal the truth of things.

He let out a laugh when Misumi offered him the minstrel’s songbook. Always eager to expand my paltry repertoire, Yyan replied as he took the book from her. He flipped through the first few pages. From the scribemarks, the novel had been compiled from Kern Jarrell’s diaries and devotedly reproduced in the original handwriting. Hmm… let’s hope Master Jarrell’s music was better than his penmanship. This is just barely legible.

Historical passages in clear text were interspersed between verses and hurried journal entries. Yyan muddled his way through the poor spelling and crabbed handwriting, more interested in the minstrel’s songs than the historian’s notes for the moment. He sat cross-legged on the floor while Misumi cataloged the other books.

Oh, I like this one… Yyan held the book up to better catch the light. “Then come, O song of Night, and lay upon the dreaming world in love… Put eith and shade to flight, and bring our gifts of praise before the Moon.” I’ve never heard a meter like this sung before.

On impulse Yyan hummed snatches of notes, piecing together a rough melody line to go with the verse, until he shook himself free. Oh dear. He got to his feet and held the book out to Misumi with a regretful smile. You’d better take this back before I’m tempted to steal it.

The second memory book was slow to work, perhaps because neither of them were the reborn versions of the original, but eventually it did work, as the tune for the lay Yyan had come across lifted to his subconscious. Whether he noticed the inspiration for the tune came from him or not, remained to be seen.

Misumi paused as she reached for the first University book. Yyan had begun to hum. This was the first time she had heard him make a sound. Humming did not require a tongue. His humming 'voice' came across warm and mellow. Had he been able to speak, she was sure he would have sounded the same.

"I like it," she said; speaking of all three things - the lay, the tune, and the sound of his humming. "I am allowed to check out books, providing I copy them over for safe keeping." A twinge of guilt pricked Misumi's conscience. She still needed to copy Salovuje's journal.

"Since, it may be a day or two before we can actually leave, I can work on making copies of my journal and Kern's book." Misumi smiled at Yyan and then flipped open the first University book. The book was exactly as the cover described, so Misumi catalogued the book, writing down a corresponding number within the cover and placed the book on a cart. The same was done for the other two.

If it won’t cause any delays, I certainly wouldn’t mind having a copy to bring along, Yyan replied. He left the book in her safekeeping, while the wistful melody still played in his mind. His fingers began to itch for his lutestrings, but he resisted the temptation, knowing full well that if he started playing now, he would be up into the wee hours of the morning.

And there was still much he needed to be done tonight.

Yyan stretched his arms out. It’s quite late. I should be getting back home. You’ll want to heading to bed before long, I think. We have a long day tomorrow. He drew the coin back out of his pocket and idly twirled it between his fingers. Then he closed a fist around it, held it tight for several moments, and then offered the golden disk to Misumi. It was an old coin, from a time when metal was still minted for currency, and little more than an ornate trinket now.

It was something of an old tradition in my family, he explained. You said before that you were nervous about being alone. Keep this with you. If danger comes, then I will know, and I’ll find you. He chuckled softly. Not that I think you have anything to fear.

(OOC: hope you don't mind, I auto'd the exit from the Hall since it seemed like that's where it was going anyway Feel free to interject or provide edits, if you want me to change anything."

If it won’t cause any delays, I certainly wouldn’t mind having a copy to bring along.

"I'll make a note that I have checked it out for copying," Misumi replied as she marked the catalogue. She had fallen into her usual routine. She often worked late, often into the early hours of the morning. When Yyan commented yet again that it was late, Misumi's face reddened. She felt as if she'd held him captive here.

"I'm sorry. I lose track of the time when I get in here." Misumi offered up an apologetic smile. The second memory book was placed in her small satchel, along with a blank journal. Yyan toyed with a gold coin, but then held it out to her.

It was something of an old tradition in my family. You said before that you were nervous about being alone. Keep this with you. If danger comes, then I will know, and I’ll find you... Not that I think you have anything to fear.

Misumi felt grateful and a little pleased that he would consider giving up a family heirloom to her, just so she would feel safe. Misumi placed her hand over his, curling his fingers back around the coin. She felt like a foolish child now, for making him come with her all because ... the darkness ...

"I could not take something like this from you." Her previous embarrassment dropped easily and she seemed a little more certain of herself. "Besides, I think you are right. I am sure I have nothing to fear here and it is growing late." Her fingers lingered on his hand for a moment and she gave him a winsome smile. "Thank you for your concern."

Turning back to the catalogue, Misumi adjusted one of the entries and closed the book. When she turned around she blinked for a moment, then reached into a pocket. A small case was removed and she slipped her glasses back on. "Odd, it seems to have passed... ah well. Perhaps it will come back."

Misumi grinned a little and back tracked them through the Hall, locking doors and shutting down lights as if the actions were ingrained habit." At the outside exit to her room, she opened the door and smiled genuinely at Yyan once more. "Thank you for coming with me. I'll meet with you and Elemire tomorrow morning."

It was no trouble, Misumi. Thank you for showing me the wonders of the Hall. I doubt I would have ever seen it in my lifetime otherwise.

Yyan gave a small bow. It was a real trick, slipping the coin into Misumi’s pocket while facing her frontways, and he wasn’t entirely sure he had managed it without being seen, but the deed was done. The coin was hers now, and would remain in her possession until this quest of theirs was done.

When he straightened, he offered her a final smile. Until tomorrow then. I’ll meet you and Elemire at the south end, near the tanner’s stall. Don’t oversleep. Then, with a wink, he turned and made his way out of the quarters.

(OOC: Feel free to start things off at the next morning.)

It was no trouble, Misumi. Thank you for showing me the wonders of the Hall. I doubt I would have ever seen it in my lifetime otherwise.

Misumi smiled happily, gladdened that he had not been bored. She blushed at his wink, looking down at the ground.

"I won't be late."

After shutting and locking the door behind him, Misumi moved to her desk and wrote down - Yyan, south end near tanner's stall - leaving herself a note as to where to meet Yyan and Elemire, so she would not forget. She then did her usual nighttime routine before settling in to sleep.

The morning sun shone brightly in her room. She always awoke at dawn, no matter the hours of rest she had achieved. When she opened her eyes, she was confused. She had been dreaming of the darkness yet again, but for the life of her could not remember how she had come to be in this room. Books lined the walls. Well, that was not unusual. But the stonework, the window lattice, even the bed clothing was not quite right. As if someone had tried to recreate her room, but had added their own design to it. Slipping from the bed, a movement caught her attention. Looking toward the source she found a mirror and in it a reflection not her own.

Salovuje's eyes widened. Her hair was still black. Her eyes were still violet. But she was... she lifted her hand to touch a face wearing a shocked expression. Panicked she looked around the room. There, on a desk lay a notebook and a pair of glasses.

"Yyan, South end. Tanner's stall." Salovuje wanted to be paralyzed by indecision, but the discovery of her own memory book tucked in a pocket of a coat along with a coin she recognized caused her to step back. She opened the memory book only to find that there were entries that indicated she had reached the end of a long life. Salovuje sat down in the desk chair and stared at herself in the mirror. She had been reborn. Why was she here now? Why did her now self sleep and she awaken?

Just before her vision blurred and a headache hit her, Salovuje found the second memory book and Misumi's journal.

"Misumi." Salovuje lifted a hand to her forehead and closed her eyes tightly. Squinting them open, she found she could see a little better. The glasses... Reaching for the eyeglasses, Salovuje slipped them on. The blurred vision improved greatly, but the headache still throbbed. Her hand dropped down to the desk. When her fingers touched the notebook with the notation in it, Salovuje nodded to herself. Perhaps this Yyan person would have answers. Salovuje readied herself.

When she was done, she still looked like Misumi, but there were subtle differences. Where Misumi wore her hair down with no attention to it, Salovuje had taken the time to nimbly plait and pin the mass of silken black so that it hung around her face artfully. Though she still wore leggings, Salovjue had found a tunic-like dress and donned it as a shirt. She used a hair clasp on the dress as a piece of jewelry to accentuate Misumi's slim waist. The coat, with the coin in its pocket, was pulled on. The satchel was taken up and the books placed within it. Salovuje also made a cursory inspection of Misumi's book shelves and was surprised to find a few books of magic upon them. These were also taken. Salovuje was accomplished well enough to speak magic from memory or from books, with the right tools.

Finally, Salovuje looked at the two doors of the room. Opening the first one, she found entrance into the interior. The second gave her what she wanted. As she exited, a soldier commented on her appearance. Salovuje smiled.

"Thank you. Please, where is the south end?" The guard's brows furrowed as he regarded her with confusion. "That way, Miss Ayako."

"Thank you, again." Salovuje replied. Keeping steady to the direction the guard had indicated, Salovuje eventually found herself in the south end, looking for the tanner's stall.

The ivy slowly pulled back from the windows and the doors as Elemire spoke to it. The little nubs of root and vine were dropped safely back into a pouch and the bedding returned to its original state. Gear packed, breakfast eaten, and a bath obtained, Elemire moved through the early morning easily. Vendors were setting up stalls, the scents of food could be smelled, and so could the tanner's stall. Elemire headed in that direction. Soon the pair of them - Elemire and 'Misumi' - would converge.

“I can’t let it go for anything less than fifty.”

Yyan pretended to choke with laughter. He pinched the thumb and last finger of his right hand together – twenty. The staff was solid and well-made, capped in brass at either end to resist wear, but there was no way it was worth fifty. Twenty, and only at the most. He already knew he would end up paying more than that, but fifty... that was too much to swallow, even for a supplier and armsman like Cole Pike.

“Twenty?!” Cole spluttered, his eyes bulging. “Did you take up highway robbery while I was asleep, boy? Maybe I should just offer to pack up my stock and hitch it to your donkey right now and save myself the embarrassment!”

Yyan made a show of rolling his eyes and repeated his offer, a little more emphatically this time. He liked Cole, and ordinarily enjoyed bartering with the theatrical little man, but he couldn’t afford to waste time with aggrandizements every time he made a purchase. Cole got the message, and the two of them whittled the price to thirty. To make up for spoiling the fun, Yyan passed the coins over with an affected air of injured dignity. That earned him a snort and a wink. “Off with you, boy, before you cheat me anymore today. Just be sure you come back tomorrow!”

Taking up his new weapon, Yyan grinned and left the stall.

That wasn’t the only thing he had accomplished already. His old, vagabond-rags had been replaced with new breeches, a woolen tunic and gray overcoat. He wore his hair unbound today, keeping the straight, chin-length strands tucked behind his ears. In a satchel on his back were two additional sets of clothes, in varying textiles to account for weather on the road. He still needed a new pair of boots, but he waited on that, keeping an eye on the tanner’s stall to watch for Misumi or Elemire.

As luck would have it, Yyan spotted Misumi as he turned away from Cole’s booth. He started toward forward, focusing on her and opening his perception up to give her a morning greeting…

…he brushed up against something strange, and the sensation made him go cross-eyed for a moment. He stopped walking and looked at Misumi… it had to be Misumi, even accounting for the glasses that hadn’t been present yesterday, and the prettily done-up hair.

And it was Misumi… while at the same time different. Yyan couldn’t put the feeling into words, and that set him on edge. If something had been done to her, she would have felt completely unlike herself, not this separate but equal impression he had now.

Yyan’s grip tightened on his newly purchased staff. He resumed walking, but his perception of the world altered. Color faded, light dimmed, time slowed. Shapes moved as watercolor smears in only gray hues. No gold, no red… no traps? Then what did he sense from her?

Yyan let his vision return to normal and pasted a smile on his face. He waved to Misumi to make sure she saw him coming, determined to find out exactly what was going on.

Salovuje found the tanner's stall and stood near to it, scanning the crowd. She overlooked both Elemire and Yyan at first, but did a double take as she realized Elemire was of elfin blood. The elf-kin had been brought into the world to help quell the darkness and seal it away. Salovuje looked around the crowds once more and found herself surprised by the number of elf-kin interspersed within it. There were even some who appeared to be a mix of both human and elf-kin. How long had it been?
A man lifted a hand to her and smiled, heading in her direction. Salovuje straightened and smiled at him. Perhaps this was the Yyan, Misumi ... no, she, was to meet.

Elemire spotted Misumi as she moved through the crowds. The girl looked different, true, but the more subtle change was the way she moved through the crowd and studied the people around her. Misumi actually looked at Elemire, but her gaze slid past her and then re-focused on her. There was no look of recognition of the elf as someone known to Misumi. Interesting... Elemire's gaze slid to Yyan as he lifted a hand in greeting to Misumi. It was obvious he, too, noted the differences.

"Greetings Misumi, Yyan." Elemire inclined her head in a slight nod as she placed a hand over her heart. She was dressed as she had been the previous day.

Salovuje's eyes widened. So, the elf kin knew her as well?

"Greetings," returned Salovuje.

This Misumi didn’t know him; he was certain of that. She smiled at him, but it was the customary polite greeting when one first meets a stranger. It agitated Yyan, and as much as he wished he could hide that fact, it was impossible. His smile faded to a half-frown of worry, confusion, and a bit of mistrust. He tried to catch Elemire’s eye, directing a thought only at her…

Something is wrong here. Keep your guard up.

Yyan then studied Misumi’s face closely, gnawing his bottom lip. If this was a trap, it was a new one, and he didn’t know how to deal with it. As subtly as he could, he raised his defenses. In response, his pupils shrank to pinpricks of black, nearly lost inside his pale irises. Only then did he open his thoughts to both Elemire and Misumi.

You are not the Misumi that I met yesterday. His mental voice lacked tone or inflection. I do not know you.

(OOC: is Yyan's talent psionic based or magic-based?)
As she had walked, Salovuje had read from Misumi's notebook. She had seen notations on her own memory book. Read of the fear of the darkness encroaching and the need to find and repair what had been done. She had seen the mind map of requirements and studied Yyan before replying. This was the hero Misumi had picked.

Elemire nodded, though she suspected the cause. Yyan spoke first, though.

You are not the Misumi that I met yesterday.

Salovuje looked down and then met the man's intent gaze. He was a thought-speaker. She wondered what else he could do.

"No, I - "

"You are Salovuje," said Elemire. Looking to Yyan, Elemire continued, "There are some who retain all the memories of their past lives and some who are blessedly allowed to forget and start anew. I have met those who retain their memories, but I have not seen one who has been completely overtaken by one's former self . Perhaps it is for a purpose or perhaps it is because things are amiss. We should count this as a blessing. Should any know how to get there, she will."

"I ... yes. I am Salovuje." Salovuje's brows furrowed as the view became blurry and her headache returned. She removed the glasses and pinched the bridge of her nose. "And you must be Yyan. Based on Misumi's notes, I assume we meet here to make purchases. Shall we attend to it?" When Salovuje opened her eyes, her vision had cleared. Shaking her head she tucked the glasses into her pocket.

"I hope you will forgive my ignorance. I know a little of what Misumi did yesterday. I will make it a point to write notes to her when time permits so we may stay in harmony. I hope that will minimize the impact." This was said specifically to Yyan, who seemed to find the loss of Misumi hard to bear. Salovuje gave Yyan a sympathetic look. "She merely sleeps. Will you accept me for now?"

Then, the elf-kin's words sunk in. "Get there?" Salovuje looked between the pair of them. "You. You want to return ." Emotion thickened Salovuje's voice and she shivered with the memories of what she had witnessed; of what had been wrought; and of the yearning desire to see her homeland once again. Salovuje's chin lifted slightly and she met their gazes. "Why?"