[GP / EP] Welcome to the Madonna Inn Expanded Public Library

[st_opsummoningme]

Freedom from her bonds had given Illyana more than freedom of movement. It had returned to her the use of her magik and her ability to teleport. These abilities had, in turn, allowed her to finish making ready the library for public use. It was less about collecting books and media from around the premises (and some from Limbo, or donated collections harvested from the Otherworlds) and arranging shelving and seating, most of which had been relatively easily done. It was more a matter of laying the appropriate wards, and negotiating the finer points of the old-fashioned catalog and check-out system, which included odd donated items such as sporting equipment and electronic devices available for rental. Xavin's espresso machine counter necessitated a mini-bar refrigerator, glass-domed cake stands for assorted pastries brought in from the kitchen, and various cafe sundries.

Repurposed from what had been the 'Garden Room,' the library space with its high wooden ceilings, chandeliers, and landscape murals over busy floral carpet still looked somewhat like a touristy banquet hall, yet the area was now also highly saturated with layered magic. The hodgepodge collection of random books and so on were fiercely protected by these magics. When needed and as possible, worn volumes had been restored. The books could not be damaged nor marred from here on out, at least not by coffee spills nor page-tearing or inconsiderate attempts at margin notation. Nor would they leave the boundaries of the library area without proper dispensation, simply stopping mid-air and dropping should the attempt be made at the threshold. Ask at the Desk for Assistance With These Items, prompted the signs on several glass display cases featuring certain perhaps unsettling curiosities within - books in arcane languages, skulls from indeterminate creatures, and artifacts such as a green glowing cube suspended on a chain. At said desk, a gleaming service bell sat waiting, should the staff be needed and not clearly present.

Illyana finished affixing the large engraved plaque to the wall beside the double-doors, and then returned to attend the newly opened library with little fanfare:

Madonna Inn Expanded Public Library

Established ~01.25.2018 Earthly Gregorian Calendar

Open All Hours

Volunteer Staff on Duty as Schedules Allow

Classes & Tutoring for Most Subjects Available Upon Request

Donations Encouraged

Disruptive Patrons Will Be Zealously Evicted

Comments

Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

Perhaps the theory was correct that the reason people were at the Inn was because they needed a break. Time to reflect. As his fingers trailed over the spines of a few books, he thought of his mother and her love of knowledge. The thought brought a pang of sorrow but he pushed it aside. He was determined to honor his mother by learning more of humankind as she would have wished.

He noticed the sign that spoke of tutoring. He had hundreds of years to learn but he needed to start somewhere. He rang the small bell to learn what subjects were available.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_hotflashes]

Off to the side, nearby, there was a tumbling of books as a few scattered to the ground. Liz stood there looking a little mortified as she looked around and offered an apology before she sheepishly crouched to collect the various books on science that she had been collecting.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

Adrian normally would have been by her side in a flash, but he had heeded Caroline's advice and he moved closer to humans. He bent down to pick up a couple of the dropped books and noticed they were of science.

He held them out to her, "are you a scientist?" His accent was softly British though English wasn't his native tongue.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_hotflashes]

"Me? Oh, um. No. No, I'm just a high school kid. I want to be, though. I'm trying to study as much as I can while I'm stuck here." She stood. "Um, thank you. And, sorry, if I disturbed you." Since libraries were places of quiet, after all.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

"You didn't." He assured her, but his brow wrinkled as he tried to understand the term high school. Adrian tied it to the context of her words and thought it meant apprentice.

"You are an apprentice then? Learning to become a scientist?" In his time, the 1400s, you learned a trade once you were of age. "My mother was a healer and loved to learn much as well."

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_hotflashes]

"I, um. yeah, I guess so. I mean, hopefully I'll become a scientist, but I have to pass like, a lot of tests first." She smiled to the man. He seemed very polite and was kind of just as pale as Lilith. She wondered briefly if they were related. "This library is pretty exciting. Before this there weren't a lot of books to study from. I had friends who were teaching me stuff, but sometimes it's nice to read, you know?"

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

"My mother thought the same. She read all the books that she could find and when they ran out, that was when she found someone to teach her more." A happy memory surfaced before it swept away. "I wish you success in you quest to find knowledge."

Adrian inclined his head, "perhaps you will be the one to find the answer that unlocks many questions here. A fresh mind that is open to all the possibilities."

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_hotflashes]

She smiled. "Thanks. Maybe. But I don't really know a lot about alternate dimensions." She laughed softly in an attempt to make a joke. "This place sort of keeps changing the rules on me."

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

"It will keep certainly keep the mind occupied of proving and disproving theories." Adrian agreed. "I had never heard of an alternate dimension before my arrival."

To be fair, the world was still considered flat, in his time.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_opsummoningme]

The desk had been left unattended. The blonde that had been prowling the space like a dragon in her lair earlier had been completely absent from the room.

Moments after the bell at the desk was rung, a disc of brilliant white light tore open the empty air behind the desk. Illyana stepped through it, and the portal sealed as cleanly as if it never had been immediately behind her. "You rang," she told the thin, pale figure she did not recognize. It was not a question.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

Seeing someone immediately appear wasn't an unusual sight for Adrian, nor was magic. The bright light that accompanied the teleportation was different, his use of teleportation was more of a mist.

"I did." He brushed his long blond hair away from his face. "I wish to inquire regarding a tutor."

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_opsummoningme]

The woman reached for a ledger book that had been set to one side. "You wish for tutoring in which subjects?"

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

"Many." Adrian said with only a hint of amusement at the vague but honest answer. "I am far from this time and I find much of this place confusing. When I left my home it was 1475." He thought if he provided a time he was from, it would help narrow down where he should begin his tutoring.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_opsummoningme]

Illyana had pulled the book closer to herself, but didn't bother to open the cover now. "In that case, you do have a great deal to catch up on. You'll want to talk to Kitty."

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

There was a look of confusion on his face. "You wish me to speak to a cat?" English was his second language so there might have been something lost in the translation.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_opsummoningme]

She stared at him. Hard. One. Two. Three seconds.

"Kitty is the name of a person," she finally clarified after determining he hadn't been facetious. "Kitty Pryde is overseeing the tutoring available here. And you only get to make the joke you've just made - intentionally or otherwise - once." There was a hint of warning in it.

Re: Adrian (OTA)

[st_paladin]

Her glare was lost on Adrian. He was Dradula's son, it didn't phase him in the slightest.

He thought back through the conversations that he'd had since arriving and remembered that Caroline had shortened Vax'ildan's name down to Vax. Perhaps it was something that the centuries had changed. Odd that.

"I only make mistakes once. Twice will get you killed." It was an acknowledgement to the power he felt within, not close to his own father's power, but powerful nonetheless. It was also an acknowledgement that he'd made an unintentional mistake.

Adrian & Kitty

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Yana busy with another patron, there was no one to answer the bell when the white-haired man emerged from the bookshelves. As Kitty had already begun working to pull together a list of course offerings and had been working with Yana to see what was available in the library, she felt comfortable enough with the offerings (and Yana's particularities about them) to ask, "Can I help you?"

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_paladin]

"I am in need of assistance." He pointed to the area of the sign that spoke of tutors. "I find much here to be confusing and would like the assistance of someone." He thought of his mother, as he added, "is there a tutor that can help with the advancement of humanity through the centuries?"

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_alksthroughwalls]

"You're from the past." Kitty gave him an understanding smile. "What year was it when you left home, and what would you like to start with, history and government, religion, science and mathematics, a little bit of everything?"

She got to the end of her questions and realized, "Oh, shoot. I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Kitty. Kitty Pryde. I've been putting together a school program, so I'm probably a good person to start with."

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_paladin]

"Ah, you are the Kitty, the other woman spoke of." Adrian at first had thought there was something lost in the translation to English, and he was supposed to look for a talking cat. "I am Adrian Tepes and it was the year of your lord, Fourteen Seventy Five when I awoke before here."

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Stifling a small laugh, Kitty corrected, "Just Kitty, short for Katherine." She offered her hand across to him to shake. "Fourteen seventy-five gives you about half a millennium to get to the date of the Inn. There are people from after that, but getting you to the 21st century should put you in good shape."

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_paladin]

It shouldn't have surprised him that there were people from further into the future than the 21st century. Logically, it made sense, but it hadn't crossed his mind.

"It's a good thing I inherited my mother's desire for knowledge. I believe I will be quite busy learning new things."

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_alksthroughwalls]

Kitty's smile persisted. It felt almost like being at a school fair or something, encouraging people to learn anything that they were interested in. Which, in itself was an interesting thought. One to consider later. Right now...

"Would you want to start with a general history or is there some field you're particularly interested in?"

Re: Adrian & Kitty

[st_paladin]

"My mother was a healer, perhaps the healing arts over the centuries." It was a connection, perhaps a continuation of her interests. Adrian would never be a healer, but it would be something his mother would have been interested in. It was a step.