R
Roo Stercogburn
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- #31
Belorfyn sat down behind a large desk and gestured towards a chair on the other side for Roo to sit at. Along a wall were bookcases overflowing with tomes of varying sizes. A single window high up on one side provided the only light in the room.
"You might not be surprised to hear I've had my doubts about the death order on Clan Thodin for some time. I have no proof or anything other than vague doubts. Between you and me, I wondered if I'd dreamed the doubts and woke up with them nagging me." said Belorfyn as he settled back in the chair.
"I myself do not know what the reason is, or who is behind this." said Roo, "most of my life I've simply been evading them, only recently have I been able to start investigating. I don't know if my persuers are now aware I've become actively persuing them in return."
"It would have to be someone with access to the council." said Belorfyn, "That means it is someone with power and influence, even if out of public sight."
"And with large resources at their disposal." said Roo, "I've had everything from lone assassins to full blown war parties chasing me down the years."
"But you have no idea why they want you dead?"
Roo hesitated, "Well, I didn't used to. I've got a piece of the puzzle now."
Roo wasn't sure if he should share his knowledge of the medallion with Belorfyn, but it felt the right thing to do. He found himself trusting the little kobold, despite years of having survived by not trusting anyone.
Belorfyn raised his eyebrows and waited for Roo to speak.
"My persuers are not after me, they are after something they believed I had access to. This item here, in fact."
Roo pulled out the medallion and put it on the desk in front of Belorfyn. Belorfyn regarded it and stroked his chin, but made no effort to pick it up.
"Its related to dragons, that much is certain" he said, "but do you know in what way?".
"No," answered Roo, "I only have the item. One of my tasks here in Jordheim is to try and identify this piece."
Belorfyn stood up and walked to the bookcases and picked a book out. He skimmed its pages, from time to time looking over at the medallion.
"Hmm nothing here."
He continued picking out books here and there from the shelves, occasionally returning to the desk and comparing drawings with the medallion. Occasionally he would make an excited sound just to make a disappointed grunt a few seconds later.
Roo sat back patiently and let Belorfyn do his research.
This went on for several hours. Eventually Belorfyn closed a book and shook his head, "I have no information here. Can't find a single thing on the subject."
Roo was disappointed, but not entirely surprised, "Thank you for your efforts though."
Belorfyn looked at Roo shrewdly as if weighing something up.
"There is somewhere else we can look." he said.
Roo caught the tone in his voice. Instantly he knew that Belorfyn had other sources of information that were probably not widely known. He said nothing and waited for Belorfyn to continue.
"Each temple has its own libraries, some larger than others, some specialised in their own areas. Good luck finding a tome on herbology in Thor's temple."
Roo smiled.
"But," continued Belorfyn, "we have something more here in our own temple. The stor gothi of each of the temples knows of it, but we don't normally let outsiders find out about it. Come with me."
Belorfyn stood up and crossed to a bookcase. He reached behind a book and pulled a lever. The bookcase swung out and behind was revealed a passageway. He had Roo's full attention. It was unlikely that any temple didn't have some secrets but Roo was surprised to be let in on any of them. Roo stood and followed Belorfyn into the passageway. The bookcase swung shut behind them.
Belorfyn led Roo down a spiral stone staircase and continued to explain."In ages gone by, we in Midgard have defeated various enemies. Some ordinary mortals like ourselves, some demons and monsters of incredible power. Sometimes we have been able to completely destroy them, sometimes the best we can do is to imprison them. At times powerful and terrible artifacts are carried by these. What to do with them? If we cannot completely destroy them how do we imprison them?"
This derailed Roo's thinking completely. He had been expecting some insight into how the temples played their part in the manouevers within and around the council.
"Beneath this temple is a vast underground series of tunnels and caves. Some natural, some we made ourselves. We keep the evils we cannot destroy imprisoned there and catalogued. The servants of Hel, the undead themselves are the perfect custodians of this place. They never sleep and are ever vigilant. To keep track of what is down there, we have an index room, a place where there is a huge repository of knowledge on ancient evils and artifacts. We refer to all this as the Black Library. The best of the gothis that serve here may become trusted enough to become servitors in the Black Library, to keep watch for any... anomolies."
"So you keep artifacts down here?" asked Roo.
"Not just artifacts, we have demons imprisoned and other monsters too. It is a terrible burden and occupies a lot of our attention. The other temples provide traps and occasional resources as we require to ensure the dungeon stays closed."
"Are we going down there?" asked Roo.
"No," said Belorfyn, "we only need the index room. If there is any record of your mysterious pendant, it will be there. Trust me, you don't want to enter the dungeons of the Library unless you have to. Its only the fact we have been entrusted as guardians that we have such an extensive index of information."
Roo grunted acknowledgement and kept following.
At the bottom of the stairwell was a short passage with an iron door at the end of it. Roo felt something cold brushing against him but couldn't see anything. He spun around, looking for what caused it.
Belorfyn chuckled, "If you have a certain type of sight, you would see this passage is full of guardians. You are with me, you have nothing to worry about but I would not reccommend wandering off yourself."
Roo squinted and tried to see if he could pick out any of the guardians but all that happened was his eyes watered.
Belorfyn opened the iron door and led them into a large circular room. There was an arched doorway at the opposite end but aside from that, every wall was covered in bookshelves, stacked full. In the centre of the room was a dais with a lecturn on it. A massive leatherbound book lay on it.
"The Index." said Belorfyn, pointing at the dais.
Beyond the archway, Roo could see another similar room, also filled with books on shelves. He kept sensing movement out of the corner of his eye, but any time he turned to look, it was gone. More guardians he assumed. It was very unnerving but Belorfyn seemed untroubled by it.
Belorfyn stepped up to the dais and began leafing through the Index. Roo wandered up to the bookcases and began inspecting the books. Just as he reached his hand out to have a look at one Belorfyn spoke, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. The guardians are very protective."
Roo immediately withdrew his hand and stepped back a little. Belorfyn smiled and went back to browsing the Index.
Roo moved nearer the archway and had a look beyond. There were several rooms, he could see that now. All similar to this one. He decided it would probably not be a good idea to stray too far from Belorfyn.
Time passed as Belorfyn poured over the Index. Eventually Belorfyn stabbed a page with his finger then went scuttling over to one of the bookshelves. Retrieving a book he sped through the pages until he arrived at the place the Index had directed him. His hopeful look turned to disappointment. Putting the book back on the shelf he returned to the Index.
This went on for several hours and Roo was, quite frankly, bored. He couldn't assist in case of retribution from the unseen guardians and he couldn't explore, so he paced the room, occasionally getting in the way when Belorfyn would suddenly scuttle from the Index to check a reference.
Roo's mind was idling when he realised Belorfyn had taken a book from the wall and had been intently reading it for some minutes. Roo's heart leapt.
"You found something?"
Belorfyn rubbed his chin, "I think so. One moment."
Belorfyn grunted as he read through the book as if acknowledging things he was reading there. Roo wanted to shake him and get him to tell him what he'd found but instead he bottled his excitement and waited.
"Hmm," said Belorfyn, "we only have a little on it here. I'd thought to find more than this."
"What have you found?"
Belorfyn snapped the book shut and put it back on the shelf, "We are finished here, lets go back up."
Roo followed him as he exited the room, retracing their path back to Belorfyn's office."
"We know now what the item is called. Its a Dragonwalker pendant. Rare, ancient and powerful. Details on the power don't seem to exist. The only other information I could find was that there was only one type of being able to fully describe what it does."
"What type of being?" asked Roo.
"Why, a dragon of course." answered Belorfyn.
"You might not be surprised to hear I've had my doubts about the death order on Clan Thodin for some time. I have no proof or anything other than vague doubts. Between you and me, I wondered if I'd dreamed the doubts and woke up with them nagging me." said Belorfyn as he settled back in the chair.
"I myself do not know what the reason is, or who is behind this." said Roo, "most of my life I've simply been evading them, only recently have I been able to start investigating. I don't know if my persuers are now aware I've become actively persuing them in return."
"It would have to be someone with access to the council." said Belorfyn, "That means it is someone with power and influence, even if out of public sight."
"And with large resources at their disposal." said Roo, "I've had everything from lone assassins to full blown war parties chasing me down the years."
"But you have no idea why they want you dead?"
Roo hesitated, "Well, I didn't used to. I've got a piece of the puzzle now."
Roo wasn't sure if he should share his knowledge of the medallion with Belorfyn, but it felt the right thing to do. He found himself trusting the little kobold, despite years of having survived by not trusting anyone.
Belorfyn raised his eyebrows and waited for Roo to speak.
"My persuers are not after me, they are after something they believed I had access to. This item here, in fact."
Roo pulled out the medallion and put it on the desk in front of Belorfyn. Belorfyn regarded it and stroked his chin, but made no effort to pick it up.
"Its related to dragons, that much is certain" he said, "but do you know in what way?".
"No," answered Roo, "I only have the item. One of my tasks here in Jordheim is to try and identify this piece."
Belorfyn stood up and walked to the bookcases and picked a book out. He skimmed its pages, from time to time looking over at the medallion.
"Hmm nothing here."
He continued picking out books here and there from the shelves, occasionally returning to the desk and comparing drawings with the medallion. Occasionally he would make an excited sound just to make a disappointed grunt a few seconds later.
Roo sat back patiently and let Belorfyn do his research.
This went on for several hours. Eventually Belorfyn closed a book and shook his head, "I have no information here. Can't find a single thing on the subject."
Roo was disappointed, but not entirely surprised, "Thank you for your efforts though."
Belorfyn looked at Roo shrewdly as if weighing something up.
"There is somewhere else we can look." he said.
Roo caught the tone in his voice. Instantly he knew that Belorfyn had other sources of information that were probably not widely known. He said nothing and waited for Belorfyn to continue.
"Each temple has its own libraries, some larger than others, some specialised in their own areas. Good luck finding a tome on herbology in Thor's temple."
Roo smiled.
"But," continued Belorfyn, "we have something more here in our own temple. The stor gothi of each of the temples knows of it, but we don't normally let outsiders find out about it. Come with me."
Belorfyn stood up and crossed to a bookcase. He reached behind a book and pulled a lever. The bookcase swung out and behind was revealed a passageway. He had Roo's full attention. It was unlikely that any temple didn't have some secrets but Roo was surprised to be let in on any of them. Roo stood and followed Belorfyn into the passageway. The bookcase swung shut behind them.
Belorfyn led Roo down a spiral stone staircase and continued to explain."In ages gone by, we in Midgard have defeated various enemies. Some ordinary mortals like ourselves, some demons and monsters of incredible power. Sometimes we have been able to completely destroy them, sometimes the best we can do is to imprison them. At times powerful and terrible artifacts are carried by these. What to do with them? If we cannot completely destroy them how do we imprison them?"
This derailed Roo's thinking completely. He had been expecting some insight into how the temples played their part in the manouevers within and around the council.
"Beneath this temple is a vast underground series of tunnels and caves. Some natural, some we made ourselves. We keep the evils we cannot destroy imprisoned there and catalogued. The servants of Hel, the undead themselves are the perfect custodians of this place. They never sleep and are ever vigilant. To keep track of what is down there, we have an index room, a place where there is a huge repository of knowledge on ancient evils and artifacts. We refer to all this as the Black Library. The best of the gothis that serve here may become trusted enough to become servitors in the Black Library, to keep watch for any... anomolies."
"So you keep artifacts down here?" asked Roo.
"Not just artifacts, we have demons imprisoned and other monsters too. It is a terrible burden and occupies a lot of our attention. The other temples provide traps and occasional resources as we require to ensure the dungeon stays closed."
"Are we going down there?" asked Roo.
"No," said Belorfyn, "we only need the index room. If there is any record of your mysterious pendant, it will be there. Trust me, you don't want to enter the dungeons of the Library unless you have to. Its only the fact we have been entrusted as guardians that we have such an extensive index of information."
Roo grunted acknowledgement and kept following.
At the bottom of the stairwell was a short passage with an iron door at the end of it. Roo felt something cold brushing against him but couldn't see anything. He spun around, looking for what caused it.
Belorfyn chuckled, "If you have a certain type of sight, you would see this passage is full of guardians. You are with me, you have nothing to worry about but I would not reccommend wandering off yourself."
Roo squinted and tried to see if he could pick out any of the guardians but all that happened was his eyes watered.
Belorfyn opened the iron door and led them into a large circular room. There was an arched doorway at the opposite end but aside from that, every wall was covered in bookshelves, stacked full. In the centre of the room was a dais with a lecturn on it. A massive leatherbound book lay on it.
"The Index." said Belorfyn, pointing at the dais.
Beyond the archway, Roo could see another similar room, also filled with books on shelves. He kept sensing movement out of the corner of his eye, but any time he turned to look, it was gone. More guardians he assumed. It was very unnerving but Belorfyn seemed untroubled by it.
Belorfyn stepped up to the dais and began leafing through the Index. Roo wandered up to the bookcases and began inspecting the books. Just as he reached his hand out to have a look at one Belorfyn spoke, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. The guardians are very protective."
Roo immediately withdrew his hand and stepped back a little. Belorfyn smiled and went back to browsing the Index.
Roo moved nearer the archway and had a look beyond. There were several rooms, he could see that now. All similar to this one. He decided it would probably not be a good idea to stray too far from Belorfyn.
Time passed as Belorfyn poured over the Index. Eventually Belorfyn stabbed a page with his finger then went scuttling over to one of the bookshelves. Retrieving a book he sped through the pages until he arrived at the place the Index had directed him. His hopeful look turned to disappointment. Putting the book back on the shelf he returned to the Index.
This went on for several hours and Roo was, quite frankly, bored. He couldn't assist in case of retribution from the unseen guardians and he couldn't explore, so he paced the room, occasionally getting in the way when Belorfyn would suddenly scuttle from the Index to check a reference.
Roo's mind was idling when he realised Belorfyn had taken a book from the wall and had been intently reading it for some minutes. Roo's heart leapt.
"You found something?"
Belorfyn rubbed his chin, "I think so. One moment."
Belorfyn grunted as he read through the book as if acknowledging things he was reading there. Roo wanted to shake him and get him to tell him what he'd found but instead he bottled his excitement and waited.
"Hmm," said Belorfyn, "we only have a little on it here. I'd thought to find more than this."
"What have you found?"
Belorfyn snapped the book shut and put it back on the shelf, "We are finished here, lets go back up."
Roo followed him as he exited the room, retracing their path back to Belorfyn's office."
"We know now what the item is called. Its a Dragonwalker pendant. Rare, ancient and powerful. Details on the power don't seem to exist. The only other information I could find was that there was only one type of being able to fully describe what it does."
"What type of being?" asked Roo.
"Why, a dragon of course." answered Belorfyn.