Howling[Visualspice]

[Looshi]

Day was breaking when they made their way into the city of Uthlyn; the buildings of Connlaothian architecture looming before them, and the sun stretching their shadows across the land. The journey had been days long, and Lorant's backside was sore and aching from his seat on the wagon. He was tired of the horses going awry, and his hands were beginning to blister from his hold on the reins. They never liked him, the horses. They could smell the wolf on him, and it sent their animal instincts into a frenzy if they ever knew one. Even now as they grew anxious of the city, Lorant had to raise his voice. Why the Bishop insisted on taking him was not because he handled horses so well.

   The moment he had announced travelling to Uthlyn, Lorant knew he would be accompanying him. Like a loyal dog at the heels of its master. Richard would smile cooly at his scowl and promise him things he did not get to indulge in while in the bosom of Vestalla. It was a small wonder how the horses had not taken off. At nights, where it grew cold by their fire and the crickets in the fields sang their songs, so did he. Only his was to the moon glowing in the sky. It did not lessen the pull of the wolf as the full moon drew nearer, yet it calmed his damned soul. Ansgar forgive him. When Vestalla was in their view again, he would repent his sins in long nights at the altar; Praying to St. Svan to give him the strength his weary body needed.

   Lorant did not know what the Bishop had been called for in the city of Uthlyn, nor did he ask of it. Despite being donned in his Brother's robes, he had no place in the Church. The mage's mark sewn to his chest screamed louder than any privilege. He did not mind it. Lorant would bide his time being the shady figure the Bishop called on. And for brief times, when the Bishop went where he couldn't, he had more time to himself than he needed.

   In the stay and Uthlyn, Lorand found himself wandering. His senses were at their peak, for the full face of the moon was close. The city was alive then with more smells than the human mind could possibly imagine. They told stories no one else knew. And on the air, he would catch the scent of magic that stirred the wolf inside. It wanted to hunt. He wanted to hunt. But the leash was strong around his neck. Uthlyn was not his ground. Vestalla was.

   In his meandering, he found a quiet place, a library.

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"King Amemshi- volumes one, two and three..." Artemis counted out loud, dirty fingers pressing through the scrolls. "But where is four?" she lifted number five, scrunching her nose at it before sighing and pressing them into their slots. She ran a hand through her dark, brown hair, keeping the soft, puff of her side bang out of her face before glancing about.

There was another pile of scrolls to be sorted in the corner.  Another fresh batch to boot.  Sighing, she approached it and began rebinding the scrolls in lace.
"Ah, Gloriful Nights on the fell.." she clicked her tongue, shaking her head fondly at the romantic scrolls she held and moved towards the back room and came to a pause, craning her neck up to the very top shelf.
Frowning, she had nearly forgotten this scroll belong on the top.
Tapping it once to her palm she gave a sigh.

"I suppose it will the ladder today." Turning around, she stuffed the scroll beneath her arm and moved over to the ladder that was set on wheels. It took an awful lot of grunting and huffs of steam, but she managed to drag the ladder all the way to the other side of the room.
In a huff, she craned her neck back up to the top shelf, then went about securing the ladder against it before testing it for security with a few hefty hits against the wall.

"There,"s he smiled at herself, nice and triumphant. "Nice and secure!"
Taking the scroll in hand now, she slowly began to scale the ladder, one awkward step at a time. She didn't much care for heights and paused a moment, frowning at the way down. It was a little dizzying, but she shook it off and proceeded to climb until there, she had made it to the top, and found herself coughing at all of the dust up there.

"Oh, how careless. I've forgotten to clean here."Sighing, she took out a rag from the side pocket of her dress skirt and began to wipe it out, shaking the loose dust aside and then began swathing away the cobwebs sticking against the corners of the shelves.

"There,"s he said, smiling, very proud of herself. "Nice and clean!" With a nod of her head, she slipped the scroll inside and turned around to stare off into the library for but a moment-

It was just something she did, and could not help herself..
The library looked over more magical from the vantage point up there.
She smiled wistfully, then moved to climb down, only to find her shoe slipping off as it tumbled onto the grounds below, and- being startled by the action, found herself losing her footing as her   feet began to slip, ass falling onto the ladder as she tumbled down it like an unceremonious slide, heading and plummeting to a very unfortunate circumstance below!


OOC: feel free to either have him catch her or um, watch her drop to the ground like some fool XD

[Looshi]

Away from where his senses were filled to bursting, he climbed up the steps to the large building. Buttress hung above him supported by columns of white stone. Statues and engravings decorated the arches, and the grounded pillars; Things of old: a series of battles drawn out. Of the victory against mages, and of Ansgar's rise in the hearts of the Connlaothian people. It wasn't an uncommon sight to the architecture. The people had a pride to them that screamed and thumped heavily upon the ground. Lorant could say he had the same, despite the emblem on his robes that burned in the eyes of others. His work brought him favour.

   A wave of relief filled him as he entered the grand entrance to the Library. The barest of magical scent caught his nose, but it was not enough to signal a mage. Ancient scrolls, books, tomes could hold remnants of magic. He grinned to himself. The librarians and scribes didn't know, he assumed. How would the engravings of Mordecai and battles past feel to know that what they laid their stone flesh on was tainted?  He wished they were animate so he could see their faces when he told them.

   His footsteps echoed on the flooring; his boots pressing against rugs draped over the masonry. Lines upon lines of bookshelves adored the inside. High glass stained windows filtered in colourful light that danced over everything. He could see dust mingling in the air, and he breathed in the sweet musk of old parchment and aging bindings. It was far more grand than the library in the church of Vestalla, and it did not hold memories of being strapped to a table and made to read scripture to cleanse his soul. He liked it.

   Soon enough, his ears caught the sound of a ladder sliding and the small voice of a woman talking to herself. He followed it. Curiosity in his eerie eyes. And the woman should be glad that he did, for as she fell, he managed to move quick enough to catch her. However, the sudden weight shocked him off balance, and with her in her arms he stumbled back slightly to knock books off the shelf behind him.

   "Are you trying to kill yourself, girl?" He said harshly as he set her down, a scowl rife on his face. He was the best at introductions.

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Artemis gave a cry as she was suddenly captured into a man's arm, and then it was to the floor with them as they collapsed into a heap.  She had made an interesting series of noises during i, the last one being a gasp as she looked up at the man in who's arms she was now cradled.  He was a giant of a man, long legs and limbs easily spilling around them in the pile of books that had settled around them during the chaos.  His face, though long, reminded her much like a bird, almost like a hawk, glaring back at her with his dark, brown eyes.

"I was just-" she began. "Just.." she tried again, but always found her tongue twisted when in the presence of a man, and to be in the arms of one slightly handsome, and one so very angry, it was all that she could do not to faint...

Except she did...
nose burning, eyes rolling as she suddenly draped back into his arms and went still.




OOC: I wasn't going to go that route.. but it sort of just typed itself onto the page XD

[Looshi]

She fainted. Fainted.

   Her dead weight was left in his arms as she fell unconscious, the barest of her mumbling echoing back across the tall ceiling. Her brown hair spun over his limbs, long and frizzy. She had a comely look to her, with the small spread of freckles over her sleeping face. But none of that mattered to Lorant in these few wavering moments. He was left in an awkward situation. He wasn't expecting being responsible for another being. He couldn't say human being, as he did not even begin to belong. He started to regret catching her, as her chest heaved up and down and her eyes closed without even the slightest intent on opening. But the obligation he had as a Brother of the Church required him to exercise kindness, Ansgar help him.

   Lorant moved tomes out of the way on the floor with his feet, uncaring for the damage that could be done to their brittle spines. He laid the girl down on the same kind of decorative rug that ran in all the aisles. He stared down over her, with a frown pulling at his thin lips.

"Wake up." He said, half-believing the force of his voice could herald her back to the land of the living. It didn't work. Obviously. He sighed and pulled back, siting against the shelf for a few moments before he decided he had done all he could. Still in deepest part of his being, the wolf wanted to hunt and the faint scent of magic hovered in there air so tantalizing he could not resist.

While the girl slept, Lorant stalked the aisles and began bringing his 'prey' to one of the back tables.

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It was after some time she finally awakened, blinking and then- gasping to her knees.

"Oh my goodness!" Artemis ran a hand frantically through her hair. "What on earth-" but then she noticed the scrolls on the floor,a nd her nose almost bled at the atrocity!  Scrambling to pick the things up, many scrolls in her hand, it was then she spotted the man from before and let out a noise, and all of the scrolls she had been scooping up off of the floor fell back towards her feet.

"You!" was all she said, voice echoing embarrassingly between them, gaining her stern looks from the other patrons of the library. She made a nervous smile towards them, hands smoothing back into her hair before she moved back to gather up the fallen scrolls, and once placed, more safely aside, she moved again towards were Lorant was now picking through the ancient scroll section.

"Um.. excuse me, excuse me, sir?" she said, meekly at first, but then she cleared her throat and tried to find her voice again, but the man was simply a trifle bit scary for her and well..
She had awkwardly fainted before him already. Flattening her lips, she tried again.
"Excuse me, sir?"S he approached him then paused to stand just a few feet away.
"This is the restricted section. You need a pass to come in here." and she stared at him for a while, hands clasped before her before carefully asking.
"Do... you have a pass?"

[Looshi]

   His fingers traced over the raised letters of the book he held in his hands. A smile was drawn on his lips; one of amusement and contentment. It reached up to his eyes in a way that was rare. The cover was rough and old, the sting of magic filled his nostrils as they flared, and his heartbeat quickened. This was one of them. In ancient days past there had been an enchantment on the pages of the tome. What kind, he couldn't say, all he knew was that there was. He liked to think he was better than a Mordecai, in many ways. They failed this library. He would be its saviour. The Bishop would be proud of him, he would.

   If Lorant had a tail to wag, it would be.

   He placed the book down on a back table where he kept piling the others; a dozen he had found stuck between others and often in dark corners of the aisles. He found it odd at where he commonly tracked them down, and was playing with theory that it was a magical web that drew whoever placed them to go to dank corners, away from prying eyes. Like a survival instinct. Magic was alive, just as mortals were.

   His ears twitched at every sound the library made; the soft turning of pages, the harsh coughs of elderly Brothers and Sisters of the Church - he wasn't alone in being of the cloth. It was a common sight in Uthlyn. Joining the Church of Ansgar often meant broadening your education. Lorant snorted at that thought. What little good it's done him.

   It wasn't until he heard her voice did his interest truly bloom. His hand paused in dragging a scroll out from its nesting place on a shelf. Lorant turned his head to see her demure form standing in the entrance of the aisle. He had ignored her first weak attempts in trying to grab his attention, but now she had it with the small muster of bravery.

   "No." He said bluntly, and resumed to take the scroll. He undid the twine and carelessly unrolled it. Old poems. Huh. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched her for a moment, then rolled the scroll back up. He didn't need a pass. Why would he? They were just books and parchment. It wasn't an armoury.

   "You should be happy," He said calmly, and moved to brush past her but stopped just short. He looked down his long nose at her, with a lopsided grin growing on his face. "I'm doing you a favour."

   Lorant continued on his way to the back table, and put the scrolls with the others. He was making a nice collection.

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Artemis flattened her lips, her face going long at the man's comment.  How very rude of him! She looked from him and then to the pile of books with a gasp.
"Be happy indeed! Look at all of the work you're setting up for me!" she placed her hands to her hips. "And just do you think puts all of these old books and scrolls away when you are through?"
Gasping, she noticed one of the parchments tearing as she rushed for it and began to fuss over it's wrinkled surface.
"Oh no, it looks like the scroll is cracking!" she griped, and began to roll it up within her hand with a sigh. "I suppose I'll go work on this repair.." she eyed the man suspiciously for a moment, then back to his pile of books and things.
"What are you doing, anyway? Are you looking for something specific?"
Really, the man should merely ask. She knew everything and anything about the books and scrolls in this library, after all! It was her job!

[Looshi]

He waved off her comments with a dismissive hand. Lorant hardly cared about the work he was causing her. It wasn't his priority to make her job easier, it was to do his job. But her voice pulled at the part of him that did care; that inch of human kindness that hadn't been beaten out of him. He almost felt guilty.

   Almost.

Lorant frowned as the girl moved to grab one of the scrolls he had gathered. His hackles would have raised protectively if he had any. His body would settle for sending a cold chill down his spine.

   "What am I doing?" He said, moving around her and grasping at one of the arm that held the scroll. With a minuscule amount of force he dragged it out of her hands, cracking the paper more.

   "I told you what I'm doing." He continued. A pride for his work filled him, and he felt the urge to tell her exactly what he was doing, just so she could stand in awe. "These things are tainted by magic. I'm finding and getting rid of them. What do you think the Mordecai would do to a librarian that kept magical books?"

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Artemis gave a gasp, then realized she was still standing close to them as she gasped again, hopping away with her hands held tightly against her chest, shoulders shrinking back.

"M-magic!?" she looked at him, face twisting, appalled at the very idea what he professed.
"In my library!?"  She could have fainted gain, but just found herself becoming ill. She wiped a hand down her face, groaning.  "You.. you can't be serious. You're.. you're joking, right?" she said, following after him as a cold sweat broke out about her face.
"You don't need to lie to me if you're just here for some extensive research," she added, then stared at his clothes.. and stared..and stared... and... stared.  There it was- a stitch.. a stitched mark of the...
She gasped and backed away, smacking her back off of the book shelf behind her and sending a few books toppling about her.

"You're.. you're a mage!"


OOC: If I've mistakenly assumed he wouldn't still be wearing the mark, I can fix it XD just lemme know!

[Looshi]

So over dramatic. But Lorant would have lied if he said he wasn't fond of people's outbursts. It made them afraid of him; and fear was a real and tangible way of getting what he wanted. He learned well from the Bishop, but whether that was a good or bad thing wasn't for him to say.

Lorant stared at her paling face and the way she fidgeted and struggled with her words; stumbling in disbelief. It was amusing, really. She acted like he was going to hurt her. Animal instincts he may have, but he knew better, and there were enough eyes in the library to rattle the cage.

As she bumped into the bookshelf behind her, he took a step forward. "No need for hysterics." He said casually.

"I'm a marked mage. It took you a while to notice." He paused, and pulled at the collar of his shirt. "But also a Brother of the church." People seemed to notice the mage part first, though.

"I won't call the Mordecai if you keep your mouth shut and let me do my job. Trust me. It's easier on both of us." He went to the back table once more, and laid down the scroll he had.

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Artemis clamped her mouth shut. Still, her eyes remained as wide as saucers as she stared at him, heart racing and beating inside her head. Then, slowly, as her mind crept back into reason, she began to look around- feeling sheepish, but also afraid. But it seemed most didn't pay them much mind as the library continued on with it's normality in relative silence.

It was then she turned back towards him,t hen to the pile of books.
"Perhaps, then, I shall notify the head master here of the library."S he frowned. "He will want to know and I'll have to properly catalog all the scrolls and old books you aim to scrap..."
Though she feared magic, and even shivered at the thought, she peered over sadly at the heaping pile of books he meant to destroy.
It seemed a shame they would suffer such a fate.

ANd who would have thought! Magic right under all of their noses!

[Looshi]

Poor girl, he couldn't help himself from thinking. Lorant shuffled the pile of books he had as she mumbled away in the background.

"No cataloguing." He said briskly. "Or, lie when you do."

His hands traced over the embossed letters, and down the worn spines almost lovingly. He had caught them. They were his. The wolf was appeased. But he knew in his logical mind that doing away with such ancient writings would be a tragedy for the Library. Lorant did have some smarts.

"Scribes." He voiced his thoughts out loud. "Copying the pages of these books won't copy the magic."

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Artemis stared at the man incredulously. Where did he think scribes would just appear from at such short notice?

"And you'd allow the library such time to find enough scribes for all of this?"s he said, voice almost cracking at the thought. She stared, almost in a panic, at the amount of things he had collected and appeared to pout.  "This could take years for it all to be preserved and if it's tainted by magic..."s he didn't want to think on those consequences! "And some of these scrolls are so old and brittle, not all scribes hired would know how to attend to them without ruining or breaking such transcripts."
She frowned, but could not think of any other way, eyes tracing across the pile of books before she turned back towards him and eyed Lorant warily.

"And just where are you from anyway?"s he demanded, feeling the need for him to justify it. What sort of church would send in a magic hunter, let alone a mage.. and were all mages this way? Able to just sniff out magics?

[Looshi]

"W-well..." He was rendered speechless, and he inwardly flinched at his own ignorance. Lorant didn't know how libraries worked, or how books were taken care of, and it was painfully obvious. It was never something he had to worry about. The girl had to fret about it. But, he was making the trouble. Glanced away from her awkwardly, and set to watching his hand play with the twine that kept a scroll rolled together.

He wasn't heartless. That was his problem.

The itch of the hunt was still there, and he could feel it right up from the palms of his hands, yet the young woman was insistent on keeping him here by asking questions. Smart girl.

"Vestalla." He said simply, and moved to brush past her to continue on with his work. He didn't have time for idle banter. There was something in the library that called to him stronger than anything else. And he wanted to find it.

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Artemis's face twisted at his reply.
"Vestalla?" Seeing him move away, she moved light on her feet to follow.
"And you didn't answer my other inquiries!" She said, hands to her hips. Really, were all mages like this!? Despite her fearing him, she ALSO feared the wrath of the head of the library (also known as her boss) and found it still alarming he hadn't come out of his office to see what was going on.

"What am I to tell the Head Librarian about all of this? He will be furious with me as he would be with you. And under what real authority do you have to go around, digging through all of these books, seeking them out and aiming to destroy them? They are all properly coded and the reports are tallied monthly and the nobleman council who delivers our funds will want to know why our book and scroll count had some sudden terminations on sequences of... of well, well, you know, over they fact that they are, cursed with magic and the like."

Her eyes naturally went to the patch on his clothes, then quickly averted, feeling embarrassed for staring before her brown eyes flickered over to him.

"Do you have the paper work I could at least use as a presentation towards the head librarian?" Really, if he at least had that, the chaotic turmoil that would ensue could being more properly ..
and if not..
well....

She didn't rightfully know where they would all have to begin!
But the authorities would not be happy- neither their patrons, especially the master and keeper of the library.

"And could you.. you at least be  a bit more careful in handling of these books and scrolls? They should be treated with care, like you would a knew born child who is fragile. You could be ruining ancient history and you wouldn't even know it!"

[Looshi]

   Were all librarians like this? As he walked, she followed close behind him in his shadow. Her voice was beginning to ache in his ears, and he wanted her to close her mouth more than anything. Lorant's restraint faltered slight, he caught a growl in his throat. The wolf wanted her to simper down as much as he did, it seemed. She wasn't as annoying as Sister Eliza with her shrill voice echoing through the high arches of the Church, he had to admit. She was younger then, and he had been the bane of her existence as a small boy. Now her body was aging and crumpling against time itself.

   Time would do him a great favour if it sped up for this girl. But no amount of wishing would make it true. He thanked Ansgar for his training as a Brother. He was by no means a gentle man, he had his moments but they were rare, but he could fake it like the rest of them.

   Lorant slowed his steps until he came to a halt, and ran a hand across the stubble on his chin. The moon and Ansgar were testing him. And he wasn't about to fail.

   He put his hands on the girl's shoulders, softly squeezing them in reassurance.

"I am here in Uthlyn on the wiles of Bishop Richard Gilroy." He said, staring down at her. His gaze was no more calming than the sharp hawkishness of his nose. "He will handle your head librarian. Consider this official Church business. Do you want to get in the way of that?"

   He assumed her answer would be no, despite her obvious lack of wanting to cooperate.

   "Sweet child," He was really laying it on thick. "Worry not. I, Brother Lorant of the Church of Ansgar won't let anything more befoul this place."

   Lorant let go of her, and his arms dropped to his sides. With a sigh that sounded more irritated than he would have liked, he continued: "I will be more careful."  God help him.

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Her stomach went cold when he informed her his authority. No, it would do no one any good to oppose the church, and for it, she frowned.  But as him condemning her as a child, really! Her cheeks gave way to blush. Well, she was rather young, but even still, she ought to be respected none the least as she gave a haughty look, but kept her own pride in check, eyes softening at his last comment when he seemed to submit to her inquiry of well, being more careful, at least.

She nodded to that, dropping her gaze a bit bashfully.

"Thank you."
And she went awkwardly silent for a time before raising her head and clearing her throat.
"Well, is there something I might be able to assist you with?" Really.. she.. just couldn't find it in her heart to walk away from those poor scrolls, and her heart went out to them, as if they were a precious child, a precious child to her whom, only until now, a mother had been ignorant of on their second face...

It was still hard to digest.. Really, all of these books were cursed with magic? There was quite a pile and her eyes went a little wide as they swept over it, but then Artemis quickly returned her gaze back to his and stared at him, almost meekly, timidly so and awaited his response.

[Looshi]

He had to hold himself back from playing a smirk on his lips when he saw the blush rise on the girl's cheeks. He was embarrassing her, wasn't he? The 'child' remark was most likely the culprit. It always felt odd on his tongue, and even now it left a metaphorically bitter distaste in his mouth.

"No need to thank me." He said, but Lorant was thinking the exact opposite. She should thank him; he was not obligated to make any sort of effort to be careful. He would be regretting his choice of words if they had not worked to calm the young woman down from her frazzle. It was worse than the horses, honestly.

He followed her eyes as they flicked towards the table where he piled everything he gathered. What was going through her head? That some dragon would reach out beyond the realms and snatch them in its greedy claws? Not likely. Everyone who has been read the child's tales knew that dragons didn't read.

"You can carry them." He said, "Please." He added almost as an after thought.

The library echoed with his heavy footfalls as he continued on with his search. No doubt the girl would think him odd as he placed his nose near the covers of the books and took in deep breaths. He really was sniffing them out.

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Artemis blinked.

Carry his books? She lifted her head, the blush still there and blinked again.
"Oh.. ok." she looked away. She was rarely asked to follow someone around to carry books before, most of the time she was just simply asked questions, then the majority of the time she was coding, cataloging and storing things away. Keeping a tidy library meant for a happy library.

So, begrudgingly, she moved forward, feet feeling like led as she walked behind him, shivering only after the had past the drafty doorway that lead to the lower bowels of the library. But she kept up, and well, made good for what he requested, but she seemed distracted, only half paying attention to what Lorant was doing as her mind kept chewing over the fact that-
were these books really magical!? Were they cursed!? and would htey really have to get rid of them all!?