central_librarymods | Test Drive Meme

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The Central Library

Test Drive Meme

You are in The Central Library… anything can happen here. In fact, the possible can become actuality while you stay here. Things are always changing. Some for the better, some for the worst… it really all depends on one thing. You.

Take a look around, visit the worlds through the book portals, and slowly bring it back to life. The more you do, the better life will get. But be wary, not everything is a fun story and not everything is harmless. Sometimes you will have your life at stake and others you will simply have to enjoy your stay.

You can use RNG to pick a scenario below… or you can pick your own! Whatever delights your fancy and makes you feel at home within the walls of The Central Library.

1. Arrival – You wake up in the main hall. The reception desk is behind you and you know you heard someone whispering “Save us” in your ear… but where are you? The hall gleams and there are many doors amongst the shelves of books. It is rather huge and a walkway circles a second floor… where are you? Well… you might want to ask.

2. Market Place – The Central Library has turned the large conference room into an open gateway to a market place. It shifts and changes along with the Library, but food is always available to those living there as long as the portal is open. Step into a Parisian market of modern day, an open market of the Dark Ages, or even a trading post in the Old West. Go shopping, take a stroll… your imagination is your only limit.

3. Go Out to Dinner – There aren’t many places to go out to eat in The Central Library, in fact, it is best to keep food to the living quarters. But when you go through portals in events, you experience whole new worlds from every era and every place. Possibly you may sit in at the Mad Tea Party or even dine in the Great Hall at Hogwarts. You pick. You decide…

4. Non-Fiction Immersion – It’s raining. Inside. You’ll find that Non-fiction has a way of ruining your day to day life in the Library. Some book in the Non-fiction section has burst open letting out a monsoon of types that only gets worse as you get to that section. Find it, close it… or we all just might float away.

5. Fiction Invasion – Sometimes things slip through. Little things or big things. After all, monsters do hide in the dark corners and in some sections of the grand structure. But this time… the problem is small, small size that is. Pixies have invaded. They are troublesome things… they love to cause problems and make life a little miserable. You need to catch them before they steal you blind… and possibly cause you too much mischief. You may need a net… but please, try not to kill them.

6. Cleaning is Necessary – You are stuck here, you might want to make it home. Being in such disrepair, it needs a little love and care. I’m sure the janitor’s closets have some tools and no harm in trying to pick up books and shelve them. Just be careful… they are rather testy about where they go.

7. A posse ad esse – Anything is possible. This is your Wild Card. Have fun with it!

This Test Drive is Closed. A new Test Drive will be posted soon.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Putting aside the fact that I'm talking to a pushy elf that believes a being's form is their only measure of worth..." the Cat snarked, lashing his tail angrily. Oh... this one could be difficult. Another being who saw importance in similarities to the humanoid form. Why anyone would assume such a structure was the most useful was beyond the Cat's comprehension. Felines were a sleeker, more useful form.

Black fur bristled at the mere thought of the more dangerous books being opened by just anyone without thought of the possible consequences. "I am one of the rightful owners of these books." The Library was the Head Librarian's domain but the Cat was his equal in most things, including being guardian of what resided in the volumes stored within their home. "Negotiations would also include the Head Librarian."

The growl eased and the Cat's fur smoothed as he considered the elf's logic. Perhaps in some worlds it would make sense but the Library had its own set of rules that must be followed. Canting his head to one side, he couldn't help being amused by the idea of time. Such things did not matter in the Library. Time was relative in ways that most beings could not comprehend, especially in this place.

With a languid swish of his tail, the Cat turned and studied the shelves. "If you insist that you must be given access to the books, then I will allow you to study one of my choosing to see how you treat our collection." Selecting the correct book, he jumped onto the shelf, pleased that one from Non-Fiction had been left in this area. Pawing the book closer to the edge of the shelf, he gently butted his head against the cover until it fell open.

The air around it suddenly felt moist, like ocean spray had suddenly surrounded the bookcase. Stepping away from volume, the Cat climbed to one of the higher shelves, lightly shaking salt water from his whiskers. Then, something began to slip from the pages. Tentacles slithered out, reaching out of the book toward open air, feeling around at whatever was nearby with suckered limbs, the squid curious about the new environment that it had been given access to. "Remember that books are sacred here and so are what resides inside. Neither can be damaged."

One of the rightful owners. Well, V supposed the Order Of The Stick had seen stranger things than a cat owning books. After all, had Blackwing not proven that sometimes animals can posses exceptional qualities? And of course, Belkar proved that being roughly humanoid did not indicate any intelligence what so ever.

V would have commented on that, but the cat kept speaking. Well, V hated to be cut off, so was restrained so as to not impose upon another here.

When the offer was made, V's mouth opened once again for words of gratitude, but then, seeing the can manipulate the book, V stopped.

A tricky conundrum, that. Assist in fetching the book to show proper reverence for the tome, or allow the cat to struggle as some small petty act of revenge for how the cat was speaking.

The latter was tempting. Very. But the love of books triumphed over even revenge, especially when the cat had not yet built up any lasting quantity of animosity, as had one Bitterleaf.

However, for V life was not quite so binary as to presume only two answers to a question, in this case, protect the book or let the cat suffer. With a sufficient store of arcane knowledge at one's fingertips, there were always other answers.

As a matter of course, one of V's spells, prepared during the last trance, was Featherfall. V stood ready to cast the spell if needed, to rescue the book. Thankfully it seemed not to be required. Still, V had been amused for a brief time.

V watched as the book opened, with some fascination as the sensations other than those expected wafted out. V had started to approach, until the first tentacle appeared.

"The Snarl? Here?!" Now the book had V's FULL attention. "That was a gate? And you opened it so casually?" V stood ready to fight the creature the world was created to trap.

The Cat could have used his powers to open the book but considering the situation in the Library that seemed wasteful. Better to be prepared for some emergency than to use his abilities just to open a book. Especially when he may need to show V that he really was more than a simple cat that had learned a trick or two.

He knew that he probably looked foolish as he opened the book but the Cat wasn't concerned with that. There was only one being whose opinion mattered and as long as he believed the Cat was a worthy companion and caretaker the Cat was satisfied.

It also helped that the Head Librarian allowed him to let surprises like a giant squid wiggle into the Library - supervised of course - to illustrate why the books were so important.

Hunkering down, the Cat purred to himself as the tentacles began sliding over wood or waving in the air. As long as the Non-Fiction Librarian was near, the creature wouldn't create too much mischief. It might ink someone though if a being frightened the squid.

"It is not the Snarl." Looking down, the Cat dangled a paw toward the tentacles. When one of them was close enough, he batted at it lightly. "That is a squid. A gate is not a completely accurate description but it will suffice. This Library protects the books, the knowledge of the worlds, within its walls. That is why they are more dangerous than what is found in most libraries."

"You are saying that all of the tomes here are actually... entries to other worlds, other universes? That all this time... we have been..."

V stepped back as the enormity of that struck.

"Sir Greenhilt, I must inform Sir Greenhilt at once!"

"A portal is a simplification of what the books are. They are far more than gates to other worlds. You were brought her by the Head Librarian to help protect both the volumes here and the Library itself."

Touching his paw to the tentacle, he sat up, looking sternly at V. "You are thinking too rigidly and assuming that the Library's knowledge is meant for all." His ears flattened at the thought. "Knowledge must be gained by hard work and perseverance not dropped into someone's lap simply because they were brought here."

"Knowledge comes from hard work and perseverance," V agreed. "But that work starts with reading books, studying them, processing what has been read, experimenting, open discussion among mental peers - finding such peers can often be the largest effort in the whole undertaking - forging notes, referencing back to the original text, writing up your findings, then revisiting the original texts to check validity."

"Not for one moment did I think that simply opening a tome entitled me to knowledge. I, if you will pardon the distasteful pun, acknowledge, that accumulating the sort of wisdom worth having takes time and effort."

"And at the moment, what I most need to learn more about, and rapidly so as can be done without further misconstrued notions, is how these portals work, precisely, and as you said that gates are not the most apt term, what nomenclature should, in fact, be employed in this venue."

"Access to these books is carefully guarded. Knowledge from one reality cannot cross into another. Even if one is willing to work for that knowledge, the balance cannot be disrupted." That was something the Cat held sacred. Knowledge could corrupt, could destroy entire worlds if it was used incorrectly or before a world was ready for that advancement. "Some of these books can be read like normal volumes and others..."

Pausing, the Cat jumped down to stand next to the book. Giving the book a stern look, the tentacles withdrew with one disappointed wave before receding back to their proper place. The Cat closed the cover by gently batting his paw against the faded leather. "Others such as this are to be treated carefully so that things like the squid do not escape."

Sighing, the Cat settled into a rigid pose. "You are not here to complete research for your world. You were asked to come here to help repair the Library and protect its contents. If that is not the task you wish to perform, then you must return to your home." Curling his tail around his paws, he studied V for a moment. "This duty is important for all realities, all worlds, not just your own. The books are more than they seem. Consider all that such a book might be connected to when the contents of worlds can spill from one to another. Each book is a smaller part of a much larger whole."

"The task set before my party also seems to touch upon the fate of multiple worlds. That is precisely why when I found myself here, I was hoping to research the reality behind the anomaly. Clearly the narrative provided to us by the paladins in Azure City was flawed at best, at worst it was an outright lie."

"We were told that the gates were to be protected at all cost because they guarded the world against the Snarl."

V stood stock still, staring right ahead. As if waiting for something.

"This task was not set up by the paladins in your Azure City. This was a request made by our Head Librarian." Perhaps he should discuss this with V instead of the Cat. He didn't seemed to be making the necessary progress.

"The Snarl is not here at this time." In a sense it was but as long as the book was kept whole and closed the Snarl would not be a problem.

Giving V a curious look, he tried to find what the elf was staring at. "At least the Snarl should not be here unless you have somehow summoned it." That could be possible, but doubtful if the Snarl could possibly harm the Library. The Head Librarian took precautions to stop such things from happening. "Is something wrong?"

V blinked several times, then frowned. "I was waiting for the flashback sequence to save me several lengthy panels of having to explain plot exposition that everyone else has already heard many times over. Perhaps done in crayon."

"Peculiar."

Now that was something that the Cat didn't expect. Blinking slowly he wonders if this perhaps was something that Fiction should have dealt with if she had been able. "Flashbacks do not happen here unless something has escaped from one of the books." That was something the Cat hoped would not happen but he would not dismiss the possibility.

"The Head Librarian and I understand that you have been given a task in your world. If you believe you must complete it, then you may return home. If you stay, you may learn something that may help your world, but the books are not a magical fix to whatever problems need to be solved. All who stay are expected to follow certain rules to help preserve all realities."

Pausing, the Cat glanced in the direction the bird had headed. "What is Blackwing up to?"

Hi, you just told a D&D Wizard that books are not a magical fix.

V is now starring at the cat oddly.

"Regardless," V said after a long moment. "It seems as though the missions are connected. So it would behoove you to listen to the full story, even if I must tire myself and everyone around me by reciting the whole sordid tale."

"Unless of course you would rather read all about it in the trade paperback editions of our adventures."

And usually this is where Sir Greenhilt or someone one else would give whoever said that a hard time for spending too many panels on merchandising and product placement.

He often walked the shelves. A sort of silent presence or shadow in the dim lighting of the decay and emerged into the more lighted and lighted portions of the library. He felt the gates open, knew another being crossed into this place.

Yet, he also felt the disturbance in his companion and found himself drawn to the meeting. With his height and stature, he loomed more than stood at the end of the aisle and took in the sight of the squid as well as the elf.

"What you know from your world does not apply here." He spoke in a quiet and accented tone that even caused the squid to stop moving a moment and almost listen to him. "What you learn here... whatever knowledge you acquire in this place... will not return with you to your home."

Folding his hands before him, he angled his head to meet V's gaze. "Rules. The expected you know. None of that will be here. If you are here for personal gain, you are not here for the task you are invited to undertake."

"I am already engaged in a quest to save the multiverse with one Sir Greenhilt, I am not certain that I see the benefit to anyone in dividing my attentions with a side quest that you yourself just admitted I will not be able to use to the advantage of our quest. My superior arcane knowledge is needed to stop the Snarl from destroying our, and possibly more than just our world."

"Now you come to me with a quest that seems much the same, with similar or higher stakes. If you wish this to work, I recommend you also enlist the aid of one Sir Greenhilt and one Miss Haley Starshine. If they believe that this is a worthy use of our time, then I shall lend my considerable aid, under one stipulation."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Test Drive Meme - closed

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I will have better icons if I app.

Icons aren't needed for apping :D

I know, but I want them for playing, lol

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