[ORP] University Library

Where the people from the towns can meet and interact
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Yersin
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[ORP] University Library

Post by Yersin »

[OOC: Everyone is free to join me in this thread, and I mean everyone, Bravian, not Bravian, PC, NPC, anything goes. Whether you want to interact (I know and respect not everyone likes interacting with NPCs as much as I do) or just roleplay your character doing other library related things, I'll be happy to read all of it, and I hope others will, as well.]

The great library of the University of the Republic Bravia was a magnificant building, with spiral stairs and rows upon rows of books, as far as the eye could see.
What few creatures knew, was that the building also had an extensive cellar, where most of the older as well as the more secret and dangerous books and scrolls were kept.

Here, in one of the many corridors, a brown rat had found a new home for himself and his friends. On a bed of shredded book pages lay one of these friends, who had recently given birth to a litter of cute little rat pups. The male brown rat was not the father, but he did consider it his duty to make sure the new mother and her young, as well as the rest of his friends, wanted for nothing when it came to food. Because of this, he was known amongst his friends as Food-bringer.

Food-bringer was different from the others. For one, he was much older. Ancient. Almost fifteen years old. And still, he looked like any rat of one, maybe two years old. However, the biggest difference between Food-bringer and the other rats was that he was a shapeshifter, able to turn himself into a human boy. Legends said that he was born as a boy, abused by his father, locked under the floor enough times to befriend the rats scurrying there. Until one day, he managed to turn into one of them and escaped together with them.*
Food-bringer rarely spoke about that part of his past, but all the more about the many exciting adventures he had experienced since, together with the grandparents and great-greandparents and even further removed ancestors of his current friends.

Take the father of the newborn rat pups, for example. He went by the name of White-nose because of the distinct white patch of hair around his nose. Amongst his ancestors was Light-one, a rat that had apparently been completely white. Every single hair on her body. Food-bringer's friends always squealed in surprise when he would first tell them about her. She had been one of his best friends, with a past as dark as she was white. An evil sorceror had used her and her entire family to experiment with dark magic. She had managed to escape and had learned to live as a true street rat. The story made White-nose proud of the patch around his nose, and he wondered if any of his pups would have white patches as well, once their hair would start growing.

The library was a peculiar choice of home for a rat like Food-bringer. As a boy, he had lived in the camp of the Roma woman Scarlet for a while. The woman took a liking to him and tried her best to teach him how to read. But even though he could now read a little, it took him a lot of effort and he hated it. He didn't care about the many books in the library. All he had been looking for was a place dry and warm for himself and his friends. And a place big enough to allow him to shift to his human form. Their previous home after leaving the Roma camp had been the abandoned cellar in a street full of leather tanners. The cellar frequently flooded in winter and was nasty, even for rat standards. The space underneath the library was a big improvement.

*See also this thread, third post, for more details, but only if you feel like it ;)
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Yersin
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Re: [ORP] University Library

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It was late when, one day, Food-Bringer returned from a visit to the tavern. As a human boy, he enjoyed ale and a chat with the humanoids, some of which he befriended. Most times, they were kind enough to provide him with food and a few drinks. But as soon as he returned home, he would prefer to travel as a rat. It was faster and much safer than walking around as a lone street kid after sunset.
Varann, one of his new friends, had accepted his help with a seemingly very important mission. Xi had lost a good friend and the rats, with their superious sense of smell, might be able to locate him. Food-bringer - or rather the boy Yersin, as was his name amongst the humanoids - had stuffed a shirt from the missing man in his pocket, before shifting into his rat form to return home.

Once in his home underneath the library, Food-Bringer turned into Yersin and pulled out the shirt from his pocket, letting his friends smell it.
My friend in the tavern would like for us to find the owner of this clothing, Yersin said in a series of ultrasonic sounds that made up the rat language. Not-male-or-female is good to us and they gives us food. I'd like to help, he said, translating Varann's name to something that would make sense to his rat friends.
The friend agreeds, and so the next couple of days, they searched the greater Cork area, followed by the greater Bravia area, followed the other neighbouring cities. In each city, they asked local rat groups for help, always with the promise of food for reward. Some agreed to help, others told them to get the hell out of their city - in so many words, because none can throw insults like street rats can.
Soon enough the shirt was ripped to shreds, every group taking a piece in order to search for the missing man.
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Yersin
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Re: [ORP] University Library

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Yersin disliked most books, but the Book of Maps was different. At first, he had struggled to comprehend how the colourful lines, patches and little drawings represented places that actually existed, but after browsing through the book for nights in a row, he began to comprehend how the green bits meant forest, the blue meant water and the dark with words next to them meant towns.
Whenever he received word from one of the rat groups, Yersin tracked the movements on the map as best as he could, using a pencil he took from a librarian's desk drawer. Rats didn't use humanoid terms to describe their surroundings, so Yersin had to translate their experiences, which were mostly auditory and olfactory in nature, into the visual information used on the maps. Several times he messed up, mistaking one forest for another or miscalculating the size of a town based on the intensity of the stench of humanoid waste.

Then one day, he received word that one of the groups up north had managed to find the missing man Varann was looking for. Combining their descriptions of the immediate surroundings and the information he found on the map, Yersin pinpointed the location as Amara, an orchard town in viceroyalty Muria. He took a note meant for the man and brought it to the next town over, where it was picked up by another rat.

A few weeks passed, and then one of Yersin's friends brought him a note that had clearly travelled between many rats' teeth. Yersin struggled with reading and tried to avoid it as much as he could, but this was important enough for him to make the effort. It was clear from the content that this was indeed the man Varann was looking for. He made his way to the tavern to give her the valuable information.
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Yersin
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Re: [ORP] University Library

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Varann had been very pleased with the information. It wasn't easy for Yersin to translate the directions his friends had given him into language humanoid creatures could understand, as it was mostly pertaining to sounds and smells rather than visual information. But he managed and Varann knew where to go. Yersin wasn't sure if xi actually would go, because xer health didn't seem to great. Yersin hoped xi would take good care of xerself. It didn't seem like xer lost friend wanted to be found, anyway. At least he had written as much in the note.

Varann had become a good friend of Yersin. But this man xi often hang out with, Thartis, not so much. For some reason, the partners of his friends tended to dislike him. The same happened in the past with miss Scarlet and mister Rieron.
Thartis had created a bowl of steaming risotto for himself. The smell was irresistible, so going by instict, Yersin had made an attempt to grab the bowl and take a few handfuls of it for himself. But Thartis had prevented it and so had the barmaid Idunno, throwing him out of the tavern. When he got back in, Thartis made a new bowl and put it in front of Yersin. Grateful, he had dug in, and then he had shared some with miss Elisa, because she was such a friendly young lady and she looked like she could appreciate some more to eat.
But mister Thartis started laughing and talked about teaching them a lesson. Immediately, Yersin knew the food had been poisoned! He had made himself throw up, and miss Elisa as well, but it was too late.
Yersin had dealt with an inconveniently upset stomach for several hours, and for several hours more, he had smelled of lavender soap! As much as his friends loved him, they couldn't deal with that smell and had banned him from their home underneath the library until the sickness passed. But they promised they would aid him in his revenge on Thartis.
Varann

Re: [ORP] University Library

Post by Varann »

the shadow raised up and took on varann's form as xie stepped out of the shadows and into the cellar. quietly xie moved to the area where the restricted scrolls were kept and began to pick the lock. espite this varann was keeping xer ears open for the familiar sounds of yersin in rat form hoping he was about today as xie wanted him to go with xer to help get xer friend back. even if he didnt go with it would be nice to see him and give him the food xie promised him and his 'gang' i mean he idnt have to go to all this trouble for xer friendship or not this was more then xie expected.
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Yersin
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Re: [ORP] University Library

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The revenge on Thartis hadn't been easy, but Yersin, or rather Food-bringer, had eventually managed to bite the man's ear. Sadly, one of his friends has gotten caught in a trap but she survived had her leg had healed. Yersin had also brought miss Elisa a necklace he found on the ground after Cork market had cleared up for the day, to make sure they could still be friends after she accidentally got poisoned because Yersin had shared Thartis' bad food with her.

Some time later, during one of his nightly strolls through the library, Food-bringer halted when he picked up a familiar scent. It was his friend Varann. Excited, he scurried off following the scent until he found her picking the lock of a door leading to one of the restricted areas. He squeaked in greeting and as soon as xi would notice him, he ran off to where he knew a crack in the wall to be, leading straight into the room. Varann knew some magic and Food-bringer thought xi might use it to follow him. If not, he'd wait inside for xer to finish picking the lock.
Varann

Re: [ORP] University Library

Post by Varann »

Smiles faintly and steps through the shadows after Yersin and places xer bag down before rummages through the scrolls.
"Help yourself there is lots of food in there for you and your friends. There is also an old blanket in there as well which you csn have figured if you tore it up it would make some good bedding"
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Yersin
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Re: [ORP] University Library

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Once inside the room, Food-Bringer scurried off behind a pile of books to take a moment needed to concentrate to shift into a boy. Yersin emerged from behind the books, smiling at Varann.
"Thanks, Varann! They's gonna be very happy." He looked inside the bag, mouth watering as he studied the content. "I think you better give it to me outside the room though, cause otherwise I'll has to run back and forth like, to get everythink through that crack in the wall."

He grinned, then came up to xer, curious as to what xi was doing. "What you looking for, then?"
Varann

Re: [ORP] University Library

Post by Varann »

Xie stops look through the scrolls for a and turns to face Yersin. For moment there is a small hint of sadness in xer face but then its gone and there is a faint smile "Just returning a few scrolls and gathering some more. I made a Brem a promise to give him wings again and I hope if we do meet again that he'll let me do it....even if he leaves again I at least know I've given him that choice. Anyway thats what i need the scrolls for. They tell me how to give a demon its wings back"
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Yersin
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Re: [ORP] University Library

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Yersin listened, nodding. It was clear to him that Varann really wanted to find this man who didn't want to be found. At least, that's what he claimed in his letter.

"So he be a demon? That not dangerous?" Yersin had never actually seen a demon, but he had heard about them. "How did he lose his wings then?"

Yersin himself had once lost a finger. A rat from a rival gang had bitten him and when the wound got infected, he got very sick. One of his humanoid friends had cut off the finger to make sure he wouldn't die. And months later, a witch had made it grow back for him.
Maybe this Brem demon man lost his wings through an infection and Varann was like a witch and would make them grow back. It must be weird for a creature that can fly, to lose their wings and not be able to fly any longer. No wonder he was in a bad mood, Yersin thought.
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