July 2021 - Light Reading

[staymods]

Light Reading

Over the last couple days, Mauri has taken some time to move an old desk and shelf into the town hall. Both have been cleaned up and set up against one of the walls, though they had remained empty until today.

But when a shipment of goods arrives, a small box can be found. This box isn't one of the normal ones, and is addressed to Mauri specifically. So he takes it, and he brings it over to the town hall. There is where he opens it, revealing 20 books on varying topics. Most of them are informational and contain quite a bit of knowledge about the world post-rash. An atlas of the Known World is among them, with population statistics and baseline information on all five countries available.

There is also a book with a bit of knowledge on the world prior to the rash, but it seems a little...well. Whoever wrote it was clearly operating on thirdhand information. But characters who read these books will be able to glean some important information from it: the Rash arrived in 2013 of the Old World's calendar, and within 10 years the world had changed to the state it is now. Cities crumbled, the population dropped dramatically, and information on the Rash and how it changed the world sounds pretty bleak. The information on the pages linked here (beyond canon-specific things, like "characters from this country", those aren't in the books) can be found in these books. Information on Finland and Iceland is the easiest to find, but characters can find things about the other three countries if they look long enough.

Also among the books is one on 'Trolls, Beasts, and Giants', and it has some interesting illustrations to say the least. All information from this page can be found in this book. There's no photographs in it, but there are plenty of stylized drawings of trolls to be found.

Among the other informational textbooks are a cookbook, a guide on fishing and trapping, a Finnish-Icelandic dictionary, and a basic survival guide. It seems like Mauri has doubts on everyone's survival skills.

Finally, there are two books that are not informational. One is a book of Scandinavian fairy tales, and the other is a collection of poetry. It's only a little bit, but there is some enrichment to be had here.

"Use these as you see fit," Mauri says to the group, "Just take care of them. Books are a precious resource."

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Comments

Questions for the NPC

[staymods]

If you need Mauri he can be found at the town hall. He's taking inventory of the books and setting them out on the shelf.

[relictus]

[At some point after he's had a chance to go through some books himself, he'll approach Mauri-]

If you have a moment, I have some questions regarding your world's magic.

[staymods]

Mmm? I can try to answer, but keep in mind that I am not a mage myself.

[relictus]

But you do have... mages. What can you tell me about them, and how magic is made use of here? I imagine there are limits to what they can do?

[At least, he can't imagine things would have gotten This Bad if they had access to the same level of magic he's used to.]

[staymods]

We do have mages, yes.

[He ponders this for a moment.]

I suppose I should start with the fact that there are two kinds of mages: Finnish mages and Icelandic mages. I'm guessing you want to know more about the former?

[He's assuming this since they are literally in Finland right now.]

[relictus]

[Finally, he can stop rereading manuals and half-burnt books-]

[Though it's still a limited selection, and as much as Faust would prefer to just scoop them up and make off with them to read elsewhere, he can be respectful and share. Though he may borrow one or two later...]

[For now, he'll sit at the desk to start taking a look through some of the books with information about this world. He pauses in particular to peer at some of those stylized illustrations of trolls with a frown.]

...I wonder how accurate these drawings are to the real thing...

[ghoulserrand]

[Teo is likewise investigating the books. Those were some of the few survivors of the old world, he found. So many things couldn't be used or played with electricity, but not books. Unfortunately, he'd never found the time to stop and raid a library. There was always a sense that he needed to hurry along before the rest of the world was gone.

He's drawn first to the atlas himself, wanting to have some scope of the world, even if its shrunken state breaks his heart. He also notes the fishing guide He'll need to borrow that later. He supposes he won't need to ask for help after all. Least useful to him is probably the cookbook, but he still stares at him, feeling a strange longing. Up until Faust grabs his attention.]

...Drawings...?

[He climbs up from the floor, moving around to peer over Faust's shoulder.

Even through the gaiter, the sharp pull of his breath is audible.]

[relictus]

[He glances up, faintly surprised to be disturbed- it's easier to ignore he's in a public space when focused on reading. He hears the sharp intake of breath, and can't help but wonder if Teo even needs to breathe at all. Probably not.]

[That aside,]

...Do these look familiar to you at all?

[Teo himself doesn't resemble these images, but do the "monsters" in his world look like this too...?]

[ghoulserrand]

N... No... Not...

[He shakes his head. He stares at the page, his horror hidden.]

Sometimes... there'd be... odd ones... caught in fire or... torn apart... Usually have to be... somewhat intact... to get up again... But sometimes... Worst ones.

[Maybe not the most dangerous, but certainly the worst to look at.]

These... they're mutated... They look... [Horrifying doesn't quite cover it.] Wrong.

[He taps the page, on the part about Trolls] ...The dark... that's the same... light hurts... cold means... stiffer...

...Do you think... it was time...? Or... that they... became this to start...?

[relictus]

[That hardly sounds pleasant either, but not mutated like this...]

...I'm not sure, but there's still more to read. It seems unlikely it's exactly the same as in your world, though.

[It's a sort of attempt at reassurance, though it's not as if either fate is preferable. He'd already suspected light was a problem for him, but not the cold... something to keep in mind when the weather turns.]

[He glances over to where Teo had been looking through some of the other books.]

Did you find anything noteworthy?

[aono]

[Rin is currently looking through one of the other books, but he stops to peek over when Faust says that.]

I dunno. I've seen trolls in my world before, but they still looked kind of human-shaped. These are way different.

[He's hoping it's not what they actually look like. That idea is horrifying.]

[relictus]

[He glances up from the book. Rin's world at least seems to have some form of magic, but he doesn't know much beyond that...]

Are the trolls in your world the result of a disease as well?

[aono]

Nah, they're just a kind of demon. No diseases involved.

[No point in hiding that part of his world here, since there's so many magic-users around.]

[relictus]

A demon... I see.

[Magic is fine and normal.]

It's hard to say if these creatures are magical in nature without seeing one myself... but it's hard to imagine a "normal" disease could lead to something that inspires illustrations like this. Still, this world is different enough, I suppose it's possible...

...Not that it matters much to us on this island, I suppose.

[ghoulserrand]

[OOC: Alternate Prompts Here]

Guess I'm... farther from home... than I thought...

[The comment comes after spying the date of the outbreak. He's not sure when exactly he lived-- and died for that matter-- but it was definitely closer to this old date than it is to whatever year now is.

He closes the book, sets it aside, and turns to the next one. He's already perused the atlas. The fishing book, he'll be picking that one up later. It's stupid and he knows it's stupid, but he tells himself if he just gives in to the impulse, it'll go away. So he picks up the cookbook. Every photograph of food is brightly lit, set in a charming displays. His fingers brush over the pages.]

[maidofmistakes]

There's a lot of stuff here, huh? [She looks it over carefully, barely touching one of the books.] It's nice of them to help us catch up on what they know.

[ghoulserrand]

[He looks up, then nods.]

It is... I could've... seen them... treating us like a danger... but instead...

[He gestures out at everything.]

I'm glad... this world hasn't... taken that... like bit of proverbial... humanity.

[maidofmistakes]

Yeah... you mentioned that before, right? How lots of people where you're from just get worn down by everything they've lost.

[aono]

[Rin is going to show up right about the time Teo picks up the cookbook, and he perks up in interest when he sees the cover.]

They sent one of those too?

[ghoulserrand]

[Oh! A young chef perhaps?]

looks... like it... [His head tilts.] Do you... cook?

[aono]

Yep! Learning how to cook here's been a challenge though, having a cookbook'll help a lot.

[He'll wait for Teo to finish with it though, he's not in any rush. It's not dinnertime yet.]

I know tons of Japanese recipes but there's not really the right ingredients here, you know?

[maidofmistakes]

[When the books come in, Supergirl waits in line to read them and pages through the world's history. She frowns with a shiver.]

I knew it was bad, but... whoa. One small thing could've done this to any one of our worlds.

[She looks off hollowly, shakes her head, and gets back to reading.

She seems to be in a better mood at the communal supper, though! You can find her talking with people, eating, and helping to light the campfire... with heat lasers that shoot out of her eyes. Well, it's practical.

At night, Supergirl runs into the town hall, skids to a stop, and shudders before she looks everyone over.]

Uh, nobody panic, but I think maybe we're haunted.

books

[aono]

Yeah?

[He's tried tackling the books already, but they're just so dense that he's having trouble getting through them.]

It sounds kinda like a zombie movie, you know?

[maidofmistakes]

It feels like a zombie movie. Or like one's happening in the background while we're trying to build a normal-ish life.

[aono]

Right? At least we're on an island so it's not like the zombies can get here easily, but it makes me wonder what's waiting for us out there.