Betty Beelzeboop
Wheezing Werewolf
Guildhall Ward: The Dark Swan <<<
What passed for a chilled wind in this place cut through the city like a dull, shaking knife. It rattled windows and bent trees, their bowing hedges shaking loose small torrents of leaves almost unnoticeable among the trash that kicked up from the streets. It was a cool, grey evening, but bearable apart from the wind. Dusk broke apart the cityscape with dim beams of twilight seeping through the clouds. The city was calm..relatively speaking.
It was when Sigil seemed most at peace that the Swan found itself an epicenter of life and varied commotion. The halls of the guild were vibrant with the sounds of what some called love and others profit. And when the windows rattled that liveliness only grew in collective volume. It seemed the only solitude to be found was either at the altar of Novalha or the guild mother’s office. Suffice to say, if anyone was going to take advantage of either of these quiet corners, it was the guild mother herself.
Lovi had stolen away to her personal office after having seen to some clientele of her own. Shrouded in a red robe with her hair soaked through from a post-transaction shower, she wasn’t of a mood to absorb the sights and sounds of the Swan that evening.
The office itself was lined wall to wall with shelves of books, most of which had been there long before the Dark Swan came into being. One of the few rooms that remained untouched by any destructive ‘guests’, the office had never been remodeled. The electrical cords to that end of the building were still quite old and the fixtures dim.
She shut the door quietly behind her, the latch itself never quite clicking into place. The carpet itched the soles of her feet as she crossed from the door to the far end of the room where a fire place stood boldly apart from the rest of the setting. Maybe starting a small blaze would improve the lighting a bit. To think, of all places to have installed better fixtures, this one had somehow slipped her attention. Go figure.
After having seen to the fireplace, Lovi wandered the office in search of something to set her mind off of life’s little complications and the dreams that had been plaguing her of late. The collection was vast, and most of them seemed so old they might simply crumble if ever moved from their dusty catacomb of shelves. But there were still some that seemed sturdy, if a little dry in content. She trailed her fingertips from spine to spine until she felt lettering embossed upon one of them. She plucked it from its tightly packed perch and read the title aloud.
“A Comprehensive Guide to the Universe and Beyond..” she seemed almost remiss in her decision even as she was speaking. Well this wouldn’t do. She hardly maintained a steady comprehension of this damned city. How was she supposed to venture from that to knowledge of the very universe?
She closed the rather large tome with that dampened clap and sent the book straight back to the shelf. It sounded like it might have been philosophical guide self-fulfillment or some s**t anyway. She tried again, this time picking a book that seemed extraordinarily new in contrast to the others.
“Miss Valentine’s Knight?” she questioned the title as she examined the pastel painted cover art. Well, it seemed Hannah had taken it upon herself to stock some of her personal reading material in the Madame’s private office. She would have to have a talk with both of the Hannahs later. Despite her irritation with the matter, she was more confused than annoyed by the discovery. Why would a courtesan have need for harlequin novels?
This time she just tossed the book over her shoulder and moved on to the very next one in line. The next one actually held her interest.
“Tales of Inana..” She cracked the cover and started right into the first chapter. Well, it wasn’t a chapter, really. The book seemed to be a collection of stories, though they adhered to some kind of chronological order and all told of a supernatural being called, of course, Inana.
This would do, she thought. Having found an agreeable companion for the moment, she took to her chair and propped her bare feet onto her desk. It wasn’t like she used the overbearing piece of furniture for anything especially useful otherwise. With a contented sigh, she leaned back, reopened the book and read..
What passed for a chilled wind in this place cut through the city like a dull, shaking knife. It rattled windows and bent trees, their bowing hedges shaking loose small torrents of leaves almost unnoticeable among the trash that kicked up from the streets. It was a cool, grey evening, but bearable apart from the wind. Dusk broke apart the cityscape with dim beams of twilight seeping through the clouds. The city was calm..relatively speaking.
It was when Sigil seemed most at peace that the Swan found itself an epicenter of life and varied commotion. The halls of the guild were vibrant with the sounds of what some called love and others profit. And when the windows rattled that liveliness only grew in collective volume. It seemed the only solitude to be found was either at the altar of Novalha or the guild mother’s office. Suffice to say, if anyone was going to take advantage of either of these quiet corners, it was the guild mother herself.
Lovi had stolen away to her personal office after having seen to some clientele of her own. Shrouded in a red robe with her hair soaked through from a post-transaction shower, she wasn’t of a mood to absorb the sights and sounds of the Swan that evening.
The office itself was lined wall to wall with shelves of books, most of which had been there long before the Dark Swan came into being. One of the few rooms that remained untouched by any destructive ‘guests’, the office had never been remodeled. The electrical cords to that end of the building were still quite old and the fixtures dim.
She shut the door quietly behind her, the latch itself never quite clicking into place. The carpet itched the soles of her feet as she crossed from the door to the far end of the room where a fire place stood boldly apart from the rest of the setting. Maybe starting a small blaze would improve the lighting a bit. To think, of all places to have installed better fixtures, this one had somehow slipped her attention. Go figure.
After having seen to the fireplace, Lovi wandered the office in search of something to set her mind off of life’s little complications and the dreams that had been plaguing her of late. The collection was vast, and most of them seemed so old they might simply crumble if ever moved from their dusty catacomb of shelves. But there were still some that seemed sturdy, if a little dry in content. She trailed her fingertips from spine to spine until she felt lettering embossed upon one of them. She plucked it from its tightly packed perch and read the title aloud.
“A Comprehensive Guide to the Universe and Beyond..” she seemed almost remiss in her decision even as she was speaking. Well this wouldn’t do. She hardly maintained a steady comprehension of this damned city. How was she supposed to venture from that to knowledge of the very universe?
She closed the rather large tome with that dampened clap and sent the book straight back to the shelf. It sounded like it might have been philosophical guide self-fulfillment or some s**t anyway. She tried again, this time picking a book that seemed extraordinarily new in contrast to the others.
“Miss Valentine’s Knight?” she questioned the title as she examined the pastel painted cover art. Well, it seemed Hannah had taken it upon herself to stock some of her personal reading material in the Madame’s private office. She would have to have a talk with both of the Hannahs later. Despite her irritation with the matter, she was more confused than annoyed by the discovery. Why would a courtesan have need for harlequin novels?
This time she just tossed the book over her shoulder and moved on to the very next one in line. The next one actually held her interest.
“Tales of Inana..” She cracked the cover and started right into the first chapter. Well, it wasn’t a chapter, really. The book seemed to be a collection of stories, though they adhered to some kind of chronological order and all told of a supernatural being called, of course, Inana.
This would do, she thought. Having found an agreeable companion for the moment, she took to her chair and propped her bare feet onto her desk. It wasn’t like she used the overbearing piece of furniture for anything especially useful otherwise. With a contented sigh, she leaned back, reopened the book and read..
