Séance And Sprocket (A Steampunk-ish RP)

[Pilan]

She listened as Dennis told her about the Star's Eye, and frowned lightly. "...may be down on my luck, but I wouldn't waste my coin on gambling..." she started. "...but I suppose I could check it out if I need a drink."
After that was when Dennis's mother spoke to her about the other points of interest. Notably the port by the River, the mage family mansions across town, and the library up the street. "I see... thanks for the help," she replies, digging into her money pouch. "Here... you deserve this for the help," she says, giving the son and mother some coin. It wasn't much, perhaps enough for them to have a good meal for the night; but she felt they would appreciate the tip for their help.

[The Hearkened One]

"Sure," Tirellian replied before Gideon departed. The afternoon's events had yet to determine whether "Sure" meant "Not likely" or "I'm desperate enough to show an interest." Now on his own again, he set out to find a polisher's rag and a customer with dirty shoes and a heavy purse.
------------------------------
"Ooh!" the mother rubbed her thumbtip over the coins as though to ensure their authenticity. "Why, thankin' ya kindly!" She handed the coins to Dennis and picked her bucket back up off the ground.
"Awful big fortune for a lone lady to be carryin' around, but we sure do appreciate it," Dennis added. Pocketing the change, he picked up his wheelbarrow and the two started shambling away, discussing what form of feast their earnings would buy.

[Pilan]

The traveler gave a light nod to the pair, a soft smile on her face before she turned towards the city again; and once more being reminded of the fowl smell of the place. Pulling her traveling robe up again to block the smell, she started to travel through the city. Her first stop would be the Library the mother had mentioned, assuming it was still there. She did say it was supposed to just be up the street, after all.

[The Hearkened One]

The library up the street was little more than a loft. It lay at the top of a simple wooden staircase. The building below it, a general store of sorts, was seeing far more patronage than its counterpart above. With a sizeable portion of the noon hour still remaining, numerous people breaking for lunch used the hour's reprieve from their toils to make quick purchases at the general store. Several more were sitting on the planks and barrels outside, eating lunches out of tin lunch pails.

[Pilan]

The traveler wasn't blind to this, how the library seemed to be situated atop a General store; and how the store was getting more people coming in and out than the library. Then again, it was always possible there were people within the walls of the library reading. She wouldn't know just by looking, making for the stairs and heading up for the Library, keeping her traveler's robes near her nose to keep the stink of pollution out. Hopefully, things would smell better inside than out.

[The Hearkened One]

She was in luck, for past the bell hanging from the doorknob that jingled on her entry, she'd discover an aromatic scent only a combination of magic and incense could produce.
The library itself was nothing too impressive. There was a counter, and behind it two bookshelves reaching from floor to ceiling. A footstool sat at the bottom of a shelf for ease of reaching the books at the top. Not that there was much of a selection. Some shelves had only a few books, laying on their sides. Whether this was due to numerous borrowings or inadequate supplies to begin with remained unseen.
A bespectacled young man of his late teens or early twenties sat behind the counter reading. As soon as he heard the bell, he looked up and saw his single customer.
"Good day," he greeted.

((Think Shad from Twilight Princess.))

[Pilan]

She blinked at the sight she beheld. Sure, things smelled better; but there was barely anything left in here. Just two bookshelves, a handful of books, and apparently the only other soul within the building. "...good day..." she started. "...I'm confused... I thought this was supposed to be a library," she started, wondering where all the books were. She didn't remember much about libraries, but she was certain they were supposed to have a larger selection than this.

[The Hearkened One]

The young man sighed. "I did too, Miss. What you see here was a little experiment on our part," he explained. "The magic families in Arula keep most of the books to themselves, so we thought that if we provided a way for the common man to stay educated, well then, he might get the idea to aim for higher things in life." He fidgeted with the corner of his book's page. "Turns out that often the common man doesn't want to put forth the effort at the end of his day of toil and trouble. He's content to just drown his sorrows in drink and other frivolities." He turned to the bookshelves behind him. "As for the scarcity here, well...I guess I'm to blame for that. Loaning books out on an honor system they'd be returned seemed like a convenient courtesy at the time, but...well, you see."

[Pilan]

The traveler merely stood and listened to what the young man had to say, and supposed she could understand. In more ways than one if she really bothered to think about it. Yet she didn't, only to give a light sigh. "So I see... barely anything left..." she replies. "...so what books are left then? Anything about the city's history?"

[The Hearkened One]

He broke into a smile. Reaching under the counter, he retrieved a basket with an odd sampling of books. "I was gonna put these back on the shelves when we closed today. Lucky for you, someone did return just what you're looking for." Off the top of the stack, he picked a book on Arula's history and extended it to her.

[Pilan]

(that was fun, but I think this is last post for the night for me. got work in the morning.)

The traveler blinks, only to give a soft smile as she reaches out to pick up the book. For a moment, he could see the simple shirt and skirt hidden by the brown traveling robe. "Thanks," she says, looking over the book for a bit. "...is it okay if I read it here? This place smells better than the rest of the city."

[The Hearkened One]

((No prob. I don't usually stay up past 11 PM myself anymore. sweatdrop ))
"I'd be glad to have you as my guest, Miss...?" he trailed off, expecting a name.

[Pilan]

(was around midnight when you posted that, forgot we're an hour apart time zone wise)

"...Lily," she replies with a soft smile to the librarian, opening the book and scanning through it. She was going to look past what she may consider boring stuff, only focusing on interesting information about the town or whatever information sparks something with her memories. Things she may find interesting may revolve around who the mage families may be as well as how Arula came to be.

[The Hearkened One]

A nod. "I'm Nathan. Holler if you need anything else, alright Lily?" He sat down and returned to his book.

[Pilan]

Lily gave him a nod. "I'll be sure to do so," she replies as she continues to read through her book. So far, nothing was catching her eye just yet, though she was taking notes of when the town was first founded and who the mage families were; as well as other little notes. She paused for a moment as she considered something. "...actually, I do have one question; you don't have to answer if you don't want to. While coming into town, someone mentioned something about sprockets; but they refused to tell me what they meant. Do you know anything about that?"