Welcome to Gaia! ::

[Going to be posting here with Yune shortly]

Yune was lurking near the back of the library, like he often did. The pale male disliked the fact that there was going to be more then the normal amount of balam in the library today. It would be much louder then he wanted it to be. Though that fact could not be helped. Part of him just wanted to cuddle up in the back and avoid all of the strangers who would be entering into the library. However he did have a goal today. He wanted to ask the head librarian if he too could become a Librarian just like his mate had become recently, even if the thought of it frightened him.

Like Lilija he wanted to help others in his own way, even if he was nervous about doing so. Perhaps this ordeal could help him grow as a tahtill, finally he could try to voice his wants. He knew most of the library inside and out, as it was very likely to find him there lurking amongst the rows of scrolls. So he figured he would be a pretty good candidate for it. Yune had also read most of them and was slowly getting into the curiosity of writing himself. This was one of the main reasons why he wanted to become a librarian to learn to write.

Finally he gained the courage to come forth from the back of the library, emerging from his comfort zone of sorts. It was quite obvious he was nervous as the end of his tail twitched erratically. No matter how hard he tried he could not stop it, so he let it go free, despite how awkward it seemed. "Lilija" he whispered, his voice barely audible as he came up behind her.

His blue orbs fell upon the lead librarian Constanta. Today he told himself Today is the day. The day he would finally approach her. Of course he had seen her around quite often, as he never seemed to leave, though he never actually attempted to make conversation with her, well today that would change.

[WC: 347]


(Decided just to post another post so I can respond to Astoria as well)

Yune's ears perked when Constanta spoke to them after reentering the library. The pale and blue colored male gave a small bow of his head in respect to her. Yes he was nervous but her words seemed to drive his curiosity more. To explore places in the library that he had not gotten to. To read scrolls that were not available to everyone. Yes, he would like that a lot. Perhaps to see behind the scenes of the library that no one else had seen thus far.

"Yes, please" he spoke quite eagerly nodding his head. His original reason for exposing himself had left his mind and now his eager curiosity was consuming him. "We would love it," He continued piratically bouncing on the balls of his paws like an eager child. "I would love it." He corrected feeling wrong about speaking for his Yoliliztli, though he figured she would love it as well but still he felt wrong about doing so.

[WC: 162]

"Excellent." Constanta exclaimed, offering the two the politest of smiles. She motioned toward a doorway leading deeper into the Library. "Then, Yune, Lilija, if you would follow me? I believe we will begin with a demonstration on how we create the paper used in our books."

She led the way, padding her way confidently through a maze of corridors and into a room that smelled of wet plants. Various contraptions were spread around at the edges of the room. There were enormous frames that would require several Balam to lift them stacked neatly in piles, and a large, flat bottom basin had been cut into the floor on the side farthest from them, right against the wall. Water could be heard gurgling on the opposite side. There were bins and bins of ripped scrap paper standing next to workstations that were currently empty of workers. Smaller bins were filled with sorted plant matter, flowers in one, reeds in another, mushrooms, fronds, wood-chips, and etc. Each workstation had a mortar and pestle, and there appeared to be a giant version tucked off in a corner, surrounded by smaller pots. There was another doorway off to somewhere else on the wall not occupied by the frames, and it was surrounded by neatly stacked trays, and racks of fabric stained by heavy use.

Constanta showed her guests in, and directed them first to the basin on the far wall.

"We use this room to create large sheets of paper, from which we cut smaller pieces, or scrolls, or whatever our projects might call for. This is the basin where we combine the pulp with water from an underground tributary. It's reserved for Librarian use only, so it's guaranteed to be clean, though the minerals it carries means we occasionally must chip off the mechanisms controlling its flow into and out of this room."

She demonstrated, winding a crank that lifted a gate in the wall, water poured in, sloshing into the basin. When she'd filled it to her satisfaction, Constanta closed the gate, and walked to the other side, where an identical contraption waited. She cranked this one only a little, just enough to lift the gate by a fraction, and the water level slowly began to drop. Constanta quickly dipped an empty pot into the water, saving some for her demonstration. She beckoned Lilija and Yune to follow her to one of the workstations, which she had prepped earlier with tools for the occasion.

"If you'll each take a seat?" she prompted, pouring water into a smaller, portable version of the basin that sat on the worktable. "While we generally make paper as large as possible, we do occasionally make smaller sheets using these tools. Some or our Librarians will experiment with using different materials to make paper for special use, or to simply improve the pulp used in the larger pieces. You'll notice some small bins with various bits of plants in them. Take a piece if you wish, and we'll add it to this small batch we're making."



Constanta filled the mortar and pestle with scrap paper while she waited for her guests to make their choice, and motioned for them to add their contributions to the bowl.

She tagged alongside Yune as the pair walked behind Constanta as she lead them to show how paper was created for the books. This was exciting! Maybe she'd finally understand why some of the books and scrolls smelled the way that they did. Not that she didn't like how they smelled, she was just curious as to how they got it.

She looked around and made sure to step carefully as they may their way through the corridors and her eyes grew wide when they entered a room filled with so many odds and ends. She felt like a small cub! Or at least imagined this is what a small cub would feel like. She looked at all of the different plants and assorted bins. This was truly a wondrous sight to behold. "This is amazing.." She said in awe and wonder as she caught herself lost in the glory of the room.

She listened as Constanta brought them over to a bin and explained how the process worked and gave a small demonstration. She smiled happily and took a seat next to Yune and looked over at him with happiness radiating from her persona. She grabbed a small blue flower with teardrop shaped petals and admired it for a moment and then placed it into the mixture before her and looked over at Yune's as he picked up a grey-green leaf and placed it into his. She liked his question very much and looked towards Constanta for an answer.

"How long do the materials tend to keep? Or do they get used up relatively quick?" She asked seeing that it fit with Yune's question. She was excited about this and her tail flicked back and forth in her joy.

WC: 290

It was interesting to think about the materials that were being used to make paper and how they were gathered. Yune himself had not been outside the caves, and often wondered what it was like, but he doubt he would ever see it for himself first hand, it was not in himself to do so. Books was all he needed.

Yune listened and watched attentively as their questions were answered. With the mention of needing more Librarians his original purpose of attending this was coming forth again. It was a reminder to him to ask what he originally intended to ask, instead of letting his excitement of seeing the behind the scenes portion of this.

Before he could ask about becoming a librarian his attention was directed towards the pulp of their mixture. As Constanta worked away Yune took notes in the back of his mind. When Constanta was finished with the demonstration she asked if they had any more questions about paper making. After the demonstration he did feel more comfortable, so he went ahead and asked.

"No, I do not." he replied softly, "But," he continued. "I was wondering if there is a chance that I could become a Liberian." Having practically lived in the library he was quite interested in furthering her career here. The idea of paper making was quite an interesting concept and it only furthered his desire to become one. He waited patiently for Constanta to reply to his question. Hopefully his mate would ask the same, they had quite the same interests and he figured she would also like to become one as well.

[WC: 271]

Zee Oddwyn

AstoriaFallen

"That is indeed one of the Tribe's hopes. On the other paw, even more exotic materials could be obtained if we're able to establish a trading system with the other Tribes." Constanta agreed.

When not one, but both of them asked after becoming a Librarian, Constanta felt a burst of satisfaction that she'd managed to read these two correctly. They did want to become Librarians! Excellent. Constanta mentally made a few changes to their scheduled tour. She could start them out right away by learning the filing system (if they hadn't already learned it considering they were here often enough), and then perhaps they could visit the Archives... unless they wanted to continue the tour as advertised? Constanta wanted to induct them right away, but standing on the principle of ceremony, thought she should make more of a show of accepting them.

She frowned slightly, as if in deep consideration, and studied the pair of them. Would they hold up under the scrutiny, she wondered. She welcomed their enthusiasm, but Librarians were expected to keep a proper comportment.

"As we grow, so too will our collective base of knowledge. Every Librarian is tasked with being at the very least, familiar with every branch, leaf, and bud on this growing tree. You will be asked to care for this knowledge, to be capable of directing the curious towards those tomes which will guide them in their path, and even to add your own bud to the tree. As you've seen here, a lot of energy goes into supporting our task. Do you believe you are capable?"