Nanette seemed to know what she was looking for. She crouched in a corner near the room's wall, and had to squint her eyes to read the binding in the dim light to make sure she was picking up the right information - when she felt the icy hands on her back. She cried in shock, but it was cut short as her head struck the shelf. The books teetered dangerously, and fell away from her.. but they were crashing into the next tall line of shelves..
Antoninus looked up when he heard Nan's stifled cry, and gasped when he saw one bookshelf tip and crash into another. The rotund scribe jumped out of his seat and hustled over to the teetering shelves, moving surprisingly fast on those pudgy legs of his. It's amazing how fast one could move with the proper motivation, no? He ducked into the line of shelves and pushed against the toppling shelf with all he had, trying to prevent the almost inevitable chain reaction as books start to slide off the shelves and fall to the floor. "Ohdearohdearohdear..." "Antoninus!" Loreli yelled as the scribe went running to try to stop the shelves from toppling. She jumped to her feet and grabbed the journal, shoving it down her blouse and running toward the scribe to get him out of there! The library is filled with soft delighted laughter, the sound of a young woman playing, or perhaps only teasing as she played with her friends. She dashed towards the small mound of books that had already been searched and not yet replaced back on the shelves, and one by one she hefted them. "Let's play...ball!" she said merrily with another peal of happy laughter. And one by one, she began to pelt the three with books. What a sight it must have seemed, books flying with no visible hands! Poor Nan was out cold. And with a good sized goose egg blooming on her head at that. She was crumpled upon the floor near the wall and the falling shelf and the information they were looking for. Were she awake, she'd likely be yelling louder then the rest of them. Once Antoninus thought he was out of Loreli's line of sight, he began quietly muttering an incantation to himself as his face turned red and beads of perspiration stood out on his forehead. Slowly, he pushed the teetering bookshelf back into an upright position, but when Loreli came dashing to rescue him, he had the guilty look of a child that's been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Those who knew the scribe tended to notice that his magic usually tended to become rather less incompetent when he was in danger. Whether the stress helped him overcome his usual blundering, or whether his incompetence was an act, he wasn't saying. But he's perfectly safe when Loreli came to "save" him...until books start flying at him. "Ow!!!" He cried out as one struck him in the knee and knocked him over. Loreli skidded to a halt and eyed the bookshelf, then the scribe, then yelped as a book bounced off her shoulder and another smacked the back of her head. She was here. She's here! "Get .. get the guard .. get a cleric!" Books strike Nan's unconscious form, adding bruises to her back and arm and thigh. Charlena clapped her hands in delight, positively beaming as she watched the commotion she'd created in only a few moments. One was down for the count, the shelves had been toppling over so nicely (And really - wouldn't you think they'd be grateful for that? It would give someone a job for a long time cleaning that up!), and the other two were scurrying and yelping. If the humans saw her now, they'd seen the look of pride upon her innocent, beautiful face. "A cleric? Where in the name of Paladine's platinum bollocks am I going to find a cleric?!" Antoninus yelled. "I don't know. Guards!" Loreli yelled. Then, "NAN!" Antoninus pulled himself up slowly, still favoring the knee that was just hit with a projectile. "Are you sure you want me to leave you in here with that...thing?" "Get out. Go! and take this." Loreli reached down her shirt for the journal and shoved it at him. Swooping in like a graceful exotic bird, Charlena reached out one slender hand to snatch for the book Loreli shoved to Antonius. If she could get her hands on that... Antoninus took the journal and stuffed it into the belt of his robe, wrapping his left hand around it protectively. And since he can't see where Charlena is in the room, he just makes a mad dash for the door, right arm held out in front of him to ward off any more flying books. Once again, the round little scribe is surprisingly fleet of foot when sufficiently motivated. Fox Aisli's danger senses was tingling. Wild haired and amber eyed, the lean, broad shouldered form of Drysen "Fox" Aisli takes several steps at a time, throwing himself in a corridor and unsheathing his blade. He sprints quickly, feeling Marks hot on his heels with his crossbow, both young Elites working themselves up the steps before they reach a door in the castle. Fox doesn't waste any time throwing himself into the door, the heavy oak door splintering open. "What happened?! Where's the enemy?!" He hollered, as steam washes over him...and blinks as he stares at several naked females. Apparently he missed the 'Women's Bathroom' sign written in Mystonian outside the door. Marks screeches into a halt next to Fox. "I've got it rigged! And...er..." Camera pans out. Screams and flying projectiles ensue. No response. Just what did the girl eat? She was a twig. For the time being, Nan continued to lay sprawled at the end of the shelves, a small trickle of blood dripping down her brow from the initial strike against the bookshelf. "....I'm....NEVER...trusting your flubbed up danger sense EVER again!" Marks groaned as he and Fox staggered out the hall, looking as if they've both been run through a meat grinder, or worse. "I swear to god, ever since -grandpa- moved in, you've been out of sorts! What's wrong with you??" He wants Janessa's booty, and some Alesian bastard has already staked a claim on it, that's what's wrong. Loreli looked back towards the running scribe and waited, hesitated before she ran off to look for Nan. "Guards!" She screamed again, hoping they'd intersect Antoninus and help him get to safety. Charlena wasn't about to let Antoninus dart right through her, so she hurriedly dove to the side. There would be time enough later to track that one down. And she smiled. Unlike before, this smile was dangerous - cruel and merciless, and her sapphire blue gaze turned upon Loreli. That was the one who had broken up her lovefest with the Alesian. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Silently she swept towards Loreli to inspect her, letting her form become visible and solid until small, slippered feet walked upon the floor. Damn it, and where's Fox while Janessa's stewing and ranting all alone in the forest?;) Here - tingling with spidey sense! Loreli 's eyes widened as she saw the ghost materialize and walk toward her, and she took several, many, a LOT of steps back away from her. Fox Aisli groaned as he took a step out of the hall and blinked at Loreli's screams. He unsheathed his long, hard sword.. (>.>) and sprinted down the corridor. "Marks! Barrier, now!" He yelled, leaping forward in his tattered, black-clad semi-glory, if it weren't for the fluffy loofah swinging from his hair. "Looking for somebody?" The young woman with the angelic face spoke to Loreli, her soft voice melodic. There was a faint air of sympathy about her as she turned and pointed with one finger to the unconscious Nanette. "She's over there, poor girl. It looks like she tripped and fell, doesn't it?" With that, she faded from view once again, only to sidle up beside Loreli. So far, she didn't touch her. Only watched, as if to see what the secretary would do next. Loreli 's attention whipped towards the door, back to the ghost, and then over to Nan. She opted to help Nan, and darted down the aisle toward the unconscious woman. Marks' eyes flashed, his reddish-brown hair drifting upwards a bit as he crossed his fingers and scratched a mark out in the air, the glowing blue etching flashed faintly and drifting up toward the ceiling, before the invisible wave of power suddenly sweeps into the hallways. Save for other Elites and the magically inclined, it won't be felt. Meanwhile, Fox, still adorned with his loofah, keeps rocketing to where Loreli is, almost falling on Antoninus as he broke out of the door. Steering well away from the shelves of books upon religion and holy items, Charlena hummed silently to herself as she began to search for the book they'd been looking for. She wasn't about to make things easy for them. That would hardly accomplish her goal of a world of chaos, would it? She ignored Loreli....and then she let out a sharp scream as she felt herself being pulled...No, SUCKED from the where and now forcibly. With an audible *POP* - she disappeared. "Wh.. what..." Nan was groggy, and mumbled as she began to shift slightly upon the floor. There were a few bruises from the hurled books, but the biggest concern would be the knock she took to the head. It was swollen and blue already, and cracked a bit from the sharp edge of the shelf. Loreli stumbled over books to get to Nan. Looking over her shoulder fearfully she jumped and practically fell on Nan as a book slipped under her foot. And a brown-clad, round blur went booking by Fox, dashing off to find a Guard. Waitaminute, that *was* a Guard he just passed. He slammed on the brakes and pinwheeled his arms, then took a moment to catch his breath and wipe the sweat off his brow. He then turned around and dashed back the way he came to find Fox and tell him about the emergency in the library, when he saw that Fox has already handled it. Nanette grunts, and settles flat against the floor once more under Loreli's weight. Antoninus doubled over, hands on his knees, and tried to catch his breath again after all that running. "Sir Antoninus!" Fox leans over to try and help the bookish man stand up. "I had Marks cast a barrier over...what happened?! Is Lady Loreli all right?!" He exclaimed, his golden eyes wide. Marks started heading for them, looking a touch disturbed, before he heads inside the library to check on the two women. Antoninus is still wheezing and puffing like a locomotive with a leak in its boiler. "The ghost...bookshelf...Nanette...books...Loreli...terrible! Terrible, I tell you!" He gasped out. Loreli pushed herself off Nan, mumbling her apologies as she tried to help the woman sit up. "........." Fox stared at Antoninus as he tries to explain. "....ghost...?" He asked, looking a touch comical and the loofah finally dropping off his hair. He narrowed his eyes, before he turned his eyes down the corridor once more. (...maybe that's why I got misdirected...I couldn't pinpoint exactly where....) came his silent thought. "Ohhhh...." she groaned, clutching her head as she leaned and took every ounce of support that Loreli had to offer. Not much would be needed considering the birdlike, thin woman. Her head bowed, she kept her eyes closed as she groaned. "Wh... what hap..." Antoninus nods vigorously, and thrust the book he'd been carrying in his belt in Fox's face. "Her!" Marks hurdled over and nearly tripped over a pile of books, before he etched another symbol in the air. As it dissipates, strewn books and furniture on the ground is shoved back to make a path for him, before he hurries over to both Loreli and Nanette. "Ladies, are you both all right? Don't move very much....do you feel as if you've broken anything?" In his dazed state, Fox didn't register Antoninus shoving the book to his face...until it's too late. SMACK! "OW!" he yelped, holding his nose, before blinking cross-eyed at the book. "Er.....what?" He peered at the book curiously. "I'm fine." Loreli very slowly, with a shaking hand, pushed her hair out of her eyes, her arm coming around Nanette. "She needs some help." She looked at the other woman. No .. Lor was just going to have a quiet break down here for jus a lil bit. Antoninus opened up the book to the part where Charlena's father described her building an altar to her strange demon god and burning candles made from human fat in his honor, and thrusts it back in Fox's face. "THIS is the ghost!" >From within the darkness of Janessa's room, Charlena huddled on the floor. How did she come to be here? One moment she'd been seeking a book in the library - then there had been an icy plunge into darkness. Slowly she wrapped her arms around her knees, holding them tightly - and then she buried her angelic face into her knees and began to rock back and forth slowly. She truly was afraid of the dark, as she'd told Corvarath. If she could just catch her breath, push the fear away and think. "Nothing broken," she muttered absently. Obviously all of her pain came from her head. "A ghost it... it shoved me... ohh..." she moaned softly. How her head ached, and it still bled a little, a red line trickling down her brow. "....." Fox picked up the book and read it, looking serious. Everyone else looked shaken, and while he wasn't exactly a believer of ghosts, he did know that wraiths existed. This was an old castle, of course something like this would happen...but....why now? Amber eyes narrowed, before he read the passage, then handed it back to Antoninus. "Did you break anything?" he asked. Marks nodded, lifting a gentle, gloved hand to inspect Nanette's head wound. "It looks superficial, I don't think it's a concussion," he diagnoses, looking at Loreli. "She'll just have a bad headache for a while...some black tea will be able to help. What about you, Lady Secretary?" "We need to .. um have someone .. her head." Loreli points at nan's forehead where the lump was swelling, then gestured almost irritatedly around at the toppled bookcases, looking at the Elite as if he should read minds. Antoninus shook his head. "No, I don't think my heart is going to explode any more, so I think I'm fine." And now that books have stopped flying and he's no longer running for his life to find a guard, he's recalled how his knee hurts. All that running has aggravated the injury, and it's really starting to throb now. Fox Aisli nodded, before he stood up. "I'll call for the infirmary staff," he said, lifting up his hand to where his stag's head pin was....or....where it should be. SOMEONE hasn't returned it to him yet. He frowned, before he stepped inside the room and peered inside. "Marks, put a shout out for the infirmary guys will you?" he asked. Marks nodded, before he fumbled a bit with his own pin, and reached down to try and carry Nanette. Then again, she was so skinny it wasn't really a problem to lift her. "A ghost it... pushed me... and.." She was feeling quite lightheaded. Ghosts were not something that she should have to deal with. Something real, she lived inside the books she read... this was too much. And her head was quite painful on top of that. After all, it was enough of a shove to get the shelf to tip and almost fall. The poor, tired girl crumpled against Marks and passed out again. Loreli sighed as Nan was carried off. It wasn't like she ever got carried anywhere but away. She rubbed at her face and slowly pushed to her feet. Crazy ghosts .. she needed a drink. Rock scotch preferably. "AND LOOK WHAT THAT SPECTRAL TROLLOP DID TO MY LIBRARY! IT WAS A MESS BEFORE, BUT NOW....THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!! ARGH!!!!" And it seemed that surveying the destruction in the library was inducing a near nervous breakdown on the poor scribe. If Charlena could only see Antoninus' despair - it would just make her day! Marks gathered up Nanette as he headed for the infirmary with the unconscious girl in his arms. Fox glanced over at Loreli, frowning slightly as she looked around for a drink, and looked somewhat put off. Before he could speak up to comfort the iron woman, Antoninus shrieked somewhere behind him, and his eyebrow twitched a bit as Antoninus crumpled into a nervous breakdown. "Antoninus!" Loreli yelled as she walked towards the hyperventilating scribe. "Calm down. I'll have someone in here tonight ... to start cleaning up." "But...butbutbutbutbut...! LOOK at what she did!" Fox Aisli sighed, and shook his head, watching the two bicker like an old married couple. "Er.....I guess I'll....be...going now..." He said faintly, his eyebrow twitching and raked a hand through his jet-black hair. Come back from a well deserved leave and he gets faced with -this-?! Loreli reached out and pat patted the chubby scribe on the shoulder. "I know .. and if I could wring her neck I would." Ha! That thing had scared the living bejebus outta her! Fox Aisli started easing his way gently out of the door, silent. Maybe he can get out of this unscathed. Loreli lifted her head and leveled a glare at the retreating fox. "Hold it!" She called after him. "I need to speak with you fox." ---------- (more to Come) Jax -- #Dragonmyst*inn and #RPGWorks channel operator. Typo demon extrodinaire We all think we're ordinary, it's others that think we're extraordinary. - Me (On going to war over religion) "You're basically killing each other to see who's got the better imaginary friend." -Yasir Arrafat (PLO leader) (On cost overuns) "One way to ensure that it is not a major achievement for mankind" was to pass the budget limit. Rep. (Dana Rohrabacher, a California Republican) <Kylus> What was that really bad vamp movie you saw over the summer? <Kaejo> Dracula: Lord of the Dance The only disability in life is a bad attitude. - Scott Hamilton -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives & Other DMI Lists: http://islesofmyst.com/lists.php3
