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Unfinished Library Mod & NPC Account ([personal profile] libraryassistants) wrote in [community profile] unfinishedooc2025-10-21 06:46 pm
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TEST DRIVE MEME #1

Welcome To The Library

You awake in the stacks.

You’re not sure when you fell asleep, and the memories of the last things you were doing are hazy at best. But now you’re here, and all you can see is books in every direction, the bookshelves teetering high enough above you to reach to the sky.

A helpful sign points you in the direction of the main circulation desk, and even if you try to ignore it and go in any other direction, the desk is where you will find yourself. A figure sits behind the desk, not even looking up as they sort through books and other media; they look, to your character, to be the exact picture of what they expect a Librarian to be.

Trying to the Librarian a question will get them shushed, but they’ll point down a hallway to the side, leading to a kitchenette and what appears to be a dorm room, where they’ll find they’re not alone in this strange place. But once they’ve looked away, when they look back, the Librarian is gone.

Welcome to the Unfinished Library

Coffee Corner

Sometime after your arrival, you enter the lobby to find yourself greeted by what appears to be a little tea cart containing a carafe of very weak coffee, a pot of very strong tea, mismatched creamers and sugar packets, and assorted cheap boxed shortbread cookies alongside small paper plates and cups. (For some reason, there also seems to be a pile of coupons for a free yacht ride.) There is a sign next to them, stating:

Welcome Editors!
Please enjoy these complimentary refreshments.
Do NOT take food or drink into the stacks and please wash your hands BEFORE touching anything.


Looking around, you see that you and everyone else present have also been supplied with sticker name tags with “Hello, my name is _____.” Take it off, and it will magically be replaced by a new one. It seems it’s time to mingle, or perhaps try to get anywhere but here.

There is also a phone set up on the desk, with a small sign labeling it as the “Assistants’ Line.” Give it a try, and you might get someone to talk to.


Between the Stacks

While exploring the labyrinthine sprawl of the Stacks, you find a door tucked between the towering bookshelves. Opening it, you see the impossible: a community garden, fresh produce glistening with morning dew and ripe for the picking. The open sky stretches welcomingly overhead, the warmth of an unseen sun warming the soft grass underfoot.

A large fence spans the generous perimeter of the garden. No matter how high you go, the fence follows with you. Those trying to get a peek on the other side should make a plan.

When the room is no longer in use and the door is closed, the garden will disappear; rotating out of cycle. The next time the door opens, maybe it’s a computer lab - decked out with technology from… some planet and century. Or maybe it’s a meeting room, complete with someone else’s handouts scattered across the table. Closing and reopening the door will reveal a different room each time. What's your pick?


Maker’s Meetup

There’s a cheerful, if not generic, poster on the bulletin board by the help desk, declaring:



The Maker Space in question is, for the moment, easy to find, a few nice and similarly formatted signs with arrows helping leading the way through the stacks. As promised, there are a number of machines and tools related to crafting and making things, including a table that, for some reason, just has construction paper and safety scissors.

It seems the materials for the room have been recently stocked, too; there’s a little pile of fabric (mostly scraps, but a lot of larger pieces that can be made into something without needing to piecemeal it together), some sheet metal of various sheens, and bits of wood that could be shaped into something maybe as large as a small bowl. There are also some more generic arts-and-crafts materials (on a separate table from the scissors); puff balls, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners and other sorts of things.

There doesn’t appear to be anyone actually around to teach the use of the machines, but it can’t be that hard… right?


Transition In - Prepare for Dheekis

In the Lobby, things begin to… change.

The tiled floors have started to fuzz along the grout, the colour and texture slowly bleeding out into cool grey metal. The change continues to flow up the walls, coloured strips of lighting dividing sturdy steel segments. What few doors there are shimmer, an overlay of automated mechanisms clinging closely to them. Hydraulic pistons pump as if pushing the doors open when you approach, but alas - these doors remain sadly hand-operated.

Within a few moments, gravity in the Lobby seems to decrease. Steps are lighter; a jump turns neatly into a bounce, leaving you hanging weightless in the air for a few long moments. The furniture remaining in the lobby begins to float, as do any items that have been left loose. If it’s not nailed down, consider it airborne.

The effect spans only the space (ha) of the Lobby. Exiting to another room will bring an unceremonious return to the Library’s usual gravity, and please note: the success of your landing is not guaranteed. Please proceed cautiously.

After some time - maybe it's days, who's to say? - you begin to feel it. A pull that tugs you to the Stacks, drawing you step by step closer to the next Story to unfold.


The Difficulty with Dheekis

On the SS Covenant, things usually run pretty smoothly. Usually. Unfortunately, there was an… incident at the last stopover at the Eternis Station. One of the crew members became utterly besotted with one of the little creatures the Eturian ambassador carried them with, called dheekis, and the ambassador was more than happy to gift them one. Unfortunately, the reason they were so willing to do that is that the fluffy little creatures, somewhere between a bunny and a rodent, are very prolific breeders, and additionally can procreate asexually when there’s only one of them around. Which means that after a week in space, it was no longer possible to keep them hidden.

Since then, it has been a game of trying to capture and contain the little pests, shoving them into boxes so they’re packed tight- dheekis only stop reproducing when there is literally no more space for them. And they are trying very hard to fill up the void space on the ship; they’re under beds, in rafters, engineering nooks, forgotten corners, you name it. How long will it take to get rid of them all? Can you get rid of them all? Because if you have one dheeki, it won’t stay one for long.

[This is a free-form ‘Story’ prompt and cannot be considered canon to the game; since there’s no information post, feel free to make up whatever details you like!]
hellandbackpack: (pic#18111373)

Maker's Meetup

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-26 01:01 am (UTC)(link)
Charles is more curious about the people than the crafts, but that doesn't stop him from nosing around. He gets chased away from the embroidery machines, and the 3D printers when it becomes apparent that his ghostly presence is doing nothing good for the machine's internal computers. He doesn't seem offended though, just apologizing with a cheery smile and retreating to the more analogue side of the space.

The stranger definitely gets his attention just on sheer size alone, and he blinks briefly at the question.

"Y'know I haven't seen one... I might have one though, hold on a tick-" Charles unshouldered his backpack to flip open, and shoved his hand in- and his arm. Really, with how deep in, past the shoulder as he was, brows drawing with concentration as he rooted around? The bag had to be bigger on the inside, whatever was enabling it causing a soft hum of energy as he was actively searching, before he came up with a little roll of leather around some tools with a soft 'hah!' of delight, holding them out with a smile.

"Here, you can borrow these. Used to be cursed, but we sorted that, an' the bloke what hired us let us keep 'em after. Decent chap really."
bearshape: (05)

[personal profile] bearshape 2025-10-26 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
Halsin has heard of bags of holding, so someone having a bag that seems bigger on the inside isn't too strange to him. He smiles as the tools are brought out. "Thank you. I will treat them well and return them when I am finished."

He doesn't even blink at the comment about them being cursed, because that's also not unheard of in the Realm where Halsin comes from. Many clerics specialize in removing curses, in fact.
hellandbackpack: (pic#18111221)

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-26 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
It was a fairly small set of tools all things considered, likely expected to be carried in a pocket for just the sort of small project that Halsin was thinking of. Simple, but well-kept all the same.

Charles gave a playful little salute at the assurance, scooting a little bit back to give the other enough space to work at the table. And surely he'd take one of the nearby stools to sit on like a normal teenager-

Nope. He's just gonna prop against the table and lean back against a hand, the other plucking up a plastic ornament that's undoubtedly there to be filled with glitter glue, tossing and catching it idly.

"What're you thinkin' of making?"

Hopefully Halsin was in a chatting mood, because someone wasn't feeling like letting silence linger today.
bearshape: (14)

[personal profile] bearshape 2025-10-26 05:01 am (UTC)(link)
Fortunately for Charles, Halsin is all too happy to chat. "I was thinking maybe a spoon, or a duck." He whittles a lot of ducks.

Examining the wood, and seeing that it's less of a fallen bit of tree and more of a general block, Halsin opts for a spoon. Taking out one of the borrowed tools, he gets to work, idly cutting away wood like he does it all the time.

"My name is Halsin, by the way. Former Archdruid of the Emerald Grove."
hellandbackpack: (pic#18068783)

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-26 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Hell yes! Charles is scoring a century in socialization today! And there's something a bit grounding about the idea of settling to chat, perched on a table and letting a foot idly swing as his conversation partner is doing their own thing.

"Archdruid? Sounds important, innit?" And something about Halsin's presence, what he was dressed in, whether it's the particular wear to leather, or the quality of gear he wore, suggested that this was not someone getting a druid certificate online. "Charles Rowland, current Dead Boy Detective. Good to meet you."

He'd stick a hand out to shake but Halsin had already settled in to start carving away wood, a process Charles watched idly as his hand continued that easy toss and catch of the plastic bulb.

"Never heard of the Emerald Grove. Must be nice though if it's got an Archdruid lookin' out for it, yeah?"
bearshape: (05)

[personal profile] bearshape 2025-10-26 10:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"A pleasure, Charles," Halsin nods politely at the young man, before looking at his whittling again. With something like this, it's best to keep one's eye on what you're doing, lest you accidentally slice your thumb open. Doesn't mean he can't talk at the same time.

"The Emerald Grove is a druid enclave, near Baldur's Gate. I was the Archdruid there for one hundred years, but I recently stepped down." He doesn't sound too torn up about it.
hellandbackpack: (pic#18111216)

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-27 07:36 am (UTC)(link)
Charles wasn't sure if he'd ever be the sort to be able to sit still enough to do something like that. Take a little scrap of wood and carve something, or do some other hobby that required similar skills. He liked watching the work though.

"Never heard of Baldur's Gate," But he wasn't entirely surprised- those pointed ears weren't standard-issue human. Some sort of elf maybe? Or Fae. Whatever the case, it definitely meant that even if they were from the same world, it was likely some different plane. "Met a few druids before. Decent blokes for the most part, couple got real dodgy on me on account of the whole ghost thing."
bearshape: (08)

[personal profile] bearshape 2025-10-29 12:01 am (UTC)(link)
Halsin pauses in his work and looks up at Charles with a curious expression. "The ghost thing?"

He knows ghosts exist, and they come in a variety of forms. "You are a medium, then?" That's what comes to mind, since the young man certainly doesn't look like a ghost.
hellandbackpack: (pic#18111301)

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-29 12:18 am (UTC)(link)
"Oh nah, I'm no medium!" Charles didn't seem offended at the assumption though, just laughing cheerfully. "I am the ghost. Folk get kinda riled about the whole cycle of life thing at me, like... I'm not bothering anything innit?"

A light one-shouldered shrug, that had him having to tip to one side to catch the ornament as the toss sent it a little wide.
bearshape: (10)

[personal profile] bearshape 2025-10-29 12:29 am (UTC)(link)
Halsin looks Charles up and down with his eyes, then pauses, as if he's waiting for Charles to say he's just kidding and that he should have seen the look on Halsin's face. When that doesn't happen, Halsin just says, "I don't think I've ever seen a ghost like you before. Usually they're much less solid and colorful."
hellandbackpack: (pic#18111187)

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-29 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
To be fair to Halsin, Charles absolutely has the air of someone who'd make a dumb joke like that.

"Yeah? We're all pretty much like this back home. Other than some outliers, but that's a whole different bit of trouble," Catching the ornament again and setting it aside for the moment, he pressed his now free hand against the tabletop, letting it just phase through up to the wrist before drawing it back again, wriggling his fingers illustratively. "It's weird though, everyone can see me here. Not complainin' it's just been a while since I've been that noticeable!"
bearshape: (Default)

[personal profile] bearshape 2025-10-29 01:13 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, I certainly notice you. You're hard not to notice." He means that in a good way.

Halsin returns to his whittling. "Some druids see ghosts as unnatural, as beings that shouldn't be because they defy the laws of nature by remaining after death, much like vampires and zombies. I've always seen that as more of a guideline or suggestion." As long as the undead aren't hurting anyone, he sees no reason to fret.
hellandbackpack: (pic#18111221)

[personal profile] hellandbackpack 2025-10-29 01:36 am (UTC)(link)
Even if he didn't, Charles would choose to take it that way regardless.

"See, you get it! Just existin' isn't doin' anything to anyone! Poltergeists or tosh like that's a different story, that's no good for anyone, but your average ghost isn't lookin' to cause problems," He settles back again to pluck up the ornament to start tossing again, an idle, easy lob. "And 'sides it seems pretty natural to me to want to keep living. Or whatever it is I'm on about now."