Unfinished Library Mod & NPC Account (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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unfinishedooc2025-10-21 06:46 pm
libraryassistants) wrote in unfinishedooc2025-10-21 06:46 pm
Entry tags:
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!]
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!]
no subject
Whose definition? His, maybe!
He looks down at his project, which he's no longer bothering to hide. Frowning slightly, he plucks off a stray thread, then smooths down some fabric.
"It's nothing, really. I'm an amateur at best."
no subject
The stray thread doesn't bother him - he just passes over a pair of scissors just in case. "And everyone needs to start somewhere. I learned how to sew through leatherworking originally... my family was a hunting clan."
no subject
"Tell me about them," he says. Half because he's actually curious, and half because he'd rather keep the focus off of his project as he starts working on it again.
no subject
A small smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. "Though I'd usually be reading magickal texts instead of doing my job, though I did it well enough. They would tease me a lot for my bookish lifestyle, and for the occasional magickal accidents. But we were happy... or happy enough, I suppose. Upon reaching maturity it's tradition for the males of our clan to leave, wandering off to improve their skills and sometimes finding different clans to mate with. I've written home sometimes, but that's a bit unusual... they don't write back, but I do want them to know I'm alive still."
Then again even they would hear if the Warrior of Light had fallen... probably.
no subject
"You revere your mother," he infers. "That's good. Mothers never get enough credit for all they do. My mother is Night itself, and people still dare to underestimate her."
Fools, one and all.
"It's a shame you had to leave her, but it's good that you write. I'm sure your letters are appreciated."
no subject
In any case. "I hope they're appreciated. But... if your mother is Night, does that mean you're also a god?"
no subject
But now he's mixing the business of the gods with that of mortals. And Nara'a is definitely a mortal.
"I've never heard of Menphina," he says with a small frown, looking up from his work. "Where I'm from, the goddess of love is Aphrodite."
Maybe it's just a translation error. Or maybe there really are two different goddesses of love out there. At this point, Thanatos isn't sure what to believe. He's talking to a mortal with cat ears, after all.
"Anyway, you're right; I am a god. I am Thanatos, Death Incarnate."
no subject
But what the man says makes his blood run cold. He stops and stares at him, swallowing. He's not... afraid, not exactly. He's more surprised, and trying to see if there's anything in the man's face that he recognizes.
Death is something that he's faced many times, too many times. Enough that it's become normal for him to feel his aether fading in a battle, wondering if this will be the last time.
Maybe it shouldn't be. It probably shouldn't be. He feels his tail unstiffen and swish a bit nervously, and he smiles. This guy has probably had enough people be scared of him when he's said what he is, if that's even true. ... There's a flash of a robe in his vision for a moment before he just laughs quietly.
"Hello then, my new old friend."
no subject
What he doesn't expect is that laughter, much less to be called a friend. He raises his eyebrows, just a little.
"Your new old friend?" He's quiet for a moment, focusing on that sense that tells him when someone's time is near. "… No, you don't know me. I tend to those in less of a hurry to die. But you do know someone like me, don't you?"
no subject
Someone like Death himself... Emet-Selch cared for the Underworld, but that's different. "I have met the god of death in my world, yes." Probably not the best to say he's killed that god, though. "I do tend to get close to it in battle... more than I would like."
no subject
"My duties call me to those who reach the end of their natural lifespans. I don't tend to those who fall in battle; they fall under someone else's care."
If 'care' is the right term.
"You've brushed against death many times, haven't you?" An invasive question, perhaps, though Thanatos doesn't think so. "More so than most. My brother Doom would have his hands full trying to catch you."
no subject
He says it casually, but... well. If he really is talking to Death Himself, such things are probably less shocking for him. "People sometimes accept things as fated. But I refuse to lie down and die - apologies to present company, but giving up is something mortals of any kind as a whole refuse to do." Sure, there were people ready to submit to the Empire or to Eulmore. But even still there were and always will be people to fight. Even in that doomed timeline, people fought.
no subject
"Yes, I know. It's perplexing at times. I've had countless mortals try to claim it wasn't their time when it clearly was. But as long as you don't try to cheat Death, your stubborn natures don't cause any issues."
Though for Thanatos to call someone else stubborn is a bit like the pot calling the kettle black.
"Anyway, I don't know enough about you to say who you'll meet in the end."
His guess, however, is that it won't be someone like him.
no subject
He chuckles and smiles. "Well, I suppose we'll see. I don't know if anyone will guide me to the aetherial sea, but I've been to parts of it and back, so at least I know a way to get there." He tilts his head slightly, as if examining Thanatos. ... He thought he'd be more afraid if he met Death. But not being afraid is probably fine, right?
... Right?
no subject
"What?" he asks automatically. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
(Said as he stares right back…)
no subject
He'd welcomed it before, out there at the edge of everything. Until he was pulled back, and while he's glad that she delivered a lifeline to him... knowing everyone was safe was enough for him.
But everyone is not safe. Will they ever be safe? Will he ever get to rest?
no subject
"You should be awed," he says, a little grumpily. "… But I understand that current circumstances might make that difficult."
What with the plush toy making, and the whole library situation.
no subject
He looks down at the toy again and smiles. "Does it have a name?"
no subject
"Not yet. I had another one named Mort," he says. "So that name is taken."
no subject
He's not sure if he's conjugating right, but he doesn't really care. The Empire is still a sore spot, despite their warmer relations now.
no subject
High praise, coming from Thanatos.
no subject
... There's another joke he could make but he's trying really hard to not say it.