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
The important part is that he's in pain. And pain can be power.
It's very easy, to twist the pain inside of him and put it to use, to fuel a fire intention that he unleashes from his hands to try and set the fence ablaze, but it's no use; the fire dies almost as soon as it hits it. With a groan, Kai flops back onto the floor.
"Less fine now," he admits. He still hurts, and now he's even more frustrated than he was before.
no subject
Jayce gives him space, turning to study the fence, noticing that it seems to be back to whatever counts for normal in this place. He's about to walk up to it when he stops in his tracks, the heat hitting him and freezing him into place.
It takes another few seconds for him to shift his weight, finish the step he was right in the middle of. Running his fingers over the planks, his eyebrows arch in surprise. "They're not even warm."
Part of him thinks the fireball might have just been a trick — he knows magic, but he also knows magic tricks from being a kid and chasing down any and everything that could bring him closer to what he'd seen out in the mountains — except for the fact that he'd felt the fire blow past him, and he can see where it caught on his sleeve, enough to singe the fabric.
Turning towards the guy, he asks what is clearly the most important question here: "How did you do that?"
no subject
He's scrambling for answers and he hates it; if he had something to go after, he'd feel a lot better.
"Magic," he answers flatly, still on his back with the veil concealing his black eyes. He's a weird amalgamation of magic knowledge even back home, and here, where people don't know what expositors are? What demons are? He's not inclined to explain.
no subject
Instead, he steps to the side, pulling out the collapsible hammer he keeps on him and he tests a plank that he suspects wasn't hit by the blast. Jayce hits it hard enough that it should have cracked at least, but all he feels is that kinetic energy vibrating back up his arm until he feels it uncomfortably in his teeth. Whatever this is, it's fascinating, and he might have been content to study it if that trigger word didn't slice through all his hypotheses.
Wheeling around, Jayce just looks at the other guy for a second. "Magic? Really?" It didn't look anything like the one he's used to, all crackling blue light and volatile energy. "Do you channel it? That's how I do it. I can't do anything on my own."
Something he's perpetually upset about, honestly.
no subject
He'll pull himself up to sitting, frowning; he's not sure what to make of Jayce's questions, largely because he doesn't know what they mean. "Channel how?" he asks, because there's probably a way to explain intentions like that- channeling pain into something, to give it power- it's not what he'd jumped to.
no subject
"Yeah, you know," and Jayce tucks the hammer away so both his hands are free. "Do you have to use it through something?" He reaches for a loose scrap of paper he had tucked in his pocket and balls it up, holding it in the palm of his hand. "I used to use crystals about this size. They could harness the magic and I could use the crystal to direct it." Mostly. He hadn't figured out how to get past the crystal stage without the other half of his brain. "I'm not capable of magic on my own."
no subject
At the question, he shakes his head, trying to figure out how to answer without revealing exactly how he powers his magic. "Nothing physical, no," he says slowly, trying to make sure he doesn't say anything that's going to backfire horribly on him, "There's some sort of working you have to do, and then some sort of energy to power it, but you don't need any specific items do anything. At least not with the kinds of magic I'm aware of."
Well. That's not quite true. For certain magic, like ridiculously invasive tracking spells, you need the subject's blood.
no subject
The mages in Runeterra were far away from Piltover, as far as Jayce new, the phantoms in the news from overseas, embroiled in wars that have been raging since before he was even born.
"Yeah, I've read about that kind of thing," he says. "It's all theoretical." It's not like he could have gone out to talk to one of them and they weren't going to come to Piltover. "So, do you need to recharge?" Jayce will apologize later for the pseudo-interrogation, but he's practically vibrating with curiosity. "What's the power draw like?" After a second, he adds, "Don't answer that if you don't want to. I'm just a... I guess a fan of magic. I have been all my life."
no subject
He's not a good liar, he never has been, and even though he's been in politics he's only good at the bits that are maneuvering things around, not at being nice to people's faces. Which is why he's not even going to pretend to answer the question. "It depends on the magic," he says, and there's something in his voice that makes it very clear that no, he does not want to answer anything about what his magic uses.
He is politic enough, at least, to change the subject, so Jayce doesn't have to linger on the rejection. (Or maybe he's just forcibly pushing them through it, despite whatever the other man might want. That's also possible.) "That hammer of yours wasn't magic?" The fact that it was collapsible was... weird.
no subject
"Right, yeah," is what he says, offering him a smile before looking back at the fence, rapping a knuckle against it. Looking at the planks, there's nothing remarkable about them, but he knows what he'd seen, and he's working backwards with his theories until he hears that voice again.
"Oh, uh, no. It's something my family created. It's what we're known for." Or, well, what they were known for until Jayce had changed all of that, becoming the co-founder of Hextech and bringing magic to the City of Progress. Taking the hammer from where it was hanging on his belt, he holds it out. "That and the collapsible pocket wrench."
no subject
"Useful," is what he says simply, now actually moving to extricate himself from the floor. The fence, it seems, is not going to bend to magic or sheer stubbornness, which means it's time to think of something else; scouting elsewhere might be the key. It's possible less obvious places are less secured.
no subject
"Yeah," Jayce answers as he hangs the hammer off his belt again, shifting his weight slightly. He can almost hear his mother criticizing his posture, but since she's not there to actually correct it, his shoulders sag slightly as he crosses his arms. "After they helped build the city, my family just sort of turned to maintaining it and the wrench was sort of the only thing they were remembered for."
Until Jayce, but he doesn't really like talking about it like he's some poster boy. Actually being on posters still makes him uncomfortable, though that's died down a little since he ended up on the council, one of the few good things about that appointment.
Holding out a hand to offer to help, Jayce gives the guy a smile. "I'm Jayce."
no subject
"You don't want to touch me," he says simply, and pulls himself up from the ground. This body is younger than the Talamines's, he thinks, it doesn't ache as much when he does that. "I'm Kai."