The Great Library of Palanthas
Astinus' Office
Dominating the center of this room is a massive birch desk. Legend claims this desk has supported the thousands of volumes of history Astinus has recorded. A large pot of ink, a container of sharpened quills, and a candelabra complete the desks decorations. Small windows line the room, allowing light to trickle in and gently illuminate the entire room. A comfortable couch rests against the west wall. Tapestries hang on the walls between the windows. Shelves line the walls, filled with tomes of the more recent records of heroes and villians upon the face of Krynn.
The librarian notices you aren't reading anything... Astinus hands a pamphlet to an Aesthetic standing by you. You note the spine bears the word 'Merla' scribed in brilliant green ink. As you glance down at the page you read..
From the pages of Merla's book..
Author: Merla Date: Fri Jun 27 09:36:11 2014 Subject Nice Work, If You Can Get It
"Worm! Wehavejustreceivedanewspecimenandweneedyouto --" The gnome stopped when she saw the puzzled expression in the kender's wide pale eyes, shook her head, and started over, slower. "We-have-just-received -a-new-specimen-and-we-need-you-to-process-it-right-away-it-is-quite -old-and-rather-fragrant-not-that-that-would-matter-to-you--"
"Okay," said the pale, scrawny kender, speaking from somewhere within the mound of faded, oversized clothes at which the gnome was barking her orders. "I'll do it."
"And-hurry-it-up-why-don't-you-as-you've-been-taking-your-time-lately -andweneedtokeepourworkscheduleontrack!"
"Okay."
"Andnomorejewelrystealingweneedthattofundourproject!!"
The kender looked hurt. "I never steal! I told you I found that stuff! It must have fallen off of somebody and just ended up in my pouches. I would never steal, especially from dead people."
The gnome glared. "I-highly-doubt-THAT-but-all-I-have-is-your-word- and-if-it-happens-again-you'll-be-our-NEXT-specimen-you-stinking- Worm-now-get-to-the-cellar-without-another-second's-delay!"
"There's no cause for insults," said the kender, still hurt from the accusation of thievery. "And my name is Merla," she added after the gnome had bustled away. "NOT Worm. That's a terrible name." She sighed and headed for the cellar.
Spread out on the slab was the corpse of what appeared to be an upper-class male Qualinesti. It was hard to tell, though, because it was so bloated and almost blue -- she guessed they'd probably pulled it out of the river. She wiggled the rings off its fingers and pocketed them, unconsciously.
Anyone else would have been gagging from the stench in the grisly cellar, but Merla breathed easily. When she was only three, she'd been running along behind her father and her older brother as they carried a large tree trunk to cut up for firewood. They stopped suddenly to change their grip. Merla ran head-on into the end of the tree trunk. She was out for a few hours, but when she woke up, she'd lost her sense of smell. At least that's the story her parents told her. She didn't remember ever being able to smell. Playmates and family members went on and on about how nice the spring air was, or how wonderful Grandma's strawberry pie smelled, or how badly the goat needed his stall mucked out, and she never had any idea what they were talking about. It was all a complete mystery to her.
When she was only twelve, she'd been captured by ogre slavers who raided her village, and despite her best efforts to escape, she'd eventually found herself in the possession of these two gnomes. They weren't REALLY bad, she thought, and they fed her well -- though she sometimes didn't recognize the meat -- and they treated her nicely most of the time, apart from calling her mean names and shouting a lot, but the main thing that kept her from trying a little harder to escape was that the work was very interesting...
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He states simply 'You might start with that one.. or you could take a look at the latest story..'
The Latest Entry
Jhaeda Everette's Backstory by Jhaeda, posted on Wed Aug 28 19:44:54 2019.
Jhaeda hails from the Everette family, whose noble manse lays within the confines of the Nobles' Hill. She is the third(read more)....
The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD
Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.
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