The Stacks [Open to All]

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After just a few hours in the city, Sebastian was beginning to wonder why he'd ever thought it was a good idea to come to the Capital. It had been a plesant enough journey, no real threats to the caravan he had been hired, along with a few others, to guard. He'd gotten to see so much more of the world beyond his village, which was the whole point of him taking the job in the first place. The prospect of the city of Nova had excited him as well.

That excitement had fizzled out within five minutes.

There was just too much there: too much noise; too many people, too many market stalls; too many buildings pressed closely together; too many wagons trying to squeeze their ways through the crowds. He quickly became desperate for a respite, and one of the merchants had been quick to recommend the library to him. And so here he was now, among the high shelves lined with books, his nose filled with the surprisingly pleasant scents of old paper and parchment and dust. He'd never been much of a reader, nor had he ever had much to read, but now he was certain he could commit himself to becoming a scholar, given half the chance. If nothing else, it seemed it would guarantee him a bit of peace and quiet.

Sebastian had begun to wander through the stacks, stopping occassionally to sweep his eyes over the titles that lined the shelves, though he'd yet to find anything to interest him. He was more interested, after all,  in the solitude this place had to offer. As he turned the corner, though, he stumbled as he quickly tried to slip out of the way of another person. "Sorry," He mumbled quickly.

The stacks, it seemed, did not offer as much solitude as he had originally thought.

[Claire]

Well, this was awkward.

Claire was accustomed to cities- bustling ports, thriving crowds… what she wasn’t used to, however, was standing out so much. Claire looked around at the mass of faces as she walked, noticing people step out of her way as she passed through. Trading cities didn’t usually blink twice at her, but perhaps these people weren’t as accustomed to seeing such a tall foreign woman that wasn’t a dignitary. Or a prostitute. So instead she had decided to find her solace in the Library- books would not give her funny looks and they might have something to say on these ‘fated’. Anything to have that girl not be the one she was searching for all this time.

So Claire walked, enjoying the relative peace of this place. A small smile came over her face as she perused the manuscripts and scrolls, wondering if anything from her homeland might be there. Probably not, she suspected. She came from a place too far away for it to be recorded in one of these scrolls. It had been months since she had seen a face like hers or heard the words of her own language. Some part of her doubted that she ever would again.

Then someone bumped into her.

<”Excuse me-> Ah.” Claire looked back to see the young man passing her. She nodded to him, a small smile coming over her face. “Excuse me.” she repeated in common, her voice still thick with her accent.

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The woman's features, and more so her accent, caught Sebastian's attention. He couldn't place the accent, couldn't guess at what language she had  been brought up speaking. Not Orcish or Elvish, not one of the humans tongues from other lands. Or, at least, not one that she knew of. Perhaps she was one the fated he'd heard so much about. He'd wondered if they came knowing the common language of Nova, or if they had to learn it, but he hadn't met any so far. Probably wouldn't be able to tell just from a quick look on the street, either.

He realized he was staring, not at her, but off into space as he tried to puzzle it all out. He shook his head, looking at the woman with a sheepish smile. "Sorry," He repeated, turning his attention to the shelf of books directly before him. She probably thought he was an idiot, now. He doubted he'd ever cross paths with her again after this, but the thought that she might not think too highly of him sat poorly with the young man.

"I didn't expect to find anyone else here," He observed, if only to prove he could utter more than one word at a time.

[Claire]

Claire nodded, stepping out of the way of the young man. She smiled, laughing quietly and looking back to the shelf. “Research. Sure I do not look it though.” she pushed a scroll back into it’s place with a finger. She looked up and down at the young man’s attire, noting the travel gear. So. He was a recent arrival as well. Seemed like there were a lot of those. Maybe he was one of those Fated?

Claire tilted her head at the young man, studying his face carefully. “You are new to this city, no? Are you one of what they call, ah- Fated? I have seen a few.”