It had come as no surprise to Calleslyn when Almandar had returned to the villa in the morning, and looking as if he had not had much sleep the night before. She had not met Raylana, but the inference about what had happened was a fairly easy one to make. It had been rather more surprising, however, to realise that Dolrim had also returned home at around the same time. It seemed unlikely, from what she knew of dwarves, that anything of a similar nature had happened to him - and, indeed, if it had, she would have expected him to appear rather more cheerful than he actually did.
But, instead, he had shut himself away in his room at the villa, brooding on his own. Presumably he was looking over the secret dwarven documents that he had acquired, wanting to look over them before he shared them with the rest of the party. When Almandar had returned, a couple of hours later, he had briefly tried to talk to the dwarf, even going into his room, but he had obviously been sent out again almost immediately, apparently without much of a word of explanation.
Still, it was not long after that that Dolrim had finally emerged, looking somewhat sheepish, and bringing the documents with him. Much of the writing was in dwarvish, so although the maps were reasonably clear, actually fitting them to the above ground street plan was probably going to take a while. So they left him to examine the maps further with Vardala, and Calleslyn had suggested that, in the meantime, she and Almandar try to find out what they could at the Wizards' College
Almandar had, in fact, slept much of the morning, which suggested a certain degree of vigour on Raylana's part, but now they were both here heading across the lobby towards the College library. The Wizards' College was, in effect, a guild, although, unlike most others in the city, apprentices were often taught on the premises, rather than in private businesses elsewhere. Almandar himself had learned magic here, many years ago, although Calleslyn had only joined after her own education was complete.
It was a magnificent building, with a high golden dome and slender towers. Magic infused the place, and those without the talent were barred entry, even as guests. Wizards' magic required considerable study to perfect and master, so the existence of the College was vital to all of the gifted community in Haredil, and a place that they all visited on a fairly frequent basis.
It also meant, of course, that the College was fairly indiscriminate about its membership; it included no small amount of really quite tedious people. One of whom was approaching right now.
"Ah, the adventurers," said Valmor, his rich voice booming across the cavernous lobby. He was a middle-aged wizard, dark hair just starting to go grey, and already carrying a good amount of surplus weight on his tall frame. "I had heard you were back... and in one piece, too. What a relief that must be to you. I would have greeted you earlier, but my life is such a social whirl, you know."
"Yes, we are quite intact," said Almandar, drily, "thank you for asking. But we wouldn't wish to keep you from your busy schedule. Another time, perhaps?"
"What? Oh, of course. Well, I do have a meeting with the Master of the College, and an invitation to the palace later in the week, which I really must prepare for. How much simpler it must be not to know anyone of consequence, eh?"
"We manage."
"Ha! I am sure you to do. Well, pleased to meet you. Do call in some time – after checking with my secretary, of course." And with that, the pompous fool headed off, doubtless to find someone else to harangue. They both sighed silently with relief, and made their way to the library.
The College Library occupied a large part of the building, and was, perhaps, the largest collection of documents in the city. The only exception might have been that of the Temple of Knowledge, but since only the priesthood ever had access to that, it was difficult to know for sure. The official guardian of the library was a small mousy woman by the name of Naritti, who popped up from behind her desk as they came through the stone archway into the room.
"Good afternoon, good afternoon," she said, with her usual, somewhat nervous smile, reflexively smoothing down her robes. "Is there anything I can help you with?" Her eyes darted from one to the other, as she clasped her hands together earnestly.
"We are looking for documents on the magical history of the city," explained Calleslyn, "personalities and events of the past."
"Oh, yes, of course," said Naritti, "our records are extensive, as you know. Allow me to show you what we have... I am sure you will find it most enlightening. The Wizard's College is one of the oldest institutions in the city, you know. It's history is really very interesting." Evidently pleased to be able to help them with something, she led them through the towering shelves laden with books and scrolls. "I... uh... you have been away recently?" She seemed to be trying to make conversation, as if someone had told her this was how you were sociable, but was not something she had much experience at. Truly, Calleslyn could not recall seeing her anywhere other than the library, usually with her nose in some ancient tome; she imagined that the woman did not get out much. "I suppose you will be in the city for a while longer, though? I mean, since you are interested in its history?"
"Yes, I think we will be. And I am sure the library will prove a very useful resource."
"Oh, good!" said Naritti, genuinely beaming for the first time. The elven woman reflected that she actually looked quite pretty at that moment, but it soon passed; she really needed to get out more. "Well, here we are," continued the librarian, seemingly somewhat relieved to be able to talk about her demesne again, rather than the complicated mess that was actual human life, "these scrolls and parchments should have everything that you need. There is a reading desk just behind that stack there. But if you do need any help, just ask! You know where to find me."
They thanked her, at which she bobbed a little curtsey, fluttered her hands for a moment, and then vanished back into the stacks, back towards her desk, and whatever she had been reading as they came in.
"Not your type, Almandar?" whispered Calleslyn, noting that the half-elf had never even attempted to flirt with the librarian.
"Naritti?" Almandar smiled at the idea, "no, not really." Then his face turned reflective for a moment, "although, I confess, I am less certain than I used to be of what my 'type' is. Events can be surprising... but," he added, in a more business like tone, "that is not what we are here for."
"Very true," agreed Calleslyn, wondering what he was referring to, but realising that he did not want to discuss it further here. She looked about, seeing that they were in a narrow space between two high stacks, all piled high with written material. Many of the shelves were well above head height, suggesting that the designers had simply taken levitation for granted... although not, presumably, skirts.
They began to search through the shelves within arm's reach, an activity that took no small amount of time, considering how heavily they were stacked. The books were easy enough to check, but the scrolls had to be opened to see what they contained, and it was quite a while before they had enough relevant material to carry to the reading desks.
As they did so, Calleslyn saw another wizard, heading past them, further into the library. She was an attractive woman, with tanned skin and shoulder length black hair, but it was the dress that really grabbed her attention. True, there was nothing surprising about female wizards wearing revealing clothing; it seemed to be a popular fashion statement in Haredil these days. But, nonetheless, on this woman the clothing seemed eye-catching indeed. It was an all-white dress, with a skirt reaching to just above the ankles, yet slit up one side to half-way up her hips; a slit so wide at the base that it could not possibly cover much of her bare right leg. From her present angle, she could see little of the front of the dress, although it obviously went over her shoulders as no more than a pair of narrow straps. At the rear, however, it was cut to below her mid back, showing off an expanse of bare skin and the inner shape of her shoulder blades. The dress was sleeveless, yet her arms were not bare, for she wore golden bracelets on her upper arms, and lacy sleeve-like garments that reached from her hands to her elbows. A narrow girdle circled her waist, and Calleslyn's eyes paused for a moment, watching the sway of her hips and buttocks beneath the white fabric.
The woman turned a corner, and was gone. She and Almandar looked at each other, realising that they had both been watching the same thing, smiling at their obviously shared thoughts. "You spent the whole morning asleep," teased Calleslyn, "it's a bit soon after for that, isn't it?"
"Not for looking," he replied, with a slight grin.
They found the reading tables easily enough, and laid the documents they had found out on them. This was likely to be a long afternoon, Calleslyn reflected, as she pulled up a chair, and opened the first scroll for a more detailed look at its contents.
An hour later, they seemed to be little further along. Clearly, there was a lot of history to go through, and much of it might have been relevant to their search, but it was difficult to tell which. As Naritti had pointed out, the College was one of the oldest institutions in the city, and the wizards who lived there had catalogued a lot of events in that time. Much of it focussed around their own concerns, typically trying to make themselves sound as impressive as possible – Valmor was obviously not unusual in that regard.
