Seal facts and stuff (A Salamandastron Ambasadors and Long Patrol Log)
Salamandastron: Library
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Here lies the collective efforts of a few good, intellectual hares of the mountain. Over the seasons, this room, which was once little more than a storage room, has been converted into a quite functional library, filled with books of all sorts. The room is staggered with bookshelves, all crafted within the mountain, which reach very nearly to the ceiling, with only a foot or two of space above them, in most instances. And, surprisingly, the shelves are basically all full. Apparently, over the seasons, hares have donated books, and books that were previously stored elsewhere have been brought here.
Some books are older than any of the hares alive in the mountain, and, even more, some are nearly as old as the mountain, itself. These sort are usually journals and records - histories of the mountain. In fact, there is an entire section of this, in a corner of the room, which one can only get to by making their way through the maze of bookshelves to that corner, which is quite like a room in and of itself, closed in by walls on two sides and bookshelves on the two others. However, in the center of the main room, there are two tables set, and upon these books like, some open and some closed, despite the efforts of the librarian hare to keep them on the shelves.
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Visible Exits:
[R]ecords [R]oom [C]orner of Library
[Back] to Second Level Intersection
Badgers: Zinnia, female.
Hares: Felicity 'Lissie', female.
A pile of books is on a table and behind the books is the badger Zinnia, she is writing on a scroll and looks over a book and writes some more down. The books are in a pile but still seem to be in a certain order and another one close to her is open, besides the one she is reading right now and writing down things on her scroll. Also by her is a ink bottle and an extra quill pen.
The door to the Second Level Intersection opens and Felicity the haremaid enters, wearing non-uniform clothes with a very old and worn-looking haversack slung on her back. She spots the badger and says, "Oh, 'ello, Miss Zinnia! Didn't know you'd be in 'ere....although I should've expected it, wot!" She smiles.
Zinnia finishes a sentence before looking over at the hare "I was looking up info and gathering some facts on a seal, but there is no pictures just some facts. It seems my son and my two friends seen one on the shore yesterday afternoon and now I am curious of it. I have never seen one before and a long time ago a tribe of seals were around but that was like seasons and seasons ago and they left the area shortly after that."
"Oh, seals! Friendly blokes, seals. They like to fool around, but they're usually good beasts, wot!" Lissie puts a huge book on the main desk, then comes over, pulls up a chair, and sits at the table with the badger. "I've drawn a seal before, but I'm not a very good artist..." she pulls a sketchbook out of her haversack and opens it. It's actually a pretty good sketch of a seal; the haremaid is obviously no expert, but it's still a pretty good drawing.
Zinnia glances at the seal picture and nods "Maybe you can try and draw the one they saw, if it's still there that is. I just want to meet the seal before I head back home in a few weeks"
Felicity nods, closes her sketchbook, and shoves it back into her haversack, almost losing a paper that looks like a list of small-scale disatsers in the process. "That'd be good. I wondah what it's name is? They usually 'ave interestin' soundin' names." She sets the sack on the floor, where it promptly falls over. "*Sigh* Per'aps I could take you out there sometimes soon....I'm due to go back out on Patrols 'ere next week."
Zinnia smiles "Maybe, I don't think the shore is bad, well all the time anyways even though I have heard times that were bad and not bad. Last time I went to the village nothing bad happen...well no attacks anyways. It was sort of a last minute decision to go"
"Well, it'd probably be good to 'ave a guard with you, just to be on the safe side," Lissie says as she makes her haversack sit up and behave itself. "'Sides, I've been itchin' to go out on the seashore for a good long walk for quite a while now. It'd be grand to escort you so you'll be safe. 'Tis the least I can do, wot!"
Zinnia smiles, "Thanks, that would be good....think I sort of was the one escorting last time, your uncle, think he's your uncle, needed to talk to someone in the village and asked me to go along"
Felicity suddenly looks sad. "Flint, right? Aye, 'e's my uncle. Thank you for goin' with him; it was so kind of you. I can't express 'ow much I appreciate you bein' there for my uncle....when I didn't even know that somethin' bad 'ad 'appened." She looks very sad now.
Zinnia frowns a bit now "I...sorry I mentioned it, I didn't mean to. As for going to the beach or een that village, we could and maybe even find something enjoyable."
Felicity smiles a teeny bit and goes to rest a paw on the badger's arm. "It's alright. Uncle Flint and I already talked about it. I'm glad that you mentioned it; I'd been wantin' to thank you, but I didn't know 'ow." She sighs, then smiles a little bit more widely. "I'm sure we could find somethin' fun t'do."
Zinnia says, "Maybe I could even write something about it in my journal, about the village Halyard that is and if I get a chance some info on seals"
Felicity nods, and leans back in her chair. "Oh, yes. I've only been there a couple times, but Halyard seems like a very interesting place." She crosses her arms and taps her chin with a finger. "Howevah, as to findin' any seals? I'm not sure 'ow well we'd do at that. They stay out at sea alot; that's where they get their food, I think. They only haul out to rest, from what little I've read." Which is very little. Like, 1 book that had a bunch of other facts in it. "But if we see one I'm sure we could chat with it, wot!"
Zinnia looks at the books and finds one, a journal "It says in here they have their own tongue but that they can learn other languages if needed"
Felicity did not know about that. She should read more facts books. "Well.....'opefully the one I'm 'opin' we meet will be able to communicate with us..." That would be so awkward if they couldn't.....
Zinnia smiles "Other languages are interesting and some is just written down and you would think all who should know it would but that's not always true. Or you sort of just...get help knowing" She shrugs and stands to reshelf a couple of the books.
Felicity nods, then jumps up and picks up a couple books. "I say, let me 'elp. I try to 'elp keep the library lookin' nice when I'm in 'ere......which is why I /nevah/ bring in my baby sistah. It would be a disaster...."
Zinnia chuckles "I know the dibbuns at the abbey are not able to go onto the library, unless they are with an adult and most likely the dibbun caretaker"
Felicity helps to put the books away. "Oh, please, tell me more about Redwall. I've been readin' about it my whole life, and I always want to 'ear more." She stands on tippy-toe to put a book up on a high-ish shelf. "'Ow many Dibbuns are there?"
Zinnia thinks and then answers "40ish maybe, I mean couple may of gotten to where hey are novice now I don't know. Uncle Oz watches over them and has Sister Jenny help out, I did a class for ones ages 5 and 6 seasons and Uncle Oz and Sister Jenny did a class for ages up to 5 seasons."
"Oh my word, that sounds like a pawful!" Lissie stares at the badger, eyebrows raised. "And I complain about my sistah! 'Ow did you evah manage to teach them without goin' stark ravin' mad?" She is obviously not teacher material.
Zinnia smiles "Well not as many 5 and 6 season olds and Uncle Oz does a good job they respect him and they listen to him. Someone called him brave once, I...guess maybe in a way, but he is very good at his job and would protect those dibbuns with his life if it was ever needed, yeah he is blind but that doesn't mean anything he walks around just fine and no one would even know he was blind unless they got a good look at him"
Felicity looks surprised. "Oh, 'e's blind? Well, I'm sure he does a wonderful job, no mattah what." She helps put away the last books. "I 'ear that you 'ave a magic sword at your Abbey. Is that true?" Perhaps she should not read quite so many fiction books....
Zinnia says, "It's a sword, not magical, it's a blade and blades all have one purpose...." She then stops and frowns "Sorry bout that, rambling it was something my dad said once...but no it's not magic, it's first owner was Martin the Warrior and he does appear to beasts at times, my father saw him once...maybe twice."
Felicity waves a paw airily. "Oh, it's alright. Blades do only 'ave 1 purpose, and that's to kill. I hope that 1 day in the future beast'll 'ave no need for blades because evil will be gone. So..." she looks nervous. "A ghost 'aunts your Abbey??" Maybe she doesn't ever want to visit there, after all.
Zinnia explains "He doesn't haunt he...just , well he protects sort of and speaks in like dreams and stuff."
Felicity's eyes widen. She doesn't look any less nervous, that's for sure. "That sounds....terrfiyin'......"
Zinnia hmmms how to explain and she smiles "Well we both have a lot of time, I could tell you a lot of Martin the warrior...long as you are ok with sitting in here with me all afternoon?"
Lissie says yes, eager to hear anything more about Redwall....even if it is creepyish. Thanks for reading!
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