First Impressions

Fracila's tour was extensive and welcome. You are curious, but not morbidly so as to be going into strange rooms or offices without knowledge and permission. The work being done here was unlike what you've seen or heard of in the rest of the territories, and could have interesting ramifications. It's ambitious in its work, trying to understand the entirety of T'sara history in one of its oldest and most unchanged societies. On the other hand, success would largely depend on knowledge from outside. The library will likely help with that to a degree, but even all of the knowledge in D'arcan will not have all the answers. What happens than, you'd have to see.

What you found is that you are at the same time both among familiar company, but all alone. Everyone Fracila introduced you to was welcoming and eager to have you present. Every soul was enthused about their job, and very intelligent. And yet, you were the only wizard here, probably even the first. Once again, you were also the only Orc within the building. You were being welcomed for both, which is a welcome change. Still, you tell yourself, it would be nice to not be the weirdo in every space you enter.

Fracila's tour was ended suddenly by other work, having left you alone with explicit permission to go about as you saw fit. You shifted into the archives, and began looking through the collections. It was more than just books like a library. There were scrolls and boxes in all manner of shapes and sizes. Nothing was marked or organized, not in a way that you could understand, but it was still exciting.

"Intoxicating" you hear a solitary voice from the side. You turn swiftly to find a human man, in light brown robes reminiscent of a friar, with at least a decade on you by complexion and a stubbled face. He was leaned against the shelf, smiling at you, arms crossed. He was handsome and he knew it; what that meant for you, you'll have to find out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. The smell I mean. Age has its own smell, one that can't be replicated, and only found in libraries and archives like this. The possibilities of what might be found, it's irresistible, isn't it?"

"It is." You smile and nod "I had to be kicked out of a library on more than one occasion. It always seemed like I was a page away from a discovery."

"Than you're certainly in the right place." He pushed off the shelf and lifted his arms up over his head, grabbing a large scroll from the top "follow me,"

The man takes the scroll to a large angled table, and opens the scroll from left to right. Filling the table completely, it reveals an immense, beautifully detailed map of a foreign land. It was clearly ancient, but this man took great pains to be gentle with the work. Standing to the side, he held a single hand out flat, gesturing for you to look.

You take a step in, to really soak in the details. It was intricately and exactly created, all the more impressive being done by hand.

"Beautiful" You say out loud, still looking over it, trying to find a frame of reference or hint of what this is a map of.

"Very," he replies sincerely "Being one of a kind certainly helps one appreciate it's beauty even more."

"What am I looking at?" You ask, "This isnt a map of any place I've ever seen or heard of before"

"It's a map of where you've been living this whole time. Specifically, it's a First Age attempt to accurately model T'sara cartography before the Fey Crisis."

"You mean, this is what the world looked like in the Lost Age?"

"Let's call it a very skilled artistic hunch." Although disappointing, his response showed no less respect or interest. "It tells an interesting and morose story that, in all of the centuries since, nobody has created a better map than this. Few have even tried, and it's even less likely to be attempts in the future."

"Why's that?"

"Well, an increasing number of academics are pushing that the Lost Age wasn't real at all. That its just a collection of hollow old myths we've told ourselves and believed."

"Strange." You try to process that, looking away from the map "Is there a reason for them to think that?"

"My best guess? Blame the Intransican Empire. They want people to believe the world has always been this way. Its imperative to their power and influence that people believe conflict is inevitable."

He takes a step towards you "they don't want the world to believe that humans and orcs used to get along. That we needed each other. If we did before, we can coexist again, and probably thrive better than before."

"Thank you for showing me this, and the lesson." You take a few steps back. His attention is making you feel weird.

"Hey, before you go" he interjects "Can I get your name? We're going to be working together for a while, I suspect."

"Herida" you respond politely.

He gives a gentle smile "A lovely name. My name is Yoloka, and I run the archives, for the time being. If you ever have a question, I'll be more than happy to help. I also happen to know the best places to eat."

"Thanks." You give a small wave as you walk out. Once you leave his sight, you move away quickly, leaning against a wall as you catch your breath.

There's no way, you tell yourself, there's no way he's attracted to me. You're reading too much into it. You take a few moments to try and push the way he looked at you out of your mind, and went on your way.