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"I detected no one present, but that's hardly unusual behaviour for the Master. He is a visionary, you know. He hears things others can't." The statue smiles sweetly.
The statue patiently waits for Katsa to finish before completing Hob's request. It's eyes glow red and it speaks in a deep monotone voice. "Artifacts of Old by Arth Azouhka. Predates the Mage War. A listing of many known god-made artifacts from the first age. Particularly known for being exhaustingly researched and including speculation as to the present location of many of the items." It barely pauses for a moment before continuing into the next one. "Kaliban's Grimoire. A unique book, written by Kaliban of the Seventh Red Sun. Kaliban was an expert conjurer of demons and used this as a notebook, both to keep track of classes of demons and to write information about specific entities he had multiple dealings with. Kaliban taught Kegan wizardry, and gifted this book to him upon completion of his apprenticeship. Kegan has spent years improving the information within."
Without breaking stride, the librarian meets Ganzorig's request by highlighting two books. One is the book the gnome is already holding, on which a specific page is indicated where the writer describes their conversation with a fey lord known as the Origin, who mentions that he can be summoned with a ritual which is given in detail. The other book is the academic examination of the structure of the plane. It specifically calls out the ritual mentioned in the other book as dangerous and likely to end in the users permanent removal from this plane by the Origin, who is a malign entity. The book then goes on to describe that any normal method of plane travel should work, just with reduced accuracy unless you take into account the unique alignment of the fey realm.
The librarian continues "Songs of Ice People by Hiln Songsayer. Written around a century ago by an adventurous halfling musician, it details her trek through through the Northern lands with a particular focus on the stories of the people she met while there. In Chapter 5, she describes her encounter with a near extinct orc tribe, and their story of a huge intelligent wolf that hunted them to oblivion." Without taking a breath, the stone face moves on. "A Bestiary of Lyi by many authors. This book has an entry for many of the creatures found in the continent of Lyi, with a special focus on monster not native to Adina. It was written in the early days of colonization." Finally, the red eyes fade back to the calming blue, and the librarian returns to it's happy upbeat self. "There you are."
Finished with that long speech, the librarian addresses the questions Katsa has levelled at it. "It would depend how complicated the analysis is. I have a passing familiarity with all books currently in my library, well enough to summarize the features and sections of each tome. I can run a detailed search for keywords on all the books very quickly. However, I may not be able to combine information in the way you describe. If a keyword is mentioned in both books, I would be able to identify them both. But my primary function is to find books, not to find knowledge. I have no in depth familiarity with my contents, in order to prevent an Awakening."
"You," the statue winks at Ganzorig, "are quite clever, aren't you? Very well,
here's the page for the book he opened." A glowing image of an open book hovers in the air in front of the gnome.
The page is titled Mythical Items, and then describes several magic items which only have a questionable existence. The most relevant one to you reads:
The Soulsword
In the 17th section poem of Tehkris the Giant spins a story of the god Rlied and his terrifying weapon. The poem describes how Rlied forged her blade in a furnace powered by mortal souls, and the blood she bathed it in to imbue it with it's power. Tehkris challenged Rlied to a duel to stop her from destroying mortals, a duel he was sure to lose while she had the sword. It then goes on to describe how Misket stole the sword to save Tehkris. The details are obscure from then on, as the 18th section is lost to time. The 19th section opens with Tehrkis casting the Soulsword, now cracked into the stormy ocean with Rlied's body. He then mourns Misket's death, the details of which are vague, and proceeds south to warmer climates.
I would suspect that due to the descriptions in the poem, this entire sequence was set in the far north. While several of the other events in the story of Tehkris have been verified, others haven't and so I would hazard a guess as to whether any of this is true and whether this item ever existed. If it did, it would still be a very powerful weapon despite the damage is sustained. It is unclear what functions the blade had beyond being a powerful artifact weapon.
While the original version had a catchy riddle and poem associated with it, the author provides a succinct translation of the instructions for conjuring the Origin and bargaining passage.
As the sun touches the ground, place an empty bowl in the open door to your home.
Seal all the other entrances, and stand outside.
Before the sun sets completely, place a pure silver coin in the basin of the bowl, head side down. Cover it with warmed milk and add a single drop of cat's blood.
Wait for the sun to set fully and darkness to overwhelm you.
In Sylvan pronounce "I grant my home to you in the hope you may grant yours to me."
Drown the liquid in one quaff, and then flip the exposed coin.
Bargain wisely, and safe travels.
The gnome smiles reluctantly at the compliment.
Reading through the ritual carefully to commit it to memory, Ganzorig recalls another topic of research: "Uhm, one more request if it's not too much trouble: anything on Telloca's Finale, or the Cult of Telloca?"
"I see," Katsanóron says thoughtfully.
I could ask him about ... she thinks. But instead of posing a query to the librarian, she pulls a chair from the table and sits down, feeling weary even though the day is young. Her midriff aches from where the blob grabbed her.
"All right," she says. "We all have questions of our own, I'm sure ..." she glances at Ganzorig, who is evidently planning a trip to the First World. "And there'll be time to research them, I imagine. But just now, we have two more rooms left to explore and no clear idea of what happened to Kegan. I propose that we go see what we find in those. Perhaps what we find there will help us direct our questions of the librarian. I don't know about you, but my top priority is figuring out what this creature that's attacked the village is and how to stop it. It seems Kegan was involved with it, somehow. So we need to find out what happened to him."
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"Well, we know the stuff in here is safe, per the wards Thurin hasn't crushed into submission. Not a hundred percent on whether we qualify as stuff, but I'd take this room over the crux of a tree. We could bring goofus in from outside and tuck in for a rousing several hours of Rest and Research, my personal favorite table-top game."
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The librarian mouth descends to the lowest its ever gone, a flat line, at Ganzorig's question. "Let me see." Its eyes flash red for barely a moment and no books are highlighted. Speaking in an ominous rumble, it gazes menacingly at Ganzorig. "I'm sorry, I cannot provide you with anything about those subjects. This library has nothing about them."
Immediately back to its cheery self as though nothing had happened, the statue smiles at Katsa's suggestion. "Well, if you do find him, please let me know! I do hope he's alright. I'll be here for any time you need to do any research! It's been lovely having you."
”Aye.” Thurin eyed the librarian, as if though he wanted to say something, but thought better of it. He truly wanted to see what the mage had on dwarven runes. For his own knowledge and to see if there was anything he’d need to redact. But now wasn’t the time. Personal edification would have to wait.
”The lass has the right of it. Let’s secure the last rooms and learn of yon beastie. Duty calls.”
The two remaining doors stand ominously. The one to the left is simple and wooden like the others. The one to the right is carved from steel and marked with more runes.
”Let’s go left. Seems wise to clear it out first. The steel, warded, doors will likely stay shut till we open them. The wooden ones? Best make sure nay beasties there will come bite us in the arse.”
Katsa regards the doors with trepidation. "Definitely the wood one first. But after last time, maybe someone else can go first. Hob? Thurin?"
"Just our luck he's dead in his bathroom." Hob grunts grimly. "I think we should check the other rooms too." he squints "Together."
”Heh. Aye. Well Hob, let’s do this. Let’s go in on count of three...”
Without any strain the muscular warriors shove the door open, revealing a large bedroom. The north wall is lined with a relatively plain dresser, which opens to reveal piles of clothes. Kegan clearly didn't have much fashion sense, prioritizing cheap and comfortable clothes. The unmade and tangled bed is to the west wall, and is covered in dust. No one has slept here for years.
On the bedside table lies a scrap of parchment on which someone has inscribed in clumsy dark red letters The blood by that which mine hand has wrought darkens my soul. It lies next to a pair of books. Both of them are recognizable as the ones about the Spirit Wolf that Kegan took from the library.
Your finely tuned sense detect nothing else of particular interest.
"Huh. Looks like you were right Katsa. Could have saved time in the library room if we'd just come here first." he nods approvingly, and heads towards the nightstand, and the books.
"Guess so," Katsanóron says warily, eyeing the place.
"'The blood by that which mine hand has wrought darkens my soul'," she reads from the slip of paper. "Well, that's not at all ominous. Let's see what's in the books."
The books are Songs of Ice People and A Bestiary of Lyi. Skimming them, you find they match the descriptions the librarian gave earlier. However, you are unable to find anything in the books regarding the Spirit Wolf. Upon closer examination, it becomes clear that someone has torn a sheath of pages out of each book. While A Bestiary of Lyi is only missing a couple of pages, the entirety of chapter 5 is gone from Songs.
"Too bad," Katsanóron says regretfully as they finish examining the books. "Those would probably have been enlightening."
"Well ... there's only one place left to look, I guess. Let's go finish this up."
She makes her way out to the front and waits. "Let me heal us a bit before we open that door," she says. "Anything that ominous-looking is likely to hide unpleasantness."
She clasps her hands, wriggles her toes, looks down. Breath in; breath out, and a wash of green energy floods the room. Tiny flowers curl up out of the dust, coiling themselves about the party, easing their wounds and pains. Then the light fades, the flowers dissipate, and all is as it was.
Thurin rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. "Ah, that feels better, lass. Aye, let's do this. We've tarried for too long."
Hob breathes more easily. "Better. he comments laconically with a nod to the beflowered healer.
Ganzorig approaches the metal door, watching for signs of abjurational nonsense as well as getting a feel for any locking mechanisms.
The iron door creaks open slowly, revealing a small room containing two staircases. One narrow wooden staircase twists upwards, before finishing in a small observatory fitted with clear glass panels and a powerful telescope. There must be some sort of magic afoot here, as this second floor wasn't visible from outside.
The other staircase twists downwards into the darkness, carved out of the very rock of the walls. A damp chill emerges from the basement. Descending, you find yourselves in a small room. A narrow rough passage leads north, looking far more unprofessional than the rest of the house, and a slightly ajar wooden doors leads south.
"I don't like this," Katsanóron whispers, more to herself than anyone else.
Be brave, Katsa, she thinks. She touches her bracelet for reassurance. "I'm softer on my feet than the rest of you -- I'll just peek through that door."