The next morning
After resting and recuperating over night, the initiates skip classes to return to the Stump Library, and finish the work of the day before. The exterior of the library is unchanged, save the door is now closed (assuming you did so when you left).
Entering the main chamber, the one remaining scrit gremlin leaps to the top of the bookshelves and tries its best to hide itself when you return. The ruined books, including some now flooded or burnt, lie in heaps across the center space still but no new threats are detected, and things look pretty much the same as when you left yesterday.
Aside from one small stack of books and a few wooden boxes, this room is empty.
The books seem to be random, with no rhyme or reason behind them. The boxes are filled with writing supplies -- blank journals, quills, charcoal, writing implements, and stacks of fine paper fit for magical writings.
Nothing else of note seems to be in the room.
Ikto keeps an eye on the remaining Scrit not turning his back on it "I'll keep watch on our backs while you search."
Za Minyahil begins gathering the unspoiled writing supplies while the others search.
"Waste not, want not," they comment. "And even if we don't use them ourselves, I imagine Xhokan can find someone who will."
It is easy enough to stock up on any writing or library supplies here though what is found does not have any material resale value.
There is no door to this room, but a pair of heavily laden bookshelves line the doorway, making the entrance a bit of squeeze to enter. Listening outside, M'Baba hears a faint buzzing sound coming from within the room, and looking inside, he can see a large mound of paper hanging which appears to be stuck to the ceiling. Other than that, its hard to tell from outside the room.
"Yes, please." Ikto agrees with M'Baba. He finds this ironic but does not say why.
Za Minyahil nods to M'baba.
"The fewer swarms we have to deal with at once, the better."
The room to the southwest has many broken stools and chairs which lie scattered around, in one corner there is a comfortable armchair with piles of books arrayed around it. Someone might have used this armchair as a reading nook, though long enough ago that dust as accumulated over the books and chair.
There are not any apparent creatures in this space.
"Let's check these books," Iovia says, and then she starts going through one of the piles of books.
And Ikto joins her.
The piles of books seem to contain several tomes referencing the city of Bloodsalt, whose long-vanished inhabitants supposedly sprouted wings and flew away. Other books seem to focus on Mwangi Expanse and dragons and seem to be bookmarked for easy cross-referencing. To your more immediate interest, both Studies on the Habits and Migration Patterns of Birds and Drakes of the Continent of Garund and An Expanded History of the Lesser-Known Peoples of the Mwangi Expanse are found in the stack. A thin folio with a narrow bookmark in it contains a partial map of the ruins of Bloodsalt, the bookmark appearing to be covered with magical writings.
Za Minyahil's petals perk up as they discover more of the books they were sent to find, and then the bookmark sparks their attention. They focus their arcane vision upon it.
He calls out "Hello, If you are a scroll and you can hear us, mind calling out and letting us know where we can find you?" It's worth a try after all.
"We only have one more room. Well, two if you count the one with what looks like a wasp nest. It's likely to be there, but the fey that got away before went there as well, so we should be ready in case there are more of them.
"Wise words, Iovia," Za Minyahil says while looking over the bookmark.
Za Minyahil nods and joins M'baba at the door.'
"Just give the word, and I'll open the door."
The bookmark does radiate as magical. As you look through the books in this room, Iovia catches some form of movement out of the corner of her eye, but when she looks, she only sees books and pages. As you actually find a few of the books you are looking for, the fluttering of paper makes you turn, and you see 3 pages of writing, that have formed themselves into paper cranes flying around the you, almost as if trying to get your attention.
Ikto seeks to understand what is on the book mark if someone else doesn't beat him too it.
The paper crane deftly avoids your grip, but then it and the others circle around your head for a moment, trying to stay just out or reach. They do seem to be trying to get your attention, but don't seem to want to be touched.
It seems to be arcane writing, but try as he might, Ikto just cannot make heads or tails of it right now. Maybe if you could concentrate better later on.
Iovia looks at the cranes that circle them.
"Can you lead us to what you want us to see?" she asks.
Za Minyahil observes the paper birds with detached bemusement.
"Interesting," they say. "Simple magics, perhaps, to entertain children?"
"Some of my mentors often read omens in the sky by the flight path of birds. I.. wonder if there is a message here?But it's beyond my ken at the moment." Ikto admits.
As you watch, one of the paper cranes unfolds, and quickly refolds into a shape approximating a silverfish, then it mimes biting the other two who mock scream and run in terror.
Za Minyahil spends time with the scroll and with some effort he can see this is a magical scroll of Fleet Step
"I would surmise that they are telling us that the silverfish eat them or use them as nesting materials! They might be asking us to make sure that all the silverfish in the area are chased away or killed." Iovia watches the paper cranes as she makes her guess.
The floating papers refold them selves into an arrow that points at the door of the room, while the other two pantomime zipping in that direction and celebrating
"I think Iovia is onto something," Ikto admits, "I am not an intimidating sort, but I might be able to scare them..." He is unsure of this though and it shows in his voice.
"Scare the silverfish?" Za Minyahil asks. "I don't know if they're smart enough to be scared off the way a gremlin might. We may just need to resort to the more...Nexian solution."
They conjure a small flicker of fire on their hand to illustrate their point.
Iovia simply follows the paper cranes if they lead us onwards. She listens to what the others say, of course, but for the moment, she doesn't add to it at all.
"Scare the silverfish?" Za Minyahil asks. "I don't know if they're smart enough to be scared off the way a gremlin might. We may just need to resort to the more...Nexian solution."
They conjure a small flicker of fire on their hand to illustrate their point.
"I should have told you all before now anyway," Ikto says making his mind up, "I actually meant to undergo the ceremony as my ..reveal. But that had complications as you recall so... well, try not to panic. I am still Ikto."
As they move, he changes into a spider, and not a small one! He measures a bit short of five feet in length from his front legs to their rear legs when standing comfortably. His colorful tattoos translate well, In his spider form he has brilliant almost cloud swirls of purple with edges of yellow gold to break it up, upon his short fur. It would appear those were natural patterns all along.
The spider speaks quickly his mandibles clicking, "My people are called Anadi, but because we are spider folk, many fear us, and we've learned to blend for protection. This is why I have not been forthcoming until now, for fear of rejection. But you have become friends or at least peers I respect, and it feels less and less right hiding this from all of you. I mention this now not out of guilt though, or an attempt at vanity, but because perhaps THIS form might scare the Silverfish off? They might see me as a natural predator?"
Ikto waits to see their reactions to this.
The petals over Za Minyahil's eyes rise in surprise.
"Interesting!" they say. "I wonder if any of your kind call Quantium home, and I simply never knew. Though to be fair, we ghorans tend to prefer our own company as a people."
Then they bow their head.
"Thank you, for trusting me enough to share this truth with me."
Iovia takes Ikto's reveal in stride. It doesn't seem to bother her in any way. "It might. Until we leave, and then they come back and start eating the books and these paper cranes again. As we've seen, they like to use paper as nesting material. It might work, and we should try it, but we should also be prepared in case it is a temporary solution. Maybe the school will have ways to ward against their return if Mr. Banashee can scare them away. If he can't, well, we can use fire."
She then smiles at Ikto. "I may have more questions about this side of you later, but those can wait until this task is done."
Ikto's expressions maybe different as a spider, but the Anadi is relieved by the reactions that seem positive. I should have done this sometime ago. He tuts at himself.
"Interesting!" they say. "I wonder if any of your kind call Quantium home, and I simply never knew. Though to be fair, we ghorans tend to prefer our own company as a people."
Then they bow their head.
"Thank you, for trusting me enough to share this truth with me."
"Thank you for understanding, as for if anymore of us are in Quantium, I honestly would not know but perhaps?" He ponders that it might be interesting to see Quantium one day.
Iovia takes Ikto's reveal in stride. It doesn't seem to bother her in any way. "It might. Until we leave, and then they come back and start eating the books and these paper cranes again. As we've seen, they like to use paper as nesting material. It might work, and we should try it, but we should also be prepared in case it is a temporary solution. Maybe the school will have ways to ward against their return if Mr. Banashee can scare them away. If he can't, well, we can use fire."
She then smiles at Ikto. "I may have more questions about this side of you later, but those can wait until this task is done."
"I think it may yet come to fire, but worth the risk I think, and yes, you are quite right. Priorities." The colorful and huge spider scuttles about ready to go when they wish to continue.
M'baba opens his eye in disbelief. After recomposing himself, he says "Well, this is surely interesting. Do you... make webs?" He can't help himself.
There's an amused clatter of his mandibles at that, "Yes. Not instantly so not something I can spray in combat or the like, but I've made a shawl recently, and a hammock. I'll make you something later though the material requires some minor maintenance regularly."
Ikto moves along with them, "There is so much more I would love to tell you all of my people even if I do not consider myself entirely typical of them. But as Iovia points out, we have bigger flies to snare now."
"Lead the way, Ikto," Za Minyahil says.
When M'Baba asks if the animated paper is coming with them, one of the scrolls seems to nod yes in a confirmatory way, while the other two come to rest on his shoulder. The paper cranes don't seem to bat an eye as Ikto's true nature is revealed and a giant spider-person appears in their space.
The one crane not resting on M'Baba's shoulder flits around the party, trying to indicate they should head out to the main central room.