AMLB 03

Adriana’s Magical Library and Bookshop

03: The Monk Arc

Swift Foot had some thoughts about names. To her own people, her name marked her as a fast runner, as a follower of a Path. With humans? She used a different name. Mishka, in a human language she barely understood, was a dimunitive of that people’s word for ‘mouse’. She supposed it was appropriate enough in its fashion— her fur and hair were a mousy brown, and she was small, quiet, and an anxious sort of person. That was the way of humans, she supposed— hiding the meaning of their names behind supposed profundity and then pretending it made them more civilized.

And she had to hide even that, at the moment. With the war raging on, both the nobility and the smallfolk were on high alert for any beastkin. So, she disguised herself, hid her ears and the fuzzier parts of her body. The cloak helped her pass as human, to the patrols and to wary eyes and questioning mouths.

It grated at her, that she had to hide herself, that the differences between her and humans were so easily hidden and yet enough to cause such a divide. And yet... she didn’t want any altercations with the locals. The smallfolk were not responsible for the war, after all, and they were more like her than they knew, ground beneath the heels of the nobles.

And so she made her way into the city at dusk. Human cities were... strange. They looked so similar; it was almost creepy. Sure, there was a  lot of diversity in facial features, weight, and a bit in skin tone but... they didn’t range greatly in size or have the myriad of animalistic traits beastkin could express, and even the diversity in how hairy they were was relatively limited.

But she supposed their differences stood out all the more for their similarity, especially to the humans themselves. Even just the walls were an impressive feat of engineering. Thick, sturdy and powerful, and built taller than any artificial structure she’d seen. Her people had their own feats of engineering but... they didn’t close themselves off from nature quite this much. What had driven the humans to shut the world out like this? To shut out even their own lower classes beyond this edifice of wood and stone.

She supposed most humans weren’t as strong as beastkin— they had neither the might of the beasts or the Paths to follow, though they did have their own Mages that could challenge her people’s own. That might be enough for them to seek to cower behind such a thick wall.

She shook her head, clearing her thoughts and focusing on the Elder’s instructions. She was supposed to be visiting a bookshop run by a local merchant and scholar. According to the Elder, the scholar was a tolerant and wise woman and would not turn down any customer.

And so, she sought out the bookshop, wondering what this Adriana was like.

~~~~

The place itself seemed pleasant enough, a little island of nature in the dead stone and stench of the city. A well-kept garden full of flowers and herbs, a towering edifice of wood four stories tall, standing out amidst the other buildings.

That itself piqued her interest— for this bookseller to dedicate so much space just to books; she must have quite a great love for knowledge.

Mishka approached the door, walking along the flagstone path through the garden. She heard the click of her boots on the flagstones as she approached the door, her hand knocking on the polished wood. There was a sign, but it was in the human tongue of this city.

That was a problem for later, Mishka thought. She knew how to speak most human tongues, but when it came to reading them? Harder. Hard enough that she had no idea what that sign, ornately painted as it was, said.

Adriana opened the door, poking her head out and tapping the sign. “Well hello there! This sign says we’re open,” she explained as though she was talking to a small child. Flipping it, she explained the other side. “If you see this side, it means we’re closed.” She then flipped it back to ‘open’ and stepped inside.

“My apologies. I’m not exactly literate in this language,” Mishka huffed, hesitant to admit to such a thing in front of— oh, the shopkeeper was a beastkin as well. And a spider beastkin too, from the profusion of legs and eyes... and the thorax. Focus, Mishka. No perverted thoughts about the bug scholar.

She cautiously followed Adriana into the building, taking in the scent of paper, leather, and dried old glue that hung around libraries and bookshops. Mishka closed the door behind her, and as she did, her hood fell— and she almost instinctively moved to cover her ears, but...

Was there a point? Adriana wasn’t even trying to hide it, and the other patrons gave her a single glance before turning back to her books.

One young man elbowed his companion. “Is that a rabbit beastkin? Her ears look really fluffy.”

“I wonder if what they say about Rabbits is true about rabbit beastkin,” the other man giggled, wagging his eyebrows.

“I think the best place to look into that would be a tavern, not a library. I have business here, but... I’d be open to drinks or a good spar after?” Mishka offered. Maybe humans were more like her people than she’d thought, or maybe there was a bit of hope for this place after all.

She winked at them and then turned to follow the spider-woman, stepping over to the counter.

“So! What would you like from my Magical Bookshop?” Adriana asked with a smile. “I have plenty of books for you to browse if you’d like. Even some of the more naughty ones if that’s what you’re into. Or perhaps you’d like to trade in some of your own?”

“I might end up browsing after but... yes, I’m here to donate,” Mishka— no, she could be Swift Foot here, this was a safe place. Swift Foot reached into her knapsack and pulled out three leather-bound tomes wrapped in oilcloth to protect them on the road.

She unwrapped the oilcloth and laid them on the counter. These three books contained knowledge, yes, but more than that. They contained the Paths. “Are you aware of the Paths that the more... monastic and spiritual among our peoples have been developing?”

Adriana smiled, leaning over the counter and picking up the books carefully. “…Tell me more,” she demanded with a clear lust for more knowledge.

“Paths are... well. They’re a way of life, a path to power, and a philosophy all in one,” Swift Foot grinned, feeling the wondering stares of the patrons on her but ignoring it for the time being. “To follow a path is to embody it, and in doing so gain strength from it. These three books detail three of the basic paths, their tenets, and what we’ve discovered of the strengths they bring.”

“Interesting~” Adriana grinned, waving over a young man to bring Swift Foot a chair. “It seems we have much to talk about.”

"Yes, it does. These are the Path Of War, Path of Peace, and Path of Negotiation. The Followers of the Paths are spreading them through the lands. While humans oppress our kind... we recognize that humans are themselves oppressed by Mages, ruled by Magocracies founded on ‘bloodlines’ and ‘talent’,” Swift Foot said, seeing someone who was, perhaps, a kindred spirit in the spider-woman. “The nobles follow their example with pride, and the common people? They obey or die.”

“Indeed,” Adriana nodded. “Perhaps we could help each other…”

~~~~

Swift Foot had stayed with the Spider Librarian for many hours, helping her translate the Paths from the dialect of beasttongue they were written in to her own. Adriana had assured her that she could handle transcribing them into the common tongue and other human languages from there. It was an odd thing, she thought, that a language could be so detached from its forebears as to be considered common to all people. Or perhaps it was a mark of considering those who didn’t speak it to be lesser sorts of people?

She couldn’t say, yet. Regardless, she’d need to learn to read more human languages if she wanted to continue her journey, but that could come in its own time. For now, however? Swift Foot needed to get out of this city.

So she headed for the gates, speaking to no one and trying her best to be beneath notice. Unfortunately, it seemed like that wouldn’t be the case.

A man blocked her path. He was tall, for a human but not to the level of Bear-kin, with sharp features and gray eyes that bored into her. He still wore the padded cloth armor of the city garrison with a segmented breast plate over his chest. The man looked fresh off duty, like he hadn’t had time to put away his armor yet, but the strength in his build was undeniable. “Stop,” he commanded, arms folded “Remove your hood.”

“And why should I do that? It’s a hot day and I don’t want the sun in my eyes,” she huffed, shaking her head.  She couldn’t show any signs that she had any other reason for hiding her face— that’d be playing right into the guard’s game.

“It’d be just a moment’s discomfort and then I will let you go. I will ask you one more time. Pull. Down. Your. Hood,” he commanded. By this point, a small crowd was forming, watching their interaction with a mixture of confusion, trepidation, or general hushed excitement, depending on the person.

“And why aren’t you hassling any of them?” Swift Foot snarked, gesturing to a few nearby individuals in face-covering hats, cloaks, or veils. “Is it just pretty young women you pick on, perhaps?”

That got a laugh from a few of the crowd, along with some darker looks sent the guard’s way.

Unfortunately, he didn’t seem phased. “I like men,” he said, bluntly, before dashing forward, fast. She did not react in time, partially due to the shock of his statement, and his hand pulled her hood down, exposing her bunny ears.

His eyes widened. “Beast spy in the city!” he shouted, loudly, one hand going for the dagger at his side.

“I’m a courier, not a spy, you fool,” Swift Foot said, before bounding off the ground and landing a solid kick in the man’s center of mass, sending him flying. Further than any human unenhanced by magic could manage, causing him to slam into a cart pulled by a donkey... only to be kicked again. Ouch.

Well, it was too late to not catch attention now, but she could escape more of it, she supposed. There were too many people looking at her, strangers gasping at her rabbit features. She bounded into the air and caught the lip of the roof of a nearby alehouse, running across the roof and leaping between building as she headed for the edge of the city.

Her mission had been completed, and as such she felt no guilt or worry fleeing the city. Though she’d have to come back some time to take those gentlemen up on their offer, maybe. It depended on how much of a risk she was willing to take for a good night of drinking and debauchery.

~~~~

AN:

Sonata: Beast-kin surprise! So there’s things other than humans in the world. Obviously, Adriana’s not a human, but there’s at least one person excited for there to be catgirls in the world.

HiddenMaster: I swear it wasn’t me.

BookDragon: NolanAreYouSure.gif. Regardless, here’s some flavour for this setting’s take on Faith Magic! It works like this because there aren’t really any Real Gods that anyone knows of, at least yet. We hope you enjoy! We also hope you enjoy Swift Foot/Mishka, doing her best to be serious and mission focused when she’d rather be exploring or slutting around.

Kitsu: You thought it was Hidden, but it was I, Kitsu!

All jokes aside, this Foxxo will write more German spood soon, dw. We get paid monthly after all.

Hopefully we can get some more donations to it now that we’ll have enough to post across our sites.

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