Forwin nestled into his chair as he hunched over a tome of considerable size, rapt with focus. He scrutinized the musty and weathered pages of ink, ever-shifting between paragraphs written in an unknown tongue, diagrams, graphs, and spell graphics. It was a chaotic mess, but—with many years of study on sorcery under his belt—Forwin could comprehend the vast majority of its pages and often nodded in understanding as he slid aside its bulk to scribe notes aplenty. However, as the monsoon rains pelted the dormer window above, he paused.

"By Uldar's beard," he uttered, exasperation taking over, "The bloody tome venders 'ave cheated me once more. Left out the spell codex for Athra's winds. Mursa would be livid."

Sighing, he lifted the tome, opened a drawer, and slammed it down with a thud. "Bloody 'el," he muttered, standing with another sigh, this time weary. "Maybe it was for the best, I' been getting nearly no sleep."

Forwin shuffled over to the bed in the corner of the room and sat down. The bed groaned and creaked as if it was about to collapse to an early grave. Usually, Forwin would have uttered a complaint or curse at the bed for being so noisy, but he was far too tired that day, and just leaned back onto the coarse linen of his bedsheets. He had fallen asleep in mere seconds.

—

Forwin awoke with curses as the morning sun hit his eyes. "Bloody 'el you vapid candlelight! Gi' me a break, will you?" The sun cared little for his plight and shined brighter than it had moments ago. "Alright, alright," Forwin relented. Sitting up, he realized had slept without changing into his nightwear and let out a disgruntled groan. "Again…? Oh well."

Forwin got out of bed and walked to the cabinet that held all his clothing. What should I wear to— Oh, by the gods, I've got my first day as a librarian!

Forwin rushed to the cabinet and slammed its doors open, nearly tearing them off in the process. "Great, there it is," he said, snatching up a plain black scholar's robe. He unfolded it, checking for any wrinkles a noble could find unsightly, before he removed his previous clothing and slid it over his gaunt form. Forwin grumbled as he noticed It just barely reached the ankles. The tailor who had made this was likely used to shorter clientele, Forwin thought.

"Bugger! This is no time for idle thought, I best be on my way." Forwin rushed out of the room and flung the door open before launching himself down the steps to the main floor. Each step cried in creaky dismay, not accustomed to the force placed on them by running.

After a moment, Forwin burst outside, already panting from exertion. He paused to catch his breath for a moment, but his face scrunched up when he caught a whiff of the scent outside. "By the gods do it smell," Forwin said as he dashed down the cobbled streets. He scanned the rickety houses that lined this part of the city, lamenting what the economic collapse following the plague had done

The run to the building that housed the library was, for the most part, unpleasant. But it swiftly recovered as he breached the border between the slums and the nobles section of the city. In the slums, none cared for hygiene, and all threw the contents of their chamber pots out the windows. But in the nobles section, they had warded rooms that took care of their waste by discarding it into the void.

Forwin slowed to a snail's pace when he reached the street of the library, unable to ignore its splendor. The nobles really went all out on the construction of this building, Forwin thought as he admired the depictions of the first king's epic that coiled around the stone pillars of the entrance, among other things. He only did so for a short time, however, as he remembered what he was there for.

Walking around to the side of the library, he entered the servants' entrance—only nobles were permitted to enter from the front—and walked up to the office of the Head Librarian. Once there, he knocked on the door four times, denoting his status as a librarian. Nothing happened for a moment, and there was no sound of shuffling from the room in response. Then a circle above the door lit up. From the circle, a man's voice bellowed, "Speak, librarian." Forwin replied with haste. "Greetings, Head Librarian. Librarian Forwin, reporting to inquire about my duty."

Forwin wrung his hands, sweating with each second that went by without a response. Finally, after what had felt like an eternity to Forwin, a response came. "Librarian Forwin. You are cutting it close. If you are this late again, you will lose this position. A noble's son has asked for a guide, and he will be here in minutes. You will wait for him in the entrance lobby. Hurry along." Forwin sighed in relief and broke into a run towards the servants' exit that would let him out at the entrance lobby.

Pushing the door open with care, he admired the lobby as he had done for the exterior of the library. The marbled floors shone in the light of a chandelier and warded glass doors stood to the left of Forwin, providing a view of the outside world and letting in more light. After admiring the lobby for a while, he remembered why he was there. "Oh by the gods, why've I been given this duty? I just done started for Uldar's sake!" Forwin grumbled for a few minutes longer before sighing in defeat.

"Well damn, he's here," Forwin said, spotting the noble through the glass doors. Shuffling up to the glass doors, he placed his hands behind his back and straightened his posture, then put on a stoic expression.

When the noble reached the doors, Forwin took a second to scrutinize him, in the hopes of identifying anything that might help him survive this experience. The noble appeared sullen, with slouched shoulders and a downcast, but strangely determined expression. I may be a lucky bugger, Forwin mentally cheered. This was certainly the best kind of noble to deal with because they tended to ignore anyone around them to wallow in their sadness.

The noble opened the glass door and looked up to Forwin. "I take it, you'll be the one to guide me?" The noble said. Forwin bowed deeply, "Yes, you are correct." The noble's gaze tightened as he watched Forwin's stoic expression. "Show me the books on the history of the Erlyian Empire, and do so with haste. I'd like to get to studying as quickly as possible, Librarian." Forwin bowed lightly this time and turned on his heels.

They weaved through bookshelves full to the brim with tomes, scrolls, and books. The library really does rival that of the capital city, huh, Forwin thought. It took them a while to get to the section with books on Erlyian history, and when they got there, the selection was sparse. Not much had survived from those days.

Forwin scanned the bookshelf with a practiced gaze, trying to recall the section of the library guide that contained the names of the books in this section. History of Erlyian Delicacies, Catalogue of Grain Shipments to the Erylian capitol… ah! There were are. History of the Erlyian Empire and Its Predecessors, penned by Harlian Benett. Forwin pulled one of the most weathered books in this section out of where it was wedged between two books and handed it to the noble. "Here we are. I believe this is what you were looking for?" Erwin asked.

"Yes, librarian. Wait by my side whilst I read." The noble walked over to the nearest oak table and sat down in its cushioned seats.

–

Forwin waited there, beside the studious noble, for hours, so his mind wandered. After all, what else was there to do? Then, at sundown, the noble suddenly spoke, closing the book on Erlyian's history. "Librarian, I am done with this book and am ready to leave. Were you aware there is many a section scratched out?" The noble questioned. "Yes. There is nothing that can be done about this, however, and this is the best book on the subject. However, the capitol's library may have a book in better condition." Forwin answered, disgruntled at being pulled from his thoughts. Though he did not show it on his face—that would be disastrous.

The noble didn't respond and simply stood. Forwin looked at the noble and took in his expression. The noble was still sad but looked noticeably less so. They stood there in silence for a moment, before Forwin spoke with a slight bowing of his head. "I will now guide you back towards the entrance." It took them much less time to traverse their way back, as Forwin wasn't looking for a specific section.

When they arrived at the entrance, Forwin speedily walked to the glass doors and opened the right one, gesturing to the noble to go through. The noble walked through without so much as a glance at Forwin.