The Page Turners

"The Page Turners" (2x14) is the fourteenth episode of the A Clockwork Brass campaign. The Unnamed Party takes a journey to the Scriptorium, utilizing their platinum passes to access a wealth of knowledge. It took place on Reinheit 2nd, 136 N.E.
== Synopsis ==
The party begins their day to the sweet and savory smell of potato pancakes being prepared by Izolda after a long night of drinking and making merry. The conversation the previous night had ended dismally, which leads Anastazja, the usual early riser of the group, to make her way out to the balcony, ignoring all in her path. Brynn and Eislyn wake up to the smell of Izolda's cooking and join her for breakfast. Cypryjan awakens lastly, having spent a good deal of his night inventing and completing his invention, bringing it into the beta stages of testing. He rushe into the bathroom to ensure that his previous night's delving was just a dream and not reality. A rude awakening is earned as he peers into the mirror.
There are two peculiar things that are picked up on by the members of the party gathered around the dining table. Firstly, Brynn is wearing a unique piece of clothing, some sort of magenta and purple overcoat. When questioned about it by Izolda, Brynn confidently remarks that she's always had it and is just choosing to wear it now. Secondly, Cypryjan has a unique hue and design to his eyes. Around his irises are cogwheel-like designs and the former brown to his eyes has shifted to a literally glowing amber color.
Izolda then calls a team meeting, beckoning Anastazja back inside from the balcony, much to her displeasure. The team decides that they need to spend time at the local library, the Scriptorium, utilizing their reward from Blausten von Clausewitz. A small debate is had on the merits of killing Parsmen Glemkil but no decision are yet made. Cypryjan insists vehemently that he is in danger as a direct result of his eyes, and expresses a need to review what he can about the magic that could have plagued him so. Anastazja is quick to agree, and takes a peak into his eyes to see about decoding them. What she sees is "not a window to his soul" but rather a "window to another plane of reality" filled with cogwheels and golden skies. Each member of the party, apart from Eislyn encourages a trip to the library for research purposes. A quick shopping trip is made to Martha's Mysterium so that Brynn can get 10 shillings worth of incense for a spell and they are off to the Scriptorium.
At the library, the party immediately notices the sheer size of the interior of this place. To the far right of the entrance is a café which is utilized by Izolda and Eislyn while Cypryjan rushes to the restricted section while wearing Anastazja's sunglasses to shield his new glowing eyes. Once inside of the restricted section of the Scriptorium, Cypryjan goes to the section marked 'Arcanum' and looks into Transmutation magics. Not seeing anything relating to his condition, he instead looks into Enchantment magics and finds that areas most commonly effected by charms and charm-like spells are the eyes, which leads him to believe that he may have been charmed by whatever magics are involved with clocks.
Brynn, with Anastazja in tow, traverses to the restricted section as well and picks up several books on wizarding, necromancy (included a book entitled; Sicarius by Mettha Metzer), and several tomes from world-renowned author Donneric. Killing time, Anastazja moves towards the Arcanum section as well and tries to find a book by Doctor Parsmen Glemkil and she finds one volume. She deduces that other tomes by him have likely been removed from the library and this one tome's presence is an oversight, some sort of human error. She picks up A Comprehensive Study of Planes and the Theory of the Cosmological Continuum, Volume 8 of 49: Planar Escape, and sees that its date of publication was 98 years ago, which is shocking given Parsmen Glemkil's race and appearance.
While in the café, Eislyn and Izolda see Larry who is today acting as their barista. They order their drinks and have a quiet chat about Eislyn's status as 'barely human'. Eislyn confesses that she has not ever felt like she belonged anywhere and thus compared herself to being less than human. Izolda rolls an insight check on the validity of this claim and can detect no deception. After coffee and chats, the duo makes their way towards the parts of the library that interest Izolda. She, in turn, finds books on advanced alchemy, Malkenna the Grimlady, a gazetteer of the Vindrinath Shore, and travels to the restricted section to pick up any books she can on Hieromoth and Shadar-kai shadow magic. Coming up short, she opts to borrow one of Brynn's hundreds of collected books and finds a tome by Donneric on his alleged journey to the Shadowfell.
Cypryjan then opts to leave the restricted section and head towards the café. In doing so, he is stopped by Anastazja who fears for Larry's life, should Cypryjan see him. After a bit of stalling, Cypryjan does come into contact with his eternal foe: Larry. Cypryjan gets in Larry's face and demands to know how he could possibly be everywhere at all times, and Larry maintains a casual look at Cypryjan and behaves nonchalantly. Much to Cypryjan's chagrin, he demands the manager, to which Larry responds that the manager will be working next Dunnedag if he wishes to file a complaint then. Cypryjan knocks over a tip jar and walks away. Anastazja pick up the fallen jar and the money, and Larry thanks her. The two share a small conversation wherein Larry confesses that his favorite time of day is evening, and that in old Potoros they called evening 'Vespra'. Anastazja then joins Cypryjan for a cup of coffee after Larry had made her a cup without moving.
After the Scriptorium, the party goes to a local bar and orders waters from Larry who happens to be working their as well. He brings Cypryjan a Rafe's Own: Fuzzberry with a unique cap. Cypryjan removes the cap and peers at it, noticing that there is a unique combination of letters attached to it:
Cypryjan takes a special note of this, and Brynn checks her water cup; finding nothing. The party discusses their desire to not kill Parsmen Glemkil, as he may be the solution to their Blausten von Clausewitz problem and Cypryjan's eye problem. They are unsure as to what to do next, however, and the idea of going to Wrowagn in search of him is tossed into the air. The conversation devolves into a small argument between Anastazja and Izolda over the future and importance of planning for it better so that one's dreams can be realized. Brynn joins Anastazja's side in the argument, saying that life is too random to plan for. Izolda, perturbed by the argument and displeased with the resolution, returns to the Inventor Housing. Anastazja remains somewhat silent for the remainder of the night and is brought Apfelstrudel by Larry for her birthday. Brynn, Eislyn and Cypryjan take note of the fact that no one had informed Larry it was Anastazja's birthday. The party then goes back to the Inventor Housing, where they will pick up next time.
== Featured Characters ==
=== The Unnamed Party ===
* Anastazja
* Brynn
* Cypryjan
* Eislyn
* Izolda
=== New ===
* Unnamed librarians
=== Returning ===
* Larry
=== Mentioned ===
* Blausten von Clausewitz
* Donneric
* The Grimlady
* Parsmen Glemkil
=== Quotations ===
* Brynn to Izolda: "You can have hopes, you can have plans about your future but in the end: it's going to look completely different."
Category:Episodes