The Fool

*"Even when there was noise, it was quiet. It was, true to form, a Library. But at one point there was an outburst of sound so close, and loud, and sudden, we thought we were under attack before realizing it was the most hideous and grating cackle of laughter. Worse, we saw no source as it sounded, first from one side, then another, and another. At the height of our anxiety, I saw the last thing I would have expected to see in this place: a cat. Such a living, vibrant being went against everything we thought we knew of the place, and it was* vibrant*. As it darted among our legs, I saw no less than four unnatural colors in its fur, and there was a distinct smile to its eyes. As it ran past, into the other shelves, I felt a gust overhead and looked up just as the laughter burst again from the being leaping over us. One of* them*, but all bright colors and natural, joyous movement. It landed in front of us and disappeared down the aisle the cat had gone. Before we could react, a whole troop of the Library's armed guardians swarmed past us. Thinking it wise to let the matter lie, we moved along, puzzling to ourselves."*

*-daftPirate*

## Physical Description

The Fool is a four-armed Librarian of average height. Their robes are black, trimmed with a range of clashing colors and decorated with faces and teeth and fringes. A red bow-tie is faintly visible among the shadows of their hood, and they carry a skull-topped red jester's staff, which trails varicolored tendrils of chaos magic. They have four arms, dull red chitin, and heterochromatic eyes; one eye is red and the other green, though nobody ever seems to be able to tell which is which. Their teeth are shining gold, rather than the typical pale yellow.

The Fool travels with a companion that seems to be an ordinary feline, except that its fur is brightly colored in a variety of unnatural shades. It is often seen before the Fool themself is, and its bright colors and natural-seeming life come as a great shock in the quiet and order of the Library.

## Purpose

The Fool came into being to balance out the absolute order of the Librarians, it is a being of absolute Chaos who enjoys nothing more than the Chaos and revelry its pranks create. Most of these pranks involve impeding or interfering with the organization of the Library, such as Stealing books and hiding them elsewhere, all while making lots of disruptive noise. The Fool may be a chaotic being, but it is still fundamentally a Librarian, and so it doesn't dare destroy any of the books it steals. The others of the Library tolerate its existence but not without amble distaste for its purpose.

The Fool is believed to represent a philosophical balance to the nature of the Library itself; they seems to exist solely to create chaos in a place defined by order. Where other Librarians work busily at their tasks, the Fool works directly against them, doing their best to frustrate the organization of the Library. They revel in the chaos and hilarity created by their pranks, which tend to consist of stealing books and hiding them elsewhere, and doing so while generating as much noise as possible.

Though the Fool is a creature of chaos, they are still fundamentally a Librarian and hold a deep respect for books and knowledge. None of the books that they steal are ever harmed in any way, simply scattered about in the most frustrating possible manner. It is perhaps due to this respect for the tomes that the other Librarians tolerate its existence-- though not without ample distaste.

## Behind the Scenes

* The Fool was proposed by Eithrotaur and officially canonized on January 1, 2021
* The cat which accompanies The Fool was originally part of the Zooligist's entourage of animals. The Zooligist would likely assert that the cat was stolen by The Fool, while The Fool is as likely to concur as to claim the cat simply left to join the more interesting Librarian.

## HeroForge Link

https://www.heroforge.com/load\_config%3D12861065/