What Lurks in the Darkness

Facility Event: The Accursed Archives

Episode 2

What Lurks in the Darkness

Previous Quest

The Forbidden Library

Next Quest

Seeking the Unknown

Summary

After the party meets a mysterious dragon called Nyarlathotep in the unsealed library, an incident there makes them realize the missing villagers have been transformed into books. Their investigation takes on a new urgency as they hurry to save the people.

Dialogue

So this is the Library Obscura, is it? I can scarce believe such a structure was right under the Halidom's nose. It's a rather curiously designed edifice. It almost feels as if someone forced it into such a contorted shape. It's making me dizzy just looking at it. I sure hope I don't horf! Appearances are trivial. Behold, if you would, these walls positively covered in books! So many books! Their covers alone are enough to captivate me! As was written within the Liber Grimortis, this place is filled with all manner of both taboos and truths! This is no time to be getting your feathers ruffled with excitement, Heinwald. Just hurry up and track down a clue so we can get on with this. Ha! As if I simply wander about searching the ground for clu... I say, what's that? Why do you come hither, O travelers?
For beyond this ingang dwell accursed
opuscules with no purchase in the light. What the—?! Eek! Speak! Be you unwelcome visitants,
or yet long-awaited obtruders? Are you...a dragon? We are Chaos, both atheneum and keeper.
We are the deepening wedge, yet that very
wedge unbound! We are what looks most
grievously upon Our shuttered shelves. I'm afraid I cannot follow of what you speak, dragon. Yeah, I'm getting about zero percent of what you're going on about. Comprehension is not the obtention of
knowledge. If those it falls upon fail to
register thus, it is but smoke and oakum. I think we're going to get along, dragon. You actually know what he's on about, Heinwald? Essentially, he's saying that the ignorant can't possibly understand the knowledge he possesses. One of this type in my life was more than enough for me, thanks. Right then! Let me ask you a question, Mr. Thesaurus. Are you friend or foe? You shall find no hedgerow here. No walls.
We are fettered, trapped by quailing wings.
Yet We do not blame the stake,
for it knows naught but the art of binding. It seems he will not interfere with us, at any rate. Each and every thing this dragon says is more bothersome than the last. I'm just glad he's not our enemy. ...What is your name, dragon? Our name is Unbeing. Chaos. The Black.
Our name is writ in water ephemeral.
Yet once some called Us...Nyarlathotep.
The appellation Nyarlathotep denotes not
ourself entire. It is but a word pulled from
aether to define the indefinable, for we are
not bound by a single sobriquet or form. Man, even your NAME is a huge pain! Have you always been in this library? This place is a ziggurat of the Ancient One,
far older yet than your goddess.
The tomes accrued within are oblations unto It.
We, too, are an offering; a sacrifice that
strives without ceasing to gainstay fate.
Besotted atonement; a ruler absolute;
stitched into the very fabric of Our throne. How very fascinating... It seems this building is dedicated to the belief and worship of a being other than the Goddess Ilia—something called the Ancient One. Do you think the people of Hethiwood also worshiped this...thing? It is folly to make conjectures without backing data. But with that being said, it IS a deeply interesting coincidence. All right, dragon! Spill it! Tell us everything you know! The truth is distant to those who strain
against it. The moon waxes and wanes
anon while awaiting wealds to germinate
from seed.
For you to seek a grand jewel would
be to pour water into a shattered urn.
You can but obtain the single pebble
before your eyes. So rather than trying to comprehend a difficult thing, it would be faster to look at things that actually lie around us. That's rather kind advice, actually. You can't actually FOLLOW what he's saying, right? I mean, you're clearly just making it up to seem cool. While the phrasing may be opaque, the advice itself is quite simple. So if I understand this, he's suggesting we look for more information in some of the books in this library. ...Er, right? Guys, we can't read all these books! It's gonna take foreeeeeever! I'll let you in on a helpful little secret. When you SAY something's hard, it instantly gets much harder. So instead, rear back your head and yell, "I'M GONNA DOOF IT!" You are SO close to sounding cool most of the time. But then...yeesh. A-anyway, let's get our game faces on and start looking around.

---

...... Goodness, reading this many books is just as tiring as I expected it to be. Dude, my poor faerie head is about to explode into goo. I'm gonna take a break. ...... You wanna come with, Lathna? Uuu...? Go ahead if you like, Lathna. Just try to stay close. Uuurrr...? C'mon, quit muttering and let's go!

---

Hoo doggie! That is one weird place, eh, Lathna? Urruuu?! Huh? What's up? This...plaaaace...bad. Wait, what? It's bad? What's that mean?! C'mon, you can't just say that and... EEEEEEEK! Notte, what's wrong! I heard somebody over there just now! They were moaning, like, "Uuuuuurgh!" Notte, that's just a bookshelf. Maybe it's old and creaky or som— I know what I heard, man! Surely you aren't suggesting the BOOK was talking? Because that is... It's... What is it, Curran? This library has been sealed for ages, right? And yet, the books in this section look to be in pristine condition. Huh. You're right. They look brand new. I wonder what they're about... What in the world?! S A V E
M E

NOOOOOOOPE! Nope nope nope! There's nothing else written in it... What is the deal with this book...? Look at this one, Your Highness. STOP STOP STOP MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP
MAKE IT STOP MAKE IT STOP STOP STOP MAKE IT
STOP ME STOP ME STOP ME STOP ME STOP

...That goes on for hundreds of pages. Is this a prank? Because I'm not laughing! I wish that it were. I truly do. I can't see even the most devoted prankster taking the time to fill all the books in this area with gibberish. Yeah, there must be a couple hundred of 'em in here. Hmm. A very interesting perspective. What is? We seek roughly 200 missing people, and here find roughly 200 new books. That's... Come on. That's absurd. More absurd than an entire village disappearing in a single night? Still, if you doubt my theory, we have only to count the books and see. All right, let me just do a quick count... Let's see... A hundred... One fifty... Two hundred...and...eight? Oh no. Which means we have the exact number of books as we have missing villagers. B-but that... Let us not get ahead of ourselves. We have a theory right now, nothing more. Waaaaaah... AAAH! By Ilia, there are PEOPLE in these books! How is such a thing possible?! Okay, everybody just take a step back. If the people have become books, then the books are still people! Why can't ANYONE make sense today?! I think what Curran is trying to say is that if the people became books, they should also be able to turn BACK into people. ...Er, is that right? That's my guess, anyway. What do you think, Heinwald? The remaining grimoire... A spell... A new world...offering...failed. No, it succeeded? Ah! How fascinating! HEY! Heinwald! This isn't the time to be squirreled away off in your own little world. We need to do something, fast! There is nothing we can do presently. Our only choice is to widen our investigative radius a bit more. And how do we do that? The seals placed on this library are multifarious. If we release those seals, the range of what we can investigate will expand exponentially. And how do we release these seals? At the moment I am unsure; we need to gather clues in various areas of the library. Well, I guess that's better than being buried up to my neck in creepy books. So sure—count me in on the clue hunt. I thought you might say that. What say you, Euden? We'll go as well. If the villagers really did get turned into books, we can't leave them trapped in that state. It's funny. Life's too long to spend it standing around idly, but it's too shirt to do all the things that matter. (He did it again...)