The warbling gate is a golden ring with an orange magic wall, looking like a loose pile of oddly colored sand ORANGE DOMAIN In the Library: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT_Ql8kwm4M In the back lab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y-PFMU_NiM ## Upon exiting the ORANGE gate, you stumble on your way out of it and land on all fours one after the other into a pile of sand, and are immediately met with a deep dense heat all around you. Not like fire, but moreso the air being devoid of all moisture, which is when you realize most of the land around you in all directions is endless amounts of sand. Welcome to the DESERT domain! *BEHIND YOU* You realize the gate itself is angled backward at about 45 degrees, and the reason is because it is physically built into the angled walll of the foot of one of three pyramids, each one probably ranging upwards of 400 feet tall. And you do see an entrance in the center of the one the gate is built into, a deep rectangular entryway going a few yards back into the structure. *IF THEY GO IN* You feel an immediate wave of coolness break the heat as you peer into what might be the largest library you have ever seen. Before you are rows of books reaching heights well exceeding a second story building's, the columns easily double digit, and the depth too far to immediately spot with the naked eye. *NOTICE ROLL* They all seem to be in something akin to the Dewey Decimal system, except... not? The books are all organized by their general themes of philosophy & psychology, religion, social sciences, language, science, technology, arts & recreation, literature, and history & geography, and they each have a dedicated series of tall aisles filled with them, but the books seem to have no actual numbers of any coordinated organization system, just... placed in places by theme. To the right is a small series of tables, chairs, and couches being sparsely occupied by people reading, barring one tiger man taking a nap with a book over his face. There is also a card catalogue off in the corner with a sign saying USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. To the left is what appears to be a check-in / check-out station that also doubles as a merchandise space selling bookmarks, colorful book covers, comfy bookbags, magic rings in an orange hue, and several other bits and bobbles. But at the moment there is noone behind the counter and a sign on it saying BACK SHORTLY *IF THEY GO TO THE CARD CATALOGUE AREA* The catalogue drawer itself looks relatively normal, aside from there only being one drawer. Upon opening the drawer, it reveals name card after name card in an organized rack, but the rack doesn't ever seem to stop expanding, continuing on so long you feel the need to take a step back every few seconds so it can continue. The sleeping tiger man will walk over to you, clearly barely awake, commenting on your situation. "Oi mate... you know this is a MAGICAL library, right? You opened the drawer without an inquiry and now it's showing literally every book it can think of." He walks over and pushes the drawer shut with one swift motion. "Ask the drawer for something specific and it'll shrink the options." He will suddenly flop back onto the couch, curling up and resuming his cat nap in peace. *IF THEY EXPLORE THE SHELVES* (NOTICE ROLL) While exploring the seemingly endless shelves of books, you will randomly spot a quick trace of a person waltzing by just out of sight -- a hand placing a book on a shelf, a white coat whizzing by on a wheeled ladder, a pair of legs wobbling by under a pile of heavy books -- until a book falls off the shelf at your feet. The title of the book is "the Diadem Magical Manuscript," an almost ancient hardback book with bent golden corners. (OPEN IT) The inside is filled to the brim with multiple languages of scribbles of information you barely make out as magical in nature, until you reach the back half and finally make out a legible section about the twelve unique elements of magic. The translation roughly reads "The twelve magic elements as we know them were originally the twelve defining concepts that framed the universe. Destruction and Restoration, Strength and Flexibility, Beginning and End, Quickness and Slowness, Where and When, All and Nothing. There is also a thirteenth element, a balancing force that kept all others in check." The rest is unintelligible. *IF THEY GO TO THE COUNTER* When you approach the counter, the sign has SOMEHOW changed to now read RING BELL FOR SERVICE, and there is a bell you swear was not there before. *RING THE BELL* A tiger man suddenly stands up from behind the library counter, as if he was always there just out of sight. He straightens his spectacles on his lightly striped orange and black face, straightening his white flowing longcoat and adjusting his necklace of long feline teeth against his knit black shirt, his orange nametag reading CONROY. "Ello ello! 'ow can I help you?" *IF THEY ASK* The tiger man that was asleep on the couch is, indeed, gone. Upon being asked any question he cannot readily answer, he will duck down out of sight before what appears to be his hand slams the book down before your group from behind you all, and slides back behind the counter nonchalantly before opening the book up to the appropriate page for the information you need. *IF ABOUT ISLAND HISTORY / DM / REGALIA* He will do a doubletake and suddenly reach down, yanking out a hundred-years-old golden tome with bent corners, slamming it before your group on the table with a plume of dust. He will open it, showing the pages are very much singed and genuinely ancient paper, before landing on a page. "Ah, here we are! The island was constructed... according to this, 547 years ago, but the purpose behind it has been worn and damaged... Ah! Freeing the people says you need to find the twelve champions and earn their treasures, they will be your keys to... freedom.. wish... it's a bit hard to read, but there is SOME form of a prize at the end of it all. Can't really gleam much else from this old thing..." He flips through the rest of the pages, looking for anything else of use, one of the pages crumbling against his fingertips, causing him to whimper a little. "Well... that's upsetting... I'll need to see about restoring this book somewhow, I suppose... but that's for another day." He puts the book down under the counter out of the way. "Anything else I can help you with? *IF THEY ARE DONE* "Wait a tic! Since I 'elped you, perhaps you can 'elp me in return? See we have a small ritual here where, when a new person arrives, we add them to the library in a sense, to add and expand on what we know. I would only need a moment of your time, if that's alright?" He takes the volunteers out through a surprisingly deep passageway out the backside of one pyramid, and into the entrance of the one behind it to the right. Inside you see a massive laboratory filled with a few sectioned off areas, each one full of beakers & test tubes, burners & freezers, microscopes & petri dishes, and all manners of bright lights & VERY old machinery anyone would recognize from any old horror movie. He guides you to the back-right corner of the room, to a strange circular metal chamber with an orange magic circle on the ground, and a panel containing an orange slab of stone with odd writing on it. "The process is quite simple, this magic circle simply reads your mind and body for anything knowledge-based, checks it against any pre-existing books, and either fills in the blanks or writes whole new ones. Everyone has one! Now just stand right there, keep your eyes closed, and..." He slams his hand onto an orange stone tablet and causes it to jump to life, a swirling vortex of sand encompassing you like a twister. Each pellet glows with a soft orange light before taking off into the entryway, causing the cat to giggle with glee as he stares at the orange stone panel. "Fantastic! 17 books finished, 83 furthered along, 9 sequels, and (player number) all new ones just for you!" An explosion occurs just outside the doorway to the lab, a body careening across the room before slamming into the wall with a dull thud before slooowly sliding down to the floor. Conroy dashes over to the body, picking it up and dusting it off to reveal a small boy, barely double digit age in a singed indigo hoodie, his orange nametag reading CAELUM. "Caelum?! What have I told you about doing your dangerous experiments inside the lab?! You do that OUT IN THE DESERT so the property damage is minimized!" He sets the boy down on his own two feet, and the boy responds by coughing up a bit of soot. "Sorry, I just had this idea for that gold potion and I had to work on... it..." He slowly turns to your group, eyes wide and just now realizing you were there. "Uh... hello..?" Conroy sighs and hangs his head. "Remember your manners, Caelum." He will look back at your group, guiding Caelum toward you all. "This is Caelum, my protégé. When he's not spending his free time here, he runs the pet shop in Diadem. He also fancies himself an alchemist. Mostly potions and such, but he loves to dabble in 'humanimal transmutation.'" Caelum gets a bit huffy and extends his hand to your group, speaking with a bit of embarrassed irritation. "It's nice to meet you all.. if you need anything animal related, or.. maybe wanna.. experiment with my alchemical concoctions, you know where to find me.." THE PLAYERS HAVE UNLOCKED THE ABILITY TO RESET AND RESPEC THEIR SKILL POINTS Conroy smiles seeing him genuinely try. "There's a lad, your mother would be so proud. Anyhoo, I should be returning to work, plenty of people here need a good book. But if you need any help with information, feel free to stop by anytime you'd like!" Conroy .and Caelum both head out the door of the lab together, and you can very clearly hear him talking Caelum up for attempting to be social with someone for the first time in a while.