Arthenni Stonecutter

“Of course,” Allegra nodded, following the gnomish librarian’s lead. She clung, perhaps too close, to Arthenni’s side, much like an anxious young child might hang on to her mother in the market square. She was hyper-aware of her sweaty palms as she hid her fists in the bell of of her sleeves. The nerves were unlike her, but she needed to listen, stand back, and observe. All it took was one misstep. 

Allegra stopped for a moment, allowing men and women to squeeze pass them. Everyone played a part moving shelves, furniture - anything solid - toward the entrance. Everything and everyone able went to the barricade.

“You really do care more about books, huh?” Catching up downstairs, Allegra kept her voice light, cheerful. She hoped Arthenni took no offence. She raised her brow as a disembodied ethereal hand reach out from her and lingered on a stack of tomes. “You said you needed a hand? I’ve got three.” With a grin, she turned to see the librarian’s reaction. She couldn’t help herself.

Arthenni allowed herself a little smile in return at Allegra’s words. She picked up a stack of books that had been classified as important, as many as she could fit in her arm span. “I wouldn’t say more. I can’t pick them over lives. But losing knowledge in situations like this is a huge wound to society. Like...who knows what could have existed in the long past, what sort of records we could have had today, that have been swept away by fighting and disasters. Knowledge is power.”

She glanced over to the Mage Hand. With what free movement of her hand she could muster beneath her load of books, another floating hand went up to join Allegra’s.

“More hands are pretty useful too.”

“Yeah, it’s a mess out there - complete chaos,” Allegra stressed, heart racing. She squinted as she visualized the threat. “Can’t tell for sure - kind of hard when you’re our height - but from what I can gather… we’re alright for now. I saw a few guardsmen some blocks away. Praying to Sune they held their own.”

The halfling winced as she said it, imagining the fleeing civilians becoming refugees in their own city - all in less than an hour. She grounded herself with a deep breath and searched the room, eyes falling on each of the shaken townsfolk. “But, in here, though - anyone need aid?”

Arthenni nodded at the report. Sounded like what she expected. Chaos.

“I think everyone’s okay in here outside of being shaken up. No doubt that any help you have to offer would be appreciated though. There will come a point where the gates to the campus will get shut and everyone will get moved into safe places.” Hopefully no one would get stranded in the street for arriving too late.

“I’ll be heading inside myself before that happens. There’s a few more books that need to be packed downstairs. Want to help me with that?”

Allegra was disheveled, to say the least – physically and emotionally. If it was any other day, no one would catch the sorcerer dead without taking at least thirty minutes, but today was do or die. She was separated from her girlfriend in the chaos and pulled into the masses. Jostled by the crowd, she wasn’t even at a height that she was able to see. Her vision was shrouded by legs.

Never had Allegra been more relieved to see the gnomish librarian. She was bathed in the soft morning light, a guardian angel, freeing the helpless and scattered from the turmoil. Allegra needed to turn in those overdue library books as a courtesy.

“Arthenni!” Allegra cried out, practically hopping into the safezone. She threw her arms around the bookish woman’s neck. “Boy, am I glad to see you!”

Arthenni was briefly pulled away from the task at hand, finding herself in an unexpected hug. She recognized the halfling from being around the library - and she knew about those overdue library books. Maybe that could wait until after the situation calmed down, though.

“And I’m glad you found your way here.” She replied. “Did you just come in from the streets? Any updates on how close they’re getting?”

“Underground then?” Merrinyn narrowed her eyes at the gnome. She heaved a sigh and shook her head, both hands finding their way easily on her hips. “If these walls won’t hold, we may be dead before anyone finds us.” 

It was a terrible idea, Merrinyn thought, and a worse thought at that. To be buried where you thought was safe, left alone and forgotten while you waited for salvation… Most nightmares would be less horrific. To be fair, though, most of them there would know the feeling, but feelings can be overcome. Death cannot.

At the very least, hope still seemed to be plenty around. It hadn’t been a day yet. The capital would not be able to send soldiers for days, maybe even weeks, depending on the invaders’ plan of defense. “Do we have enough supplies to wait the invaders out?”

Water would not be a problem. She could always use her magic to create water. Food, on the other hand, might be. This was a university, a library, not a tavern or a market. How much food would they really have? And would it be enough for those who have sought sanctuary within these walls? She hoped the answers were on their side, but besides hope, what she really needed was numbers and measurements. She wasn’t truly a woman of faith, more a woman of science, and since science has given her sanctuary, perhaps science can save them yet.

“I expect that we do. With what we have stockpiled, plus the assistance of spells, I’m not too concerned about supplies.” Create Food and Water in itself could sustain them if necessary.

She raised a valid point though. If their escape routes were blocked off...no. No, they’d be fine. No reason to dwell on that. “There will be people with Transportation magic if we need a last resort way out.” The benefit of being on a magic-heavy campus.

Arthenni glanced back to the door to guide a few more people in before speaking again. “It’s as safe as anywhere in the city can be right now, as far as I know. This is...well, I don’t know what to expect.” Her own nerves were apparent as she spoke. She’d never been in something like this. She’d only ever seen the aftermath. The aftermath never looked good.

It took Efrain a long moment to place the face. He hadn’t slept a full night in three weeks and hadn’t spoken to this woman in far longer. “Arthenni,” he finally said, his brow furrowed. “Arthenni Stonecutter,” he repeated and smiled faintly. He’d never gotten to know her, but he remembered their brief conversations as being pleasant enough. Likewise he remembered that Thalra had referred to Arthenni as a friend and he’d learned to trust Thalra’s judgement of character. Why she cared for him was an unfortunate choice on her part, but in all other judgements he agreed with her. “Yes, I agree, though I’m pleased to see you’re unharmed. You were in the Institute I take it?”

He looked back out to see, at the ghastly, bone-like bits of ships sticking out of the water and at the circling gulls overhead. Before the war, he hadn’t realized just how omnivorous the gulls were, but now he couldn’t get the image of them feasting out of his head. 

“I’ve been fine. Fighting often, thought usually the battles take place on the borders.” Efrain fell silent for a long moment, contemplating what had happened to him in the last several months. “Not everything has been bad, luckily. Some days have been quite good. How have you been, Ms. Stonecutter? Not all bad I hope.”

“I was. It held up well enough. Not the most pleasant past few weeks but...I’m alright.” She sighed, wrapping her cloak around herself a little closer against the sea winds. The chill of the breeze here always seemed to cut a little deeper lately.

“I’m still staying at the Institute, actually. My home, uhm, didn’t make it through the battle.” It still stung to think about. All those lost books, all those lost notes and records. She would have to begin again. “I’m sure I’ll find another place eventually once the rebuilding gets underway, but...it’s still unpleasant. Not what I had expected to deal with this month.”

Merrinyn had planned to spend the day at the library even before all the chaos and confusion erupted. She had not seen the sails of the invaders herself, not even a shadow of their fleet, but heard about the dreadful surprise in the waters from her landlady’s friend, a fisherman who had a vile reputation for being overly involved with the sweet and tragic nectar of the taverns. After a brief argument, one in which Merrinyn expressed her desire to sink the ships with her magic trident, a feat that was foolhardy and irresponsible to say the least, the older woman managed to convince the triton to seek shelter with her at the Institute, a win-win situation for the both of them, all things considered.

It had not dawned on the curious triton the gravity of the situation at hand until she was already in the streets with the old woman. Wherever they passed, the stink of panic and desperation ran rife, fear throughout, born from the possible results of this inevitable calamity. Merrinyn lamented the curse of the smallfolk, the unwilling casualties of wars they directly do not even take part in, wish for. It was the kings, the queens, the emperors, and the rulers who orchestrate such widespread thirst for blood and power, yet it was always those smaller in influence and control that suffered the most.

Merrinyn was not new to the Institute. Although she was not officially a part of it in anyway, she has visited the place for all his academic and research needs. Of course, she wouldn’t have been able to, if it had not been for the help of her elderly landlady whose social circles include scholars from this place. She watched, instinctively holding her first friend on the surface close, as others, refugees not unlike them, rushed to fill the library, one of Merrinyn’s favored havens for study. 

Spotting the strange-looking gnome ushering people inside, the triton whispered to the elderly woman to follow the others and assured her she would be with them after a while. She needed, wanted, to do something first. Approaching the gnome, she took her place right behind her, careful not to obstruct anyone’s path.

“Will these walls hold? Is there a plan to fight back should we need to? Are soldiers coming to help us?” She had so many questions still, but she reined the others to prioritize three. Should push come to shove, Merrinyn was going to shove back. She would have to.

Arthenni got a couple more people through the door before she heard the questions being directed towards her. She glanced over to whoever was asking them. She was familiar. Arthenni had certainly seen her around the library before, though she didn’t know about her beyond that.

“Oh, uhm, well...I think they will. They’re stronger than other places in the city.” Not the most reassuring of answers, but the most honest one. They seemed strong and sturdy. But who knows what those ships were bringing. “I’m sure the capital will bring in soldiers. The plan here is to get below the university and wait it out.” The school had underground areas that could be defended and safer than being above ground for the skirmish. With the food and supplies that had been stocked in such an event of this occuring once the war had started, and with rationing, they could hold up for a good while. Hopefully it wouldn’t last too long. With this being such an important port to the kingdom, surely it wouldn’t last too long.

Kit could feel the Shadow with him in Arx. There was silence in his head, but he felt a cold embrace as he watched the ships draw closer and closer. Something within him burned hot, growing stronger and more powerful as if it was feeding off the chaos. The Shadow rarely seemed pleased, but as the citizens of Arx scattered and screamed, Kit felt powerful. He felt strong. That must’ve been a sign of something good - for him, at least. 

Look how desperate they all are, a low and hardly distinguishable voice sounded in his head, they think the only way they can find what they need is by running. You know better, Kit. Stick around and show them how to find what they’re looking for.

Kit felt immediately at ease, even among all the disorder, because he knew where he had to be and what he had to do. It was always comforting to know he didn’t have to wander, or wait. He turned on his heels, scanning the faces behind him in search of where to go next. It didn’t take long to find a familiar face: the gnome he’d met at Istus’s festival, when he’d first used this persona. She was ushering people in, and quite a few were listening to her. She must be of some importance, at least to the Institute. 

Forcing a few quick, panicked breaths, Kit ran toward Arthenni. Gedeon was fairly new to Arx, but surely he’d be more torn up about the impending attack than Kit was. So Kit blinked until Gedeon’s eyes were brimming with tears, and when he made it to Arthenni he forced a few more quick breaths, as though he’d been running for as long as the others. “Arthenni, right?” He wiped at his brow. “How can I help?”

She looked up when she heard her name. A not-overly familiar face, but one she did remember from the time of the festival. He had been new to Arx, right? What a shame that this kind of thing would happen so soon after arriving. Not a great impression.

“Well, I think the main things to do right now are either get inside somewhere safe or get ready to fight if you’re someone who can do that.” Most of the city were not acclaimed fighters, not against a force like the one coming, but there were a few noble adventurers out there that were no doubt staying outside in the fray. Outside of that, the staff of the university along with the city guard had the main emergency plan under control. “You could come in here or go to the temple if that sits better with you.” She remembered how he followed Istus, so she would understand if that’s where he would prefer to be.

The word had gone out - the ships were gone. Hegaehend had wrestled the port back from enemy control. It was safe to come out.

Arthenni wasn’t sure she wanted to. The past weeks had been harrowing. There had been many nights huddled in the lowest floors of the university, together with others who had taken refuge behind the walls of the Institute, listening to the shouts and fighting just outside the doors. The Institute hadn’t gone entirely unscathed. Fights had erupted on campus as much as anywhere else in the city. Windows shattered, walls burned. Lots to clean-up. But, the library was generally safe, and so were the people, as far as Arthenni knew.

She didn’t know what would be waiting for her. She expected damage, sure, but the extent of it all shocked her. The gates of the Institute re-opened to the streets of Arx for the first time since the fighting began, and destruction lay beyond. Pieces of homes and lives lay scattered across the streets. Piles still smoldered and smoked. Arthenni had never seen anything like it.

She made her way through the streets, carefully avoiding the debris that lay across the cobblestones. She had only one destination in mind.

Down the street for two blocks. Turn left. Down this street until the crossroads. Turn right. Down until the bakery sign - she froze. There was supposed to be a bakery sign. There was no bakery sign.

There was nothing. Only evidence of fires and pillaging. Ash would occasionally drift away in the breeze, blowing along small blackened pieces of fabric, pieces of paper, pieces of life. No. No no no.

She rushed past the old bakery, to where the small alley that ran beside of it was supposed to be. It was scarred, smoldering, ruined.

It was gone. Her front door. Her lovingly cluttered hoard of books. Spellbooks, research, notes, belongings, her plants, her bed - gone.

Her home was nothing but ash.

The morning had been a blur. The city of Arx had abruptly awoken to the sound of alarms. Panicked activity filled the streets. News and rumors spread across the populace like a wave, some true, some not so true. It was hard to decide what to believe in all the chaos, but one fact seemed to hold steady in it all - ships were nearly here. Attacks were already being aimed at the port. It was time to find where you needed to be, and find it fast.

Arthenni had immediately rushed to the Institute. They weren’t completely unprepared. Since the war had started, the Institute had established a plan for what to do if the violence reached the city walls. It essentially consisted of: get people in for as long as safely possible, lock down the campus, get important materials to the safety of underground storage. That last part was especially relevant to the library. War was known for destroying places of knowledge, erasing tomes from civilization entirely, and that had to be mitigated as much as possible.

Some of the staff were working on getting the most important books and records out to safety, sending the library into a flurry of organized activity. Arthenni had done her fair share of packing things up and down the stairs earlier, when the ships were farther on the horizon. No doubt she would be sore once the adrenaline faded. For now, as the attacks descended and people became more frantic, she was focusing on getting people inside. These books were important, yes. Like hell the invaders were touching their books. But people were important too. She stood near the library doors, directing people who were looking for refuge. Some went into the library, some were heading to the temple to be closer to the presence of Istus, and some were going elsewhere. Regardless of where they went, they just needed to get somewhere.

“Hurry! Shelter inside! There are doors connected to the main building in the back of the library that will take you further in! People will be there to direct you!” Arthenni called out, just trying to get people behind some walls.

Thalra sighed, twirling a few braided strands of her hair around her finger frettingly before tossing them over her shoulder and continuing the little rhythmic beat on the table. “A few months ago, I was stabbed in an alley in Runswick and cornered by three of them,” she said bluntly. The memory was like something out of a dream now, though she could clearly recall the thrumming ice cold pain of the blade slicing through her skin and into her guts. “One broke into my house in Myrefall while I was away, but was quickly taken care of by a neighbor.” She laughed humorlessly. “Beyond that though I haven’t see much of them.”

It was almost a little insulting that they weren’t trying harder, though she doubted people like her and Nil were their priority right now. That was probably what was keeping Arthenni and her archives safe as well. It was a small blessing, but one that surely had a time limit.

“I want them crushed,” she said without hesitating, and was almost surprised by the anger in her voice. Her fingers, which had been drumming on the table up until now, curled into a tight fist. “I want them eradicated in the most painful way possible.” They had taken Nil, so of course they had to be destroyed. Thalra wanted to watch as the life drained away from each and every member of that organization. She wanted them to know fear as they looked into her eyes and took their last breaths. “But that’s easier said than done I think.”

“Okay, that’s serious. That’s more than enough to see of them.” She said in concern. Broke into her house? Stabbed in an alley? Arthenni wasn’t one to get involved in violence, so that was a scary thought. Even more reason to be careful with what she knew.

“Right...with how old they are and how deeply their roots must run, it’d be a monumental job.” They’d had a long time to grow and expand and bury themselves into society. Even with the best of information, she figured it would take more than a couple people to bring it all down.

“An original, then? You must have a lot of interesting facts and stories to tell then,” he noted with a smile. He certainly had a lot of tales from his time back in Itresa, for he refused to let the last few years poison the good of the decades that came before. 

“No…” His expression turned scandalized. “Oh, I am getting the shivers just thinking about such an atrocity. By Aureon, that feels like a crime in and of itself!”

“Isn’t it, though! Really, the nerve of people sometimes.” Arthenni sighed. At least someone understood her plight. “Luckily the damage wasn’t extremely extensive, but it was very bold.”

“Well, it’s delightful to make your acquaintance, Arthenni.” The name was different on his tongue, but not in a bad sort of way. “I am Eamon.” He had to bite his tongue to avoid adding his entire name and title to the fray, but this wasn’t nearly as formal of a setting as the professor was normally used to.

The library looked even more daunting the further in they went. Arthenni seemed generally unperturbed by the fact, but as she was likely an employee of the institute and more used to it than him, it would make sense.

She handed him some books, and he turned them over in a nearby source of light to investigate. The Art of Wards was the first, a fairly simple-looking book bound in navy. The second seemed older, certainly used yet well-preserved for its age. A Study of the Elements and its Natural Sources. 

He gave Arthenni a bright smile. “Well, this is certainly a start! You certainly seem familiar with the place overall. Have you worked here long?”

“Oh, I started working here not too long after the university was built. Spent a few years taking classes then found myself here. It’s where I’ve stayed.” It had been during the very beginning of the splitting of the kingdoms, a time of real uncertainty and upheaval, but the university had been a welcome result of it all. The surface world had been strange and confusing for her after leaving the underdark, and the university here had given her a place to settle. And a place to people-watch.

Thalra gratefully fell into her seat– her legs feeling suddenly very weak beneath her—and tried to compose herself so that the thoughts of Dasratsel could drift away on the current of her mind. It was strange that now the Order, which had once been such a looming worry following her around, was almost a relief to talk about now compared to her most recent trauma. They were still there, eyes open and watching her every step, but for some reason they had not struck yet.

“Yes, it does exist, but I would recommend you don’t talk about it with anyone else but me. They don’t like to leave any loose ends dangling and if they ever got wind that a book in this archive even mentioned them, I’m sure they’d do their very best to burn it to the ground.” Her fingers started to drum a steady rhythm on the table, magic pulsing beneath the skin on instinct though she called no spell forward. She was speaking quietly, but steadily, which was more than she could say for her trembling pulse.

“From what I gathered from Nil, they seem to be in a state of turmoil right now, which is why I think their efforts against he and myself have been nothing more than a few feeble attempts by their lowest ranking members. I’ve tried to get more information about their whereabouts from the Thieves Guild, but it seems they’ve retreated in on themselves to resolve their issues internally and they’ve all but disappeared.” It was nice to lay it all out like this. She’d missed speaking with Arthenni, who’d always seemed so practical. “Truthfully, I’m not sure what my next step should be. I fear if I wait too long, they’ll reorganize and then they’ll be much harder to deal with.”

Arthenni stuck onto all of Thalra’s words with great interest. Any new information on the Order was extremely welcome ever since they had been added to her ever-expanding list of topics and people to research.

“I see...so they have made attempts? Interesting...I mean, not interesting for you. Not at all. I hope they fall apart entirely.” She wished she could be a fly on the wall inside whatever room this Order used for meetings, to find out all the ins and outs and how deep they ran beneath all the kingdoms. And what drama they were facing themselves. Why did every little crevice in the world have so much intrigue? There wasn’t enough time in a day for it.

Perhaps Nil would know those sorts of details - locations, people. Getting it out of him would be impossible, no doubt. And Thalra was right. Arthenni enjoyed digging up what she could, but playing with a group like that was much more dangerous than most of her usual dealings. She’d tuck that away onto a list of maybes.

Eamon looked down at her, giving her a grateful smile as she passed the cards over to him. They seemed to list a variety of titles and numbers, but it all seemed to blend together in his head and made itself incomprehensible somehow. He wasn’t sure what, but something about this place made him overwhelmed. It was likely the newness of it all.

“Thank you, my dear,” he responded in earnest. “I would appreciate any help you’d be willing to offer me. I have an awful tendency to get lost in it all, so having a guide would be wonderful.”

As he looked around to figure out where to go, he turned back to her. “I’m sorry. What is your name, if you don’t mind me asking? I like having a name to put with a friendly face.”

“Then I’ll lead the way. It’s right over here.” Arthenni started her way through the bookshelves, steering an expert course to the location of the books she had referenced. The library looked even bigger once you left the entrance area and started going into the depths of it.

“Oh, my name’s Arthenni. Nice to meet you.” She replied to Eamon. “And yourself?” She liked to have a name as well. Helped for future reference.

She finally came to a stop in front of a section of books, seemingly reaching her destination. Arthenni sorted through the shelves she could reach at the moment, pulling out two books. “Do these work? This whole section might be useful to you.”