Bibliophilia [LM7]

[Flession]

"Yes, I can be sure you are correct. The effects of madness are quite powerful...I've felt it try to bring me in. However, as a Bleaker myself, I've already learnt to embrace the madness of the inevitability of existence. It may try to bend me to its will...correction, it has tried to bend me to its will, but the madness it sings to me as I stroll thru its thick pages is but a lullaby to my mind. Though, you are correct, miss, I'd rather not tempt fate with it. I've only read the pages discussing its former owners and their untimely deaths, but the book is alive. I write pages within it as I sleep; I feel it. It's what I dream. I dare not have it for too much longer, lest it finally manage a way in. Still..."

He sighs deeply. "I'd like it for just for a little longer. Find something worthwhile and useful to my studies...and perhaps, maybe something you all wish to learn from it as well?"

[L'Orr-hui]

This time it was the mindflayer's turn to speak...well think

''I have no wish to learn anything from that tome nor do I have any use for it. I venture to say that neither do you, doctor. Your intellect is quite sufficient to make the discoveries you seek without such a dangerous shortcut. As for what I want to do with it...I would have it hidden beyond the reach of those who have conspired to bring it here until the time this cursed knowledge would become needed to thwart a greater threat.''

[Thaddeus]

Turning to Akh Uur Hoon, Thad arches an eyebrow at her gross misrepresentation, "I'll forgive your lack of social skills, but perhaps you should spend more time with the livin' and less with the dead 'fore tryin' to tell someone how they feel. You'd know if I was desperate or resentful. You'd know just how much restraint I've shown.

And perhaps you should pay more attention. I've already said this isn't 'bout revenge, this is 'bout prevention. The berk already said he's still dabblin' with the book. If we had it your way, he'd keep at it 'til he unleashes who knows what. By my reckonin', Mortuary is a lot closer than the Festhall, so maybe it'll be your home next that reaps the the whirlwind. Or maybe it'll be the Hive with no one to stop it.

Even now you can hear the power that barmy book has over him, tryin' to tempt us. He's too far gone to even tumble to it."

[Cyprian Kircheis]

Up until that point Cyprian had stayed out of the discourse. He may not have agreed with Akh about Thad's methods but it had been clear enough that they had softened the man's stoic guard. What's more they had acted resplendently in concert, much like a wolf and a crow.

But then Thad turned his Vitriol on Akh. As he spoke Cyprian's eyes narrowed into slits and shadows seemed to creep in his direction. He steadied himself for a pause, and when it came:

"The only temptation I feel exists because of you, not him. But I'll forgive your lack of grace as this matter has struck close to your home. I would caution you about striking any closer to mine."

He wanted to say more. Really wanted to... but that would be counterproductive.

"Sir," Cyprian turned to the REAL problem, "you are too important to this community to be lost. We've come not to fight, but rather as concerned citizens of Sigil. We're pleading with you, turn the book over to us that we might dispose of it." He sighs, "Understand that we are fully aware of the dangers associated with handling it. Precautions will be taken, but we cannot leave it with you any longer."

[Akh Uur Hoon]

Akh shook her head, moving away from Thaddeus and closer to Ridnir while passing a small smile for Cyprian. This, she assumed, was a situation in which the fundamental differences between the Sensates and the Dustmen truly showed themselves, and convinced her that Thaddeus should not be given the possession of the tome. His restraint, from her dispassionate perspective, was mostly in the eye of the beholder, and made her unwilling to be threatened to deal with the unrestrained version. She was dead, her place was among the dead, any suggestion leading otherwise entirely missed the point. Annihilation wasn't estranging her as long as didn't frustrate anyone's chances of True Death, making them wander forever among the debris of life.

To Cyprian, it might have seemed to be a good and bad hardhead play, and perhaps to an extent it was. But for her, it was certainly easier to empathise with a Bleaker than with a Sensate obsessively attached to all superficialities of life. Besides, those who didn't acknowledge the power imbalance in the room in their grandstanding were clearly too optimistic on how it could all go down.

"No, the book won't be handed over here. Master Ridnir has shown remarkable restraint in the face of the Codex's power, and when he didn't the effects were mitigated. He is a part of the solution, not the problem. We will deal with this together, as we're standing here, or not at all. I believe the seeds of the tome's destruction or neutralisation are within the tome itself. We shall be watching over Master Ridnir, help him to deal with the challenge of breaking the snare, and if at any point we witness him too far gone, then there's an Illithid among us to intervene, in Illithid ways. This should be acceptable, Master Ridnir? If your brain becomes no longer your own for all purposes, and any questions you may ask will no longer be yours to ask, then your profound intellect being consumed both terminates the threat and preserves your work."

[Flession]

The drama that came out from the lot of you seemed to just bore the doctor as he once again glanced at his clock ticking away. "At last, the sensible one speaks up. As I said before, I'll hold true to the promise I made to return it. What's a few more days or weeks of studying it? Should the worst happen and something else occurs, I don't think I'll be aware enough to notice that thing chomping down on my brain. Not that it matters, really, how I go."

Ridnir nods his head. "Either way, I don't think reading it for too long will do well for me, so say a few weeks with it, research what I can of my interests or anything else, and we let the Efreeti know we have and return it. Trust me, I have no more plans to cast any more spells from that book. I know first-hand how unreliable magic can be."

[Cyprian Kircheis]

Cyprian quirked an eyebrow bemused, "But... if he goes crazy-" Cyprian looks at the man then back at Akh, "Crazier. He'll be unpredictable right? Even under supervision."

He thinks some more.

"I... I don't know, Akh. What if he loses himself even further and starts slinging spells left and right? His mind degrades and so too will his restraint right?"

Honestly Cyprian wasn't fond of the idea of leaving the tome here. Or of losing the doctor's clinic for the sake of knowledge.

[Akh Uur Hoon]

Akh wouldn't give up on the opening. She understood Cyprian's concerns but perhaps knowing her as he did he could figure out her angle. She kept addressing Ridnir.

"Then I hope in return you can trust me to stick around and have your back if things go outward. I am sure I can occupy myself well here. If there are any doubts about my professional integrity and competence, you can inquire Master Tansar or the Dead directly. Surely you have fresh bodies to properly bury and common medical cases to handle, giving you more time for the Codex-related explorations. We can agree that the quicker it is, the better for everyone."

[Flession]

"Something to consider. I can always use more assistants, but as the experiments are my own, and application is just as important as research, I would still need to work. Though, having someone here who understands anatomy wouldn't be terrible."

[L'Orr-hui]

The illithid steeples his fingers, his invisible eye still wandering about.

''I do wonder, what is the relevance of planar knowledge to the functions of the flesh?''