As a horde of angry librarians thundered in to surround her, Marie couldn’t help thinking that she should have paid for her copied paper last time. But she barely had time to grow defensive about the reaction or to offer restitution before she realised that the thrumming in the air was not from the collective wrath of the [Librarians], but from a palpable sense of excitement.

  “Where did you fin-”

  “- the historical significan-”

  “-ongs to the late Elcudian Empire but t-”

  “-lly like to investigate where it c-”

  Marie was spun round, hands reaching out to grab at her arms and shoulders as the [Librarians] mobbed her with a thousand questions. She sought to evade them but there was nowhere to go. She felt her [Lucky Dodge] activate in the first half a second, and her attempt at an [Evasive Roll] just sent her crashing into one side of the baying crowd before she rebounded off them.

  Napoleon was likewise being trampled underfoot, for all he was snapping at legs and shoes and dresses. She feared he’d be destroyed in the crush but before she could get knocked over or poor Boney was torn apart, a sharp voice ripped out across the press of bodies.

  “[Silence]!”

  For a moment, Marie thought Guildmaster Thror had followed her, but the voice was more feminine, and had a snap to it that the throaty roar of the [Guildmaster] lacked.

  Instantly abashed, the only sound from the assembled men and women in the sudden hush was the faint shuffling of guilty shoes on the flagstone floor. Marie bent down and picked up Napoleon and stroked him to calm the skeletal hound, whose teeth were somehow bared in a more forceful manner than usual.

  I suppose if there was any Skill made for a [Librarian]...

  The silent crowd parted, leaving a path to the north of the chamber, where an older woman strolled down with serene grace.

  Older, but not Old.

  She was maybe in her forties. Dark hair with a few streaks of grey, tightly bound in a bun that lent her visage a severe look. She looked like she should have worn glasses, but her face was bare. A deep green dress with silver stitching swished in her wake as she walked, until she stopped in front of Marie.

  It was only as she stood in front of her that Marie realised how tall the woman was, and felt her [Gauge Distance] Skill trigger.

  Seven feet, one and a quarter inches. But she doesn’t look like a goliath like Brunalda.

  The woman pulled what looked like a glass box out of one of her sleeves. It was thin, and about the size of the woman’s hand. She laid it on her palm and held it out for Marie to inspect.

  “Girl, did you pay for services here with this coin?”

  Marie leaned in. It was the old penny she’d slapped down in her rush to go the other day. She had paid. Her head bobbed as she nodded, not able to speak with the Skill in effect.

  Towering over her, the woman folded the hand with the coin back into her sleeve and the glass box disappeared.

  “I am [Chief Librarian] Ununcia Kypria. Please come with me to my office.”

  —

  As she sat in the sizable but modestly-outfitted office, Marie realised something: it hadn’t even occurred to her not to go.

  Was that another kind of Skill at work?

  The willow of a woman sat on the opposite side of a desk to her. She had the coin case out again, and was spinning it slowly to examine it from different angles. Marie had to keep one hand on Napoleon’s collar whilst the hound sat on her lap to stop him jumping up to grab the case every time the light glinted off of it.

  Finally, the woman spoke again.

  “[Truthwarden’s Doman: Reciprocal Honesty]. Tell me, girl. Did you come across this coin by legal means?”

  Despite the intimidating aspect of the woman, Marie bristled at the address and leaned back into her chair.

  “My name is Marie. This is Napoleon.” She nodded down to the undead dog who suddenly sat upright as if he knew he was on display. “If you are asking if I stole it - I did not. I found it and kept it.”

  The [Chief Librarian] gave a brief shake of her head.

  “My apologies Marie, and to you too Napoleon. I am normally more accommodating than this, but this discovery has thrown us all somewhat. I have to ask though: is this coin real?”

  Marie began to answer, but felt her tongue twisting in her mouth. It was a most unpleasant experience.

  “Y… to the best of my knowledge, it is.”

  “Where did you find it?”

  Forcastera - but if you want to treat me like I’m being interrogated, you can damn well work for it.

  She consulted the mental map that had grown since she’d first received the [Precise Cartography] Skill, and picked out where she currently sat and the location of the cursed city.

  “Approximately fifty miles west of here, but slightly to the south.”

  One of the woman’s eyes narrowed as her gaze turned upwards slightly, and Marie could see her mouth moving silently as the [Chief Librarian] considered something, then her eyes widened and her gaze snapped back to Marie.

  “[Verify Information].”

  The woman’s gaze seemed to bore through Marie’s eyes and into her brain. The librarian blinked, then her chair squealed as it skidded back half a foot and she began to speak very quickly.

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  “[Anti-Contamination Barrier]. [Sterile Environment]. [Detect Corruption]. [Detect Infestation]. [Evaluate Condition]. [Sense Curse].” The woman took a breath, though the tension didn’t leave her. “[Alert Subordinate: Pironee]. Pironee, fetch the [Watch Captain] and advise breach of an Exclusion Zone; no immediate apparent risk but would like confirmation immediately.”

  The woman was breathing as though she'd just run a race, and she continued to stare at Marie for a full minute as she fumbled for her chair and sat down on the edge of it.

  Long moments passed in uncomfortable silence until the [Chief Librarian] began to settle down - perhaps due to Marie’s lack of obvious danger - and began to regard Marie as though she were a potentially venomous snake with a grudge rather than a genuinely rabid beast. Eventually Marie realised the woman would be quite content to wait without talking until the backup she’d called for arrived.

  “Why do you call Forcastera an exclusion zone?”

  The librarian’s head tilted to one side as she considered Marie and her question.

  “Do you have allagi ancestry?”

  Marie frowned.

  “No. Is that relevant somehow?”

  The woman’s shoulders gave the slightest shrug.

  “It is simply unusual for those not of their species to refer to it as such.”

  “What do you call it then?”

  “The Ruins of Corratheon.”

  Marie filed the information away, but before she could dwell on it, the librarian took over the questioning.

  “You really were there, weren’t you. Unless you’re so high a level that you’ve bamboozled my Skills. But why..no, how did you get there? No - wait. How did you get out? Wait, no. What was it like?”

  A hungry light had entered the woman’s eyes, and she leaned in to hear the answer until she realised the motion brought her closer to the coin on the desk - a coin that had come from the cursed place - and she recoiled back until there were a few feet between them.

  Well, if we’ve got nothing better to do whilst we wait…

  “It was… dead. Ruined. Lifeless, but full of malevolent things.”

  The [Chief Librarian]’s eyes darted to Napoleon, but Marie stroked his head.

  “Parts of it were quiet - they even felt safe. Secluded. But the more I think back the more I think it was an illusion. There was always a dull grey-green light. It was almost as though it was a place stuck in time. Lacking weather. Seasons. It was eerily silent, but at the same time there was almost always something moving just out of sight. It was bad enough when it was just the skeletons…”

  She stopped and visibly shook as the memory of the… thing… slunk through the recesses of her mind. Napoleon seemed to sense her stress and laid his skull on her lap.

  When she looked up again, [Chief Librarian] Kypria had pulled out a notebook and pencil and was scribbling furiously.

  “Please, go on Marie. As far as I know, no one has been into the city for more than a thousand years. Or at least, no one who has come out. Anything you remember could be valuable information we’ll never otherwise get. Are you a [Necromancer] by chance? That would go some way to explaining how you managed to make the trip and survive.”

  Marie shook her head, and tapped Napoleon’s ribs.

  “I’m a [Scout] and a [Ruins Delver], and a [Secretary] now. Boney here was one of the few things there that didn’t try to kill me. I got a Skill that keeps him with me.”

  The librarian nodded along.

  “Some sort of [Bond: Lesser Undead] I suppose, or a specific [Undead Familiar] type Skill perhaps. A high level [Ruins Delver] might explain your survival.”

  Marie gave a start.

  Of course, if anyone would know about Skills and Classes, it would be [Librarians] and [Scholars]. That would be a great service to offer to adventu-

  “Is there any information you can give us as to what you found there more specifically? Perhaps any notable areas? The coin is an incredible find for us to come across; your dog may also hold some clues if you’d permit us to study it. We can actually extrapolate a lot of data from even the most simple information. If you remember anyt-

  She cut off as Marie pulled out the pouch of coins that she’d moved into the pocket of her new outfit, and spread them on the desk.

  “I found these inside the chimney of a ruined home approximately fifty yards from a bridge over a river in what I believe is a south-eastern section of the outskirts of the main city. My hypothesis was that they were either placed there as a hiding place for valuables, or as an offering of luck or fortune when the house was built. This stone was with them. The other artifacts I found are stored at the Adventurer's Guild. I could draw you an accurate map of about nine square miles of the south-east of the city, and a general idea of a mile or so beyond that... ”

  The [Chief Librarian]’s jaw opened wider and wider as Maire went on, until she was practically salivating. By the time Marie had stopped listing the things she could tell her, she'd shuffled back to the desk and was leant over with the desire for knowledge lighting her eyes. Marie raised one eyebrow.

  “Is that the sort of thing you are looking for?”

  The woman visibly composed herself and smoothed out her dress before adjusting her grip on her quill.

  “Please, go on.”

  Marie rolled her shoulders and allowed the corner of her mouth to twitch up into a smile.

  “Well, I am sure I could give you all this information and bring in what I found… for some considerations.”

  —

  By the time the [Watch Commander] knocked on the open door, accompanied by a full score of [Guardsmen] and [Guardswomen] and a pair of [Watch Captains] who seemed as though they'd be confident walking through the darkest and narrowest of alleys in Paris, Marie had already reached an agreement with Ununcia, who'd proven to be quite pleasant, and even chatty when it came to the topics of history and research.

  “Oh, [Watch Commander] Amit.” The beanpole of a woman tore her gaze away from the map Marie had drawn to regard the dark-skinned, thick-limbed man that stood with one hand on a sword that had been partially-drawn. “Thank you for coming. If you wouldn't mind waiting for a few minutes I'm just going over something.”

  Dark hair and darker eyes stood in silence - a glowering presence in the doorway to the office.

  Pouring over Marie’s sketch of the Ruins of Corratheon and comparing it to an ancient map she’d had retrieved from the archives, the [Chief Librarian] was oblivious.

  It took the man clearing his throat a handful of times to get her attention.

  “Lady Kypria, I’m afraid this cannot wait.”

  Blinking owlishly, the librarian finally focused on him and gave a start, glancing down at Marie and Napoleon and seeming to remember her earlier hesitations.

  “Oh. The protocols. Of course. Perhaps if you took Marie into one of the other rooms I could keep studying the map. I’ve almost matched it up I think…”

  It took less than a minute for Marie to be escorted to a smaller room, where she was given a box to sit on and nothing else. The four guards that could fit in the room alongside their [Watch Commander] did so, each with a hand on a weapon, ready to draw.

  Personally, Marie thought they were blowing the whole thing out of proportion, and she expected the expression on her face conveyed that feeling. It certainly seemed to have occurred to Commander Amit as he pulled over another box and perched opposite her - keeping a distance between them. .

  “Now that we’re settled, Miss, I’d like to ask if you realise the seriousness of the situation you’re in.”

  For a moment, Marie contemplated going along with it - acting concerned and begging them to be understanding, but it’d been a long day after a long night she found she couldn’t summon the energy to bother.

  “No.”

  Without having to consult a book or notes, the commander leaned forwards to explain, though one hand remained hovering near the hilt of his sword. And as he spoke, it seemed as though he’d been given some of the details by one of the library staff who’d been coming in and out of Ununcia’s office over the past quarter of an hour.

  “I’ve been led to understand that you’ve recently been into the Ruins of Corratheon: an Exclusion Zone. Do you know what that is?”

  “I can make an educated guess, based on the name.”

  [Watch Commander] Amit’s face hardened at her glibness.

  “An Exclusion Zone, miss Marie, is an area designated by those in authority as off-limits - to anyone - due to the deadly nature of whatever is located there. The Ruins of Corratheon. The Plague Pits of Zanestra. The Isle of Banshees. Anywhere in the Deadlands outside the sanctified zones. Onskodell Rha… any others you might have heard of. All of these places are deemed so fraught with danger - so high with potential to bring disaster and calamity that going there usually carries a death penalty.”

  That made Marie sit up.

  “Do you understand the severity of the situation now?”

  Marie almost began to nod, but she stopped herself.

  “I understand what you are saying, [Watch Commander]. I definitely understand how dangerous the place is. But… I’m not from there. I am not one of those… things. I escaped. Why am I being treated as though I am some sort of criminal just for having been there?”

  The man seemed to consider her question, but from behind him one of his men murmured loud enough for her to hear.

  “Why don’t you look up what happened to the settlements around Mount Chernabal?.”

  The [Watch Commander] frowned over his shoulder, but refrained from admonishing his subordinate as he turned back to her and replied in a tone that held all the weight of a tombstone.

  “Miss Marie. It’s not so much that you have come out of that place. It’s more what might have come out with you…”

  Hi all! Welcome to my book, Miscast Heroes.

  I'm uploading a few chapters to start with and then will upload one a day after.

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