Closed RP: Chance and Henry in the library

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

Henry, in a frame of mind unusually thoughtful even for him, had made his way to the library on something close to auto-pilot. Next to his and Camilla's room, the library was a kind of sanctuary, whether he had any specific aim in mind or not.

It wasn't often that he did not, and today was no exception. He had spoken to a Dr. Chance Silvey about Caketown, which, so she said, was somehow connected with King Leonidas of Sparta. His own curiosity now piqued, he was determined to add his own research to hers--whatever this 'Caketown' and 'Candy Mountain' were, he had a feeling their connection to ancient Sparta would be...interesting, whatever else might be said of it.

He laid claim to an entire table, thumbing through the card catalogues and hunting up anything and everything that might have any bearing at all on his triumvirate of subjects. He'd brought an array of parchment and straight pens, determined to stay here until at least dinner.

Comments

[chance-silvey.livejournal.com]

"I've seen magic. Some that worked. Some that didn't work. Some I'm not sure about. The way I died, it wasn't pretty. The woman who killed me was trying to summon something -- some things. Wolf-dog-things. And it worked but they didn't want what she had to offer ... anyway, it's not related to the other. To the trilobites and the seven-sided figure in the fossil imprint, that is. It's related to some other things and I've had a hell of a time even thinking about it, let alone disentangling any of it." Chance shrugs. "It's much easier to think about work. Work's something concrete."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"It is," Henry agreed. After the bacchanal--after the farmer--he had immersed himself in his work to an even greater degree than normal. The neat, tidy order of his studies enabled him to hold everything together for the others. "Perhaps something of that may turn out to be related to this Caketown--stranger things have happened." He paused. "Especially here."

[chance-silvey.livejournal.com]

"God, tell me about it. If I had a dime for every utterly bizarre thing that happens here, I'd be able to hire a research assistant. And buy a Xerox machine. And have it refurbished to work in a magical environment." Chance shakes her head. "But no, I don't think Liopleurodon magicus has anything to do with Dicranurus monstrosus or with my grandmother. Though maybe the Dreamless Sleep Potion is blanking things out. Still, I'm as sure as I guess I can be. Call it a hunch."

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

"What exactly is a Liopleurodon?" he asked. "And what does it have to do with Candy Mountain?" Perhaps if he knew that, he'd have a better idea where to begin in researching a connection to King Leonidas and ancient Sparta.

[chance-silvey.livejournal.com]

In tones a bit more animated than Henry's own style of lecturing, Chance explains everything she knows about liopleurodons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liopleurodon), plus some things she hadn't known before she died. (Chance died in 2001, before the Aramberri find and subsequent controversy.) "I'm not sure what makes the 'magical liopleurodon' magical. That's where this whole body of Candy Mountain lore comes in. A lot of stuff about shunning the nonbelievers, which suggests a mystery cult. Which would explain why there's so little extant writing about it." She leafs through Cavities and Sea Oddities, until she finds an illustration of a bridge. "The liopleurodon's situated on the way to this supposed Candy Mountain. It 'shows the way' to a 'bridge of hope and wonder'. Some kind of psychopomp legend, maybe?"

[h-m-winter.livejournal.com]

Henry digested this thoughtfully. "Well, it's certainly not as though there weren't a plethora of cults in ancient Greece," he said. "It's possible they worshiped this Liopleurodon as some kind of deity, though it wouldn't fit with the traditional pantheon. A group of renegades, perhaps?"

He pulled a pad of paper toward him and began writing, seemingly aimlessly--organizing his thoughts. "This bridge and the way to Candy Mountain itself may borrow from the classic Greek myths as well--Jason and the Fleece, Ulysses, etc. Why they would name a peak Candy Mountain, though, I can't begin to guess."

[chance-silvey.livejournal.com]

"And that's not even getting into the King Kandy aspect of it ..." Chance bites the end of her ballpoint pen (quills are for suckers) thoughtfully. "You know, I'm not the expert on that. I wonder if Jadzia's busy."

Quickly she dashed off an owl to Dax, expert on all things Candy Land:

Dax,
I'm in the library with someone who knows a lot about Sparta and Greek mythology. King Leonidas = King Kandy? Not sure. You busy? We're at a table on the ground floor. You can't really miss us. No one else has a copy of Cavities and Sea Oddities.

-Chance

[daxtastic.livejournal.com]

To be honest, ever since becoming aware of her dear friend's interest in the off-the-map areas of Candyland, Dax had been somewhat concerned for Chance's safety. The Kandys were private and powerful. As such, they undoubtedly had resources in place to protect that privacy.

But Dax has resources as well. Her extensive collection of off-world mythology, and her recently sharpened Bat'Leth. The former was neatly stored in a cross referenced data pad. That latter was housed in a carrying case, affixed to Dax's back for ready access.

She walked into the library, warrior and intellectual, Athena incarnate. Insert three paragraphs about her eyes here.

"What have we got so far?"