Of Books, Paintings and Mononoke.((open RP, library))

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

Having received directions to the library, Kusuriyuri found himself a little baffled by the sheer number of books availible. He glanced around himself, relieved the walls were covered in bookcases. The moving pictures were too close to mononoke, and though he appeared unruffled, that all his instincts and tools told him there were no mononoke when his senses insisted there should be bothered him.

Another thing that was off was how differently everyone behaved. He wasn't used to the boldness, the confusion over simple conversations, having to be embarrassingly direct. Though, in his profession, directness was more expected than most. It was almost barbaric, but in a way, almost childlike. It wasn't something that bothered him, just something that would take getting used to. It wasn't in his nature to be as direct as some of the people he talked to.

It was in his nature to seek out answers, though. And, here, within the vast number of tomes, he would find answers.

Now, where to begin? Trusting the path that has served him well, he selects a book at random. After the first choice, the way becomes clearer.

((OOC: I know he can sometimes be difficult to understand. Just ask and I'll provided 'translation' or go with confusion *grins*))

Comments

[callmewednesday.livejournal.com]

(( Completely crashed last night, so this tag is late ... apologies! ))

It amused Wednesday to hunt up obscure academic reference work for his students to read. Sometimes the scholars were close to practical, sometimes they were so far off the mark it made Wednesday's teeth hurt. Both sorts of monograph had educational value.

He had come to the library to find a new article for such recommendation when he chanced upon Kusuriyuri. Of a certainty he knew what the medicine peddler was. Perhaps the medicine peddler would also know what Wednesday was.

"Fancy meeting the likes of you here." It wasn't a challenge. It was a neutral observation, even shading toward friendly.

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

Kusuriyuri had felt the other arrive. Something again almost familiar, and yet just different enough to make him uncertain. A kami, one that felt almost (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_sun_motif#Missing_sun_motif) like Amaterasu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amaterasu), and yet not quite. "Indeed," he replied, his tone faintly amused that he would think of finding a Shinto kami in this place.

But, then, he was here.

"It is a pleasure to meet you. I am called Kusuriyuri. I look forward to knowing you," he offers, though he knows on some level the one before him already knows this. It is still proper to offer someone a name by which to address him. The ritual of greeting is something he finds soothing. It is something that is still familiar, even in this place.

[callmewednesday.livejournal.com]

"The pleasure's all mine, Kusuriyuri-san, or perhaps I should say Kusuriyuri-sensei. Congratulations on the post, by the way. News travels fast when you have friends like mine." The ravens Huginn and Muninn, Thought and Memory, eyes for the one-eyed All-Father. "I (http://callmewednesday.livejournal.com/1897.html#cutid1)'m called many things (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_names_of_Odin). Here and now I'm called Wednesday. I'm teaching runes here, or as much about runes as the students here will be able to learn."

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

"Kami (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kami) are known by many names, Wednesday-sama." Curiosity, a constant trait, an occupational hazard. "It is a pleasure to meet another teacher. I am sorry, but runes are?" He'd not heard the term before.

[callmewednesday.livejournal.com]

Yes, the medicine peddler did know what Wednesday was. Kami would be the nearest analogue. Certainly not mononoke; though Shadow might have thought Wednesday something nearer a yōkai than was strictly applicable, after everything that went down back at the Masonic Hall. Wednesday would have thought yōkai more like unto the draugar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draugr) who'd plagued the farmsteads of his people in the old country -- yes, or even the corpse of Thorstein Eiriksson (http://books.google.com/books?id=m-4rb_GhQ5EC&pg=PA63&lpg=PA63&dq=thorstein+eiriksson&source=web&ots=-YVvPN7og7&sig=yoYLyCe1GyD5zXq632M945BkRWo&hl=en), and that in the New World, in Wednesday's own uncharitable America.

"That's a question with several possible answers." He took a seat beside the medicine peddler. "The most mundane answer is that runes are an alphabet, a system of writing used by the ancient Germanic tribes."

(( reposted from correct account ))

[edomedpeddler.livejournal.com]

Kusuriyuri smiles slightly. "It is like shingon (http://www.jisho.org/words?jap=%E7%9C%9F%E8%A8%80+&eng=&dict=edict), is it not? With those who do not understand, it is nothing?" He knew that without belief, without understanding, even his simplest curatives would not have the same effectiveness.

((OOC, in case it wasn't explained...there is only one degree of respect higher than -sama.))