A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Niklas before departing.

Damien Pierce - A Charming Assistant, 1 Redreef Warden, Vagari The Cinder Cat, 1 Order of the Firebird, 4 Byrne Mountain Men, 2 House Crovane Guards arrive, following Mikani.

The Great Archive of Vellichor is a sacred place, guarded by alert looking Templars as well as the various tiers of scholar found within its labyrinthian hallways. There is a smallish table surrounded by a cluster of idle initiates, usually given the duty of assisting those that come in with their research. The group of four young men and women are clearly gossiping, their heads together talking back and forth in whispers.

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Niklas before departing.

Rysen arrives in the Great Archive with Lygeia by his side. His expression is rather grim, and a dusting of snow still clings to his dark hair and the fur covering the top of his mantle. He comes to stand not far from the gathered scholars, waiting for Faye to arrive.

Octavian, a silken spaniel arrives, following Zoey.

Catalana has been here every day for the past week or so searching the archives for anything she can find on the history of the dune kingdoms. Having exhausted most of the stacks, she sits at a table with a large pile of books beside her. Her interest momentarily captured by the whispered gossip.

Faye arrives with her assistant in tow, loosening her coat against the chill outside to let in some of the comparative warmth of the building. She gives a nod of greeting around to the others gathered before her gaze settles on Rysen. "Confessor Rysen, glad we could catch up. Do you have any leads you'd like to start with?"

Merek has put on his alchemist longcoat while he takes a moment to look about the place, then he setles about while he looks to the others also.

It's not long before not one but two Fidante come along: a Voice and a Sword... and a little brown bird because Lora never goes anywhere without the wren. By the time they reach the appointed spot - made conspicuous by the Templars and familiar Inquisitors, they've shed most of the clinging muck and wet from the winter weather outside. It's too somber a subject for smiles and so Lora does not even attempt one; there is but a very formal little bow of her head by way of greeting. "Good evening, all. Do tell us where to start."

Octavian, a silken spaniel have been dismissed.

Niklas is enjoying his time at the Great Archive the way he normally does. Sitting at a table with a cup of tea, a canteen of good Ostrian brandy and a thick pillow for his princely bum. His assistant Isabelle has somehow drawn the short straw and is in charge of fetching him reading material, but has turned her dire gaze on a gaggle of beardless Scholars and has them running off to chase leads and bring back books. When one arrives Niklas flips through it with a tum tee tum. "This looks promising. I suppose. I really should learn Eurusi."

Zoey quietly sneaks in as well, taking a spot near Niklas.

Mikani enters with Rysen. She brushes the snow from her hair outside but still looks around the stacks as she shows up. The archives were always a place of refuge for Mika. She has her journal out and her eyes move around eager to do some deep searches into the books looking for whatever deep secret needed to be found. "Eurusi is a fun language to learn and fun to speak when you have people to speak it with." Mika comments to the Prince.

"My lords and ladies, please be advised that there have been reports of violence within the stacks. Some miscreant throwing books. Be aware and alert. We have yet to catch the perpetrator." This is spoken solemnly by one of the on duty Templars.

Zoey leans over to whisper something to Niklas before pulling out her own notebook.

A shadow of a smile touches Rysen's lips to see Faye. "Good to see you, Inquisitor Faye. Unfortunately, I haven't found anything solid as of yet, however, I've asked a number of our Vellichor's best scholars to collect as many texts as they could find related to families and geneologies of Eurus." Rysen bows to Niklas when he arrives, and smiles at Mikani's comment about learning Eurusi.

Catalana smiles over to Niklas, noticing him and his cushion. "I believe Evander can speak it. I suppose I could invite you for dinner next week." Her attention moves to the Temple, "A miscreant?" Her eyes slide to Niklas, a wordless question in her eyes.

Dante remains close to Lora, giving the assembled a nod of his head in greeting. Andre follows behind, presumably for duties like taking notes. Snow is carefully brushed off of the Sword's coat, then he stands quietly and listens to the Templars.

Niklas shoots Isabelle and accusatory look. She shakes her head defensively and gestures that she only threw a book the ONE TIME. And it was at him. At Zoey's whisper he gives her a quick nod and a crooked smile. "Oh, I am aware. A lady of countless talents." When others speak of Eurusi he raises a hand. "My head is as full of languages as I think it could be without me forgetting all of the colors. I decided to pick up a few elf languages and now I don't even remember why." He picks up his book and opens it to a dramatic etching of depressing ol' Jay'alaz. To Zoey he says, "Are you chasing rumors about the fifteenth daughter as well?"

Faye gives Niklas a faint but wry smile. "Eurusi is surprisingly common here in Arx, given how many refugees there are living here, as well as people who have taken it up out of curiosity. I'm sure you would have no difficulty finding someone to teach it to you." The warning words from the Templar makes her nod. "Thank you, we'll keep a lookout. Perhaps it was just someone who lost their grip on a book they were reaching for." Does she actually believe that? Perhaps not. She nods to Rysen. "I don't suppose they found any geneology of the Dune Emperor?"

One of those scholars arrives near Rysen, a book held in his hand. Hearing Faye's question, the scholar, a tall man of middle years, lean with just a slight paunch at the middle and a head of greying blonde hair. "No, for all that we have information on Eurus, the line of the Emperor is not something we have. We do, however, have a compendium of recent information recorded from the most recent merchants from Eurus."

Merek looks over to the Templar with a nod to him, then he takes a moment to stand up, "I will find a few books you can use for references," he offers, then he begins to look in the stacks, his fingers shifting along books.

Mikani glances over at Faye. "We are looking for Genealogies of Eurus. Can I ask why? That might help with looking for information. Sometimes information is connected at odd angles."

Catalana hears the older templar. Her fingers stroking the dragon on her locket. "How much of what the merchants have to say is fiction though?"

"Vandals in the archives?" Lora's brows lift ever so very slightly. For a moment there's a ripple of some other expression across her features, it comes with a backward glance, in the direction from whence she came, but it doesn't last long. The rest of the chatter is listened to in the meantime before she tilts her head at Dante. "I suppose this means you get to fetch books." She does smile, then. A glimmer of an expression, subtle in its warmth. Then, "Merchant records?" Hm. Her attention shifts, skimming over the general assembly, settling at length on one of the scholars. Since they're volunteering information. "What do you have on Eurusi culture? I do passingly wonder if there is a significance to calling her the fifteenth daughter that isn't just her birth order."

"We shall see," he says to Faye, and nods in the direction of the scholars. Turning to Lora, Rysen bows and says, "I was sorry to hear of House Volkov. Thank you for coming. And it is good to see you again, as well, Lord Dante," say Rysen to the Sword of Tor. When the scholar begins speaking to Faye, Rysen nods, and says, "Thank you for making it available to us," says Rysen. Muttering under his breath to Niklas, Rysen says, "Imagine how much worse it is not to know the language that one's wife and chief retainer constantly use in one's presence." Turing back to the scholar, Rysen says, "Will you please show me and Inquisitor Faye the records you mentioned?"

Zoey nods to Niklas. "I need to do something to keep me out of trouble," she tells him. "Can we see this compendium?" she asks of Rysen.

Ashe, the studious Stormward paralegal arrives, delivering a message to Zoey before departing.

Dante scowls, vandals in the archives simply won't do. Lora's suggestion that he'll be fetching books, though, is met with a finger pointed in Andre's direction. "That's what he's for. I'm sure he'll be thrilled." The smile on the Sword's lips indicates otherwise. "Lord Rysen, well-met. Thank you for your sympathies. House Volkov will not go unavenged, that is certain."

"My sister once told me," drawls Niklas, "that Eurusi was a dark and corrupt tongue and debases any who speak it." He flips a page to another etching, this of Mangaldissi, a gross town no one should visit. "Of course, she said this while telling me she could speak it and would refuse to teach it to me. So what does that say about her?" Looking to Lora he says, "Honestly, as interested as I am in this fifteenth daughter, I'd be quite keen to hear about the other thirteen, given I've only ever heard of one. Though I suppose when you're a Sand Emperor you really put yourself out there." He looks around. "Do they have the Limerance? Maybe that's where all of these daughters came from. I have three and honestly if I had four I'd toss myself out of a window."

Faye arches a brow at the scholar and then nods. "As fascinating as I'm sure it is to read up on the family lines of Eurus, if we're looking for who this fifteenth daughter is, I don't want to get too far off track. Have you found any accounts of her? Who she might be, what she is doing? We're not even sure if she's actually the Dune Emperor's daughter, are we?" A glance to Mikani, perhaps as a reminder about why they are here.

Merek brings back a few books to place on the table to assist with their research, and settles back to look in them. He seems content to do all that while people talk between themselves, nodding along.

Rysen nods to Zoey. "By all means, My Lady. Please follow Inquisitor Faye." The Crovane lord himself stays by the side of Faye. Lora's comment about the title of 'fifteenth daughter' causes him to frown thoughtfully. "Thus far, I have not encountered anything in my own study of Eurus or its history to suggest the number holds particular significance as 'thirteen' might for us. Still, it is an excellent question." Rysen nods to Dante, and then, turning to Mikani, says, "Mika, do you mind searching the archive a bit more, in case there's more that might be relevant to our search that has not yet been set aside? Any mention of a fifteenth daughter might be useful to us."

Catalana listens curiously, "Do any of these daughters still live?" Her fingers wrap around the locket again. She pushes her stake of books forward. "Here. I have most of the books on the dune kingdom. Maybe there's something here that I am not seeing."

Ashe, the studious Stormward paralegal arrives, delivering a message to Zoey before departing.

Zoey nods to Rysen, and after dismissing not one but two messengers, approaches Inquisitor Faye as suggested.

Mikani nods to Rysen. "Sure I can look into important numbers for the Eurusi ... see if I find anything." Mika looks through her own notes first before wondering where to start searching for 'magical numbers'.

Merek checked perception + riddles at difficulty 25, rolling 9 higher.

Lora checked perception + riddles at difficulty 25, rolling 7 lower.

Mikani checked perception + riddles at difficulty 25, rolling 8 higher.

Zoey checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 24 higher.

Dante checked perception + riddles at difficulty 25, rolling 13 lower.

Catalana checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 1 lower.

Lora checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 1 higher.

Dante checked luck at difficulty 15, rolling 5 higher.

Niklas checked perception + investigation at difficulty 35, rolling 20 higher.

Niklas checked perception + riddles at difficulty 25, rolling 5 higher.

Zoey skims through the pages of the compendium, and after reading a particular passage over twice says, "I think I found something."

Faye nods to Rysen as she turns to begin looking through whatever books the scholars have pulled. "I'm not sure about the significance of 15 either. Since the cities in Eurus are connected with relections of our Pantheon, I'd think they would be tied to the number 13 as well. I wonder if this 'fifteenth daughter' actually represents some kind of organization or something else without an obvious connection to a family line."

Merek is back from the stacks with sailing songs from Eurus, then he looks to Faye and blinks a bit, "It's an actual royal according to the documents I had translated back when we found'em."

Lora and Dante disappear into the stacks as well. Unlike some others, they don't return in short order with books, Eurusi or otherwise. It is entirely possible that they did in fact get lost somewhere in the collection.

Rysen nods to Faye. "I had not thought of that. It may help to go over what we know about the fifteenth daughter." Hearing Zoey, Rysen makes his way over to her side. He nods to Merek, and says, "Correct me if I wrong in any of this, Sir Merek, but Rukhnis said that one of the most important cabins on a ship that crashed into a dock in the Lowers from Eurus was thought to belong to this person. Inside that cabin, Lady Mikani found a safe, inside of which we found darksteel. More ingots of darksteel were uncovered on that ship as well, which were appropriated by a former lord of House Nightgold, before it was reaquired by the Inquisition. Rukhnis mentioned that one of the passengers spoke of a 'fifteenth daughter,' who was spoken of in the markets of Glor'Ruus."

"I found a passage reporting whole villages relocating, and some are giving praise to the 'Daughter's Bravery'," says Zoey. "I think this might be her."

Mikani comes back with a book. "I might have found something." She states setting down the book.

Catalana glances between Zoey and Mikani, listening to what each has to say.

"That all sounds about right," Merek offers to Rysen while he takes up his book, then he begins to speak. "The fifteenth comes and the black falls away, her shining blade swings so bright, cutting through the very night, and as the long dark breaks, hope returns as day breaks with her red hair," he sings.

When Merek finishes his song, Rysen shoots Faye a look. Turning back to Merek, Rysen says, "Where in the name of Jayus did you hear that song, Sir Merek?"

Merek lifts up the book of sailing songs of Eurus, pointing to the place written.

"I always thought it was odd that the city associated with the dark reflections of Mangata and Petrichor have their names reversed. Petrioch, the water city, and Mangaldissi, the city of poison." All this in a sort of airy, chatty tone Niklas reserves for, well, just about everything. He could be talking about his favorite pastry. Which is a cheese danish, thank you. "Oh, and I found this play about the Fifteenth Daughter. Well, /a/ Fifteenth Daughter. I haven't read it yet. To be true, when I'm in my writing space I don't usually like to read other peoples' works. I'd hate to borrow something. But I suppose it couldn't hurt this one." He flips through it, making a face. "'Song of my soul, my voice is dead'. Goodness me, this is so very purple." Looking to the others he offers a reassuring, "I won't be influenced by this. It's rather awful. So no one need worry." On reading it again he says, "The Devil and the Fifteenth Daughter. Pretty basic epic stuff. A village. Threatening devils. A woman with hair all red and yellow and eyes of blue, who challenges the devils and then send them back to the abyss when they decide to attack her rather than do whatever challenge she was expecting. No indicating of who she is, but I get the feeling the audience would know already." He moves over to the others and gives Faye a rather significant look, then shows her something on one of the pages.

Faye arches a brow at Merek, looking about to question him further, though Rysen's summary clarifies things a bit. The song Merek sings gives her pause, though. "That certainly sounds like the Warrior of the Dawn, especially the bit about the red hair. Is that supposed to be the same person as the 'fifteenth daughter', though? I find it odd that she would be arriving in Arvum with a shipload of darksteel, though."

Catalana scoffs faintly at Merek, "Sea shanties are often made up or exaggerated." She points to Niklas. "He use to write some amazing ones for the brothers Kennex. Not one of them true."

Niklas waves a hand dismissively at Catalana. "There's nothing true that can't be made more interesting with some embellishment."

"And in every story is a seed of truth," adds Zoey.

Mikani opens her book and looks down at the passage she had. "So ... there isn't anything really on Eurusi Numerology. Though one number ... the number 15 does stick out as something with meaning." She looks up at the group. "The Eurus consider it an unlucky number. It Heralds Doom."

Rysen can't help but chuckle in hearing Niklas's appraisal of the play. His expression grows more grave, and he nods to Faye. "Unless she was trying to take the darksteel from Eurus - though it's also possible that we're misunderstanding the one whose cabin held the safe. There was a lot going on when we were speaking to those who arrived on that burning vessel, and even our later interviews took place when the patients were delirious with plague." Rysen's frown darkens, and he says, "And the one who shared most of this information with us has now passed into the Shinning Lands." Looking up, and relaxing a bit, Rysen says, "At least we are finding evidence to suggest that the title is associated with the Dawn Warrior."

There. There are Lora and Dante; all this time gone and no books at all to show for their trouble. What there is, however, is a troubled look on her face, a kind of shadow passed over her features. They return to the group just about the time that Mikani makes her discovery about the number 15, though that is, surely, most coincidental, and detour to one of the scholars that has been waiting to be of some service. To him, Lora says, "There was someone crying in the stacks. It sounded like a small child. We looked, but..." There's one shake of her head.

Zoey sets down her own book and goes to Mikani. "Doom for whom though? That could be significant."

Catalana listens curiously to Lora, "A child? Did you find them?"

Merek nods a bit to the team, "Looks like all of the things we're doing come to the same," he says, nodding to Niklas' word.

Niklas looks sidelong at Rysen. "The who now? Can you extrapolate on 'Dawn Warrior'?"

Dante returns at Lora's side, a consternated expression to match the shadow passing over her fair complexion. "The strangest thing. Yes, the sound of a cry, like a child or a baby, but none to be found." Visibly uneasy, his eyes cross slowly over the room and back again.

"A freedom fighter working in Eurus, Your Highness," says Rysen to Niklas, after a quick glance to Faye. Lora and Dante's return and their account of what they've heard gives Rysen a troubled look. The Crovane lord nods to Zoey and says to her and Mikani. "My thoughts as well. If this fifteenth daughter is an enemy of the Prophet, that number may have been assigned to her by the current powers of Eurus."

Faye gives Rysen a thougthful look. "Well, that's possible. Though I'm not sure who she intended to bring the darksteel to, if that was her intent. I mean, why not hide it in Eurus somewhere? I don't know of anyone who has contact with the Dawn Warrior right now. Perhaps Ashe, though she wasn't forthcoming when I asked her about it." She shakes her head. "Do we have any proof that the woman called the Dawn Warrior is also the fifteenth daughter?"

Catalana is naturally concerned about a crying child lost in the stacks. Especially with knowing what is under the archives. She heads off into the stacks searching. She probably should of told someone where she was headed.

"Merek's song suggested it in both the red hair and the dawn imagery," says Rysen to Faye. "The play Prince Niklas found also links the fifteenth daughter to one who challenges foes from the Abyss. To me, that's enough to draw a strong, if not unassailable conclusion that they are the same person."

Zoey goes back to digging through the piles of texts for other mentions of the Dawn Warrior or the 15th Daughter.

And just like that there's a free seat at the table. Lora drifts that way to sit, though there is a look after Catalana as she goes off among the books. The Fidante is now more interested in the details of the moment though, and as such looks over the books that have been assembled rather than those deliberating over their meaning. Then, though, "The last I heard of the fifteenth daughter was that she might be hiding in Arx, somewhere, minus the cargo of darksteel that she may or may not have accompanied." Her gaze finally lifts, settling first on Faye, then Rysen, contemplative. "Have you heard anything else about her, specifically?"

Catalana checked dexterity + dodge at difficulty 30, rolling 21 lower.

30 inflicted and Catalana is harmed for serious damage.

Faye was in a brief, quiet exchange with Prince Niklas and Lord Rysen, before Lady Lora attracts her attention. "Is she? Well... I wonder what her purpose here would be. The last I heard of the Dawn Warrior was that she was leading a group of rebels in Eurus called the Awakened Sands. I was poking around a bit to try to find a contact who could perhaps get a message to them, but I haven't had any luck yet. What do you know of the fifteenth daughter being here in the city?"

From deep within the stacks comes a horrible sound, wooden shelving cracks with a resounding crash, a rumble of books falling. There is a bit of a domino effect as more of the shelves start to break.

Rysen shakes his head to Lora's question. "Unfortunately not. Inquisitor Faye and I are here trying to trace out any more leads on who she might be or what might've become of her. It is my hope that, after doing our research here, we can speak again to the survivors of the shipwreck. There are only a few left, and most of them - save Gannel - have joined House Crovane and correspond with Rukhnis, our Minister of Medicine and the Assistant Guildmaster of the Physicians Guild. I'm just loath to bring more attention to them than absolutely necessary, as the memory of what happened to Gannel's mother will be burned into my memory forever." The sound of crashing books draws Rysen attention. "What in the name of the Abyss was that?"

Thinking quickly, Zoey tracks the direction the shelves are falling and chooses one to push in the opposite direction to stop the chain.

"Awakened Sands? Gods. I know there's a lot of desert in Eurus, but do stretch your wings beyond what's on the ground." Niklas gives his book one last look over, then sets it down. "I hear it's hot over there. How about the Army of the Angry Sun?" He looks between Faye, Rysen and Lora when they speak about the possible presence of the Dawn Warrior in the city.

Catalana has travelled through a labrynth of books, further and further in she goes, just as she hears a cry, she discovers an amorphous blob which lashes out immediately and then the stacks start to fall and she screams a loud blood curdling scream.

Mikani stands quickly. "Oh that can't be good." She doesn't think she just heads into the stacks.

Hearing Catalana's scream, Rysen pulls his peace tie and moves quickly after Zoey and Mikani in the direction of the screams with his hand on the hilt of his bastard sword.

"Cat," says Niklas, suddenly far more interested in the scream than he was in just about anything else. "I'd know that scream anywhere! I used to hide a lot of squids in her bed." He looks around at all the beefy people with weapons. "Well?!"

Dante stands attentively, listening to this news about the fifteenth daughter. He is about to take a seat next to her at the table when the sound of splintering wood reaches his ears, followed by a shriek of pain and terror. Immediately, the Sword dashes off in that direction, drawing his weapon.

Lora's answer regarding the woman will just have to wait; she's taken a breath to do it but then comes the scream and the crash of books and the avalanche of shelves and she can but sit and stare for a beat, ever so slightly wide-eyed. She's not armed, but she follows anyway, several paces behind those who are.

It is not difficult to find Catalana, the damage to the stacks is pretty visible and the Kennex Voice is buried under several hundred pounds of wood and books.

Merek looks to the stacks, then he sighs while he begins to move that way to try and keep the domino affect from keeping upon its path.

The sound of a crash catches Faye's attention, and she immediately turns and moves in the direction of the noise, drawing her crossbow. "Where are the Templars?" she asks loudly. It isn't really the Inquisition's job to keep the peace in the Archives, but she'll step in if necessary. "What happened here? Was it an accident?"

Faye wields Now We Try It My Way, a crossbow.

Something Faye says startles Niklas, but when others are running off toward danger, he's there with them. Behind them. Well behind them. "Everyone brought their swords, right?"

Merek checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 5 higher.

Mikani checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 21 higher.

As soon as Rysen comes close to pile of books and wood over Catalana, he begins to dig through anything which might prevent her from being pulled free. "Gods and spirits," hisses Rysen. "Lord Wash is never going to forgive me. I'm blaming this on Prince Niklas and Lady Zoey."

Niklas steps back when people are trying to push shelves back up. He doesn't want to get smushed! "Okay, team! You can do this! I have faith in you!"

Niklas checked charm + propaganda at difficulty 15, rolling 52 higher.

Rysen checked strength + athletics at difficulty 15, rolling 38 higher.

Catalana is unconcious and bleeding. Her white cloak was a bad choice for the night.It's now stained a dark red. Her blonde hair is matted with dark blood. Her breathing is shallow, but at least she's still alive.

Zoey checked strength + athletics at difficulty 25, rolling 2 higher.

Dante checked strength + athletics at difficulty 15, rolling 32 higher.

Faye checked strength + athletics at difficulty 15, rolling 5 higher.

Dante aids in digging Lady Catalana out, carefully placing books to the side while less carefully tossing broken shelves about, sword close at hand in case someone to blame shows up.

There's not that much room among the wreckage of fallen shelves, piles of books, and those digging through them to try and pull Catalana out, so Lora does not plunge ahead to help there, either. She stands back and to the least-cluttered side, half watching, half listening, her head tilted in almost birdlike fashion. Of course, she has gone a bit pale with even this bit of effort, one corner of her mouth turned down in the suggestion of a frown.

Quickly moving aside the books and debris, Rysen slips his arms under Catalana's. "Lord Dante, Can you support her lower body, please," he says, as he cradles the upper part of Lady of Stormward's body, and continues to carefully but quickly pull her from the pile. Glancing toward Niklas, Faye and Lora, Rysen asks, "Does anyone have medical knowledge?"

Mikani moves to help steady the shelves so they don't keep collapsing.

Niklas shakes his head at Rysen, staying back but nevertheless fretting over the sight of his cousin. "Cat, Cat! Shit. Damn it! What the fuck happened? What is this?!"

On Rysen's request, Dante gingerly slides his arms beneath Catalana's waist to pick her up and help move her out of the debris. It's slow going, and the Sword of Tor moves with careful, measured steps.

Faye doesn't see any person who might have caused the collapse upon a cursory glance, so she moves to help dig out Catalana from the collapse of shelves. "How did this happen? Did anyone see what caused it?"

Zoey coms back around from stopping the falling shelves and clears the table with a sweep of her arm so the rescuers have somewhere to put Catalana.

Faye checked perception at difficulty 10, rolling 8 higher.

Lora checked perception at difficulty 10, rolling 8 higher. Lora rolled a critical!

Mikani checked perception at difficulty 10, rolling 15 higher.

Rysen checked perception at difficulty 10, rolling 5 lower.

Dante checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 0 higher.

Merek checked perception at difficulty 10, rolling 4 lower.

Merek assists all of the others while he does his best to keep away that domino effect, when it's finished he will likely shift his attention elseplace.

Niklas checked perception at difficulty 15, rolling 1 lower.

Niklas checked perception at difficulty 10, rolling 13 higher.

"Thank you, My Lord," says Rysen to Dante, as he slips an arm under Catalana's legs and carries her over to the space cleared by Zoey. Calling to the Templars, Rysen says, "Are any of you trained in Medicine?" Turning then to Lygeia, Rysen says, "Run to Rukhnis, and if you can't find her, run to Keaton Hall and ask for Marquessa Reigna." Lygeia nods, and moves quickly out of The Stacks.

Templars arrive moments after, cursing loudly at the sight that greets them. The domino chain has stopped, but the damage is extensive. The bleeding Kennex lady is seen and the Templar shouts for a Mercy to be brought.

Zoey stands over Catalana's unconscious form, looking her over with an untrained eye. She puts a hand on her cousin's belly and says softly, "Help is coming. You're both going to be okay."

Mikani shivers slightly. "I'm not trained." She murmurs as she rights the case. "Has anyone else noticed how cold it is right here?"

As more people crowd in - Templars, now, and the call for a healer, and the need to draw Catalana out and into a clear spot for examination - Lora takes a few steps back, mindful of things scattered on the floor. She even crouches to pick some of the fallen books up, then stills to look around again before tilting her head and exhaling, the way one does in winter to see the cloud of one's breath. There's another look stolen at the injured woman though, which doesn't improve her color, at all. "Is she... what caused this? She couldn't've knocked these over by herself."

Overhearing Lora's words, Rysen glances to Faye. "Do you think...?"

Merek checked intellect + medicine at difficulty 30, rolling 19 higher.

Dreya, an older woman in Velenosan livery, 2 House Velenosa Guards, Ailfryd, a tall, thin man with a haugty air arrive, following Saoirse.

Dreya, an older woman in Velenosan livery, 2 House Velenosa Guards, Ailfryd, a tall, thin man with a haugty air leave, following Saoirse.

Dante rubs his hands over his arms with a shiver, telling Lora with an uneasy glance around, "Why is it so cold in here? I could swear it wasn't so freezing before." The Sword gives Niklas a sympathetic frown. "She'll be alright, we need to just get her a proper medic."

Merek makes his way to check upon Catalana when he sees the woman, then he kneels next to her, his longcoat shifting a bit while he takes a moment to consider. "I know a bit about medicine, we'll need to get her safe so we can bring her to the Mercies," he says, then he takes a moment to offer her balance, while he finds a compress. "You'll be alright," he says, taking a vial to offer to her while he begins to assist.

Catalana is still oozing blood and her breath is shallow even after being pulled out. Her skin very pale. I would not be the one who has the explain this to Wash.

Faye notices the chill as well. "Somewhere should be the point of failure for the shelves. If something broke or if they were delberately damaged. It should be obvious in the wood." Of course, right now everything is a jumble of broken shelves, books, and people trying to rescue the injured. She gives Rysen a small shrug at his unfinished question, unsure.

Brahm, a large iridescent plumed raven arrives, delivering a message to Mikani before departing.

Lora ends up pulling her shawl tightly around her shoulders. "The Templars mentioned trouble in the stacks when we arrived," she points out quietly. "Violence within the stacks." Her arms cross too, in a very stiff hold of the fabric around her. There is a glance at Dante. "Perhaps what we heard was a ruse, something to lure someone into an accident?"

"That was no accident," Zoey says ominously.

Faye checked perception + investigation at difficulty 40, rolling 14 higher.

Zoey checked perception + investigation at difficulty 40, rolling 2 lower.

Rysen nods in agreement with Zoey, who has seemed to reach the same conclusion as Lora. He quickly makes his way to Mikani's side and whispers something to her before saying to Faye, "Think we can determine the cause of what brought down these shelves at least?"

Lora checked perception + investigation at difficulty 40, rolling 15 higher.

Rysen checked perception + investigation at difficulty 40, rolling 18 lower.

Mikani checked perception + investigation at difficulty 40, rolling 0 higher.

Merek checked perception + investigation at difficulty 40, rolling 12 higher.

Merek manages to make the woman a little bit more stable while he looks up towards the stacks, curiously. He does consider it a moment, "She will be alright, I'll need assisting in moving her."

"Can you get her all the way back to Kennex Kay?" Zoey asks Merek.

Mikani moves next to Rysen and nods to his whispers before glancing at Cat and absently placing a hand on her abdomen. She whispers back Rysen and softly brushes her hand against his arm.

A messenger arrives, delivering a message to Zoey before departing.

Dante nods at Lora. "I think that it was a trap. Unfortunately, Lady Catalana stepped into it. Also, why is it so cold there?" Frowning, hating the cold enough as it is, the Sword of Roses raises a hand and approaches Merek. "If you need help, I will assist should it be needed."

The wreckage of the shelves is difficult to sift through, but eventually the fragments at the source are found. The boards are damp, still cold to the touch. Frost eaten. The boards appear shattered, as if struck by something at the weakest, coldest spots.