[Mkguild] Fit to Print (5/6)

[Indagare]

Chapter 5: Stop the Presses! (mid June, 708)

Lodo was not surprised when the Curse began. It had started about ten days
after he’d arrived and just after he opened the shop. He’d bought a
full-length mirror so he could track and sketch the changes.

His skin had turned black and gained a covering of what looked like a cross
between fur and feathers. This covering was also black in most places,
except the center of his torso where it was brilliantly white. This area of
white rose up his neck and around his face up to his eyebrows–or where his
eyebrows would be if he still had them.

‘Face’, at this point, might have been a bit of a stretch, as he had a beak
that could be favorably compared to a toucan’s. Fortunately its edges were
much more malleable than that and he could emote fairly normally.
Unfortunately the comparisons to a toucan ended there, as a brilliantly
colored crest rose along his beak and over his head like a cock’s comb!

More than that, his arms had become some sort of wings. They weren’t bat
wings–though his pinky fingers had grown to an absurd length, with an
attached membrane under them and most of his arm–his other fingers and
thumbs were free. Fortunately he found he could return them to normal arms,
though some webbing remained near his armpits and his pinky fingers were
now the size of his middle fingers. His feet were clawed and colored in a
sedate blue-gray scale. They were also amazingly flexible, like a second
set of hands. He had a tail as well, the same black color as his body.

No one in Keep Town knew what he was. Even Misha was stumped! Finally, he
took a break from his art and headed to the Keep Proper, hoping he could
find the library.

It was not long before he found it. Though he was sure it would be a trek,
it had appeared almost as soon as he was past the Deaf Mule! It was
obviously the library: it stood five stories tall and had rows of long
glass on each story. The top was a blue dome that seemed to glitter like a
gem. The uppermost rows of windows seemed to be made of stained glass. It
was braced on all sides by flying buttresses.The doors were inlaid wood
with stained glass all around them. Directly above the doors, in a circle
of stone, there was a golden quill and a book in white marble. So carefully
was it carved that Lodo almost thought he could read it if he could but
reach it.

The vestibule was a well-sized area. The floors and walls were burnished,
inlaid wood that had a comforting, welcoming look. There was a large,
ornate rug on the floor in warm red with patterns of gold and black. It had
a border pattern very distinct from the interior, though not in different
colors.  There was a desk immediately to the right. Just beyond the desk
there seemed to be a ramped pillar. Behind the desk was a human woman in a
green dress who smiled at Lodo.

“Welcome to the library, my name is Merlia. I’m the head librarian here.
How can I help you?’

“My name is Lodo. I’m an artist and fairly new here. But I’m not sure
exactly what I’m supposed to be.”

“Yes, I can see how that would be an issue. Everyone that becomes an
animalmorph usually ends up wanting to know more about their new species,
unless it’s particularly common. There’s nothing common about you, though.
Could you shift into feral form so I can see what the, er, more natural
look for your species is?”

Lodo nodded and allowed his wings to grow out. Most of his body didn’t
change much, other than in size, shrinking to that of a toucan’s, but once
he’d finished he flapped over to the desk to let himself be inspected.

“Hmm. Yes, you’re neither bird nor bat. There’s something familiar about
you, though. I’m sure I’ve seen this form before. Well, change back and we
can go into the repository.”

Lodo flew off and changed back, glad that his clothes were of the magic
variety in the Keep. Merlia led him through the doors to where the books
and scroll were. Inside the library opened up. All floors were visible from
where he stood. The topmost windows created multicolored lights from their
stained glass while the whole of the interior was illuminated by the long
windows all around. The very top was the interior of the dome.

Carved shelves lined all around in neat rows extending in all directions.
They looked like they were wood-colored stones with shelves for books and
scrolls. The interior had silvery pillars at even intervals, the largest
ones surrounding the open interior. They had carved tops to look like
flowering fruit trees. Their flowers were painted while the globes of
fruits seemed to hold a very faint light within.

It was a long time before Lodo could do anything but stare. Merlia let out
a gentle cough and Lodo shook his head. “Words cannot possibly do this
justice!”

“Indeed. The ramp you saw leads to the other levels. Each is categorized as
best we can. There are two librarians on each of the levels. Mael-Murie is
also on this level. Somewhere.”

A great horned owl flew down to where they stood. It changed into a
humanoid form. “Mael-Murie present and accounted for! Who’s this fellow?”

“I am Lodovico Buonarroti; Lodo, for short.” Lodo gave Mael a gracious bow.
“I’m trying to figure out what I am.”

“Hmm, I think maybe the Tened section Merlia?”

“Just what I was thinking. He has a sort of ancient look to him.”

The two women led Lodo through the stacks to a particular section. There
the three of them started taking out books and looking through them.
Finally Merlia found one!

“Here we go! Some of the fliers from the time of the Tened. You look
roughly like one, though I must say you’re better colored!”

“Thank you! Hmm, there’s no writing, though. Or it’s too small to see.”

“None of mine are much better,” said Mael. “We’ll likely have to make
something up for the time being.”

“Hmm, there’s ‘pteros’ for ‘winged’ and ‘saur’ for reptile, so ‘pterosaur’
seems about right.” said Merlia.

“That seems accurate enough, but I haven’t felt any stupor in the cold,”
said Lodo.

“Maybe the down helps insulate you,” said Mael.

“Or it could be you’re not truly cold-blooded,” said Merlia.

“In any case, I thank you both!”

***

Misha was still working on the molds for the press and the Writer’s Guild
had been non-committal about helping. They seemed to be worried that the
printing press would put them out of business, though he and Misha had
assured them this would not be the case. They’d pointed out that if the
press could print things quickly the copyists could make more copies
faster. In addition, illuminators would certainly still be needed.
Tallis, Nahum, and Madra–the headmasters of the Writers’ Guild–were still
debating it among themselves. Madra was for it, Nahum was against it, and
Tallis was undecided. Lodo and Misha had both made their cases for helping
with the press, but until the three decided one way or another, the
Writers’ Guild was an unknown. Fortunately Lodo had his artwork to keep him
occupied, as well as his formal training under Jack DeMule.
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