Open to any who'd like to join the group laid out [here] as a founding member! This group is casual so they can meet & hang out in the first thread, I think!

Bentley the puppy was sprawled on his fuzzy stomach before the white marble fireplace. There was a big, knit rug underneath him--an oval one! it was pretty!--and in front of him, there lay an open book. The palace library was open, today, and he was taking full advantage.

One oversized puppy paw rested carefully on the right side of the page, pinning it open, though the puppy occasionally had to dip his head down to push the left side back open when a stray page flipped back over. He had to do this with his head, not his nose, as he'd already been yelled at once for getting his nose-moisture all over a thousand year old book.

Oops.

This book was not so old: it'd been handed to him as a replacement, something he could read without really causing damage. It was also not advanced. The other book he'd been two pages in, losing track of whatever the writing said each sentence as he struggled to sound out the words. This one, though... this one was intended for fresh minds, those who'd never really seen a book before. It had lots of big, sketched-out pictures and big, clear writing on the pages. A tiny glowing orb hovered over this writing as Bentley tried his best to sound it all out.

"B... oh... B-oh... wl... f... oo... el. F... ooohhll. Full. Bowl full!" and this last was a cry of excitement after his murmur of concentration. His head came up, and he panted, ears pricked, eyes bright, and tail wagging as he stared proudly down at the page. "BOWL FULL!" he yipped.

And then, back to work... "Oh... ef... ohf... of? Bowl full... of... Ahh. A--I KNOW THIS ONE!" he barked again, oblivious to others he might be interrupting. Then he was up, scrambling from the rug (his paws crinkling it like an accordian behind him) to run around the room, tail wagging frantically. He bounced to Menkheperre, and to some poor hapless cleaner, and then to anyone else who might happen to be there. He didn't hesitate to try and lick anyone he ran into, either, all the while excitedly crying: "BOWL FULL OF APPLES! Arf! Bowl, full of apples--it's a bowl full of apples! I got it!"

@Menkheperre @Forgraves (Nico?) @Sharp (and maybe Simon II?) @Aethril (b/c she wants to laugh at everyone :( )

Menkheperre, likewise, was currently seated at a rudimentary desk. His rear end was firmly planted on a seat, just as it had been for several hours, and his fangs worried at his bottom lip as he read. On the marbled countertop was a veritable collection of ancient tomes of all sorts—each in varying states of preservation, color, bindings. Some were lovingly worn, pages as soft as cotton but still sturdy; others creaked with each turn, paper crackling. The latter were handled with such care, as if he were handling finely-spun glass.

The one before him seemed to be a little newer than the others, though it still held a thousand years' worth of age. Its lettering was different than many of the others, formed of sharply shaped uppercases and more curved lowers. A few were missing to compare it to the Common that Astraea had endeavored to teach those in the cave, but... not all alphabets were created with the same number of letters in mind. They couldn't all just be twenty-six strong. Some of the writings were whole words in one symbol!

It'd be easy to just transliterate the work to a Common language, but then he'd still have to do the work to translate (or convert, as Khavur had suggested calling it, novel idea that it was) as he read it later on. More work now, less to be done later.

Still, he had to read it first: a treatise on ethics once incomprehensible by himself, being the sheltered child living in a sometimes unstable Palace he was. (Yes, yes, he'd cleaned up and reorganized the Library as much as he could following Miss Aethril's... outburst in it. The faint scent of Oil wouldn't fade for a while, unless he was imagining it along with those dark shapes in the walls.) The nuance of existing playing out upon a page, an ancient philosopher thinking on what the purpose of living was.

Helpful in his quest, no?

Every few paragraphs, Menkheperre would pause in his quiet mumbling of the words, forming the gist in his mind. He'd quickly found that context was immensely important in translation; one couldn't just put down the most literal one-to-one definition of words and expect it to make any sense. Then, Menkheperre would mull over the whole thing again, claw on the page where he'd left off, and do his level best to shift gears into Common. That, at least, was getting a little easier by the day.

Midway through this chunk of text—the ending of the first book of this compendium—he stopped to do just that. Crimson eyes flickered down the page after each pause, studying the blank margins. With his usual varying level of success, he muttered along in the more familiar tongue, haphazardly forming the words in what little blank space there was. It was a nice trick, sort of a... vanishing ink. Temporary notes that seemed to fade within a few days if he didn't put a particular amount of effort into it.

Except— "ACK!" A flash of light jumped from the letters forming on the page and onto himself; though his greater concern was Bentley's sudden, raucous excitement. The pup had gone forgotten, mumbling to his own self in his independent reading corner (... fireplace.) His rapturous excitement broke the silence of the Library, and while Menkheperre really should be used to it by now, he jumped regardless. A splitting headache lurched across his vision like a pistol shot through glass. His whole body went rigid, and he was halfway to a True Librarian's shushing when his brain caught up to him.

Achievement! Success! The first step to advancement, perhaps beyond that of the other students in Draco.

Menkheperre, unheeding of the incandescent cyan writing now hilariously smeared across his face and neck—all just barely resembling Common, but more a mangled amalgamation—turned on his seat to peer down at the pup with little but a toothy grin on his face. "Congratulations! Did you sound it out?" Rigid brows perked in genuine interest, taking quiet notes to pass along to Master Astraea later.

Aside from his jackhammering heart and brief moment of Oh, by the books, I'm going to fall off of this chair and die. I will die and fall. It will be a terrible thing, he was nothing but excited to have someone to share knowledge with... eventually!

Baby steps first, like this.

In accordance with a d20 rolled on Discord, Menkheperre has afflicted himself with having half of his face and neck covered with the following quote for Seven days: BӨЩᒪ FЦᒪᒪ ӨF ΛPPᒪΣƧ / ΣƬΉIᑕƧ / ƬΉΣ MΣΛПIПG ӨF ᒪIFΣ / BΣПƬᒪΣY MY ΛППӨƬΛƬIӨПƧ / MY ΛППӨƬΛƬIӨПƧ BΣПƬᒪ

@Bentley

He came to a quizzical halt, head tilted to one side. Ears hung lopsided, and as he looked over the new markings gleaming across Menkheperre's head and neck. For a moment his mouth slowly shut, the tip of a tongue still poking out. Then he spoke, eyes wide.

"Yeah! I sounded it. ...You can do words..? On you?" he asked, his tone of of hushed awe.

He stepped forward, trying to sniff at the letters. To see if they had a smell! And he tried to sound them out, too. "Bo... wl--wait..." His puppy brain recognized the phrase, the words he'd seen just moments ago clicking into place. "You have bowl full of apples on your head!" he squealed, excitement once again thrilling through him. He bounced in place, paws shoving him up and down. "And-" (he stilled again, studying the words.)

"Et... hic... s?" It occurred to him that he could glow, too, so he tried to do whatever Menkheperre had done. Maybe if he just made certain spots glow-? But-... nothing. So he went back to 'reading.' "T... he... The. The... meh... an... eeng... The meh-an-eeng... of!... leaf... life? The meh-an-eeng of-" And once again, that sweet, addicting click as it all came together.

He stepped back, eyes wide, wondering what it all meant.

"Menkheperre?" he asked, curious. "What's 'the meaning of life?'"

Big question, for a little puppy. Even if on accident.

Talk about being fashionably late!

Forgraves had, since the lessons given by Master Astraea, been coming here more often. even better than that was he was coming with Nico, tori showing no clear interest in learning how to read. it hadn't benefited her so far, so she thinks it's not that important. fair enough!

Nico was nestled in the crook of his neck, hanging on by the star-charted pendant on his neck, looking around the library with wonder and excitement.

Forgraves would have normally dropped off nico and gone to read on his own, listen for Nico's calls if he got stuck on something, but today there were others here! how fun. from the sound of it, and given the fact he'd seen both of them at the lessons, he figured they were doing some practicing aswell.

he almost laughed at the small puppies questions as he padded in, finding them utterly adorable, even if that last one was far too existential for any puppy to be getting too into. that was a dark path indeed that only lead to headache. and lack of sleep.

"Hello there, you two. you were at the lessons in draco, right?" he greeted with a warm smile. "loaded question there, pup."

Nico would shove himself off his dad's back, running to greet the others before forgraves could protest.










"Speech." Thoughts.

Nico flew at amazing speeds off of forgraves back onto the floor, a big, toothy grin on his face.

"Hi!!! whatcha reading?? sounds cool!!" he greeted, enthusiasm radiating off his tiny bat body in waves.

Nico had, for lack of a better term, became obsessed with the library. when he wasn't there, he was begging Forgraves to take him back, as he had said he wasn't old enough to safely fly there on his own yet.

Tori had teased him for it, not understanding what was so great about it, but uncle Banshy had visited and said he sounded smart. he sounded SMART!!! he WAS smart.

he bounced, looking up at menkhe. "you're tall!"

@Bentley @Menkheperre