The Enchantment

[central_librarymods]

Once upon a time an enchantment crept through the Library, winding through the stacks and slipping amongst the shelves. Those that were touched by this classical magic might find themselves seeing things that they had thought were impossible or finding themselves bursting into song. Some may find themselves wishing for love or adventure, perhaps even both. While others find themselves acting as vagabond or prince.

With the enchantment came a menagerie of flora and fauna, but not to worry. Gardens bloom with fanciful flowers and the darker aisles begin to resemble a forest instead of the more mundane shelves. Strange birds break up the Library's hush and mice scurry from shelf to table, whispering of lost Princesses. These woodland creatures are not to be feared... unless someone has stumbled into the more Grimm areas of the Fiction section. Although the spell is only beginning, the patrons touched by its magic may act strangely or find themselves slightly - or more than slightly - changed by the enchantment.

Remember that this is only be beginning of our Tale. Other wonders and mysteries will soon appear...


((ooc: This post is for to help get the event underway. Players can tag in to start their own mini plots and interact with others. Please treat it like a meme (action or prose depending on the players preferences) tag new people and have fun!))

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[filidough]

Fili couldn't help but frown, immediately picking up on that guilty tone. Any other time, he would have been intrigued to know what his brother was getting up to and would want to join in but this time? This time he found himself eyeing the younger dwarf, arms crossing over his chest.

"Exploring...tell me, brother, what about exploring would put you on edge like you are?" he asked, an eyebrow lifting in an expectant manner.

Whatever you're getting up to, Kili, he's having none of it.

"What do you mean by strange?"

[runestone_promise]

He had done nothing wrong. The crown was his and there was no reason for him to feel guilty for it but the weight of that prize seemed to double as Fili watched him. Whenever his kin caught in mischief, he could not help feeling as if he should confess every wrong he had done since he was a child. That reaction was stronger than his need to hide the crown.

"I was going to look for a hiding place. For something." That odd compulsion almost forced him into silence but Kili could not lie to his brother. "I found something in my pack that was not there yesterday." Still he could not bring himself to show it to Fili. Not yet. "Have you found anything among your things that was not there yesterday?"

[filidough]

"What something are you referring to, brother?" he asked, his expression easing a bit, becoming more gentle as he attempted to coax the other into trusting him. The way Kili was acting reminded him of their uncle, in part, and it unnerved him a bit--

And he didn't want to see Kili go further down that path.

"I have not, at least not that I have noticed, Kee." The blonde studied his brother for a moment before he took a step closer. "You can trust me with whatever it is, brother. You are worrying me a bit."

[runestone_promise]

"I always trust you, brother." Despite that reassurance, he could not decide if he should tell Fili or if he should remain silent. The temptation to hide his prize from all weighed heavily but he had never been able to keep a secret from his brother. "I found a crown among my things," he finally answered, each word difficult to say despite wanting to tell Fili the truth.

"I don't remember it from the treasure but the gems look like the ones the elf king wanted." Perhaps that was why Kili kept thinking he had to protect it. If that was true then it should be safe to tell Fili. If it was part of the treasure then it was their duty to protect it until Thorin decided if he would return the gems to the elves. "There is nothing to worry about. We weren't effected by the treasure. It could not have a hold on us here."

[filidough]

Fili looks surprised at what his brother says he found, head tilting. "A crown?"

He ponders on it while Kili continues to explain, watching his brother closely to make sure that what he was saying was true--that the treasure wasn't affecting him. The blonde was unable to shake his worry, though, but he at least squashed it down as he nodded, reaching out to rest a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"You cannot blame me for worrying, Kee. I do not want to see any fall to the plight our uncle did," he admitted before giving the younger a soft smile. "Can I see this crown you found? Or would you rather keep it out of sight and mind?"

[runestone_promise]

"Yes, I - " He hesitated for just a heartbeat, strange impulses conflicting before he remembered he knew he could trust Fili. "Found it in my pack this morning when I was looking for a shirt." It could not be the dragon sickness. The crown was not part of treasure that Smaug had guarded so carefully but Kili still could not help wondering if he might be slipping into the madness that had caught Thorin. "We would know if I was infected like uncle had been."

The worry would not ease despite how much he reassured himself that it could not be true. Prove it. Show him the crown. The thought repeated itself over and over until he finally, reluctantly, began undoing the laces. Still, he paused before finally unwrapping it from the fabric from the crown. "I should show it to you. o we can be sure." Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside the strange impulse that told him to flee, momentarily caught up in the beauty of the work that had gone into the metal and jewels, before giving it to his brother. "Do you remember it from the mountain?"

[filidough]

Squeezing his brother's shoulder, Fili gave him a gentle sort of look that was meant to try and calm the other.

"We would, yes. I just worry is all. I do not want to see you suffer the way our uncle did." Because it had been hard enough when Thorin had been going mad but if Kili were to fall victim to it as well? Fili would have been a terrible mess over it.

His gaze dropped to the crown as it was unwrapped, eyes widening a bit because it was a very fine crown but definitely nothing he had ever seen before. The blonde made no move to touch it, feeling no draw from the object as gorgeous as it was. "No I..there was a lot of treasure in that mountain, Kee. I fear I cannot be sure if it is an object from home but at first glance? There is nothing familiar about it."

[runestone_promise]

Smiling weakly at his brother he put aside his earlier fears. If Fili believed he was not well, then he would accept that it was true. His brother would not lie or try to reassure him if it was possible that he had the dragon sickness.

"I do not want either one of us to fall into that madness. You could be prone to it as well." That was not a comforting thought but it was one he had considered even before they had arrived at the Library. "We should be safe from it here."

Kili would try to believe that even as the crown tugged at his emotions. It was his. Now that he owned it he could have... That was strange. He had never had desired riches, content with the life he had with his family. That had changed when he met Tauriel but only that he wanted her to be part of his life as well. "There was but this does not seem to be made by dwarves nor elves. Could it be something from the books?"

But how would it make its way from book to his pack?

[filidough]

"The last thing I would wish, for either of us, is to fall victim to that sickness, Kee. We have to be stronger than it and I believe this place will help us stay that way," he said sincerely, truly believing those words. He wasn't going to let anything happen to his sibling; not again. Not while he was once more living and breathing.

A thoughtful frown marred his expression as he watched Kili and the crown, not liking the effect it still seemed to have on his brother.

Truly a vile item this crown must be.

"Most likely. I have heard it said that this place can bring forth a whole manner of things," Fili murmured before giving the other dwarf a curious look. "You are certain you did not find it somewhere? That it was just in your pack, brother?"

[runestone_promise]

"I never felt it when we were home. Why would it happen here?" He had watched their uncle and saw how the madness had pulled at him. Kili did not believe felt the same compulsion. "I - I feel like it will lead me to what I wish for most." A strange thought but as he spoke, his certainty grew. "Not like the sickness but, like I will find my heart's desire if I keep the crown safe."

Which was why there was a hint of unease even showing it to Fili. His brother would not betray him and would always wish him the best, but it still felt wrong somehow for another to know of the treasure. "The pixies came from one of those books. Maybe this is part of their mischief." That made more sense than crowns appearing out of thin air. "I would have remembered finding it. I would have shown it to Rapunzel if I had."

[filidough]

"This place seems to have a strangeness about it that not even the dragon hoard bore, brother. Whatever is at work here is far stronger, I fear, and is perhaps playing our fears against us." It seemed to make sense, right? While he'd been initially wary of this place just for the unfamiliar air about it when he arrived, now it was something different. Magic didn't sit well with him and this place was full of it.

That worried him and made him fear what might happen to them in the long run.

The blonde nodded, glancing around at the books resting on shelves around them. "Perhaps some sort of children's tale or a historical--" Wait. "Rapunzel?" Fili's eyebrows went up. "Who is that?"

[runestone_promise]

"But the Library is our home now. We must stay or..." Kili did not remember much of what had happened but he knew that they both might not survive returning home. Tauriel had told him that she had seen him die and he knew that Fili must have suffered a similar fate. "This place just has different magic than what we're used to. Eventually it will seem as common as what we heard about in stories."

This fate, whatever it might be, had to be better than his brother dying.

"It does seem like something that we would have heard as children." At that pause, he wondered if perhaps his brother was also effected by the spell. How could he not know who Kili spoke of? "Rapunzel. The elf that healed me. Long red hair. Beautiful smile." His expression became wistful, like he was caught up in a dream. "She wants to see the stars."

[filidough]

Fili's expression threatened to crumble and he tugged on his brother a bit so he could lean in to bump their foreheads together.

"We will make the best of this place, no matter what. And you are right about the magic, brother. It will just take some getting use to is all."

As long as he was able to keep his brother at his side, that's all that mattered to him.

A flicker of confusion went through his expression now before he gave Kili a look that clearly said 'Did you hit your head?'. "Do you mean Tauriel?"

[runestone_promise]

"It is all right, Fi." Wrapping an arm around his brother, he tried not to think of what Tauriel had told him. It was difficult enough to accept that he had died that day but knowing that he had failed his kin... "We are both alive and whole. This isn't a bad place. It reminds me a bit of Bilbo's home."

Thinking of the Shire and the Company caused the crown and the princess to recede from his mind but he still could not understand Fili's reaction. "Yes, I - I called her something else but I do not know how I knew that name."