The 9th Hour... (Phase 1: Sept-Oct Event)

[central_librarymods]

The cold presence is seeping in through the dark shadows. The darkness is reaching further, brushing the minds of the patrons and opening doors to dimensions that should not be open. Something wants in. But in the Central Library, there are ways to get through without crossing entirely… through your dreams. Among other things.

Pick one of the options below and make a post for other patrons to join you in the events. You may make up your own, but keep it matching the event at hand as the different phases of the event will progressively get worse.

1. Your dreams are getting dangerous, violent even. When you wake up, there are bruises and injuries that shouldn’t be there. What is going on? Why are your dreams becoming a reality little by little? And why is it getting so hard to wake up?


2. Things are shifting in the Library. The shadows are moving and the temperatures are starting to drop. There are cold spots that sometimes get colder and sometimes it feels like if you turn around, you’ll find someone right behind you.


3. The monsters are looking a bit more frantic and daring to come closer to the center of the Library where they normally will not tread. It seems you aren’t the only ones scared of the dark recesses any longer.


4. The Market is now a lovely little faire of the early Renaissance with all sorts of fresh grain, fruits and vegetables! It is a brilliant sight, but it seems the ominous plague masks they don still gives a foreboding feeling of the miasma that killed over two-thirds of the world’s population… Perhaps you shouldn’t wander very far.


5. New areas are now opened up. A blacksmith and workshop for the tinkers has been created. You might want to look or contribute... You might also want to stop in the new bath area. The large pool has a Grecian feel and all of the walls are made of crystalline glass where the stars are always shining with a different universe in constant succession.


6. Wild Card: Make up your own scenario. Just remember that all of the things above are happening. Things are getting foreboding and growing stronger by the day. Sleep will be a luxury you might not have… You may not see what’s coming, not yet. But you know it’s coming.

Comments

[facemyenemys]

Unlike Alec, she wasn't dressed in armor or anything so fancy, then again all her battles tended to be civilian clothing or a vest, so she was used to this. She at least had boots on with her pants tucked into the tops this time, instead of wandering around bare footed. That was a plus, right?

She did however carry a knife with her, at her hip. So it wasn't like she was defenceless out here, but it surprised her that 'out here' wasn't all that far and she was still catching things in the corner of her eyes. Which had her a bit spooked, for the moment.

Spooked enough that when she heard the foot steps of someone coming she had to fight not to jump a foot above ground. Which, thankfully, she was good at, so at first she just glared at the man, but then... relaxed, letting out a sigh as she saw it was just Alec.

Asking if a shadow did that to her.

She raised a hand to her scarred face. While IN the library she was still a scarred mess, as her mask didn't actually WORK in here. Out in Yellowstone her face had been smooth as it should be. So her fingers ran over burn scars, frowning a moment. Had he meant this? Or... no, he had seen her before going into Yellowstone, so that can't be it. "The black eye?" She asked, touching the tender spot under her eye and frowning. She had other black and blue marks over her body, but they were all hidden except for the small split in her lip.

Shaking her head she lowered her hand, coming closer to the other and stopping a conversational distance. "No, I think I might have done it in my sleep. Or at least woke up this way." But 'in her sleep' didn't explain Grant's wrists. She wanted to find the Librarians to ask questions. Something is a mess.

"Shadows though, you've been seeing them too?"

[alec_lightwood]

There were things in the shadows but none had come close enough to Alec for him to see what they were. Something was wrong. His instincts warned him of that but he had no idea what it was. Not demonic. Not Downworlder. Not a spirit. At least not the type he was used to.

Whatever it was, it wasn't something that Alec had encountered before or read about in the Codex.

When Kara lifted her hand, he knew that she assumed he meant the scars. "Yes, the black eye," he clarified. The scars weren't something that bothered or frightened him. He looked at her as if the scars didn't exist.

"I don't think we're giving ourselves these injuries in the usual way." Kara might have given herself a black eye and split lip but he doubted she had. His own injuries would have been impossible for Alec to give himself.

"Something similar happened to me. I dreamed about a battle and woke up with a version of the wounds I had." Thankfully they weren't exactly the same or he'd have died an agonizing death since no one here would be able to help him. "They're claw marks. Definitely not made by a human." Or a Shadowhunter.

"I've seen something. I don't know what they are. They seem too solid to be shadows."

[facemyenemys]

She was still learning to feel okay with the scars, and she wasn't the most social, so some people did stare. In general though, it was nice here, because no one really judged. her fingers touched the bruising a bit, but then drew away.

His statement about not giving themselves the marks made sense, and she already knew that had to be the truth, but it was easy to pass it off as her fault, at the moment. She nodded, frowning though, as he said it.

"So, we're not the only ones." She frowned more, rubbing her hand over her ribs at the side as she thought. "I've had some dreams, about fights I've had but haven't had. Woke up bruised and bleeding. My Fiancée as well. Though his were much worse."

She stepped closer, within arms reach but not too close, conversational, and rested her hands at her pants pockets, looking the other. "Are your wounds very serious right now? Or have you managed?" Concern, because if others were hurt like Ward and her, who knows who else was hurt.

"I've caught glances, but I wasn't sure if it was someone else or something entirely different. I thought I'd try and talk to the Librarians..."

[alec_lightwood]

"No, you're not. Magnus hasn't mentioned nightmares but his scale for them is different than most people's." Years of abuse combined with the ability to have prophetic dreams meant that Magnus didn't react as strongly to nightmares as most people. But he had been worried about the claw marks on Alec and what would happen if the dreams escalated. "We haven't figured it out yet. Bob's tried to get a lock on it but he hasn't had much luck."

The question about the old injuries surprised him. Only a handful of people ever worried about his safety. Even his parents hadn't really shown much concern when he was wounded. Even when those wounds were mortal. "They're not serious now. They weren't when I woke up. If they had been, I probably would be dying right now. I was poisoned the first time I was attacked."

Keeping an eye on the shadows, Alec sighed. "I don't know what's out there. I know what it isn't. At least compared to what I've seen in my world. I don't know where the Librarians are. The Cat usually keeps Bob company but he hasn't been hanging around. I haven't seen the Head Librarian but I thought it was because he had to open the portals."

[facemyenemys]

She listened to him and considered the information. Magnus and Bob and Alec are all experiencing things though. Or at least could be. Grant and her are both having their own small issues (Ward's was not small). And it seems the Librarians are either busy or missing?

When he spoke about the wounds not being serious she raised a brow and watched him anyhow. Not serious, but they had been originally. Wards was a bit of the same. They could have been worse, apparently. And this one as poisoned originally? Damn. She gave him a nod, but still, the Agent in her hadn't completely died. "Serious or not, if they've opened, make sure you keep them cared for while you can. It would be bad if the lot of us were taken down by our past reliving itself."

"I'm a bit concerned about the Librarians too. I know he, or they, had to hold everything down while we all ran about in other portals. You don't think they over did it, do you? Over did it and now things are creeping in?" Is that something that could happen?

[alec_lightwood]

"What kind of injuries have you and Ward experienced? There might be some kind of significance in which ones we're reliving." Alec wasn't sure if that was part of it but since Bob and Magnus couldn't figure out what was going on, they needed as much information as possible. Maybe there was a connection that they hadn't made yet since Alec's wounds were the only ones that they had been basing theories on.

"I have a way to speed up healing if the wounds aren't poisoned. But you're right. If it continues it could take us down." Could that be what the shadows wanted? But why not make the wounds serious enough to kill instead of only debilitating?

Alec hoped that Kara was wrong but he had the feeling she had guessed the reason why the Librarians had been missing. "I'm beginning to think that's what happened to them. It takes a lot of energy to keep a portal open that long and to create that many glamours. Power has to come from somewhere. Either from the one casting the spell or someone offering up power to sustain the spell. Doing so much might have hurt them so they can't protect us from this."