Vol 2 Ch7: Just Another Day at the Office (B&C)

[Renekin Skywalker]

Things started off like normal these days. Tobrias, the Guild Master, has been moving and working for days on end, since the Slayer Team had found some Old Ones summoning. While Tobrias had them tasked on dealing with that problem, Bianca was tasked to the senior Diabolists in the library to prepare the Guild, just in case. She had been putting up Runes for two days when the press conference was held.

The Guild was silent. Any of Tobrias's body guards that were there were with the Lockheart girl and her father.

Zachary looked rather natural, if a bit nervous on the TV, responding to questions.

Not long after the interview had ended, the Guild erupted into chaos. Bianca, as a junior member was stuck in the library, to continue her work. But, the shouting of recriminations were not difficult to hear. The library suddenly burst into activity as everyone was orded by one of the body guards, called Raven by the others, to find every rare spell book on teleportation they had, as well as anything on geneology. The Raven and a few of the others poured over every book that was brought to them.

Then, as suddenly as it started, the body guards were gone, and it all went quiet.

Well, until a woman let out a horrified "NO! NO! NO! Not her! You promised me!"

[albatross]

Bianca had quickly rounded up as many books on teleportation and geneology as she could find and was still looking even as the body guards left.

She looked around and gathered all the unused books to return them to their proper places when she heard a woman scream. She rushed over towards the source of the yelling to see if she could be of help.

"Are you Ok?" She asked somewhat breathlessly. Her vest was a little small and she hadn't yet set down the stack of books she was holding.

[Renekin Skywalker]

The woman turned her head from Mr. Lockheart's lap and looked at Bianca, tears streaming. Lockheart was in a wheelchair, but twisted a bit to see who had asked. "My apologies, Guildmaster." Said one of the senior librarians. "She wasn't informed of the situation."

Tobrias looked Bianca over. "Thank-you for your concern. Mr. Thoren, I think you should take more time to inform your staff of matters of importance. But that will be for another time, since we currently - "

"She is alive. She is safe. She sleeps." Said something through Mr. Lockheart. His eyes were glowing blue, and he looked millenia older, and the voice wasn't really human. His hand was gently stroking Mrs. Lockheart's hair, soothing her. Whereupon, he slumped over, clearly weak. "I wish it would at least warn me when it does that." He sighs, himself again. "Tobrias, take us home, please."

Mr. Thoren then lead Bianca back into the library. Quietly, he gathered the three librarians (himself, Bianca and another old man whose name never seems to be spoken) together. "Of course, I should have mentioned before, but we were acting too responsively." The older, bearded (very wizardish-looking, but in work-casual attire) man said. "Miss Lockheart has been taken during the raid and Mr. Cooper has been identified as blood-descendent of a Decree Slayer. We will have to focus on the latter, since Guildmaster Tobrias has the rest focused on Miss Lockheart's disappearance. So, we'll have to research the records on Golayus, but with greater precision this time. Any questions?"

[albatross]

Listening with rapt attention, Bianca wasn't sure she understood everything she was smart enough to know that if everything was understood she wouldn't have been asked to do any research.

"Do you want to cross reference both subjects for possible connections," Bianca asked. She had set the teleportation and genealogy books down next to her on a desk in two neat stacks and had out a notebook and a blue colored pencil ready.

She was already carefully jotting down in Elven:

She is safe. She is alive. She sleeps.
Thoren. Lockheart. Guildmaster Tobrias. It.
Mr. Cooper, Decree Slayer. Blood descendant. Golayus.

Her casual handwriting is very precise, like every diabolist. She keep eye contact while writing, listening carefully for any further details or instructions, and half expecting to be told to get to work.

[Renekin Skywalker]

"You'll have to focus on the Cooper bloodlines to ensure there is a connection to the Golayus line. Not matter how thin." Thoren explained as the nameless one took the teleportation books.

"And not just these books." He says. "Everything with them in the index."

[albatross]

"Right away," Bianca smiles. Before she begins her search, she takes a minute to memorize the basics of genealogy research and she looks up a couple more advanced books with more challenging research techniques. She reads the advanced table of contents and sets that information aside for trouble spots.

She sets up three programs on her handheld to facilitate her search. First, she creates a document to record a bibliography of all her sources. Second she creates a visual document with Golayus in the center with lots of blank space all around. She only looks at a little at a time, but if the new document was printed out, it would be sized to fit on a meter square of paper. Finally, she creates a second visual document with Cooper in the center.

She lists all the books she has found so far in her bibliography and then starts building her genealogy. She starts with Cooper and works to trace her way backwards. Each time she finds a name she puts it on her map with a connection. She lists each source next to the name, often listing several sources for each name as duplicates appear. She also records the bibliography of the genealogy books and records the sources they site when provided. Every once in a while, she gets up to find one of these new sources, until several stacks of books and documents have piled up all over a couple of tables.

She reads quickly, and her names are in legible Elven script with abbreviations noting the connection. When she gets stuck on a trace, she takes a break to read about advanced genealogy research techniques or take a walk to get a drink of water. Then she dives into the opposite document, switching back and forth between Golayus and Cooper.

For each she doesn't restrict herself to direct descendants, branching out in all directions to Golayus ancestors and Cooper's distant kin.

Eventually, she knows she will get to the point where she might need to get some documents which aren't held in the library, but she strives to uncover all she can before she has to get any additional resources.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Bianca's part in the research ends up spanning several days. Several quiet days. None of the Decree Slayer gang had shown up, or had done much to bother her.

But that was nothing to the list of findings.

Golayus was involved with Mr. Cooper's Great Grandmother. All the documentation supported this. She was already married to Great granpa Cooper when this happened. There was some mention of a hospitalization of Gemma Cooper (yeah, I'm not bothering with names) in the time shortly before Golayus fell off Land's End fighting Smith.

However Mr. Cooper's grandfather was recorded as being born a full year after Golayus fell off the cliff. The dates appear to be firm. Grandfather Cooper's was recorded in a family geneaology book, and Golayus's battle with Smith was well known to the Guild.

It would be important to remember, at this point, that Tobrias had popped in over the days to ensure she focussed on Coop's direct decendence from Golayus, and not just some random relative. Though, he never once said why.

[albatross]

Bianca realizes this information will probably disappoint, so she re-doubles her efforts, expanding out her search in the vain hope that the lines connect earlier or elsewhere. She works late into the night, falls asleep in the library, and works into the morning trying to find more connections. Perhaps there is another lineage, if she just looked for it....

[Renekin Skywalker]

Thoren woke Bianca up the next morning and looked at the notes. "Interesting. The same finding as before." He says. "What do you suspect the gap means?"

[albatross]

Bianca thinks about it for the moment. "If our goal is to prove the connection at this point, we would need to disprove the date of birth, or the date of Golayus death."

She frowns, "The dates seem firm in these documents, however it did happen a while ago and a difference of a few months wouldn't have difficult to alter. Still, the most probable outcome is that the dates are correct and there is no connection here. Second most probable is that the birth certificate was altered to maintain the family honor. And the least likely explanation is we have an incorrect date for Golayus death."

"I don't think there is much more we can gain by researching genealogies unless we want to look for a different connection - up and around through Golayus' uncle or that sort of path. The direct lineage..."

She brushes a strand of hair out of her eyes and looks to Thoren.

[Renekin Skywalker]

Thoren looks at the notes. "It's Odd... " He clicks his tongue. "It feels like there's a gap in the information. Golayus met Mrs. Cooper a year before he died. She is hospitalized a few months before his death. She gives birth to Zachary's grandfather plenty of time after Golayus's death..." he sighs. "Now I understand why Guildmaster Tobrias wanted to only keep it in his back pocket. Well... might as well get our hands on old hospital records. We will need permission of a descendant to do that."

[albatross]

"Do you want me to contact Mr. Cooper?" Bianca asked. "I suppose you wouldn't want to involve any other relatives," she mused.

"I'll get the forms from the hospital and fill them out for Mr. Cooper to sign." She thinks for a moment. "I could have a private courier delivery them, but it might be better if someone asked him in person. Otherwise he may not see the need to respond to a request for private information. Would you me like to talk to him? I could ask for any family records he might have at the same time."

[Renekin Skywalker]

"No. We will call him in. Or Master Tobrias will approach him. You can certainly be present to explain your findings. Mr. Cooper is not an entirely patient man, but not one to be feared. He is simply more reactve than Tobrias or the Lockhearts." Thoren looked over the notes. "How would you like to present this to the Guildmaster?"

(Additional)
Coop was called into the office, since Moltavious was now healthy enough to face the Tribunal of Slayer regarding his actions. As well, Tobrias had mentioned the interrogation of the demon was complete. Eleutheroi was given the task of dealing with it swiftly.

(GM Note: Coop was ushered to Tobrias's office, and Bianca's still in the lieberry.)

[albatross]

Bianca furrowed her brow in thought and said tactfully, "We can tell him that the library records can't validate the lineage and that we are going to investigate other records and expand the search."

She thought it sounded pretty good, definitely better than that the search was a dead end. Besides, Bianca had some suspicions about the records timeline. History was written by the winners, so it was said.

[dakota]

The time off had given Coop enough time to wind down and relax a bit, even if it didn't seem right by himself. He had spent the much of the time split between his two studies, magical and college. and when he needed a break, his sax was always there. but by the time he was summoned by Tobrias, a touch of cabin fever was setting in.

he knocked on the ajar office door out of courtesy before letting himself in. " Morning. Have we made any progress?" He didn't bother picking a topic, since the guild was working on several things, and he knew Tobrias would tell him anything he needed to know.