Library of Ancients
The library was a grand building on the outside and the inside. Walls were everywhere, made into shelves and filled with books. In contrast, there seemed to be little to the floors. They were narrow passages with railings on one side, vast shelves on the other, and rolling ladders almost in the way. When she looked over the railing, Reina could barely see the bottom level. Lamps sent arcs of light through the air, giving the whole place uneven lighting. It would be fascinating to study here, but given how many books were in here, it could take a lifetime to know everything this place had to teach.
Ahead of her, Bartz was checking on an empty space in the shelves. "There's a tunnel here to a backroom," he said. "It's got a low ceiling, though."
"And that's a problem how?" Galuf asked.
"Well if you don't have a problem with it, then ow!" In the middle of his sentence, a thick book fell off a higher shelf and hit him on the head. Bartz rubbed his head and looked up. "Who's dropping books on us?"
Reina nudged him. "Um, I think the book dropped itself."
"That's…" he looked down at their level and saw that the book was floating right by him. "That's weird."
"Those nerds musta been right about the possessed books," Faris said, bringing out her sword.
The book backed up and opened itself. A small figure popped up out of it, a weird hairy person wearing a fierce-looking tribal mask. "Wobba wobba wobba!" it shouted, stomping about. A strange melody played in the air and the next few minutes were a heated blur.
When Reina came back to her senses, she and her companions all had their weapons out. They were surrounded by a mass of torn pages falling through the air. And it felt like she'd been hit hard with something. "What just happened?" she asked, unable to remember herself.
"Argh, I don't remember," Faris said, grimacing from a bleeding cut on her arm. Reina went over to cure it for her.
"Something happened," Bartz added, but he sounded just as confused.
Galuf scratched near his beard. "I seem to have picked up a new Blue spell," he said, then cast it as an experiment. That strange flute melody played in response.
Both Reina and Faris tensed at hearing it again. Bartz braced himself, but nothing seemed to happen.
"Moon Flute," the old man said. "It casts Berserk on all foes. So that's what happened; we were all driven berserk by that book."
"Wait a sec, all foes?" Faris asked, raising her weapon.
Reina was about to ask why when half a dozen large possessed books tried to drop themselves on the party. Unable to knock them out in one blow, the books attacked.
Library dungeons... I love 'em. This one is especially good because all the enemies are possessed books with silly pop-ups (if I hadn't done the tribal guy, I would have done the tick) and the bookshelves that move around. And it only gets better when you find Ifrit in here. Who decided that having a fire-based summon spirit live in an ancient library was a good idea?
Although, one scholar there tells you that they used to burn the possessed books with Ifrit's help. I would think they would rather have a being that could exorcise the books, not burn them.