Kaufetag 3, Fifth Lunar Disappearance, 50 CE | Bonesborough, B.I.
Luz slowly walked down the streets of Bonesborough. The claws on her feet, courtesy of her current Kaugh morph, scraped against the rocky sidewalks in a rhythmic fashion. Turning her head this way and that, she finally got a chance to take in the sights and sounds and smells of the town for the first time.
Her current destination was the Bonesborough Public Library, and she still had a few minutes before she was going to meet up with Amity, so Luz decided to do some sightseeing to pass the time. Luz could have made a beeline to the library, but she didn't want to show up at 10 on the dot. That would make her look a little too eager to be there. Luz wanted to look cool and stuff, so she was more than willing to show up a few minutes late.
Today was market day, which meant Eda was probably hawking some random items she stole from the Human Realm to whoever was buying. In fact, Eda had asked Luz if she would be able to help her out at the stand, but after Luz brought up that she already had plans, Eda relented and dragged King along instead.
Checking a nearby crystal ball for the time, Luz saw that it was 9:57, meaning she still had some time to kill before heading to meet up with Amity.
Slowing her pace, Luz took in all the things that were being sold around her. To her left, a stand calling itself "Sir Chuck's Fine Die-ning" sold what appeared to be a combination of deep fried... orbs and slabs of meat ranging in size from normal to outright gargantuan. On her right, across the street, a cart advertised Not Dogs (Luz did not want to know what was in those things.) for a snail a piece. Further down, Luz could see other stands, with a few of them in particular standing out amongst the rest. "Bread, Bats, and Beyond" had an… interesting selection, to say the least, while "Ax's Axes" sold what one would expect.
Luz walked past all the stands, regretting not bringing any snails with her. She would have loved to see what a Sin-A-Bun tasted like.
Checking the time once again, Luz found that it was now 10:04. Approaching the steps that led up to the Bonesborough Public Library, Luz took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Grabbing the (surprisingly light) door handle, Luz did her best to quietly enter the library, not daring to disturb the sacred tranquility.
Making her way to the front desk, Luz walked up to the witch staffing the area. The witch looked half-asleep and had a look on their face that said "If you ask anything stupid I will throw you out myself." Cautiously approaching the librarian, Luz gave a small wave and said, "Hi, I'm here to see Amity Blight. Do you know where she is?" in the most friendly voice she could muster. Given her current form, she probably looked like she wanted to eat a baby, but it was the thought that counts.
The librarian didn't even bother looking up from their desk, simply responding with, "Kid's Section," and pointing to the left with their thumb.
"Thank you," Luz replied, walking off and looking to see if there were any banners or signs indicating where the kid's books would be. Luckily, there were, with the banner Luz was searching for indicating that Amity would likely be somewhere between the Romance and the Reference sections.
Entering the area designated the "Kid's Corner", Luz looked around, comparing this library to the one she frequented back home. Tacky posters encouraging reading appeared to be universal across dimensions, though this realm's version had a much more morbid twist. The poster showed a cartoony depiction of a witch (complete with green skin, wart, and pointed black hat) being burned alive, with the caption reading, "Get learned at the stake!" Aside from the strangely dark posters, the décor of the area was generally very bright and cheery. A giant rug in the shape of a cat's head greeted Luz, with the fake feline sticking its bright pink tongue out. A toy chest filled to the brim was open, with even more toys strewn to and fro across the floor. Oddly, there were no actual kids playing with the toys.
"'What do you think you're doing?'" Luz recognized Amity's voice, though it had an odd cadence to it. Following the noise and rounding a corner, Luz found Amity surrounded by children. A mixture of witches and demons all sat around the emerald-haired witch as she read them all a book, showing them the pages as the story progressed.
Not wanting to interrupt story time, Luz simply leaned her back against a nearby bookshelf and waited for Amity to finish.
"'We're your friends and we want to help,' said the Tin Boy, with a yelp. Otabin smiled and paced the floor. 'I've never had real friends before,'" Amity continued, seemingly unaware of Luz's presence, being too in the zone, Luz assumed.
She's reading to kids. That's nice of her, Luz thought, smiling as Amity kept reading.
"'Then we'll be your first,' the Chicken Witch clucked. Otabin couldn't believe his luck. So, Bookmaker Otabin surrounded by friends, bound a book of friendship and that's the end." On that final note, Amity stood up and tucked the book under her arm. The children surrounding her applauded the performance, a few of them thanking her and saying good-bye.
One child in particular caught Luz's attention. They looked like a shrunken down version of Warden Wrath. As the child gave Amity a hug, a demonic sounding voice came out of their mouth. "Thank you, Miss Amity."
"Thank you, Braxas. Have an awesome day!" Amity replied in an upbeat tone, waving goodbye to the demon.
Amity looked up and finally made eye contact with Luz. Walking over, the witch asked, "Hi there. Can I help you with anything?"
Luz let out an exaggerated gasp. "What? You don't recognize me? I thought we were so close, Amity," Luz said sarcastically.
"I'm sorry, am I supposed to know who you are?" Amity asked, a look of confusion on her face.
"It's me, Luz. I pretended to be Willow's abomination, remember?" the basilisk responded.
"Oh, right. You know, when I told you to come in a disguise, I didn't mean that you had to be completely unrecognizable. Just giving yourself witch ears or something would have sufficed."
"Yeah, I know, but I wanted to have fun with it."
"Alright, well now that you're here, let's get down to business. So, are there any specific topics you want to research regarding your kind, like culture, biology, and stuff like that, or are you looking for more general information?" Amity asked, leading Luz away from the kid's section and back towards the entrance of the library.
Luz pondered the question for a bit before responding, "I would say to start with general and then maybe switch to more specific stuff if we find anything interesting."
Amity stopped in front of a wall that had rows of little faces on it, each face belonging to a demon that was cube shaped and only had a mouth and a single eyeball. Amity then stooped down to be level with the faces.
"Where can I find information about basilisks?" Amity asked to one of the faces. The face responded by lolling its tongue out, a small slip of paper hanging off the end.
Amity grabbed the slip and read off its contents. "597: Cold-blooded beast demons. I think I know where that is. Follow me."
Doing as she was told, the two researchers soon found themselves standing before a ginormous bookshelf that reached up to the ceiling. There appeared to be no order to the entries, with every book seemingly placed in at random.
That would make this much harder, Luz realized. She'd have to get super lucky if she could even find one book about basilisks in this jumbled mess.
"Let's hope we can find something quick," Luz said, reaching out blindly and grabbing a book. Looking at the cover, Luz was pretty sure that How To Train Your Yrch wasn't exactly what she was looking for. Although, the slug on the cover that was slithering into a witch's ear looked slightly like Luz in her basilisk form if you squinted really hard.
Putting the book back, Luz went to the next one in line. The Ins and Outs of the Selkidomus was similarly of no help.
Luz kept moving down the row. Jörmungandr – Fact or Fiction and The Beauty of the Butterknifefly also offered nothing of use.
The next book Luz saw caught her attention, but not because it had anything to do with basilisks.
"Hey Amity, I think this book might be in the wrong section," Luz said, holding out the copy of Lady Wanda and the Missing Witch's Wool.
Amity grabbed the book and stared at the front cover, letting out a frustrated sigh. "Ugh, I swear I'm gonna dump a cauldron full of the stickiest abomination goop I can find on the twins."
"The twins?" Luz asked.
"My older siblings, Edric and Emira, think it's the funniest prank in the world to mess with the books here knowing full well I'll get blamed for it. Knowing them, they've probably messed with dozens of books."
"That doesn't sound like a prank, that sounds like just being mean and making you do lots of extra work."
"Yeah, well that's their idea of hilarious."
"Well forget them, then. By the way, have you found anything yet? So far I've got nothing," Luz said, trying to steer the conversation away from the sore topic.
"Nope," Amity replied.
"Darn. Guess we just have to keep looking and we'll find something eventually."
"Hey Amity, I found something," Luz said, tapping the witch on the back and showing her On the Origin and Situation of Basilisks.
"Great! Do you want to keep looking, or is just this one fine?" Amity asked, motioning to all the remaining books that were yet to be looked at.
"Based off the title, this one will probably be enough," Luz said, before quickly adding on, "So, if I wanted to read this here, do I have to check it out or anything, or can I just sit down at a table and open it up?"
"If you're going to read it here then you're fine, but if you wanted to take it back to the Owl Shack then you'll have to get a library card and check the book out for 2 weeks."
"So it's just like back home, sweet. I'll stay here and read, then." With that, Luz sauntered over to an empty table and sat down in one of the unoccupied chairs, Amity soon joining her, sitting beside the basilisk.
Examining the book cover, it was very similar to Eda's cryptozoology book, with the front of the book only bearing the title and the name of the author. Based off the author's name (Esplin the Lesser) and how yellowed the pages were, this book had to be ancient.
Slowly opening the book up, Luz and Amity noticed that all of the pages were handwritten and bound by needle and thread. Careful not to damage the fragile pages, the two began reading.
Let it be known that I, Yosephus Esplinius Fenestra, younger sibling to the famed Allorinius Esplinus Corrass, have compiled these records, documenting the likely origins of basilisks here in the Boiling Isles. During my research, I have also found numerous other points of interest regarding the basilisk population, of which many have been archived in these pages.
Luz let out a long exhale. While Good Witch Azura would occasionally become flowery in its prose, it was usually limited to the dialogue of certain characters. This, however, seemed to be page after page of nonstop pretentious writing.
Luz skimmed through the pages, most of the content being things she already knew or had experience with, though she stopped when she reached a section labelled The Grand Registry.
During my travels through the basilisk settlement of Pemal, I heard whisperings of parents taking their newborns to a place referred to as the Grand Registry. When I asked a local about what exactly the registry was, they responded that it was where an infant child would be taken to have a small sample of their blood collected, as well as have the child's name recorded. When I inquired about why the registry required the blood of the newborn, the civilian refused to speak with me anymore.
My intrigue piqued, I questioned another passerby, seeing if they knew where exactly one could find the registry. They told me that it lay near the heart of the Titan. Based on my estimations, that would be at least three days of travelling by foot, though if I could gain possession of one of those new "palismans", then the trip would be much quicker.
Unfortunately, I could not come into possession of a palisman, so I had to make the journey on foot. After travelling without much incident, I managed to stumble, by pure happenstance, upon a roving band of basilisks who were also going to the registry. Luckily, they allowed me to join their party.
The Hamee family, as they were called, were taking their youngest child, Jara (n.b.: I believe that to be the child's name, though the thick accent the family spoke with means the child could have a name counter to what I have recorded) to have him entered into the registry. During our travels together, I asked the family about why the Grand Registry had been established, and they informed me
Luz's eyes flicked over, ready to read the next page, though the page her eyes landed on was completely different from what she expected, talking about something called the Escafil Process. Looking closer, Luz realized that at least a dozen pages had been removed from the book, with the small slivers of paper still bound to the book being the only evidence. The cuts were very smooth, like someone had taken a pair of scissors or some other blade to the book to eliminate the offending pages.
"Huh, weird," was all Luz could say to the tampering.
"Well, that isn't good. I'm going to have to report this to Malphas and see if he can do anything about this," Amity added.
"I'm guessing Malphas is your boss?" Luz said.
"Yeah, and he is not going to be happy that someone damaged one of the books. He treats them like they're his children."
"My librarian back home was like that too. He was the best," Luz thought back to when she first met Mister Grine. He was one of the nicest people Luz had ever met, always encouraging her to follow her passions. He even contributed to her Good Witch Azura addiction, letting her know when the newest book was in stock so she could check it out ASAP. "Do you think it would be okay if we kept reading? I want to see if there's anything else that's interesting," Luz asked after waiting a beat.
"As long as we don't damage the book any more then it already has been, then I think we should be in the clear," Amity replied.
"Sweet!" Luz said, diving back into the faded yellow pages.
The Escafil Process
While staying in a small village near the head of the Titan, I met a member of a local healer's guild who was kind enough to offer me one of their books regarding the thaumaturgical process in which basilisks shapeshift. As I am no thief and don't want to steal the credit for other's work, if one would like a more thorough explanation than I can provide here, then seek out Seerow of Fangor and you shall not be disappointed.
In short, though, the shapeshifting process (Seerow also referred to it as the Escafil process, so that name may also be used in certain circles) works by taking the magic that basilisks have stored in their stomachs and absorbing it into the bloodstream of the demon through small cilia-like appendages that line the inner walls of both stomachs. This magic-rich blood is then pumped throughout the body, where a spell similar to that of a corporeal full-body illusion is then cast, altering both the outside appearance of the basilisk, as well as the innards, to match whatever form the basilisk chooses.
I guess you learn something new every day, Luz thought.
Turning the page to see what crazy fact was next, Luz found the majority of the ink to be smudged, rendering the text illegible. She could make out a few words, though "kindness" and "reprobate" weren't that much to go off of. Checking the remaining pages, Luz only found smears of ink more suited to a Rorschach test then a book.
"Whelp, I guess the universe just doesn't want me to learn more about my species." Luz said, admitting defeat and closing the book. She then cupped her chin with her hands and let out a long sigh.
Getting up from her chair and grabbing the book off the table, Amity shook Luz by the shoulder. "Come on, we should get this over to Malphas. He'll know what to do with it."
"Alright, let's go then." Luz said, slowly rising to her feet.
The two then maneuvered their way to a large wooden door with the words Master Librarian emblazoned on it. Knocking thrice, Amity waited for her boss to emerge from his study.
With a shout of "I'm almost there, give me a second," Malphas opened the door, garbed in a large cloak and a pair of comfy-looking slippers.
"Oh, hey Amity. How are ya doing? Also, who's your buddy?" The bird-like demon said, looking over at Luz, who stood behind and to the side of Amity, trying her best to be inconspicuous.
"I'm doing well, Mal. This here is Luz, and I'm helping her out with some research. The thing is, while doing so we found out that this book," Amity held out the damaged item, "has been tampered with and is falling into disrepair."
Malphas took the book and gave it a look over, slowly flipping through the pages. "Well, this has certainly seen better days. Thanks for letting me know, Amity. I'll be sure to see what can be done with this poor soul."
"Thanks, Mal."
"No worries, Amity. Now, I'd love to keep chatting, but I've got some work that I have to attend to, so I'm going to have to cut our talk short."
"Alright, Malphas. Have a good day!"
"You too, Blight." At that, Malphas retreated back into his study and shut the door.
"That guy seemed pretty chill. I can see why you like working for him," Luz said.
"Yeah, he's a great boss. He treats everyone fairly and with respect, which is better than I can say for some people," Amity replied.
"Have you had experience with cruddy bosses?"
"Oh, you don't even wanna know."
