What lay behind the door, and what Dovhran had already witnessed and perused, was nothing more than the most enticing personal library either Selian or Flip had ever walked into. They were still wary of some trick or trap that Dovhran may have fallen to, but their caution yielded nothing. And perhaps that was the most deadly trap the tomb builder could have ever laid, the seed of complacence. Or perhaps the danger here had been knowledge. Flip recalled the words of the arcane message left by the man who had built this structure and all the traps that had nearly killed him. There was no safe space in this tomb, that had been the implied warning of the message. They wouldn’t survive, that entry had been the last safe space to turn back at, and everything since had indeed been chaotic and dangerous… but a library? Surely there had to have been some greater and more subtle trap than all the previous rooms.

But as all three scanned the room, they found no traps. That was not to say there was nothing off about the room though, or that there were in fact no traps. But what they noticed was that the library had the subtle air of a space that had been lived in, a unique messiness that spoke of use. Books still open on a table, candles burnt low but not used up, a warm looking coat draped over the back of a chair… and there was no indication that the use had ceased. So, whether the use was long passed or recent, none of them could tell based on the state of the place. But one other strange feature in the room seemed to speak of a time long passed when the designer of this deadly place had studied and taken notes here.

That feature was a glass case with a motionless humanoid form within it. It was laid off to a corner of the room across and to the left of the door where the three stood, in a hexagonal alcove that was present on two more of the remaining three corners of the room. From the distance the three stood at, there were no clear details they could make out, but it disturbed them all the same to see something humanoid and still in a place where they expected not to.

The figure in the glass case was Selian’s first task of investigation. It also seemed the most likely threat in the room. She suspected one of two things within the case: either the corpse of Velsaffe, or the sleeping body of the creature which had garnered the pity of Theihdow. The former was preferable, as it meant they had likely ventured in as far as they needed… the latter was less favorable. If this was the creature that the vampire had spoken of, it meant that they were supposed to fight and kill it. And there was no telling how difficult that would be.

As the elf inspected the case from a closer distance, however, she found neither a dangerous and pitiable creature nor the desiccated remains of a deceased changeling archpriest. Within the case was a perfectly preserved human figure, completely motionless and still. He appeared to be older than Flip, but not by much, and much more clean and organized. A slightly faded purple silk robe with crushed velvet lining covered the man’s body, and he was adorned with one thickly braided violet cord around his waist and a multicolored bracelet of braided cord was wrapped around his wrist. His fingers were adorned in jeweled rings, though upon closer inspection they were clearly vestiges of magical power and not decorative; Selian could tell as much from the fine inscriptions and markings on the gems and metal bands. The identity of the man was a clear, this was the same individual that had appeared in illusion as they entered the tomb. But now his face was visible as well. Not that revealed anything of importance to Selian, at least not direct importance.

“Anything interesting to learn from the gentleman on display?” Dovhran called to Selian from across the room.

Dovhran and Flip had, in the mean time, taken to scanning the tables of open books and scrolls that were littered about the room for any useful information. Flip was delighted to see many arcane writings on spellcraft and Dovhran was delighted to see all of the very expensive looking implements used in the construction and keeping of the documents. Flip had completely forgotten about the man in the glass case by the time Dovhran had asked his question, and Dovhran had already examined the case the first time he had entered the room.

“I can tell you for certain that this isn’t Velsaffe.” Selian turned and called back.

There was a part of her mind that was afraid to look back at the case for fear that the body would suddenly have its eyes open and be watching her. It certainly seemed the ideal setting for such a horror story. But when she turned back, the body was as still as it had been when she had entered the room and she wagered for many years before that.

“How can you be so sure?” Dovhran chuckled as he carefully pocketed a writing pen with several gold components to it. “There are so few surviving portraits of the grand linker, I can’t even say for sure it isn’t him.”

“Well, for one. This is a corpse.” Selian sighed. “And I while I don’t know much about your kind, Dovhran, I know you don’t keep shape when you die. I think this is our humble architect.”

“No so humble with all those rings and finery on him.” Dovhran scoffed as he made his way back to the glass case.

“Chains, I could blind you with a handful of coin…” Selian sighed. “Don’t you understand what this means?”

“It means that this is the architect’s library, not Velsaffe’s study.” Dovhran rolled his eyes. “You can blind me but that doesn’t make me a fool.”

“There’s a lot more to unpack here than just that.” The elf pointed to the cords adorning the dead wizard. “Aren’t those the same as Faengil has? And the state of the body, it’s nearly perfect but this is a human. He can’t have lived much longer after building the tomb, and that was hundreds of years ago. His body should be in much worse condition.”

“Faengil. Join us, would you…” Dovhran called out. “What do you make of this?”

Flip, who had been quite focused on a particular spell scroll and deciphering what it’s function was, was not very keen on venturing over to the case. But, seeings as how he was the only one not looking at the corpse in the case, he relented. It ’s uncomfortable to be left out, at least, just slightly more than it is to have your attention ripped from something you are focusing on.

“The canister seemed to be sealed.” Were Flip’s first words upon observing the case itself. “Airtight, very likely. So I would wager he sealed himself in before passing.”

“And the cords?” Selian pointed to the vestments again.

“Mine are from a guild.” Flip mumbled as he peered through the glass. “If his are as well, he appears to have held high station. The woman who I interviewed with to gain entry wore a braid of them as well, but there were only five cords in her braid. He has twelve. And I’m not familiar with the one around his wrist.”

“So you don’t know who he is?” Dovhran rolled his head back in frustration. He didn’t expect the wizard to know the dead man, but he was frustrated at the waste of time.

The elf frowned at the outburst. “You say that almost like you expected him to.”

“I don’t know him, but I could offer you a guess as to his background.” Flip muttered as he pressed his forehead to the glass to get a closer look. His hat fell to the side in the motion.

Without anyone’s response, Flip began to list off information. “His rings are magical, all of them. Mostly for storing specific spells, though there are three on the left hand that are unusual. One for increasing the strength of the body… dramatically so. Then this one on the ring finger proper, that’s a binding spell of some kind, likely linked to a specific item to call it to hand. And the ring on the little finger, that’s… I’m not quite sure what that is. But he did not make it, unlike the rest. The thumb rings are odd as well, but they contain very basic spells for moving about arcane force as a physical presence. The robes are also magical… actually most everything on his seems to have some kind of arcane inscription.”

“Okay, so what does all that make? What kind of wizard was he?” Selian was genuinely curious. Both because the magic seemed mysterious, but also because understanding the mage might assist them in surviving the tomb in some way.

“My best guess is that he was an incredibly accomplished mage, perhaps even worthy of the title of archmage… likely from the southern regions. Possibly Linavult or Cardona, where the Violet Cords have the largest presence. And he is certainly an old and accomplished member of the guild, perhaps even a founding member. Judging from the craft of the rings, I can say that he crafted most of what he now wears… though not through manual labor. I’d say his arcane talents would lie largely in the field of imbuing magic into artifacts of power. He has many scrolls of spells and several spell books readily available on his tables, so he was very experienced with a variety of spells, but his lack of components present to actually cast spells he did not imbue into items… leads me to believe he was mostly a philosopher of the arts.”

Dovhran’s brow had furrowed deeply in exasperated confusion.“How can you know all that and still have no idea who he is?”

“He was clearly a great mage, it makes sense I wouldn’t know anything about him.” Flip raised a shaggy eyebrow at the changeling. A remarkably patient gesture all things considered. “Most of us that study magic don’t want to be known. If the public learns that you can do certain things they begin to make demands, and then you end up answering solicitors all day instead of actually doing any work. And then they make you feel guilty when they cry at your doorstep because you didn’t do what they wanted.”

Selian gave the wizard a concerned look, and it seemed as though she didn’t want to comment on the description, but relented. “That sounds very… detailed. Are you speaking from experience?”

Flip slouched as he put his hat back on, somewhat embarrassed by the memories of all the times he had been asked for help but had been unable to offer anything magic that would suffice.

“Yes.”

“Well, Faengil’s trauma notwithstanding, we do know a bit more about the tomb I suppose.” Dovhran hummed. “At least, it makes sense now. He must have put magic into nearly every brick of every room. And he probably had an easier way of getting in and out we could use to leave when we find what we need.”

There was a moment of hesitation in Dovhran’s voice as he said what we need that made Selian and Flip mildly uncomfortable. The changeling was eyeing the rings on the dead wizard’s fingers jealously, but there was at least some sense of respect that kept his hands under control. He was not so far gone and greedy that we would pry the rings from a dead man’s fingers. Lay claim to some abandoned implements that will not be missed, perhaps, but nothing so personal as a ring or an article of clothing.

“The Velsaffe estate didn’t happen to provide you with a description of the book we need, did they?” Selian sighed as she looked away from the body and towards the numerous bookshelves that lined the room. “We might be here a while if we have to skim every volume.”

“Do you really think we could have time to do that?” Flip asked dreamily, though the other two didn’t seem to catch his tone.

“Could you imagine…” Dovhran made an uncomfortable gagging noise. “That’s too much reading for me. And yes, I did get a light description. His research journal should match a set that the estate retained in his personal study. It’ll be a black leather volume no more than an inch and a half in thickness, white dyed parchment, with a silver ribbon bookmark fixed into the binding.”

“That isn’t very helpful…” Selian grimaced as she noticed two volumes open on a nearby desk that nearly matched that description.

“And it should have the mark of Ghovu pressed into the leather on the cover.” Dovhran added. “Though that almost seems obvious, considering he was at the head of the clergy for the Order of Irons.”

“That narrows it down.” Flip grinned as he made his way dreamily into the midst of several tables stacked high with leather volumes.

“I don’t think he’s going to actually look for the journal.” Selian frowned.

Dovhran nodded and let out a big breath of his own as he assessed the nearest desk. “I didn’t think he would, but at least he might learn a useful spell for us… and maybe even find the journal by accident.”

Selian knocked on the wooden desk Dovhran had set down at. “You really shouldn’t be so careless with you words. One day you really will get us jinxed.”

“It’s just wishful thinking. But, when the day comes, I’m sure it will be the fulfillment of so much irony you won’t want to say I told you so.”

“I sure hope you can take that irony alone.” Selian gave the desk one more solid rap with her knuckles for good measure before moving on to find her own corner of the room to search. “Because I won’t be standing next to you when it comes knocking.”