 | To keep him from pining over Ffion, Dulbbe, being the Chief Scribe and Keeper of the Records, often turns to the comfort of numbers. The way he is able to manipulate and create order with them helps his focus and has always provided a calming effect. That is probably why Numerology fascinates him. That mystical and magical power of numbers was something Dulbbe wanted to understand! In a realm of magic, he would label himself at the lowest level of power - but in a world where numbers had power - Dulbbe could be a master! |
And this is why he found himself down in the lowest, dankest, and most secluded part of the Shadows' King's library looking into scrolls and the old tomes stacked on the shelves. Many in the castle did not even know of this part of the castle which is why Dulbbe was sure that he would find what he was looking for.
| Recently he had heard about a Borrower finding a Dragon tablet and it made him wonder. "What if I was the one who was able to read it?" he had thought. "Maybe this would get the princess to notice me as well as the King! Then I might just have a chance of her love!" So, with that thought in his mind, he had decided to see if he could find something in the King's library that would help him in his pursuit of love. |  |
What he hadn't figured on was the number of books in the library. He had been to Atian's library once looking for some light reading on numerology (Dulbbe even remembered the title - it was something like "By the Numbers" by The Count somebody or other...) and at that time had thought the library was fairly large, but now realized that compared to the King's library, Atian's was just a news stand. That was probably because few knew about the hidden doors to the connecting rooms. A casual wanderer would only see one small room filled with books not knowing that there were a hundred more such rooms if only they knew where to look for the hidden doors. Being a numbers person, Dulbbe was probably the only one (other than the King), who knew there were exactly 103 other rooms after the first, all filled from floor to ceiling with reading materials!
 | That is where Dulbbe was now - in room 83 and reading a particular tome about how everything in the universe was based on a mathematical formula consisting of even imaginary numbers! "Who would have thought imaginary numbers would be so important," thought Dulbbe as he turned to the next page, not even noticing the imbedded ink smears on his hands and cuffs, the callings of his profession of being a scribe. At least today he did not have that tell-tale ink smear on his lips where he would occasionally put the quill into his mouth to straighten the tip. |
As he turned the page of a tome he was looking into, a small scrap of parchment fell from the book to the floor. Quickly he picked it up as he thought that he might have just ripped the page and did not want to lose it. As he picked it up and gave it a quick glance, he realized that it was just a note that had been used as a page marker. "Somebody else must have been looking in this book and they marked the page," Dulbbe thought. As he was putting the scrap back, he noticed that there was some writing on it. "What's this? The note says, 'Don't forget R101 3rd S R4 in the D section. Should have a green cover'."
"Now here's a challenge," he decided. "Let's see how the numbers add up. This is no more cryptic than some of the receipts I have received from the cook." Smiling, Dulbbe started to figure out the note. Talking out loud (since no one else would overhear him here in this room of the library), "If I assume that 'R101' is room 101, then '3rd S R4' would be the third set of shelves and in the fourth row. I don't recall a 'D section' there though." Shrugging his shoulders and putting the book he was reading back on the shelf, he decided to check it out. "Who knows," he thought.
| Soon Dulbbe was in room 101 and standing before the third set of shelves and the fourth row. "I must have been wrong," he mumbled to himself. There were no books here - it was a row of ornate boxes and bottles. About to leave, he suddenly realized that on the row was something covered by a green cloth. |  |
As he was about to lift the cover, he also realized that everything else in the shelf had a fine layer of dust covering it - everything except the green cloth! "Someone must have been in here recently," Dulbbe realized. Now even slower, (and a little bit more gently just in case), he pulled the cloth off of the thing it covered. Aw, it's just a crystal ball... nothing new here he decided. As he started to put the green cloth back, suddenly the crystal ball started to glow and a head appeared. It was a Dragon! It took a moment before Dulbbe realized the head was speaking to him... and a moment longer before he realized it was asking him a question!
"What knowledge do you seek?" asked the Dragon.
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