The library was a two floor building capped with a dome shaped roof. It was made of white bricks and had large double doors made of a dark hard wood that I doubt I could identify. As I opened the door to the library I was greeted with a small gust of chilled air that persisted until I closed the door behind me. Directly in front of the door was a circular kiosk where I supposed a librarian would be had anyone been there. In the center of the kiosk was a ramp that spiraled up to the second floor. I looked around the first floor and took note of several things. The first was that there were no actual books on this floor, there were scrolls that were on free-standing racks making up aisles that spread out from the kiosk. If one were in the kiosk they would be able to see down every aisle just by walking around the circle. The second thing I discovered is that there really weren't many scrolls either. There were more empty racks than there were scrolls in some sections of the library. Tertiarily there were four staircases outside of the kiosk that led to the second floor, each of these were situated in a corner of the library.

I ascended one of the staircases and looked around to see that there were actual books on the second floor. Unlike the first floor, the second floor was divided into four squares with books lining the walls and filling the shelves in each square. I followed one of the larger aisles to the center and found the upper level had a similar kiosk to the first floor. The center of the kiosk had a spiral staircase that continued up into the ceiling under where the dome would be I guess.

Since I looked everywhere except up the staircase leading to the dome and still hadn't found the librarian I decided to explore on my own and find books that might help me figure out how to use magic. I found that each of the four squares was a different set of subjects, I quickly found the section for magic and picked a book. None of them had titles on the spines so I just grabbed the nearest one and opened it. The pages had nothing in them. There were no words, pictures, drawings, just blank. I set it back on the shelf and grabbed a different book. Another blank book, after doing this a few more times I started paying attention to the books. I was looking closely to see if any of them were different than the others, literally trying to judge the books based on their covers. I found one book that was bound in blue instead of black after about an hour of searching and picked it up. I opened it and noticed that it had a title!

The title of the book was The Basics of Mana and Enchanting, and it was credited to a Carol Weaver. I flipped to the table of contents and found the page number for sensing and moving mana. I skipped to that page and started reading with much more celerity than I was used to, I also found that I could comprehend even the most esoteric of terms, though they were foreign concepts to me. I guess having capped intelligence does something for my learning speed, I mused as I finished the rather lengthy section. I immediately started following the steps mentioned in the book and tried meditating while trying to imagine a ball forming in my stomach. At first it was the size of a marble, but as I meditated I felt it growing until I got it to the size of a ping pong ball. The next step was to push it out to my hand, I was in the process of doing so when I felt something suddenly hit me in the back of the head.

My concentration went astray and I snapped my eyes open to find a very upset looking woman with the body of a spider as her lower half glowering at me. "Hello?" I said meekly trying not to enrage the creature that was already obviously unhappy with me. "Don't you hello me foolish gnome! Performing magic in my library is strictly forbidden!" The spider-woman berated me harshly for an hour after that until she calmed down enough for me to be able to hold a conversation with her. "Okay, since I'm now aware of the rules and have sincerely apologized for my ignorance, may we start from the beginning with an introduction?" I ask in as polite of a tone as I can manage, "My name is Thomas, but you may call me Tom if you like." I continue cordially. The spider-woman stared at me wide-eyed as though star struck. " Thomas, is your family name Reiner? I'm reading your modern metallurgy series if you're Thomas Reiner." She seemed really happy, but I never wrote any book, much less a series of them. I explain my confusion and she finally named herself as Ms. Carol Weaver.

"I'll explain how this library works to you Mr.Reiner." Carol informed me smugly, "All of these books are enchanted, when someone posessing knowledge that is as of yet unrecorded enters this library, anything they don't subconciously consider top secret is automatically recorded into a book in the proper section. Any knowledge recorded is credited to the person it came from, making them the author of that book." I nodded my understanding, so she continued, "You just tripled my collection of science books the moment you walked in my door. I now have five books on mierals and prospecting, twelve on working metal, and several books on physics. I haven't even looked at what else the library got from you, but I wouldn't doubt that it would take a hundred years to read all those new books." She said excitedly. I finally got another chance to respond, "Why were there so many blank books before, especially in the magic section?" I inquired with my feelings of concern apparent. "Oh," she paused, "Most people aren't like you and I. They don't believe that sharing information openly can be anything but bad for themselves. This fact goes double for mages and specialized craftsmen." She replied to my question with nothing but hurt in her voice, as though she felt people were keeping even basic information away from her just to hurt her feelings. "Also, mine is the only known library in all of Magras. The only reason it's still open to the public is because I sell my enchanting abilities to the local crafters." I reached out and pat her shoulder in what I hoped was a comforting way.

"I have an idea, why don't you advertise that you're paying for basic information on trade skills, stories, and magic theories in order to boost the popularity of your library? You can also advertise your newly improved science section so people will have a reason to come here." I said hoping for a positive response. "I've never thought of that. I should have enough saved to do that due to the amount of enchanting work I do out of boredom to make that work too." She though for a moment more, "How much would I owe you though for the amount of knowledge you just gave me?" She seemed to pale as she asked that question. "Not much, how about a copy of this book of yours and maybe a place to stay while I'm in town?" I suggested with a small grin. Carol hugged me and darted away leaving me speechless and without an explanation for where she was going. I placed her enchanting book back in its place on the shelf and walked purposefully to the kiosk just in time to see her come back down the stairs with a thick book in her hand. "This is better than the one you were studying. It has everything on mana, runes, and enchanting up to my current ability written in it." She smiled while handing me the dictionary sized volume and leading me up the stairs to the dome. "You can stay up here with me, but I hope you'll understand that it wasn't designed with gnomes in mind." I thought for a moment then asked, "How did you know I was a gnome? The general store's owner was certain that I couldn't be one." She laughed at my question and said, "I was reading your autobiography when I sensed you try to use magic, the metallurgy book made me look and see if you had one so I read it. It's not a long book yet, but since you started one it will keep track of all of your actions and achievements from now on." Shit, now I can't be evil at all or the book will note my actions. Carol directed me to a side of the dome and made a wall and ceiling out of web for privacy and I nodded my approval. She then made a mat out of folded silk for me to use as a bed and added a layer of sik stuffed with plant fibers that would serve as a blanket. By this time night had fallen so I ate a very small meal made of travel rations and then went to bed in my temporary home with Carol.