(Symaro) Seems that the group had decided to advance onwards! Despite their better judgement, someone grips the door leading deeper into the accursed place, then pushes it open. Against all logic and reason, despite the fact the party had been moving AWAY from the familiar sights of the Library where they'd had their first rest, they'd end up right back there... the air remains warm and welcoming, the only background noise being a faint fluttering of paper in the gentle gusts carried around such an expansive, potentially infinite room. Except... something is off. Something is different this time around.

The room had inhabitants! Standing roughly 4ft tall, covered in scales of all colors, bizarrely bipedal with anthropomorphic features, were a swarm of small lizards garbed in loosely fitted clothing. Many were engrossed in their reading, sat down here and there, perhaps at a desk or a couch or a sofa further along into the room, where as others had their hands full organizing and categorizing the seemingly endless amount of reading material. At a closer glance, these creatures were very much like Symaro in shape and stature. Their language however makes no sense, merely a plethora of strange crooning, meeping, yapping and squeaking. The door closes behind everyone, a distant, heinous laugh fading with its final swing.

(Yejian) With a heavy sigh, Yejian sets her shield on the ground and leans it against her legs, folding her arms while she, in turn, leans against a wall. What a bother this was turning out to be! It just required a shift in perspective. She going for endurance now, and so she keeps away from the lead. Let one of those eager explorers open the doors and face what comes of it, she'll be the clean up crew.

(Fenris) Jaleel- er Fenris slouches through the door, his thoughts still scattered and his sense of self still muddied.

He blinks at the unexpected sight of the library and its inhabitants. He never had much time for libraries or books. They were a luxury he had not had as a kid and running his business didn't leave time for-

Those were not Fenris thoughts. Just to prove them wrong, the tanuki snatches a book from a shelf and flips it open. He reads all the time!

(Symaro) The tanuki flips open a random book, however all he finds is pages upon pages filled with indecipherable gibberish! It's some form of runic language that doesn't register... at least not immediately. Maybe if he tries to decrypt it.

(Junes) seeing the room full of well, the same form as them junes is perplexed at first but hears flipp

(Junes) flipping pages and sees leaf feels a bit worried and decides to bring their multiple kitsune tails out and pat them on the tanuki's back for comfort

(Ankh) Taking a deep breath now that they're in the safety of the library again, Ankh closes his eyes and takes stock of... well, mostly himself. The others seemed more or less fine. At least he could reload his lance now that the stake had time to re-form. Doing so with only a slight wince at the seared fang-hole in his palm. "Glad I don't feel much, physically...", he mumbles to himself, "...but this place is getting to me. Hey... Junes, right? If I start to lose myself, slap me as hard as you can. Got it? Muzzle me if need be." With that, and a final -KACHUNK- of the explosive ammunition being locked into place, he folds the lance again, familiar saw axe sliding back into his grip.

(Symaro) The group gathers a few strange looks from here and there, the library's little keepers shooting a multitude of glowing gazes directly at these bizarre tall beings and the one kinlike shortstack among them, though they don't do much other than nudge one another and make a few curious chirrups. Ankh, blessed bean... can practically feel the tension pouring out his maw in a room so safe, so serene. Junes recollects all his thoughts and feels fully at once with himself. Yejian expels some of her tension but remains quite on-edge, and Fenris, poor fella... he remains just as shaken as when he'd emerged from his trial. The library is kind, but his thoughts remain fixated on what he'd just experienced. That gnawing paranoia lingers... for now.

The door leading deeper into the dungeon is within eyesight, down a flight of stairs onto the lower level, where a large collection of blue-scaled small-sized lizards had converged to converse and share in their mutual interests, yapping and trilling like a stack of adorable boopable snoots. It should be illegal for a place so dangerous to harbor critters so adorable, and yet it does! Two of them near the party where they stand, one starts getting particularly inquisitive with Yejian's shield, putting its hands atop the seemingly bizarre surface, before plucking a scroll and pencil to start noting things down in some strange language. The other meanwhile starts bothering Ankh, perplexed by the gnoll's alien armaments, poking and tugging here and there, not outwardly hostile, merely curious by the looks of things.

(Yejian) Yejian watches cautiously, but does not seem to mind the curiosity and examination her shield causes. She closes her eyes and exhales, tail flicking side to side before scooping up her shield once again. "Alright. We can't stay here forever. I'll let one of you take the lead though, whenever you're ready to start moving."

(Fenris) Fenris sighs as he carefully examines the text. "Let's see," he murmurs, "I'm seeing some norse influence? Saskrit maybe?" The tanuki feels much more himself as he peruses the obscure scribbles. The tanuki frowns over the book, then flips to the cover and the inscription on it.

The tanuki grins and shakes his head. "Riddles!" he smiles, "Written in.. what? Draconic? Amazing." He slots the book back into its place on the shelf and his smile dims and sours a little. It was a nice respite bit it was not enough to really ground him.

He grunts an affirmative at Yejian and slouches ahead, going for the next door, the library having lost its appeal.

(Junes) patting his back a bit more to maybe get his attention junes speaks calmly "hey leaf everything is gonna be alright, whatever happened before its over and i know we can all make it through" and unsure of what else to say or do they hold their arms open if they need a hug

(Fenris) Fenris warms a little at Junes' offer and accepts the hug. "Thanks," he says, "I like hugs." The physical contact seems to do him a little good, though he quickly returns to slouching ahead broodingly, ready to get out of this room and deeper in the dungeon.