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Searching the Tomes
Traveling east, Helix passed through a pair of dark wood double doors. On the other side was the Safeguards library.
Filled with rows and rows of dark oak and maple wood bookcases, the library had books on some of the most esoteric subjects in the world.
Helix continued on to the circular station in the center of the library where the loan, familiar figure sat. Her name was Sabrina, and she appeared to look like the stereotypical librarian — dark-rimmed glasses, brown hair set in a bun, a forest green blouse with a white throw sweater. She was engrossed in a special edition. She didn’t even notice Helix at the counter.
“Good morning, Sabrina.”
She tore her attention away from the classic novel, surprised.
“Oh, Mr. Brown. I didn’t see standing there,” she said, composing herself with a smile. She was always polite and formal. She was young, maybe late 20s, early 30s. There weren’t too many people her age at the Safeguard, most being in their mid-30s or higher.
“How can I help you?”
“I’m wondering if you have anything in the Malay language.”
“I can check on that for you.”
She tapped away at the laptop, searching the library database.
Because of the type of library it is, there is an Average to Unlikely chance the library would have that type of book. For this, I will assign a TDA of 3(9). Result = 15. ARM = 11. Unmodified.
She brightened. “Well, it looks like we have something in that category.”
Helix followed her to the section of the library, where she pulled out a copy of the book. Signing it out, he thanked her, then left, returning to the lab. Armed with the book, he started studying the document once more.
The first thing we should do is calculate how many points are needed.
It cost one Intellect point to use Decipher (though Helix has the Investigator ability, allowing him to spend points from whatever pool he desires when using effort for any Intellect-based task). That takes his Intellect to 9.
However, since he is retrying a task, it requires he spends a level of Effort. For this, he will take it from his Might of 10, which has an Edge of 1. That would take his Might to 8 since it is the first level of Effort which is always 3 points (3 (Effort)–1 (Edge) = 2 points.
However, this retry is different because Helix has in Asset — the Malay language book. This is a Major Asset for the task, perfect for the situation. It will ease the task a maximum of two steps.
The original TA was 4(13). The Asset reduces that to 2(6). Applying the mandatory level of Effort for the retry, that will give it a final TA of 1.
TDR = 19! Awesome sauce!
A 19 is a special roll. It gives what’s called a Minor Effect for the outcome. A roll of 20 gives a Major Effect. Before we apply that, we have to apply a Roll Modifier.
ARM = 9. Unmodified. Great.
Now I’m free to come up with a beneficial Minor Effect. I decide Helix knows exactly what half of the document says verbatim. The other half he has a general idea.
Helix spent another hour examining the document, cross-referencing the language syntax with the use of the Malay language book. It was a tremendous help. Certain sections of the document he translated verbatim. Included among the of those was:
The power of the Hamba Bumi cannot be broken, for the Na Tuk Kong (which Helix translated into the English language to mean earth spirits) are timeless. They can be called upon anywhere, for the world is theirs.
The next section was difficult to translate. This gist was the anticipation of the rebirth of the Hamba Bumi. Helix concluded the document was written after the cult had vanished or shortly before. He’d have to do more research.
There was another section he could directly translate.
When the life of the Pure One is sacrificed on the altar no tool has touched under the crescent moon…
The other section spoke of a change by vessels in a dark hand of some kind. Helix paced around the lab. The document was a prophecy or wishful thinking. The general tone made Helix wish for the latter.
Why was the document given to Hillaria? There were a couple possibilities.
The first was a simple one — they want her to include with all the other objects kept at the Safeguard. Understandable, given the document’s content. But why hand-deliver it? That was more discomforting to think about. Whoever had delivered it must have believed it needed to be protected immediately. That meant they thought someone was after it. Helix could only surmise that whoever was after it wanted it for one reason — to fulfill the prophecy.
He needed to take a breather and get back to work. The first thing on the agenda — find out who or what Hamba Bumi is.
At this juncture, it’s time for Helix to make a Recovery roll. This would be a 1D6 plus his Tier which is 1. That means he’s guaranteed at least one point back to his Power Pool.
Recovery Roll Result = 2. He has a total of three points he can recover. I’ll put them all into his Intellect, bringing it back up to 12.
Stay tuned for Part 2 of Episode 4 coming sooner than you think!