Ooof, my head. It feels like I've either lost time or been dream-hopping...owww

Dear book people,

Thanks to you I have been having some very, very strange dreams. Ones in which I was a real person, or a child, or somehow in a different world.

Maybe I wanted out of the Library so much I tried to dream my way out. Would that the actual escape had gone so smoothly.

I am now a fugitive. Accused of stealing books and being a danger to the world.

Are there any other criminals here? Do you have any advice?

- Marianne

Mama! Mama look!

[A tiny girl with bright red hair proudly holds up a handful of slightly wilted flowers.]

These are mine! I planted them! Mr. Takananana said I did a good!

Can we show daddy and Prince brother?

[Then she seems to notice the camera]

Ooooh, can you tell me a story?

Dear book people,

The Librarians have finally sent me to put some books in the New Storage Area. That means I can escape the Library!

[A picture sketches itself on her post - a tired-looking Marianne pointing excitedly out a window to a sign in the gardens labeled "New Storage Area". It is clearly outside of the Library grounds. A note on her desk attached to a huge pile of books indicates that they belong in said storage area.]

As soon as I'm out, I'll see if I can still contact the 'ducks'. If not, thank you for all your help.

Marianne Zahmani
Former Library Assistant

Dear Book People,

I think...I think I might actually be able to escape the Library!

Its taken five weeks of my time, but after that terrible Madam left the Watchers did as I asked and put up a sign for me. With any luck, within a few day someone will send me out the doors and into freedom!

Of course I'll take this book with me, as well as mine and Mr. Grassi's.

But I'm not sure what else I'll need. I have no idea what the city might be like.

- Marianne Zahman
Under Assistant
The Library
Chaos: 734 Order: 895

Does anyone know what a manticore is?

It seems everything in the city outside the Library is connected to it. And now I seem to have a card with a protection spell from 'Manticore Street'.

I assume it is some kind of magical monster, but does anyone have more information? I would like to know what I might face should I venture out of the Library.

Marianne Zahman-
Under Assistant,
The Library
Chaos: 640 Order: 814

[Marianne stands, hand on an iron-work banister, looking down from the third floor balcony of her Library. Her hair is pulled sternly back from her face, and she looks tired, worn, and worried about whatever she sees on the ground floor.

There are murmurs beneath her and the words "Good evening Madam Delubovoska..." spoken in a reverential tone.

When the Madam speaks, the Library goes mad. The railing beneath Marianne's hand comes alive. The iron-work unwinds, forming a mass of snakes that expand and strike where her hand was a moment before. She stumbles back, hand over her mouth, as around her the snakes grow and writhe, poison dripping from their fangs.

A warm glow surrounds her, and she pulls a small card from her shirt. The warmth it exudes seems to hide her from the snakes' notice, and she crouches behind her desk, holding the card close as the world around her turns into a writhing nest of vipers that fill every space but hers.

Again and again they strike, before finally receding unhappily, leaving the Library looking as if nothing happened. The glow around her fades as the Madam leaves the Library. Cautiously Marianne reaches up to her book and slowly writes her question.]

Book-people? Are you there? I think...I could use some company tonight.

Would you talk to me for a bit?

Marianne Zahma-
Under Assistant,
The Library
Chaos: 582 Order: 703

Dear book-people,

I believe I have found a way to escape my library. I'd like to thank you for all the advice you've given me...though I'm afraid my solution is fitting with this world, rather than the more active suggestions you have made.

It will involve the potential burning of a book.

Do you think that is alright? To destroy a work, no matter how vile, just for my own sanity?

Your thoughts would be appreciated.

Marianne Zahm-
Under Assistant,
The Library
Chaos: 374 Order: 909

Dear Book People,

The last time we spoke, many of you urged me to communicate with the gentleman who noticed me.

I thought it might be useful to apprise you of my progress.

His name is Mr. Grassi. Yesterday he came to the Library, and asked if he could do anything for me. The way he said it was...strange. Intense, as if there was more meaning to it than just simple politeness.

I was so flustered that I was unable to answer him. Today he came in again and asked the same question. Though I know I should have asked his help to escape the Library, I couldn't get the courage to do so.

Instead, I asked him to open a book for me. And this is the strange thing; inside was a picture of me. And the story - it's my story, described in perfect detail exactly as it happened to me.

What could it mean?

Your help would be greatly appreciated,

Marianne Zah-
Under Assistant
The Library
Order: 1,115 Chaos: 103

Dear book-people,

A man came to my library today, and actually looked at me.

It made me realize how few people actually look at each other here. No one refers to each others by name, or talks directly to one another. Requests are made to the air, in hopes that someone might complete them. In the all time that I've been here, that man was the first to look me in the eye and notice my existence.

Is that...is that normal? To be noticed? Should I be worried that he spoke to me as me, not as an automaton?

Thank you for your advice,
Marianne Za
Under Assistant
The Library

Order: 1130 Chaos: 79

Order: 1104
Chaos: 45

Little book, people often use you to ask for help, correct?

I need some advice. In my land - my 'world' as you would call it - I live in a library.

At night, if I leave the lights on, people come and bang on the windows of the room I sleep in, yelling at me to give them books. When I turn the lights off they disappear, but they come back if I have to turn the light back on for any reason.

Do you have any advice on how I could get them to stop? Its frightening to have people look at me like that. It makes me feel ugly and dissected, and knowing that they're never really gone, only dissuaded for a while, is making it difficult to sleep.

Thank you for any advice you care to give.

Marianne Z.
Under Assistant
The Library

Order: 1075
Chaos: 13

It is interesting that after searching the stacks for any book that would take ink, this little notebook appeared upon my desk unannounced. That by itself would count towards several chaos points, but its nameplate indicates my ownership as well.

Or at least, the former ownership of another "Marianne". Perhaps another library assistant forgot their notebook here? I hadn't thought any here shared my name...

But no matter. It is late, and this journal is far too chaotic to understand in one evening.

Goodnight, little book. I hope you sleep better than I.
Marianne,
Under Assistant
The Library