World of Warcraft®

[ UPDATED: For more information on The Royal Library, please visit http://theroyallibraryguild.wordpress.com ]

Boasting the largest collection of books, art, and artifacts in the Eastern Kingdoms,
The Royal Library is a joint venture between Silvermoon and Undercity to document and preserve the rich history of Azeroth.

Sponsored by a generous grant from an anonymous benefactor, the Library will be hosting a series of salons to share the treasures from its archives with the general public. Our goal is to promote discussion around these precious relics and to foster a better understanding of our shared culture.

The salons will take place every Sunday at 5pm, but location will vary. Please check the Library notices regularly, or join our mailing list to receive personalized invitations.

The Royal Library presents an evening on the classic master of watercolour, Manon Gaelle Landeron. The first salon of the series will be exploring Landeron’s final masterpieces completed just days before his tragic death at Cold Hearth Manor.

Manon Gaelle Landeron: Last Light Studies
5pm, Sunday, June 30th
Ruins of Lordaeron, Undercity

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Dress code is business casual. For more information, please contact Archivist Benoite Dawnsong.

[Please PM on day for group invite--i.e. directions.]

[ 5PM server this Sunday, folks! ]

The Royal Library presents an evening at the Darkmoon Faire exploring the significance of ancient goblin stone tools, particularly cooking utensils. Guests will have a chance to participate in a workshop cooking traditional goblin cuisine using replica stone tools led by special guest Chef Gezelda Fizzlesprocket.

Rolling Stones: The Marvel of Ancient Goblin Stone Tools
5pm, Sunday, July 7th
Darkmoon Faire

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Dress code is casual. For more information, please contact Archivist Benoite Dawnsong.

[ Como se dice ... bump? ]

((I'm sorry that I'll be busy during this...these look like great events! I hope I can make one soon. Keep up the good work!))

[ Thanks Aeldgyth and thanks to those who have been attending. There are some wonderful RPers out there. ]

The Royal Library presents a rare public viewing of Ambros Jan Lugenbrau's original instruments. A brilliant composer who captured the splendors and the sorrows of High Elven courtly life like no other, Lugenbrau still mesmerizes the contemporary audience with his masterpieces. The evening will culminate in a performance of Lugenbrau's Moonlight Sonata by Professor Laetitia Everheart from Silvermoon Academy.

Love, Loss, and the Moon: The Instruments of Lugenbrau
5pm, Sunday, July 14th
Court of the Sun, Silvermoon City

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Dress code is formal. For more information, please contact Archivist Benoite Dawnsong.

[ Time to don your Sunday best! ]

((I would love to attend these, but I'm rarely free on Sundays. I hope they're going well! If I'm ever available during the event time, I will certainly be there.))

The Royal Library presents an evening featuring the Scrolls of Enk'idu, an ancient Darkspear guide on the art of hunting. Master Hunter Zukkin will demonstrate the crafting and the use of traditional trapping mechanisms and teach guests ceremonial dances to celebrate the hunt.

Trappings of Tradition: The Scrolls of Enk'idu
5pm, Sunday, July 21st
Sen'jin Village, Durotar

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Dress code is casual. For more information, please contact Archivist Benoite Dawnsong.

((You might check and make sure there's no weird phasing at Sen'jin -- I know it gets a role in the Darkspear Rebellion storyline, and I don't know if it unphases once you complete the attack on Razor Hill part.

Will try to be there if I can!))

[ Oh dear. Thanks for the heads up. We shall see how it goes. T'was lovely catching you on hearthstone! ]

Checks out the bulletin board in the libraries lounge. She realizes that she can't make it to that event, but then sees that both Zuk'Kin and Benoite would be there. "Well I don't want to get in the way of that! Good luck Zuk!"

Upon hearing of tonight's salon on the Scrolls of Enk'idu, Ambassador Tatai of the Horde Emissary had sent the Archivist a traditional Darkspear dress made by his personal tailor. With little time to spare, Benoite locked the door of her office to try on the dress. To her dismay, it showed more skin than it covered. Benoite bit the inside of her cheek as she examined the nearly-sheer fabric. "This. This can't be right." Changing quickly back into her uniform, Benoite slung the troll-made gown over her arm and made her way to the accounting office. It was a shame her good friend couldn't make it this evening, but surely Miss Fizzlesprocket wouldn't mind helping her figure out how exactly this garment was meant to be worn.

To Miss Benoite Dawnsong,
Archivist, Royal Library,
Silvermoon

From Greatmother Arjah,
Homeland,
The Barrens

My Dear Miss Dawnsong:

Congratulations on your salon in Sen'jin Village this Sunday last. I had not expected such an august gathering of Silvermoon's social elite -- though perhaps, when the Royal Library hosts, such things are taken as granted.

Suffice it to say, it was quite the most illustrious collection of elves that I believe Sen'jin has seen. I hope our customs did not dismay your guests too greatly. The Darkspear are a simple people, but an ancient one, and much of that simplicity is born from ten thousand years of trial and error. Like a diamond, we have become bright and hard, and perhaps a little sharp, under enormous pressure.

But you of course have no need of me to tell you these things, as you already have a cultivated student of the Darkspear and their ancestors on your staff. Convey my compliments to Master Hunter Zukkin (as you style him) -- on his dancing as well as his research.

Regarding your offer of a similar exhibition of my own work, I could perhaps be tempted, provided that it were informal and if possible shared with other readers, so that I did not seem too much the center of attention. I had quite enough of that in my younger days, and I know that participants in such things would always rather be speaking than listening.

If your schedule allows, we should take our leisure in some pleasant place and speak of the arrangements over tea.

In all fondness,

Arjah

Tonight, the weight of the Library’s seal felt heavy on her hand. The board meeting had not gone well and she was coming home to a nearly empty cathedral.

He had left for her, upon Gideon’s throne, a first edition of Greatmother Arjah’s collected sonnets and a letter from the poet herself. And because he was gone--to his bloody battles and savage wars--she allowed herself to sit in his rightful place and sip on the vintage of comfort called solace.

She took up so little of that dark throne, but she tried to mold herself as she had seen him on that first night, legs dangling over an armrest. The elaborately carved Tristfal oak was unforgiving, any which way she turned.

How had he ever slept here.

She closed her eyes but could withstand only minutes of the torture before shifting. At last she found a pose that was not so unbearable. Then, she opened the Greatmother’s letter, reading it several times. It was surreal to be so commended by a literary idol--but the Archivist’s shame was too great to savor the praise fully.

Sensationalist drivel, the board had called the Greatmother’s latest work. ‘Blackhand the Destroyer’ would get no publicity through the Library, whether or not the likes of a single Archivist had secured private funding for her plebeian events.

The next salon would be no salon at all. A fundraiser, the board had decreed. A wine tasting. Not another troll thing, for goodness sake. We heard that there weren’t even seats for your guests last time. Is this true?

Biting her bottom lip, Benoite set the Greatmother’s letter aside and curled her hands around the edges of the book of sonnets resting in her lap.

There had been a time when hands before hers might have thumbed its pages with tenderness, before the parchment was so yellowed. She opened the faded cover, silken with age. On a corner of the title-page, in script so achingly familiar to her--To A, Yours--

She closed the book swiftly.

Wincing--from the discomfort of her seat, surely--Benoite sat up and looked around to ensure that none of the Snipes had witnessed her disarray. This wouldn’t do. She had a fundraiser to organize.

The Royal Library cordially invites you to a wine tasting and fundraiser in the glorious city of Silvermoon. All proceeds will go towards the construction of a new reading room in our main branch to benefit our most illustrious patrons.

Wine Tasting and Fundraiser
5pm, Sunday, July 28th
Hall of Respite, Silvermoon

Admission is free and refreshments will be provided. Dress code is formal. For more information, please contact Archivist Benoite Dawnsong.

Gizelda dusted her hands off, producing a visible cloud of filth, as she headed out of the kitchen and towards the common room. She hummed to herself as she walked while inspecting the latest papers and official thingies for the latest Saloon, The preparations for this one would be simple on her part. Just get a few nice bottles of wine from the cellar, some cheese and crackers. "Nice!" She said aloud. Making a few interns look over in her direct, their faces furrowing with disapproval. She continued to hum to herself happy to have a nice simple job for once.

Kezrin nonchalantly checked every message board she passed until she found one with the new notice. A wine tasting? She wrinkled her nose. She was not fond of wine, rum, beer, or really any form of alcohol; anything that could mess with her head sent shivers down her back. Attending a wine tasting was beyond even her recent bout of nostalgic socializing. She'd have to pass this time.

((But I might show up on someone else if Kez won't go. ))