"Alright.  I've got plenty of projects to start in the manor, so I'm going to go work on those.  Let me know if something comes up, I suppose."

...A little while later, she's come back from surveying the groundskeeper's house - seems to be in pretty good condition, considering, and she did find the physical key to the House - with a jug of ice-water, since she'd been meaning to brush up on Frost and Fire anyway.  "Thought you could use something cool to drink, given you're out working in high noon.  Going back into town, despite my earlier plans; realized I forgot to send a letter."

Denzil takes the jug and nods. 

And she will...do that, presumably, and perhaps see to lunch if it's around that time.  Up next on her agenda is reviewing the rest of the things from the groundskeeper's cottage.

Sending a letter is just one pence, and doesn't cause any trouble.

Keeper's Lodge has, besides a large iron key:
- A fireplace
- A bed and a basketful of laundry
- Some potted plants
- A pair of mirrors, one of them cracked
- A set of plates and glasses
- A bottle labelled 'Dandelion wine', packets of tea and coffee, and some bread. Which looks fresh, despite presumably being here for seven years

As well as some books:
- Travelling At Night, C.I, first and second volumes.
- To a Pale Lady, F.B.
- De Horis, book 2.

Well.  That is interesting.

She'll read the books.

Travelling at Night: Annotated dream journals of Christopher Illopoly. Most of the first volume references something called 'The Wood' - a dream of a dark forest inhabited by snakes, various giant insects and other creatures. "The Wood lies outside the walls of the Mansus. As any student of the Histories knows, the Mansus has no walls". It suggests that cutting a lock of your own hair, and burning it, can help guide you through the Wood. 

Second volume focuses more on comparions between Illopoly's dreams and those of Emperor Elagabalus (implied to be a long-dead historical figure), and makes mention of such things as 'The White', 'The White Door', 'Sun-in-Rags', and suggests connections between all those things and silence.

To a Pale Lady: A collection of letters from Franklin Bancroft to Eva Dewulf. Between vaguely (or sometimes overtly) erotic poetry and discussions of collaborating on a comic opera, it's hard to figure out whether anything of this is useful information.

De Horis: She quickly realizes that she can't actually read the language. It's similar to the local one she can inexplicably read, but not similar enough to be comprehensible.

Well, that's rude of it.  If it's linguistically similar to the modern tongue, does working backwards seem like it helps any?

Two names seem repeated throughout the book, and it looks like it describes some sort of conflict between them, but beyond that, hard to tell.

Rude of knowledge to be cryptically obscured by mere linguistic differences.  If glaring at this with the full weight of her powers as Librarian does not fix this, for some inexplicable reason, then she will be heading into the Library proper and looking for -to-English dictionaries.

Frankly she's glad of the inexplicable correspondence between Court tongue and this place's, but it is still annoying.

She has a choice between continuing exploration of the main building with the suspiciously magical stairway, or checking out either of the two towers near the gate.

Well, she'll check those two places, but it's probably going to be in the places with books, so, braving the Spooky Magic Staircase it probably must be.

The closest tower (the one with broken glass roof) does turn out to have books! The first floor room is in rather poor conditions, and the stairway up is blocked by debris, but there's a large secretary desk with many drawers, some of which happen to contain books.

- On Thirstrlies, Ivories and Lovelies, F.A.
- On the White, S.H.
- Journal of Thomas Dewulf.
- It Is Written, M.D.
- Letters from a Fugitive, L.W.
- And, be it whims of fate, or just luck, Gildersleeve's Latin Grammar.

There's also a rather dusty armillary in the corner.

...

Books should be in the Library.  What is this mess.

Alright, she's just going to fix the roof, once she's cleared a way to get up there and see what she's actually doing as she's doing this, because that needs fixing, and she thinks she has a good idea of how the Sages would have done Preservation now that she's doing this and she knows the Sigil which means she can do it -

But then she has books to organize - or rather, prepare to organize.  She has thoughts.

"On The White" goes in her "read this sooner rather than later" pile, though, because it seems like it's not going to be incredibly fucking obfuscated like everything else gets.

She's probably going to want to make a whole townsfolk holiday event thing out of going over the damn Manor and finding where all the books are, really.  Clearing up the place.  Making it a bit less fucking bleak.  Once she makes sure it's not going to eat anyone that's not her, because she doesn't, in fact, know that.  That is an immediate priority.

...She checks her notes and chucks the journal of Thomas DeWulf into the 'immediate reading' pile, too.  That's local history, and if he was in charge of this bloody mess maybe he has some useful advice.  She might hire the Rector on as official historian, if he'll let her.

Anyway.  She has priorities, in rough order as follows: (Organization, Defenses,) (Staff, Funding,) (Knowledge, Books.)

They are all going to be pains in her ass, but they're at least going to be pains in her ass at different points in time, so she'll take it.

She really needs a proper planning board or three.

She can, at least, restart her long-term to-do list.

Well, no, this is her medium-term list; the longer-term one just won't fit in her diptych.

Map the Manor

Safe the Manor

Repair and Clean the Manor (Talk to Mayor of Brancrug?  Denzil, for missing pieces.)

Develop Book Organizational System.  Better than Fatebinders' Library.

It really didn't have much to recommend it other than 'existing'.

Staff Library with other people.  (Rector?  Appoint as Manor Historian, possibly.)

Sort books into new organizational system.

Learn what these people even mean by their mystery-cult shit.

Figure out enough politics to not suddenly die of it.

Anyway, there's exactly one thing she can actually make progress on, of these goals, and it's "talk to the Rector about funding his hobby".  So it's time for another letter!

Dear Rector Timothy,

You seemed rather interested in the history of Hush House.

I desperately need people who have some idea how to handle books and organization, and probably won't stab me in the back for political reasons.

It seems to me that we may be able to make an exchange of mutual benefit in this matter.

I have not pinned down the precise structure of the organization I wish to develop, but I certainly wish to see no future seven-year gaps in the operation of the Library of Hush House, nor such disastrous disorganization of the grounds, no matter the occult significance of the manor's seat being occupied or un-.

I would therefore invite you to serve as the Manor's official Historian, and possibly a subtended Librarian of some description, as and if it does not interfere with your other duties as Rector.  This will indubitably become a salaried position as soon as the Manor has any sort of funding, but as it is, all I have for myself as of yet, and would be able to promise you, is the chance to help make the history, in addition to studying it.

Please feel free to speak to me at the Keeper's Lodge if you have further questions.

May fate be with you,

--Fatebinder O. Vaudelle

Head Librarian, Library of Brancrug

Signed, sealed, delivered.

She needs a seal for Library business, as opposed to personal/Fatebinder matters.  She might have something in mind, now that she thinks about it.

...Hmm.  Yeah.  She does have something in mind.  It's a bit fancy, but it's worth being fancy for this.  Now all she needs is some stone dust, and she can replicate her earlier trick with the ritual to form a blank...

An open book, wrapped in a chain that extends from a padlock upon the page; a hand extends from above, holding a quill that rests in the padlock's keyhole.  A motto beneath: Unlocking The Secrets Of Knowledge - hmm, no, she'll do it in Latin.  A brief dictionary dive occurs, and she returns with Secreta Cognitionis Reserans.

She thinks it will do nicely, but she's not certain it will survive politics.  Still...She's proud of it.

Anyway, time to deliver the letter.  How's the bridge going?

Denzil seems to have finished the repairs and left. The bridge is now safe for an ordinary person to traverse.