Tome Appraisal for Mimble Sparklepudding
May 2, 2023
From the Client
A small male Lalafell comes trotting up to the counter. By the time he gets there only the top of a white hat is visible.
“Good morning my good man!” says an irrepressibly perky voice from somewhere under the brim of the hat.
“I’ve brought an Allagan thingy, I mean I think it’s an Allagan thingy…I hadn’t really looked at it too closely since I found it in a drawer. I’m rather afraid that we’ve been using it as a coaster for the teapot”.
“Would you mind awfully if I….ah thank you yes that will do very well…” Said the diminutive figure, clambering up on a proffered stool. Now his face is visible it seems younger than his voice would suggest, despite a small white beard and a broad affable smile. The eyes are pearlescent white, and twinkle like moonstones in the light of the lamps.
“I mean I doubt it’s done it any harm? Do you think it could have done it any harm? I mean it’s survived four…is it four? Yes, four Umbral Calamities. Oh, and some crumbs”.
He places a small, dark, metal Tomestone on the counter. “Yes, crumbs I’m afraid. I think toast crumbs or possibly cake. Nothing to do with me of course, I use a napkin. I suspect it was my Roegadyn friend. We’re still working on the table manners. Well truth to tell we’re still working on the finer points of “not every issue has to be pummeled senseless with an axe” at the moment, but cake etiquette is definitely on the list”.
“Anyway, do take a look if you can, it might be of enormous social and political import. And if it isn’t then its still quite a nice coaster”.
The stream of cheerful, inconsequential, chatter continues unabated as the Tomestone is examined…
Tome Attributes: It's got some gold speckles on the metal bits, but that might be corrosion.
Gil Donation: 5000 gil
Tea Order: Vanilla Verity
“Greetings and welcome to Tea and Tomes, my friend!”
Amon brightened considerably at the appearance of a rather perky and personal Lalafell – a new customer to him – who sported a fairly dapper hat. Anyone with a nice hat generally was easy to get along with, and this fellow seemed to fall into that pleasant category.
The Elezen tilted his head, listening closely to what his client had to say about the history of this particular Tome, trying to pick up on anything that could assist with his appraisal. Aside from the sad mis-use of the device, he couldn’t deduce anything else.
“Done it any harm? Well, it does depend on the Tome’s make and model. Some Tomes were made to last better than others,” Amon answered. “And of course, age plays a part into it to. Some are nigh indestructible while others seem to just melt away even when cared for carefully.
“I’ll have to take a look at this one and see what I can see, aye?”
The Elezen then offered up some tea as he multitasked between snippets of conversation and watching T.H.E.M. start its routine pre-scans.
Appraisal Outcome
Hmm… it seems time was not kind to this poor Tome. I’ve scanned it every which a-away, but I just can’t get it to read properly. Looking at the baseline scans, I’m sorry to say that the connectors – and likely data containers – of this Tome have seen their last days long, long ago.
I wouldn’t feel too badly for it, though. As I mentioned before, Tomes vary in quality and make. I’ll wager this one was likely a mass-produced data container at one time. You’d see a lot of these sorts popular with students in particular.
See these gold flecks? May have been decoratively placed by the previous owner. Just imagine what an Allagan youth of school-going age probably did to make their Tome look the coolest amongst their peers, and you might have an idea of why it struggles to boot all these ages later!
Amon returns the Tome to his client with an apologetic expression.
“I’m afraid that’s all I can deduce of this Tome based on make alone. They were a household item, so not all of them were heavy-duty enough to weather time well. Still, I hope you find something of this theory of amusement! And should you ever have another Tome that strikes you curious, you are more than welcome to bring it to me!”