I’m sure Keepers of Knowledge (KoK) of all worlds know the problem: reference works are supposed to stay inside the HoK (House of Knowledge), yet somehow students seem to conveniently forget this all the time.
This phenomenon used to annoy the heck out of me, but nowadays it provides a great source of entertainment. See, my HoK – as you may already have gathered – isn’t quite like other’s. Trying to sneak out reference works is a serious offence and goes neither unnoticed nor unpunished.
Let’s have an example. A student, let’s call him Dopey, comes in and finds just the reference book he needs. But, oh my, it’s large and full of knowledge one can’t possibly go through in the little time Dopey has before he needs to get home to mama and he really doesn’t want to come all the way back to the HoK another time. What to do? Dopey has an idea – it’s not quite a bright one (more like a candle in a dark room with the wind blowing) but to him it seems stellar. He puts the reference book in his bag and casually walks to the exit. Surely no one will notice what he’s doing. What he doesn’t know is the KoK of this particular HoK is a very knowledgeable mage and has a mean streak. The mighty Venimalia has protected her doors with a spell that picks up on reference works. So, when Dopey steps up to the doors, an enormous monster with sharp teeth, a grotesquely scaled body and sulphuric breath appears right in front of him and with scathing tone and booming voice, speaks, “Your dare to defy the rules? That makes you mine to devour!” The apparition comes complete with scorching body heat and flying spittle, which makes the experience that much more intimidating for little Dopey, who by now is shivering and very nearly peeing his pants. Enter Venimalia. While Dopey is still in shock the grand KoK opens his bag and finds the evidence. In front of everyone she tells Dopey off and imposes a draconic punishment on the little offender. This ensures that Dopey will never ever try something like this again and also serves as a neat exemplar for all other patrons.
I have found this to be an incredibly effective way of teaching people not to break my rules. And I don’t even have to hurt anyone in the process ;-)
This phenomenon used to annoy the heck out of me, but nowadays it provides a great source of entertainment. See, my HoK – as you may already have gathered – isn’t quite like other’s. Trying to sneak out reference works is a serious offence and goes neither unnoticed nor unpunished.
Let’s have an example. A student, let’s call him Dopey, comes in and finds just the reference book he needs. But, oh my, it’s large and full of knowledge one can’t possibly go through in the little time Dopey has before he needs to get home to mama and he really doesn’t want to come all the way back to the HoK another time. What to do? Dopey has an idea – it’s not quite a bright one (more like a candle in a dark room with the wind blowing) but to him it seems stellar. He puts the reference book in his bag and casually walks to the exit. Surely no one will notice what he’s doing. What he doesn’t know is the KoK of this particular HoK is a very knowledgeable mage and has a mean streak. The mighty Venimalia has protected her doors with a spell that picks up on reference works. So, when Dopey steps up to the doors, an enormous monster with sharp teeth, a grotesquely scaled body and sulphuric breath appears right in front of him and with scathing tone and booming voice, speaks, “Your dare to defy the rules? That makes you mine to devour!” The apparition comes complete with scorching body heat and flying spittle, which makes the experience that much more intimidating for little Dopey, who by now is shivering and very nearly peeing his pants. Enter Venimalia. While Dopey is still in shock the grand KoK opens his bag and finds the evidence. In front of everyone she tells Dopey off and imposes a draconic punishment on the little offender. This ensures that Dopey will never ever try something like this again and also serves as a neat exemplar for all other patrons.
I have found this to be an incredibly effective way of teaching people not to break my rules. And I don’t even have to hurt anyone in the process ;-)
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