Chapter 4 — Meeting the Archivist

Gideon Marsh

The rain had begun again, drumming steadily against the windows of the Willow Street Library. Gideon Marsh sat hunched over his desk in the shadowy corner of the main reading room, the faint glow of a single desk lamp casting muted light over the cracked leather spines of ancient books. The smell of mildew and varnished wood permeated the air, mingling with the metallic tang of rain seeping through the window frames. His silver sigil ring glinted faintly as he turned a page in his notebook, his fingers lingering on the edges as if reluctant to confront the truths scrawled across the paper.