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"A book can take you anywhere you want to go...All one needs to do is open and become a part of it..."

Say hello to Gretchenne (a.k.a. LAdy BlAckheAth) Novella...Dedicated bookworm and mother to both U1iiA and Violette...

For over two decades, BlAckheAth's love of books had made her an important part of the Artopolis Library District, eventually securing herself the position of Chief Librarian, but things change, and sometimes not for the better... Knowledge and literature were not part of "Hizz DISonner's" (Mayor Grafft) "Grand Design", and the Library District suffered tremendous budget cuts resulting in grossly diminished sevices, lay-offs, and closings of all but the main branch...Saddened, LAdy BlAckheAth resigned her position, pooled her resources, and with the assistance of her daughters, opened up an obscure book shop to the south in Witches Valley (See Map)...

As with any new business, the first years were not easy, and LAdy BlAckheAth and her daughters all shared the close confines of the back room as well as the shop itself as living space, often sleeping on blankets and pillows placed on the sales floor after closing and subsiding on canned soup in order to keep things afloat...But in time, hard work and sacrifice paid off, and the business started to prosper...

...And prosperity continues...The bookstore, aptly named "The Worm" (Actually, a pun on the moneygrubbing, backstabbing political creep that changed BlAckheAth's life) is well known in both Mess County and a good portion of the state, especially for obtaining old and out-of-print material...The place itself is never quite on the tidy side...with books, old periodicals, and manuscripts piled every which way, but this and the fact that LAdy BlAckheAth is a bubbly, crazy, charismatic, and extremely talkative woman to interact with seems to command many a repeat customer...She and her daughters live in the apartment upstairs (The three of them all own the small building which houses both the shop and residential space), so no one even thinks of breaking into the store...Wouldn't be the smartest thing to do, anyway...

The Gothic window framing is borrowed from this concoction...

See Also: Rising Force...