Wardrobe

Villager: Bram

Stepping into the library, you're a bit surprised by the sheer amount of volumes packed into the bookshelves that line the walls and form corridors. You would've thought the library of a small town wouldn't have been this...big.

To your surprise, and white reaper horse - and its clearly a reaper - carefully hangs the candle he was in the process of dipping into hot wax on a wooden rod raised from the table, allowing him to keep the candles off the table so as not to warp the wax. He scoots his chair back before getting up, getting the attention of a winged snow leopard, before she lost interest and returned to folding what you assumed was origami on the table. The reaper approaches you, scythe in hand - when did he pull it out? He'd been using both hands for the candle after all.

"Hello? Can I help you? I am Bram, the curator of this library. If you're looking for something, I can tell you exactly what it is."

"Hmm? What's a reaper doing running a library?"

Bram snorts.

"Did you think all of us simply did reaping as our sole job and took vacations on our off days? No, don't answer that. I work two jobs; is it really that surprising? I enjoy being in charge of a library, and take good care of the books here. Of course, you can borrow books as normal; this is a library. Just fair warning..."

"Turn in the books on time. You won't like what happens when you have overdue books."

"Now, with that unpleasantness out of the way, did you need something?"

"What was I doing? I make candles as a hobby. Yes, I have hobbies. Reaping and being a librarian are my jobs, this is a hobby. It's not like I have anything but time, after all...what with being immortal and all. Well, mostly. We can ask Death to release us from their service and move on to the afterlife, but I enjoy my existence too much to move on just yet."

"You want to know if we have books on magic here? In fact, yes, we do. Not the traditional books, mind you, but old scrolls dredged up from the ocean by the explorers here. Only..."

Bram scowls, clearly irritated by something.

"That brat Evan snatches them up first, and refuses to give them up until he decides he's done with them. Can you imagine? The nerve of him!"

"As for how I get along with my other neighbors, Peridot and I are in agreement on one thing: knowledge should be shared. Unlike a certain someone we all know...a cretin who dares spill coffee on my books! Lord of demons or not, that is something I won't stand for! He's on his final warning - if he returns one more book with a coffee stain, well..."

"Let's just say demons aren't immortal."

"Am I going to rea- no. No, I am not. Ephemera, Xino, and Morgan returned to life fairly. I mean, it's not like they enacted some sort of necromantic ritual requiring the sacrifices of hundreds for eternal life, or sought to cheat Death. No, their return was involuntary...and even if it wasn't, reincarnation is a perfectly valid way of returning to the world of the living. Death has no interest or desire to take them - heck, unlike what you mortals think, Death would rather you live a long life. They rather hate taking people young, you see. Especially children. Death hates taking children, and I..."

Bram bows his head solemnly.

"So do I."

"Mateo? No, I'm not mad at him for failing his duty. He fought until the bitter end to defend the graveyard entrusted to his care - that's hardly something to be punished for. Even grims can be overwhelmed."

"Xino? Yeah, he's weird. Grims are the spirits of the dead, and yet he's still alive. Never in the history of the world has something like this happened - it's an impossibility, to have a living grim, and yet, here it is. We're in completely uncharted territory here, and honestly, I have no idea if he'll take on a graveyard watch when he dies or go to the afterlife like a normal mortal. And it's not like Death wants to conscript him - he's still alive, and a child to boot. No, Death is patient. They have an eternity to wait, after all...and in the end, all things must meet them. Well, almost all things."

"What about the nature spirits? They're a bit tricky. The majority of them are immortal, but spirits of the land, like, say, Ouroboros? They're immortal unless the land they personify is destroyed. And when I say destroyed, I mean utterly destroyed; a mountain laid low, or an island blown apart. Not corrupted like in Dragon's Maw Manor. So long as the land survives, so too does the spirit. Dryads are much the same, though their tree will never die of natural causes. Something has to happen it to sever their immortality - such as a mortal taking an axe to it, a forest fire, or even a landslide uprooting it. Things like that."

"Now, enough chit chat. I have things to do. So, did you need something, or are you good on your own?"