Juergin finds that the books, a couple of dozen titles, are not arranged in any particular order.tarlyn wrote: The lad peruses the book as he eats, being quite careful not to get the pages dirty as Eustace mentioned to him. He makes ample use of the napkins he took from the dining room, two in fact. Once his meal is terminated, he puts the book back exactly where he found it. Taking a closer look at the library now, he tries to discern if the books are placed alphabetically, by topic or however else they might be placed.
Searching for something about the history of Gauntcliff, he finds a dog-eared pamphlet tucked between a hardbound volume of The Red Wedding of Sergei Von Zarovich and a canvas bound set of nautical charts.
From the pamplet (written by Bernard Croix of Port-a-Lucine- a name not known to Juergin) the boy learns the following things about Gauntcliff:
- Gauntcliff possesses an unusually warm and pleasant climate, such that snow rarely falls on the island even in the dead of winter.
The nearest civilized island is Ghastria.
The soil is sandy and thin in most parts of the island, a fact that has discouraged settlement in the past.
The island's name comes from the tall, white limestone cliffs of the eastern side. Travelers have long remarked on the stark grandeur of the cliffs, which in some spots are eroded into a semblance of cathedral arches.
The western shore is mostly sand dunes and beach grass.
An ancient ruin stands on Gauntcliff. Hauteclaire claims it may have once been a monastic house of the Old High Church of Mordent, but he provides no proof of this.
Caverns run under the central hills of the island, and may connect with opening in the cliffs.
Hot springs exist in the interior.
Forty-five years ago the Ghastrians attempted to plant a colony, but a fever drove them from the island. Hauteclaire reports that sailors have found the isle's water and air to be wonderfully salubrious, and blames the sickness among the colonists on poor hygiene.
There are no dangerous animals native to the island's surface.
The warm waters about the isle teem with fish, but fishermen from nearby islands tend to avoid Gauntcliff. Hautclaire's cursory investigation of the matter revealed that the fishermen were worried about sandbars, unpredictable currents, and some sort of underwater creatures that would slice up nets.
A careful reading suggests that Hautclaire was working mainly from stories related to him, rather than drawing on personal experience. Nothing in the text indicates that he ever got closer to Gauntcliff than the deck of a passing galleon. The book was published thirty years ago.
We now return you to your regularly scheduled RP.)