[Has everyone eaten their pears?]

[Good.]

[Just like the knowledge they contain, these pears take time to ripen, and leaving them unconsumed for too long will result in their degradation. When the next batch of fruit is ready, I will summon you again. Until then, I strongly suggest you do not attempt to take from my tree without my express permission. I believe that would be most…]

The Serpent fixes each of you with its glowing, slitted eyes.

[Unwise.]

Saving the Library from destruction is an immense undertaking, yet one that is of equally great importance. To aid you in your endeavour, the Serpent of the Pears has prepared a number of pears for your character to consume. Each pear represents the knowledge of a certain Skill.

Some Skills will make your character better at certain tasks, others will allow you to discover things the average investigator would overlook. As you spend more time in the Library, you will acquire more knowledge, and you will consume more pears. This will allow you to either improve the Skills you already possess, or learn new ones.

Since most Skills require many years of study - or at least a natural affinity for the subject - your character may only take Skills which belong to their Quality, or those in the General Skills list. However, some Quirks may allow you to bend these rules somewhat.

Knowledge is a valuable and finite commodity, and no single human could possibly be adept at everything. Both acquiring and levelling up Skills will take time. This is represented by Skill Points (SP). They work as follows:

• Each week at the end of Downtime, you will gain 3 SP which you may spend on new Skills, or to level up Skills you already have. You do not have to spend an action to upgrade an existing Skill or purchase a new Skill.
• You are free to spend them all immediately, or save some for another week. However, players cannot have more than 6 SP saved up at a time. Once you reach this limit, you will have to spend at least some of your SP to purchase one or more Skills.
• Players can only spend Skill Points at the end of a Downtime, meaning after any Major, Minor or Fluff Actions have occurred.
• Each Skill costs a number of SP equal to its level (i.e. level 1 costs 1 SP, level 2 costs 2 SP etc.) and you must take each level in turn.
• Your character can, but does not have to be explicitly learning a Skill you wish to take, since eating the pears offered by the Serpent will imbue your character with the necessary knowledge to possess the Skill.
• After spending your Skill Points, you must consume the pear you are given immediately, gaining its associated Skill. Pears that are not immediately eaten decay rapidly. This makes it impossible for a player to purchase a Skill and give it to a different player.
• If you level up a Skill, you still have access to the abilities described in the lower levels of that Skill.

For example, if you did not have the Skill Hoarder, but wished to gain the benefits of its third level, you would have to spend 6 SP to purchase the first (costing 1 SP), second (costing 2) and third (costing 3) level. You would then have the benefits of every level of the Hoarder Skill.

If you were already level 2 in a different Skill, for example, Mimicry, it would only cost you 3 SP to advance to level 3.

Your character will start the game with some Skills already, representing the pears they ate upon entry to the Library. You may spend 5 SP purchasing and levelling up Skills before the first session. Any SP you don't spend will become available for you to spend in future Downtimes.

It is worth noting that no matter how good you get, you will never be able to transcend human capabilities. You may be able to bring about some unexpected, even inexplicable phenomena through your expertise - but there are no fireballs or super-strength in this game. While every Skill has its own special abilities and perks as it levels up, the act of levelling up generally corresponds to a character's growing mastery in a subject.