The Dornarieta Abenia National Library and Museum of Eastern Casaréi

History

The Dornarieta Abenia National Library and Museum of Eastern Casaréi, later to be called simply the Dorna Library, was commissioned by the second-generation royals of the Casaréi ruling family in the early days of the Time of Roses roughly thirteen hundred years ago. This new library would be named after the daughter of the king, and future queen of Casaréi herself, Dornarieta Abenia. And it would go on to be constructed into the base of the Mondero Mountains just outside of the capital of Casaréi, Meritosoa. The decision to construct the library was made to honour the country's three-hundredth-year anniversary under the current royal structure. The plan was to build an extravagant structure that would survive the generations to come and house the country's artifacts, history, and collected knowledge.
Construction of the library was a massive undertaking that Casaréi had never undertaken before, even with the careful construction of the Fallow Shales several generations before such a task had not been attempted. The country's architects and mages would have to come together and work, hand in hand, in order to complete such a task. This alliance was formed under a temporary construction group called the Abenia Construction and Sorcery Group, the group would be so successful in this undertaking that it was made permanent and continues to operate in Casaréi as the royal families preferred construction groups for large-scale buildings and structures.
The initial layout of the library was completed twelve years after construction began, even with the assistance of mages and hundreds of skilled artisans and construction workers the sheer scale of the library took nearly constant work to finish. And this would only be the beginning, the library would grow in size significantly over the next two hundred years with each new generation of royals commissioning new wings, rooms, and halls for the growing library. And by the time the library had reached its two hundredth year its size was nearly impossible to imagine, with thousands of feet of rock face carved and sculpted into an incredible building that would look over a large stretch of Casaréi.
Official expansions would stop just after the library's two hundred and thirtieth birthday with the king of Casaréi at the time ordering a stoppage to these expansions due to cave-in concerns.

---

Sidebar - The Fallow Shale

The Fallow Shale is a city located on the most southwestern tip of Casaréi, and it is the further settlement from the country's capital Meritosoa.
But it is one of the oldest and most significant cities of Casaréi. It is located high atop a sheer cliff that looks down upon the crest of water where the Vilanto Sea of the south meets the Graveyle Ocean on the western coast of the continent. A perfect meeting location for trade and restocking of supplies before merchants cross between the two bodies of water.

A view of the Fallow Shale from its western sea front

The only problem being, that the Fallow Shale is located over three hundred feet above sea level atop a sheer face cliff. After years of brainstorming the brilliant architects of the city designed an enormous pulley system that allowed boats to dock and to be hauled up to a ship dock point next to the city. Where they could then restock, trade, and relax at their leisure. The Fallow Shale now has access to nearly a hundred of these pulley systems and is itself an active and busy trade city despite its awkward location.

---

Artist and Architecture

The initial building's architectural design and most of its expansions over the next two hundred or so years was influenced primarily by the works of the esteemed artist and designer Valderas Davita Burgos. Burgos was a renowned artist in the Time of Roses and specialized in large structures and intricately designed sculptures made of stone and marble.

Burgos was known to design buildings with tall pointed spires with many sharp angles and points, dotted with numerous recessed cavities of various shapes where frescos, paintings, and sculptures could be placed either during or after initial construction.
Burgos was chosen as the lead designer of the library project, and was one of the founding members of the Abenia Construction and Sorcery Group, though he would have a falling out with them years later and would mysteriously disappear somewhere within the walls of the library he designed. Some believe he was a part of the 12 in 1 accident, which occurred during the time frame of his disappearance.

Valderas Davita Burgos working at his desk in the library a few years before his disappearance

Burgos's vision of the library was of a large multi-floored library adorned with several dozen spires and a unique wall structure that almost resembled the appearance of bookshelves. All of this would be partially carved from and into the Mondero Mountains, with the main foyer and public museum and library constructed of stone, with the remaining lecture halls and archives dug from the existing caverns and tunnels of the mountains.
The blueprints for the library were laid out on paper in massive scrolls that could be rolled out and lined up in order to view the grand blueprint that Burgos designed. This approach was absolutely unheard of during this time, and the blueprint scrolls themselves became priceless artifacts. Recreations of the scrolls are on display in the public museum while the surviving real scrolls are located under lock and key deeper inside the library.

Sidebar - The Abenia Construction and Sorcery Group

This collected group of architects, construction workers, and mages was created as a temporary force to build the Dorna Library, but it was so massively successful they continue to operate to this day. In more modern times this group has been associated with many of Casaréi's largest and most prolific building and structure projects.
Including rebuilding portions of damaged buildings of importance in the Fallow Shale after the Great Mustache Fracas of 708. And are the current leading contractors for rising patios, an ingenious device installed at various inns and restaurants that allows for wondrous views of the Clouded Hills of Aveline to the west of the Mondero Mountains.

The library was designed with the intent of future expansions, with the thought process being that construction could easily occur both on the outer building where the public museum was located.
Treating this outer building like any normal structure during expansion, by adding new buildings to the sides or top of the existing building. Or more uniquely, by continuing to expand upon the areas and wings located inside of the mountain, by digging further into the rock and carving all of what was required in the new areas directly out of the mountain's stone.
In this latter case, dozens of tunnels were dug as offshoots from main corridors and hallways to allow for quick expansion, and while many of these were used during future building projects many of the tunnels still lead nowhere. Though on occasion mysterious doors to unknown rooms have appeared at the ends of somewhere these dead-end hallways.
Regardless, both of the above expansion opportunities of building upwards or inwards would be explored greatly during numerous new addition projects to the library in the coming two centuries.

But the latter option of building into the mountain, deeper and deeper into the centre of the mountain would become more commonplace as it was easier to accomplish than building upwards. Over the generations, many special wings have been built with unique purposes and designs. The Dorna Library not only has sections acting as museums and places of teaching and research but also fully underground micro-ecosystems that operate as an arboretum and fungi garden, a wing in which a large medical facility has been built in order to study beast and monster biology, and of course several large cafeterias, restaurants and inns accessible to both staff and the public alike. The library has in some ways become its own small town or city.
And while the library is vast indeed all of the rapid expansion over the years became dangerous as time went on. Soon the building's own mass began to become a major enemy towards its health; cracks and breakages across its walls started to become commonplace, and even the occasional but small cave-in would occur. The library would once again call upon the Abenia Construction and Sorcery Group once again in order to assist with and protect the building from further damage. The mages of the group designed and implemented a massive network of magical wards and runes to help bolster the building's structure and enormous weight. All in the hopes that it would stop the structure from collapsing further.
However, during another routine expansion disaster struck and a major cave-in occurred seriously damaging one of the library's oldest wings. The wing is thought to have been completely crushed during the cave-in along with those that resided within it, this accident occurred in the same few years in which the accident of the 12 in 1 had and would prove to be the final straw. This last expansion would be abandoned, and all future expansions were cancelled and banned by the king at the time. This lost wing has never been unearthed as a safety precaution.

---

Off-Limits Areas

Several wings of the Dorna Library are strictly off limits for the regular public and are only accessible by a small number of researchers, historians, and high-level nobility and royalty, though this latter category rarely visits unless it is a matter of national importance.
These researchers and historians are primarily the caretakers of the library's rarest and most valuable artifacts, ones that are either too valuable or dangerous for the public to have access to, even if it's just for a quick glance here and there. They not only take care to ensure the prolonged health of the artifacts but also study them to the best of their abilities so that they can understand how they operate.

The Lost Archive

One of the lost wings in the Dorna Library is an archive of ancient documents and artifacts collected by the travelling historians of the long past. Most of these items are not of Casaréi origin and are from abroad, many of which were illegally collected by adventurers and archeologists during excursions into various countries and regions across the continent.
It is unknown what could lie in this long-lost archive but it is hypothesized that some of the long-lost and highly valued treasures from ancient Shikyuo, Baizair, and potentially even artifacts of Thysduin and elven origins before it was agreed upon by all nations that travel to the plateau was forbidden.

---

The 12 in 1 - Sepulchre of Forbidden Knowledge

The Sepulchre of Forbidden Knowledge, also known as the 12 in 1 is a myth associated with the Dornarieta Abenia National Library in Casaréi. The 12 in 1 is said to be a figure, or artifact, who lives or resides within a hidden room within the library somewhere deep within its recesses.
Secreted away behind a strange locked door which only appears at the end of the abandoned hallways of the library. Strangely this door does not seem to stay put, disappearing and reappearing at random in various nooks and crannies in the library. Never staying long for the staff to figure out how to open it, though many of the staff do not wish to meddle with what potentially lies beyond.

A depiction of what the Sepulchre of Forbidden Knowledge could look like in book form

This Sepulchre of Forbidden Knowledge is said to hold hidden knowledge of Fyria and the universe at large; much more knowledge than any one person could ever hope to contain themselves.
Many theorists believe that even a glimpse at the artifact, or figure, would cause sudden and complete insanity to the sheer depth of its scope. The 12 in 1, is currently only a myth, and people have only heard stories and tales about it. Though some swear to have seen the door leading to its room, locked by a door with a strange symbol upon it.
The story of the 12 in 1 was said to have originated in the early history of the library, within its first few decades of life.

It is said that during an examination of a magical artifact discovered abroad the magical device violently imploded, dragging all of the researchers and attendees present quickly into its grasp. In the blink of an eye it is said to have absorbed the entire room of observers, and then itself leaving behind what would become known as the Sepulchre of Forbidden Knowledge, the 12 in 1. And somehow during the whole process, the room itself was shoved in between realms, with only its door occasionally making in appearance within the library ever since.
The name 12 in 1 came later in the telling of the story, nicknamed as such due to the number of people that were allegedly consumed during the accident, and that only one was left behind. Whether that was a cosmic being of intense horror or a simple tome of knowledge has been debated upon greatly. There are two popular retellings of this tale, and most of these tales share the same basic premise. The magical artifact, the accident, the implosion and the resulting loss of the room.

What is debated, however, is what was left behind in the room after the accident took place. Some argue that it is a creature of tangled flesh and unknown cosmic energy stitched together of the body parts of the unlucky observers that found themselves in the room at the time.
While others believe that during the accident, the implosion of the item didn't cause the observers to be absorbed but instead caused a rift in the cosmos to be opened up and that all the observers were sucked into its depths to a location of unknown origin.
And that upon its closure was deposited a strange tome filled with mysterious texts of an unknown language.

A depiction of the 12 in 1 as an amalgamated creature of cosmic horror

But because the room has never been successfully entered, no one knows what lies beyond and no one can confirm what the 12 in 1 truly is. Is it indeed a creature of cosmic horror, or a tome of unintelligible alien symbols? Or is it something even stranger?

Summary

Located just outside of Meritosoa, the capital of Casaréi, The Dornarieta Abenia National Library and Museum of Eastern Casaréi, or simply just The Dorna Library, is the most extensive library and museum on the western coast. Built directly into the side of the Mondero Mountains, it holds countless tomes both young and ancient within its walls, along with treasures and artifacts of long-forgotten times. Its ground floors are accessible to the public and are visited by thousands of people annually.
While its deeper rooms are locked away under lock and key guarding their artifacts against interlopers with only a small number of historians and researchers allowed access to them. Some people even say that parts of the library have secretly been lost, having fallen into crevices in between realms after an unknown artifact malfunctioned. It is said that if you take a wrong turn in the library's deeper recesses you may end up in a long-lost room or wing of the building.

---

Table of Contents

Important People at Dorna Library

Current Head Curator - Abuela Cardenal Burgos

A descendant of the original architect of the Dorna Library and current head curator and librarian of the library. Cardenal Burgos has worked in the library nearly her entire life and knows as much as anyone could about its halls, but to her own admission, even she does not know everything about the library and much of it remains a mystery to her. Cardenal Burgos is a somewhat serious individual who takes her job very seriously, but she is easily excited when it comes to new discoveries associated with the library and is keen to assist any historian or researcher who brings in new details and artifacts associated with the library's mysterious history.
She is especially interested in the myth of the 12 in 1 and the Sepulchre of Forbidden Knowledge, an artifact that is said to potentially exist within one of the lost wings of the library. Many details about this myth are unconfirmed, and various different tellings exist. Regardless, Burgos seeks to resolve the mystery of the myth and hopes to one day find the door that is said to lead to room in which the 12 in 1 resides.

Abuela Cardenal Burgos (above) and Taren Lordby (below) the two are familiar with each other and frequently interact with each other in order to manage the libraries continued success

Head of Sanitation and Maintenance - Taren Lordby

Turns out that keeping an enormous library built into the side of a mountain comes with a fair amount of complications and difficulties surrounding such a routine task as keeping the place clean and in good repair. And in order to keep the place from falling apart in comes Taren Lordby, one of the few non-native employees of the Dorna Library. Hailing from Roseport, Lordby has extensive experience in the care and maintenance of large-scale libraries. Lordby spent many years taking care of the Roseport Central Library back in his homeland of Roseport in the nation of Heldrin.
Lordby primarily manages a large team of janitors, builders, and other workers that take care of the unending list of chores and maintenance tasks related to the care of Dorna Library. And while much of Lordby's current job is related to the management of his team, he is an extremely skilled technician and was in the early days of his tenure with the Dorna Library was sent abroad to learn the ways of the Sanitation Mages at the Sumner Sorcerers College. And as such Lordby is also a classically trained mage able to magically care for a variety of issues. He has also taught some of these tricks to his staff, though this is all under the table as sanitation magic is technically only supposed to be taught in an official educational facility, for safety reasons.

---

Related Article