Saburra Desert Archive

Deep within the spiral of Saburra exists a place almost consumed by the sands of the oasis. Dark, cold, and kept at a low pressure, the archive is the home to the old texts, written before bindings became a thing and store to knowledge that will eventually be lost to time - unless an archivist or scholar can save it first.

Before the Grand Library at the academy, there was the Saburra Desert Archive. A place where knowledge was funnelled and kept safe, the sands forming a natural cavity that the ancient foliads used to keep their most important writings safe. Usually painted onto leaves with ink, the Archive is naturally cool and lacking in the bacteria needed to enhance the natural breakdown of these ancient texts, mainly due to the presence of specific fungal spores that retard the growth of said bacteria.

The archive also has installed over the ages special vents that are charged in a way that keeps the Archive at a lower pressure, and archivists go around, lacquering the contents of the archive with a special compound that slows the decomposition of the leaves.

While other archivists and scholars collate and petition the technicians of the binding machines to convert collections of these record leaves, the archive remains a source of primary knowledge despite its slowly decomposing contents.

Architecture

The archive is seperated into 4 zones.

Reception and records is right behind the old membrane doors, thick and bulging with veins that pulse along opaque skin that is more bark than the soft leaves of most 'doors'. Reception is served by an archivist who can point you to the part of the stacks that is most likely holding the information you are looking for. Records contains a series of small bindings that are routinely updated with what is coming in and very rarely out of the archive, and allows the staff to help the guests find things that may not be there anymore.

A slowly growing part of the archive is the Collections area. The archive demands that any collection made from its contents get a decontaminated binding of the work made from its contents. While the originals will still be kept, for ability to cross reference and for purity in meaning, a binding that has been enchanted with long life is absolutely something the archive craves to keep, so that knowledge may be kept alive.

At the moment Collections is a discrete section of grown racks that were preserved when they reached the end of their natural life outside, brought into the archive so that they do not strangle themselves in the lower quality air.

The third and largest section of the archives is the stacks, where most of the works are kept. This part of the 'dunes' is punctuated by columns of endlessly flowing and cycling sand, with ancient petrified trees holding up the dunes through their branches. Each tree is inscribed with magic long lost, and from their massive, interconnected branches the contents of the archive are laid.

The deepest section is Contamination, where those infected with either deep decomposition or the Binding Fungus are moved to, so that the decay within the works can either be kept or re-recorded. Due to the small number of academics willing to bring glory to old works, and the small number of archivists, this does mean that many wisdoms known long ago have to be relearned as the knowledge is lost to time.

Deep within the Archive, one of the Archivists toils. Her work against the Binding Fungus that threatens to grow within the archives. With her collection of ancient circuits, and a heavy broom and suction device, the archivist Han works tirelessly to keep the archive clean and working so that others can preserve the works contained within the vault. With her trusty aphidelite, and a deep craving to preserve knowledge, this diminutive foliad archivist is always there to help.

Just don't ask her about her love of games, you'll be there awhile.

Type

Library

Parent Location

Saburra