Royal Institute of Cantonova
The Royal Institute of Cantonova is the largest library in Cantonova, situated in Almaviva Square in the Cuarto Almaviva neighborhood. It boasts an extraordinary collection of historical, religious, and arcane knowledge, including several ancient and magical manuscripts. It also serves as a museum, featuring a number of exhibits on the city of Cantonova and the lives of several of its historically notable figures.
History
The Institute was founded by royal decree of the first Count and Countess of House Almaviva in Y363. After the War of Great Sorrow damaged, shuttered, or outright destroyed many of the city's prized cultural institutions, Countess Mariana Almaviva pushed for a new hub of knowledge and culture around which the city could be rebuilt. The first iteration of the Institute was housed in temporary merchant carts and bookshelves rolled into Almaviva Square, until the main hall of the Institute could be finished in Y378. It has since been expanded several times, with new wings and alcoves commissioned by three Counts Almaviva, one Princess of Dreibach, and two Archmages of the Convocation of Wands.
Since Y1079, the Institute has been run by Madame Flora, a Half-Elf curator and scholar who has also served as the Wargrave pact-bound to Mab since Y1091. Under her care, the museum has made great strides in acquiring and displaying artifacts of significance to Cantonova and to Belcantan history as a whole.
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