Athos Repository
"There are times when weapons fail, and knowledge becomes again the true power that rules this world."
The Library
The Athos Repository was a massive library that covered a whopping 35 acres of Athian land on Visctheria, and was built over a set of fissures that cracked through the earth during the Shattering. These fissures proved to be no problem for the flying Kami of Athos, but could be difficult to traverse for the non-flying folk that visited the famed country of knowledge. Delicate bridges criscrossed the chasms that sat beneath the library, making the difficult pilgrimage to the Repository even more trying.
The chasms of the Athos Repository stretched farther than any Visctherian could comprehend, and a complete catalog of the library never existed, although not for lack of effort. Millenia of collected knowledge and information resided in the maze of shelves, and many catalogs were stolen or destroyed before the Impact of the Strutheo Star. The library suffered through many wars and raids, and while there were still plenty who wish to protect it, there were never enough eyes to watch every corner.
Also home to the Abyssal House, the Athos Repository held court over the rest of the country in both knowledge and lawmaking ability, as many Athian representatives either studied at, or were even raised in, the Repository. The representatives reference the carefully recorded laws and codes on a daily basis. While this doesn't make the Laws Division the most popular, it certainly does make it less dusty.
The Divisions
The Athos Repository was split into three sections, jutting out from the center in a beautiful triquetra designed and built long before Athos became a country. The building stood around 18 stories above the Visctherian soil, and even extended into the chasms below, creating a massive structure that housed literal tons of knowledge, and would eventually inspire the Visctherian Analogs. The building's sections were each named after the content they housed, known as The Arts, The Sciences, and The Beliefs.
The Nest
The Nest is the home of the Godsent known as the Dulcenoth Owl, where thousands of Arcanists each year made their pilgrimage to. While not many books lived on these shelves, dozens were read to the Owl each day, when there were no presentations happening. Despite this, the shelves did not stay empty, and were used to process and file incoming books that were donated to the library on a regular basis.
The Arts
Built to house the knowledge of all art across Visctheria, the Arts wing doesn't just hold books; many musical and artistic artifacts line the walls of this area, allowing visitors to view what they are reading about. Paintings, instruments, and tools are all kept on the shelves at eye level, all behind protective glass that, in later years of the Deific Age, was engineered to display facts and myths about each artifact.
Fiction
While each section of the triquetra was equally sized, the fiction section of the Arts branch was overflowing in later years. The surge in popularity of fiction novels and short stories exploded the stacks, and kept many Athian librarians extremely busy as they constantly sorted, cataloged, and checked out books to visitors.
Visual Art
Art books became very popular after the Division of the World, when many beautiful works of art were either damaged or destroyed. Because of this, this section was recently remodeled to hold more books rather than items, as many paintings and works of physical, visual art are owned privately. Despite this, the art collection at the Repository is extensive, and can easily be viewed with a day pass to the library.
Literature
The Literature section was a mishmash of works of art, poetry, and lyrics to songs no one will ever hear. Famous novels that helped to shape the culture of Visctheria crowded the shelves, and as some would complain, relatively untouched.
Architecture
One of the oldest sections of the Arts Division, these shelves were filled with notes on Architecture that dated from the late Heroic Age to the earliest recorded structures on Visctheria - the religious temples and ruins that dotted the landscape of the world. Study of these temples never slowed, and while so little was known after many eras of destruction, it was discovered that ancient Visctherians were not, in fact, the ones who built these temples.
Music
The music section of the Arts wing was a beautiful concert hall and opera house that playsd Visctherian pieces twenty-four hours a day, ten days a week. Only the best musicians were employed there, and music could be requested by guests to the library, to be added to a massive queue system invented by an Oshorian Arcanist studying Prismatics.
The Sciences
The Sciences wing of the Athos Repository was the smallest of the three wings, containing information on the Natural Sciences, Formal and Social Sciences, and even the science of Magic in the world. While not as filled out as the Arts and Beliefs wings, the Sciences was still an all important section that supported much of Visctherian study into the mysteries of the universe.
Natural Sciences
The Natural Sciences of the Athos Repository was relatively small compared to the Visctherian Analogs section on Biomes, but nonetheless, it fills the walls of a significant area of the library. Covering the natural laws and existences of Visctheria, the first section of the Sciences is also commonly referenced.
Formal Sciences
This section contained the laws and codes of Visctherian law. While the Athos chapter was the most extensive section - simply for the sake of accessibility - much of Visctherian written law could be found here.
Social Sciences
Much of this section was dominated by documentations of the numerous Visctherian wars. While there were new emerging studies into cultural relations between the countries, the wars took precendence in most study and reflection.
Magical Sciences
The Magical Sciences was the most extensive section of the Sciences wing, in that most of the published works were nothing but theories on the way the world works. No one truly understood magic without doing some research into the Beliefs, which made secular study difficult.
The Beliefs
The Beliefs was a massive wing for only having two sections, with an entire shelf of each section devoted to study of the Enchirydion. The History and Prophecy sections were stuffed full of writings both finished and incomplete, and there were new additions everyday. Recorded prayers, hymns, poems, and interpretations of the Enchirydion all find their way to the shelves.
Relgious History
In the Religious History section, favoritism was clear. The area that held the Enchirydion in its entirety was frequented far more than any other part of the section, resulting in both good knowledge of the world's religious book, and also a startling lack of knowledge of the rest of the world's interpretation of that book. The writing of the Enchirydion changed the world, and affected many in startling ways. Those histories were all recorded in this section.
Religious Prophecy
The Religious Prophecy section was more ramblings than writings, and while many citizens frequented this section, few visited with logic in mind. Hundreds of dozens of short stories and half-attempted prophecies filled the shelves, and while an area of this section was still devoted to the last book of the Enchirydion - known as the Age of Mortals - most of the Prophecy section was gibberish.
The Orphanage
The Athos Repository also contained the largest orphanage on Visctheria, where not dozens, but hundreds of young children of all kinds of Sapient were raised. They learned and lived in the library, with many rooms being converted to living quarters for the children and caretakers. Surrounded by books, they were raised in a knowledge-heavy environment, and many who grew up at the Repository went on to do great things. Many orphans born in countries across Visctheria were eventually sent to Athos, if their home country lacked the resources to care for them. Because of this, the population of Athos had grown quite mixed, allowing for a furthering in accessibility in recent years.
Dulcenoth Owl
The only one of its kind, the Dulcenoth Owl was worshiped in Athos as a god of knowledge, and guarded the Athos Repository. Arcanists would travel from all over the world to dedicate research to the Owl, reading their theses aloud in a special presentation that will draw global audiences. Presenting on the stage in the Repository was a highly coveted position. Rumour had it that if you spoke to the Owl in its native tongue, it would teach you the secret of the Godsent.
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