Explore the Library!
Each of the physical locations listed here correspond to categories on this world page! To explore more of these categories, click on the appropriate header to find your way to that section of the Library.
The Interior
The interior of the library is much larger than its exterior would imply. Upon entering the doors, one is swept into the main hall, a large room with 100-
sodryn-tall ceilings and countless doors, stairs, and signs leading to the different sections of the Library.
Each major topic gets its own section, or category, where literature on similar topics can be stored. In addition, there are smaller sections that are dedicated to aiding in the navigation of the rest of them.
Directly opposite the entrance of the library, there is an archway leading to a seemingly endless hallway, containing rows upon rows of books held in bookshelves lining the hall. This section contains books that have yet to be reviewed by Saibra for approval, or ones that were rejected and are waiting for removal - the former catergoy is, admittedly, much larger than the latter.
In this hallway, one can find information on nearly everything the mind can think of. However, a warning atop the arch leading into the hallway reads a warning that the content may be biased or incorrect, until it has been properly checked and sorted.
The Hall of the Gods is separated by a gilded door high up on the walls of the main room. The stairs leading up to it glow with an otherworldly light, and stepping on them causes them to sing. The inside of the room is similarly decorated, with golden-lined bookshelves storing books bound in exquisite material.
In this room, one will find literature on the systems of the divine, the interactions between the planes, and the organisations of the otherworldly beings worshipped by the realms of the world. For specific details on the beings themselves, one must venture deeper into the library.
Behind a glowing golden door with a sense of power eminating from it, the Hall of the Divine is much darker than its entrance implies. The central area is lit with pedastals containing central literature of the 11 divines, but venturing into the shadows leads one to a darker past, of war, jealousy, and betrayal. Discarded in the shadows are the husks of the memories of the Old Gods, those who have been forgotten, yet still remain. Perhaps some secrets from the past, however, are best left forgotten.
The final door in the Hall of Gods is framed with flowers, and glitter and laughter. The seemingly amicable room is, however, split in two, filled with thorns and mud on one side, and trees and mushrooms on the other. Books float above the ground, untouched by the environment and pristine from the clear, breathable air.
Here one can read of the creatures that would be gods, brought down by the folly of their father and sequestered to an exterior domain, constantly on edge and the brink of war.
A fleshy door hides in the corner of the Hall of the Gods, black ichor pouring down through the cracks and seeping into the otherwise pristine carpet. An uncomfortable squelching noice replaces a typical creaking as it would open.
The inside of the room is dark and unkept, seemingly untouched even by the curator, though this is not truly the case. Evil exudes from the very books, accompanied by a primal hunger for unobtainable things, energy from the gods themselves, magic from those who can naturally harness it. The books have a sort of... pull... to them, catching the eye and not letting it go. It is a struggle to leave this room, after entering it.
Across from the Hall of the Divine is a door seeming to burst with flame, yet cool and even cold to the touch. Simply regarding the door causes a visitor to feel a deep sense of shame, guilt, and betrayal. These emotions only increase, tenfold, when stepping across the threshold and into the glowing red room behind. The bookshelves are made of hellstone, the books bound in leather that doesn't look quite right. The constant feeling of eyes on one's back persist well after exiting the room, perhaps well after leaving the Astral Plane entirely.
Here one can find literature on those who rejected the gods, rebelling and leading to their separation and imprisonment in the Nine Hells.
A large, open room downstairs from the main one explores the very planet itself. Maps line the wall, globes float in the air, and models of cities and landmarks are placed on pedastals of wood.
Some are illusions, mapping a current and accurate version of the present state of the world. Others are old maps collected from times past, depecting the prior states of the continents, or displaying old cities since fallen, preserved in their prime. Some rooms contain to-scale models of important locations, allowing one to walk through the place held in a form of stasis, preserving its features from a specific time.
Maps of the Planet
The planet itself is, of course, displayed, a large globe in the centre of the Atlas room itself. Her two moons are displayed alongside it, orbiting with grace and displaying the stages of the moons. Celestial bodies, theories on the material of the planet itself, and information on the world as a whole can all be found among the shelves here, forming a circular shape around the model globe.
Maps of the Continents
Decorating the walls and floors are countless maps of each of the contients, collected from ages past, present, and future. Rooms are dedicated to each of the five continents of the world, sorted by time, scale, and what has been displayed. Political maps, geographical maps, even maps of the magical currents passing through the Material plane, can all be found here.
Maps of the Cities
Cities are explored both as two-dimentional maps on old parchment, or three-dimentional replicas, some even to-scale. Displaying rooms of ruins and sprawling megapolises alike, the rooms depicting the planet's cities would take years to explore, even with them closely grouped together as they are.
Maps of the Planes
The planes are also maps, both as their own locations and as overlaying diaplays showing the interactions between the planes with each other.
This room captures the very flow of time, allowing one to explore it's passage and view the planes as they move in sync or independently.
The Hall of Tongues records all of the world's known languages, bringing them together into three categories as hallways fork from the central room. Standing between them all, one hears a constant cacophony of voices whispering and singing, none of them able to be made out above the voices of the rest.
Here represents not just the languages of the people, but their sources - how they came about, how they merged, how they evolved - and more importantly, how they are intrinsically tied to the cultures they represent. Here, one becomes emerged in the expression of community, and the tongues used to uphold it.
Languages of the People
The languages both currently and previously spoken, living, dead, or extinct, spoken naturally on the material plane, are stored in the halls of the languages of the people. Here, one can explore syntax and phonemes as they might lands and oceans. Whispers of celebrations and song are prominent here.
Langauges of the Extraplanar
Some languages are not always suited for the ears of mortals, and these are the ones of significance to those of the outer planes. Here, whispering of the secrets of the arcane and divine fill one's ears, causing them to go insane if they dare stay within its walls for too long.
Languages of Artificial Origin
Lastly is the hall of the artificial languages, constructed by groups or organisations for a specific purpose. The whispers here are those of pacts made, deals broken, oaths pledged. Here are the languages of nature, the speech of thieves, the secret languages of those who reside in the shadows.
The vibrant Hall of Species is filled with calls, chirps, howls, and groans. Alongside the documents is a beastiary, real and illusory depictions of the animals they describe. The land morphs itself around the creatures to best suit those in its midst, and the bookshelves are contained in trees, vines, and bushes. Books fly in the air, flapping pages like birds.
Flora
The flora of the planet grows all across this section of the Library, books grasped between branches, vines, and tendrils.
The sound of rushing water can be heard throughout this section of the Library, inviting one to sit, make themselves at home.
Here, one can read about and interact with the plants of the world. Though, some should be handled with caution...
Fauna
Large beasts and small creatures alike, the fauna roaming this section of the Library contain knowledge of their own. With some, interacting with their illusion will bring one to any associated literature, but to others, speaking to the awakened beast that roams the halls will enlighten one to their nature. The creatures are not just represented in words, but in ideas and colours. They are connected to the pages on which they are discovered, but are alive in the minds of those who visit.
Sapient Species
The sapient species are represented in a large library-like building in the centre of the Hall of Species. A miniature version of the Library as a whole, this room contains shelves upon shelves and books upon books, all dedicated to the exploration and recording of the most precious people on the planet, those most crucial to its continuance - even more so than gods.
Cultures
The cultures of the world can be explored in this mini-library within the Library, devoted pages to exploring the unique interactions and unions between the people of the planet. These pages, decorated with tears and laughter, with joy and with pain, hold the experiences of all the creatures of the world, all of those who dare to think.
Beasts & Monsters
The animals that cannot be represented within the Library for risk of maiming or death of visitors, distruction of library property, or sheer size, are contained within the tomes of Beasts and Monsters, held at the end of the Hall of Species. Here, one can discover the beauty and terror of those lurking in the depths, exploring that which cannot be seen.
The Board of Contributors is one of the rooms located at the front of the Library, near its entrance. Here, records are stored of all who visited the Library, those who contributed to its knowledge, donated to its expansion, or simply visted, leaving more enlightened than when they arrived.
This room is a towering one, spiral staircase stretching across the bookcases lining the circular room. At the ceiling of this room are the quarters of the librarian herself, busy at work reading, sorting, and annotating. She is not used to visitors, but she makes time for each and every one regardless.
Collaborators
Collaborators are those who have written documents specifically for the contribution of the library. These people are highly appreciated, both for donating to the body of knowledge, but also for expanding it. Collaborators have full access to the Library's halls, and are welcome whenever they so wish to visit and read the books that are stored.
Donators
Donators are those who have found unique literature to contribute to the Library. While not written by them, it is a contribution to the Library's collection of knowledge of the world, and is greatly appreciated no matter how small. Donators are permitted entry to all of the areas of the Library as well, able to explore to their own extent.
Writers
Writers are those who have written some of the documents of the Library, but whose work was isntead contributed by a Donator. These people are still highly respected, and are welcome in the Library whenever they wish. They are permitted entry as though they were a Collaborator.
Visitors
Visitors are those who come to the Library solely to learn. These people are more than welcome, the pursuit of knowledge always an honourable one. They do not have access to some of the more secret locations in the Library, but are able to traverse the vast majority of the known information of the world.
In the far reaches of the library, past the rows and rows of books and the shelves upon shelves containing knowledge unimaginable, stand a single, lone, door. This door leads, seemingly, to nowhere - a large, empty room devoid of anything. The door remains locked on most days, but to the most revered visitors - those not from the inner planes, nor from the outer ones. Those from separate worlds and universes entirely. The Library bridges the gap between the real world and the false - though to anyone who may answer, the distinction between these two is nebulous. Step into the void of the realm in-between, and one finds themselves at a crossroads, of which they may never return from.
Internal Processes
There are a few pieces of bookkeeping that must be done to keep the Library running. This generally entails of the tracking and storing of the contributors and the books, documents, and other forms of knowledge that they share.
Submitting a Book
To submit a book to the Library, one must first find their way to its location. Upon reaching there, they may speak with Saibra and enter their book into the Central Hallway. It takes a while for a book to be approved, but once it is, the person who offered the book becomes some form of a contributor.
Becoming a Contributor
As a contributor, one gains access to some of the more secret portions of the Library, granting them access to knowledge that even the gods themselves may not be aware of. The contributors are some of the most important people in regards to keeping the Library running, and are personally known and thanked by Saibra herself.
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