Libraries of Ariel
“Some say that the greatest adventures begin in a library. I’ve had one too many scrawled treasure maps thrust into my hand by old acquaintances as they succumbed to a mysterious curse, or whispered words of a fearful informant shortly before they were felled by a Stasan cult to believe that, but it’s true that the written words of dead people can be useful.”
- Elijah Stick, Gentleman Adventurer, On Adventure! (1887 A.T.)
Literacy is not the most common skill in the Lakes Region – while a great many people can read, write, and do at least basic sums, for others, it isn’t a fruitful enterprise. Locations with newspapers tend to be somewhat more literate, but even among the most literate communities, the tasks of reading and writing are functional tools: useful, sometimes relevant to one’s work, but ultimately something done for the purposes of business rather than pleasure.
This said, there are two whole faiths dedicated to knowledge (Fiona) and secrets (Kell), as well as the practice of arcane magic. For some, the pursuit of knowledge for its own purpose is a good unto itself, and many are the merchants, tradespeople, and aristocrats who have found that the right bit of knowledge carefully drawn from the right book has made all the difference in the world.
Public Libraries
Libraries that just anyone can access are a relative rarity in Ariel. In the modern era, only a few of any real size or history exist, mostly associated with institutions of learning. The University Libraries of Hoggsport and Portnos, the Temple of Fiona in Detter, and the Great Library of Stelton are among the very few that will open their doors to the various and sundry without specific cause – although all but the Temple of Fiona in Detter will still charge a fee for access, and access to the Temple’s deep archives is shut to all but the initiated within that faith. Visitors may request materials within, but there is no guarantee that the guardians of knowledge will accede to such a request.
Before the fall of Deepwood, the College of Darkwood’s library was available to all who would make the journey, with only their rare books catalogues at all restricted, and those to ensure that the works remained undamaged. Now, while the College still maintains a nominally independent status from the demonarchy that rules the nation as a whole, access to the library is significantly more restricted; perhaps to keep those self same demons from accessing truly dangerous works.
Private Libraries and Collections
Some libraries in Ariel are quite extensive indeed – if you can get in. It is well known that many temples of Fiona double as repositories of knowledge for the servants of the Sky Queen, but access to the works within is reserved for the faithful, who may elect to share that knowledge… or not. In a similar vein, several private groups, like the Royal Archivists, the Scrollfire Minotaurs, or the Keepers of the Eternal Song will allow access to rare works or answers to members, or occasionally those with a good referral, a good argument, or in some cases, an excellent bribe.
More accessible are the private collections of the well-to-do. There’s nothing stopping a person of means or affluence from amassing a large collection, and several dusty-but-technically-maintained libraries exist on the estates of wealthy aristocrats the region over, collected over centuries in service to needs and the whims of practical leaders and moneyed dilettantes. Even those aristocrats who are not scholars are still aware that knowledge is power, and power has value; access to these collections may be only possible in exchange for a favour, either immediately in service to a problem the library owner has, or to be specified at a later date. The ones who ask for very little immediately are often the most expensive overall.
Lost and Mythical Libraries
It is said… that when the War of the Twins overtook Darkwood, the college filled a mighty ship with singular works of great and terrible secrets, bound in seachests sealed with lead and pitch. The ship set sail just as the undead forces of Sarna the City-Render reached the docks, into a raging storm and violent sea, never to be seen again.
It is said… that beneath the light of a Blue Moon, in the woods and wild places of the Lakes Region, the light from the moon will sometimes, just sometimes, catch the trees just so, and reveal a path, marked in moonlight, that leads to a cave. Following the path leads to a tunnel of many traps, and beyond, a hundred hundred works, and a mythical librarian, who has read each and every one.
It is said… that in the Great Bazaar of Marius, there is Nemis’tal the Bookbinder, whose mystical book press can turn any blank book into any tome that has ever been bought or sold. What Nemis’tal asks for such a service varies from supplicant to supplicant, but as a celestial of the god of trade, they never get the worse of such an exchange.
It is said… that the faithful of Balaxa are sometimes shown the hiding place of the Book of the Winter’s Night, which holds a library’s worth of knowledge, for within its covers is every secret known only to a soul that has died from exposure in midwinter.
But then seeker… many things are said.