The Athanæum

By Alex Knapik

"This is a story that shows that all knowledge is valuable, and we must not in our compassion or pity forget to treat it as such. A long while ago, there was a young woman who had the most desperate need for an ancient ritual. Her father, you see, had been cursed by a halfling Spark such that his body was wracked in perpetual agony, and it was to this curse that she spent her days seeking a cure. It took her a full year to find out simply what she required, and she was willing to trade anything for for that knowledge. She was young. I looked for something, anything, for her to trade. But she was a peasant girl and had never gone to school or learned a trade. She had nothing but her youth and her dedication, and the price had to be paid. She was sixteen years old, if I remember correctly, when she came to me. When she left the next day, I could not say."

— Loremaster Benakin speaks to his students

Goals

Some members of the Athenæum trace their roots to various gods of knowledge, claiming they have been entrusted with the world’s knowledge in anticipation of a time when the world loses its memory. Others consider themselves the defenders of dark history, protecting the citizenry from evil secrets that they were not meant to know. A few corrupt Collectors use knowledge for their own nefarious ends. All Athenæum members have two tenets they hold sacred, however: as much information as possible must be recorded and guarded by its members, and that knowledge does not come without great sacrifice.

The Athenæum collects anything that reflects a part of history or holds knowledge within it. Each chapter strives to obtain every book, scroll, and royal proclamation — everything of historical merit that’s been written down — and keep them in their archives. In addition, chapters often have rooms of objects, from ordinary eating utensils to bricks from historic buildings and locks of royal hair. Items of magical power are sometimes among the articles, and are regarded with great reverence. Magical scrolls and spellbooks abound. Even Athenæum chapters of one person have at least a few magical objects of note.

Organization

There is an Athenæum chapter in nearly every major city of the Sovereign Isles, and many can even be found in small villages, traveling caravans, and roaming tribes. Their sizes can vary widely, from a single storyteller in an halfling village to monolithic institutions that bend the ears of of the Sovereign Court. Most typically, though, Athenæum members join or develop a “front” organization from which they begin their recordkeeping. The leaders of monasteries frequently establish chapters in addition to their other duties, and royal libraries in great kingdoms are an ideal place for a group to flourish.

As the size of individual chapters varies considerably, so do the relations between each group. Indeed, calling them chapters can be misleading, as many in the Athenæum may have little no contact with groups in other areas. There is no central leadership or coordination. Sometimes, particularly diplomatic members manage to collect a few chapters from nearby cities together to share information and resources. Such unions usually do not last long, as egos and differences in doctrine cause them to falter. Violence between groups is rare, though, given the Athenæum’s nature. While chapters with evil or selfish bents have been known to steal books or scrolls from others, even they respect other chapters’ missions, and commit grievous acts against their own kind only rarely.

In practice, the Athenæum operates with the consent and protection of the Sovereign Court, so long as they keep dangerous knowledge from the eyes and ears of the populace. While this directive is usually followed well enough, it was a chapter in the capitol itself that provided Aurich Stovkin the information he needed to send an illicit expedition to find Akratia and found the Embershroud Company. Unfortunately, the Athenæum is also a hotbed of Spark creation, given their working with forbidden knowledges so the The Pentarchy keeps at least one Templar close by each chapter to ensure Librarians and Collectors remain safe to society.

Collectors, for reasons of security, attempt to keep their activities as quiet as possible. Some operate as clandestinely as possible, using agents and adventurers to obtain items of knowledge for them. Others, especially larger institutions with the ability to defend themselves, are open about their goals, though they still are very careful about who knows the power of what they posses.

Membership and Initiation

The few individuals who drive the work of the Athenæum are those with magical power, who make knowledge their mystical pursuit. They are loremasters of the purest form, interested in knowledge for its own sake, beyond any rewards to themselves. They come from a multitude of backgrounds. Most were (and still are) scholarly or even royal wizards who took the pursuit of knowledge to new heights. Clerics pursuing answers their faith had not yet grasped are drawn to their Athenæum. Some are even adventurers — wizards, sorcerers, druids, and others looking to find answers to life beyond their mindless wandering from one dangerous situation to another. A few, it is said, have stumbled upon things that the world should never know, and now dedicate their lives to keeping that knowledge hidden from those that would use it for their own selfish ends – it is unfortunate that these members who discover such dangerous knowledge often become cursed with the Spark, and are forced into either exile or execution.

Joining an Athenæum chapter, if one knows of its existence, typically is not a difficult task. Most groups are pleased to add new guardians of knowledge if they can be trusted. Initiation and acceptance rites vary wildly, though most require prospective members to obtain and donate an item of some historical importance to join.

New members of an Athenæum chapter perform a variety of tasks, including researching newly obtained items, reporting back to the group about local events, and working as a scribe to earn money for the group. Large chapters have servants, apprentices, guards, and even bureaucrats to keep track to finances and the like. They often have good relations with adventurers, who they use to map out unexplored areas far away, or battle foes too dangerous for the chapter in order to gain a new magical item or sacred book. Anyone showing dedication and ability can rise to great prominence in a chapter. Few, however, get to do the most important work of the Athenæum.

Ritual of the Athenæum

The loremasters of the Athenæum have learned that they can sacrifice power in order to gain knowledge — they call this the Information Exchange. The loremasters have honed an ability to take strength, intelligence, memories, and other aspects of willing subjects (including themselves) and use it to accelerate knowledge and understanding to a remarkable degree, but the exchange must be of equal value. Searching for this exact transactional value of experiences and knowledge has driven dozens of Loremasters mad and created no few Sparks that were summarily executed. By laying hands and speaking their secret incantations, loremasters can learn to do things they never could have otherwise, or turn themselves into masters of a chosen skill. They can also transfer skills from one subject to another, though some of the talent degrades in the shift. Many loremasters of the Athenæum themselves have fragile, aged bodies because of the concessions they have made in order to gain new experiences and skills. A few, in times of great crisis, have even sacrificed their memories to gain a great insight to help their families or kingdom.

Most Athenæum loremasters are ready and willing to trade knowledge with people from outside the group, including royalty and adventurers. They will give up magical items, scrolls, forbidden tomes, and the like if the information or items presented are important enough to them. Rich Athenæum chapters have given powerful magical scrolls to adventurers willing to venture into danger and return with maps and stories from evil lands.

Sometimes, though, the people looking for knowledge have nothing to exchange. Some, like the young girl Benakin dealt with, look to remove curses or otherwise save themselves or their family. Others are less altruistic, and try to gain hidden knowledge or improve themselves without effort. While Athenæum loremasters might be alternatively sympathetic or repulsed by the seeker’s request, their reaction must be the same: for knowledge given there must be a price. Depending on the importance on the knowledge and its value to the seeker, the loremaster will take something from the petitioner’s mind or body. For a hundred-year-old deed proving a peasant’s ownership of a farm, the loremaster may leave the person a bit weaker. A wizard who needs to learn to create a magical item might age a year. For someone looking for the recipe of an elixir to save his dying wife, or the dark summoning scroll of the Seaeres Swamp, the stakes can be considerably raised — he might give up a piece of his soul. Loremasters most often consume these offerings, using their energies to power the Information Exchange ritual, though some hoard their offerings away, trading parts of their own body, mind, or soul to power the transaction.

Formal Name

The Athanæum of All Knowledge

Nicknames

Librarians, Collectors

Symbol

An ancient tome, open to the middle, which emits rays of light.

Important Figures

Selanar Daenala

An elderly (149 year old) elf collector of the Athanæum – she provided the information Aurich Stovkin required to dispatch his expedition and find Akratia, and for her actions the Sovereign Court ordered her punishment. While they allow the Athanæum more leeway than most, this action by Selanar had gone too far. In the end-year chaos of the Embershroud's founding, Selanar's punishment was postponed. It was only months later, in Highsun, that the Court finally returned to dispense justice. At that moment, Selanar decided exile was her life's path instead. Traveling to Akratia with the first batch of Sparks, she began her new life in the ruins of Akratia's Edge.