The Accursed Archive

The Accursed Archive is a planar realm created and ruled over by Xarphios, the Numen Lord of Knowledge and Fate. It is an endless library consisting of untitled books with black covers, where all forbidden knowledge can be found. The realm is haunted by the ghosts of mortals forever searching for knowledge. Stacks of books form mazes and spiraling pillars that can reach as high as the illuminating green sky. Intricate ruins and monstrous carvings can be found among the stacks. The plane is covered in a sea of ink and roiling cephalopod limbs, while Xarphios is omnipresent, presiding over all. Some areas of the realm are consumed by darkness which can kill any who enter it. Discarded pages and floating tomes fill the air.
The Accursed Archive is inhabited by the frightening alien servants of Xarphios . Made from the consumed seekers of knowledge that lost their minds and souls in the library and the ideas of Xarphios made manifest, these librarians stalk the labyrinthine stacks guarding their master's horde. in some areas of particularly powerful knowledge a Silent One may stand guard, this fearsome creature brings swift deadly punishment to any who disturb the deafening silence of their corner of The Accursed Archive.
The Archive is by no means closed as Xarphios has no qualms with mortals attempting to navigate his domain (as undoubtedly whatever secrets they find will, in the end, lead their soul to him). Apart from magical teleportation, the Archive is most easily entered by mortals through the reading of tomes of forbidden knowledge touched by Xarphios, displaced from time and scattered across the world. Upon reading they are transported forcefully to The Archive while an apparition of the reader's body remains in the material plane, tethering their life force. Most mortals who gain access to the secrets within The Archive are driven insane by unending revelations. Such is the fate of many a mage seeking power in forbidden dusty tomes. However, those who successfully journey through The Archive and show keen intelligence are known to discover powerful knowledge beyond the ken of most mortals.

Type

Dimensional plane

Owner/Ruler

Xarphios