Free City of Bernice

Free Cities do not belong to any nation. They stand alone, run by the clergy, beholden to none but their deity.
The Free City of Bernice is the heart of worship for this divinity. As they serve the god of knowledge, Bernice's followers collect and preserve knowledge.

Knowledge is sacred and must be protected.

— Clergy of Bernice

The city is run by the Librarius, ranked highest among Bernice's followers.
The crown jewel of the city is the Great Library at its heart. The many works collected by the Illuminates from across the lands are sent by their home temple to the City to be cataloged by the Codexi, and as deemed appropriate, the Scriptori will have copies made and distributed to other temples. It has become the largest single repository of knowledge in the world.

Festival of Stories

The festiv@ is an annual holiday that falls on the 9th of Fruit Moon and honors Bernice. Pilgrims make the journey from surrounding nations to celebrate in the Free City, where the festival lasts for five days instead of just one. The clergy host a competition over the first four days; a council of Scriptori select from new works of the previous Calendar year a history, comedy, tragedy, and biography to be enacted each day. On the fifth, and true, day of the festival, the winning history, comedy, tragedy, and biography of the previous year are acted out and the new winners are crowned.
In addition to the excitement on the main stages, there are smaller venues throughout the holiday for other types of writings. These include poetry readings, Q&A tables and/or lectures on educational writings, and much more. The festival brings large revenues to the City and helps defray the costs of many of the programs it provides.

Supporting the Art of the Written Word

Authors of every stripe are welcome in the Free City, and free room and board is available at a Parador to anyone with a dream and a tale to tell. Paradors are not all the same, but the beds are always comfortable, and the food served in the dining rooms is hot and fresh. Aspiring/working writers are required to produce new works to keep their status and amenities. As writers rise in renown, the amenities and opportunities available grow.
In addition to offering the paradors to working writers, the clergy also encourage the authoring of histories. Governments, and other organizations, who may not have court scribes or who simply wish a fresh voice, can request an author be provided, for a fee, to record histories and tales of the nation. Additionally, the clergy sponsor writers with an eye for recording history to do so unencumbered by the prejudices of employers. The results of the two methods make for interesting reading, and even more interesting comparisons.

Founding

The Illuminates have always traveled the world teaching the populous to read and spreading Bernice's teachings through the spoken and written word. As they went they would also collect books, manuscripts, plans and designs, songs, poems- anything illustrating a facet of the accumulated knowledge of the world. The Illuminates would bring them back to their home temple. The Librarius, desiring a central repository to house copies the far flung works, but also understanding so much knowledge should not be under the auspices of any one country, commissioned a temple and great library that would dwarf all others to be built on the coast of a sparsely populated peninsula of land.
Scriptori, Codexi, and Bibliophs were sent from across the continents to the new temple bearing copies of the works from their own home temples. The great work then began of cataloguing and collating the collected works of the literate. The priests brought with them their spouses and families, and industries and services sprang up around the temple and library. Authors and poets were drawn to the temple and its innumerable works, and the Librarius, happy to have them, began to incentivize them to stay. Paradors were built where writers could live and work on their craft.

Type

City

Inhabitant Demonym

Free People

Included Locations

• Parador

Ruling Clergy

Librarius
Scriptori
Codexi
Illuminate
Biblioph