The Lost Library of Cerinthus
Architecture
Currently, the only entrance to the Eternal Library is the High Tower, often used as a place of solitude and reflection by the Arcanists, if they were of high enough status. The stairs to the tower wind down to the main floor, which is of magical proportions.
The main floor is laid out with rows of bookshelves, with each shelf being approximately 30 feet long, and 20 high. The ceiling rises to 20 feet above the bookshelves. The central aisle is 15 feet wide, with a red carpet running down the center. The outer aisles are 5 feet wide, with shelves on either side. Every 100 feet stands a pair of columns, holding up a graceful arch connecting them with those on either side, creating a vaulted ceiling over the central aisle. A torch with magical fire is fastened to the end of every other pair of bookshelves, with a small, plush chair and end table beneath.
The main entrance is quite grand, but only those with permission to enter have permission to leave, and thus in the current era, the entrance cannot be found once the library is entered through the tower.
History
The Arcanists of Ilhudin, obsessed with divination and the future, sought to create a way to shape the future to their will. They created a ritual by which a book was written for each of the arcanists, that spontaneously wrote the life of the arcanist within. With each action the Arcanist made, it was also likewise recorded in their book. The Arcanists, enamored with the idea, sought to expand the ritual to all sentient beings.
While petitioning Oli'Val for the magic to create the Eternal Library, which would also summon and hold the books they sought to create, the Arcanists caught the eye of Genara and Beus'Os'Bar, and seeing the chance, the two deities allowed the magic to flow. Oli'Val, highly displeased at the other deities usurping his power as one of the three Arcanes, but also at the Arcanists for not only devising such a conjuration but thinking he would be amenable to the artifact, cursed the arcanists to an eternity in the library. Most of the Arcanists evolved over the millennia into the Wardens, the hooded, tentacled creatures that float in and out of the stacks and can be seen standing atop the tower. The progenitor of the idea for the books has taken on a caretaker role for the library, now referring to himself only as the "Master Register". He knows where every book is in the library and is in charge of returning them to the stacks. Should a book be removed from the library, the Wardens give chase and the holders of the book(s) are cursed with a mark. If within a half-mile radius of the library when Master Register finds a book was stolen, the thieves are transported to what was the law building in the lost civilization's capital of Cerinthus, also held in a time loop due to some of the Arcanists being in the building at the time of the initial curse. They seek to appease Beus by performing a ritual to him.
RUINED STRUCTURE
4522 AoW
4522 AoW
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