Obsidian Armory (Ob-sid-ee-an Armory)
...in this library, instead of being a collection of works on the Ancient Order, the Great Collapse, and so on, it’s focused on magic, creatures, and the Deepland itself...
The far Eastern edge of the Planus Continent is known for a chasm of thick monstrous creatures, and one of the most desolate landscapes on Awldor. It’s also the home of the greatest library about magic, mutated creatures, and the twisted, irradiated underground realm of the Deeplands. A library that almost no one has ever heard of.
It may also be the greatest hope for Awldor if the Great Collapse continues, or happens again.
That library is the Obsidian Armory. Part storehouse of knowledge, part training grounds, this library is in the isolated mining town of Talabrae’s Deep along the edge of the Great Chasm. It’s a centerpiece in Talabrae’s Deep, attached to the Hunter’s Hall which acts as the town hall for the settlement.
A Deadly Purpose
A library called an ‘armory’? Well, as the saying goes, knowledge is a double-edged sword...
The Obsidian Armory didn’t start at a library, but they also used its first incarnation as a place to preserve learning. In generations past, this building was not a library, but a fortress. The knowledge it preserved was scholars and teachers. They were refugees from dark elven and dwarven empires in the Deepland caverns that fell during the Great Collapse.
In those early days of Talabrae’s Deep, those refugees needed a safe place. A refuge to protect themselves and their people against a swarm of ravenous, twisted creatures hunting them. Some of those people refugees with them scrolls, books, and other materials. Most did not. Instead, they carried magical, martial, and other lore in their minds. Memorized and learned as part of their professions. They were the last living repository of ancient dark elven or dwarven knowledge.
The refugees, sheltered in that simple fortress, survived those Nightmare Years. With the gibbering monstrosities pushed back into the Deepland caverns, those refugees expanded the Obsidian Armory. What was once a fortress became a stout library. A cathedral to learning and study of the dark forces from the Deeplands and their murderous ways. It’s here that the Slate Watch Order performs their training and study to keep the Deepland nightmares at bay.
But it’s so much more than a library with preserved, creepy undead things!
This library has grown well beyond that original purpose. Local inhabitants of Talabrae’s Deep regularly visit the Obsidian Armory for study on farming, masonry, mechanical inventions, and more. Alchemists from the few scattered settlements along the Great Chasm, and even Windtracers from distant Ishnanor, have visited the Obsidian Armory. All to study and glean insight from the ancient dark elven and dwarven texts. Most leave copies of their own accounts or learning, which has helped the Armory grow.
Alterations
The alchemy lab is on the first floor. If you see a greenish-gray fog trailing out the open door... best to find somewhere else to be.
The Obsidian Armory has experienced several changes over the generations. Once the attacks stopped, and the refugees looked ahead toward a potential future, they realized what the Armory could become. In particular, it was the vision of the dark elven scholar Gedros Kebih, and the dwarven stonemason, Dobek Emberald, that drove the alterations to the original fortress.
They designed initial the alterations with strength and defense in mind. But they also kept in mind of it becoming a place of learning. Rooms on the first floor were expanded to develop an alchemist’s lab for study. Next, the Talabreans later converted a portion of the basement to a vault, dubbed the ‘Undercroft’. There, books or cursed items impervious to destruction were stored for study until a way could be found to render them harmless.
Later alterations would still maintain the need for defense. But these would allow additional rooms on the second story to house volumes of books, specimens, and more. After the Slate Watch Order was founded, a walled training ground was added behind the library for martial exercise and practice.
The most recent addition in the past century was a wood and briskstone hall that connects the Obsidian Armory to the Hunter’s Hall of Talabrae’s Deep. They did this to allow the Council of Twelve, the governing body of Talabrae’s Deep access to the library for meetings, and safety if necessary.
Architecture
The original architecture was a traditional dwarven stronghold. A long rectangle, it had a domed tower on each corner for visibility and support of the main walls. Two interior walls were built to provide layers of safety if the first wall was ever breached.
As the refugee camp and fortress grew into a mining settlement, future architecture leaned on both dwarven and dark elven architecture styles. There stout dwarven columns and foundations rise to meld with dark elven flying buttresses and cathedral-like ceilings.
Despite the look, the Talabreans implemented the design to support strong briskstone walls to deflect physical or magical attacks, while allowing a wide field of vision. This strength became essential as library study rooms, with additional weight in books and other materials, needed to be supported.
These architectural elements are still maintained and used. An assault from the Deepland caverns has yet to penetrate to the heart of Talabrae’s Deep. But the locals are not willing to take a chance, and see the Obsidian Armory as their ‘safe haven’ if all else falls.
Defenses
The Armory has traditional, and non-traditional, method of defense. Stained glass windows are tall and slightly thin, with arrow slits sitting on either side. These tall windows were designed for a spellcaster in mind who would need a wider field of view than an archer.
Likewise, even the stained glass is part of the defense. The Talabreans magically attuned each pane of stained glass to a primal element that is reflected in the color. When combined in the stained glass portrait, the collection of attuned glass panes acts as a mystical shield. This isn’t impervious to all magic, but just resistant and gives a spellcaster a temporary shield as defense.
All the towers are domed. This idea was based on generations of experience from building in the Deepland caverns where attacks could come from across the ground, below it, or from above. The domes are coated in a metal sheeting which can repel most average physical attacks. They simply bounce off. Just below the edge of the domes, wide doors and arrow slits allow use of dwarven ballista, dark elven dragon cannons, and archer regiments.
The Armory’s defenses also included an underground set of living quarters, complete with underground farming and water. Dark elves and dwarves didn’t stray too far from their ancestors form of agriculture. Almost half of the agriculture of Talabrae’s Deep requires a cave or cavern with an underground water source. The Obsidian Library rests atop an underground lake with ample farmland.
Talabreans keep this land tilled and periodically refreshed with fertilizer in case of emergencies. It also doubles as a place locals can study or try new agricultural techniques.
Curious Content
At first glance, the library’s shelves appear to be arranged in a type of organized chaos. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Library custodians maintain a strict categorization method to keep track of items from innocent to lethal.
Books, items and more are sorted to the floor and what that level is build to withstand. Then, items are once more sorted by lethality from front to back of that floor. Here, starting with the basement and heading to the second floor, this is the broad categories for items in the Obsidian Armory.
Structure of the Library
The library is divided into three floors: Basement and Undercroft, the Ground Floor, and then the Second Floor which also contains the Observatory. Visitors to the library enter on the Ground Floor.
Basement and The Undercroft
I have always questioned the thought behind storing cursed or undead infested items near the emergency water supply and farmland. Unless you’re looking to grow undead broccoli to do your bidding, I suppose.Despite the underground lake and farmland, the Undercroft is where cursed, unstable, and necromantic items are kept. The infamous necromantic book, the Xinder Codex, is one of many found in this dark iron bound vault. The Talabreans keep the Undercroft under guard by members of the Slate Watch. A steel door, banded in runic carved iron and secured with an enchanted lock, keeps the room sealed off. Visitors are only allowed inside with an escort because of a mishap with an unescorted necromancer being possessed by the Xinder Codex a few years back.
Ground Floor
On the ground floor, curators and the Slate Watch make the most use of the limited space available. Journals on masonry, mechanics, cloudglider designs, and topics concerning healing and related magics are kept here. Likewise, the main alchemy laboratory, which is used for alchemy training, is on the far western side. Books on combat alchemy are near the laboratory. Preserved specimens of small animals no larger than geckos or fish that have been twisted by magic storms or Deepland energies are on display.
Off the back of the ground floor, is the main training fields for the Slate Watch. Here members train with various weapons, potions, and alchemy based items to use against Deepland threats. A barracks is attached to this training ground where a contingent of the Slate Watch house members assigned to the Armory.
At the eastern side of this floor is the hallway to the Hunter's Hall. This hallway is made of the same briskstone as the rest of the structure. Steel doors, bound with the same enchanted iron as used in the Undercroft, can be closed in an emergency on both ends of the hallway.
Obsidian Armory by CB Ash using MidJourney and a LOT of time with Krita and a HUION Drawing Tablet
Founding Date
101 AGC
Alternative Names
Darkenstone Library
Type
Library
Parent Location
Owning Organization
Obsidian Armory Reading Area by CB Ash using MidJourney and Krita
What’s In A Name?
It’s not unusual for visitors to ask about the library’s name. The ‘Obsidian Armory’ is an unusual choice, but one that the Talabreans are comfortable with. This name dates back to before the even the original fortress that was the cornerstone of Talabrae’s Deep.
Most visitors believe the name is a reference to the ample volcanic rock found along the Great Chasm. But this isn’t the case. The name was a conscious choice by the two founders of Talabrae’s Deep. Clovia Deepmarrow, a dwarven silversmith and Innoc Talabrae, a dark elven swordmaster.
Surviving refugees from the shattered dark elven and dwarven great underground empires had reached the surface without hope. They were a rag-tag collection of people from across their respective cultures. Loss of their homes had broken them so that all they wanted was to survive until tomorrow.
Clovia, the leader of the dwarven refugees, and Innoc, leader of the dark elf survivors, took the first step. They set aside generations-old grudges to talk and realized the only way to survive was together.
The name was taken from an ancient fortress that sat on the boundary between their former Deepland empires; the Obsidian Rampart fortress. It had been long contested and changed hands more than once. But Clovia and Innoc recognized their people needed a symbol. A beacon to inspire them.
So the new fortress and home to those dark elven and dwarven refugees was named ‘Obsidian Armory’. The refugee leaders intended it to inspire hope, and it did.
Nice, a return to Talabrae’s Deep! Very cool, a library tailored for strategic defense.
Thanks, and yep! There's so much to unpack in and around Talabrae's Deep. It's a really rich area.