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'''The Library of Biblia''' was the largest library complex in the world of [[Shadow World|Kulthea]], which was called the Library of Nomikos on the Isle of Ormian in the [[ICE age|ICE Age]] history. It was founded in 2530 Second Era (~ 10,000 years ago) by [[Andraax]], the founder of the [[Loremaster|Loremasters]] who was secretly one of the [[Lords of Essaence]]. Only the Loremaster library at [[Karilon]] surpassed that of Nomikos in terms of security and the depth of its knowledge. Staffed with powerful mages and infamous [[Changramai]] warrior monks, the Great Library had never once been conquered in its history, including the [[Wars of Dominion]].
'''The Library of Biblia''' is a library complex on the [[Isle of Ornath]]. Familiarity with the word stemmed from the town guard [[Quin Telaren]], who claims to not be a scholar of Biblia when asked strange questions, and says the following: "Surely you've heard of the library of Biblia! Why, it's the only worthwhile reason for wanting to visit the Isle of Ornath that I can think of." There was also a more buried reference to Biblia in the "official seal" object on the manuscript in the crypt of the Graveyard. The seal was modernized to read: "Property of the Library of Biblia, Reference Department. Do Not Remove."


These were references to the [[Library of Nomikos]] in the [[Shadow World]] setting. In the [[History of Elanthia|modern history]] of [[Elanthia]] the Library of Biblia has been retconned to be an installation of the [[Chronomages]], who are themselves the modernized form of the [[Navigators]]. The library has been seen modernly through a portal with one of their obelisks in the courtyard just as there is one at the Library of Nomikos.
==The Library==
The Library was actually a vast complex of buildings covering half a square mile, accessible only by a winding road up a sheer cliff face from the Port of Ormian. It was high on the northern plateau of the island, which was located off the southern coast of [[Jaiman]] just east of Meluria. The First Gate through the wall surrounding the complex was roughly 500 feet up in the air, guarded by a garrison of soldiers and serving as a bottleneck leading to a main gate further down the road which opens into a guard tower.


==Library==
The Gate of Knowledge is a third gate beyond this tower, but is usually left open and leads into the inner court of the complex facing the library itself. The stairway of the library has a raised marble platform at its center, with a 30 foot tall black marble statue of Andraax. Interestingly enough, the middle of the court has a [[Navigator]] obelisk, allowing such travelers to bypass all of the prior security.
Little is known so far about the workings of the library itself. The known staff members appear to be drawn from a variety of races and cultures.


The library has been seen through a portal having a courtyard with a tall obelisk belonging to the Chronomages.
===Library Grounds===
===Staff===
The surface of the complex is where the housing is located for long-term visitors of the library. There are a variety of stables and gardens within the complex walls, as well as a chapel and monastery for monks Valris ([[Lumnis]]). Guests have three tiers of housing: common apartments and cloisters, scholar's apartments which are slightly better, and lords' apartments which are a few suites reserved for visiting royalty.
'''(1) Guards'''


Guards of the library are present to prevent thieves from stealing library property. The guard appears to be an unarmed combat master and made to resemble the appearance of the [[Changramai]].
There are cloisters for the Scribes and Warriors on either side of the inner court, and beyond the Scribes' Cloister there is lodging for the servant staff of the library. There is also an herb garden, infirmary, observatory, and a large kitchen for the whole complex.
<pre{{log2}}>
You see Grungenar the Library of Biblia Guard.
He appears to be a Dwarf of the Kazunel Clan.
He is average height. He appears to be hoary with age. He has clouded ale-brown eyes and nut brown skin. He has very long, wiry steel grey hair with a large bald spot. He has a wrinkled face, a red nose and a long braided beard.
He has an outward-pointed bronze-edged pyramid tattooed under his left eye.
He is in good shape.
He is wearing a crystal amulet, a long white robe cut for ease of fluid motion, some thin electrum wristbands, a pyramid-etched sheath, a pair of white pants, and some sturdy footwraps.
</pre>


'''(2) Chronomages'''
===The Library Building===
The Library has several levels which descend into subterranean chambers within the cliff. On the surface level, the library is an enormous building with 100 foot walls, with a golden dome that reaches twice as high. There are eight hundred-foot blue marble columns surrounding an enormous doorway eighty feet high and sixty feet wide that slides closed at night. There are always several Changramai guards searching visitors through this access point. The glass windows are specially coated to prevent damage by sunlight, with magical orbs providing ambient lighting indoors.


Chronomages were seen pursuing a halfling thief who had stolen a restricted book from the Library of Biblia in Olaesta 5118.
Within the doorway is a crescent-shaped desk staffed with Scribes who direct visitors to the proper locations. The library texts are not available for browsing at all, each section has a catalogue desk where the librarians consult wheels of slim metal plates to locate the works. These texts are housed in balconies all the way up to the ceiling, inaccessible to anyone other than library staff.
<pre{{log2}}>
You see Chronomage Aepoch the Timeless.
He appears to be a Sylvankind of the Tyesteron D'ahranal.
He is average height. He appears to be stricken in years. He has tired milky white eyes and golden brown skin. He has a bald head. He has a gaunt face, a broken nose and stooped shoulders. It is difficult to get a good look at him, as his form seems to grow more obscure the longer you look at it.
He has a glimmering Chronomage Guild tattoo covering the top of his head, and a shifting pattern tattoo on his wrist.
He is in good shape.
He is holding an extremely long witchwood runestaff crisscrossed in tally marks in his right hand.
He is wearing a tiny silver crown on a platinum chain, a sand-filled crystalline amulet, a gold-edged taupe silk robe with wide belled sleeves, a wide rune-etched gold bracelet, a miniature hourglass on a vibrant purple thread, an exquisite glowing gold ring, a braided copper sash dangling a cluster of gold rings, an expanding and shrinking pouch, and some wide-curled beige leather poulaines.
Kelvhan put an opalescent glass jar containing pink sapphires in his ebony sack.


Flames dance around Amexis wreathing her in a torrent of violent energy.
===Underground===
You see Chronomage Amexis.
She appears to be an Elf.
She is average height. She appears to be in the meridian of life. She has large steel grey eyes and milky white skin. She has long, wavy silver blonde hair swept back from the temples into an intricate cluster of sapphire-beaded braids. She has a delicate face and angular pointed ears.
She is in good shape.
She is holding a rune-marked illthorn runestaff crowned with an elaborate cluster of gold rings in her right hand.
She is wearing a crystal and gold hourglass amulet filled with glittering silver sand, a deeply hooded slate silk mantle woven with complex geometric patterns, some iridescent teal silk robes edged with maze-like gold embroidery, a collection of numerous enruned gold and brass rings, and a pair of slate grey suede boots fastened with toroidal gold buttons.
</pre>


==Incidents==
The stairwell leading down into the underground portions of the library are located right behind the main desk in the entry foyer. There are three wings from the central room, with the special collection on the north side and the research collection on the south. Down the eastern hallway is a set of workshops where the Scribes make copies of scrolls and manuscripts.
===Time Magic Book===
There have been incidents of significant thefts from the library. One took place in Olaesta 5118 when a book on time magic was stolen by a halfling named Twiddley. This was around the same time continent wide temporal warping was spilling over from Goblyn's lair next to Lich's Landing. The Chronomages chased the thief across the continent, including the boot to River's Rest from Wehnimer's Landing, which was newly returned. The Chronomage Amexis claimed the boot as one of their objects in the event. There was similar drama occurring in Icemule with his heist associate peddling forgeries to Daukera.


The thief claimed to have seduced the desk clerk at the library and then took the opportunity to steal the book. Twiddley turned over the dark cerise book, but only after copies had been made and spread around. His burghal gnome associate Erecia had been killed by Queen Daukhera in Icemule earlier. They did not admit who they were working for, only claiming the spread of proprietary knowledge.
These collections are guarded. Visitors would not be on this level unless they had first been directed that way by the librarians, which itself would only have happened after a research approval process. It would not be possible to magically transport to or from the subterranean chamber without tripping off wardings and enchanted alarms.


'''The Incident Itself:'''
==Staff==
<pre{{log2}}>
While there was a port at the base of the island, the library complex was a separate self-contained community with its own support staff. Most of the work is performed by the Scribes themselves, who are always male and trained from a young age as initiates. However, there is also a security staff, as well as servants. This is not including the permanent residents who work the chapel and live in the monastery, or the possibility of visiting Loremaster advisors. Furthermore, GemStone specific lore [[Ditmar's Tale|established]] the existence of a Council, which sent Scribes on information seeking missions.
Time slows down around you, causing everything to move with an excruciatingly comatose lethargy, and a faint, shadowy haze fills the air. As it fades out of sight, time advances rapidly until it catches up to the present -- but something feels... off, changed, wrong. Your head aches with blinding pain! And then suddenly you can't really tell the difference anymore anyway; everything seems -- maybe -- the way it was before.


Time seems to shift in an unnatural manner one last time, bending and warping in a way that is almost painful to you, as Erecia very suddenly appears in the center of the dais, the residual faint image of a library's courtyard and a tall obelisk behind, both of which fade from sight as Erecia steps forward.
[[Selias Jodame]] may have been an example of this with his report on [[A Popular History of Shadow Valley|Silver Valley]], though the official modernized version of the story describes him as loremaster advisor to the council. [[Ditmar's Tale|Ditmar the Mad]] was a confirmed example of a Scribe of Nomikos who was sent to investigate what is now called the [[krolvin]] population of [[Glaoveln]].
</pre>


'''The Book:'''
===Librarian===
<pre{{log2}}>
The Director of the entire Library complex was the Chief Scribe, whose office was in the underground foyer along with the associate chief scribes. He is responsible for deciding who is allowed access to the special collection. The last known Chief Scribe was named Niros.
'''Forgery:'''
>look book
The book's outer binding is a dark cerise color stained into a leather material textured to look like pebbled skin accented with tiny burrs.


'''Real:'''
===Scribes===
>inspect book
Scribes are a large force of library workers responsible for most of the upkeep to the whole complex. Young acolytes perform the skilled labor such as repairing the building and tending the gardens, but are also required to take classes. Older scribes are responsible for copying or translating library texts, as well as teaching the classes, but are also required to perform some manual labor as part of the communal environment. The most senior scribes wear ornate amulets, and can be recognized by how many keys they are carrying.
You look closely at Amexis, examining a dark cerise book. The book's outer binding is a dark cerise color stained into a pebbled leather-like skin with occasional tiny, sharp burrs embedded in it. Looking at it makes your skin crawl, though you aren't sure whether the sensation is real or imagined.
</pre>
Erecia ultimately admitted she had used their obelisk, and the time tunnels, redirecting blame to the Chronomages for leaving them open. The end result of the incident was the various teleportation spells extending in range if they made use of the time tunnels. The Chronomage Amexis warned everyone that there would be a price to pay if anyone was caught using their time tunnels without authorization.


===Bandur Etrevion===
The Scribes might also be quite formidable with magic, which is a large part of the reason no one has been foolish enough to attempt to conquer them. However, they are not principally concerned with security, being focused mostly on library services and maintenance. They do not live a strictly ascetic lifestyle, they are allowed to visit the port to spend their small wages on ale and women once a week.
In the [[ICE age|I.C.E. Age]] version with the Library of Nomikos, [[Bandur Etrevion]] stole books and artifacts from the Library, until he was eventually caught by the guards. In this instance he was attempting to steal a very rare speaking crystal from over a hundred thousand years ago. He had previously stolen a similarly ancient manuscript of [[Empress Kadaena]] that was property of the library. This manuscript is located in the crypt of the Graveyard with a library seal on it. The counterfeit copies of the dark cerise book from the Olaesta 5118 incident include the same label claiming they are property of the library.


=Behind the Scenes=
===Servants===
The Library of Biblia is the modern term for the [[ICE age|I.C.E. Age]] [[Library of Nomikos]], which was located on the Isle of Ormian off the southern coast of [[Jaiman]]. There has been no modern lore for the Isle of Ornath and the Library of Biblia for decades, but it is beginning to be developed starting with the [[Rings of Lumnis]] paid event. Very old stories referencing the library are actually referring to Nomikos. Shortly before Rings of Lumnis on April 10th 2018, the second [[Teleportation review (saved posts)|teleportation review]] was released with a continent spanning story, where a thief stole a time magic book from the Library. This ended up causing the changes to the teleportation spells from the impact on the Chronomage "time tunnels." It was preceded by continent wide temporal distortions that were amped up and apparently spilling over from Goblyn's lair.
There are a variety of servants to perform unskilled menial labor such as housekeeping. The kitchen staff belongs to this category as well.

===Changramai===
The Changramai are an unusual mystical warrior-monk school that was founded shortly before the Library itself. They are masters of unarmed combat, have some sort of religion involving Cay ([[Kai]]), and oddly rent themselves out at a high price (much as the Palestra in the modern history.) They are responsible for searching everyone who passes through the library gates, and are rumored to be able to tell a liar by the sound of their voice. Changramai were legendary for their skills, such as grabbing arrows out of the air and running up walls.

They have their own compound within the library complex, and do not interact socially with the Scribes or anyone else. They never leave the complex itself.

===Wardens===
The Wardens are the soldiers who guard the First Gate and prevent anyone who should not be there from ever getting near the inside of the walls. The soldiers of the library are distinct from the Changramai, who trained to act as bodyguards and security experts rather than military.
==Collections==
The Library is divided into three collections with variable degrees of restriction on access. The public collection is located on the entry level of the library, while the special and research collections are below ground. The prestige of the library lies more so with these more restricted collections, which are the allure for young men who wish to become Scribes so they will have the opportunity for access.

===Public Collection===
The largest collection in terms of number of physical volumes is available to the public, and contains works of general interest such as histories, maps, and language translations. There are several copies of every book, which are constantly being copied by scribes. These books can be selected for use lasting as long as a month, with personal copies allowed to leave the library. Scribes find the works themselves, and bring them to a reading niche.

There are three wings to the public collection. The rear wing contains basic reference works such as basic science, maps, bestiaries, and dictionaries. Scrolls are kept in the right wing and rolled with labeling ribbon, usually texts of things like literature and poetry. Manuscripts are bound into books in the left wing, most lying flat in individual niches like in the crypt of [[The Graveyard]] (very unlikely a coincidence.)

===Research Collection===
The research collection contains many rare and original manuscripts. Only scholars with approved research proposals are allowed to use the research collection, which involves a 10 day waiting period and allows them access to a copying service. The offices of the highest ranking scribes are located around the foyer leading into the research and special collection wings.

The scroll room contains special tubes to preserve the fragile texts, and past it the manuscript room uses protective covers. There are special carrels for viewing texts within the research and special collections so that it is not possible to walk out unnoticed.

===Special Collection===
Unlike the public and research collections, this underground section is climate controlled with ancient technologies that no one would know how to fix, as the library was founded by a Lord of Essaence. The special vaults are filled with neutral gas designed to prevent decay, each with its own lock, and some documents are locked behind glass so they cannot be removed from its vault. Only the Librarian can allow access to the special collection, and only Scribes are allowed to actually enter the vault room.

Researchers must read these works in cubicles under the constant watch of a Scribe. The special collection contains ancient artifacts dating back from before recorded history, such as the Lord of Essaence speaking crystal [[Bandur Etrevion]] was caught stealing when he tripped an enchanted alarm system. Bandur was allowed the unheard of privilege of unlimited access to the library given the nature of his work and its importance in the struggle against [[Lorgalis]].

==Fees==
When visitors first arrive at the front desk of the library, they have to sign a contract agreeing to a set of rules and fees:
<div {{log}}>
(1) Library fee of 1 gold piece per day, with a surcharge if using the special collections.

(2) Repair fees for any unintentional damage to books.

(3) Fines if caught attempting to deface, disassemble, or steal books.

(4) Do not question and obey instructions from all Library officials and security personnel.
</div>

While copying services are available and book access varies by collection, no book is ever actually allowed to leave the library itself. If anyone is caught attempting to smuggle out library property, they are severely fined and permanently banned from the library forever. Bandur Etrevion was bitter for the rest of his life when he was banned, it would be extremely difficult for him to steal manuscripts (such as the one in the crypt) from the special collection.

==Behind The Scenes==
The Library of Biblia was located on the Isle of Ornath, which in the [[ICE age|ICE Age]] was the Library of Nomikos on the Isle of Ormian. Nomikos might also have been the root word for [[Nantu]]. It was the source of several very old stories, but does not exist on any map for [[Elanthia]]. The Isle of Ormian was located off the south coast between Jaiman and Emer, which became [[Jontara]] and [[Finnia]] respectively. It would have been south of Ta'Nalfein on the modern map by way of analogy. Nomikos was only accessible as a special quest area during the ICE Age. Biblia has never been accessible modernly.


[[category:Places]]
[[category:Places]]
[[Category:Libraries and literature]]
[[category:ICE Age]]

Latest revision as of 11:23, 10 April 2021

The Library of Biblia is a library complex on the Isle of Ornath. Familiarity with the word stemmed from the town guard Quin Telaren, who claims to not be a scholar of Biblia when asked strange questions, and says the following: "Surely you've heard of the library of Biblia! Why, it's the only worthwhile reason for wanting to visit the Isle of Ornath that I can think of." There was also a more buried reference to Biblia in the "official seal" object on the manuscript in the crypt of the Graveyard. The seal was modernized to read: "Property of the Library of Biblia, Reference Department. Do Not Remove."

These were references to the Library of Nomikos in the Shadow World setting. In the modern history of Elanthia the Library of Biblia has been retconned to be an installation of the Chronomages, who are themselves the modernized form of the Navigators. The library has been seen modernly through a portal with one of their obelisks in the courtyard just as there is one at the Library of Nomikos.

Library

Little is known so far about the workings of the library itself. The known staff members appear to be drawn from a variety of races and cultures.

The library has been seen through a portal having a courtyard with a tall obelisk belonging to the Chronomages.

Staff

(1) Guards

Guards of the library are present to prevent thieves from stealing library property. The guard appears to be an unarmed combat master and made to resemble the appearance of the Changramai. 

You see Grungenar the Library of Biblia Guard.
He appears to be a Dwarf of the Kazunel Clan.
He is average height.  He appears to be hoary with age.  He has clouded ale-brown eyes and nut brown skin.  He has very long, wiry steel grey hair with a large bald spot.  He has a wrinkled face, a red nose and a long braided beard.
He has an outward-pointed bronze-edged pyramid tattooed under his left eye.
He is in good shape.
He is wearing a crystal amulet, a long white robe cut for ease of fluid motion, some thin electrum wristbands, a pyramid-etched sheath, a pair of white pants, and some sturdy footwraps.

(2) Chronomages

Chronomages were seen pursuing a halfling thief who had stolen a restricted book from the Library of Biblia in Olaesta 5118. 

You see Chronomage Aepoch the Timeless.
He appears to be a Sylvankind of the Tyesteron D'ahranal.
He is average height.  He appears to be stricken in years.  He has tired milky white eyes and golden brown skin.  He has a bald head.  He has a gaunt face, a broken nose and stooped shoulders.  It is difficult to get a good look at him, as his form seems to grow more obscure the longer you look at it.
He has a glimmering Chronomage Guild tattoo covering the top of his head, and a shifting pattern tattoo on his wrist.
He is in good shape.
He is holding an extremely long witchwood runestaff crisscrossed in tally marks in his right hand.
He is wearing a tiny silver crown on a platinum chain, a sand-filled crystalline amulet, a gold-edged taupe silk robe with wide belled sleeves, a wide rune-etched gold bracelet, a miniature hourglass on a vibrant purple thread, an exquisite glowing gold ring, a braided copper sash dangling a cluster of gold rings, an expanding and shrinking pouch, and some wide-curled beige leather poulaines.
Kelvhan put an opalescent glass jar containing pink sapphires in his ebony sack.

Flames dance around Amexis wreathing her in a torrent of violent energy.
You see Chronomage Amexis.
She appears to be an Elf.
She is average height.  She appears to be in the meridian of life.  She has large steel grey eyes and milky white skin.  She has long, wavy silver blonde hair swept back from the temples into an intricate cluster of sapphire-beaded braids.  She has a delicate face and angular pointed ears.
She is in good shape.
She is holding a rune-marked illthorn runestaff crowned with an elaborate cluster of gold rings in her right hand.
She is wearing a crystal and gold hourglass amulet filled with glittering silver sand, a deeply hooded slate silk mantle woven with complex geometric patterns, some iridescent teal silk robes edged with maze-like gold embroidery, a collection of numerous enruned gold and brass rings, and a pair of slate grey suede boots fastened with toroidal gold buttons.

Incidents

Time Magic Book

There have been incidents of significant thefts from the library. One took place in Olaesta 5118 when a book on time magic was stolen by a halfling named Twiddley. This was around the same time continent wide temporal warping was spilling over from Goblyn's lair next to Lich's Landing. The Chronomages chased the thief across the continent, including the boot to River's Rest from Wehnimer's Landing, which was newly returned. The Chronomage Amexis claimed the boot as one of their objects in the event. There was similar drama occurring in Icemule with his heist associate peddling forgeries to Daukera.

The thief claimed to have seduced the desk clerk at the library and then took the opportunity to steal the book. Twiddley turned over the dark cerise book, but only after copies had been made and spread around. His burghal gnome associate Erecia had been killed by Queen Daukhera in Icemule earlier. They did not admit who they were working for, only claiming the spread of proprietary knowledge.

The Incident Itself: 

Time slows down around you, causing everything to move with an excruciatingly comatose lethargy, and a faint, shadowy haze fills the air.  As it fades out of sight, time advances rapidly until it catches up to the present -- but something feels... off, changed, wrong.  Your head aches with blinding pain!  And then suddenly you can't really tell the difference anymore anyway; everything seems -- maybe -- the way it was before.

Time seems to shift in an unnatural manner one last time, bending and warping in a way that is almost painful to you, as Erecia very suddenly appears in the center of the dais, the residual faint image of a library's courtyard and a tall obelisk behind, both of which fade from sight as Erecia steps forward.

The Book: 

Forgery:
>look book
The book's outer binding is a dark cerise color stained into a leather material textured to look like pebbled skin accented with tiny burrs.

Real:
>inspect book
You look closely at Amexis, examining a dark cerise book.  The book's outer binding is a dark cerise color stained into a pebbled leather-like skin with occasional tiny, sharp burrs embedded in it.  Looking at it makes your skin crawl, though you aren't sure whether the sensation is real or imagined.

Erecia ultimately admitted she had used their obelisk, and the time tunnels, redirecting blame to the Chronomages for leaving them open. The end result of the incident was the various teleportation spells extending in range if they made use of the time tunnels. The Chronomage Amexis warned everyone that there would be a price to pay if anyone was caught using their time tunnels without authorization.

Bandur Etrevion

In the I.C.E. Age version with the Library of Nomikos, Bandur Etrevion stole books and artifacts from the Library, until he was eventually caught by the guards. In this instance he was attempting to steal a very rare speaking crystal from over a hundred thousand years ago. He had previously stolen a similarly ancient manuscript of Empress Kadaena that was property of the library. This manuscript is located in the crypt of the Graveyard with a library seal on it. The counterfeit copies of the dark cerise book from the Olaesta 5118 incident include the same label claiming they are property of the library.

Behind the Scenes

The Library of Biblia is the modern term for the I.C.E. Age Library of Nomikos, which was located on the Isle of Ormian off the southern coast of Jaiman. There has been no modern lore for the Isle of Ornath and the Library of Biblia for decades, but it is beginning to be developed starting with the Rings of Lumnis paid event. Very old stories referencing the library are actually referring to Nomikos. Shortly before Rings of Lumnis on April 10th 2018, the second teleportation review was released with a continent spanning story, where a thief stole a time magic book from the Library. This ended up causing the changes to the teleportation spells from the impact on the Chronomage "time tunnels." It was preceded by continent wide temporal distortions that were amped up and apparently spilling over from Goblyn's lair.

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