Library of Arindell

The Library of Arindell is the largest and oldest public library in the Alliance, second only to the collection at Gudersnipe School Proper as the largest library in the verse. It is located in the city of Arindell, and there is some question whether the city is named for the library or vice-versa.

History

The Library of Arindell predates recorded history, but just what was written down about is pretty impressive:

Early Accounts

Exactly when the Library was first built is unknown, but it dates into Antiquity. The presence of writing in the Ancient language throughout the structure prove that it was built and used by them, but whether or not it was then a library remains unclear.

In the Age of Darkness its existence was known, and that it was full of "many aged and rare texts of great antiquity". So by at least the late period of the Age of Darkness, someone somewhere had figured out that there was a building full of books up there.

Stormreaver Valley where the library is located, belonged to the nation of Ataya, who had a long-standing pact with the High Mountain Flight to whom the land belonged. There were a few settlments in the valley at the time, although the remotness made population growth difficult.

Mage Wars Era

The area around the Library was inhabited by Atayans during the entire Mage Wars, but their written records were lost during the Second Chaotic Period. Nothing survives of their exploration of the valley, but it is believed that they never entered the library itself.

From the Mage Wars, many accounts survive of expeditions dispatched to reach the library, with very few reports of success. By then it was believed that many magical tomes must be there, so any mage who could control the library could control the world.

However, being in the territory of a dragon flight is a good way for any building to remain safe. The High Mountain Flight was territorial, refused all alliances, and defended its sovereignty to the death. Only the local Atayans were allowed into the valley, though mostly for farming, and sparse population. Some accounts persist that the valley was once littered with ancient ruins, and that these were used to build Atayan homes.

In the late Dynastic Period, the Marcon Alliance combined with Ozork Flight and launched a campaign to conquer Stormreaver Valley, convinced the library contained magical artifacts of great power. The attack devastated Ataya, as they had to go right through the country to reach the mountain pass. The invasion was repelled, but provided cover for a few very small raiding parties from other nations to reach the library and unlock its secrets.

What they found was not tomes of magic, but a vast storehouse of books on every subject. These early expeditions could accomplish little, with the constant threat of dragon attack at their backs, and none brought back more than a few volumes.

Before the Marcons could organize another attack, they were defeated by Laytami and the Gudersnipe Army, thus ending the Dynastic Period and begining the Second Chaotic Period.

The library was largely ignored during this time, as literally everything else was on fire. it wasn't until Uther began to end the Mage Wars that another expedition was made. Uther had grown up in Stormreaver Valley, his family farm quite literally in the shadow of the building itself. His diaries reveal that his lineage had worked that plot of land for generations, possibly even as far back as the Age of Darkness, though this supposition is regarded as anecdotal because Atayan history does not extend as far. According to the diaries, Uther's father believed his family were, in some form, stewards of the Library. Again this is considered highly anecdotal as only a few lines from Uther's journal make mention of it.

Uther led an expedition into the mountains to the Eerie of the High Mountain Flight, some members of which he had known all his life. He asked them, rather humbly, to join his alliance, and the Flight agreed.

Uther would eventually found a city in Stormreaver Valley, called Arindell. No verified accounts exist that confirm if this was the ancient name for the library or a name given it by Uther.

The Ages of the Alliance

In A.Y. 134, Uther officially established the Library of Arindell. Few records were kept about its contents upon opening, but very quickly books were brought in from all the known worlds. Many of the volumes that were in place before the library's grand opening were moved into various store rooms and stacks all over what was revealed to be a surprisingly massive complex. Only the main floor, itself one of the largest chambers ever constructed, would remain in use and be open to the public.

The Library stayed in continuous use for the next six thousand years, operating as the main public library and national archives of the Alliance. Supposedly, one copy of every book published anywhere in the Alliance could be found at the library, though this was technically and logistically impossible. For all its size, even one copy of every non-fiction book could never fit in the massive structure.

The Library did house an extremly large collection of historical and geographical books from all over the Alliance, with attempts to preserve factual information being formost among the librarian's duties. Rare manuscripts and ancient documents were often brought to the Library to be stored, to take advantage of permenant enchantments that protected them from fire and decay.

Numerous artifacts also found there way into the library, including numerous Slayer Dragon reliquaries, and objects of great power from the Mage Wars. Books of magic, as well, including actual spellbooks as well as tomes, were secreted into the library and hidden away in dark, sealed passages. The practice of hiding things in plain sight, as it were, was commong throughout the First and Second Ages.

During the Third Age a large portion of the main floor was put off-limits. The only "seal" was of velvet ropes and signs, but electric lighting was not installed in those sections and the public was sternly told to stay out of them (and really, who isn't afraid of librarians?)

Only about a quarter of the first two stories of the main floor would be part of the public library portion from then on. This area included a resturant, gift shop, and, of course, a bookstore. Guided tours of "the stacks" (as the bookshelves were called) took people into other parts of the main floor, and researchers were often granted access.

By the Fourth Age, however, the true dangers of the library became clear. In addition to the large 'main floor' were a series of wings, as well as possibly hundreds of miles of tunnels. They had once been mapped, but the maps were not maintained and had never been accurate. People were lost in the labyrinth; a few did die, and the librarians chose to seal off everything but the main floor.

The process actually took most of the age, as a system to seal and unseal the various areas had to be perfected. It was also desirable to use the sealed sections for storage, the library was constantly expanding its collection, and a long-standing rule (in place since Uther's time) forbade ever getting rid of a book.

Older books were still moved out into the stacks, and the practicality of sealing off bits was finally realized. The solution, instead, was to further restrict access, and add guards and electronic surveilence to keep people in the public sections.

After the Age of the Dragon

The Library would endure all through the six ages of the Alliance and past the Age of the Dragon, until the city was finally abandoned on the eve of the Long Night. The Librarians didn't have the resources to seal the whole library, as they had when Uther was a child, but fortunately the dragons were willing to step in.

Over the course of several centuries, they built a second roof over the first, of massive stone arches fused with dragon fire. The spaces between these were then filled, and eventually an entire artificial mountain constructed over the Library, forever obscuring it from outside view.

For over three thousand years, not a solitary soul would set foot in the great Library of Arindell. It was sent away, forgotten. Rumors of its destruction widely circulated throughout the Long Night, anyone interesting in plundering its secrets would hear that it was burned by the Alliance as they retreated from Arindell. Those foolhardy enough to go looking for it anyway would find no trace of it, and probably end up in dragons' stomachs for their troubles.

During the Age of the New Day, Jason Jusenkyou becomes the first person to visit it, during The Next Progression.