| “ | There is nothing more sacred than the Archives. Even temples can be rebuilt, but books cannot be rewritten. | ” |
–Colonel Daxton’s Guide to Excelling in the Scribe Quadrant | ||
The Archives are the central repository of knowledge at Basgiath War College, located in the Scribe Quadrant. The facility houses a comprehensive collection of books, tomes, and records covering nearly every topic on the Continent.[1][2]
Geography[]
The Archives are connected to the Scribe Quadrant via a central tunnel beneath the fortress. To reach the Archives from the Riders Quadrant, one must cross a bridge to the Healer Quadrant, pass the clinic doors, and travel into the heart of Basgiath. The path then forks, leading either downward to the brig and Archives, or upward into the main fortress of the war college.[3][4]
The central tunnel descends to the lowest point of Basgiath, where the air becomes cooler and carries an earthy scent as you approach. The vault-style entrance is a massive, circular door ten feet wide, guarded by scribes.[5][6] This door seals airtight every evening at seven o'clock for fire control and remains locked for twelve hours.[7][3] The time is marked by the pealing of bells, the seventh signaling the door's automatic closure.[8] Beyond the doorway, only scribes may proceed past a scarred oak table near the entrance.[2]
History[]
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Inventory[]
The Archives are meant to have a copy or the original of almost every single book in Navarre. Only ultrarare or forbidden tomes are excluded. It is notable that the book The Fables of the Barren, which is a book of folklore about venin and wyverns, or anything similar was not included in the Archives.[5]
Royal Vault[]
There is a secret sub-level to the Archives, which houses King Tauri's royal vault library. It is warded so only a person with royal blood, or anyone they touch as they enter, can access the room.[9][8] The following specific texts and subjects have been noted as residing/resided within the vault[8][10]:
- The Study of Winged Creatures
- A History of the Island Wars
- Journals of every commanding general of the armies since the Unification
- Journals of every commanding general of the riders, healers, scribes
- Tomes containing history of the early wars
- The history of the individual provinces
- Mythology of the gods
- One of the earliest tomes on mining practices
- Tyrrish history
- A weather almanac
- Arts and Crafts (one of which has a painted cover)
- Isle Kingdoms
- Astronomy
- The journals of Lyra of Morraine and Warrick of Luceras, members of the First Six.
Notable Locations[]
Entrance[]
The central tunnel leading to the Archives is earthy-scented and grows cooler the deeper one travels. It is illuminated by mage lights and culminates in a circular, vault-like door, which is ten feet wide and guarded by scribes.[5][6] The door features an enormous circular handle that seals the archives airtight for fire control at seven o'clock each evening.[3][7] Once the door closes, it cannot be reopened until twelve hours have passed.[8]
Main Library[]
The main library is a cavernous space filled with rows of towering twenty-foot-high shelves and accompanying ladders running the length of the structure. The shelves hold countless volumes on history, mathematics, politics, and other subjects, believed to contain nearly all knowledge on the Continent. The air is steeped in the scent of parchment, ink, and book-binding glue, while polished marble floors and mage lights illuminate the space.[5][7][4]
The library's design includes a long, scarred oak study table at the entrance for public use, but only scribes may access the stacks beyond. Ultra-rare or forbidden tomes are excluded from the Archives, such as The Fables of the Barren, a book of folklore about venin and wyvern.[2][5][11][12]
Workrooms and Classrooms[]
Further into the Archives, after taking a left and passing through the second-to-last row of tables, lies a hallway that leads to workrooms and classrooms. The smell of bonding glue becomes stronger as you proceed. The well-lit hallway is lined with windows and a few classrooms on each side. This area of the Archives is known for its maze-like structure, as the appearance remains identical throughout.[4]
The third door on the left opens into a classroom with two stone walls, with the back one being lined with bookshelves. The rest of the room is sparse, featuring rows of long trestle tables and benches facing a lone desk at the front. In the far corner of the room, behind several tomes on a long bookshelf, lies a hidden metal lever. Pulling this lever down causes the corner of the room to separate from the other stones. It rotates a quarter-turn on a near-silent metal track, revealing the opening to a steep spiral staircase. The faint lines of the track it spins on can be seen upon close inspection.[4]
Once the rotation halts, the secret entrance clicks into place, marking the end of the normal Archives wards and the start of the path to the Royal Vault.[4]
Royal Vault[]
Descending the steep spiral staircase from the secret entrance leads to the Royal Vault. Pale blue mage lights bloom at the base of the stairs, illuminating what appears to be a thirty-foot-long hallway. This passageway, described as little more than a glorified tunnel, is supported by carved pillars over a stone floor. Infantry guards are stationed to the right, and the area carries a dank, humid scent of earth and metal. One end of the hallway opens into darkness, while the other shines with light through an intricately carved stone archway. Due to the strength of the wards protecting the vault, doors are unnecessary, though the wards emit an uncomfortable hum.[8]
Beyond the archway lies the Royal Vault, a small circular library housing over five hundred tomes. Six heavy bookshelves with glass doors line the circular walls, and at the center stands a pedestal of cabinetry draped with a velvet tablecloth embroidered with the king's signet. Mage lights emit a soft glow from the ceiling, illuminating the curves and knot-like lines carved into the decorative stonework, which stands roughly five feet above Aaric Graycastle's head. The earthy scent from the hallway fades, replaced by a considerably cooler atmosphere. The vault has no windows for ventilation and no visible structural modifications. [8]
Beneath the velvet tablecloth lies a set of wards that resemble a circle of glass protecting two small leather tomes, revealed to be the journals of Lyra of Morraine and Warrick of Luceras, members of the First Six.[8][10]
For a list of discovered titles and subjects within the Royal Vault, see the Inventory section of this page.
Notable Residents[]
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Gallery[]
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Trivia[]
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Citations[]
- ↑ Fourth Wing, Chapter 1
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Iron Flame, Chapter 7
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Fourth Wing, Chapter 25
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Iron Flame, Chapter 32
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 Fourth Wing, Chapter 18
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Iron Flame, Chapter 17
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Fourth Wing, Chapter 22
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 Iron Flame, Chapter 33
- ↑ Iron Flame, Chapter 31
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Iron Flame, Chapter 34
- ↑ Iron Flame, Chapter 11
- ↑ Iron Flame, Chapter 16