I'm adapting to Oerth the Lamentations of the Flame Princess adventure Tales of the Scarecrow (set in the real world), where there's a reference to the burning of the Library of Alexandria (which, in the adventure, came about due to the need to destroy one particular malefic volume in the collection).
Is there anything in Greyhawk lore I can substitute for this? No famous libraries destroyed come to mind.
In the Ravenloft module Vecna Reborn, the PCs complete a ritual (the Mirror Dance) that allows them to travel back in time to the library of Vecna himself, back before his fall at the sword of his servant Kas. It is, of course, full of terrible occult lore now lost to the ages.
Also in that module is a lesser library, a tomblike vault inhabited by the maddened son of Kas. Kas buried him alive along with books and scrolls gifted by Vecna for fear that the son might overshadow the father in his master's eyes, or Eye.
Other alternatives might include Xaene's library, lost when that mage disappeared, or perhaps Xaene sealed away his books so that Kalroolck wouldn't inherit them. Maybe there was some ancient book burning among the priesthood of Pholtus when they controlled the See of Medegia or Almor, destroying ancient texts preserved by their predecessors. Maybe Tamoachan once had a sizable occult library, or the lost capital of the Suel Imperium, or the ruins of Utaa in the Bright Desert, or the lost city of Tolanok in Hepmonaland. Maybe Zagig Yragerne destroyed a library full of occult books in the City of Greyhawk in a fit of madness (or a rare period of lucidity).
If you play post-giant invasions, you could put such a library in Gorna, Geoff and have the giants destroying it. Or, there could be such a library in the capital of the former Great Kingdom which was destroyed during the conflict in that city, by order of a past Overking, or by accident. Depends on how deadly an environment you want to put the PCs in, or how far you want them to travel. _________________ - Moderator/Admin (in some areas)/Member -
Greyhawk Wars mentions at least two sacked libraries, that of Duke Astrin of Eastfair that went "up in flames or out in rucksacks" near the end of the Turmoil Between the Crowns, as did the University of Rauxes in 449 CY. There may be others, but those are the ones I most clearly remember.
Ivid the Undying mentions the various libraries of Mentrey that were unable to escape the sack of that city and may yet be found scattered in basements and other stashes in the occupied city.
Tarelton is on the right track with the Turmoil Between the Crowns. The Turmoil really marks the end of the Flanaess' most recent empire, and when empire's fall, knowledge is lost.
Ivid the Undying states that Rel Deven was also sacked in 449. As one of the three "Cities of Enlightenment" filled with temples to studious deities, it's a prime location for a major library. Rewriting history is the first thing evil tyrants and nascent religions do.
Also consider the Isles of Woe, Sulm, the City of Summer Stars, non-human empires, and any and all rigid theocracies and religious states.
I realized after I posted that the particular malefic tome in the destroyed library included Iuz-specific spells (and spells specific to St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas), so that fact limits the chronology to, what, the last couple hundred years? (Since Iuz was in no position to grant spells before he ascended.)
Are any of the libraries mentioned geographically appropriate to those three deities (as well as chronologically appropriate to Iuz)?
Oh, and also, reading Grodog's reply, I sort of remember a gigantic repository of lore destroyed in Erelhei-Cinlu during the Priestess Wars. Am I remembering that right?
I realized after I posted that the particular malefic tome in the destroyed library included Iuz-specific spells (and spells specific to St. Cuthbert and Wee Jas), so that fact limits the chronology to, what, the last couple hundred years? (Since Iuz was in no position to grant spells before he ascended.)
Are any of the libraries mentioned geographically appropriate to those three deities (as well as chronologically appropriate to Iuz)?
Pontylver and Mentrey were sacked in CY 585, so Iuz was definitely a god at the time. Xaene disappeared sometime before the Greyhawk Wars. Gorna was invaded by giants in CY 584. Rauxes was destroyed (or whatever happened to it) in CY 586.
I don't see why a tome with spells associated with Iuz, St. Cuthbert, and Wee Jas couldn't appear anywhere in the Flanaess. It seems like the central Flanaess, particularly the City of Greyhawk, might be the most likely place for such a work to originate, but it might well have moved elsewhere since its creation (or been created elsewhere).
edmundscott wrote:
Oh, and also, reading Grodog's reply, I sort of remember a gigantic repository of lore destroyed in Erelhei-Cinlu during the Priestess Wars. Am I remembering that right?
The Spire of the Encyclic, which is what you're thinking of, was still intact in 592 CY, when the article in Dragon #298 takes place. It was destroyed some time after that (according to 3e's Drow of the Underdark) when the upstart House Shi'qos forcibly expelled House Noquar from the Ghetto of Scholars. Defenders of House Noquar set the Spire on fire themselves rather than see House Shi'qos gain control of it. While the Libram Encyclic, the repository of drow lore, was saved, many other priceless works were lost. The Spire of the Encyclic was replaced by a new library called the Tower of Words.
I seem to recall a library in Rel Astra iirc. Trying to remember the source. I am sure that Tenser has his own at Magepoint, likewise with any of the existing and previous members of the Circle of Eight. _________________ Cheerz,
-Rick "Duicarthan" Miller
Editor-in-Chief, Oerth Journal
http://www.oerthjournal.comhttp://www.greyhawkonline.com/duicarthan
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