Under the Leaves
- Intent: To create a unique library location for Sith RP inspired by the Clayr's Library from the Old Kingdom series.
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- Canon: N/A
- Permissions: N/A
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- Structure Name: The Red Library
- Classification: Library
- Location: Desevro
- Affiliation: The Sith Covenant
- Accessibility: The Red Library is located within the sprawling complex of temples where The Sith Covenant hosted their first Conclave. It is located a short distance from the Desevro Academy and is accessible to students and members of the Sith Covenant. For all outsiders, its doors are closed unless they are escorted by a permitted person.
- Description: The Red Library is located within a sprawling temple complex on the planet Desevro. It exists as a sort of trove of artifacts and secrets collected by Sith from the temples and ruins around the planet. The Library is also a place for acolytes to study, and, within its deeper levels, a mixture of ancient archeological sites, lost artifacts, and long-forgotten evils. Considered the epicentre of Sith knowledge on Desevro, the Red Library is an attractive destination for those wishing to learn hidden techniques of the Dark Side, or acquire objects of power. Beware, though, the Library is not without its dangers; from dark spirits, to feral Sithspawn, ancient curses, and, of course, other Sith.
The Reading Room:
The main antechamber of the Library, and where the majority of visitors spend their time. This large space has a range of texts on Force Instruction, History, and Martial Techniques. It also contains a number of terminals and droids for referencing and retrieving more obscure parts of the collection, numerous desks and private study rooms, and a vast collection of starmaps. Unlike a typical library, a whole wall of the Reading Room holds equipment needed for accessing the lower floors, from lights and navigation devices, blasters, armour, and even lightsabers. These items are typically behind lock and key, but can be leased out by the Library’s clerks, librarians and curators to those who need them for expeditions.
Sitting directly beneath the Reading Room is an interconnected series of tunnels originally built as part of the Sith Temple that the Red Library sits inside. Nowadays, the once wide and open corridors are a cluttered mess of artifacts from deeper levels of the ruins, or brought from visiting Sith from other temples and forgotten places around Desevro. The upper regions of the collection are tagged and catalogued, and include items from the lower levels stored for Sith who request them. However, as the descending passageways sink deeper, the mess of artifact becomes more cluttered, disorganised, and harder to navigate. Here, old droids, plundering Sith and feral Sithspawn prey on those returning from expeditions or descending to collect a stored artifact. For this reason, much of the Storage Levels are hidden behind locked doors, accessible only with an escort from Library staff
Each of the sloping passageways that makes up the Storage Levels end in a locked door. Some of the doors are wooden, some are blocks of rough-hewn stone, or dark, rusted metal. These doors are the entrance to the Old Levels. These floors are restricted only to the Librarians and Curators of the Red Library, and visitors are only allowed with special permission in heavily armed expeditions. This is because the Old Levels contain the most powerful, unwieldy or dangerous items in the Red Library’s collection. These include powerful Force techniques, holocrons and imbued or alchemised objects. Also in the Old Levels, sealed within chambers and coffins, are Sithspawn, spirits, and ancient Sith, all of whom at one time were deemed too dangerous, or too precious, or too unpredictable, and were sealed away. Unlike the floors above, the books and items of the Old Levels are not formally indexed, and catelogued. Instead, rough-drawn maps and remembered directions guide the way. For this reason, the Old Levels are incredibly dangerous, and even armed and prepared expeditions often return having lost members.
At the very, very bottom of the Red Library, in places where the floors of the Old Levels have fallen away, there is an untouched temple. Its existence is only rumoured, based on the accounts of Librarians who have ventured to deep sections of the Library affected by quakes or water intrusion. It is supposedly an ancient Sith temple, as old as those on Korriban, with its secrets, knowledge, and dangers yet unspoiled. For the ambitious visitors to the Red Library, it is a tantalising but unattainable target, hidden beneath miles of twisting tunnels, hundreds of locked doors, and hordes of roving Sithspawn, spirits, and other monsters. If anyone did reach it, and could return to the surface alive, they would have access to untold spoils.
SECURITY
High - The Red Library is defended by its staff, consisting of Clerks, Librarians, and Curators. These staff are Sith in their own right, and patrol the Library to perform their duties and upkeep, but also to prevent intrusions to restricted areas and unauthorised behaviour, such as stealing. Servant droids also roam the grounds, programmed to eliminate unauthorised explorers, raiders, and other dangers. Many areas are also protected by locks and defenses that are alchemised and imbued with the Force.
HISTORICAL INFORMATION
The Red Library is a relatively recent creation, having been formalised from a loose collection of archeologists and academics on Desevro by the arrival of the Sith Covenant. Since then, the Library has become the go-to protector of Sith knowledge. The ruins that house the Library, however, are far more ancient, dating back to the reign of Xim around 25,000 BBY. Further, the contents of the temples have been added to and changed over the thousands of years they have existed, containing the artifacts and architectural influences of dozens of empires. For this reason, the Red Library too has developed to equally eclectic and varied. The only consistent feature of the great stone complex is the red sand that seeps in inexorably from outside.
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