Edificant Library

The Edificant Library was a temple and library located in the south of the Snowflake Mountains in Erlkazar.
==Architecture==
The building was an massive stone structure as strong as a fortress, with its walls wreathed in ivy. The huge building was more than 400 feet (120 meters) across and at least 200 feet (60 meters) high. It consisted of four above-ground levels and had an unknown expanse of storage tunnels and catacombs below. The first floor contained the library proper with unnumbered collections of mostly unique and ancient books, parchments, and artifacts. The second floor contained smaller study chambers and guest rooms for visiting scholars. It was built as a self-contained town, complete with housing, guest quarters, a large eating hall, stables, along with alchemy and herbalist shops.
==Dedication==
The Library was erected as a tribute to Deneir and Oghma, the allied gods of knowledge, literature, and art.
==Visitors==
The Edificant Library was open to all who wished to learn on the condition that they did not plan to use their knowledge for baneful purposes. Thus no scholars of evil religions were allowed entry to the Library. Followers of Gond were not well looked upon either, for they often strove for knowledge indifferent to its evil nature. The Library was a place for study, reading poetry, painting, sculpting, and for debate about all types of deep questions.
==History==
Construction of the library began during the reign of Amahl Shoon V (142–204 DR) of the Shoon Imperium, and the "Artist Qysar" donated great funds into the project. The Edificant Library of the 1300s DR had stood for some six centuries.At its first appearance in Canticle, the Edificant Library is said to be 600 years old as of 1361 DR. However, Empires of the Shining Sea dates its construction to the 2 century DR, making it around 1200 years old. To reconcile these, it seems likely the Edificant Library was rebuilt at a later date.
But the Chaos Curse was the downfall of the Library, in the . In Kierkan Rufo's assault on the Library, every priest and headmaster died—either at the hands of former student turned vampire Kierkan Rufo as the embodiment of the Chaos Curse and then being raised as zombies, or by giving into the dark promises of being a vampire at Rufo's side. They were ultimately put to eternal rest by Cadderly Bonaduce. All priests were affected by Kierkan Rufo, except Vicero Belago, the library's alchemist, who was sent away from the Library by Dean Thobicus long before Rufo desecrated the holy place, and Brother Chaunticleer, whose melodies to the patron deities warded him against the evil that befell the library. Chaunticleer's room was the only place in the building that had not been desecrated, leaving him half starved and his hair whitened from the terror he had endured until Cadderly Bonaduce and his friends finally killed Rufo.
Cadderly Bonaduce finally destroyed the desecrated building with the help of his god-given powers, wiping the Edificant Library from the landscape. Then, again with the help of Deneir, Cadderly started to construct a new cathedral in the library's stead, Spirit Soaring.
==Notable Inhabitants==
* Cadderly Bonaduce
* Danica Maupoissant
* Pikel Bouldershoulder
* Ivan Bouldershoulder
* Kierkan Rufo
* Pertelope
* Avery Schell
* Chaunticleer
==Appendix==
===Notes===
===Appearances===
:;Novels
::The Cleric Quintet: Canticle • In Sylvan Shadows • Night Masks • The Fallen Fortress • The Chaos Curse
====References====
Category:Libraries
Category:Locations in the Snowflake Mountains
Category:Locations in Impresk
Category:Locations in Erlkazar
Category:Locations in the Lands of Intrigue
Category:Locations in the Iltkazar Range
Category:Locations in West Faerûn
Category:Locations in Faerûn
Category:Locations on Toril
Category:Locations
Category:Temples to Deneir
Category:Temples to Oghma]]