Library of Saross

The **Library of Saross** - one of the places you can visit in Empire.

## Lore

**The Imperial Library of Saross** was actually built after the fall of the Empire, in a noble yet futile attempt to preserve the rapidly disappearing knowledge for future generations. The library operated for almost four decades, but came to an unexpected end when rumors that the library collected more than dusty old scrolls started spreading. The volunteers protecting the library managed to repel two attacks before the complex was overrun by raiders who didn't leave many stones unturned looking for anything valuable.

*Warning - this point onwards contains spoilers*.

## The prospector

You can:

* Kill him (and get the Air valve from his body).
* Accept the invitation,
	+ get poisoned with the coffee [-20 HP] and fight while you still can
	+ notice that you just drank poisoned coffee Alchemy:[4]. If you have Poison you can try to distract him Streetwise:[4] to Poison his coffee
	+ use an Antidote to stop the poison, and then fight him;
* Reject the invitation, because you realize that his body language is wrong Perception:[5] and Streetwise:[5].
	+ Tell him to pack his things and leave Bodycount:[25]
	+ Convince him that the Legatus will be there any minute and that he will crucify the prospector Streetwise:[6],

Go inside. The library has two floors and a basement. The upper floor has only bookshelves with lore. Climb down to the basement.

## The basement

There are three important things here: the bookshelves, the generator and the secret chambers. You will find some lore and can add three locations to your map, Zamedi, The Arch and Inferiae if you have Lore:[3].

To fix the generator you need:

1. Lore:[3] + Crafting:[3] to examine it properly and attempt to fix it.
2. Air valve
	1. If you didn’t kill the prospector, you need to talk to Abukar you need either Persuasion+Charisma:[12] or Intelligence+Streetwise:[12] to get the Oil Injector and learn that he sold the Air valve to the Curio storekeeper.
	* Crafting:[4] to reattach the Air valve, that you get from the prospector’s body. You got one from the prospector, if you killed him.
3. Oil Injector:
	* Given by Abukar if you pass Persuasion+Charisma:[12] or Intelligence+Streetwise:[12] check
	* Crafting + Intelligence=[15], to do without Oil injector; +4 civil skill points
	* Crafting:[4] to reattach the Oil injector
4. Add oil - You need five jars of Rock Oil
	1. But if you killed the prospector, you already have three jars. *Refer to [Rock Oil] for spoiler on where to source for more.*
	* (hidden) Alchemy:[3] check - You can work your magic with less (three jars of Rock Oil)
	* Insert five jars of Rock Oil
5. Completion rewards 3 civil skill points.

### The secret chamber

Now go to the broken elevator. There is a switch behind it. To find it you need :

1. Criteria:
	* Perception:[7] if you are unaware of a hidden chamber;
	* Perception:[6] if the prospector told you something about it because he believed you would die with the poison and you were smart enough to infer that there is another secret chamber Intelligence:[8];
	* Intelligence:[6] if you found a debris outside the library and removed it with Strength:[7], thus revealing a vent and indicating a secret chamber downstairs.
2. Push the switch and reveal a small chamber with stone tablets.
	1. Note: The generator needs to be running for the switch to work.
3. Enter the secret chamber and be rewarded with 6 skill points.
4. You’re standing in a small chamber, illuminated by the glowing stone tablets floating in the air with no visible support. Each tablet is carved with rows upon rows of tiny, precise symbols.

You take a few steps forward and touch the closest tablet. They are not made of stone but a much lighter material, and the letters seem to have been burned into the surface rather than inscribed.
	* [Lore] Decipher the text - Lore:[5]
		1. See [Text 1a]
		2. See [Text 2]
	* [Lore] Decipher the text - Lore:[7]
		1. See [Text 1b]
	* If you have Perception:[8], you will notice a tablet hole. Insert the Grooved Sphere in the hole and extract the Surgical Kit.
		1. [success] You find nothing of interest, except for a small hole in one of the tablets. Holes in old stone tablets are hardly unusual, but the tablets are too flawless and the hole is too perfectly round to be accidental.
		2. You set the sphere in the hole but it refuses to fit snugly in the socket. Eventually, you realize you need to push and rotate it simultaneously. When the grooves are engaged, the sphere moves smoothly, sinking into the tablet and disappearing entirely. A hidden mechanism gives a series of soft clicks and a compartment at the bottom of the tablet opens to reveal a small metal case.
		3. see [Text 3]

#### Text 1a

The tablets are written in cuneiform – a writing system so old that its origins are lost in the mists of time. They say that the Magi had gained much insight deciphering tablets that were old when the Empire was barely a kingdom and eventually adopted the script as their own.

The tablets are addressed to “Those who will succeed us” and bear a warning. Unfortunately, the message was intended for their immediate successors, who presumably understood their mysterious jargon, and not those who’d come hundreds of years later.

#### Text 1b

The tablets are written in cuneiform - a writing system so old that its origins are lost in the mists of time. They say that the Magi had gained much insight deciphering tablets that were old when the Empire was barely a kingdom and eventually adopted the script as their own.

You barely understand it, but you're pretty sure that it's some kind of warning. The tablets talk about the importance of the warning and the unknown precautions that were taken for the message to survive. They explain that what was done - you don't understand the words - was done to protect, but warn that it can be easily undone. They warn against following in the footsteps of those who had written the message and provide instructions you don't really understand.

Well, that was helpful.

#### Text 2

"Take heed all those who tread the Path of Wisdom, for you are the heirs and witnesses to the great Truths inscribed herein. Pass this Knowledge on to those who come after for in it lays the Power of Life and Death.
First, know ye that these Beings of which I speak dwell in the void between the stars. They are Seven in Number. They wield Power beyond any king or champion and cannot be slain for they are not bound by Flesh nor subject to the corrosion of Time.

With great difficulty were they awakened and summoned to our plane. Yet whatever their Antiquity or Might, we bound them to our Will, which was the greatest Triumph of the Magi.

It followed that the treacherous dogs of Qantaar, may the Light never find them, did unravel our bindings. In their foolishness they wished the dwellers of the void to reign over them. It was this Mistake of our lowest enemy which led to our Ruin, and the world we knew was no more. So are the Workings of Great Men undone by curs.

War did wash over the land in a Flood and men and cities did burn in Fire and even the seas roil with the fury of War. The sun became as a black circle and the moon hid her face. With long Effort and terrible Sacrifice, we wisest of men Banished the dwellers of the void from this world.

Remember, those who come after, that Doors can be locked but Doorways remain and the Seven do not cease in their Vigilance, for they wish above all things for the seals to be broken and the doors open once more. Heed these words above all others, for they are the command of Abu Hassan Ibn Hadad al-Sarabi, First of the Magi: Guard the doors forevermore and keep the seals undisturbed.

Know that if the dwellers of the void do enter this world again, there will be no Power great enough or Magi Wise enough to expel them. Know that the Seven watch and wait in the blackness between the Stars.

Guard the doors forevermore and keep the seals undisturbed."

* Achievement: Take Heed And Bear Witness

#### Text 3

The case contains a folded section of parchment and what looks like a set of surgical instruments. There are both smooth and serrated blades of various sizes, hooks to part flesh, a drill with different bits, a few unpleasantly large needles, and a strange metal syringe that incorporates a dead power tube. Every item is gleaming and sharp, as if begging to be used for the first time.

You turn to the parchment. It is a detailed diagram of the human body, overlaid with an incredibly complex schematic of geometrical figures and glyphs. The instructions direct the magus to tattoo certain figures on the subject with a metallic ink. The more complicated procedures involve inscribing glyphs directly into the bone. These bone inscriptions are to be filled with Power-infused blue steel. The other side of the parchment is scrawled with a hand written message: “These wards will hold.”

This is a kind of working you have never encountered before, and it takes several moments for you to understand the implications. It is a guide to human experimentation. The magus following these instructions would begin with a human subject, but the result would be a something not seen in hundreds of years, a super-being, the incarnation of a god in living flesh.

## Alchemy reagents

* Kadura leaves - x2
* Cassava root - x2
* Quicksilver roots - x3
* Emoryl root - x3
* Avatera Sprouts - x3