Ruad's Library

**Ruad's Library** is an immense libraryIn the southwestern section of DSRRed, in Knot territory. It contains copies of written works of every significant document in the history of the continent. It is called Ruad’s Library.

## Custodians

The people that take care of Ruad’s Library are called the Custodians. They are a group of robed Reds from the Knot tribe that make sure everything is going as it should in the library. They clean up any dirt or mess, make sure books are on the correct shelves in the correct order, and ensure that individuals are respecting one another and the library’s documents. One other responsibility they have is to collect documents from different parts of DSRRed. It is their mission to continuously build the collection in the library with originals or copies of every significant work written by a Red or written in DSRRed.

## History

Ruad's library was constructed thousands of years ago by individuals of the Knot tribe, led by a Red named Ruad. Ruad was the leading scholar of Knot at the time, as she held more knowledge than any other individual of the tribe. She took it upon herself to create housing for this information as well as a way to more easily share this information with anyone that wishes to learn it. For this reason, she started this monumental task with just a few of her peers, but as they continued to build this library, more and more people joined in this task as they saw the good it could do. Finally, after 40 years, the library had been built.

Originally, Ruad tasked her followers and students with gathering information and documents from all over DSRRed. After finding the documents and taking them to the library, they would copy them into another document. This was so the information stored in the library wasn’t lost forever if something were to happen to the library or the documents in it. After it had been copied, the document would be returned to where it was found.

This was not the only job Ruad’s students had. They also served as librarians and caretakers of the library. They organized the information and directed anyone looking for information in the right direction.

While this was going on, Ruad would conduct her research in this library. She would use the documents and space to her advantage to perform experiments at the same time as researching various subjects. This led to Ruad allowing other scholars to study and perform experiments in the library. It became a hub for research of all kinds, and many discoveries were made there.

One scientist that studied at this library went by the name of Shiris Ioros. Shiris was a very well-known botanist who discovered many different types of plants that grow in DSRRed. In her time studying at Ruad’s Library, she experimented with various different plants to see what their effects on different materials and different organisms, and also gaining more knowledge on the specific processes they performed and why they had the properties they did. She spent many years at the library and made very many discoveries.

At one point at the library, it had been raining for weeks. There had been no relief from this rain for so long, and after these weeks, water had started to pool on top of the library. More and more water pooled, getting heavier and heavier. Suddenly, the roof could not take it anymore and it collapsed. At this point, it was very late at night so the only people in the library were Ruad and a few of her students. Unfortunately, the roof collapsed directly onto Ruad’s personal laboratory, which she was in at the time. The chunks of rock crushed her to death almost immediately and the rainwater rushed in. This water swept through the library, ruining thousands of documents. The few students left in the library found their teacher and mentor dead in the rubble. They promised to dedicate their lives to continuing Ruad’s legacy and create the most extensive library in all of DSRRed.

The fallen roof had done significant damage to the library. It would take a long time to repair the roof along with the damage done inside the building. Luckily, the documents that had been destroyed had all been copied from their original documents, so they would not be lost forever; they would just be difficult to replace. The rain ruined not only the documents, but much of the research being done by the scholars studying there, so that set some of the scholars back weeks and months. The only irreparable damage done to the library was to Ruad. She was mourned by many and given a resting place on a nearby hill so she could always be watching over the library.

Ruad’s students went to work repairing the library. It took several months to repair the building itself, and once it had been done, they commemorated Ruad by dedicating the two studies at the tops of the two towers to her. They collected the things of hers that they could find and put them on display in these rooms.

They then set off to collect the and copy the original documents that corresponded to the ruined copies. This took many, many years, as the damage was extensive. Over this time, the students became known as the Custodians, as they did little but take care of Ruad’s Library. These students eventually died, but before that, they had gathered other individuals that believed in Ruad’s ideas and were willing to carry on her legacy. To this day, Custodians take care of the library.

## Architecture and Design

Ruad's library stands at 100 feet tall at its highest point and it is 150 feet wide and 200 feet long. It has three towers on the front and three on the back. The ones in the middle stand 100 feet tall while the ones on the sides stand 80 feet tall. The building itself is 60 feet tall. It is made entirely of stone and has many decorative carvings on the outside depicting things such as spirals and trees.

On the inside, there are shelves upon shelves of books and manuscripts. Every wall is lined with them. There are books on history, geography, geology, chemistry, philosophy, and any other subject you could name. These books are divided into sections based on floor and cardinal direction. For example, in the southern section of floor four, information on the flora and fauna of DSRRed is held.

When one enters the library, they must first pass through a pair of elaborately decorated, gargantuan, wooden doors. These doors are made of a very red wood and are covered in carvings of animals, plants, and people. Once through these doors, one comes into the first floor of the building, which is the largest of the floors. The ceilings are all quite high, and the bookshelves were built to touch them. Rolling ladders are used to reach the more precariously-placed books, which are chained off so they do not fall. On the main floor is the reception desk. This desk is also covered in carvings, but these are more abstract in nature. At the desk, there are always a few very friendly Custodians that will help anyone find any book they like.

Throughout the building, there are many rooms and areas with tables and chairs that can be used to read a book, study some of the available material, or simply to relax. There are even implements that can be used to study many of the different subjects available such as writing implements, microscopes, and compasses. The most prominent of such areas are the topmost rooms of the tallest towers of the building. These are studies dedicated to Ruad. They contain high quality seating, desks, and tools. They each are well-decorated with velvet furnishings and a portrait of Ruad in each.

Another room in Ruad’s Library is the Flora Room on the top floor. This room is filled to the brim with every plant one could imagine. There are flowers, ferns, bushes, and even trees housed here. The roof in this room has been replaced entirely with glass to give the plants all the sunlight they need. These plants are here so that anyone may study them if they so choose. The only rules are that these plants not be removed from the room, nor can they be destroyed. The custodians water these plants and make sure they are alive and well. Whether one wants to study the plants or simply be in a room full of plants, this is a great place to study.

The Astronomy Room is a very popular room in the library. Inside the room, there is extensive information on the night sky and the various events that may occur in it. From comets to eclipses, to meteors, every celestial event that has happened and will happen is recorded in this room. The biggest reason this room is popular is not these records, though, it is the ceiling. The ceiling is in the shape of a dome and shows what is in the night sky at any given time. One can see all the stars in the sky even if it is daytime. The mechanism that the ceiling uses can also go to specific points in time to show what celestial events will be happening at specific times, or what happened at specific times in the past. It is quite a sight.

There are many staircases in this gargantuan building, but in its center, there is a large spiral staircase surrounding a large pillar. A great many people participated in this project and many died during the construction. That is why the names of every individual that contributed to the building of this library have been memorialized on the pillar in the middle of the staircase.One final area in this building is Ruad’s personal laboratory. This was the only room that was completely destroyed when the roof caved in. After it was rebuilt, no one was allowed inside, and no one knows why. The only people allowed in this room are the Custodians, and if asked, they provide no insight into what is on the other side of the door. Sometimes Custodians can be seen going in and out of this room, but even attempting to look inside when this is happening is fruitless. The room seems to be bathed in perpetual, impenetrable darkness. Above the door is a plaque declaring the room to be Ruad’s Laboratory, but there is no indiciation as to what happens in that room. Maybe no one will ever know what is inside.