Carthis Library

The **Carthis Library** is the third-largest library in Assyra. It is located in the major Sister City of Nimris. Lauded as one of the great centers of knowledge in the world, it houses many thousands of scrolls and tomes. The demonym used for those who work in the library is "Carthin."

### Location

Carthis Library is located near the city's walled center, the citadel known as the Anathimia Complex. It is built of dark basalt and set within a walled compound. The gatehouse is left open from dawn until nightfall, when the library is closed to the public, allowing admittance only to those with passes. The building is constructed on a rise of ground around an artificially created moat. The first gate is set at street level. The second gate is reached along a bridge wide enough to accommodate four wagons going abreast. This bridge spans the wide moat and is lined on either side with marble and onyx statues standing upon the railings. The statues depict figures of women, Hestra's sacred priestesses, reading various scrolls and books or holding writing instruments.

Beyond the second gatehouse, there is a smaller courtyard with long stables on either side to hold visitors' horses and mules for a small fee. Attendants take care of the stables and aid patrons in dismounting. Directly before the library itself is another wall. The front doors are reached via a set of massive steps through an open archway. This wall is relatively knew in construction compared to the rest of the library. Above the archway is the central figure of Cyreus, god of gates and entrances, flanked by carvings of scribes recording manuscripts.

### Interior

Within are a series of massive halls with vaulted ceilings, rows of obsidian columns, and intricate wall carvings. Orderly wooden bookshelves hold the library's death of literature. Stone stairways lead up to higher landings with more shelves and manuscript tables. Portraits depicting famous scholars and philosophers who have frequented the library, as well as wealthy patrons who have donated small fortunes to the vaults over the centuries, line the hallways. Small alcoves and niches carved into the walls allow for more private places to read, write, pray. There are also single rooms available that are unlocked by the various attendants who operate beneath the authority of the head librarian, the Keeper of Keys.

Scribes can be hired here to write letters in any language; a small tower behind the building holds hundreds of owls reserved for carrying notes and missives around the city or father. Translators, messengers, tutors, illuminators, and painters may also be found, ready to provide their services to visitors for enough coin.

The front desks in the main entrance hall issue passes for those who wish to take a book or scroll out of the library, but this is a relatively rare occurrence. They also take the fees to use the library, and have the national currencies of each continent available for exchange. In nearly every room can be found shrines and alters dedicated to Korthes, god of history and knowledge. In some reading areas, a marble statue of his likeness is set at the end of each bookshelf before a covered iron brazier. These braziers, full of shimmering red and black coals, are available for visitors to throw in letters of prayer for the ancient god. Ink and parchment can be found on most tables for the purpose of writing such letters.

Librarians and attendants can be found walking everywhere along the halls, maintaining an air of quiet order and contemplation. At the end of the day, they gather all of the letters and notes left on the tables and give them to the braziers while praying to Korthes. It is not an uncommon sight to notice local aoros, the holy men beneath priests, offering prayers before the shrines scattered throughout the library.