Cocytus

## Description

Along the M. C. Esher hallways and stairs of this section of the library, exist bookshelves containing aberrational tomes and scrolls beyond the scope of present understanding by the common mortal, bookcases which stand both on the ice covered floor and float among the chilled air.

Cocytus is abysmally dark; no natural lantern or candle maintains flame in this area. The only light source available to patrons for use is provided by anchored cauldrons which rest ever so far from one another. Limited in number and range of effectiveness, these cauldrons are as invaluable to a persons survival in this area. However, they can be just as detrimental, for you see, Librarians and patrons are not the only beings which occupy these halls.

Beyond the reach of the cauldron flames, out of view behind the bookshelves, where walls presumably reside, stares back a creeping dark. A darkness which spots and occludes the very air, not only housing an unperceived gaze, but also emitting horrors which plague those who seek knowledge.

As a creature searches, finds, and attempts to gain knowledge from a tome or scroll, they are beset by malformations of the mind and body alike. Sometimes minds are broken by ailments that come in the form of bulbous rashes forming at ones throat, other times a buzzing noise emits from inside their ears, words on a page or parchment distorting into nonsense in order to goad the reader into casting a self inflicting malformation, illusions of grotesque creatures being birthed from the shadows whose approaching figures instill untold levels of nausea to the point of forcing much more than bodily fluids to eject from the body. Tendrils, sores, among other obscure extremities also extrude form the halls at random; sometimes they breach for seemingly no purpose

Finally there exists Cocytus's champion. A ancient creature who found itself summoned and eventually tainted the eldritch powers seeping into this section of the library. Abducted from it's natural habitat, this king from the Cretaceous Era has sustained it's mutated form throughout the ages by both the sustenance provided by the unfortunate victims of Silverfish who find themselves in this part of the library and by the pleasure it fills itself with while it torments and devourers unsuspecting librarians and patrons seeking sanctuary within the light of the burning cauldrons.

However, despite all the dangers it is said that the only way to master all the knowledge or powers that an individual seeks, is to brave absorbing all the tomes and parchment's information within the collection itself.

## Contents & Inhabitants

Cocytus contains books of madness and depravity, of truth, of glorious fiction, but ultimately, it contains tomes of mind-numbing darkness. Twisted, twisting works, the study of which is suicide.

One can never truly know what inhabits the darkness. It is this uncertainty itself which lives in Cocytus. That and the T-Rex.

## History & Lore

It's unknown as to when this section of the library was created and who created it.

One day, the Librarians happened to come upon it's existence. Within the dimly lit room that they peered into, they read tomes that presented conjectures about the world, theories which sought to make sense out of foreign lands/people and objects. Other items produced fears over concepts and situations familiar and unfamiliar to the mortal-man, Acrophobia, Cyrophobia, Hydrophobia, among a few others. Finally there lay tomes which served to answer the previous on dubious grounds; tales of leviathans among the stars that could shape worlds, warnings of individuals malformed in body and spirit, and promises of inevitable failures beyond the capabilities of those affected.

Thanks to Cocytus Collection's infant appearance, the librarians wrote the section off as a storage for the ramblings of mad men.

Yet as time stretched on, so too did this part of the Library. As more items and information were added to the library's collection in other parts, the halls of Cocytus grew darker, colder, more deadly, and various new displays manifested along with the emittance of fleshy appendages.

No matter how much information the Librarians gather, they are unable to discover the origins of this area. No matter how many spells and protective practices they learn, the Librarians are unable to keep its borders from expanding.

## Behind the Scenes

* Cocytus was offically canonized on December 22, 2020
* Originally created by DrironSteel
* Possible intent behind the creation of this area is theorized in the book, "The Man Who Dreamed He Made Nightmares"