Obscurist

**The Obscurists** are a mysterious group of alchemists that perform all the essential functions of the Great Library of Alexandria. They are forced to live in the Iron Tower. The head of the Obscurists is the Obscurist Magnus.

## Description

The Obscurists are essential to the Great Library's functioning and power. They maintain the Library's Codex system, accomplish the mirroring of the Library's texts across any distance, provide the spark to power the automata, and power the process of translation. Obscurists do their work in seclusion and "protection" within the Iron Tower.

Despite the power they have, those born with Obscurist abilities are forced to spend their entire lives trapped inside the Iron Tower located in the heart of Alexandria. Obscurists have been becoming increasingly rare, which has only led the Library to exert more control over them. Those born outside the Iron Tower are taken from their homes by force, and those born inside the Iron Tower without the Obscurist gift are forced out, and if they're children, placed into the Library's orphanage. By the rules of the Great Library, non-Obscurist children are to be removed from the Iron Tower and sent to the Library's orphanage by the age of five or six. All Obscurists living inside the Iron Tower are forced to procreate with each other as the Library desperately tries to cling to its power. Obscurist talent begins to manifest by the age of twenty.

Some Obscurists believe in what they're doing, some do not, but in the end, none of them asked to be trapped in the Iron Tower. Some have become so accustomed to their confinement in the Tower, and know no other home, that they're happy to accept whatever is asked of them. They are forced to wear a golden collar around their neck. This collar means slavery inside the Iron Tower and is seen as an honor outside of it. New Obscurists arrive from time to time, but they're usually children who have been identified and sent to the Iron Tower from around the world. Powerful Obscurists give off a power that other Obscurists can feel.

While essentially prisoners, Obscurists are incredibly pampered. They have the best chefs, recipes, and wines. Obscurists are viewed by the Library's leaders as the most valuable resource in the world, and thus they're also the Library's greatest weakness. Without them, documents can't be added to the Archive. Without them the Codex doesn't work, and if the Codex doesn't work, the Library falls. According to Scholar Johannes Gutenberg, the foundation of the Great Library itself rests on the safety and security of human knowledge which is carried out by the work of Obscurists. When they do their work, instead of ink on paper, letters appear as ghostly, shimmering, gloating, and in gold and orange. They spark and turn, twisting in slow, fluid patterns.

## History

After the Serapeum of Ryy in Persia was destroyed in 1029, Obscurist lives changed forever. Prior to the burning of the Serapeum, alchemists worked in secret, after this event they began to work together. Their discoveries lead to the Doctrine of Mirroring. They also learn that alchemical formulae work for some and not for others because there is a spark in only certain people, a talent that can imbue formulae with real power. These people became the Obscurists.

Gilles de Rais was a French Obscurist who is used as an example of the toxic effect of the overuse of Obscurist abilities. His actions contributed to the decision to imprison Obscurists in the Iron Tower.

Maryanna Sfetsos was the Obscurist Magnus in 1750, when the Obscurists were first locked in the Iron Tower. Her close friend and the Lingua Magnus at the time, Cao Xuequin, inquired about the situation to the current Archivist Magister, and the result was Maryanna's supposed accidental death.

After the rebellion against the Library, and with Khalila elected the new Archivist Magister, the Obscurists are freed from the Iron Tower.

## Known Obscurists

* Keria Morning
* Gregory Valdosta
* Morgan Hault
* Eskander Pallis
* Annis
* Sybilla
* Gilles de Rais
* Maryanna Sfetsos
* Gregory
* Dominic
* Rosa
* Vanya Nikolin

## Trivia

* A text titled *Liber de Potentia* describes the dangers of unregulated Obscurists. It's only allowed to be read in its entirety by the Curia and the Archivist Magister while certain sections are available to the Medica division.
* The Obscurist Magnus has formal Curia robes of shimmering gold and royal blue worked in with the all-seeing eye of the Library.
* The Obscurist Magnus is prohibited from also being the Archivist Magister to avoid putting too much power in the same hands.
* Three High Garda soldiers are assigned to the personal protection of the Obscurists Magnus.
* The word Obscurist comes from Latin, and means "one who creates ambiguous (uncertain, indefinite, vague, unclear) works."