Post by Catsmate on Oct 21, 2014 13:02:02 GMT
Inspired by the Lovecraftian Great Library of Celaeno, the library of the Unseen Universary and all the other Great Big Libraries of fiction.
This great circular building has existed for ages. Nearly three kilometres in external diameter and constructed of some greyish material resembling stone, it sits at the highest point on an island in the centre of a lake.
Entering through the great archway facing the lake, visitors pass through an oddly short vaulted entrance hall to walk down a flight of sixteen broad steps to reach the floor of the central rotunda. This domed space is cavernous, at least 500 metres across and 200m high, studded at intervals with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of carved wooden(?) tables and chairs, many intended for beings very different from bipedal humans.
A few are occupied by intent readers and researchers, of various species. Some look over at the new arrivals, most ignore them
The room is illuminated by "sunlight", like that outside slightly too blue for human taste, from panels around the dome.
On the walls circling the room are hundreds of works of art; flat paintings and photographs (many of planetary panoramas), still and moving holographs and many sculptures, some decidedly odd.
Like spokes of a wheel, sixty four hallways radiate outward from the central room. These halls about seven metres wide, and four high, and are well lit, at least for the first few hundred metres, by small globes glowing with the same light as the panels in the central room. Beyond this the illumination is dimmer, reacting to the presence of a reader.
The halls seem to continue indefinitely, with branches both right and left and up and down, giving the form of a three dimensional spider web on a colossal scale, an image that may not be reassuring)
The shelves contain books and other media for storing knowledge; the only thing they have in common seems to be longevity, they're designed to endure.
The halls, branches, shelves and spots are marked by tiny plaques; these use a deceptively simple system of coloured symbols (sixteen symbols in sixteen colours in octagonal patterns) in groups of sixteen character sets to label the contents.
Who built it?
No-one knows. Not even the Time Lords. And that scares them. Certainly it was a powerful and advanced race.
Where is it?
In a small pocket universe, a mere few billion kilometres across there is a smallish blue white star with a single planet orbiting it. The library is on an island in a lake on the planet. The small size of the universe causes the lack of true night-time.
How do you get there?
Generally with difficulty. If you can manage para-dimensional travel the pocket dimension housing the Library is relatively easy to access.
What are the rules?
No borrowing. Materials may be examined, and copied, in the library but not removed from the building. This is enforced by the Librarians.
No Time Lords. TARDISes cannot enter the pocket universe. Gallifreyans who enter by other means are killed immediately. Those with part-Gallifreyan heritage are generally allowed to enter but will be subject to increased scrutiny by the Librarians.
No destruction of materials or damage to the building.
No disturbance. Generally one can interact with other visitors, even killing them, but excessive use of weapons (and any level of collateral damage to the structure or contents of the Library) triggers the intervention of the Librarians.
Who are the Librarians?
No one knows. They manifest as clouds of blue-white motes in the air and can appear or disappear seemingly at a whim. They manifest to examine new arrivals but don't generally interact unless the Library's rules are being violated.
How do you find what you're looking for?
Well, often you simply don't. There are vastly more books and other volumes in the Library than there are particles in the Milky Way galaxy. There are three challenges:
Packing for a visit to the Library.
By human standard the air is breathable (though a little low in oxygen and rich in noble gases). The gravity is slightly low too but not a problem. There are no native sources of food, and the lake water is such a pretty blue colour due to metal salts. The interior of the Library is cool (around 12°C).
So bring camping supplies. The upper galleries above the main rotunda have plenty of space; just don't leave a mess, the Librarians will object.
The volumes contained inside are in millions of different formats, so access to translation systems (people or computer) is probably essential.
Some form of internal transport, that doesn't cause a mess, is a good idea.
Formats.
In addition to more-or-less conventional books, multiple sheets of materials connected together and covered with symbols, there are many other formats available in the Library.
In addition to being difficult for humans to access some of these formats may be actively hazardous; devices intended to interface to brains very different from humans, interactive holographs for a species that sees into the UV spectrum (goodbye human eyeballs), recorded audio that (when you find a player) is intensely uncomfortable to humans, cloned messenger RNA that's painfully fatal to humans...
- Though Lovecraft didn't create the library of Celaeno, August Derleth did
The travellers exited their ship and looked at the building in the blueish light that persisted even after "sunset". It was big, far bigger than anything constructed of simple stone should be, and even at this distance it felt old. They gathered their gear and started walking. They had a job to do.
This great circular building has existed for ages. Nearly three kilometres in external diameter and constructed of some greyish material resembling stone, it sits at the highest point on an island in the centre of a lake.
Entering through the great archway facing the lake, visitors pass through an oddly short vaulted entrance hall to walk down a flight of sixteen broad steps to reach the floor of the central rotunda. This domed space is cavernous, at least 500 metres across and 200m high, studded at intervals with hundreds, perhaps thousands, of carved wooden(?) tables and chairs, many intended for beings very different from bipedal humans.
A few are occupied by intent readers and researchers, of various species. Some look over at the new arrivals, most ignore them
The room is illuminated by "sunlight", like that outside slightly too blue for human taste, from panels around the dome.
- There's a day/night cycle to the light, though it never dims entirely, and as visitors may notice the cycle of about thirty hours, doesn't match the outside world.
On the walls circling the room are hundreds of works of art; flat paintings and photographs (many of planetary panoramas), still and moving holographs and many sculptures, some decidedly odd.
- Some of the artworks, especially the sculptures, are uncomfortable for humans to study; they may use more than the common number of dimensions, some of the holos emit more UV than human eyes can handle and many of the pictures are intended for beings with different visual senses to humanity. Or different senses entirely.
Like spokes of a wheel, sixty four hallways radiate outward from the central room. These halls about seven metres wide, and four high, and are well lit, at least for the first few hundred metres, by small globes glowing with the same light as the panels in the central room. Beyond this the illumination is dimmer, reacting to the presence of a reader.
The halls seem to continue indefinitely, with branches both right and left and up and down, giving the form of a three dimensional spider web on a colossal scale, an image that may not be reassuring)
- With suitable tools an estimate of the length of the halls is possible, at least a light second in some cases.
The shelves contain books and other media for storing knowledge; the only thing they have in common seems to be longevity, they're designed to endure.
The halls, branches, shelves and spots are marked by tiny plaques; these use a deceptively simple system of coloured symbols (sixteen symbols in sixteen colours in octagonal patterns) in groups of sixteen character sets to label the contents.
Who built it?
No-one knows. Not even the Time Lords. And that scares them. Certainly it was a powerful and advanced race.
- Optionally, it was created aeons ago by one of the Precursor races who "later" fought a Time War with Gallifrey and lost. However in the struggle the early Time Lords modified their own past and "forgot" the incident.
Where is it?
In a small pocket universe, a mere few billion kilometres across there is a smallish blue white star with a single planet orbiting it. The library is on an island in a lake on the planet. The small size of the universe causes the lack of true night-time.
How do you get there?
Generally with difficulty. If you can manage para-dimensional travel the pocket dimension housing the Library is relatively easy to access.
What are the rules?
No borrowing. Materials may be examined, and copied, in the library but not removed from the building. This is enforced by the Librarians.
No Time Lords. TARDISes cannot enter the pocket universe. Gallifreyans who enter by other means are killed immediately. Those with part-Gallifreyan heritage are generally allowed to enter but will be subject to increased scrutiny by the Librarians.
No destruction of materials or damage to the building.
No disturbance. Generally one can interact with other visitors, even killing them, but excessive use of weapons (and any level of collateral damage to the structure or contents of the Library) triggers the intervention of the Librarians.
Who are the Librarians?
No one knows. They manifest as clouds of blue-white motes in the air and can appear or disappear seemingly at a whim. They manifest to examine new arrivals but don't generally interact unless the Library's rules are being violated.
- Blue is the colour of danger. If a Librarian displays a deeper blue/violet colour it signifies anger or annoyance. Think quickly and correct any possible infringements of library rules.
- Visitors get four "strikes" from the Librarians, with the fourth bringing disintegration. The first three merely produce increasing (and agonising) levels of pain.
How do you find what you're looking for?
Well, often you simply don't. There are vastly more books and other volumes in the Library than there are particles in the Milky Way galaxy. There are three challenges:
- Unless you have an individual reference code (for a specific volume) you need to find a general code for the subject area (e.g. History/Past/GC8F9G8AB766//Milky Way/Earth/C32) and start looking.
- Of course such a general topic might cover several thousand kilometres and billions of volumes.
- Not all (and probably not many) will be in a language understandable to you. Or even a format you understand.
Packing for a visit to the Library.
By human standard the air is breathable (though a little low in oxygen and rich in noble gases). The gravity is slightly low too but not a problem. There are no native sources of food, and the lake water is such a pretty blue colour due to metal salts. The interior of the Library is cool (around 12°C).
So bring camping supplies. The upper galleries above the main rotunda have plenty of space; just don't leave a mess, the Librarians will object.
- Alternatively camp outside or return to your ship, if you brought one. Just remember the books stay inside.
The volumes contained inside are in millions of different formats, so access to translation systems (people or computer) is probably essential.
- There are guides available; beings who've made their home in the Library (not necessarily voluntarily) and who may be mercenary/insane/dangerous or just obsessed.
Some form of internal transport, that doesn't cause a mess, is a good idea.
Formats.
In addition to more-or-less conventional books, multiple sheets of materials connected together and covered with symbols, there are many other formats available in the Library.
- Telepathic crystals; touch to experience the content. May cause brain damage is used by the wrong species.
- Discs that play back audio when a finger or stylus is applied
- Interactive holographs
- Mechanical books composed of rotating, interlocking metal shapes; 'read' by manipulating the shapes in the appropriate order
- Vials containing injectable nanotech or messenger RNA
- Microfiche or film equivalents, with symbols miniaturised and encoded onto transparent materials
- Electronic scrolls; roll of light absorbing plastic that acts an a flexible book-screen as it's unfurled
- Digital storage media; physical, optical, magnetic, electronic, molecular, genetic and more; all requiring their own readers
- Sealed containers holding geneered organisms that recite their embedded knowledge when triggered
- Reels of thin wire covered with minute 'knots' (similar to Braille) read by contact
- Slabs; seemingly solid pieces of plastic (?) that changes surface (appearance and/or texture) to convey information
- Blobs: interactive nano-matter blobs that speak and demonstrate
- Tablets: seemingly similar to slabs these are blocks of stone (quite heavy) covered in small indentations; each corresponding to a 'page'; they're read by inserting protoplasmic
tentacles, though a laser based reader could be created for other species. - Cubes: when held and squeezed these piezo-electric devices emit radio signals, which are 'read' by beings with suitable senses
- Metallic sculptures that produces information rich sounds when tapped
- Spheres holding the memory (and personality) of a witness to great
events, taken at their moment of death.
In addition to being difficult for humans to access some of these formats may be actively hazardous; devices intended to interface to brains very different from humans, interactive holographs for a species that sees into the UV spectrum (goodbye human eyeballs), recorded audio that (when you find a player) is intensely uncomfortable to humans, cloned messenger RNA that's painfully fatal to humans...