The ArchCrystal Tower

X Worldbuilders:

GM James R

For information on running the ArchCrystal Tower, see GM:The ArchCrystal Tower

The ArchCrystal Tower (pronounced Ark-Crystal) was a monolithic tower that stood over the Galik cityscape for years. The tower was operated by a guild of Illumians , who founded it in the city in 364 BR.

The Stacks

A Model of the Interior Stack Chambers as they constantly moved around.

The ArchCrystal tower may have resembled a 30-something floored tower from the outside. But on the inside, the massive library of the ArchCrystal tower were structured in a completely unique and unimaginable way. The library of the guild held an uncountable number of documents from the old world, including books, scrolls, historical accounts, and even a few artifacts. With such a varied number of items from varied sources, the chambers were structured in such a way that no one system could organize the works accurately. Instead, items were placed and tagged in various ways such that an item could be found only if you knew what you were looking for. Trying to simply peruse the stacks was an exercise in insanity.

Each chamber had an entrance, and two exit doors. Above the exit doors, illumian letters hovered, asking the scholar a simple question about his search, the scholar would pick which door best described his item, and by walking through the archway, would find himself in the next chamber, during which time all relevant chambers would rearrange internally, lining up the next two chambers at the end of the scholar's new room. Following this recursive process, the scholar would slowly but surely make his way through the library until he reached a question that was irrelevant. When a scholar had found an irrelevant question that could not be answered by either doorway, that was how he knew he was in the chamber he needed to be in, and could search only a few hundred shelves instead of the tens of thousands he would have needed to search in a traditional library.

The Stacks, being infinitely complex and also ancient both in build and in possessions, were prone to a number of...complications. Within the chambers one could find Mimics, Ghosts, Swarms of Enchanted Books, Living (and hostile) Spellbooks, Animated Armors, and more!

Navigation

The Tower is Organized like a magical Binary Search Tree. Each chamber poses a question (in glowing illumian letters), and there are no maybes, you must know the answer, and it can take you to the room you seek. A scholar can go through 20 doors before being kicked back to the main lobby, the questions posed are implied by the dual answers posed on the doors.

Every chamber contains books that are the sum of the answers given. Walking through "Guides", "Preachable", "Prehistoric", "Afar" would contain a room full of books including, but not limited to, research on how to worship of Old Gods of prehistoric Arborea.

The further in you go, the more specific your options and the easier it is to find them. The questions scramble every time so you'll never get the same maze twice.

Through this system, finding a book in the Stacks is not a matter of knowing its code or shelf, but knowing the absolutely correct answer to any questions asked about the text.

Left	Right
Historical	Fictional
Texts	Guides
Imbued	Null
Arcane	Mundane
Touchable	Believable
Seeable	Unseen
Preachable	Teachable
Domestic	Wild
Quelmar	Afar
Dangerous	Peaceful
Crafted	Natural
Prehistoric	Recorded
Unique	Multiple
Grays	Clear-Cut
Immeasurable	Quantifiable
Caring	Unrequiting
Sensible	Illogical
Liftable	Immovable
Whole	Part
Nominal	Executed

Rules

1. You have to be quiet in the library. You can only communicate in whispers audible up to 5 feet away.
2. When carrying items from the stacks, the next door that you enter will take you back into the lobby, where you can spend time with the scroll or book or such. Guests can not be remove items past the lobby floor, and you can't even try to do so because of the Guest Geas.
3. You can only go through 20 rooms before you are purposefully brought back to the main lobby (aka, have answered all 20 questions and come up with nothing)
4. Guests can access the library for the length of 24 hours per tenday
5. In the main entrance, the minotaur guard (part of an ancient order as old as the tower) can tell you where a book should go if you know the exact name of the book.
6. Spellbooks are not to be housed at the ArchCrystal Tower as of 0 PR. They used to be housed here but have (mostly) been moved to the wizards guild as they are more prepared to and house them. 95% of the ACT's collection is nonmagical, though much of it is ABOUT magical things.

The Space Between the Lines

The interior of the towers is a massive magical and mechanical labyrinth of rotating and transforming chambers, but between those massive moving blocks of books, lays The Space Between the Lines, a handful of ShadowGuild hideouts that can be accessed only if one knew the right combination of doors that would lead to the secret areas. Alternatively, access to the space could be (very dangerously) found if one was able to climb the outside of the tower and enter through exterior windows on certain floors. This method involved navigating through the shifting rooms, and unless someone was a particularly skilled rogue, would almost certainly lead to death.

One such pattern of Lefts and Rights that led to the Space Between the Lines was LLRRLRLRLR.

Access

Member Access

In order to become a member of the ArchCrystal Tower, an application must be completed in full. A sample of the application can be seen here:

MISSION STATEMENT

The Scholar’s Guild of the Arch-Crystal Tower, Inc. serves as the civil and human rights advocate for the development, promotion, and improvement of library and other information services and resources to the nation's Illumian community, and provides leadership for the recruitment and professional development of Illumian librarians and other information service providers and advocates.

VISION STATEMENT

The Scholar’s Guild of the Arch-Crystal Tower, Inc. will be the most influential organization serving the information needs, past, present, and future, of the Illumian library and information service community.

CORE VALUES

These core values are the intrinsic guiding standards and principles that collectively define and determine the character of the Scholar’s Guild of the ArchCrystal Tower Association, Inc. (SGACT)

SGACT values human rights.

SGACT values leadership within SGG, other professional organizations, and libraries.

SGACT values increased recruitment efforts and advancement of Illumian librarians.

SGACT values equitable access to information and increased resources for Illumian librarians and the Illumian community.

SGACT values its relationship with the Illumian community in promoting and preserving information resources and its services.

SGACT values membership satisfaction

MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS

Subscription to SGACT New Mythos

Complimentary Housing

Listing in SGACT Membership Directory

Opportunities to serve on SGACT committees and task forces and as an officer

Voting privileges in SGACT Legislation

Networking with colleagues

Uninterrupted access to the stacks of the ACT

COMMITTEES:

The Scholar’s Guild of the Arch-Crystal Tower invites SGACT members to apply for positions on SGACT's standing committees. The committees sponsor programs, perform research, and conduct much of the organization's business.

ewer members are especially encouraged to consider committee service as a way to become involved in the Association.

Dues must be paid for calendar year to serve as a committee member.

SGACT PUBLICATIONS: Annual Report

-Trends and accomplishments

-Highlights of national and international programs and services

-Roster of Officers, Executive Board, and Committee Chairs

-Strategic long-range plan

-Membership demographics

Membership Directory

-Alphabetic, classified by type of library and geography of SGACT members

Publications

-Bi-monthly news on members, events services, and resources

-Job announcements

Please Join SGACT, Inc.!!

Not a member? Join SGACT, Inc. for the latest information about issues related to Illumian library and information professionals worldwide! Get the official Newsletter of the SGACT, Inc.! Attend conference activities and events! Join

OW!

SGACT, Inc. Membership Form

Please PRINT. Fill out the application COMPLETELY. DO NOT ABBREVIATE.

Please Sign Full Legal Name Below and turn in document to a representative of the Arch Crystal Tower found in the lobby.

Name (Print): ____________________________

Name (Signed): ____________________________

CITE IN DIRECTORY:       Preferred Mailing Address

MEMBERSHIP            

Legal Name     

Place of Residence

Kingdom                                           City     

Institution     

Title    

Guest Access Part 1 - Access Via Associate Permission of the Scholar

The form below allowed friends and associates of guild members to peruse the stacks of the tower.ON THE CONDITION that they are in the pursuit of a question that can not already be answered by the guild members. When guests

were permitted to join their sponsoring scholar, they were put under a Geas magical effect as an extra layer of security. The Geas kept the visitors from removing any items in the tower from the room in which they were found.

his ensured that even if a thief somehow got access, he would drop the book at the threshold of any room he tried to leave, ensuring both the book's safety, and it's location in the right chamber.

The ArchCrystal Tower

Associate Permission of The Scholar

Date _________________

Associate Individual's Name  __________________________________

Associate Individual’s Job _____________________________________

Name of Organization _________________________________________

Current Residence ____________________________________________

Dear Sir or Madam

I am writing to ask you to consider filling out the following information to confirm your usage of the ArchCrystal tower is within our limits of guest permissions. Guests of a scholar, even one of such high esteem as a wielder of the

mulet of the Ancients, must conform to certain rules of the Tower set in place 643 human years ago during the year 364 Bekilip Rekisix. Your association with scholar __________ has been reviewed and accepted. However,

uests are not permitted unlimited access to the ACT, and must submit a valid question that requires use of our stacks. Your question will be cross referenced with our catalogue of previously asked scholarly questions and answers

o ensure that it is a question that has not ever been asked before, worthy of entrance into the ACT.

On the chance that your question has been answered already, we will enclose an answer in respects to curricula 471.a of the Galik Scholar’s Guild articles of foundation. Entrance will not be allowed in such case as your answer has

een secured. The ArchCrystal tower has a reputation for excellence and a long history of miracles. We hope your time within our walls will find you the answers you seek, whether through located texts…or through other means. If

ou have any questions, please Message TextPriest Rodri at your next convenience. If you are unable to perform the rites of Message, professionals can be located at the following service centers:

*Members of the GSG

*Xacanthia’s Magical Transcriptions

Virthalia’s House of Magic

There and About

*Sanctum of the Scroll

Enclose Your One and Only Unique Question Below

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for your time. We look forward to helping you help yourself.

Sincerely,

Anzure Hrol of House Estelmer

Guest Access Part 2: Guest Contract on the condition of their acceptance in Part 1

The ArchCrystal Tower

Contract of Protection and Geas (Guests)

DATE: _______

Sponsoring Scholar: ___________________

Sponsoring Scholar Rank: ______________________________________

In signing below I agree with all terms and conditions set by the Arch Crystal Tower (henceforth ACT) and the ACT Faction of the Scholar’s Guild of Galik (henceforth SGG). The rules below will be imbued in a casting of the arcane

ights of Geas and I acknowledge that I will be required to put myself willingly under such restrictive magicks in order to secure my access into the ACT.

I hereby agree not to remove any articles (including prophecies, scrolls, tomes, books, arcane artifacts, or other property of the ACT and SGG) from the plot of land on which the ACT sits, by mundane nor arcane means.

his agreement extends to the vertical space above and below the plot.

I hereby agree not to discuss any articles or information found in the ACT libraries with another individual who has not taken membership with the SGG or has received special permissions to peruse the stacks of the ACT.

I will spend no more than four and one score hours within the stacks in any given tenday.

I will take no rests within the stacks of the ACT.

I assume all liability for damage both mortal and spiritual within the stacks of the ACT and accept that the risks I expose myself to are of my own choice.

Enclose Your Signatures Below

Thank you for your time. We look forward to helping you help yourself.

Sincerely, Anzure Hrol of House Estelmer