The Forge of Souls

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"Crew press their noses to the windows, hoping for a glimpse of the fabled Forge of Souls."

"A colossal many-towered citadel contains the Lyceum, an ancient library and rumoured to hold the fabled Forge of Souls within its depths."

The Forge of Souls is a legendary library in the the Blue Kingdom.

The Forge Gone Dark

A long time ago, the Blue Kingdom housed the fabled Forge of Souls. The Judgements gathered here to create new life; many wonders and horrors of the heavens came from this place. Among these creations are the Scrive-Spinsters, invented by the Garden-King and created by The Binary. Thus the Forge became the genesis of many species...

...until a mysterious incident happened. Whatever that incident was, The Sapphir'd King saw it fit to impose the Amaranthine Edict: Nothing new can ever be created at the Forge. As a result, the Forge eventually became entirely broken, unused, and abandoned.

The Lyceum

"Fortresses of knowledge, held against the dying of the light."

The Lyceum is the library of the Sapphir'd King. It is headed by the Lamentation of Mists, a Scrive-Spinster as large as a cathedral, who would love to see the Forge up and running and making Scrive-Spinsters again.

Originally, the Lyceum was located inside the Forge of Souls, and was created to record the Forge's many creations. However, once the Forge broke down, the servitors saw it fit to use the many empty chambers of the Forge for the Lyceum. Now the Forge itself is inside the Lyceum.

The destruction of Eleutheria's grand library caused most of the Scrive-Spinsters to turn the Lyceum into their new library. Unfortunately, all of the literature that they could gather so far was Ministry-approved literature, which the servitors of the Lyceum still desperately try to clear from their shelf.

There are many subjects cataloged in the Lyceum: the law of the stars, the fear of the stars, creations of the Forge, anything related to the number 7. (SEVEN IS THE NUMBER)

The Roll of Ash

Deep within the Lyceum lies another library, the Roll of Ash. It's a memorial containing the names of dead stars that were killed by "an exchange of courtesy". Each chamber contains at least a hundred epitaphs of dead stars, and there are at least 278 chambers.

Scrive-Spinsters

"Tall as giants, wrought of bronzewood and clad in tatters of paper, the Scive-Spinsters once managed the greatest library of heaven. Since its destruction they are bereft, and keep to forgotten places unless roused by the scent of paper and ink."

"Once, it is said, there was a great library where the suns kept records of their laws. But disaster struck, and the library was destroyed and strewn across the sky. Now its librarians seek its ruins and texts. We call them Scrive-Spinsters."

Scrive-Spinsters are unbound, papery creatures who were formerly the librarians of the heavens. They were made from bronzewood in the Forge of Souls.

Long ago, when the Halved was still two stars, they recorded the laws that the Judgements made in a grand library at Eleutheria. Sometime between the failed revolution of the Solonacean Conjunction and the darkening of the Halved, their library was destroyed (Langley Hall was likely built on the remains of this library). Ever since then, they have been scouring the High Wilderness, wearing scraps of ancient knowledge, trying to recover the bits of their collection.

Skyfarers trading books and other literature must be wary of Scrive-Spinsters, who will surely be attracted to the knowledge within.

The First Venturer

"Will you come with me? I don't know when we'll return. But when we do... we will be armoured in glory."

"I was the first through the Horizon. Not the Parzifal – I was. We opened the Gate and zailed through. I wasn't alone, as I am now."

Contrary to popular belief, the Parzifal was not the first ship to cross the gate. Rather, it was the Merchant Venturer and his zee-captain companion, who had collected funds and performed research all across the Zee for much of the late 1890s. As of now, he resides, alone, in the The Forge of Souls, serving as its custodian, but he's forbidden from repairing it. One day, he may zail the skies again. His face is still cracked with frostbite and weariness of winters, and he still carries a bottle of Greyfields for his departed companion. His favorite color is, for some reason, blue.

The Clerk of Sevens

"It could be worse. I could have the sixes. Can you imagine doing it for the twelves?"

The current Clerk of Sevens was the third person to pass the Horizon. She decided to take her current title from the Merchant Venturer's captain friend, along with giving them her locomotive, in an act of kindness. She has come to regret that.

As part of her job, she documents everything that is numbered 7. Unfortunately, she'll be at her position indefinitely, because this simple number is integral to esoteric knowledge of the universe.