In the days of the old kingdoms, the Clayr's Glacier was a strange and wondrous place of magic and knowledge and foresight. The Clayr were a race gifted with the Sight, and used it to aid all the realms. Aside from using their clairvoyant gifts of sight and divination, many of the Clayr had other postings within their glacier home. Some trained as rangers, others as paper-wing pilots, merchants, or healers. But best of all was the Library.
The Great Library of the Clayr was enormous. The Library was shaped like a nautilus shell, a continuous tunnel that wound down into the mountain in an ever-tightening spiral. This main spiral was an enormously long, twisting ramp that took you from the high reaches of the mountain down past the level of the valley floor, several thousand feet below. Off the main spiral, there was countless other corridors, rooms, halls, and strange chambers. Many were full of the Clayr's written records, mainly documenting the prophesies and visions of many generations of seers. But they also contained books and papers from all over the Material Planes and realms of men, elves, dwarves, and the common folk. Books of magic and mystery, knowledge both ancient and new. Scrolls, maps, spells, recipes, inventories, stories, true tales, and gods know what else.
In addition to all these written works, the Great Library also housed other things. There were old armories within it, containing weapons and armor that had not been used for centuries but still stayed bright and new. There were rooms full of odd paraphernalia that no one now knew how to use. There were chambers where dressmakers dummies stood fully clothed, displaying the fashions of bygone Clayr or the wildly different costumes of the barbaric North. There were greenhouses tended by golems and other sendings, with arcane spell marks for light as bright as the sun. There were rooms of total darkness, swallowing up the light and anyone foolish enough to enter unprepared.
I am a librarian, charged with checking, recording, and indexing all and sundry within the library. Some very special or dangerous items cannot be fetched by sendings, sometimes even requiring a large party of armed librarians to retrieve. I keep our treasures safe, patrolling for creatures that sometimes find their ways in from outside or other dangers. Librarians must be strong and fleet! Not only our sword arms - strength of will is equally important. Sometimes running away is the only recourse. I must be ready for anything I may encounter - my life and the lives of my fellow Clayr may depend upon it.
Now, for reasons of my own or a greater calling, my years spent learning the lore of the multiverse is coming to an end, and I must venture from my library. I've scoured manuscripts, studied scrolls, and listened to the greatest experts on the subjects that interested me. I may even be an expert in various fields of study. Its time for me to use my knowledge, or seek out in the world what the library can't teach me.
(Based on Garth Nix's Abhorsen series including Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Clariel, and Goldenhand. Can be used in combination with Abhorsen homebrew creations.)
- Skill Proficiencies: Perception, Investigation, plus two more of your choice from an area of focus such as Arcana, Religion, History, Medicine, Nature, and Performance.
- Tool Proficiencies: Choose two between; Forgery Kit, Cartographer's Tools, Calligrapher's Tools, Painter's Supplies, and Tinker's Tools.
You can choose if you would like these equipment to be included in your starting equipment.
- Languages: Three of your choice from all known languages.
- Equipment: Every librarian is given; A bottle of black ink, a brass whistle, 5 candles, a component pouch, 5 pieces of paper or parchment, a case, map, or scroll, a magical clock-work mouse, a quill, a dagger, a letter of recommendation from a colleague at the Great Library of the Clayr, a set of traveler's clothes, 3 of your favorite Books, and a pouch containing 10 gp.
The whistle loops through straps on the librarian's tunic so that it can be blown if her arms are restrained, and the mouse is part clockwork and part arcane spells, set to return to a nearby gathering place and raises an alarm when activated (just in case a whistle isn't heard). The dagger is standard issued to combat any creatures that might be encountered in the old levels of the library. Please notate your choice of favorite books in the item notes after character creation.
There are eight ranks of librarians in the library and the color of their waistcoat denotes their rank. The Clayr who work in the library are all either Third (yellow), Second (red), or First Assistant Librarians (blue), working under a Deputy Librarian (white) and the Chief Librarian (black). The lowest ranks make up the first three roles, before a member of the Clayr actually become a librarian. The different ranks of librarians also have different levels of access to the library, especially in the deepest, oldest levels of the glacier. Higher ranking librarians are also sometimes called on by visitors, dignitaries, or other religious or scholarly factions to aid them in locating specific items or knowledge. To determine your rank or the nature of your scholarly training, roll a d8 or choose from the options in the table below.
| d8 | Rank/Specialty |
|---|---|
| 1 | Student (light blue)/Divination and Astrology |
| 2 | Scribe (beige)/Arcane Academia |
| 3 | Researcher (forest green)/Creatures and Nature |
| 4 | Third Assistant Librarian(yellow)/Alchemy and Herbalism |
| 5 | Second Assistant Librarian (red)/Medicine and Healing Arts |
| 6 | First Assistant Librarian (navy)/History of the Realms |
| 7 | Deputy Librarian(white)/Religions and Deities |
| 8 | Chief Librarian (black)/Restricted Studies |
When you attempt to learn new information or recall a piece of lore you aren't already familiar with, you often know where and from whom you can obtain it. You are able to find the places of knowledge such as a library, university, temple, arcane faction, government office or other learned persons no matter the town, city, metropolis, village, etc. you are in. Once you are in the right place to research, you can find what your looking for very quickly. Your reading speed is higher than average, can take professionally detailed notes, and once you've seen or read something, you can accurately recall that information.
Your DM might rule that the knowledge you seek is secreted away in an almost inaccessible place, or that it simply cannot be found. Unearthing the deepest secrets of the multiverse can require an adventure or even a whole campaign.
Spell List
Throughout your time in the Library you were taught or used some of your personal time to learn spells that just made sense for a librarian to know. Some were for fun, others translation or to make your job easier, but if you knew a day of research and study was coming up, you would have prepared these spells.
| Spell Level | Spells |
|---|
Find Familiar, Comprehend Languages, Legend Lore, Identify, Disguise Self, Tongues, Message
Suggested Characteristics
Keen eyes, sharp memory, a penchant for systematic organization, and even storytelling depending on their rank and role in the library. There are many different seas of knowledge, all of them vast and seemingly never-ending but all the librarians sailing those seas can usually find kinship that stems from a heavy curiosity of knowledge. Librarians often work together, either in adventuring parties, or when they come across each other. Generally trading information either for more information or other goods. Some are no longer librarians, or may have belonged to other factions or orders, but they must have surrounded themselves with a wealth of knowledge constantly.
| d8 | Personality Trait |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aloof- Easily distracted and have a hard time paying attention if something else interests me more. |
| 2 | Know It All- When they know more than you about a particular topic, they will not fail to correct you. |
| 3 | Patient- I’m used to helping out those who aren’t as smart as I am, and I patiently explain anything and everything to others. |
| 4 | Opinionated- After becoming an expert on a topic, I've developed quite a few opinions on it and am not afraid to over-share them, and ramble on-and on.. and on... and on... |
| 5 | Perfectionist- I am determined that my task must be perfect, and will spend all my time making it so until I'm either done, too tired, or forced to stop. |
| 6 | Ambitious- My goals means the world to me, and nothing will stand in the way of me achieving my quest for knowledge. |
| 7 | Loner- I spent a lot of time with only myself for company, and I sometimes forget how to act around others. I can be horribly, horribly awkward in social situations. |
| 8 | Observant- I pride myself in paying attentive, and committing my observations and conversations to memory. |
| d6 | Ideal |
|---|---|
| 1 | Curiosity - Your gathering of knowledge mostly consists of things you found interesting and want to learn more about. (Neutral) |
| 2 | Betterment- Seek to find the knowledge for self improvement and to help existence lead better lives. (Good) |
| 3 | Logic- Knowledge should be shared amongst all only so long as our emotions not cloud our judgement and logical thinking. (Lawful) |
| 4 | Freedom- Nothing should fetter the potential and infinite possibility inherent in all existence. (Chaotic) |
| 5 | Power- Knowledge is the path to power and domination, and I will horde it all for myself. (Evil) |
| 6 | Loyalty- I stay true to my mentor by focusing the realm of my knowledge to only what they studied and taught me. I will continue their work. (Any) |
| d6 | Bond |
|---|---|
| 1 | Secrets are powerful information which I will not hesitate to use to my advantage. |
| 2 | I have been entrusted to carry an ancient text that holds secrets that must not fall into the wrong hands. |
| 3 | I work to preserve and further my library and carry the ideals of the Clayr with me in my travels. |
| 4 | I have been collecting my life’s work as a series of tomes related to a specific field of lore or area of study. |
| 5 | I’ve been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question. |
| 6 | I'm searching for some difficult-to-come-by information that could be the catalyst for radical change. |
| d8 | Flaw |
|---|---|
| 1 | No cost is too high for powerful knowledge, I'll sell my soul and maybe yours too, in order to obtain what I seek. |
| 2 | Most people scream and run away when they see a terrifying creature. I stop and take notes on its anatomy. |
| 3 | I sometimes get mistaken for a Bard, since I'm always detailing our adventures or writing everything down. |
| 4 | I have been known to overlook obvious solutions in favor of complicated ones. Nothing can be too simple or over analyzed. |
| 5 | Sometimes I speak without thinking, accidentally insulting others, or my lack of conversation skills create awkward conversations. |
| 6 | You can confide in me, but I can’t keep a secret to save my life, or anyone else’s. |
| 7 | Destruction of reading material/knowledge infuriates me and will be addressed and confronted upon witnessing the transgression. |
| 8 | If there is an option to visit a library, bookstore, or large gathering of knowledge and curiosities I simply HAVE to go. |
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