The Library of Knowing is one of the greatest repositories of record, scholarship, and wisdom in the Calixis Sector. A vast assemblage of works acquired by Lord Militant Angevin’s coterie of scholars, scribes, and advisers during the Crusade and from his private collections, the Library of Knowing is an enduring relic of the foundation of the sector. It was one of the liberator’s dying indulgences that gave the Library of Knowing its unique status that has seen it remain to this day under the authority and care of House Vaahkon, and direct access is completely controlled by the planetary governor of Fenksworld, currently Lady Cardea Vaahkon, and her family and retainers. Located on Fenksworld in Nova Castillia, this resource lies outside the remit of Imperial authorities, which can be both blessing and curse. It also is home to a small contingent of sisters from the Orders Dialogous.
However, once inside its confines, the Library offers one of the most complete and unadulterated collections of texts accessible within several sectors. Angevin’s ink-stained minions assembled a wondrous collection of tomes, data-cores, and art from across the Imperium, including illuminated works from distant Terra, loose parchments by forgotten authors, and curled scrolls of ancient lore plundered from vaults and renegade worlds. It is this collection that forms the core of works held in the Library, though a great deal more has been added over the centuries by the Vaahkon and by numerous private donors, state seizures, and bequests. The Library’s data on xenos vestiges includes a unique complete transcription of the collected journals of Lord-Battlefleet Brehlef’s staff covering the period from 430-616.M41---a treasure for those who seek obscure information concerning Calixian worlds. It is open to any who can bribe, intrigue, or inherit his way onto its exclusive list of readers.
The library building itself is a vast vertical drum of worn metal that juts from the spires of Nova Castillia. Its internal spaces are divided by pillars and walls of stone, and its open galleries crossed by gantries and walkways of tarnished brass.
Although the Library possesses a number of works that would be considered heretical in some circles, Imperial authorities have been unsuccessful or unwilling to fully censor the Library’s contents. Some within the Inquisition are certain that the Library holds proscribed works in its secret stacks despite repeated searches that have turned up nothing of overly heretical note. This supposition is made all the more likely as it is the known birthplace of the tainted Ateanist philosophy. The Library is such a valuable asset for so much of the sector’s intelligentsia that it would be difficult even for the Inquisition to garner the support to shut it down. Curiously, the library has remained largely untouched in the face of Inquisitorial disapproval in spite of its dubious association with this proscribed, daemon-influenced tradition, leading many to believe the library has powerful patrons beyond just the mercurial House Vaahkon. There is truth to their beliefs, for it is known only to those of the Recongregator faction of the Calixian Conclave that the Great Library is under their protection.
The Vaahkon family grants access to the Library as a favor that is only rarely bestowed. However, access is also granted to those who bring a rare or unusual text. Jastus Volens is its current Senior Archivist.
As a Resource[]
What It Provides: A resource for investigations on virtually any subject The Library possesses great swathes of knowledge and lore, including some rare texts on the warp.
Prerequisites: Adept Career.
Resource Test Modifiers: Base Modifier –10; Noble Born +10, Peer (Academics) +5, Charm +5.
Price/Cost: Either an extraordinary text or the assurance of a returned favor.
Unique Equipment[]
Crimson Bestiaries
Xenos bestiaries, books purporting to detail and catalogue a variety of alien creatures, are commonplace in the libraries of the wealthy. Most contain little more than lurid illustrations and superficial descriptions of the more notable enemies of mankind and whatever local fauna is deemed appropriate. They range from the opinionated and often widely inaccurate works illuminated by Ecclesiarchy scribes to rarer works more grounded in reality and culled from scholastic learning, perhaps even from first-hand accounts. Of this latter kind, the Crimson Bestiaries (so called for their distinctive serpent skin bindings) produced by the Great Library of Fenksworld are highly regarded. The volumes skirt dangerously close to the edge of knowledge that Ordo Xenos will allow in the public domain.
A Crimson Bestiary requires a successful Challenging (+0) Literacy Test to successfully reference (See Table 7-4: Investigation Benchmarks on page 186 of Dark Heresy). If this test is passed, a character using the tome to learn something relating to the Calixis Sector and the surrounding stars gains a +5 bonus to his next Forbidden Lore (Xenos) Test.
Cost 275, Rare