Last time we looked at a number of different “transitive settings” that exist for Dungeons and Dragons, though the concepts behind them can certainly be ported into any rule set that you desire.

We also began to scratch the surface of my own such setting, referred to as the Archive of Realms.

The Archive of Realms
The Archive is a sort of ancient library that exists on the very boundaries of the universe outside of space and time, and catalogs worlds that exist within that universe.

The Archive itself is packed with information.

Rooms and halls stretching on almost for what seems like an infinite space, contain racks upon racks of books, tomes, scrolls, and maps. Contained within the Archive is an almost complete history of the multiverse to this point in time.

Each world flows with its own timeline, yet from this place out of time, the details of each world are recorded and stored as they unfold in concert with one another, creating a singular chronology.

Many of the documents and tomes found in the Archive are what the Keepers, and those who come to the library seeking knowledge, refer to as World Books.

The World Book is not simply an account or a history of a particular World, but rather a World Book is a special kind of magical object that creates a one way portal into the world that it is linked to.

Flipping through the pages of a World Book is almost a surreal experience in many ways, creating almost a sense of vertigo.

The more you read on the first page, you are compelled and drawn to turn to the next page, almost as if you are reading faster and faster as the information of this world is being written into your mind.

Images, sensations, feelings begin to occupy your brain. Sounds and smells fill your nose and ears.

Your vision becomes cloudy until it darkens completely. Then you blink, and you find yourself standing in the world you were just reading about.

Where are you? A good question for sure.

The World Books don’t possess a form of intelligence of their own, but many theorize that the strands of Fate themselves are woven into the bindings of the books.

And those people who come to the Archive seeking transport will be taken to wherever they are needed most.

In game terms, the GM can functionally dictate wherever the party arrives.

As we detail more and more of the Archive, I certainly intend to present some example World Books with sample worlds within them.

When we get there, these examples will contain a d6 or a d10 table of possible locations.

So that way you don’t have to have a place in mind if you don’t want to.

Again, you can let the rolls of Fate dictate where the party arrives.

Once in the world that the World Book catalogs, you’ll find whatever document or tome you were holding is gone.

Worlds surveyed by the Archive may end up sharing the same metaphysical connection to one another as a result of the survey process. Different documents manifest in a surveyed world and act as end points for these threads. Many are not aware these pathways even exist, but ultimately they create a network of planar travel that does not need to be routed through the Archive itself. The origin and mechanism behind these books involuntary authoring though is a hotly debated topic amongst the Knowledgeable.

The physical locations of these documents can certainly be the source of a quest all their own. But more often than not, such tomes can be found in obscure corners of libraries and archives native to this world.

What that look like in each world may be different, however. Not all collections of knowledge in the vast number of worlds the Archive connects to are ink written down on a page. Some archives may be leather etchings, stone carvings, or massive lithographs erected on the sides of hills.

As each world is unique, so too are the portals that connect each Surveyed Worlds back to the Archive of Realms.

Again, future articles and supplements detailing these worlds will include example, texts, and where they may be found within the world to provide adventure hooks for how heroes may return to the Archive.

Other mechanisms of travel exist to return to the Archive of course, but world books are by far the most ubiquitous and the most often used.

Surveying

Next week we’ll start looking at how the Keepers of the Archive actually find and study the worlds they catalog using the Planetarium Infinitum.

See you next time.

– Mike