Eastern Kingdoms Encyclopedia
Scientia omnis
Physical Form
This encyclopedia is made from 8 volumes, each dedicated to a specific topic for easy reference. The topics range from the basic elements of nature to the Ether of the Mind and are meant to be reference guides for sages. There is a unfounded beleif that readers must have a minimum level of education and intelligence to read it or otherwise go insane due to the vastness and complexity of the knowledge covered.
Binding
The bindings are sturdy and made from rugged material desigend for frequent usage and easily be repaired if needed. They are typically leather bounded thin sheets of wood. The covers are unique on each volume. For instance the first volume is composed of a precisely chiseled lead plate sown directly into the cover as the last volume is a soft leather contained in a stained-glass removable casing.
Art
The artwork serves mainly to convey information. It ranges form illuminated initials (large letters with art starting paragraphs and sections), through text of different color up to fold-out diagrams. Some volumes, especially those dealing with abstract concepts such as philosophy, have more artwork depicting colorful scenes.
Text
The text is written on excellent quality medieval paper. It follows no strict calligraphy rules, and therefore different volumes, editions and revisions can employ a variety of font and in-line art. The contents however is strictly curated by a council of sages. It must follow a precise structure, wording and layout focused on factual understanding.
History
Origin
A group of sages met every few years and exchanged notes together on various topics. The most worthy content was transcribed verbatim by scribes assisting the sages and assembled individually in codices to the liking of each sage. After a few meetings, it became more and more difficult to keep track of what was available and what was new content or just content written years ago. They decided to compile texts in a central encyclopedia which would serve as a Master Text of All Knowledge: scientia omnis. Having only blank spell books readily available, they decided to use this medium for the first edition ever.
Evolution
The first few editions were merely a sequence of notes of various topics written sequentially in a blank book more or less logically ordered together. When new content was deemed worthy to be added, it was just appended to the next available blank page. Revisions were made and the contents was transcribed in a new blank book re-ordering the contents. It soon became obvious that approach was untenable, especially when sharing copies with other sages.
After a week long council of the sages, it was then decided the work would be split into volumes. Each volume would be dedicated to a specific broad topic and blank pages would be left in-between each article to be able to insert new articles which would hold a logical sequence. The last 10 pages of each volume would be dedicated to an index of articles so one could easily reference to it. Sages would commission blank books, that are easier, faster and less expensive to make and bring blank copies to transcribe each revision. This is essential as each revision has more pages than the previous since a fixed number of blank pages is always necessary for expansion. For historical reasons, the master copy is still made using blank spell books.
The sages are already planning the next iteration of the Encyclopedia and likely would be driven by an index volume of all topics referencing to other volumes. Each volume would still have an index of individual articles, but this index will be written on an accompanying scroll so new entries can be added alphabetically or in worst case scenario re-write the scroll without having to re-write the volumes themselves. Sages also firmly believe the number of volumes should follow the "Golden sequence" (known in modern times as the Fibonacci sequence). Having too few volumns would indicate there are still missing secrets of the universe.
They also imagine a system where new topics could be communicated, via courrier or magical means to all owners of a copy, and they could update the documents in a de-centralized fashion. That communication would contain instructions on which pages to start writing and exactly how to write it. Use of spells such as "copy" would make the process easier while keeping the content intact. This method would ensure each copy is always up to date while still be synchronized and identical.
Contents
The Scientia omnis is composed of the following volumes:
- Elements of Nature is a repertoire of the basic building blocks of the world: Air, Earth, Fire, Water and all subdivisions, such as minerals, atmospheric effects, phases of matter, etc...
- Herbalism is focusing on the medical properties of various plants, regardless if they are poisons, cures or recreational.
- Animalus is the technical term for the animal life
- Manuscript of Monstrosities a repertoire of all the monsters inhabiting the world.
- The Body is essentially a manual on biology of humanoids.
- The Sacred and Magical is a tome focusing on describing magic and spirituality on a macro/meta-level.
- Ether of the Mind is essentially the foundation of psychological and philosophical concepts.
- Mechanicus is a tome reserved for the basics of mechanics, or physics if you will.
The volumes are ordered by "evolution". Sages theorize that elements of the universe are the building blocks of plant life, in return is the building blocks of animal life, and so on... Therefore the order of the books should be immutable and idempotent should they need to start over.
Comments