The Serpentine Archives of Jormungandr

The Serpentine Archives of Jormungandr is a landmark in Landorya. The Serpentine Archives of Jormungandr is a vast subterranean library built into the volcanic bedrock beneath the Obsidian Citadel, housing ancient tomes, arcane artifacts, preser… Geography: The Archives descend through seven levels below the Obsidian Citadel's foundations, each level progressively older, more restricted, and mo… Climate: The upper levels are kept at a controlled low temperature and high dryness to preserve organic materials, requiring sta…

The Archives descend through seven levels below the Obsidian Citadel's foundations, each level progressively older, more restricted, and more climatically unusual than the one above. The upper three levels are standard repository rooms with proper archival systems and staff reading alcoves. Levels four and five are temperature-controlled vaults where organic materials and volatile magical artifacts are stored under strict environmental conditions maintained by fire-mages on rotating duty. Levels six and seven are the sealed vaults, their original contents a matter of significant scholarly speculation.

The upper levels are kept at a controlled low temperature and high dryness to preserve organic materials, requiring staff to wear warming gear that Drakonians find uncomfortable and undignified. The lower active levels become progressively warmer and more humid as proximity to the magma reservoir increases. The sealed vault level, on the rare occasions when entry doors are opened for inspection, is described by those authorized to open them as maintaining a climate entirely unlike the surrounding rock, with temperature and air quality that should not be physically possible at that depth.

The Archives were established concurrently with the Obsidian Citadel in the early Order period, initially as a simple document storage facility for Order proceedings and treaty records. Under successive administrations the collection expanded to encompass the holdings of all five elemental clan libraries consolidated after unification, plus acquisitions from Drakonian military campaigns and trade missions over centuries. The sealing of the lower vaults followed an incident during a cataloguing effort in which three archivists reported prolonged exposure to materials in level six and subsequently refused to discuss what they had found, requesting immediate retirement from service. The Order sealed the level without further investigation.

The Drakonian festival of the Night of Falling Stars, which grants all citizens access to the upper reading rooms every seven years, was established, according to Order tradition, because Jormungandr appeared to the third Lord of the Flame in a dream and demanded that knowledge stored here must flow to the people it serves. Scholars who have used the Night of Falling Stars access consistently report finding documents they cannot locate on any subsequent visit, as if the archive reorganizes itself between openings. The archivists deny this officially while maintaining informal lists of materials that seem to move of their own accord.

The Archives' permanent staff of twelve archivists and four security officers live on a carefully regulated schedule that includes mandatory mental wellness check-ins after time spent in the lower levels, a protocol established after the sealing incident. The Night of Falling Stars opening creates the year's most intense research period, with scholars from across Drakon and occasionally from Aeriel and desert civilizations camping outside the Citadel for days before the opening to secure early access. Elder Pyratheon, the oldest living dragon-bonded Drakonian, is believed to be the last person with authority to open the sealed vaults, a privilege he has declined to exercise for over a century.