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Taloba, home to the Myrians, is the thriving core of Falyndar. Inhabited by a fierce and savage tribe where blood sacrifices are normal and a way of life, they are untamed and proud of it. Warlike, and with their numbers growing, the Myrians are set on reclaiming what is rightfully theirs. [Lore]
"Peace and Wisdom we bid thee who enter, That they may find not only Knowledge, But the Understanding to use it, For the Glory of Myri, The Safety of Falyndar, And the Good of the World..." -Inscription above the main entrance to The Vault
Flat and broad on the northern side of Sacred Taloba, this building is one giant contradiction to the age-old belief that all Myrians are illiterate, unsophisticated savages. The Vault of Knowledge is the largest library in Flyndar, and while it does not have the vast and varied arcana and lore of other, more "civilized" nations, centuries, even millenia of Myrian history is stored there.
Scrolls are prevalent, thousands of them in tight shelves. Books are less common and seen as a barbarian innovation, thus many of them are from foreign lands, detailing the works of the other races. Look hard enough, in the deeper sanctums, and one may even find histories carved on great tablets that take two or three assistant Lore-Watchers to wrestle onto a viewing table.
These tablets are among the most prized possessions of the Vault. The Myrians are a very... oral people, shall we say, relishing story-telling above more parchment, but these tablets date back to before the rise of Myri, and are a tantalizing glimpse for any scholar into the far history of Falyndar.
The Vault is overseen by the Lore-Watchers. Oddities in some Myrians' eyes, these studious individuals are passionate about the written (or carved) word, and meticulously document, study and maintain the vast labyrinth of knowledge within the Vault. Many are unsure where these less-martially-minded Children of Myri fit in as far as authority goes, but the Goddess-Queen herself has proclaimed that knowledge is power, and from power comes strength, so they are to be respected and revered as much as any guardian of marital knowledge.
Anyone, Myrian or otherwise, is free to peruse the Vault's tomes for however long they want. There are several viewing rooms, where scrolls and books and tablets can be brought up and studied for bells. As long as the material and the Lore-Watchers are respected, no-one is barred entry. But, with typical Myrian ruthlessness, anyone found disobeying these rules is treated very, very harshly.
As in, you'll be lucky just to miss a body part or two.
NPCs :
M'wara of the Carved Stone Skills: Anthropology - 79; Organization - 65; Writing - 48; Kopis - 35
Perhaps the most even-tempered Myrian you are likely to meet in Taloba, M'wara is as bookish and literary-minded as any Syliria philosopher or Zeltiva scholar. From an early age she had had a burning passion to know: to learn and absorb information and find out all the little cogs and wheels that make her jungle home turn. Though by this time she has served her mandatory three years with the army (and can handle her blade as well as any warrior), when she had the chance to become a Lore-Watcher at the Vault, she jumped at the chance.
M'wara rose through the ranks like a comet, eventually becoming High Lore-Watcher when the previous died. Her organizational skills are amazing, not to mention necessary, given the thousand of volumes she has to order, the dozens of Lore-Watchers she must oversee and the hundreds of visitors to her domain every week. An avid reader as much as a librarian, many whisper that she has read most of the volumes she maintains... and has remembered everything.
