There are many names for this space. The Sanctuary of Knowledge. The Repository of Stories. The Keystone of Reality. The Temple of Life. These have all been granted by the citizens of the worlds recorded here. The inhabitants, however, call it with a far simpler name: the Eternal Library.

Likewise, there are many myths of the origins of both the Library and the worlds: myths of gods, of demons, of light and darkness, of space imploding, of spontaneous creation… only the Record-Keepers know the truth.

The Record-Keepers are mysterious beings. There are two of them; Truth considers itself female and Time, male. They each have almost as many titles as the Library itself, but the inhabitants (and therefore, the visitors) typically call them the Saintess of Truth and the Guardian of Time.

According to the Record-Keepers, they are merely representations. The concept of time did not exist before the existence of the being known as Time; the concept of knowledge, of truth and falsehood, did not exist before the being known as Truth. They were created because they were necessary for the existence of the Library.

In the beginning, they say, there was absolutely nothing. Not even the concepts of something and nothing. All that existed was magic. At some unknown point, the magic developed a consciousness — a personality of sorts. In the same instant, the Library was born, and so were Truth and Time.

Truth and Time and the Library were all made purely out of magic, but they were separate from the Magic. This caught the Magic’s attention: aside from these strange beings, it was alone, and it was bored. It split itself into several pieces. Later on, each piece would become an element based on its individual personality, but elements didn’t yet exist.

The pieces of Magic played with each other and eventually became bored again. They looked at the Library and realized that it was not the same kind of existence that they were. They decided to see if they could create something themselves — something different.

The hardest part, Truth says, was that the magics had no examples, no previous attempts or experiences, and no idea what they were actually doing. After much trial and error, however, they managed to create the first world. At the same time, two things happened in the Library: a second space was created (later these spaces would become rooms) and the first portal formed, leading from the Library into this new world.

It was then that the Record-Keepers became aware of the Library’s purpose, and the existence of the Records. At the time there were only two: one in each ‘room’. The Records appear differently to each person depending on their concept of how a record should look: glowing orbs, crystal balls, pools of water, books, scrolls, even files in a pseudo-digital system. Back then, Time says, they were simply indeterminate masses of magic.

The new world which had been created was empty. It had no life, no water, not even any true earth or air. The pieces of magic then imbued their own personalities into the world, and the elements were created: water, earth, fire, air, light, darkness, life, and death. As these new concepts sank into the magic of the world itself, they took new forms. 

The Record-Keepers observed with fascination what Magic could become. Magic then performed its most impressive feat: it created life not born from pure magic. The first ever, shaped from earth and water, later to become known across worlds as a tree. As it grew, the world around it shifted, becoming smaller as the tree drank up the magic.

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In response to the shrinking realm, the Record-Keepers made a decision. With cooperation from the magics, they placed the Library inside the growing tree. It was still its own existence, infinite in its growth and potential, but the change stabilized both the newly born world and the Library itself. Then they continued to watch the other forms of life as they developed, mostly plants.

Despite the rapid development, the magics still were not pleased. They wanted to create beings like themselves and the Record-Keepers, capable of thought and movement. They began combining their personalities to form the Exihena, beings formed entirely of and yet separate from Magic. With their world dominated by the Tree, the Exihena took up residence within the Library.

Reveling in its newfound power, Magic began experimenting. First, it created a few worlds simply for practice, to test ecosystems and biomes and life forms. Due to interference, these worlds often died quickly; from this, the Magic learned and grew, creating more complex life, beings made from physical substances as well as magic, and worlds that could sustain themselves.

With each new world, a new ‘room’ appeared in the Library, with a portal to that world. With each new life form and race and species, a new ‘shelf’ formed; each life was recorded from birth to death and stored in the appropriate place. As civilizations began to develop in populated realms, the Library experienced a curious phenomenon: it began to receive visitors.

These visitors entered from the portal to their world, and were typically either accidental wanderers or deliberately searching for knowledge. The Record-Keepers would greet them and escort them to either the exit or the information, respectively. With these visitors came two things: malice and creation.

After certain knowledge-seekers used their newly gained information for malicious purposes, the Record-Keepers realized they would have to institute a test. As representations of the foundations of the Library itself, they could access all knowledge within its Records, and did so freely in their effort to protect their home. They began to section off the Library shelves, hiding more sensitive knowledge behind doors only to be opened by those who passed specific tests.

The outsiders did not only bring a change in wariness to the Library, they also brought structure and hope. The Library’s form was somewhat indeterminate, wavering in the absence of people and solidifying only where it could be seen. The visitors, however, brought with them ideas of how a repository of knowledge should look, and each world’s room began to take on those characteristics: arched or low ceilings, high or low light levels, open floor plans or cozy reading nooks, lily ponds or bone-dry caves, honeycomb scroll storage or a room reminiscent of a school computer lab…

Over time, the entrances of the Library in the Realms became well-known. The Record-Keepers became known as the Saintess and her Guardian; the Library became known as a Sanctuary and then, as a Temple. The placements of the portals became well-guarded and sites of frequent pilgrimage. The Exihena became partly responsible for guiding guests and managing the Library itself.

Each room of the Library contains a copy of everything ever written or spoken in the corresponding world and a recording of the memories of each inhabitant. Sometimes, the books seem to have minds of their own, choosing who reads them. Other times, the Library itself would move and reshelve and find books.

After the Library rearranged itself at one point, Truth discovered something extremely unexpected and somewhat alarming: a record of a person’s memories, if removed from the correct room, could have terrifying effects. If taken into the corresponding Realm, it would cause amnesia for the person; if taken to a different library room while the person was alive, the person would be dragged into that Realm; if transported to another room after the person’s death, they were reborn into that Realm.

Above all, it must never be forgotten: the Eternal Library is the storage of all knowledge in every world, and the worlds’ survival relies on it.