The structure known only as "The Location" began its existence in an unknown era, a simple livery stable situated on the muddy outskirts of the Iron Wall district in Ironhold. Its earliest history is lost to time, but local legend imbues it with profound significance. This humble stable is said to be the very site where the legendary Dragonbone Vanguard stabled their mounts, preparing for their final, fateful ride to destroy the perilous Bukhara Spire Gateways.
For many decades after these epoch-making events, the stable continued its more mundane purpose, servicing the constant flow of refugees and laborers who sought work and shelter near the great Iron Wall. It remained a common, working stable, its timbers growing progressively older and more worn with each passing year. Its history, though significant, lay largely forgotten beneath layers of practical use.
Approximately ten years ago, this period of unassuming utility came to an end with a pivotal change of ownership. A fractured order of ascetic scholars, known as The Sanctuary of the Word, purchased the dilapidated property. These zealots were deeply traumatized by the profound chaos of the post-Gateway era and harbored a grave fear of the creeping influence exerted by the mysterious House of Silk.
Driven by their intense convictions, the Sanctuary of the Word believes that the only true defense against extra-planar corruption lies in the rigid cataloging and physical binding of knowledge. They perceive spoken magic as wild, dangerous, and uncontrollable, whereas written words, when chained and contained, are deemed safe. They immediately began transforming the old stable to suit their clandestine purposes.
The former haylofts were repurposed into spartan sleeping pallets for their initiates, providing meager rest for the dedicated scholars. The individual horse stalls, once housing steeds, were meticulously converted into private scriptoriums where texts could be studied and copied. Most strikingly, the central feeding trough, a symbol of the stable's past, now serves as the sacred altar for their rituals of preservation and containment.
The order tirelessly scours the ruins of ancient Chichingia for texts, with a particular focus on the writings of Ursula Nachthex. Their mission is not to utilize these dangerous tomes, but rather to imprison them within their fortified walls. To any casual passerby, the building still appears merely as a dilapidated stable, offering a meager exchange of labor for soup to the city's poor.
However, beneath this unassuming facade, The Location now functions as a secretively thriving fortress of dogma. Within its re-purposed walls, books are not merely objects of study; they are treated as dangerous, living beasts that must be chained, contained, and perpetually guarded. The Sanctuary of the Word continues its secretive mission, believing they are the last bastion against an encroaching tide of perilous, unbound knowledge.
