Aventurian Libraries
“They might believe that knowledge in books is useless. But in fact it is quite the opposite. In a book, knowledge will never be lost. Lady Hesinde teaches us that we never truly forget, and this holds even more true once we have put it in writing. Although one can find great volumes at the universities of Al’Anfa or Methumis, and in mage academies such as the Academy of High Magic in Punin, we can truly claim that the Halls of Wisdom, Hesinde’s main temple, contains in its Parlor of Learning the largest library the world has ever seen. Why, do you think, so many scholars come here to use our library? Exactly, because they seek knowledge only found here and not at the courts of the nobility. They think too highly of their standing and spurn this valuable knowledge.” —Rymorio Erkenlander, grand master of the Parlor of Learning, 1040 FBBooks are valuable items in Aventuria, and the invention of the printing press and its regular use has not changed that fact. Written works circulate faster and wider than was previously the case—back when scribes and illuminators had to produce books with painstaking manual labor: writing in silver, gold, and colored inks. Not every Aventurian can use the knowledge held within in books, as most humans can neither read nor write. The Horasian Empire might be the exception to the rule, as the educational standard of even a simple city dweller is very high. The larger cities of the Middenrealm now teach reading. The ability to read has become more important with the increasing texts associated with trades and crafts.
Many nobles in the Middenrealm do not approve of their subjects educating themselves, as they fear that farmers and artisans could become rebellious and unruly due to strange ideas gained from books.
Therefore, most printing presses are in the hands of nobles, churches, or mage academies. This guarantees the best control of which publications leave the printing companies for circulation. To this day, books considered heretical or rebellious are written by hand, primarily in secret. This also holds true for the spell books where guild mages record their magic spells. To this day, it is not possible to print the core of a spell on a press so that mages can learn them. Still, the Adamant Press, the printing press of the Khunchoman Dragon’s Egg Academy, has been experimenting with magical printing blocks for a long time.
Books as Teachers
The heroes of The Dark Eye usually need a teacher to activate their skills or to raise activated skills. Heroes can also attempt to increase them with self-study.
A hero can use a book as a teacher, as they contain a great variety of informative facts. Mages can use the widespread spell books to gain the knowledge of a certain spell or property. Self-study usually takes longer when compared to studying under a private tutor, as the hero must learn many things through trial and error. The length of time needed is at the GM’s discretion and should be based on the skill, spell, or combat technique in question, and the existing skill of the hero. To learn from a book, the hero must be able to read it, and have a command of the corresponding language and script of the book. This means the hero must speak the language at level III and must have learned the alphabet of its script.
Raising or learning skills from a book costs the hero adventure points per the cost table on page 351 in the Core Rules.