Russel Hall has a well stocked library. It is a mixture of odd and rare books—once the personal collection of Tiebalt—as well as a more formally stocked academic library purchased in the early years of the school. The rarer books are mostly kept separated from the main collection by a metal cage-wall.
Edwin’s Guide to Northern Rockpool Species
4 volume collection, volume III missing. A note mentions it was lent out in 95 H.A.
Edwin was hired under the remit of the Royal Conservancy in H.A. 46 to research and produce an exhibit mimicking a tide pool in a new extension being built. He spent spent the next 4 years traveling and collecting specimens. Afterwards the exhibit opened—to decent acclaim—he published a thorough account of his findings. They were first printed in 52 H.A.
Volume II highlights
The latter third of vol II is concerned with Northern Yornia. Two pages of the book bear dog-ears:
One deals with a set of snails, found among high pools at the tops of seaward cliffs. These snails happily live among the pools until they dry out. Once exposed to air, the snails undergo some internal biological reaction whereupon their slime trails cause notably intense hydrophilic reactions in humans. Edwin guesses this is some reaction to aid the snails in returning to a properly wet environ.
The second mentions “The Excoriated Pools”. At the end of fall 49 H.A. Edwin had stumbled upon some pools in the northern end of a forest (he only specifies locations in coordinates). They filled a boulderfield among the trees, and contained “a cornucopia of colors and vivacious growth hitherto unseen in such a cold location”. A storm, however, pushed him away. When he returned in spring, the pools were “cleaned down the very rock, no trace of life left within”.
Numismatists' Atlases, vol I.–VIII.
A large collection of books detailing coinage across the ages. A triumphant reference work able to put even the most dogged reader to sleep.
Vol IV has a large section on non-circulatory coinage (though this verges close to Exonumia).
The Fall of St. Samuel
A book, likely now censured by the High Abbey, detailing a story about one of the notable Empire Saint’s end of days. St. Samuel is widely considered one of the most important “modern” (past ~500 years) saints, having been an arcanist of immense power. Officially, he retired to live out his days peacefully in the Yornian countryside. This work, however, mentions that he was instead kidnapped by faeries and “had his ribs replaced with bells” to live a tortured life.
Tiebalt Russel: A Life in Two Acts
A biography of Tiebalt after his death/disappearance. The biography is split into two halves, as its title may hint. The first is a classic biography, detailing his early life growing up to trade’s folk parents. He made a name for himself in local shipping, hiring a very capable but untested ship captain named Cecily Best. He started in the antiquities and artifacts trade, eventually going broad into all forms of shipping and logistics. He did well enough, and was lucky enough, that he became quite a successful shipping magnate.
The second half of the book focuses on his sudden and dramatic change of behavior following the death of his family at sea. He returned to collecting artifacts and seeking out strange treasures from all around the world. He spent vast swaths of his fortune hiring mercenaries to become his bodyguards, and quickly and messily selling of pieces of his business. For instance, he sold off his local Yornian shipping operations to his luggage maker for a pittance.
Penny Novels
- A Mutiny from Within