Picking out the BOOK OF HOURS updates from our latest blog, I wanted to introduce some new locations we haven't talked about before. Along with some (WIP!) concept art...
Speaking of libraries, I’ve also been working on some concept art for the places you’ll interact with in BOOK OF HOURS that aren’t Hush House. We haven’t entirely decided yet whether you’ll send a librarian out to visit or whether they’ll function more as a quest- and story-generators. But here’s a taste of what we do know.
- The Invisible Serapeum in the region of the Sands has survived the long decline of its parent library under the protection of the Forge of Days. The Forge does not usually favour libraries…
- The Nameless Library is maintained in a labyrinth-fortress in the lands once ruled by the Shadowless Kings. It specialises in daimonography, and in the First History the greatest strategists and warriors travelled there to study.
- The Tomb of Lies is the library of the Great Hooded Princes. It contains knowledge on things enigmatic, on the world before, and on the Fifth History. The Princes do not say ‘Knowledge is Power’, but rather, ‘Power is Knowledge.’
- Crossrow, in a garden city of the far West, is an establishment of uncertain age. It’s a gloriously decaying garden-mansion that specialises in nyctodromy, patronised by Sunset Celia.
- The Grove of the Green Immortals is a mountain-monastery of renegade Taoists. They specialise in horticulture and medicine, under the hand of the Applebright. It is supposed to be safe.
- The Haustorium, an enclave beyond the Evening Isles established by an alliance of Catholic friars with Incan magicians. It preserves those things it is thought unwise to preserve, and is in no way safe.
We'll share the final images when they're ready, but for now, here're the ones we're working on...!
This sprint's name, Curia, refers to the Curia of Hush House, the governing body of the library at the centre of BOOK OF HOURS. It has seven members, only one of whom we’ve revealed so far. Here's a letter from that one, a Dr Serena Blackwood who has little time for the Suppression Bureau's nonsense...
You might also want to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and/or Instagram for our daily library posts this month, celebrating National Library Lovers' Month. I've collected a bunch of the most beautiful libraries that actually exist in the actual real world, and am sharing one a day. Enjoy!