House of Treasure

The House of Treasure in Yarma is one of the largest publicly-accessible libraries in the world and a point of pride for many Yarmans.

Located in the middle of the city, on the southern side of the Sun Plaza, the House is one of the grandest of the plastered mud brick structures of the city. Its exterior walls are painted bright colors with a depiction of a rising sun on the eastern wall and a setting sun on the western. The library takes up an entire block in the city and has its own open air plaza in the center of the building. Covered by brightly colored linen awnings and containing fountains surrounded by tables and benches, this plaza serves as a reading space for those that seek the knowledge within the library. Small gardens of flowing plantsa help bring additional color to the plaza year-round.

Though the building itself is physically quite large, it would be impossible to store all the works it contains within its walls. To get around this issue, the mages and librarians that run the House of Treasure have invented a type of enchanted shelf that works similarly to a bag of holding. Books can be pushed to the sides of the shelf into an extra dimensional space, allowing far more to fit than would otherwise be possible. Nevertheless, the inside of the House remains packed.

In order to fill the House of Treasure, Yarma requires all outside visitors to the city to relinquish any books or other written works upon arrival. These are then sent to the library, where magically-automated printing presses and quills copy the contents. Once this is done, the books are returned to their original owners, with the copies bound and archived in the library.

The House of Treasure is freely accessible to anyone who displays genuine interest in learning, whether they are a resident of Yarma or not. While all books can be read within the walls of the library, taking them outside requires permission from the librarians - such authorization is very commonly granted, however. Some scholars of particularly niche topics travel from far away to search for knowledge in the House. In particular, the Curator's Archivists are common visitors.

Librarians are trained through a long master-apprentice system, and mostly hail from those that grew up in the city. These librarians must be trained not only in the proper handling and organization of the House's vast collection, but also in the arcane arts required to ensure the magical copying of works continues uninterrupted.