Unmaking Time Capsules
Meanwhile back on Earth...
"World War One" or "WWI" is a common term today, but at the time no one called it that. They called it the "Great War" or even the "War to End All Wars". At the time that there would be another war like it was all but unthinkable. Then World War Two or WWII, came along. Now the idea of WWIII is firmly apart of our collective psyche. "We don't want to start WWIII" is both used seriously and used in jest.Back to Scarterra
The First Unmaking occurred when a dragon queen arrogantly messed with mystic power beyond her understanding and accidentally summon millions of elementals that ended up killing over 90% of all mortals and essentially forcing the Nine to call a "do-over" for the whole mortal plane. This ended the First Age and the Nine passed the torch for mortal plane dominance from dragons to elves. The Second Unmaking occurred when an elven king arrogantly messed with power beyond his understanding and accidentally summoned millions of Void demons that ended up killing over 90% of all mortals and essentially forcing the Nine to call a "do-over" for the whole mortal plane. This ended the Second Age and the Nine passed the torch for mortal plane dominance from elves to dragons. No one saw the First Unmaking coming. None of the survivors of the First Unmaking expected a Second Unmaking. Now almost everyone is on high alert for a Third Unmaking. Most people concerned about the Third Unmaking want to prevent the Third Unmaking. But others are looking to cushion the blow so more things survive, in this case, to make sure more knowledge survives. A lot of Scarterran academics weep and gnash their teeth at the thought of how many valuable written tomes from yesteryear were lost to disasters, vandals and the slow march of time. This has the spurred the creation of time capsules to make sure the (hypothetical?) Fourth Age has a better grasp of history than the Third Age currently enjoys.The Vault of Maizelic
During Second Unmaking, Maizelic, the last king of the now extinct khnumar hastily buried as many scrolls as books as he could in a remote desert cave in what is now called the Island of Khemarok. Some of the writings were damaged and illegible but not all of them. When the Keepers found Maizelic's store of ancient tomes, they were delighted.Precisely dating Maizelic's Vault is impossible. It's not clear whether the documents in there were buried for 1000 years or 4000 years. But no one expected documents to be able to last more than a couple centuries. This gave scholars the idea of keeping documents safe in a dry, climate controlled location. Whether this was the plan all along of King Maizelic all along or a lucky accident is largely irrelevant. This is what gave us academic forebears the idea that Unmaking resistant time capsules were possible. Before this discovery, most supposedly "ancient" documents are copies of copies of copies of copies. -Aurum Zara of the Dawn, chief archivist of Fumayan Keepers
"I support the Keepers in their efforts to preserve knowledge and educate the masses, but given the time and effort it takes to make even a small time capsule, maybe our efforts would be better spent in preventing a Third Unmaking. The first two Unmakings occurred because the political conflicts and wars escalated beyond reason, so we need to foment peace and harmony." -Beslyfle the gnome
by Eron12 with Heroforge"The First and Second Unmakings occurred because the kings and queens of Scarterra amassed too much power. If we divest more power to the people, we can prevent a Third Unmaking." -Zajac of the Fumayan Lanterns
Carcelli, Parchment Background by Zeta Gardner"Per usual, you are both wrong. The key to preventing the Third Unmaking is...forget it. You wouldn't believe me anway. Keepers, go make your time capsules for they will almost certainly become necessary. The Third Age is ultimately doomed." -Carcelli the Arcane Priestess of the Fumayan Children
Utility
Making an ordinary book is expensive. Paper is fairly expensive, ink is fairly expensive. Most prohibitively, every tome, every page, every word needs to be meticulously copied by hand. This is very labor intensive and it requires a very educated workforce to d it.
Given how much is invested in a single book, making a book just to bury it underground seems extremely indulgent. Very few people or institutions can afford to bury a bunch of books in the ground. And this is before you factor in the cost of the burial chamber itself.
Of all organizations in Scarterra, the Keepers have the most vested interest in preserving lore for future generations but generally only kings and queens have the wealth necessary to fund Unmaking time capsules. Unsurprisingly, most time capsules often include very flattering histories of royal families.
Manufacturing
Other methods have been discussed and tried but the primary means of making Unmaking time capsules is to find a relatively dry place, then cast various spells to remove remaining moisture and other contaminants, sticks the books in and seal the capsule tight.
Prayers are made, usually to Khemra, so that if and when future generations need the knowledge therein, that spirits will guide people to the hiding places of the capsules.
Social Impact
A majority of existing Unmaking time capsules are in secret locations. In fact, most normal Scarterrans aren't even aware of the existence of their existence at all."Every master makes his apprentices due grunt work in order to 'build character'. Knights make their squires shovel tons of horse manure. Blacksmiths make their apprentices clean chimney flumes and acolyte priests get to make copies of books and scrolls. The Keepers certainly have no shortage of books and scrolls. Some days I envy the squires. Unfortunately, preserving documents in an underground vault may mean that those documents don't need to be endlessly copied, but they are also inaccessible, so it won't save generations of young acolytes' poor fingers from making copies."
Does it have to be paper?
Magical Tablets
Some mages have made magical items that store illusionary text that they can release on command. These magic "tablets" are super expensive, but in theory, they should be more resistant to decay than paper. Most permanent magical items, are not technically permanent. Even the most well-made magic items will have their enchantments degrade after 1500 years. No actively used magic sword is going to last 1000 years before someone breaks it, but you can't bury a magical item in a hole and expect someone to pick up 3000 years in the future. Illusionary tablets are even more fragile than magic swords.Physical Tablets
Stone tablets take even more time and labor to construct than transcribing paper books. And even then they still degrade. Gold and other corrosive resistant metals are considered rare and valuable. Hypothetically, lets say a very rich person made a time capsule full of gold tablets. That would probably survive a hypothetical Unmaking, but the first person to discover it is probably not going to say "Oh boy, I want to preserve all these ancient knowledge!" They are going to say "Oh boy, I am going to melt this down and become rich!"
Access & Availability
Very limited
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