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Tenebris Vault

Arcane Archives

Written by Endrise

Half the stuff here couldn't hurt a fly, a quarter of it can cause some serious harm, and 1% we can't even bring you back from. If you have a death wish sure, touch the amulet without knowing what it does.

Amongst the city blocks of Luxaltar stands the Tenebris Vault, a towering building dedicated to cataloguing and researching magic items from across Sichelan. It houses thousands of objects, kept safe and secure by the Tenebris Foundation's many efforts to ward off thieves.

Secure, Contain, Protect

Parent Location
Luxaltar
Owning Organization
Tenebris Foundation

Layout

From the outside, the vault stands out for its cross shape with a octagonal center, topped off with a dome. Only one entrance exists through the eastern wing, going up a flight of stairs past the statue of the Tenebris Foundation's founder, Hunter Tenebris himself.

Main Floor

Entrance Hall

All guests are welcomed through the main entrance hall, where one can register themselves to the front desk to visit other wings open to the public. Cushioned seats allow one to wait here beneath the large paintings of the foundation's staff, with a few displays showing some lesser magic objects as decoration. The high ceiling and white walls do make it feel more spacious than it truly is.

To gain access to the rest of the building, a pass is provided to any person for both the museum and library. To get inside either the workspace or vault, one either needs to have staff identification or be accompanied by a staff member at all times.

Building Center & Vault Entrance

Museum

The southern wing is where the items get displayed to learn about their function and the history connected to them. A massive gallery of weapons, jewellery, armour and other magic relics that cycle out from the vault, deemed safe enough to be shown to the public.

Occasionally, an exhibit is also held here from a personal collection or a new discovery, complete with guided tours and demonstrations by professionals. With these, the vault can further fund their research.

Library

The western wing is where the library sits, a collection of books and documentation regarding the vaulted items and their (former) owners. Everything from history to donated diaries, to even guides and knowledge on the production of magic items throughout the eras.

Most are open to the public, with only a few books kept behind authorised access. Those are kept in a secure section of the library, only available to employees or anyone with a key to it.

Workspace

To understand how these relics work, the northern wing acts as the R&D for the Tenebris Foundation. Here is where most scholars spend their time researching what came into the vault to dissect, study and even reverse-engineer the things they get donated.   While the danger does exist

The Vault Itself

Cabinets Vault

Since most smaller magic items pose not immediate threat, the building comes with one vault storing most of them. Each one gets their own drawer to store the items in, often rented by noblemen to ensure they keep a space amongst the wall of other drawers.

It is the largest vault in the entire facility, said to hold enough storage space for at least a few hundred items at a time. Despite the shared area though, it is as secured as many other vaults, having both regular and arcane measures to ensure nothing gets stolen.

Specialised Vaults

More unique items each get their own chamber they get stored in, each with their own safety measures to prevent anyone from either getting inside or the effects of the item leaking outside.

A few dozen of them are scattered around the corridors, many empty waiting for new items to be included. Once one is stored in there, the required safety measures get applied to the room. This can be as simple as using a certain material to coat the walls in to magic seals and additional magic items to prevent anything from getting in or out.

Entry for WorldEmber 2024

Competition Homepage
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Additional artwork is owned by their respective owners.
Cover image: Building/Landmark Cover by Endrise
Article template
Building / Landmark
World
The Fabulae Anthology
Author
Endrise
Publication Date
1 Jan, 2025
Creation Date
1 Jan, 2025
Last Update Date
5 Aug, 2025
Visibility
Public
Views
119
Favorites
4
Comments
0
Work In Progress
Tags
Challenge:WorldEmber 2024 Settlement:Luxaltar

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