The Librarian of Foxbridge

"I Know."

— The Librarian of Foxbridge

The Librarian of Foxbridge is a small god of knowledge, and the Numina of the Foxbridge College Library. They are one of the Godcrafted, those deities created intentionally by people using the techniques devloped by the Godcrafter's Guild. The Librarian is one of the youngest gods in the Great Ring, but has shown immense potential in the few years they have existed so far.

Origins

The Lorekeepers of Foxbridge are the intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Bernicia, embedded within the prestigious Foxbridge College. Their specialty is in the acquisition of knowledge from around the Great Ring, and in using that knowledge to help protect and advance the interests of the kingdom. However, as their store of information grew, they found that they needed a better way to access, analyze and process it. One faction of the Lorekeepers proposed using the techniques derived from the Godcrafter's Guild to create a small god of Foxbridge Library, that would have the power to encompass, understand, and explain all the information it contained. After a few experiments, they suceeded at manifesting the Librarian of Foxbridge.

Creating the Librarian was not a simple task. Like all Numina, they arise from a manifestation of the Egregoric Force, which is the power of collective belief. Crafting a god requires that enough people expend enough of their mental energy thinking about and believing in an entity that it arises directly out of the Dream and then anchors to the Physical realm for stability. When the Lorekeepers decided to attempt to create the Librarian, they had a challenge. As a clandestine organization, creating rumors and stories about their archive was troubling - but without a sufficient amount of belief to drive the Egregoric Force, there would be no way to catalyze the creation of the spirit they sought.

They settled on an approach based on layers of mystery. The innermost layer would be made up of their own novices, who would be given stories of the 'spirit of the library' and specific behaviors and rituals associated with this entity. They then seeded a second layer among the other students of Foxbridge with rumors and deliberately cryptic tales, describing strange and inexplicable events around the library. This naturally formed a third layer outside the College made up of those who knew bits and pieces, but had large gaps in their tales. The Lorekeepers curated and expanded the third circle, particularly to the diplomats and ambassadors from other nations, fostering a reputation for near-omniscience associated only loosely with the college itself. They orchestrated a few convincing effects (putting huge amounts of effort into providing trivial pieces of obscure knowledge to create the illusion that they knew vast amounts of obscure information). In time, this had the desired effect - the Librarian began to manifest within Foxbridge.

Enter The Librarian

The earliest manifestations were simple. Many students and masters at Foxbridge reported strange encounters in the Library, that the Lorekeepers were able to attribute to the Librarian. They would usually appear as someone the reporter had met, but did not know well, and would be helpful, but make cryptic hints at having deeper knowledge. People leave these encounters with the sense that deep secrets have been discussed, and that they revealed far more about themselves than they intended. But at the same time, the Librarian often mase a comment or provide a text that proves to be key to whatever they are working on. More than once, these encounters are associated with breakthroughs, especially in cases of breaking ciphers.

Over time, the Librarian's manifestations became more pronounced. They were a voice in the library's stacks, directing someone toward the book they needed. Then they began to deliver the books themselves, often with helpful marginalia added that would later vanish again. And finally, the Librarian began to communicate with the Lorekeepers directly, providing reports they requested and serving the function they had wished for.

A Controversial Figure

For a short time, all of the Lorekeepers were satisfied with the Librarian. They seemed amiable and disposed to do what was requested of them, and the Lorekeepers put various tests to them. One of the early tests was to decipher The Sleepwalkers' Tale, and the report the Librarian produced created a division inside the Lorekeepers. Some believed that the Librarian had confabulated a fantastic story from the fragments they had provided, but that there was no element of truth in it. For them, this brought many of the Librarian's other conclusions into question as well - how could one know what the Librarian had simply invented, rather than deduced.

On the other hand, many of the Lorekeepers, including Princess Cyneburh, Provost of Foxbridge and Chief Lorekeeper, believed the Librarian's report on the Sleepwalker's Tale, and argued that it represented exactly the kind of insight they had created the Librarian for. This debate has been revived every time the Librarian has presented something unexpected, and there are those who believe they should attempt to undo the godcrafting, binding the Librarian and working to forget they ever existed. Most recently, they have been up in arms about Report #7862, which suggests the existence of extradimensional "worldbuilders" which can create and destroy universes at a whim. The anti-Librarian faction believes that this is a complete fantasy, and that the Librarian has become unreliable to the point of being more of a liability than an aid.

Smarter than the Average God

While the Lorekeepers debate, the Librarian has continued to grow and develop. They were born to hoard knowledge and to learn, and they are doing so with incredible speed. The Librarian has begun to correspond independently with dozens of people in the Great Ring, and to dispatch agents of the Lorekeepers to acquire materials to add to the collection. They've also reshaped the interior stacks of the Library itself, turning them into a constantly shifting labyrinth of bookshelves that seem to go on forever. For those who the Librarian likes, finding a book in the stacks is remarkably easy. For others, the books they want are always misplaced, or just missing. So far, nobody has gone permanently missing among the shelves, although there are some who enter to find only empty bookcases and a quick exit out of the building.

The Librarian of Foxbridge is one of the most successful gods ever to be made intentionally. They care about what they were made to care about, and seem to be aligned with the goals of the Lorekeepers. They provide detailed dossiers upon request, often bringing together disparate pieces of knowledge to produce startlingly accurate deductions. But no god is tame, and the Librarian is rapidly growing beyond what their creators imagined. In time, who knows what this small god may grow up to be.