Page 78 - D&D - Player's Handbook

magics being at work on this threshold. The door- WITHIN THE KEEP
guard's fellows watch closely for any trouble, and other Unfortunately, the foregoing is the extent of the infor-
monks peer from the high towers that flank the gates, mation I have about the interior of Candlekeep. My
ready to summon help or lend magical support in case personal experience is limited (as is the case with most
of attack. visitors) to the Court of Air. Though the stories fly fast
Those who are admitted are referred to as "seeker," and thick in the Hearth about what lies beyond the nec-
but also addressed by name if the monk knows it, or essariums, it is almost all conjecture and hearsay, with
by "goodsir" or "goodlady" otherwise. Once a visitor is a heavy dose of fable, you can wager safely.
admitted, the monks at the gate part ranks to allow the From the Court of Air, one can see that the tall towers
seeker inside to the Court of Air. Visitors are instructed that rise up above the northern court wall are intercon-
to cross that area and stand before the Emerald Door, nected by covered walkways. Many of these are roofed,
where another monk receives them, offers them food, but not walled, and monks- some of them under quite
bath, and sleeping quarters, and arranges for each to prodigious burdens of books-scramble to and fro along
meet a monk who will help to plan and then supervise them. The passages are sometimes interrupted by small
the seeker's visit to the library. spiral staircases that provide access to higher and lower
levels, and some of the larger walkways slope gently
THE COURT OF AIR
from one floor in a given tower to the different level
The Court of Air is aptly named. This cobbled courtyard in another.
is empty, containing neither tree nor well. Its southern The only other fact I know about Candlekeep's interior
wall is the southern wall of Candlekeep itself, with a
is that it extends even beneath the level of the court-
number of fieldstone-wrought buildings intended for yards, with staircases in the cellars of certain of the
visitors' use built along it. Nearest the western wall of
towers that lead down into the very bedrock of the pillar
the courtyard stand two buildings: the House of the upon which the keep is built. A monk once confided to
Binder, a large temple of Oghma with plenty of space to me that these caverns store emergency supplies and
allow his faithful to camp and socialize, and the Baths, a provide access to great wells, all of which would enable
public facility that draws water from the natural spring the great fortification to survive entire seasons- if not
beneath the keep. years- of siege.
On the other side of the baths is the Hearth, a great
eating-place and social hall for seekers, which has THE AVOWED
shrines to Deneir, Gond, and Milil built into it. The The monks of Candlekeep are all cloistered scholars.
Hearth connects to the House of Rest, a structure with Most of them have no magical power to speak of (though
four-bunk rooms where seekers are assigned quar- many of them are trained to know about such things); a
ters upon their acceptance. Finally, next to the House notable handful, though, are spellcasters- either cler-
of Rest, and built up against the eastern wall of the ics of gods that represent the pursuit of knowledge or
courtyard, are the stables, where mounts are housed wizards. Even warrior-monks and paladins have been
and provisioned for the length of a seeker's stay, and known among the Avowed, though never many at once.
the granary. The Avowed are the sworn servants of the great
The northern edge of the Court of Air is made up of keep, each rigorously tested to weed out any deceit
a wall into which are set twelve towers. These are the before being permitted to take the oaths of the order.
towers within which visitors are allowed to study. The monks' first priority is the defense of the library's
The famous Emerald Door stands in the western wall. knowledge against those who would steal or destroy it,
Here a Keeper of the Emerald Door stands at all times, but also against natural effects that might do likewise,
assisted by a small group of under-monks who act as such as mold, wet, and decay. Many of the monks wield
messengers and runners. It is the Keeper who officially various kinds of magic items to aid in these endeavors,
welcomes newly arrived seekers, and makes arrange- and Candlekeep's facilities include more than a few
ments for their stay. Only this door leads deeper into scriptoria to facilitate the copying of books becoming
the inner ward; the other towers have entrances onto worn, binderies to repair the same, and even magical
the Court of Air, but don't have points of egress into the storage that preserve rare books from any further decay
inner ward and thus the rest of the library. or damage.
These court-facing towers in the north wall, called I've never made a detailed study of the Avowed, as it's
the "necessariums" by the monks, are the main places never been terribly needful for me to do so, but from my
in which visitors interact with the treasures of Candle- time spent in Candlekeep's Court of Air, as well as my
keep. They are honeycombed with reading rooms and conversations with Waldrop, I've picked up a few things.
small gathering chambers, where monks may bring The rank-and-file of the Avowed are divided into aco-
individual tomes to seekers to be read, and where seek- lytes, who are newcomers to the order, and scribes, who
ers may consult with monks on further materials to tend to the majority of the work in the keep. Acolytes
enable their research. Despite being adjacent to other provide labor, doing the cleaning, lifting, and general
towers and having bridges to more distant ones, the sweating that a place of such size requires, and work
chambers that guests can reach in the necessariums at their studies, hoping to prove themselves and be
don't allow access to the rest of the keep. accepted into the ranks of the scribes. The scribes do
most of the archival labor required of the Avowed, and