Leaves Of Learning

"The Binder teaches us that ideas have no weight, yet can move mountains; they have no height, yet can dominate a nation; and they have no mass, yet can push aside empires. Knowledge is our greatest tool, for ideas are the seeds of creation. Yet like plants grown from seeds, knowledge eventually will wither and be lost if not carefully tended. The mind stores some knowledge, yet the ravages of time exact their toll on individual memories, and death inevitably claims that which has not been shared and remembered. Other knowledge is inscribed in books, yet sheets of vellum are not immune to the toll of passing years and must be copied time and time again. Perhaps the greatest danger posed by books lies in the nature of their construction. Ideas placed within a book will die as if forgotten if that book becomes a dusty coffer, its contents locked away. Like gems, ideas will sparkle only if brought into the light of day. To that end we must make our libraries live, so that no book remains forgotten. It is for this reason that we labor so, to keep all knowledge accessible and all ideas alive."

—Hasicor Danali, Learned Father and High Atlar

The slim-spired temple of Oghma known as the Leaves of Learning soars above the streets of Highmoon atop the southern end of Highmoon Hill in Deepingdale. One of the finest libraries east of Candlekeep resides in the stout stone chambers of the central tower, cloaked in the wards to reduce the threat of fire, water, or mold. The Tower of Tomes is flanked by a pair of cloisters that face inward toward a walled, forested garden where cascades of endlessly pumped water babble past many small bowers and contemplation nooks. At the far end of the East Cloister is the Scroll House, where the temple staff dwell amid newly acquired books and scrolls to be repaired and cataloged.

Under the leadership of Learned Father Hasicor Danali (who also bears the title High Atlar), the Binder’s clergy have assembled an unparalleled collection of written records of life in the eastern Heartlands, many of them newly compiled, including diaries, war histories, and even campfire accounts from across the region. Clerics keep busy buying and reading new books brought to the temple and going out asking specific questions of the elder folk of the region and recording their answers. The Binder’s servants also copy out books and tracts for those who desire them and can afford to pay for their scribing. The Leaves of Learning are also famed for the Index of Danali, the inspired creation of the temple’s high cleric. The Index consists of a strictly ordered compendium of vellum sheets—one for each tome it covers—detailing subject matter and topics of interest. The genius of the Index of Danali is that it enables visitors to request exactly the book they wish to pursue; it lays out the information contained in each listed volume so clearly, that very little knowledge remains lost or forgotten beneath dusty, unopened covers.

Visitors to Oghma’s temple are welcome, and many travelers passing through Highmoon make a point of visiting this famed house of learning. Wizards unfamiliar with the temple’s reputation may be disappointed to learn that, as a matter of policy, the clerics here store no tomes of magic or even those discussing arcane matters within the library’s walls. (They believe this policy greatly reduces the number of thefts, attempted and successful.) There is always a bard or two about the premises, causing the sounds of gentle harp chords to waft over the gardens. Many inhabitants of Highmoon count themselves as parishioners, and most children born to Deepingfolk in the past decade have spent an afternoon hearing stories of adventure read by one of the temple’s bespectacled clerics.

The Leaves of Learning is staffed by kindly old clerics, most of whom are absent-minded and prone to mumbling. They report directly to Danali. Their ranks are supplemented by a growing number of learned monks of the Children of the Passive Voice, an Oghmanyte order dedicated to defending libraries and abbeys. Lord Theremen Ulath also keeps a loyal detachment of the Tower Guard on hand to protect the temple as well. As in the rest of Deepingdale, humans, half-elves, and elves are all found within the walls of the Leaves of Learning, and most are of good alignment.

Within the past few years, Danali’s tireless labors have extended his famed Index beyond the books found within the Leaves of Learning. Those in search of rare or unique books are increasingly likely to find a record of their last known location and a summary of their contents within the Tower of Tomes, even if that location is as far away as Silverymoon or Calimport. Those who do not wish to walk every last mile of Faerûn’s roads in search of some lost bit of lore usually find a consultation of Danali’s Index invaluable before beginning their search.

Ceremonies

Clerics and monks of Oghma observe two rituals of the faith each day: the Binding and the Covenant. The Binding is a morning service wherein the symbols of Oghma are written in ashes upon a stone altar while a silent prayer of loyalty and praise is made to the Binder. The Covenant is an evening service during which a passage from some work of wisdom is read aloud or recited from memory, a song or poem is offered up to Oghma, and some item of knowledge that the presiding clergy member has learned during the day is spoken aloud to the god and those present. During the latter ceremony Danali has made a practice of reading aloud from each page added to the Index that day.

The Leaves of Learning also celebrates all the holy days sacred to the faith, of which Midsummer and Shieldmeet are the two most important. As most contracts, bonds, and the like are signed on these two days, the temple staff stays very busy drawing up such documents in weeks leading up to either Midsummer or Shieldmeet. Most such documents are picked up in person, at which time the claimants make a hefty donation to the church’s coffers. Danali traditionally invites the public into the temple gardens on holy days, and many Deepingfolk take the opportunity to stroll in the cool shade among the temple’s bowers to the lilting strains of music from an assemblage of skilled harpists.

Services

The Leaves of Learning functions as one of the best libraries in the Dalelands. Almost any type of Knowledge check can benefit from a perusal of the temple’s tomes. Characters using the library for its reference books receive a +10 circumstance bonus to any Knowledge checks except Knowledge (arcana).

Under the supervision of at least two members of the clergy, visitors to the Leaves of Learning can peruse tomes within the library for periods of up to a full day upon payment of 15 gp. (Worshipers of Oghma pay only 1 gp, a price that applies only to themselves and not their inquisitive friends.) Although reading and discussion of such books is allowed, copying is not permitted. The temple staff can make copies of selected pages on the following day for a fee of 1 gp per page and double that if the page contains maps, diagrams, symbols, or illustrations that must be reproduced exactly (copying by hand takes 1 day per 100 pages copied). Prices are negotiable for larger works. Books can be copied magically at a cost of 3 gp per page, minimum 50 pages. Doing so requires at least one day’s notice but takes only one day for any book up to 500 pages long (which would be a huge book, five times the size of a normal spellbook). All copies of maps sold by the temple are believed to be accurate or, if they err in some fashion, the best available. The temple’s clerics may also be engaged to decipher obscure passages in forgotten tongues, at a cost of 1 gp per hour of labor required, including research time, if any.

The Leaves of Learning is home to some of the most skilled bookbinders in the Dalelands. As such, wealthy patrons from as far away as Sembia and Cormyr bring books to be restored within the temple walls. The cost runs between 10 gp and 100 gp, depending on the time and materials required to complete the restoration. In cases where no copy of the book in question exists within the library, the clerics usually waive the fee if the owner grants them permission to make copies.

The temple staff also prepares and sells paper (4 sp), parchment (2 sp), and blank books (5 gp, not appropriate for use as spellbooks). Upon request, the temple can create a book appropriate for use as a spellbook, and can even create more elaborate books with covers of wood, metal, or more exotic materials.

Spell scrolls of clerical spells can be purchased at the Leaves of Learning as well, although the clerics remain so busy with other activities that they produce fewer such scrolls than do other temples of the Binder. Typically available divine scrolls include comprehend languages, detect magic, detect poison, detect undead, divination, find traps, glyph of warding, make whole, read magic, and tongues. Sometimes passing Harpers and bards leave scrolls on consignment with the temple that are available for sale as well, although in very limited numbers. Typically available bard or Harper scout scrolls include comprehend languages, detect thoughts, identify, locate object, magic mouth, read magic, and tongues.

Hierarchy

In addition to Learned Father Hasicor Danali, the Leaves of Learning houses seven elderly clerics of the Binder and five Oghmanyte monks of an order whose members protect many libraries and abbeys. Among the clerics, four Seekers report to two Lorekeepers, who in turn report to Lorekeeper Venturer Tessele Whitehorn. The leader of the Children of the Passive Voice is Lorewarden Rowan Silvercrown. Both groups in turn report to Danali, although in truth daily life at the temple largely runs itself. The clerics are very set in their ways, and probably would continue their daily activities even if Highmoon was in danger of being overrun by a horde of orcs. Danali largely delegates the temple’s security concerns to Rowan, leaving the monks free to protect the complex however they see fit.

In addition to the followers of Oghma, Lord Theremen Ulath (the ruler of Highmoon) keeps a small contingent of Tower Guards at the temple. Guard shifts at the temple last eight hours before the next detail arrives to offer relief. Sergeant Mourn Deepwood, a worshiper of Oghma, commands the guard contingent and lives on site at the temple; the guards live off site.

Finally, Those Who Harp keep a close but informal watch on activities at the Leaves of Learning. There is usually one Harper on or about the premises on any given day. Of late, that Harper is usually Jhenna Iliathor, who all but lives at the temple when she is not away on Harper business.

Initiation

The Binder welcomes all true seekers of knowledge into his church, and the Leaves of Learning is no exception to this practice. All that is required to worship or study at the Leaves of Learning is a true profession of faith in the Binder’s teachings (see the discussion below of the zone of truth spell that permeates the temple compound) and a willingness to contribute to its storehouse of knowledge. The latter is usually interpreted as the gift of some book or scroll whose contents are not as yet found within the walls of the temple library. However, those who lack the wealth to make such a donation can instead contribute an old tale or bit of song to be recorded by a temple.

Of course, such openness is not without risk, and all who are not well known to the clergy are carefully watched during their stay within temple walls. The Children of the Passive Voice have even been known to discretely follow suspicious persons after they leave the temple grounds to see if they are who they claim, a practice justified by Rowan with a wink as “the further pursuit of knowledge, which the Binder says cannot be a sin.”

Allies and Enemies

The folk of Highmoon, now a growing, bustling center of culture, are justly proud of the reputation of sophistication that the clerics at the Leaves of Learning have given their town. As such, the temple has earned the strong support of the population, who will brook no plot to undermine their beloved library. Lord Theremen Ulath is also a strong backer of Danali’s endeavors, contributing both his political aid and a detachment of troops to ensure the temple’s continued success. Those Who Harp maintain a benevolent watch as well over the Leaves of Learning, for Oghma is one of the divine patrons of the Harpers and the temple furthers the preservation of tales and lessons of the past, one of the chief goals of that fellowship.

Despite such allies, the temple is not without its foes, for not everyone is enamored of the continuing spread of knowledge. Thieves are the most common threat, dispatched by Sembian merchant lords, Cormyrian nobles, or various secret societies to retrieve or destroy some obscure bit of lore that might invalidate some claim or reveal some secret of their lineage they might prefer to go undiscovered. Greedy wizards are far less of a threat than one might otherwise imagine, for members of the clergy have widely advertised the fact that they have not a word about magic within their walls.

The greatest long-term threat to the Leaves of Learning comes from an unexpected quarter. The illithids of Oryndoll, a subterranean city that lies deep beneath the Shining Plains far to the south and west of Highmoon, have a highly developed, theologically based culture that incessantly plunders knowledge and hoards it within their temple. The illithids seek to acquire knowledge at the exclusion of all others, and thus oppose the efforts of Oghma’s priesthood to disseminate knowledge as widely as possible. Word of Danali’s Index has recently reached the illithid leaders of Oryndoll, who have recognized the threat it poses to their city’s ambitions. As such, the quiet, unassuming temple at the heart of Highmoon has become the unwitting target of the plots of one of Faerûn’s oldest cultures.

Map Key

The Leaves of Learning is dominated by the Tower of Tomes, the full bulk of which rises six stories and whose roof is topped by a parapet and a smaller tower spire. The Tower of Tomes overlooks a large forested inner court, dominated by small pools and winding paths. Within the inner court lies a free-standing two-story wood structure known as the Monks’ House. A narrow parapet-less wall, two cloisters, and the inner wall of the Scroll House encircle the garden.

1. Entry Hall

Visitors to the Leaves of Learning are greeted in the entry hall of the Scroll House, a simple chamber. When the temple is open for visitors, at least one monk and at least one Tower Guard remain on duty here. At other times, it is only infrequently visited by Tower Guard patrols. The duskwood doors normally stay unlocked during the day and are barred each evening with a stout duskwood bar.

2. Contract Room

The ornate Contract Room in the Scroll House boasts finely carved wood paneling depicting scenes from the holy texts of Oghma. The room itself is dominated by several writing desks surrounded by chairs. Visitors who wish to draw up a contract, deed, or other document are escorted into this room to consult with one of the clerics. Usually at least one of them works in this chamber during the day.

3. Dining Room

The large, wood-paneled dining room looks out into the inner court. In the summer months, the doors usually stay open to let in more light and a small breeze. Two large wooden tables dominate the center of the room. A narrow stairway leads up to the second floor of the Scroll House. This room is usually occupied only at meal times and in the evening, during the winter, for it is one of the warmest rooms in the house. Otherwise, the Tower Guard patrols here infrequently.

4. Kitchen

A large walk-in fireplace and two preparation tables dominate the Scroll House’s kitchen. The walls and ceiling are hung with cooking implements and fresh stores. The door between this room and the dining room usually stays open, both to allow easy passage by tressyms into the pantry (see area 11) and because cooking at the temple is a communal affair with a great deal of traffic between the kitchen and the dining area. Several clerics and/or monks occupy this room prior to each of the three daily meals, but otherwise the Tower Guard patrols it only infrequently.

5. Pantry

The Scroll House’s dark, cool pantry is used to store foodstuffs. As the Leaves of Learning lies within a large town, the inhabitants of the temple do not need to store large amounts of food here. Most of the foodstuffs are roots or grains of various sorts. The door to this room usually stays open to allow the tressyms of the garden to hunt rodents that make their way in here. The Tower Guard patrols the pantry infrequently; otherwise residents visit this room only when meals are being prepared or during food delivery.

6. Cleric's Quarters

Seven chambers on the Scroll House’s second floor serve as quarters for the venerable clerics who live at the temple. Aside from the rooms above the kitchen, they can get quite cold in the winter, as they lack fireplaces. Each room is adorned with a bed, a simple bookshelf filled with the books the clerics are currently studying, a dresser for storing possessions, a wash basin, and a small stone altar. Chamber pots lie under each bed. Most quarters are empty except at night, when their inhabitants are reading or sleeping.

7. Danali's Quarters

The Learned Father’s quarters are identical to those of the other clerics; they occasionally house Jhenna Iliathor in addition to Danali. It is the only bedroom with a window opening onto the inner court. With a bit of pluck, it is easy to step out of the room’s window onto the roof of the East Cloister. The Learned Father is known to take a blanket out and look at the stars on perfect summer nights, despite the admonitions of the Lorewarden.

8. Binding Room

The largest room on the Scroll House’s second floor is used for cataloging and repairing newly acquired tomes and scrolls. Much of the temple’s bookbinding work is performed here as well. Four large workbenches, piled high with a riot of books and scrolls, dominate the room. During the day, one of the monks and at least two of the clerics are usually found within. At night, wandering guard patrols visit it infrequently.

9. East Cloister

A simple portico connects the Scroll House to the Tower of Tomes. Four pillars run along the south edge of the East Cloister, enabling passersby to look into the forested inner court. Each pillar is carved with elaborate scrollwork that intertwines with the carved vines that adorn the underside of the cloister roof. During the day, this portico sees a lot of traffic as clerics, monks, and visitors pass back and forth between the Scroll House and the Tower of Tomes. At night, a Tower Guard is usually stationed on the roof of the East Cloister, in part to deter Danali from risking a fall in order to reach this place.

10. West Cloister

A simple portico identical to the East Cloister, but less trafficked, connects the Tower of Tomes to the west wall of the temple. Several wooden reading benches make the West Cloister a quiet contemplation nook. It is rarely unoccupied during the evening, as some of the clerics or monks usually avail themselves of the quiet seclusion. At night, one of the Tower Guards is usually stationed on the roof of the West Cloister, reached by climbing the branches of a nearby tree.

11. Inner Court

The forested inner court is dominated by beetle palms, gleaming blueleafs, arrow-straight duskwoods, vinelike helmthorns, curving hiexels, squat laspars, towering phandars, roseneedle pines, giant weirwoods, and even a single transparent chime oak, transplanted from the east Starwood of Cormanthor. Beneath the trees are an even wider variety of flowers, bushes, ferns, and other plants. The wide variety of species is greater than one might find naturally in such a small area, but all are native to the Dalelands or Cormanthor. Although the followers of Oghma are not the equals of Chauntea’s clerics, they do know a fair bit about tending to vegetation, and most of the clerics and monks spend several hours each day outdoors working on their forested garden.

A maze of narrow paths loops through the walled forest, connecting the cloisters, the Scroll House, the Monk’s House, and the Reflection Pool. Small bowers lie within each glade of trees, and wooden benches sit beside each pool, offering opportunities for peaceful contemplation, writing, or casual reading. A network of hidden pumps built by a Gondar engineer ensures that a network of tiny streams interlaces the paths of the inner court.

Several wild tressyms escaped here after being brought to Deepingdale from Eveningstar by Cormyrian traders to be sold in the High Market. Now they make the inner court of the Leaves of Learning their home. They are much beloved by the inhabitants of the temple and have been known to alert one of the inhabitants when a visitor is doing something suspicious or on those rare occasions when an interloper makes it over the temple walls.

The Tower Guard patrol the inner court in pairs of two both the day and night, a tour of duty said to be one of the most pleasing guard rotations in all the Dales.

12. Tool Storage

In the northern half of the Monks’ House’s first floor, temple residents store gardening implements and other tools used to maintain the temple grounds and buildings. It is only rarely occupied or visited by patrols.

13. Guest Chamber

Although nominally a chamber for honored guests, in practice this room within the Monks’ House quarters the sergeant of the Tower Guard. It is adorned in a fashion similar to the clerics’ quarters (see area 6). Sergeant Mourn Deepwood is found here most nights, but guards visit the room only infrequently.

14. Monk's Quarters

The second floor of the Monks’ House serves as both sleeping quarters and a training room. The monks each have a simple pallet that they roll up every morning before exercising. The floor of the room is covered in hay, and simple training weapons—clubs, daggers, kamas, light crossbows, nunchakus, quarterstaffs, and sianghams— adorn the walls. At night sleeping monks occupy this room, and in the early morning the Children of the Passive Voice practice their daily training regimen here. Otherwise, few visit it except the occasional guard patrol.

15. Tower of Tomes: Shelving Floors

The first, third, and fifth floors of the Tower of Tomes are known as the Shelving Floors. Each level contains a metal spiral staircase leading up through a hole in the center of the floor (except the first floor) to a hole in the center of the ceiling. The rest of the floor is taken up by rows and rows of bookshelves, each stretching 15 feet high. Book ladders line each shelf, enabling the temple inhabitants to reach the topmost shelves. At the end of each shelf is a coffer filled with neatly cataloged vellum sheets, part of the legendary Index of Danali. (Copies of all sheets comprising the Index that were completed through the end of the last tenday are stored at the Tower of the Rising Moon in Highmoon as well.) During the day, these floors are regularly visited by the clerics as well as wandering patrols of the Children of the Passive Voice. At night, only the monks pass through, making their rounds.

The first Shelving Floor has smaller stacks than those above it. Two duskwood doors, barred from within by a duskwood bar at night, lead out to the East and West Cloister.

16. Tower of Tomes: Reading Floors

The second, fourth, and sixth floors of the Tower of Tomes are known as the Reading Floors. Each level contains a spiral metal staircase leading up through a hole in the center of the floor to a hole in the center of the ceiling. The rest of the floor is divided into four chambers and a cross-shaped hallway. Every wall, even within the Reading Rooms, is lined with bookshelves, stretching up to 15 feet in the air. Book ladders line each shelf, enabling the temple inhabitants to reach the topmost shelves. Within each room and at the end of each hallway is a coffer filled with neatly cataloged vellum sheets, part of the legendary Index. At the center of each Reading Room is a wooden table and several chairs. Visitors to the library are brought to one of the Reading Rooms, allowed to consult the appropriate sheets of the Index, and then brought the book they request to peruse. During the day, these floors are regularly visited by the clerics as well as wandering patrols of the Children of the Passive Voice. At night, only the monks pass through, making their rounds.

17. Tower of Tomes: Roof

The roof of the Tower of Tomes consists of a small chamber at the top of the spiral staircase leading up from below. The room is dominated by various sacred, nonmagical relics of the Binder and serves as a private chapel for the inhabitants of the temple during religious services.

A single door leads out on to the parapet, from which one can look out over Highmoon. Atop the small chamber is a slender spire that reaches some 30 feet above the parapet. Two members of the Tower Guard are usually stationed atop the parapet at night or during the day. From the parapet they can easily signal for reinforcements from the Tower of the Rising Moon or from the Lord’s Barracks down the hill, using a glaur.

Breaking In

Most folks find that access to the fabled libraries of the Leaves of Learning is most easily achieved by knocking on the temple’s front door during the day and being admitted by one of the resident clerics. Although the cost of perusing tomes within the temple’s archives is steep for most people, it is not enough to make pilferage a reasonable alternative for the risk.

Those who do attempt to breach the temple’s wards or infiltrate the grounds by posing as a visitor find that the entire structure lies within the area of a hallow spell to which a zone of truth has been fixed, making false professions of faith in the Binder’s teachings difficult. The inner and outer walls of the temple are carved with runes, many of which are nonmagical but some of which act as glyphs of warding, usually triggered by someone trying to scale the wall or pass through an area without speaking the proper pass phrase. Glyphs on the external walls and in common areas usually trigger cause fear or hold person. Glyphs in areas of the library restricted to the clergy might trigger blinding/deafness or hold person without the proper pass phrase. Should intruders cause an alarm to be raised, the simple sounding of a glaur (many of which are hung decoratively about the temple) brings guard reinforcements running from the nearby Tower of the Rising Moon and even summons the Watchmen of Highmoon up from their barracks down the hill.

Infiltrating the Leaves of Learning is particularly troublesome given the closeness of the small-knit community. One approach might be to join the Watchmen of Highmoon and hope to be assigned to the Tower Guard, a process that could take months. Even then, it might not succeed, for senior members of the Tower Guard claim most rotations at the Leaves of Learning. Another approach might be to masquerade as an elf of the Semberholme region. Sometimes the Fair Folk slip out of the nearby woods late at night, uncomfortable at the thought of entering Highmoon during the hustle and bustle of daytime activity, and make a midnight knock on the door of the temple. Because of such cultural differences, Danali has instructed the clergy to admit the Fair Folk at all hours. This gives rise to the possibility that a sleepy guard might forget to request an oath to the Binder from the midnight visitor or nod off instead of supervising the visit appropriately. The dream of many a would-be thief is to sneak into the dungeons beneath the Tower of the Rising Moon and make their way up into the temple via a long-forgotten tunnel. However, if any such tunnel exists, it has never been found.

In the Stacks

Here is a sampling of titles found within the Tower of Tomes:

In the Stacks