The Halls of Books are one of Hawkmoon’s greatest treasures. Between them, they hold more than 125,000 books, scrolls, notes, etched tablets, engravings, printed bark strips, woven texts and other artifacts written in every text and from every language in Arith.

Volumes come to the Halls in various ways: by donations, as a part of property seized by the Crown in legal disputes or heirless estates, and also through the labor of a small troop of scribes in the Halls. Sometimes volumes are lost through accidents, and the fingers of age which corrupt with mold, pests and dusty dryness. Much of a librarian’s work is the preservation and restoration of the oldest tomes.

The New Hall of Books are the smaller of the two buildings, originally built to be the Library of Hawkmoon, the New Hall holds records and finds since the founding of the Domain by Greylan Hawkmoon. The New Hall is overseen by the Head Librarian Cimrion, a vigorous man with a hawkish nose and smooth, unlined face. Cimrion is a very fast reader and scribe. He has almost total recall, and can quote from half the books in “his” library. He is nevertheless an excellent administrator, and is always seeking out new and unusual works for the Halls. He is assisted by the aging Gilmedor and dozen or so scribes.

The Old Hall of Books (actually a newer building) houses many volumes saved when Arvanor fell, and citizens of the city-states fled to Hawkmoon to start a new life. The smaller towns and villages of Arvanor were overrun, and many residents of those communities saved books, scrolls and lore held in their town halls, and for the larger towns libraries. The Old Halls is run by Head Librarian, and Master of the Halls, Verylen Noldath, a genial, scholarly man of advancing years. He habitually dresses in rich purple or royal blues and enjoys his job immensely. Verylen seems to infect almost all of his visitors, be they royal or rural, with an enthusiasm for his books and lore. He is assisted by Bethiel, a young waif of a girl who knows races around the stacks as a pace unmatched by any of the other scores of scribes and cataloguers.

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