The Alexandria Documents
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The following is a collection of literature concerning the Library of Alexandria, a now-defunct outreach program. Due to the age of some of these documents, this collection is only allowed to be viewed via the intranet, or in one of our special sterile rooms. Ask a nearby librarian for assistance.


Entry 1

3710, Anno Mundi,
On this blessed day, I vow to stand trial for my sins. I have burned down my library. The men I have come to call jailors have fled, as have my fellow Wanderers. Amid the panic as Caesar burned his fleet, I took the three books I valued most and brought my torch to the shelves. It was a clever plot. The civilians shall think the fires have spread to the library from the docks. My tracks are covered.

Euclid was a wonderful man. Until we showed him a structure that took his contribution to man, geometry, and twisted it in ways he couldn't explain. He couldn't appreciate the impossibility of the shape purely for its beauty. He had to break it down, to understand. He was the first to steal from the library. Other scholars followed.

We never should have worked together with those "men of the sciences". I watched every day, as they perused my shelves, desecrating them, making off with our more valuable items. All the while, they grinned. They participated in our debates. They lied through their teeth. They do not value that which they do not understand. They steal it away. They put it under lock and key.

No more. I have taken our most valuable works, and I have set fire to this damnable place. It was a mistake on the part of the Wordsmith guild to try to enlighten those who do not travel. It was a mistake on the part of my mentor, Aristophanes, to ever let that mathematician, Euclid of Alexandria, into our inner circle.

I shall return these works to the Tree of Knowledge, and leave the scorched earth of Egypt to claim what remains. Then, I shall return to my self imposed exile on the isle of Cyprus.

-Aristarchus of Eastern Samothrace


Entry 2

The year of our lord destroyer, 391, A.D.
Against the advice of myself and several of my peers, the council decided to repair the library. This was many years ago. May the records remember this. Against my will, I was elected the new head librarian. I'm sure my unnaturally long lifespan influenced their decision. The skatophage can't recognize a sore subject when they see one.

Today, we are under attack, and I doubt many of the fine Wanderers hiding among the shelves shall survive. We foresaw this, 40 years ago, and we took the appropriate measures. We shipped the books previously kept here back to the Tree. We closed the Serapeum and filled our shelves with its relatively worthless books.

The church has turned against us. Most likely because of my appearance. After all, men abhor what they believe is different. They call me a demon, merely because I have yellow eyes and scales. Bishop Theophilus has brought together a mob. They shall burn us. Burn our books. Burn everything that they believe is different. Alexandria is aflame again.

-Eunapius


Entry 3

This is madness. Alexandria has been taken by the Religious Dissidents, led by that jackal, Caliph Omar. I was present when they held a public execution of our head librarian, along with many other political figures of the city. I was there when he ordered the destruction of the books from the library. He told his followers that if the books agreed with their beliefs, they were useless, and if they didn't, they were pernicious. I had never seen such blatant hatred for the written word. They use our books as firestarter. My heart aches. I wasn't able to save a single book. Not even our precious first edition of the Dimensional Atlas.

Today marks yet another tragedy in Alexandria. It was entirely avoidable, but in the end, we continue to be fools. We try to teach the masses when they don't want to learn. I swear upon the Serpent, if I get out of here alive, the next person in the council who suggests reopening the outreach program is getting my sword in their gut.

(The following seems to have been written at a later time. It can be found on the backside of the page.) I write this from inside the walls. I can't leave. The Way is sealed. They stone scholars to death in the streets, and they leave the corpses in the open to rot. There is no longer any pretense of religious conversion. They kill indiscriminately, the monsters. I fear for the children I have hidden here with me. I fear for myself because I will do anything to save these children. Even feed them the flesh from my bones, that they may live a while longer.

-J.N. 641 A.D.


A magazine clipping from the 2002 November issue of the publication "Planasthai".

(Illegible)-"It's been over a thousand years now. There are still savages in the world. But there are many more people who want to learn. The mistakes of the past are behind us. It is time, once again, for the library to reach out, and offer its knowledge. I declare the Bibliotheca Alexandrina open." With these words, Ismail Serageldin opened the doors to the new library, beginning a new age of informatio-(Illegible)


A 2011 newspaper clipping from the publication "Alexandria Times".

(Illegible)-ioters started fires throughout the city. Many are wounded, and several buildings have been reduced to ashes. Among these, the
Bibliotheca Alexandrina was destroyed, and all its knowledge lost foreve-(Illegible)


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