The Library

"They were everywhere; in the rafters, on the shelves and furniture. There were a few settled down beside open books, and they seemed to be reading. We approached the librarian's desk, and we were greeted with a dark gray cat with very serious green eyes and white marks that made him look like he had a mustache and gloves on. "Where's the librarian?" I asked hesitantly.

The cat at the desk meowed loudly, looking almost indignant. Shou gave a soft chuckle and motioned towards the offended cat. "This is the Librarian.""

The Library is a large building that holds a massive collection of books, thought to be the largest in all of the Wildes. It functions as any other library, with the exception that it is run entirely by the Cats; domestic housecats with intellect that rivals that of any human.

The Library is of course used as a normal library would be. Patrons may check out 15 books for up to three weeks. The cats, though unable to speak any human language, are perfectly capable of understanding all languages, and can lead patrons to whatever information is asked for. The cats do not tolerate mistreatment of their books, nor late returns. If you participate in either, the cats will find you.

Architecture
The library appears as an early 1700s two-story building made with stone brick and wood. The outside is entirely a pale stone that stands out against the darker rock of the mountains. Small, carved details are simple, and sparingly but tastefully used. It has a tall gable roof with tall, narrow fixed picture windows along the bottom half of the structure. These windows are impossible to use to see into the Library. It appears to be smaller on the outside than it is on the inside, which has two main floors and at least 281 Archival floors; its true depth is unknown.

The Main Floors
The inside is mostly wood, lit up with lanterns that never go out. Up in the rafters, there are decorative wooden beams that cross in patterns, along with some large, circular stained windows that allow light to filter in from the top. To the left of the entrance is a single bathroom. At the front of the lower floor is a large L-shaped desk with a massive library card catalog behind it. Beside that is a door that reads 'staff only', which cats can be seen slipping in and out of often.

Inside of the staff room are empty bookshelves, crates, boxes, and containers that have been stuffed with blankets, pillows, clothes, and other soft things that the cats curl up in to sleep. Cats will hide their treasures gathered from the outside world, or given as gifts from kind patrons. Often these items come from those that cats have collected late fees from.

The first floor has dozens of rows of bookshelves that are interrupted with the center aisle, where desks, chairs, lounges, armchairs, and coffee tables sit. The furniture is simple but elegant, made of wine red leather and wood stained dark and waxed to a gleam, often accented with gold studs and gilding. The bookcases themselves are about 14 feet high, and have rolling ladders attached to them for easy access to the books. They are labelled with small golden plaques, with fiction being downstairs and non-fiction being upstairs.

At the back of the lower floor there is a door that reads simply 'Private Collection: No Entry'. This door remains locked. Behind it lies a small collection of books that are the favorites of the cats. Hidden even further in, past the maze of bookshelves, a lone glass cabinet sits against the wall, holding old, rare books inside, and a doorway. Behind this lives the Empress. She is a well-kept secret in the library, as she never shows herself to patrons. Her room has a massive tree growing through it, the branches tangling and twisting about the room's walls. In the center, where the branches meet, the trunk opens up into a spiraling ramp that descends past the floor. A feet feet down is a split in the wood with light shining through it. The Empress can squeeze through the split to visit the human world. The tree's trunk continues down to the bottom of the Library. None but the Empress can enter the tree.

The second floor has shorter bookshelves that go up to about 8 feet, and there are wooden step-stools instead of ladders. There is railing along the edges that overlook the bottom floor's center aisle. There are a few small side tables and armchairs that are placed in between gaps in the shelf rows, making for cozy places to read. At the ends of the second floor there are small lounge areas; one with two couches, four armchairs and a large coffee table with plenty of lighting, the other with a small coffee table and three wooden chairs set up beside a grand piano that overlooks the center aisle.

There are numerous signs warning of 'the late fee' and requesting to keep the books in good shape. If a book is damaged because of carelessness or malice, or the book is even a minute late, the cats will appear to retrieve it. Though there have been rare exceptions, there is only one thing that the cats will accept as a damage/late fee: a life.

The Archival Floors
The archival floors are entirely similar in layout, filled to the brim with shelves for books, scrolls, tapestries, stones, and even drawers holding dirt that has been drawn or written in. There are three sections within the Archives; Public, Sensitive, and Prohibited.

The Public Archives sit from sub-floors 1-80. These are organized by language, then alphabetically by author, by subject, and then chronologically. The Public Archives are open for anyone to come in and read. They contain almost all information, records, stories, diaries, studies, and more done by humans. Anything written, drawn, or marked ends up in the Archives. The Public Archives also includes general and specific information on the Wildes, though certain subjects may not be available there.

The Sensitive Archives are the largest known section of the archival floors, reaching from sub-floor 81-280. These include information that could be considered sensitive information in some form, such as human military records, government secrets, some scientific studies, especially gruesome writings, books with minor and harmless effects, and most of the books belonging in the Wildes. The floors are organized by what world they came from, with the Wildes floors coming after the human floors. Then by area (biome for the Wildes, continent for humans), then subject, author, and finally chronological. Books with minor effects are sorted on the lowest floor in the Sensitive Archives. Humans and many Wilders must be accompanied by a cat when going into the Sensitive Archives, and must state their goal before going in. The cat will escort you to the information asked for, and then return you to the Public Archives. The Sensitive Archives are home to the Feral Cats; a type of cat that remains massive and will hunt down any being not escorted by a cat.

The Prohibited Archives are off limits to all humans and Wilders other than the cats. The Prohibited Archives are on sub-floors 281-291. This includes books with major effects, books with minor but harmful effects, and the Wildes' deepest secrets. The Prohibited Archives is guarded viciously by Feral Cats. No cat but the Empress is allowed on the final floor, where the books with the most dangerous effects and secrets are held. The final floor is made of glass, showing nothing beneath but an inky black space filled with unfamiliar stars and splatters of colorful galaxies.

The Cats
The cats have several jobs within the Library; to sort and clean the books, repair books, collect late fees, guard certain areas, and of course assisting patrons. Younger cats will often work on the upper floors, where they're willing to be social with patrons of the Library and eager to help and learn, while older cats will work deeper in the Archives.

The Librarian
Any cat in the Library can lead you to whatever information you need, but the Librarian is the most eager and skilled at helping patrons. He is a dark gray cat with white marks that appear as a mustache, bow tie and gloves on his fur, and he is well-known for being the go-to entity for information. He's quite formal and a stickler for the process. You must speak with him to check out a book, and he will give you an old-fashioned library checkout card for the front pocket of the book with the due date. The Librarian is often considered in charge of the Library.