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QueenFrejyalen · **10-19-2014, 04:53 AM**

I hope this is the right place to post this but...

Are there any libraries in Eorzea? Â Or, specifically, in the three city-states? Â I think a library would be a great RP location for people, but I don't actually know if there are any.

Dunno, just a thought. Â If there isn't one canonically, does anyone "have" or "run" a library that their character is the "librarian" of? Â If no one already "runs" a library IC, would anyone be interested in one if I set it up somehow (either in my FC house or otherwise)?

Bumo · **10-19-2014, 05:02 AM**

The Arrzaneth Ossuary (thaumaturge's guild) in Ul'dah has a sizable library inside it. I'm not sure how open it is to the public though, lore-wise.

Nebbs · **10-19-2014, 05:25 AM**

Someone does/did have a house they converted into an IC Library, I don't have this link to the post about it.

QueenFrejyalen · **10-19-2014, 09:53 AM**

(10-19-2014, 05:02 AM)Bumo Wrote: The Arrzaneth Ossuary (thaumaturge's guild) in Ul'dah has a sizable library inside it. I'm not sure how open it is to the public though, lore-wise.

Hmm...something to look into, to be sure! Â Thanks!

(10-19-2014, 05:25 AM)Nebbs Wrote: Someone does/did have a house they converted into an IC Library, I don't have this link to the post about it.

Did they convert it into an IC library for like..the public, or just their personal library? Â =oc

Nebbs · **10-19-2014, 10:32 AM**

There was this one mentioned but not sure if active
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=4668&pid=77554#pid77554

The Eagle and Quill bookstore is currently under construction, and we have begun moving in books of every flavour and subject! We are currently in Ward 3, lot 10 of the Mist, just to the left when you enter.

QueenFrejyalen · **10-19-2014, 10:45 AM**

(10-19-2014, 10:32 AM)Nebbs Wrote: There was this one mentioned but not sure if active
http://ffxiv-roleplayers.com/showthread.php?tid=4668&pid=77554#pid77554

The Eagle and Quill bookstore is currently under construction, and we have begun moving in books of every flavour and subject! We are currently in Ward 3, lot 10 of the Mist, just to the left when you enter.

Gah, their last visit was in July...but maybe I can find them in-game and ask Â D=

Flickering Ember · **10-19-2014, 02:01 PM**

Eagle and Quill is active. I RPed with them the other day. Their entire house is built around it being a bookstore/library. I highly recommend checking it out. They are at Mist Ward 3 Plot 10.

Tinyurl.com/eaglequill for their floor plan. Smile

Ciel · **10-19-2014, 02:45 PM**

There's also the First Decastral Observatorium with the unnecessarily long name in Coerthas, due south of Camp Dragonhead.

Marisa · **10-19-2014, 02:53 PM**

(10-19-2014, 02:45 PM)Ciel Wrote: There's also the First Decastral Observatorium with the unnecessarily long name in Coerthas, due south of Camp Dragonhead.

Not exactly a *public* library, mind you.Â

Being that most of Eorzea is illiterate, I'd imagine libraries are limited almost exclusively to organizations of academic types.

QueenFrejyalen · **10-19-2014, 04:23 PM**

(10-19-2014, 02:53 PM)Ryoko Wrote:
(10-19-2014, 02:45 PM)Ciel Wrote: There's also the First Decastral Observatorium with the unnecessarily long name in Coerthas, due south of Camp Dragonhead.
Not exactly a *public* library, mind you.Â

Being that most of Eorzea is illiterate, I'd imagine libraries are limited almost exclusively to organizations of academic types.

I had not considered that... I really did not know that most of Eorzea was illiterate. Â =Oc Â Thank you for the info on that, is there somewhere where I can read about Eorzean customs with reading/literature/information sciences (kind of ironic...reading about a lack of reading? Â LOL)

And thank you Flickering Ember, I will definitely have to check that place out!! =D

FreelanceWizard · **10-19-2014, 04:35 PM**

The lack of literacy is discussed in this dev post as something of an afterthought at the end of the post.

Bumo · **10-19-2014, 06:34 PM**

(10-19-2014, 02:53 PM)Ryoko Wrote: Being that most of Eorzea is illiterate, I'd imagine libraries are limited almost exclusively to organizations of academic types.

(10-19-2014, 04:35 PM)FreelanceWizard Wrote: The lack of literacy is discussed in this dev post as something of an afterthought at the end of the post.

That's really interesting. Looking at the prosperity of the three city-states, you'd assume the literacy rates would be high, at least within the cities proper. Low literacy rates would imply that there is no compulsory education system; any kind of tutoring then would depend on wealth and social status. Books themselves would be expensive because of this as well--if you look at the cost of books in England during the Middle Ages, where education was primarily for nobility, it would take nearly a decade for an average craftsman to earn enough wages to purchase a book.

It's interesting to think of from a character point of view; coming from a literate society in real life, where there is a formal education system, most people probably automatically assume that their characters can read, unless they want it to be a notable part of their background that they can't. But that bit of lore says that most people in Eorzea can't read, and so people whose professions or social standing didn't demand learning letters probably don't know how.

allgivenover · **10-19-2014, 07:43 PM**

(10-19-2014, 06:34 PM)Bumo Wrote: That's really interesting. Looking at the prosperity of the three city-states, you'd assume the literacy rates would be high. Low literacy rates would imply that there is no compulsory education system; any kind of tutoring then would depend on wealth and social status. Books themselves would be expensive because of this as well--

This is exactly how it is for non adventurers.

(10-19-2014, 06:34 PM)Bumo Wrote: It's interesting to think of from a character point of view; coming from a literate society in Â real life...

...most people probably automatically assume that their characters can read, unless they want it to be a notable part of their background that they can't.

This is exactly what happened with the community.

Also RPC post from fanfest. Woo.

Chillsmack · **10-19-2014, 08:08 PM**

(10-19-2014, 06:34 PM)Bumo Wrote: That's really interesting. Looking at the prosperity of the three city-states, you'd assume the literacy rates would be high, at least within the cities proper. Low literacy rates would imply that there is no compulsory education system; any kind of tutoring then would depend on wealth and social status. Books themselves would be expensive because of this as well--if you look at the cost of books in England during the Middle Ages, where education was primarily for nobility, it would take nearly a decade for an average craftsman to earn enough wages to purchase a book.

A great deal of why books were so expensive and rare though is because of how they were created. Printing presses changed that and by the 18th century and 19th century books and especially novellas became so easy to obtain that in many cities around London books could be borrowed on an honor system (I can't remember what they called those kind of bookstores though - they weren't quite libraries since they mostly dealt in cheap penny-novels that were primarily fiction).

Given the blend of genres that have always defined the FF series, I would be willing to pay good money in betting that Eorzea has printing presses: they have guns, astrological equipment, and steamworks afterall, and I believe newspapers have been mentioned before (though I might be mistake). This would tell me that books are more common-place than compared to real-life medieval Europe.

At the same time, though, if there is no formal education system then it makes perfect sense that most Eorzeans are still illiterate: it's simply an uneven distribution of education rather than wealth, and for the working civilian, much like it was for much of human history, knowing how to read doesn't help you put food on the table so it isn't something a lot of common folk bother to learn. Despite the presence of machinery and technology, Eorzea still seems to be a mishmash of technological periods that never quite reach the Industrial Revolution, thus the city-states remain largely agrarian and why perhaps education is still not widespread.

Quote:It's interesting to think of from a character point of view; coming from a literate society in real life, where thereÂ isÂ a formal education system, most people probably automatically assume that their characters can read, unless they want it to be a notable part of their background that they can't. But that bit of lore says thatÂ mostÂ people in Eorzea can't read, and so people whose professions or social standing didn't demand learning letters probably don't know how.

This is a common issue with the Fantasy genre in general: people can't or don't want to wrap their minds around living standards and paradigms that do not mirror the present, industrial world. It's why so much of the genre itself has become diluted with an over abundance of easy-living high fantasy versus the gritty hardships of low fantasy (I'm more of a low-fantasy kinda man myself).

FreelanceWizard · **10-19-2014, 08:26 PM**

Yep, newspapers definitely do exist, seeing as Ellie (of the Hildibrand quests) is a reporter for one and you interact with reporters in the Lightning Returns quests. My thought is that the way to reconcile that with the lore is that these are all aimed at the intelligentsia, and that adventurers on the whole fall into that literate category. If you read a bit further in that thread I linked, a player asks why all the "No Entry" signs are around, and the dev coyly states, "Those are for adventurers," or something to that effect. The implication I get from that is that professional adventurers typically are literate, while the average Eorzean isn't. I assume the various papers also hire criers to get their message out to the masses, but that they largely cater specifically to adventurers and the well-heeled (the rich, the powerful, and the magically inclined -- this sounds like the title of a soap opera Smile

).

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