Knowledge Vendors

Knowledge vendors are merchants that trade in knowledge, bartering their stories and secrets for goods, services, and coin.

These vendors trace their origins to storytellers within various tribes. Storytellers were usually elders that had collected stories their whole lives both orally and through the written word. Writing was not as popular among nomadic tribes but when visiting set villages and towns to trade stories, if they recited a story and approved it being written down, storytellers had stamps that they would apply at the end of a written story.

As storytelling as a profession became more common, storytellers distinguished themselves by wearing a broach of a bird. This broach was then passed down to the next storyteller of a village or buried with the storyteller if they did not pass it down. of a sunbird in flight.

As the tribes began to centralize and tensions grew between them, the storytellers were sought out for information they could provide on other tribes. This led to storytellers being protected more than ever. They became some of the most respected members of the community and were cared for by leaders eager to keep secrets close to the vest.

However, this also led to quiet deals and secrets being shared on the black market. This what many consider was the precursor to the Shroud, an organization that traded in secrets obtained illegally or through unscrupulous means (theft, murder, blackmail, etc.). The Shroud is no longer in operation (but instead merged with Ascendance). Prior to the construction of the Library of Knowledge, knowledge vendors were sought out as the keepers of information on varying subjects. The Intelligence Guild was founded to provide those in search of information with one centralized hub that connected to vendors across the continent. The Guild was originally founded in Juyan but was relocated to Abhajan when the Library of Knowledge was constructed. The Guild then became the Library of Knowledge's Association of Librarians.

Knowledge vendors still operate to this day and can be found only in major cities around the world. They are more often than not, Sippari citizens as it is required for knowledge vendors to be certified by the Library of Knowledge. Their certification is renewed every 5 years and must be done so in person at the Library of Knowledge.