The Place
The Scriptorium is a silent tower of paper and ink on the edge of the old world, and the tower is 50 m high, and the tower keeps the ink and the word. The stone of the tower is white where the paper has dried, and the white is the scriptorium's way of saying the word is kept. The pages that hang from the ledges are brown where the ink has sunk, and the brown is the scriptorium's only fire, and the fire is what the page keeps. The ink that runs in the channels is black at the source and grey where it is thin, and the grey is the scriptorium's way of saying the oath is kept. The largest chamber, the Ink Hall, runs 30 m long, and the walls are lined with shelves of paper, and the shelves hold the pages, and the pages are the scriptorium's only books. The air in the tower is still, and the stillness is the scriptorium's only voice, and the voice is what the air keeps. The tower has one entrance, and the entrance is 1 m wide and 1.5 m high, and the narrowness is the defense that the stone keeps. This is the place where the word is kept, and the keeping is the scriptorium's only harvest.
How They Live
The Erudite keep the tower in the silence, and the tower is not a house but an oath, and the oath is kept in the ink. The erudites do not build, because the tower was cut before the current order, and the order only keeps it, and the keeping is the order's only work. The tower was cut by the first order, and the cutting is the scriptorium's only building, and the building is what the stone keeps. Light comes from the ink, which glows faintly in the dark, and the glow is the only fire the scriptorium has, and the glow is the scriptorium's way of keeping the night. Food is the tower itself: the paper that is kept in the shelves, the ink that is kept in the channels, the knowledge that is kept in the word, and the oath that keeps the word honest. The drinking of the ink is the scriptorium's only eating, and the eating is the scriptorium's way of keeping the hunger. Water is drawn from the springs below, and the water is carried up in vessels of bone, and the carrying is the scriptorium's only trade. In the warm months the ink runs full, and the running is the scriptorium's way of keeping the year. In the cold months the ink runs low, and the running-low is the scriptorium's way of keeping the oath. The day is measured by the ink, which is also the calendar, because the tower is the only clock the oath needs.
People
Home of the Erudite, whose orders are counted by ink. There are five orders in the tower, and the five are the scriptorium's only population, and the population is kept in the word. Each order keeps a shelf of its own pages, and the shelf is the order's only house, and the house is what the paper keeps. The oldest order keeps the Ink Hall, and the keeping is the order's only rank, and the rank is what the hall keeps. No unlettered thing is welcome in the tower, and the not-being-welcome is the scriptorium's only law, and the law is what the stone keeps. A visitor who steps onto the paper is already in the word's path, and the path is the scriptorium's only welcome, and the welcome is what the entrance keeps.
In Stories
The place where the ink is the only honest thing, and the thing is the word, and the word is the oath, and the oath is the end. The Erudite keep the count of the written words, and the count is the scriptorium's only word, and the word is what the ink keeps. The oath of the scriptorium is the oath of the page, and the page is the only ground that ever kept, and the keeping is what the silence remembers.