Archives
From Flight From Darkness
Crystal repositories of staggering amounts of data, some say that the Archives are a more precious cargo than the crew and passengers. They contain blueprints for most artifacts built prior to the Usurpation, as well as genetic/heart's blood blueprints for most major species known at that time, though a few savants (largely the same ones who place such a high value on the Archives) have made small but significant contributions detailing new artifacts and species.
Cultural data is sparser, but there have been more contributions about this from the crew. There is extensive information on the basics of Lookshyan, Haslanti, Varang and Realm civilization, with lesser information about various other cultures. Studying these records counts as having a teacher when learning Skytongue, Foresttongue, Firetongue, Seatongue, Old Realm, High Realm, Low Realm, or Riverspeak.
Likewise, the basic facts of Essence and exaltations are available. While most major tracts of the Immaculate faith are available, so too are essays written by the ship's AI, Dancing Prism, in an attempt to set the record straight. No specific Charms are recorded, but one can get the basics of what a Solar, Lunar, or Dragon-Blooded exaltation is and how it propagates, with a note that there are other types as well, and that even the Yozi have begun to field their own Chosen, the Infernals. The White and Black Treatises are available (as is the other Black Treatise, though access is restricted); anyone able to wield sufficient Essence can self-initiate into sorcery (or, with approval from Prism, necromancy). Martial Arts forms are also available to study, though only a few Terrestrial Martial Arts are available for general study and even then only up to their form charm.
Access to most texts are public and unrestricted. Primary access is through locations on Tower Deck 3 near the Archives themselves (the common joke is that this was so someone could read a technique, then walk into the Training Hall and start practicing within a minute), although the Red Plate and Green Plate also have clusters of remote access terminals.
