Welcome to the Tower Library's Information Page! Here you will find everything you need to know about the library.
9/24 - The Tower is now on Place-Wide Banter, excluding the Path Up which is on Global Banter.
Sorry for the long period of time without updates; things are crazy, so the Tower project is on hold for me at the moment. But, not to fear, updates are coming (can't say when exactly, but the files exist on my computer). Thanks for your patience!
8/4 - 18 sections are complete on the second floor! 5 more to go!
The Tower is a Library Maze. It is arranged in a 3D grid format with several surprises. The entire building is open to the public; there are hidden rooms, but no locked rooms!
Although the primary function of the Tower is an adventure and exploration maze, the place also functions as a large library. Each unhidden room contains a theme/genre of book which can be checked out by anyone. There are special library rooms called cylinders; cylinders contain all generic types of books, but it is to be noted that the specialized rooms can provide better information on a given subject matter.
The Tower is located at (19,12) on the Island Map. It is one SouthWest of Kittania.
The Tower Library is arranged in a 3D grid. The grid is 7×7,numbered from left to right and bottom to top. The grid is additionally arranged in pods. A pod is a “cylinder” surrounded by four rooms: north, south, east, and west. A cylinder is a special room in the library maze that contains a staircase leading up and down. As one climbs the staircase, they can adventure left, right, up, and down within that floor.
There are 9 cylinders in all, existing in all doubly even grid spaces (i.e. (2,2),(2,4), (2,6), (4,2), etc.) All of the cylinders with the x-axis of 4 share their east and west rooms with the cylinders to their left and right; similarly, all the cylinders with the y-axis of 4 share their north and south rooms with the cylinders above and below them.
On the first floor of the grid, all of the rooms connect linearly, thus you can travel simply left to right or up to down. On the upper floors, the rooms are only connected by staircases to their direct cylinders. One can still essentially travel linearly through the grid, but you can only go up, down, left, and right - never diagonally between floors or across the grid.
Rooms only exist on half-even grid spaces. Doubly odd grid spaces do exist, but are hidden within the maze. You must find access to these hidden rooms by exploring the other rooms of the grid. Cylinders will never lead to a hidden room; they are primarily for access to other rooms.
The cylinders and rooms of the tower are labeled very specifically. Cylinders are numbered 1-9, starting at the bottom left and moving right and up. The upper levels of the cylinders are labeled with their number and the landing number, which corresponds to the floor number. For example, Dark Tower: Cylinder 3 - Landing 4 translates to the cylinder at (2,6) on the fourth level of the building. A cylinder without a labeled landing number is on the first level of the Tower.
Rooms are labeled by a three digit number, with the first number corresponding to the level, the second to the x-value, and the third to the y-value. For example, Dark Tower: Room Name (247) translates to second level at (4,7).
Hidden rooms will not be marked by number labels; we wouldn't want to give any hints!
Cylinder 2, which you find yourself in upon entering the tower (2,4) also contains the checkout desk (see The Checkout System section!) for those who wish to check out from the library. For purposes of story, certain rooms contain books on a single subject; if you wish for the best books on your topic, you should explore the library in order to find them. Yet, any subject of book can be found and checked out in the (2,4) cylinder.
Also note that certain rooms contain events. Events can be both minor and major. Events can only be triggered by exploring the rooms; thus, the search for hidden rooms is more complex. You will not be trapped in an event simply by entering a room, unless others are engaged in an event when you enter the room (and are RPing as such). If you find yourself caught in another's event, please either play along with the event or just pass through without interrupting story!
People are permitted to ask Trystan (in story) about the Tower, but she will not give anyone specific directions to hidden rooms. On occasion she might guide someone to a hidden room, but she will not answer questions as to how to find the hidden rooms. Similarly, Trystan will not instruct people as to where to find events, but she may choose to lead someone to an event. Furthermore, Trystan can provide hints as to where to locate hidden rooms or events, but she will give no more than a floor, a cylinder (meaning it's in a room directly connected to the cylinder on some level), or a row or column. Trystan can also provide specific grid information as to which rooms contain which subject of book.
Please remember that the Tower is a place for adventure and exploration! Try to keep the Island's story rules in mind. Also, the hidden rooms are hidden, but not locked; anyone can stumble across you, so please try to keep it clean (save the scandal for locked doors!). I do check the rooms for story content, so please remember that I can and will kick you out if I think you're being inappropriate!
The Library is equipped with a book checkout system. There are currently only generic books available for checkout. To checkout a book, click on the checkout desk page in Cylinder 2. To return books simply enter Cylinder 2 from the Path Up to the Tower. There are 50 books in circulation, so please remember to return your books sometime. Also please show the memento in your profile to help advertise the library!
I have created a map for the tower that shows the basic grid with the labeled sections. Hidden rooms are not labeled. I do keep the map up to date, and make each level's map available as the level opens up.
The link to the map is here: http://tinyurl.com/7or2f6l
However, I do advise exploring the library without the map first. There is something to be said for stumbling upon sections and their surprises!
If you want to get involved with the Dark Tower here are a few ways to help:
Please note that I cannot list those who remain anonymous, no matter how much I appreciate them! If you have supported and would like to be known, please just send a distract to Trystan :)
Below are the names of those who have contributed to the Library by means of building, writing, donation, or informational assistance.
All support is greatly appreciated!! :)
Please enjoy the Tower! I welcome all questions that come through distractions. Furthermore, I also welcome any suggestions you may have as you explore!
— RandomIslander 2012/04/08 22:05