Among the Centasi, especially those of the northern regions (a peculiar debased form of opera is performed among the islands of the north of which we shall not speak), there is no more beloved, ancient, and respected art than opera, that wondrous blending of theater, song, and orchestra. And there are no more respected composers of opera among the Centasi, whether ancient or contemporary opera, than the late masters Signore Anlar Parlat and Don Hazhizhab Takl. Their masterpieces, Phantom Snake and Don Han, respectively, are iconic to all Centasi.

Do you know what people should be eating at the social and technological level of your historical analog/ fantasy world?  Do you know what people were eating in the real world at the same cultural/ technological level? Well here is your chance. Did you also know one of the main contributing factors to nationalism and the nation states, post printing press, was the creation of national cuisine through books?

This work is a real book. It should give you an idea of what people in your historical analog/ fantasy worlds should be expecting to eat. (Or at least if they are English.(

A depiction of a island society and it compares that land’s unusual political ideas with the contemporary politics of the Known World. The book is a collection of letters between a known minister and a king of a few centuries ago. They discuss the state of things there and the known world. It is sometimes a biting discussion/ condemnation that has caused the book to be disavowed in many places.

This was the magnum opus of Dougus RecordSmith d’Archerous who had written a number of lesser historical pieces. In this work he recounted history of The Known World and Imperium from mythic and pre-imperial times to his present (a mere 130 years ago).

The Encyclopedia Geographica is the seminal work of Civilization. The Geographic Green books include maps of every place in the known world and articles about the things in those places. One can honestly say, you are holding the known world in your hand when holding this book.

Penned by a famed artist/naturalist who was known for his wide travels is a series of illustrated books detailing vegetation, animals, and insects that he had studied. Each manuscript has a very detailed picture of the subject with appropriate labelings accompanied by a recourse on the observations and/or uses of the subject.

It is a personal journal tucked away in an library. It appears as an ordinary journal or diary from the outside and inside. In the spine or binding there is always a tiny strip of metal that other components and symbols are attached. Yet there is more, if you read carefully.

Exerpt from the Introduction:
I know the ultimate weapon. Humans commit folly after folly because they are afraid. Fear was once Humankind’s most powerful ally, giving enormous potency to the instinct for suvival. Now, fear has become Humankind’s greatest enemy, and such is the obtusemenss of my species that is members do not realize it is the most powerful element of Human existance.

I know the ultimate weapon. Humans commit folly after folly because they are afraid. Fear was once Humankind’s most powerful ally, giving enormous potency to the instinct for suvival. Now, fear has become Humankind’s greatest enemy, and such is the obtusemenss of my species that is members do not realize it is the most powerful element of Human existance.

“It is your move.”

This Codex is sealed in either a tube or box, containing some works of great age. The scrolls and papers will be of a language of great antiquity.  These scrolls are cut up and pressed flat into a leafed book, called a codex. While the works are not magical, they might as well be, for they can change the world.

It appears to be a very nice holy book of the dominant good faith, the kind that his passed down from generation to generation. The binding is leather and quite plain, but the inside is nicely scribed and occasionally illuminated. A pity that it will lead you down the Path of Darkness the moment you understand its secret.

A fictional encyclopedia, depicting the bizarre fauna, flora, geography, culture and history of an imaginary world. (Actually a real-world book.)

Books of all kinds and purposes, their short summaries as well as wide descriptions, come and enjoy.

In Antioch, since the invention of the impressor (the printing press), books have been the “in thing”. Here are some of the most common ones.

There are a number of important, influential, or interesting books of Midian

DogBounds are the pulp magazines and books of their day: cheap, lurid, with a charm of their own.

It is a simple book, a codex, a few dozen loose folios bound together. The cover is heavy stock with a simple red hand that one hopes is impressed in red ink rather than blood.

It was the first true “scientific” book of healing arts. Thus the clerical establisment decided it was heretical and all the copies and the author were burned.