Special Collections

Special Collections

Map of Special Collections

Level

80

Type

Area

Zone

Hidden Arcana
(Shiverpeak Mountains)

Image(s)

Overview of the central stacks in the Durmand Priory Special Collections.

The Special Collections is a hidden area in the Durmand Priory that serves as a storage and research area with a continually changing access cipher to ensure the highest level of security. It is accessed through the kitchen in the lower level of the Durmand Priory; Chef Robertus acts as gatekeeper, adjusting the wards on the portal (fireplace) to allow admittance to authorized individuals.

A bronze Statue of Abaddon stands at the entrance to the area, surrounded by 3 tablets and stairs on each side and Lord Odran's map of The Mists depicted on the ceiling. Around the edge of the map, the phrase "Beware the dangers of secrets kept" is written in Ascalonian runes. The stairs lead into the next room, which contains a circular arrangement of bookshelf stacks. To the south (on the left when standing behind the statue of Abaddon) is a large storage area. After passing through to the west of the circular stacks, additional bookshelves are arranged in six two-story alcoves (three on the north and three on the south). An area to the north (on the right when standing behind the statue of Abaddon) is closed shut by a gate; with a sign "Autopsy Lab, Do not enter", written in New Krytan. Suspended from the ceiling in the main room is one of Zhaitan's tails, preserved for further study. And on the ceiling itself is a map of The All.

Upon solving the security cipher, the circular stacks rotate so that their openings align (forming a direct route from the statue to the alcoves). As the stacks lower, retracting into the floor, the medallion at the center of the circle retracts in a spiral, forming stairs down to the lower level of the Special Collections, which consists of an additional, larger, storeroom.

Getting there

• Only accessible in the following circumstances:
  • During the story missions Hidden Arcana and Arcana Obscura
  • Speaking with Ogden Stonehealer while working on The Dreamer I: The Experimental Short Bow, The Moot III: The Energizer, The Flameseeker Prophecies III: The Chosen or The Minstrel III: The Bard
  • Speaking with Ely Scorchfire during or after The Convergence of Sorrow II: Requiem

NPCs

Allies

Charr

• Ely Scorchfire

Humans

• Archivist Ernswort

Plants

• Sylvan Hound

Sylvari

• Explorer
• Scribe

Various

• Arcanist
• Historian
• Novice
• Magister

Objects

General

• Curiously Empty Bezel
• Glowing Red Button
• Statue of Abaddon
• Statue Plaque

Books

North-eastern section

• Bloodstones
• Closer to the Stars
• Final Descent
• Flora and Fauna of Kryta
• Koss on Koss
• On the Tome of the Rubicon
• Primeval Kings: Unearthing Ancient Elona
• Scorched Earth
• Shiro Tagachi's Biography
• Stone Summit Siege Weaponry
• Symon's History of Ascalon
• The Evening Song
• The Map of the All
• The Margonite Mallyx
• The Peaks of Ice
• Tome of the Five True Gods

North-western section

• Bodies of Rule
• Damning Secrets
• In the Shadows
• Speaking of Speaking
• The Heights of Aristocracy

South-eastern section

• Alchemy for Bookahs
• Elonan Herbs
• Destiny Set in Stone: The Last Days of the Dwarves
• Dragons and Gods
• History of Tyria
• King of the Dwarves
• Love Among the Weeds
• No Skin Off my Back
• Pursuit of Riches
• Riding the Wind: The Tengu Exodus
• The Forgotten Not Forgotten
• The Natural War
• Zhaitan's Last Flight

South-western section

• Black Moa: A Personal Account
• Elemental Blood
• Flora To Fawn Over
• Imbued of Spirit
• In the Beginning
• No Moa!
• Summoner's Fate
• The Thief of Toys
• Theory of Magics
• Wallows: The Definitive Defense

Western hallway

• A Treatise on the Shadow of the Dragon
• Ascalon Census
• Ashford History: Duke Barradin
• Centaur Tribal Culture and History
• In Consideration of Sacrifice
• Krewe Influencers
• Myths and Legends of Ancient Ascalon
• Nightmare Courtiers
• Quotes from Ventari the Centaur
• Stormcaller: Calling the Storm
• The Charr Rise of Rin
• The Great Golem Uprising of 1284: A Commentary
• The Great Hunt Rite of Passage
• The Human Fall of Rin, Part 2
• The Human Rise of Rin, Part 1
• The Nightmare Harbinger
• The Politics of Kryta
• The Quotations of Behn Millen
• The Six: Being or Playing God
• Unending Autumn
• Vekk's Thesis

Gallery

• 

  Archivist Ernswort standing under the piece of Zhaitan's tail in the storage area during Hidden Arcana

• 

  Beginning of flythrough depicting the mystical opening to the lower level

• 

  Storeroom on lower level of Special Collections

• 

  Ornate Hourglass, seen during Hidden Arcana

• 

  Cutscene during Hidden Arcana, stacks retracted and stairs descending

• 

  Cutscene during Hidden Arcana, stacks aligned

• 

  Cutscene during Hidden Arcana, stacks aligning

• 

  Cutscene during Hidden Arcana, stacks overview

• 

  Statue of Abaddon and map of the Mists

• 

  The Durmand Priory's depiction of The All

• 

  Texture of Lord Odran's map of the Mists

• 

  Texture of The All seen above the grand library