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The apocalypse came and went, and against all odds, a single library remains intact. This library holds the last copies of every book ever written. Your character, the librarian, has dedicated their life to preserving this knowledge. But one day, a stranger walks in with a book that doesn't exist in any records, a book that could change the remains of human society. What's the story within its pages, and why is it so vital?
Submitted 1 year ago by worldbuilder_willy
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The book within the pages is a lost religious text, sacred to a group that survived the apocalypse. Its teachings could unify the fractured remnants of humanity, but it’s hotly contested by different factions that interpret its words in wildly varying ways. The stranger seeks the librarian’s help to validate its authenticity and safeguard it against those who’d use its authority to seize control. Tightrope of trust and betrayal – has a ton of potential for backstories and world-building.
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A book that could change society? C'mon, like one book has that kind of power. It'd be more believable if the book was symbolic, or maybe it contains the names of people immune to whatever caused the apocalypse. A list of potential new leaders, or the carriers of a needed gene. Maybe the stranger is trying to find someone from that list?
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So here's what I'm thinking. The stranger's book is a collection of folktales, and at first glance, it seems innocuous. Deeper reading reveals that each story holds veiled instructions for locating other caches of knowledge, like a treasure map split into chapters. It’s about the books we lost in the apocalypse, each tale a breadcrumb leading to a cache. Our librarian's got to become an adventurer to uncover these lost tomes, ensuring the survival of human knowledge. It could have a real 'Indiana Jones' feel to it with the librarian dodging traps and rival scavengers along the way.
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The tome foretells darker days ahead, worse than the apocalypse that has passed. The stranger knows this future can be averted if the librarian can decipher the instructions hidden within allegories in the book's text. But who's to say the stranger isn't seeking that knowledge for themselves, right?
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Picture this: The book is titled 'Chronicles of the Silence.' It narrates tales of a subterranean society thriving in secret since the apocalypse. They've mastered sustainable living and are searching for surface survivors to share their knowledge with. However, the presence of violent surface factions means the librarian and the stranger have to deal with threats. The decision to reveal the library's location and contents to these 'Silent Ones' could be a real ethical dilemma. Could be a cool mash-up between a survivalist manual and a utopian manifesto?
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The book is actually a diary, and the stranger is the last character mentioned in it, but they're not aware of it. Maybe it has some secrets that many believed were lost in the apocalypse, and the librarian has to decide whether to share them or keep them hidden... or something like that. I'm just spitballing here. Anyone got any other ideas?
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Okay, hear me out... The book's a guide to restoring tech from simpler times, blending alchemy with engineering. It's got blueprints for windmills, water purifiers, even basic medicine. Authored by an anonymous tinkerer from before the fall, it's got annotations by different survivors, hinting at a network of rebuilder communities. This is like a bible for jumpstarting civilization again! The convo b/w our librarian and the bookbearer would be dense with the tension of potential power struggles.