The Custodes Verborum or Librarians are strange outsiders not native to the greater Ithian plane. They seep into the reality of Ithia from some distant place beyond the knowledge of even the Gods. They are varied, possessing dangerous and highly diverse powers and a deep thirst to collect and secure knowledge. Their primary goal is to learn and deny knowledge to all other beings.  

The Ordo Silentii, The Order of Silence, makes up the upper echelons of the Librarian Orders. Appearing as humanoids, tall with wrinkled skin like crumpled old parchment. Their features are odd and surreal as if someone made their outline with a shaky hand. They have long hair like white rubber strands worn off an eraser. Their movements are jerky, and their joints move too far and freely. They wield power to silence the voice, burn the mana in the veins of casters, and wield their terrible wilting voices to inflict harm, confusion, pain, and madness. Their empty void-like eyes draw attention, and those who can’t resist staring in find their thoughts fleeting, their memory short, and their thoughts cluttered. Silence, Fire, and Water are some of the most apt means at inflicting harm of the Librarians of the Order of Silence 

The Ordo Linguarum, The Order of Tongues, makes up a small auxiliary force of the Librarian Orders. They appear to move about on two writhing serpents-like tails that connect to a long torso propelled by long whiplike tongues, from small needle toothed maws, which it uses as legs and arms. They have a head like an eight-sided dice with a face on each angle its mouth sewn shut and spikes driven into its eye sockets. The Order of Tongues are quick, agile, and able to mimic voices, steal deep fears and share the most awful thoughts one has had towards others. They distract, whisper, manipulate, and bind with twisting tongues and tails. As they propel themselves upon rather sensitive organs, acids, fire, and caltrops are effective at slowing and dissuading their advancement. Decapitation is the only assured way to kill an Ordo Linguarum.  

The Ordo Manuum, The Order of Hands, makes up a larger auxiliary force of the Librarian Orders. They appear as large monstrous brutes with thick leathery skin, bodies rippling with thick muscles. Tattoos run down their spines, and their twisting maws are full of thin papery blades for slicing through tormenting the enemies of the Custodes Verborum. They have faces like a thumbless hand with four large appendages for forcing things into their maws. Each appendage has an eye where the fingernail would be. A fifth smaller appendage erects from their chin with a spike like the stinger of a scorpion’s tail. The Order of Hands are slower, durable, and overwhelmingly strong providing the muscle much of the Orders lack. Their thick skin is difficult to pierce, but falling can cause them a good deal of damage. Their maws are often the only exposed part that shows off their vulnerable papery insides.  

The Ordo Atramenti, The Order of Ink, makes up the largest auxiliary force in the Librarian Orders. Composed of thin humanoids made of ink, they move oozing black ichor with every step in shambling gaits and axes and spears with heads like that of quill tips or pens. The Ordo Atramenti are surprisingly fast, aggressive, and difficult to damage. They can spray thick clinging ink to blind and slow foes, flow through tight spaces, and double their limb length while keeping their bodies stable. They are vulnerable to liquids that could dilute their bodies, blotting paper, and absorbent surfaces.  

The Ordo Tororum, The Order of Tomes, these strange vaguely humanoid creatures are a rare force in the Orders. Tall, thin, and sporting a dozen thin arms with tiny delicate fingers to do small, high skilled tasks. They have large ‘shells’ like the cover of a book. Their bodies are made of paper layered with chalk, charcoal, graphite, like a skin plastered over bones. They create the Auxiliary orders of the Librarians, artifacts, and other crafting tasks. They are powerful wielders of raw magic manifesting magic from stories and books they’ve read whether real or fictional.  They are dangerous if not focused on and can draw into their covers like some great rectangular turtle. They can heal and mend other Librarians. Water can damage their bodies, but their covers are too fortified but once withdrawn can be trapped in their tomes.