The Big Book of TALES is a player-built place located at W10 on the map (and nearly always directly accessible by teleporting to the Inkstained Beacon located in the Reading Room).

It's called The Big Book of TALES because:

• A) It is the clan headquarters of TALES (Truths And Lies Equally Shared); and
• B) it is shaped like an enormous book laid open atop an equally ginormous round pedestal.

The Book (for short) is the repository of the ongoing project undertaken by TALES clan to collect and publish, on its shelves, stories written, composed, or told by Islanders of every stripe, the clan motto being: All that matters is a tale well told.

The place mainly consists of a large round room lined by bookshelves, with alcoves at intervals around the perimeter for purposes like the brewing of tea and coffee, the printing and binding of books, et cetera. The main room is designated the Reading Room; its purpose, with couches around a circular fireplace, is to provide a congenial atmosphere for reading.

The Book also houses a coffeehouse in its basement. A second floor provides private rooms for any clan member who wishes one, all centered around a comfy common room.

Each of three titles in the Interrupted Crossing Trilogy is a self-contained storying environment. All three are linked together, internally, however, and it is possible to enter from any of the three.

You select a book from the shelf and suddenly find yourself in a different place:

You wake up on a sandy beach.

Ulp! You are falling! Far below (but rushing up quickly) you see what looks like a large figure eight — and getting larger by the second…!

You blink and find yourself standing on a stone quay. Some distance away along a beaten path lies a quiet fishing village. And you are given the opportunity to participate in a sea voyage aboard a schooner.

You don't have to be a member of TALES clan to be published in The Book. As of this writing the Reading Room has over 80 titles by 30+ authors, mostly in the form of short fiction; some poetry; and at least three self-contained, interlinked storying environments.

Got a tale to tell? Contact any of these clan officers to get your work added to the shelves:

• Founder - Gamina
• Leader - The Shuffler Tarot
• Leader - WolphStrykes
• Leader - Seeker Jaheira
• Officer - Storykeeper Baku
• Officer - Adv. Scout "Pepper" Rourkie
• Officer - Lira Breaker
• Officer - Eibhleann
• Officer - Torvus
• Officer - Maar

All that matters is a tale well told.

.:.