Waknuk Library Service
Seek the Origin, find the Path
The Library is open, even when the doors are shut
"The Signalman" has interrupted your journey. You were headed for disaster.
We have hijacked the Panopticonical Eye
of the Inspector's Regime as our own
Skeptical Enquiring Eye
The Origin of The Waknuk Library Service
The Waknuk Library Service (WLS) wasn't founded as a public utility, but as a covert preservation society. In a world obsessed with "The Definition" and fearing deviation, the WLS believes that the "Grand Error" wasn't technology or science, but the loss of recorded history. They operate out of hidden cellars and repurposed bunkers, digitising (or hand-copying) salvaged fragments of the past.
The spirit of "The Signalman"* is still with us, and it is rumoured that he still exists in the shadows, pulling strings and hacking the "Inspector" to support his original concept of The Waknuk Library Service.
Mission Statement: "The Preservation of the Pattern"
"To recover, authenticate, and safeguard the collective memory of humanity. We believe that Truth is the only shield against the shadows of the past, and that a People without a History cannot have a Future."
* Our Enigmatic Founder - "The Signalman"†
It is now over 50 years since our mysterious founder, "The Signalman", had the idea for The Waknuk Library Service. In the lead-up to his revelation, the enigmatic G.H.‡ pursued his interest in railway signalling and interlocking diagrams. His obsession stemmed partly from his interest in public safety and the role of recorded knowledge in supporting that safety. Stories are told of “The Signalman” carrying signalling equipment, including flags and lights, in his small car against a possible encounter with a railway emergency situation. There were even occasions where his vigilance and intimate knowledge of signalling protocols prevented disasters and even saved lives.
At this time he was employed at a state archive library where he had access to all the information needed to support his interests. Through this work he developed an interest in the historical records of railway publications and in their preservation. Preservation of the Historical Public Knowledge in general, became an enduring passion for “The Signalman”.
The (then fictitious) “Waknuk Library Service” was his invention as a “warrant” to access otherwise forbidden information and locations. As he saw the need for a more active role in ensuring the preservation of public knowledge, The Waknuk Library Service gradually morphed into the covert preservation society that it is today.
† "The Signalman" epithet is speculated to be from the homonymous Charles Dickens story inspired by the Clayton Tunnel rail crash of 1861
‡ these initials were gleaned from a signed delivery docket for an oil burning railway signalling lamp
Geoff T. Green - Lead Investigator §
Geoffrey Tarzan Green is our leading investigative field agent. His role involves going into the Fringes and the Badlands to verify rumors of "ancient storage caches."
- His Specialty is in Identifying "Pre-Collapse" artifacts that the Magistrate would deem blasphemous.
- His Current Case involves investigating reports of a "Glass Library" buried beneath the sand dunes to the south - a place rumored to hold the maps of the world before the Black Coasts appeared.
