I received many warnings about going to the Disc of Lêgba. The Celestial Library that rings the disc is an infamous labyrinth where many unsuspecting wanderers have lost their lives trying to find a way out. But I learned that it is just as easy to get lost in the labyrinth as it is to navigate through to the shifting landscapes that make up the Disc. I was nervous to travel there alone, and I probably would have taken Zacchaeus with me if he’d been available. The black magic he wields is kindred with Lêgba’s and he could have easily navigated the Celestial Library, the shifting lands, and then the Void Library that surrounds Lêgba’s translucent castle where I was to find the Vodun.
Yes, I could have had any of the other Vodun portal me there–I couldn’t do it myself at the time because I had never been there before and it can mean death to portal to an unknown location–but that would have gone against the spirit of the journey. I was on Lêgba’s Disc to feel and experience it. Portaling to the opaque castle would have been cheap.
So I floated from Jo’s Disc to Lêgba’s and as I neared the overlap, I noticed the exterior of the Celestial Library that seemed to hover in space to complete the circle of the disc, and there were planet-sized opaque platforms with glassy surfaces contained within the bounds of the library. There was a sparkling city on one of the platforms that I assumed was made of prismatic gems and I was curious if I could fly completely over the library to land there and see what it was truly made of. But as I approached the library, flying high enough over it that I could see the roof of the library like battlements, I hit an invisible barrier, and before I could react, I was no longer in the space of Jo’s Disc.
I was in a long hallway and after looking around myself, it seemed that the hallway was infinite in both directions. The floor was carpeted in a thick, lush red carpet that made my shoes more comfortable, and there were intricate black patterns in the carpet; swirls and loops like the fleur de lis associated with New Orleans. The hallway was spacious and empty, and the walls were high shelves of unmarked books in all shapes and sizes, interrupted periodically by wooden columns with elaborate candle holders in similar swirls and loops. Lit candles gave light to the space until I looked up at the ceiling that was high and black like it consumed the candle light that flickered near it. It appeared to be a solid black ceiling, but I sensed that if I were to fly up, I would be consumed by it.
I decided to walk to my right and I browsed the unmarked books as I passed them. I was very tempted to grab one and open it, but I had been warned about the risk in that. The Celestial Library contains a near infinite number of books, many of which are imbued with arcane power. Some of the books are mundane and what you expect for a book, with pages and words. Some are dangerous to even open. There are books that will explode when opened to prevent weaklings from possessing the knowledge within. There are books that will consume the one who opens it and the only way out is by satisfying the desires of the individual book. Some books put curses on the one who opens it, some instantly turn to ashes. Some are portals to other places, other realms of existence unknown even to Lêgba.
There is a way to safely peruse the books of the Celestial Library, but it requires the use of the Celestial Compass that only Lêgba and the reclusive keepers of the library are able to truly comprehend. There are six compasses, one for Lêgba and each of the five keepers, that were created by Lêgba that tell the bearer of the compass the exact location of a desired text, or if a specific text is unknown to the bearer, the compass can guide them to a book that provides answers to questions that the compass bearer has. The compass indicates if specific books contain a curse, does harm to the one who opens it, or transports them in some way when the compass bearer holds the compass near a book in the library. The compass also helps the bearer navigate the library from outside of Lêgba’s Disc to the interior, as well as the Void Library that creates a divide between the shifting lands and the inner cities of Lêgba’s disc. I have seen replicas of the Celestial Compass, and it should be noted that only the six compasses created by Lêgba are able to accurately navigate the Celestial and Void Libraries. Legba is able to use it to find anything he desires that is on his disc. It looks like a pocket watch, but it is larger, like a round smartphone with a clock face. There are alot of marks all around the circumference of the face in regular intervals, and six hands of various sizes that rotate around. I realized when I was in the library that the hands have the same flourishes as the fleur de lis pattern on the carpet. I had stared at the Celestial Compass for a long time while I was still in the Smiting Chamber, but I couldn’t make heads or tails of it, and being inside the library, I was even more confused how it could be used to navigate the seemingly infinite hallway.
But I just kept walking. I decided to ignore the temptation of opening a book, and I trusted in my commune with the Fonlands. The Fonlands themselves had kept me safe so far on my travels to visit with the Vodun, almost like it knew what we were all up to in the Smiting Chamber and was doing its part to facilitate our plan. I could sense that the Fonlands approved of me, accepted me, and I knew that it was true when I saw an end to the hallway in the distance. I had been told that there would be offshoots of the main hallway inside of the Celestial Library and this is how some ended up wandering forever, but I had only walked a short time when I came to what turned out to be a closed door. I could have turned and walked in the other direction, but my instincts told me that the Fonlands itself was expediting what could otherwise be a very long and winding journey.
When I opened the door, I was wowed by the opaque interior on the other side. I stepped into what looked like the interior of a castle made of opaque ice, but it wasn’t cold inside, and it wasn’t made of ice. I had made my way from the Celestial Library into Lêgba’s opaque castle.
“I hate to be the last one,” Lêgba said. “I’ve been waiting here so impatiently for our meeting. I’ve heard such good things from my siblings about the enchanted decks that the Smiting Chamber made for us.”
There was a Smiting grid and two chairs made of the same opaque material of the castle and I approached it as Lêgba did, and we both sat.
“It is good to see you again Issac. Let’s get to it.”
PRL Serials 